Bumpdate - 39 Weeks Full TERM!

What's baby up to this week? She is the size of a mini watermelon (yummmmmm), measuring about 20" long and weighs a bit over 7 pounds. Since we are full term there isn't much in the way of information from my app except that she continues to build fat to help control her body temperature after birth and the outer layers of skin are sloughing off as new skin forms underneath. At my doctors appointment he said she was at a -1 station and her head is engaged which I guess means shorter labor for me. Her heartrate was in the 120s which he said was normal for this stage in the pregnancy, but it was still concerning to this momma!

What's been going on with mom? Pretty much same ole same ole. Sleep sucks, heartburn. Not much new on this end. We are just sitting and waiting for her arrival. We really stepped up the walking which is becoming increasingly difficult due to the heat rising. I had a scare at my doctor's appointment. I of course don't sleep well the night before and go in to get my blood pressure checked and all the other things. My pressure is usually in the 125-130 range and it was 148/89! I had a mini panic attack on the inside. When we got in the room we had the discussion with the doctor. He said scary range was 160/100 and so long as I don't have bad headaches and major swelling I should be ok. I also had a little protein in my urine. I thought I was headed to Labor and Delivery for monitoring for sure. He had me lie down and we checked my pressure again and it was significantly lower so he said everything was normal. He did a cervical exam and I am the same as last week, 1cm and 50% effaced. No improvement whatsoever! GAH! He said to take it easy. Take naps and try going for several short walks, to try and efface a little more. Because of all this stress I decided that I needed to start my maternity leave a little early. I went to work, finished up some things and then said all my pre-baby goodbyes. I can't believe I am officially on maternity leave! o.O

Symptoms: Drooling, exhaustion, heartburn, acne, hip cramps, mild braxton hicks.

Yummy/Icky: Not really craving anything. I am hungry all the time, but nothing sounds good at all.

Clothing: Maternity and now that I am on maternity leave.....pjs and maxi dresses!

Movement: Still rolling around in there. I know she must be cramped! I feel her headbutting down there and and rolling around on my bladder is oh so fun. It's still crazy to watch the belly dance around.

Belly Button In/Out: It's ALMOST flat, but it still indents a little

Wedding Rings On/Off: Off and on a chain around my neck.

Best Moment this Week: Being able to nap. Lame I know, but catching up on sleep is something I desperately needed!

Looking forward to: Meeting our girl!

Only 1 more chalkboards left to do.

Top 10 Maternity Must Haves

Since we are approaching the end of this pregnancy I wanted to write a little post of the items that has gotten me through. I didn't do a post per trimester, but pretty much everything on this list has carried me through the last two trimesters. My first trimester was super easy so there wasn't much I needed, besides a nap. So here we go. My top ten essential items for the 2nd and 3rd Trimester.

1. A double walled re-useable water bottle. Trying to keep up with the amount of water intake you need for your pregnancy is hard. I like my water cold and these tumblers insulate and keep your water colder for longer. I have several of them and I refill them many times a day.
2. The Baby Center App. This helped to keep me on track and gave me a little insight into what was in my near future. It also has lots of tips and tricks and information that you will need. It's a good one to get if you have a smart phone.
3. Maxi Dresses. Once you hit a certain point in your pregnancy you just want to be comfortable. I have several maxi's that make their rotation throughout each week. They are just as comfortable as sweats, but look better.
4. Body by Victoria Bra. I have never been a huge fan of VS bras, but once the bust line started to increase I knew I needed something comfortable that would cover them. These bra's are so comfy! I can't believe I lived without them for so long. I know they will have to retire soon and make way for nursing bras, but these were a major pregnancy staple!
5. Spearmint Tums. Heartburn has been one major complaint. It doesn't matter what I eat, anything can bring on the heartburn. These have been my best friend! I keep them in my purse or on my nightstand! I tried the smoothies, but I wasn't a fan.
6. Desk Fan. I started to run hot, and instead of being mean and cranking the ac and freezing out the office, I just got a fan that plugged into my computer. It's such a relief to have some air circulation.
7. Comfortable shoes. I prefer my Reef leather sandals, but feel free to use whatever you like. We started to walk a lot, in an effort to stay relatively in shape and to hold off the weight.
8. Juicy fruits. I guess this was my main craving. Fruits with lots of water content. Don't get me wrong. I had lots of unhealthy choices, but this is what I have wanted the most!
9. Pregnancy Pillow. While it hasn't worked unbelievably good, it still has helped me sleep. I was having major hip cramping, so this helped a lot while supporting my growing belly and head. I recommend getting something to help support your changing body!
10. Mabelline's Fit Me concealer. Guys, not only have I broken out like mad during this pregnancy, the lack of sleep also takes its toll on your under eye area. I love this concealer for my under eye area. It's not the greatest at covering blemishes, but it helps you to look awake and really that's important to me!

Well there you have it folks. The items that have gotten me through this pregnancy. I of course have an honorable mention of my pre-natal vitamins. Those are essential to any woman's pregnancy! What has gotten you through your pregnancy?

Bumpdate - 38 Weeks

What's baby up to this week? She is the size of a pumpkin, measuring over 19.5" long and weighs around 6.8 pounds. Her grasp is firm, can't wait for her to grab my fingers, and her organs have matured and are ready for life outside the womb. Her heart-rate was in the 140s and sounding wonderful at my doctor's appointment and she is still head down and completely in front of my cervix, making exams hard and painful.

What's been going on with mom? Sleep is off and on. If I can remember to go to the bathroom before I fall completely asleep then sometimes I can have a full nights rest until about 6am, when the bladder is full. If I do need to get up, I tend to gulp a ton of water....because I drool a lot more now! WEIRD and she usually wiggles a little for me before I nod back off. We finally put away all her stuff! YAY! What a relief that was! Honestly. Earlier this week we talked about my mini scare and so that lit a fire under us to put everything together and clean. We decided that we needed to get our pack n play, just to have a changing/nap station downstairs. Good thing is Babies R Us has pack n plays on sale! Woohoo. Still need to pack the diaper bag, and grab a few essentials for the breast pump but other than that all is ready for her grand entrance. We are completely ready for her to come with the "things" now to mentally prepare because it can happen any day. My doctor's appointment went well. My blood pressure and weight are right one track still....the weight can stop going up though any time now. My GSB test came back negative so that's one less thing to be concerned with. Her head is down and in front of my cervix, which makes exams difficult and painful. He thinks I am the same as last week, 1cm and 50% effaced, but scheduled me for a membrane strip on the 30th. We will see if that helps things along.

Symptoms: Drooling, exhaustion, heartburn, acne, hip cramps, braxton hicks and swelling; fingers, ankles and feet!

Yummy/Icky: Anything sweet....be it treats or fruit.....and chocolate!

Clothing: Maternity......I have been able to wear some pre-pregnancy items but they don't quite fit just right!

Movement: Mostly just rolling around as opposed to kicking, but I love to watch my belly dance around. She loves to wiggle her head on my bladder. Trying to focus on kick counts twice a day, but I don't always use the app to time them. I just make sure she move at least 10 times several times a day.

Belly Button In/Out: Can we call it a belly button? It's ALMOST flat. Hopefully no outie.

Wedding Rings On/Off: Off and on a chain around my neck.

Best Moment this Week: Finishing up putting away her items!!!!!!! YAY!!!!

Looking forward to: Meeting our girl!

Only 2 more chalkboards left to do. Say WHAT!?!

What's in my Hospital Bag?

The hubby and I took a whole day this past weekend to spend some time together and have some mommy/daddy time before Miss Emma makes her appearance. We ran errands and did some relaxing techniques, but all the action that my body went through, made my sciatica flare up like mad! My back was super sore and I honestly thought that I might be going into labor. I lied on a heating pad to relax the muscles and my back is feeling much better.

So because of  the little scare about going into labor and not being prepared we decided that we needed to pack the bags and make sure that all things are ready to throw in the car at a moments notice. I had started, but wasn't finished. Here's what we packed!

So because things are needed at different times, we packed things separately and I have two bags, with little misses items in my bag and D will have 2 bags. Let's start with the labor bag, which is the Coach bag pictured above that I received from my sister-in-law as a shower gift!

1. Dr. Brown's Gia Nursing Pillow, 2. Toiletry bag (see details below), 3. Hand Sanitizer and face wipes, 4. Insurance info/phone lists/birth plan, 5. Hair ties/hair bands, 6. Slip resistant socks, 7. PJ's and Motherhood maternity underwear; 8. Robe; 9. IPod Touch, personal fan, and phone charger; 10. Personal radio.

I'm bringing my nursing pillow because we will start to breastfeed right away. Yes, my robe has a martini on it.....a sign of something to come in my future I hope. I am bringing the change of clothes just in case I want to not be in the hospital gown anymore.

I got this cute little bag from the travel section at Target. It had the shampoo, conditioner, toothbrush, toothpaste and deodorant in it. I added the Aveeno lotion, the Aquafor, Chapstick (I heard that this is SUPER important) and the Q-Tips. Also in the bag are a couple of pairs of disposable nursing pads. I do not forsee needing these, but they are there just in case.

What did I pack for Emma? We picked out two outfits. One in size newborn and one in 0-3 months. Each outfit has a bow, hat and hand mitts. Were also bringing a swaddling blanket and her car seat, which is not pictured. Can you guess who picked out the onesies? If you can't read them, they both say something with regards to daddy......I'll let him have the first outfit! ;-)

So the next bag is my hospital bag. This is for the long stay, if it's needed. I think it might stay in the car until we really know whats going on.

1. Towel, 2. Additional set of nursing friendly pajamas, 3. Re-useable bag, for bringing home any gifts or the stockpile of items like diapers, wipes and all the postpartum items for me!, 4. Extra Motherhood maternity underwear; 5. Nursing Bras (These are from Target), 6. Going home outfit (although I most likely will wear home what I wear in.)

These are D's two bags. One is his hospital bag and the other one is the camera bag. Ultimately, we wanted to keep the bags light and easy to transport.

1. Snacks, water, and Gatorade, 2. His toiletries: shave gel, razor, deodorant, toothbrish, toothpaste and hair gel, 3. My old Gameboy and some games for Daddytainment, 4. His charger (he will grab the extra cord out of the car, 5. IPad Mini, again for Daddytainment, 6. Prescriptions, Halls, and aspirin, 7. Clothing: 2 shirts, 2 underwear, and a bathing suit, for either sleeping or relaxing in, 8. Zip up sweatshirt.....just in case it's cold.

Not pictured: cash, a pair of jeans, and flip flops. We live about 3 miles from the hospital. If he want's to shower or get some clothes if I am there for more than 1-2 days then he can just run home for extras.

Well there it is folks. Us being prepared for this little one's arrival. Was there anything we missed? Did you not use anything that you packed? Let me know. We are new to this!

Pre-Emma Mommy/Daddy Weekend

This last weekend the hubby and I decided that we were going to take the whole weekend and dedicate it to us, relaxing and getting everything ready for our little girls arrival. For the most part everything was done with regards to her, but we still needed to get a few items and just have us time. So that's what we did.

Saturday we awoke bright and early and made our way to get a mani/pedi for me (a mother's day gift that I needed to cash in) and D got himself a pedi. Clean up those toes and sit in the massage chair. As a diabetic it's a good idea for him to get his feet checked out every so often too! After two hours and a Starbucks tea later, we left feeling refreshed and relaxed. I had such cute toes too! Pink for our little one's arrival of course.

After that we went to the mall to make some exchanges, I got my wedding ring checked and cleaned and while we killed sometime before meeting up with D's dad and grandfather for lunch we went into the Sleep Number store and found out our numbers. I also fell in love with the climate controlled bed and totally want one now! We had a nice lunch at Islands and then went to get our car washed.

Selfie shot at the carwash.

Once done there we headed over to Babies R Us to take advantage of a 20% off sale they were having on the pack n plays. We spent a solid 30 minutes trying to decide which one to get, and ultimately made a decision. We got some needed items for the diaper bag, but we still need to return to get an additional car seat base, because I completely blanked, and I need to figure out what I need for my breast pump. Sigh. We went home to drop off the stuff and discovered our baby book had arrived! We peeked through it and am so excited to start writing in it!

Then we made the trek into Burbank, because we had free movie passes, to see Neighbors. It's with Seth Rogan and Zac Effron. Honestly I thought it was pretty good, considering I am not big on comedic movies (they all seem to have the same jokes) and it was just nice to laugh and have some alone time with my love. Also the big bucket of popcorn, that we ate about a third of, didn't hurt either. Haha. We made our way back home and my lower back just really started to hurt. Once home it got progressively worse, a constant ache in my sciatica. I went upstairs to lie on a heating pad and proceeded to Google "low back pain in the third trimester." This brought up mixed reviews about whether or not it was labor or just back pain so of course I get to thinking that it's labor. I tell Darin that I'm not feeling contractions, but that this could be the start of it. He tells me to stay put, but that he's going to finish our hospital bags. Hehe. We packed everything that could be packed and within two hours of the heating pad my back felt 100% better. It's also nice to know that the bags are packed and ready to go.....who else sang "I'm leaving on a jet plane" after that? The whole incident got me a little scared that we weren't ready and left me feeling uneasy. I need to start mentally preparing myself that this can happen at ANY time.

Sunday. We actually slept in! Well sort of. I lied in bed from 7:30 to about 8:30 and asked D if he wanted french toast for breakfast. He of course said yes and I made it with this amazing cinnamon bread that we had in the house. It was yummo! Then I preceded to take some photos so I can schedule some blog posts coming up! Afterwards we went into full get ready for Emma mode. We put together her swing, bouncer and set up the pack n play in the guest room for a downstairs changing/napping station. Then we did a full scrub down of our bedroom and bathroom and put a waterproof mattress pad on the bed, just in case. We then relaxed for a bit and watched Pitch Perfect for the first time, super cute, and then D washed the other car and I blogged a bit. We ended our evening with a nice long walk with the puppero. 

It was a full and busy weekend but we both feel so much better about having everything ready to go. We can just relax and mentally prepare for her to come. I'm going to finish reading "The Happiest Baby on the Block" and also start writing in her baby book! We also need to assemble her diaper bag. Still things to do, but mostly just relaxing! Whew!

Bumpdate - 37 Weeks "Early Term" (HD 3D Ultrasound)

What's baby up to this week? She is the size of a bunch of Swiss chard (I mean seriously now! sometimes these veggies are just ridiculous!), measuring over 19" long and weighs 6 1/3 pounds. We are what is called "Early Term" now. Spending the next two weeks in my womb allows for her brain and lungs to fully mature. Everything was great at my doctors appointment and she is still head down with a heartbeat in the 140s per her usual. We actually had two ultrasounds in week 36. Our second one was done by our neighbor, who specializes in high risk and 1st trimester screenings. It was unbelievable the things we could see with his high tech equipment. Completely jaw dropping. See below some of the images. Based on his measurements though he thinks she's staying put until July 11th.

 
What's been going on with mom? Still fighting with the battle of sleep. I missed the whole pee break thing in the first trimester, so I guess we make up for it now. People keep asking me if I am ready to meet this little one.....yes and no. I am ready to see her beautiful face in person, rather than in an ultrasound, but we are not organized in the least for her to come! We washed her clothes and picked out her coming home outfit....bow and all....but we still have lots to put away, including the gigantic pile of diapers! I started my labor bag also, and just need to finish things! The hubby and I are planning a relaxing us weekend where we do all the things that we wont be able to do when she makes her grand arrival. Mani/Pedi's for me/Pedi for him, going out to eat, sleep in (HA!), see a movie (any recommendations?) etc. As far as my health for the doctor appointment. I had the lovely swab for Group B Strep Infection: GBS and he also checked my cervix! What a lovely exam that was! JEEZ. A little warning next time would have been helpful. I was not expecting that! I guess things are progressing a little because I was 1cm dilated and about 50% effaced. So there's some good news. I have been feeling "pressure" and random pains (that I associated with her movements) but I guess those are braxton hicks! I have been paranoid about pre-eclampsia this whole time, but my blood pressure, urine and everything else has been great! Whew. Also the weight gain isn't as much anymore! Thank goodness. We have stepped up the walking again in order to get things rolling.

Symptoms: Exhaustion, heartburn, acne, emotional, hip cramps, braxton hicks and swelling; fingers, ankles and feet!

Yummy/Icky: ICE COLD water, same as the last couple of weeks. Anything sweet....be it treats or fruit.

Clothing: Maternity......but wearing lots of skirts and dresses....trying to get away with flip flops at work as much as I can.

Movement: Definitely movements are more prevalent more of the day, although mostly just rolling around as opposed to kicking, but I love to watch my belly dance around. She loves to wiggle her head on my bladder. Trying to focus on kick counts twice a day, but I don't always use the app to time them. I just make sure she move at least 10 times several times a day.

Belly Button In/Out: Belly divot.....although its ALMOST flat. It's really weird to look at.

Wedding Rings On/Off: Off and on a chain around my neck.

Best Moment this Week: Picking out her going home outfit!

Looking forward to: Finishing going through all of Emma's stuff, packing her diaper bag and having our mommy and daddy weekend. So many things to come!

Only 3 more chalkboards left to do. The countdown is on!

Bumpdate - 36 Weeks

 
What's baby up to this week? She is the size of a head of romaine lettuce, measuring 18.5" long and weighs almost 6 pounds. She's packing on the pounds, about an ounce a day. She's shedding the downy hair as well as the vernix caseosa. She will swallow these substances, along with other secretions, and they form a tar like substance called meconium, which she will pass in her first bowel movements. We had an ultrasound on Wednesday, and the tech took all her pertinent measurements. She said she weighed around 5 pounds 11 OZs and in the next four weeks will probably gain another two pounds. According to her measurements baby girl is due exactly on her due date 7-5-14. She is head down (YAY!) and will probably stay that way! Thank goodness!

What's been going on with mom? EXHAUSTED! I cannot even begin to tell you how much I miss sleeping through the night. I have avoided the nightly pee breaks thusfar, but I think they have caught up with me. I have been awoken at 3am to use the potty every night. Damn! I was hoping to bypass this. We moved some things into the room, like her co-sleeper and bookcase along with tearing down the diaper cakes and putting them into baskets. We took another load to storage and everything that we have in the house is for a newborn baby. We washed blankets, towels and washcloths....and started to pack the labor bag. Things are slowly coming along over here, but we still have lots to do. I have had a little pressure down below a couple of times, but mostly its baby girl just moving around.

Symptoms: Exhaustion, heartburn, acne, emotional, hip cramps, braxton hicks and swelling; fingers, ankles and feet!

 
Yummy/Icky: Still loving me some ICE COLD water. Honestly....I want it to be almost to the freezing point! Ice cream is really yummy right now too!

Clothing: Almost entirely maternity......wearing lots of skirts and dresses....trying to get away with flip flops at work as much as I can

Movement: Definitely movements are more prevalent more of the day, although mostly just rolling around as opposed to kicking, but I love to watch my belly dance around. She loves to wiggle her head on my bladder.

Belly Button In/Out: Belly divot, and getting smaller.

Wedding Rings On/Off: Officially off. :-( I retired them to a chain because they got really difficult to remove.

Best Moment this Week: Finding a day during the week to relax and do nothing! I lounged and watched Orange is the New Black for most of the day on Saturday, and look forward to doing so again!

Looking forward to: Finishing going through all of Emma's stuff, packing her diaper bag and choosing a going home outfit, So many things to come!

Only 4 more chalkboards left to do, unless she decides to make an early appearance.....which seems unlikely by my ultrasounds! ;-)