36 Weeks

36 weeks is another milestone that I have been counting down toward.   The risks involved with a delivery at 36+ weeks are much lower than even a week before and Bug only has to hang on for another week to be considered full term.  Only four more weeks until she's due and I'm starting to get nervous, excited, panicky, you name it.

I realized about a week ago that I hadn't been scheduled for an appointment between 31 and almost 38 weeks.  Since I've been seeing my doctor like clockwork every 4 weeks, I thought something was amiss.  Realizing that a strep B culture is supposed to take place between 35 and 37 weeks, I decided to call my doctor's office.  After almost an hour on the phone, I convinced the confused receptionist that a January 3rd appointment would not be between my 35th and 37th week of pregnancy, she scheduled me for an appointment on Friday, a day shy of the 36 week mark.

Despite my husbands requests to "make sure I asked for pictures", the appointment was mostly routine except that:

• Doc says Bug is head down.  She figured this out when she feeling my cervix for dilation.  Note to the ladies..... don't mention to your husband that the doctor can feel the baby's head through your va-jay-jay.  This may not bode well for your chances of getting lucky that evening.
• Doc checked my cervix for the first time since my 8 week appointment.  Its not an entirely fun experience, but she warned me that it would be TERRIBLE, and it wasn't as bad as she made it out to be.
• The strep test was the least fun.  Mostly because I didn't read the fine print that Doc needs to swab your vagina and around your anus.  Not so comfy.

Other highlights of this week:

• Friday was my last day of work for two weeks.  Though I will be spending the next two weeks re-writing my lesson plans (thanks to the fact  that my sub freaked out when I mentioned that she might have to do a few labs with the kids), I'm on winter break
• DH had the house cleaned from top to bottom and all of the dishes done when I got home from my appointment on Friday.  Consequently, we will likely stay married for another week.
• I spent all day yesterday making tamales with my crazy family  and lived to tell the tale. 
• Feeling more and more Braxton Hicks and hiccups are at least a twice a day event.  I do not enjoy hiccups when I have them, and enjoy them even less than she does.

I started thinking about when might actually come.  I'm hoping for January 11th, so then her birthday will be 1/11/11.  DH is hoping for December 31st for the tax break. 

Sisters

I was never one of those kids who begged their parents for a baby brother or sister.  In fact, I was pretty happy with my parents all to myself and was a little pissed off when they came around.

Being the big sister sucks.  I got in trouble all the time for not being a good enough big sister because I was much more content to be alone than playing with the two of them.  They are two years apart, and have always been very close, and they banded together to make my youth a living hell.  They'd steal my stuff and, more often than not, return it broken or not at all.  They'd wake me up early, not caring that I liked to sleep in, and pull my eyes open by my eyelashes.  They'd whine to my parents how unfair it was that I got to do things that they didn't get to do and, because of my baby sisters superior powers of persuasion, they got to do most of they got to do all the things I'd waited so long to do shorty thereafter. 

When we were really young, my parents had the brilliant idea to have all of us sleep in the same room.  The baby, probably about 3 at this point, was in a small toddler bed between me and my middle sister.  More frequently than I really care to remember, rather than having an accident in her own bed, baby sister would move from her sleeping space to the foot of my own to relieve herself.  This atrocity was only topped by the time middle sister pooped in the tub with me in it.

Now that I am "with Bug", they are finally paying me back for all the pain they caused.  This is the card they got me for my baby shower.

And I know they will.

Already baby sis has used her nanny expertise to "help me" with my registry... and by help me I mean request my password and remove everything she thought was crap and exchanging it for something better.  I'd be annoyed but she also has been collecting good from her clients that have included 2 bjorns (though as you've seen below, we're also getting an ergo), 2 swings (so that I don't have to drag one up and down the stairs), an arms reach cosleeper, a snap and go stroller frame, and a crib, all in almost new condition.

Knowing I was freaking out about having to put Bug in daycare so young (since I'll be returning to work in late March), baby sis also polled my entire family to see when they'd be able to come and watch her for the day, or even a week, and made a schedule so that there is someone watching her, at our house, until school lets out at the end of May and I'm back home.  9 weeks of FREE daycare from the people I trust most.

For those 9 weeks, middle sister switched her work schedule so that she'll have Wednesday, Thursday and Fridays off to watch Bug.  She won't have a day off for 9 weeks.

Right about now, they are more than making up for the pain they put me through.  I'm feeling very lucky to have sisters

35 Weeks ~ Crunch time

I have been feeling very relaxed for the last few weeks up my pregnancy.  Last weekend was my baby shower, which did so much to help me feel like we are prepared for this baby.  I went to Target and got the last few essentials that I felt like just in case she fell out early. (BTW, you may notice that I have and will continue to refer to giving birth as "when the baby falls out".  I'm hoping it will be a self fulfilling prophecy.)

However, yesterday I logged into the Bump and saw that I only have 35 days left.  5 weeks sounds like a lot more than 35 days in my crazy pregnant mind.  I also realized that Bug will be full term in only 2 more weeks.  It still doesn't feel real and I really can't imagine that we will have a baby so soon. 

I am now, as I have been throughout my pregnancy, counting the days until the next milestone that will give her the best chance of doing well at birth.  At this point, days make a huge difference in how well she'll survive outside of the whom.  So although I'm looking forward to meeting Bug, I'd like her to do more cooking.

I'm so close to the end of my pregnancy that, due to the timing, I really only have to work for another week.  I wanted to be a teacher, in part, because it gives me plenty of breaks for mommy time and that thought is paying off big time now.  I have one more week until we are off for two weeks (hooray for winter break).  When we return its only two weeks until my due date, and 10 weeks until we are off for Spring Break (another two weeks off, love this schedule).  I'm planning on going back after the break, but preparing for not going back. 

That means, crunch time.  This is the stack of paperwork I need to get through before going to work tomorrow.

On top of that, I have 10 weeks of lesson plans to write by Thursday when I meet with my sub. 

It doesn't help that I've been feeling pretty crappy this weekend.  I feel dehydrated, a little dizzy and nauseous and physically exhausted.  I haven't been taking great care of myself and have been eating out ALOT  because well, see for yourself....

Pardon the crappy camera phone pics, but I'm two lazy to take/download pictures with my actual camera right now. 

Swollen doesn't even begin to describe my ankles and feet.  I thought swelling would be an annoyance, but its actually pretty painful.  The skin is stretched so tight that it feels like its going to rip. 

I also have baby brain, bad.  I don't want to think about anything except getting ready for the baby, which is why I'm blogging and not working right now. 

Did I mention I have a yoga and newborn care class that I'm supposed to be going to this week, too?  I just need to get through this week, and life will be a whole lot easier.

Mommy and Daddy Never Agree ~ Breastfeeding

DH and I discovered very early on in our relationship that we are polar opposites.  He's clean, I'm messy.  He's organized, I'm chaotic.  He's conservative, I'm anything but.  However, we have somehow managed to always find a way to get to a middle ground and come to terms we both can live with.  (ie, there will be no discussion of politics unless someone really wants to sleep in the guest bedroom)  Why should anything about raising this child together be different?

Take breastfeeding.  I just assumed this is something we would do and didn't even really discuss it with DH because I assumed he felt the same way.  Why wouldn't he? 

I should start by saying that DH is 12 years older than me, and his mother is no longer with us, so the ideas that he has about how he was raised and the things his parents did are completely from his memory.  Based on when he was born and from what he remembers about his family, his mother didn't breastfeed and the idea seemed a little weird to him.  He didn't know the benefits and in his own internet research, he learned from who-knows-where, that there are no benefits to breastfeeding over formula feeding... what?!?!?!   Where he found this, I don't know.

My OB recommended a list of more reliable internet resources for him to look up the benefits of breastfeeding, and after looking them up, he decided he was on board.  Until I registered for a breast pump.

"Why do you need that?" 
"So can still breastfeed when I go to work." Duh!
"You're still going to breastfeed when you're working?"

Really?!?!

He hasn't been unsupportive in any way, but every time we talk about it, it is obvious that we are coming from two very different directions.  When we talked about how long, he'd only pictured that I'd do it until I went back to work and the idea that you can send breastmilk to daycare completely baffled him.

Please remind me to keep breathing!
 

Safety 1st Pro Grade Lever Handle Lock: Nesting and Pregnant Brain Prove to Be a Poor Match

I have been in full on nesting mode for weeks now.  Since I've been less than helpful around the house, I haven't wanted to bug DH with projects I think I can do myself.  So far, it hasn't gone well.

The latest snafu happened after I started hearing strange noises coming from down the hall.  It was kind of a thump THUMP boing that was happening over and over again.  Since it was past my new pregnant lady bedtime (8:00 pm... yep, it's sad), I didn't feel like getting up and let it go.  After awhile it stopped, so I didn't worry about it.

The next morning, the door to Bug's bedroom, which is always closed was wide open.  This is what I found.

Apparently what I'd been hearing was repeated attempts by these two to open the door.  Stupid lever door handles.  Good thing I got Bug's co-sleeper set up and ready to go.  BTW, this is before they noticed that I was there.  As soon as they did, they avoided eye contact, acting like I'd caught them in the act.  Since then, I've caught George (the striped one) spooning that ladybug pillow pet on several occassions.

Because they have become quite good at working together to get the door open and since my biggest baby fear is that one of these ding-dongs is going to spoon Bug and suffocate her, I decided it was time to do some baby proofing.  With a little bit of research, and a trip to target,  decided to go with the Safety 1st Pro Grade Lever Handle Lock.  Should have read the reviews a little better.

Like I said, my projects have not been going well but the installation seemed pretty idiot proof, so WTH.  I was very proud to have done a fantastic job of installing... see.. look!

That's exactly what I told DH when he came upstairs to see what I was doing, and decided to test my work by shutting the door.  I'm sure you see where this is going.

Of course, it didn't shut because it ran directly into the door frame.  Had I installed this on the other side of the door, it would have worked fine, but would have been completely ineffective in doing anything other than locking myself into the baby's room.

DH helped me take it off and informed me that he prefer that I consult him before starting any more projects.

My next one will be finding the right color white paint to match the door.  

Baby Carriers

When we were registering for our baby shower, DH looked completely and totally overwhelmed by Babies R Us.  I've never seen him look so confused as we walked through, aisle by aisle as I tried to explain to him what all the stuff was for and why we might need it.  Not that I had any idea, but I did a great job of faking it.

We finally got to baby carriers and when he saw this Bjorn he commented on how cool it looked.  Since this was the first thing I'd heard from him since we'd entered the store, I decided we were getting this damn baby carrier no matter what. 

Had I seen this video, I may have reconsidered.  Hindsight is 20/20.  Please note how everyone in the video is wearing black, red and white.  Now, for your viewing pleasure... a youtube video illustrating the amazing things you can do with this baby carrier.



Yesterday was our shower, and WOOHOOH, DH got the one thing he asked for!  He was once again overwhelmed by the massive amount of baby crap strewn around our house so I suggested that he try it on.
Mistake.

DH is 6'1 and not a tiny man.  While we were able to extend the straps enough to get it closed around him, he looked like Chris Farley in Tommy Boy doing "Fat Guy in a Little Coat" .  He voluntered to starve himself until the baby gets here, but in all honesty it isn't that he's too fat, he's just too big.  It sits in a very uncomfortably on his ribs.  No good.  Many customers also complain that it causes back pain and a sweaty baby.  (And in all fairness there are a lot of great reviews)

Possible solutions:

• Extenders for the Bjorn.  So far, haven't found anything but mentions of these.
• The Ergo.  Ergo seems  like it might do the trick.  It looks like it will fit lower on the waist and they offer a waist extension for $8 on amazon.  DH mentioned that this one doesn't look as cool.
• Sleepy Wrap. I ordered one of these for me because my sister raved about them.  You can also use them for breastfeeding.  It is highly adjustable, and based on my research it looks like this is something that has worked for a lot of new parents who aren't so small.  Mine is on its way, and I'll let you know more when I get it.

What do you think?   Any advise on getting a properly fitting carrier for DH?

UPDATE:

The sleepy wrap is working well for DH, but he doesn't really carry the baby much yet.  The Ergo will work with an extender, so we are going to get one for the spring when we are out and about more.

What I'm Thankful For

This is a little belated (Thanksgiving was yesterday), but I have so much to be Thankful for this holiday season.

I am thankful for:

• My Amazing Husband.  I never pictured how the stress of pregancy could potentially affect our relationship.  I have, at more times that I am proud of, been a completely controlling maniacal emotional wreck, and somehow, this man still continues to love me.  He tells me I'm beautiful even though I'm gigantic.  He works hard to make me feel good and stays by my side even when I am crying hysterically for no apparent reason.  And just yesterday, while we were making the 2+ hour drive to my mom's for dinner, he grabbed my hand and told me how happy he was to be married to me.  It has been hard being pregnant and newly married, but I can't imagine going through any of this without him.
• My health and fertility.  I joke A LOT about how we never planned on getting pregnant this quickly and having a little less time to prep for Bug has been terrifying at times.  But I know so many people who have had trouble TTC and I feel incredibly lucky to be in this position.
• My family.  They drive me nuts.  They are over involved.  They take over every situation.  And they are completely and totally supportive and wonderful.  They have even worked out a schedule to watch Bug between the time my maternity leave ends and summer break begins so that we don't have to put her into daycare.
• Our pets.  There is nothing better than coming home to a house full of fluffies after a crappy day.

What are you thankful for?