38 Weeks!

Yesterday I went for a really long walk -- an hour and half! I had to have gone at least 2 or 3 miles, maybe even 4! I want to take the car and retrace my route so I can see how far I actually went. The walk went good except for the hill I had to climb. Wowie. That was intense. There are so many hills around here. The only bad part was all of the puddles that I had to maneuver around. There was no way to get around one except to hop it and I was obviously overly optimistic about that. It should've been apparent to me BEFORE I tried jumping that my belly would just be a big weigh down, but nope. I ended up landing smack dab in the middle of the puddle and making a really huge splash. I felt like such a doof. To anybody who had been watching it must've looked like I deliberately tried to jump into the puddle, just based on where I landed. I didn't even clear the 3 1/2 foot puddle! How embarassing. I had a good foot and a half to go. Not only did I feel like a huge dork but I ended up with sopping wet socks and shoes anyways!

I really felt my belly tightening up throughout the walk. That's a good thing, though! About 20 min left to go on my walk I just got poopered out. I tried calling Sam to see if he was on his way home from the movie yet in hopes that maybe he could pick my tired buns up. No such luck. I got home and then made some Kung Pao Chicken dinner stuff! It was delicious.

Got a good night's sleep last night. Went to bed around 12.30 and woke up this morning at about 9.30ish. I kept getting awakened by my stomach tightening up though, the "practice contractions", only they were alot stronger and closer together than usual. I was hopeful for a little bit and thought maybe I was starting labor! But no. I woke up today and they've just been sporadic. Nothing that even resembles a pattern so I'm thinking it was just prodromal contractions, the ones that help get the cervix ready before you actually START labor. So.... hmph. I was all excited. I'm just waiting. I have been getting some pretty bad headaches the last few days and they all usually start around noon. I don't know what that's about. Maybe extra hormones or something. But it sucks. Tylenol doesn't help. So I'm just trying to relax and stay occupied.

37 Weeks + 6 days.......heartburn

Ugh. I thought this whole heartburn phase was over with! Just when things were getting better. Not as many leg cramps, my ribs/lungs quit hurting, and the heartburn was gone. Psych! It's back. I went to bed early at 10.15. Woke up a little before midnight to that familiar burning sensation and gross taste in my mouth. Reflux, or whatever. Yucky. and it's now 4.19 and i'm still awake. I wish I had some Tums. I tried a glass of milk. I tried cottage cheese. I even tried an apple and that usually helps; nothin'! I did lay back down for about an hour but I never actually fell asleep. I started cleaning the apartment. But then I got pooped. Now I'm relaxing on the couch. Hopefully I'll be able to get back to bed soon. But laying down doesn't help heartburn. It makes it worse because more "stuff" comes back up so I'm trying to stay upright. Rrrrr...... not too much longer of this though! I hope....

5:53 Laundry

Actually I put the laundry in at 5. I woke up at 4:40. Made a pb&j on toast and then put on some track pants and my tennies and went to the laundry room. I had the last couple of things to wash for baby: my nursing pillow cover, hospital sleeper gown, slippers, some onesies, and his over-alls outfit. Then I walked the hallways for 30 min and came back to the apartment to stretch a little bit on the exercise ball and take a breather! I'm going to head down to the apartment common rooms sometime today whenever they decide to open it up. I'm going to go on the treadmill for a long time. My poor fingers though, they get so swollen from walking! Whenever I straighten them out they turn bright white because they're so full of water. I'm surprised my fingers didn't get stretch marks!!! :) haha. But I think that would be highly unlikely. They're crazy looking though. I can't wait to be able to fit my rings back on! Before I was unable to wear them anymore, I could still keep one ring on. It used to fit my ring finger, but, in the last couple days before I took it off and retired it to my jewelry box until after I have the baby, I could barely squeeze it off of my pinky! Well. Back to the laundry room. I have a feeling I'm going to accomplish a bunch today.... well until about 1 p.m. when I crash.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

37 Weeks + 5 days

Walkin'

I like my glasses. They're really cute. I am glad they came. I walked the apartment halls for 30 min. Hopefully nobody noticed me, they probably think I'm a nutso! But it's ok. Unless somebody's looking out their peephole like, "Oh my. That girl's gone by 3 times already." I think they'll just assume I'm going to an apartment or something. By the time I get to my door my legs are exhausted and I can really feel the pressure on my pelvis. I generally have about 3 contractions every time I walk now, so I'm hoping that's a good thing =D It makes me encouraged when I get them. If I didn't get so breathless I could walk more. I want to go again tonight. But right now I'm going to hit the hay. I'm exhausted. I was falling asleep in the chair. But that just means I'll wake up around 3 a.m. wide awake. That sounds like a good time to continue my hall walk. Maybe I'll even throw my laundry in! Who knows. I'm usually ambitious when I wake up around that time. And I'm hoping he comes any day now! So exciting. Scary, but exciting.

Glasses

I'm officially relieved. My glasses came in today! I was worried they weren't going to be here before I went into labor. Thank God they're here. Sometimes you can't wear contacts or women have problems with contacts during labor and then they only allow glasses. Being blind and going through labor would suck.... These are the first glasses that have been a different style since the end of my freshman year of high school. It was traumatizing picking out a new pair! They stopped making the other frames that I loved that I just kept getting. Those frames finally snapped. Which I guess isn't so bad. I'd had those particular frames for 3 years and they ARE only plastic. These new frames are black with a little white. They're kind of chunky and bigger than my other frames, but oh well. I like them enough. Hopefully I can get used to them! I'm excited to see how they look. I am picking them up in a little bit. Woohoo. It's such a relief, but it's also scary because that means that d-day is getting closer! Where's the jeopardy music when I need it? It should continually be playing for my life right now because that's what I feel like =)

***************************************************************************
37 weeks+4 days

Anxious

I feel like the kid in the back of the car on one of those long trips saying, "Are we there yet?" Ugh! I just want it to be now. I am sick of waiting! I just want him to be here already. I never thought I'd get to the point where I was so anxious and so ready, but I'm definitely there! Just like I never thought I'd get to the point where all I would want to wear was sweatpants. 4 months pregnant and I was convinced that I would be able to live in my trendy maternity jeans the day until delivery. Not. I also never imagined I would get to the point where I would trade my stylish, outfit-matching slip ons for some old, dilapitated tennies from sophomore year. Then again, this shouldn't come as a surprise considering this entire last year has been full of them!

The last week or so I've been getting really down and stressed with how I'm ever going to manage being a single mom. Especially with finishing school and having Sam gone in the AirForce. I wasn't sure what was going to happen. So I just have been praying about it. Well, today I got 2 letters in the mail. One from my grandmother and one from my aunt. They were exactly what they needed and it was so ironic that they came on the same day. My aunt is a single mom and she basically just wrote that we never get more on our plate than we can handle and so somebody must think we're able to handle alot and that's why we're given the challenge. My grandma's card was equally as perfect fitting for the situation and how I've been feeling. It said that God never gave us more than we can handle. They made me smile and I felt reassured. My grandma also wrote a letter on the inside of the card. One of the lines she put in there I think will stick with me for the rest of my life, "God never wastes time on anything - every experience He allows to come our way - every thing we go through - all things have a divine purpose." I really like that quote; it's so true.

******************************************************
37 weeks + 4 days

M.I.A. Ankles

I was such a crab yesterday. Whoa. Talk about hormonal, mood-swinging, grumpiness! Yikers. I just wish I would realize how grumpy I was being when I was in the act. See, but then when it's happening I'm just telling myself, "No. I'm not crabby. This is completely legitimate." And then I get to the next day and feel like... yeahhhh..... nice. So.... sorry Sam! I was probably a bear yesterday.

Anywho. I actually got to sleep in my bed last night! Very exciting. It was the first time in over a week because I've been having that lung pain. Except that I had to make myself go back to bed at around 3 a.m. because I wanted to get up and do stuff. But, I knew that wasn't a good idea because I've been sleeping so poorly and I had an appointment today and I didn't want to be tired. Woke up this morning, though, and guess what pulled a magic trick and disappeared? MY ANKLES! They're completely gone. Here's a slight analogy; pretend my ankles were previously mountains. Mt. Everst, let's say. They're now more like.... rolling hills. You know, the tiny ones that you barely even notice? It's like playing I Spy when you're looking for my ankles. The only shoes that fit me now are these stretchy tennies I've had since sophomore year. Boy I'm glad I kept them because they're so comfy & amazing!

Appointment overview : The midwife I had today (Margo) was the one I had spoken with over the phone on Thursday night. My ultrasound from Thursday and the test results had been faxed over to the Marshfield Clinic so she got a chance to look at them. She apologized....and good! She should've because she was ridiculous that night. The results showed that my gallbladder actually WAS slightly inflamed (the radiologist on call that night had missed it.... nice, huh?) and that I did have pleurisy. I called it! The tissue was all swollen between my lung and rib area which was causing the pain. She even asked and double checked that I didn't need a refill on my painkillers because she said she can't imagine how painful it was. Well, she's right. haha. But I didn't take any. I don't want them unless I absolutely need them, and it's been getting a little better. Baby's doing great! I gained 4 lbs in water weight.... ugh. Where the hell is the weight stabilization? grrr.... You can definitely tell. I feel like I'm sloshing around when I walk and that's the reason for my sausage fingers and M.I.A. ankles. But he's growing, too. My fundus height (uterine growth) is 41 cm this week. Ahhhh!!! Big baby on the way. I'm only 37 weeks, so his growth really shot up there. If he doesn't come within the next week they're 95% sure they'll have to induce me, otherwise he'll be too big and I'll end up with a C-section... which I don't want. His heartbeat was 151 bpm's which is perfect! Normal is anywhere between 120&160 and he was moving around so 151 was great. It was cute, when she put the doppler on my belly to listen to his heartbeat I don't think he liked it because he kicked it right off =) What a lil stinker. I'm getting so excited for him to get here. My mind is racing when I go to bed and it's getting harder for me to sleep. I just want to be able to see him and play with him. Mmm.... I can't wait! I have baby mania.

Vlogs & Walks

I did my 37 week Vlog. It only took me 4 tries to get it started right. I hated the beginnings of the other ones. I just wasn't feeling it to start out with. Ummm mum mum. Just kind of chilling. I am breathing much easier which is so nice. I think just resting today really made a difference. I am going to go walk the apartment halls in a couple of minutes, though. I have to get some exercise today! Plus I want this baby so I gotta get my buns movin' so he drops even more. I think he dropped just since yesterday. I can feel the difference when I'm standing and stuff. It feels like there's a gigantic bowling ball between my legs that's just going to drop out at any time. Kind of disconcerting at times. Hm, not much else to report! I've just been making more frequent trips to his room and looking through his clothes and getting more excited. Making up reasons to go in there; such as organizing rubber ducks. hehe. It's fun.

Whoopie!!

After sitting up and sleeping last night, I actually got to lie on my side!! So exciting! I didn't even need to take any painkillers or anything before bedtime. Hopefully this is a good sign =) I'm really liking it.

Lullaby & Goodnight

Just finished burning baby lullabies and stuff to a CD for him! I downloaded the Fisher Price lullaby soundtrack and a couple extras. No words, though. Very relaxing. I have the songs on my cell phone (which doubles as my Mp3 player) and I put the phone on my belly and play them. They say that babies can hear them and if you put the music on before you go to sleep, they'll associate those songs with bedtime. Hopefully it works! Maybe whenever he hears "Twinkle, Twinkle" he'll stop crying and just zonk out? I can only hope it will be that easy....

Baby Shopping

My mom and my brother came up to visit! It was a really nice time. I finally got the Stuffed Crust Pizza Hut pizza I've been wanting for about 2 months. It was heavenly. Mmmm.... Yesterday, she and I went baby shopping around Eau Claire. I needed to get him some newborn socks so we stopped at a place called Savers. It's basically like a Goodwill..... only it's nicer. I figured we should check there first for some socks because at WalMart & Target the cheap socks are $7.99 for 6 pair & some were $5.99 for 3 pair! They have a large bag of 12 pair of socks that say 0-6 months, but there's no way they would stay on his tiny feet right away; they were way too big! The socks at Savers were .49 cents a pair! 2 of the pairs were completely brand new and still in packaging and the other ones looked like they'd barely been worn. Well, really? How do babies wear out socks. They only wear them a few times before they grow out of them and it's not like they're walking around and wearing them out or anything. So I wasn't too worried about used baby socks. Besides, we got all different kinds and they're so cute! 9 pair came out to be around $4.50. Also found him a pair of new fleece slippers there for $1.99 and some tiny little baby tennies to wear with his track outfit. Super cute! Then we also got a Boppy Nursing Pillow while we were uptown. I am not especially fond of the cover it came with but it was on sale so I'll just pick up a plain blue one. I figured I'll probably want to have 2 covers anyways in case one gets dirty, then I can just slip the other one on without having to worry about getting it washed right away.

Today we made another baby run. Went to Walgreens & WalMart. Walgreens had this breastfeeding lotion stuff on sale. It's for dry cracked skin, etc. That's the part I'm almost half dreading is the first few days when I'll be really sore! Got Christopher some cute little handmits. Dark blue, light blue, and white with little dinosaurs. They all came together otherwise I'd have skipped the dinosaur ones. haha. His grandma (my mom) bought him a swing! It's adorable. It's a portable swing that is close to the ground and doesn't have the traditional hard back. The chair is bouncy seat material (really soft & full) and it's for newborns because when you put them in there, their head automatically sinks into the material so it creates head support. I love it. There's a removable mobile. It has 5 speeds and 7 songs. It's so nice! I love that it folds up really small and it's also close to the ground. We are going to get alot of use out of it! Also got 3 small baby bottles (which I already sterilized) and an oil candle warmer. I know. It's not really baby related but it's going in his room because it smells so delicious! My dad is making curtains for the baby's window; well, he PERSONALLY isn't making them himself. haha. That would be comical, but he's "overseeing" their production. =) He cracks me up. He's such a project guy.