Sunday, January 27, 2013

33 Weeks

This week had a lot of downs and ups.

The week started with Adam's grandmother's funeral, which was sad, but understandable since she was 96. Then I get back to work and find out that my coworker's mom died unexpectantly (heart-attack or stroke). And then, the hardest part of all, was finding out that my friend Erin's college roommate Anna died tragically when she had a seizure while taking a bath. I was never really close to Anna, but I hung out with her a lot in college and after. She was hilarious, always a good time, so fun, and so generous. Several times, she let me borrow her [beautiful] heels to go out in, which I thought was the nicest thing ever.

With all those sad things this week, we were relieved on Friday morning during our second anatomy scan to find out we have a healthy baby! More details (and pictures) from the 2nd scan here.

This week also had the accomplishment of checking several things off our "baby prep" list:

  • Pediatrician - check! I searched our insurance website for pediatricians close to our house, setup interview appointments, and found one we LOVED - lots of parking, new facility, evening / weekend hours, same-day sick visits, a receptionist who picks up a phone (no automated machine - "press 0 if you'd like to go Office-Space-crazy on this machine"), the doctor we met with (see a list of recommended questions/observations here and here), AND the rave review from another woman in my aqua-aerobics class (another reason to be in preggo classes- recommendations!).
  • Pre-register at the hospital - check!
  • Pre-register with anesthesiologist at hospital (in case of epidural/c-section/etc) - check!
  • Buy paper products for post-birth - check! This was a suggestion online to stock up on paper products so you don't have to worry about doing dishes, etc. Yes, we have a dishwasher, but that requires loading, running, emptying... I know, I know, that sounds SOOOO time-consuming, but oddly enough, getting Adam to do those 3 steps is as difficult as getting him to vacuum. So I figure, save those 3 steps and get paper products for the first few weeks.

We had our last birthing class this week. I highly recommend that any first-time mom takes a birthing class from their hospital (or, any woman who hasn't given birth in a long time - one woman in our class gave birth over a decade ago and was shocked at how much changed!). It's not all yoga breathing exercises like in the movies; it's logistics, procedures, explanations and - my favorite - details about what your hospital does or does not do/allow (i.e.: our hospital does not let you leave without a pediatrician). Obviously, not having gone through birth yet, I don't know how much I'll retain, but the classes helped ease my nerves for the upcoming experience. Some people, like my sister-in-law, said she didn't want a birth class because she didn't want to set expectations; I totally get that, and so birthing classes may not be for everyone, but my super-planner personality loved it.

Also, on a really random note, I have to mention this crazy vivid dream I had. Normally, I do not dream about the baby, which seems odd, but I also never dreamt about my wedding prior to it like many women do (I had nightmares AFTER the wedding - how random?). Well, this week I had a very vivid dream about him. In my dream, I gave birth and then went into a very deep coma and didn't wake up for 6 months. When I woke up, I was upset that I missed the first 6 months of my baby's life and was crying and crying and the baby was smiling because he finally got to meet his mommy. So weird.

Baby size: From our 2nd anatomy scan, Baby Cole officially weighs 4.14 lbs. The websites say this is the size of a Durian Fruit. I actually googled this one, and it looks both unappetizing and frightening.

It's a... BOY! (and we have the wiener picture to prove it!)

Total weight gain: 26-27 lbs, which is a total guess because I forgot to weigh myself either morning this weekend, so I'm assuming I've gained a pound or two max from last week.

Maternity Clothes: Still fitting! (for now). I've switched to a lot of short-sleeve shirts (from my sister-in-law's summer pregnancy), not due to weather (still mid/low 20s), but my internal heat as been turned up and I boil very quickly now.

Sleep: Off and on. Best nights this week (Sun/Mon/Fri), I woke up 3-4 times to pee/rearrange and fell right back to sleep (glorious!). Other nights (Tues/Wed/Thurs/Sat), I took forever to get to sleep, woke up for hours in the middle of the night, etc. Ugh.

Cravings: Juice/water

Anything make me sick? Nada

Pregnancy Symptoms of the Week: (Warning: tmi ahead! Not for the easily embarrassed!) A lot of pelvic/vagina pain, ranging from sharp stabbing pains (thanks to the baby pinching my nerves) to dull achy pain. For the dull ache, it's not like a PMS ache, but instead it feels like you just had really rough sex, which would be GREAT if you actually did, but rough-sex-pain without said rough sex is just annoying. I read that women can start dialating as early as 32 weeks, so I'm pretending that I'm just dialating early. The doctor hasn't done any internal exams yet (that starts later), so until the doctor tells me I haven't dialated, I'm going to pretend that the vagina pain is me dialating and it's all in preparation to have the baby (because, let's face it, productive pain is a lot easier to handle than annoying pain). So there!

What I miss: Sleep, my normal clothes, and NOT feeling like a gigantic heffer

Movement: Little sporadic kicks/bumps have been replaced with rolling - and CONSTANT rolling. This is the ONE part of pregnancy that has gotten better with time - I love feeling his little body roll around in there and watching his movements on my belly. It feels more and more real every time. Occasionally, he'll kick at something he's not supposed to (like my bladder), but generally he's well-behaved. :)

Embarrassing Cry of the Week: When I couldn't put air in my tires. It was so cold out and my big belly kept getting in the way, and in my efforts, I ended up letting out more air than I put in. I went home, cried like the world was ending, and Adam took me back out to fill up my tires. Adam kept asking: "Is something else wrong?" because, clearly, the inability to put air in my tires was not a valid 30-minute sob session.

General Mood: As long as I have things to accomplish (nursery completion, baby gear buying, hospital bag packing, etc), I feel positive. It's getting VERY uncomfortable (and I have had a few episodes of whining to Adam that "I'm sick of being this big!"), but until my to-do list is done (or until I hit the magical 37-weeks "full term"), I won't feel REALLY ready. I fear the day when that to-do list is done and all I have to do is WAIT.

Excited for: Nothing major happening this week. Continuing to get through the to-do list more and more. :)

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