39 Weeks

Today I am 39 weeks pregnant. Only 7 days till my official due date and Greg's birthday. I really could not be more ready for Abigail to make her entrance already! Who knows maybe we'll be celebrating both of their birthdays in the hospital?!

Friday was my last day of work and now that I am officially on maternity leave I really can't wait for her to be here so I can enjoy as much time as possible with her before I have to begin working again. I am very blessed that I will be able to work from home and can keep whatever hours for me, er I mean work for her.

Over the last three or four days I have had several false starts. Lots of painful contractions and other symptoms that make labor seem like it's on the horizon. I went to the doctor yesterday and was told that I hadn't dilated much past the 3cm I was at last week. After all of the contractions and pain it was very frustrating news to hear, but it's better than being at 1cm or 0cm at the beginning of labor.

I have been drinking red raspberry leaf tea, well as much as I can stomach it. My appetite seems to come in tidal waves. For the last several days I have had zero energy to do anything! I just lounge on the couch reading and putzing around on the internet. I have been reading lots of articles that give me false hope that the onset of labor is close. One suggested that more babies are born on Tuesdays than any other day of the week. Another article suggests a correlation between the full moon and the beginning of labor. Well my friends, today is Tuesday and it's a full moon tonight so we shall soon see if there is any truth to any of this.

This morning I woke up with some energy and what I can only guess is the last burst of nesting. I have been running around the house cleaning as if the Queen of England herself were on her way over for tea. At the moment I am taking a rest, but the kitchen and bathroom still need desperate attention. I'm sure I'll still get a nap in at some point today and hope find myself on the couch folding laundry while watching a movie later this afternoon. If I feel up to it I may even get a yoga session in. I've had some contractions, but find that if I'm up moving around I dwell on them less. I figure I don't need to worry about frequency or intensity until they are strong enough that they force me to pay attention.

38 Weeks

I've really been slacking with this blog. I haven't even been writing in my pregnancy journal, which makes me feel pretty awful. There have been so many funny things that I want to remember and hope that I will be able to.

We've started and finished out child birth class. It was interesting, but more than anything I enjoyed watching Greg pay such close attention to the lessons. He was definitely a gold star student! Even in the lactation class he was very attentive to the "Dad's Role" and how he can support me. He's been really wonderful through the entire pregnancy. I really can't wait to see him hold his daughter. I can't imagine anything more precious.

Overall I have been feeling pretty good. I feel more and more pregnant every day! Backaches and heartburn are the worst of my complaints, which is pretty good! I had a long spell between 7-8 months where I couldn't sleep for more than two hours without having to get up to use the bathroom or eat a snack. I'm now back to sleeping 4-6 hours at a time, but still wake up frequently and find it difficult to get comfortable. I have had some of the most outrageous dreams. I can't even begin to describe some of them!

There have been no health complications with me or the baby, for which we are very grateful. We have interviewed one pediatrician and have nothing nice to say. I really should continue looking, but haven't fully recovered from the trauma of the first interview. It's a lot harder than I thought it would be to find a pediatrician that applauds parents being actively involved in their child's health care and making informed decisions.

On a much happier note, I have two wonderful friends that threw me a beautiful baby shower in February. They really went over the top! Jenn, one of the hostesses made this amazing cake! She and Amanda worked very hard to make it a special day for me and it most certainly was! We had lots of friends and family come and share the excitement. We got lots of adorable clothes, toys, and practical gifts we can't wait to test out!

I found a photographer who offers a great package for families with young babies. The package included a maternity photo session, which we really enjoyed. We had these pictures taken when I was about 33 weeks pregnant. We chose one to have framed and had guests at the baby shower sign the mat. It turned out very cute and now hangs in Abby's room.












Yesterday was our 38 week check-up with the OB. I am 80% effaced and 3cm dilated, which I think surprised him. Her head is down and they are guessing she's about 7lbs right now. Her heart rate is starting to slow down a little bit. She's be consistently in the 140s and yesterday was around 135. A friend of mine says this is her way of resting and preparing for the journey. It's very exciting to know that she could be here at anytime. Here is a more recent picture that Greg snapped as I was getting ready yesterday morning. I was 37 weeks 6 days pregnant!

For the last few months I have been anxious about her coming before I got everything on my to-do list accomplished. I mean, really, what would I do if there were no milk in the house when I went into labor? Or heaven forbid I hadn't vacuumed!? I'm pretty well over that now! I am ready for her to come whenever she is ready. We'll send friends to the store for milk if we need to! Our child birth instructor told us to write chores on 3x5 cards and keep them in a basket by the door so that when visitors stop by and ask if there is anything they can do we can have them draw a card from the basket. The thought of this kind of cracks me up. As if I won't be able to empty the garbage myself, or change the water in the flowers. I guess every little bit does help though!

Third Trimester

Today marks the start of the home stretch. I am two-thirds done with this pregnancy. I have a hard time believing that the end is really so near. Just 90 days, give or take a few, before Abigail Mae will make her appearance on Earth.

We went in to the doctor's on December 28th for a routine check up that got a little scary when I asked about some cramping on my upper right side. The doctor was concerned that it could be a problem with my gall bladder and ordered an ultrasound to check it out. We went in for the ultrasound on December 31st and found everything to be a-ok. Not only is my gall bladder perfectly normal, but my liver and kidneys are too. While we were there the ultrasound tech let us take a peak at our little girl.

In this 3-d shot you can see most of her face and her (left?) hand. The tech said you could make out her thumbnail, which is pretty incredible. She almost has a smile in this picture. This whole experience has been pretty remarkable and I'm so grateful that Greg has been able to be at every doctor's visit!

At this visit they also ordered routine testing for gestational diabetes and anemia, both of which came back perfectly normal. We have been so blessed to have had such a healthy, normal pregnancy thus far and I pray that the Lord continues to bless our family with good health.

I had the last week and a half off work for the holidays and had anticipated lots of studying for my teaching exam. That didn't happen. Not even a little bit. Instead, I came down with a head cold on Christmas Eve and spent several days on the couch getting better. We did make a quick trip to Seattle to pick up Abby's bedroom furniture and got to visit some friends, which was nice.

Greg spent a few days building shelving in the garage and organizing his man cave. We set up the crib in our bedroom and are in the middle of finishing rearranging the office so that her changer, rocker and other loot can share a space with my home office.