As much as I'd been hoping he would, William did not arrive on the weekend! He's still comfortably (for him) lodged somewhere between my ribs and my pelvis.

I took Friday off and Monday was Memorial Day, so I had a very long weekend. Originally, I was supposed to rest and relax on Friday, but I wound up cleaning and doing miscellaneous chores on my feet the whole day. I did manage to get William's scrapbook pages done--that was very exciting! However, being up and about so much seemed to give me a permanent Braxton-Hicks contraction and my tummy was tight the whole day.

Same thing on Saturday morning, as we did some final cleanup for a brief visit from Mike & Carey & Matthew. Matthew is about 7 months old and is such a very happy baby! He's adorable and you can tell that once he's able to crawl, he will take off and start getting into everything. Right now, he's able to wiggle around on his stomach and likes to play with his toys. Hopefully William will be a happy and pleasant baby too, in which case it will be a real pleasure to interact and play with him.

The rest of the weekend was almost excessively relaxing: Darryl & I just lay on the bed, reading. Having been sort of "go go go" for so many weeks and weekends, trying to get everything ready and cleaned up, it was a bit of a shock to have virtually nothing to do!

I must admit to having been somewhat mopey and complainy over the weekend, though. My abdomen was quite uncomfortable and I guess I have heartburn despite the Zantac. Darryl takes all of this in stride, though, and he is being very helpful around the house. Today at work I felt quite uncomfortable and heartburny as well: I decided that Friday (June 1) will be my last day at work, pending what the doctor says at my appointment on Thursday--if I have made no progress and it seems like William will take forever to arrive, then I may consider working another week. It would be awful to sit around for 3 weeks at home if William decides to be 2 weeks late.

But now I'm in week 38--can you believe it!? I am so anxiously awaiting William's arrival. I don't know how I'll feel when he's actually born or what I will do (I feel like I won't know what to do), but I really want to see him and, also, I am ready to try and regain some kind of control over my body again. I know I should appreciate this last little bit of time that Darryl & I have together, just the two of us--the ability to do pretty much whatever we want, whenever we want without worrying about a little being, but I find I'm just so impatient! :-) I think it's mostly because people on the pregnancy.org bulletin board who are also due in June have begun having their children, and so that makes me think that William could/should arrive anytime. Whereas, if I were not on that board, I would have expected William closer to his due date and perhaps not had as much crazy anticipation as I do now. My whole weekend (since I was convinced, somehow, that he would be born on the weekend) was spent thinking every moment "when will my water break?", "will it break now?", "is he going to arrive today?", "when are my contractions going to start?" :-) This is probably very silly, I know. The waiting is the hardest thing, to me.

I'm trying to be less anticipatory now. I have to really realize that William is not going to be born until he is ready to be born, and that could be any time within the next 3.5 weeks or so. The time will fly by, regardless of how many or how few days it still takes, and I will simply have to try and enjoy the time I have now to get some things done around the house or yard that I might not otherwise get done. William: we love you!!!!

Week 38

"Your baby has really fattened up. He likely weighs between 6 and 7 1/2 pounds now, and is between 19 and 20 inches long. He has a firm grasp, which you'll soon feel when he wraps his little hand around your pinky. His organs are fully developed and in place, but his lungs and brain will continue to mature right through childhood Wondering what color your baby's eyes will be? If he's born with brown eyes, they'll likely stay brown. If he's born with steel gray or dark blue eyes, they may stay gray or blue or turn green, hazel, or brown by the time he's 9 months old."

-- from: www.babycenter.com

I just got back from my 37-week appointment at the doctor's.

Here are my stats for this week:
- blood pressure: 113/72
- weight gain since last week: 0 lbs.
- William's heart rate: 137 bpm
- dilation: 3-3.5 cm
- effaced: 90%
- test for Group B Strep: negative

The doctor was pretty impressed, and I think surprised, by the progress from last week to this week. He said the baby's head is very low. Although I could really stay at this level of dilation and effacement for weeks yet, I think William is getting ready to arrive within the next week. At the end of the appointment, the doctor said "See you next week, if we don't see you before then!" (That's not why I think William will arrive early.... I'm really just hoping that we will see William soon :-).

Here are some photos from me at 36 and now at 37.5 weeks:

36 weeks                            37.5 weeks

And some photos of our nursery (sort of set up):

(click on the photos for enlarged versions)

Yesterday at lunchtime, the ladies at Sugg Lab threw a little surprise baby shower for me! It was really unexpected and very much appreciated! Kay set up a blue tablecloth and some gardenias, had some butter mints in a bowl, and served cake and orange sherbet ice cream. The cake was really cute with little icing booties and safety pins in blue on a white background.

Here are the gifts we received:

- from Lisa: diapers (size 2 – this is good because they are a little larger)
- from Shonda: a cute little plaid overall outfit and a parenting prayer book
- from Pat: travel-sized baby care products, a hooded towel and washcloth set, and a stuffed/
rattle toy
- from Kay: a vibrating bouncy seat (unfortunately, we have one of these already so she is
taking it back and will trade it in for something else, possibly a Snugli baby carrier)

It really made me feel special that they would celebrate William like this! I’ve always felt very welcomed at Sugg Lab, and the people there have always shown me nothing but kindness and friendship. It’s just really, really appreciated—thanks!

Kay gave me her phone numbers in case I go into labour while Darryl is in Florida!

In other news: on Monday, I stopped taking Nexium, so that it will be out of my system by the time I breastfeed (since I don’t know when that will be, the doctor advised I could stop around 37 weeks when William was officially full-term). However, this morning my stomach hurts in what I’ve been calling a “pre-ulcer” manner. I have been taking 75mg Zantac before supper, and I hope that will work, because I would prefer to breastfeed. I suppose, though, that I should be prepared in the event that my body cannot deal without Nexium and, as a result, that I may have to bottlefeed. We’ll try this as long as it goes, however….
My tummy often feels quite tight. I don’t know if this is because of gas, and with William in there too, it’s a bit crowded! Or if it’s because William is just getting big. Or if it’s because my uterus is contracting. Sometimes it definitely feels like a hard basketball or football, and then I can tell it’s a Braxton-Hicks contraction.

William is full-term today!

As of 37 weeks, a baby is considered full-term. That is, if he’s born now he will not be considered premature and his body systems are developed enough that he can function on his own. It also means that if I go into labour, the doctors would not do anything to stop it.

We spent the weekend cleaning the house! It’s still not entirely clean, but I wanted to do a thorough job of the parts I did do, and Darryl helped a great deal. We also went shopping for a few more baby items (like pack & play sheets), and got them washed. William’s room is set up for the most part, his bathtub and bath accessories are set up in the bathroom, and I started putting together the items I’ll need to carry to the hospital with me. While out shopping, we bought a LOT of snacks (for the hospital) and easy-to-prepare dinner items (for the return home).

For some reason, I was convinced (wishful thinking) that William would be born on the weekend. It’s probably good that he wasn’t, since it allowed me to get a lot done around the house. I think I’ve been having Braxton-Hicks contractions periodically throughout the past week or so (maybe longer), but they don’t hurt at all and feel more like William is rolling around or stretching in my tummy. What makes me think they are in fact BH contractions is that my stomach gets very tight during them. However, since they don’t hurt and I am not usually paying close enough attention to distinguish them from William’s movements, I have no idea how often they are occurring.

These past couple of days, I’ve gotten pretty good quality sleep and my energy level has been higher. The cleaning we’ve been doing may or may not be a sign of me nesting. Overall, I feel a lot better than I have felt for most of the past month, probably because I don’t have sinus problems and because, now that the cleaning is done, I’m able to keep off my feet and relax a little bit more.

Still to do: - put together a list of important phone numbers
- pack my hospital bag
- pack William’s hospital bag
- work on William’s scrapbook

I’ll be taking Friday off, and Monday is a holiday, so hopefully I will be able to get most of the above tasks accomplished.

Week 37

“Congratulations! Your pregnancy is now considered full-term: Your baby is developmentally ready to handle life outside the womb. He probably weighs a little over 6 pounds and measures between 19 and 20 inches. If you have preeclampsia, your caregiver may recommend inducing labor this week.”

-- from: www.babycenter.com

I had my 36-week appointment yesterday morning and it looks like everything is progressing well!

Stats:
- my blood pressure: 124/77 (this has been going up incrementally each visit)
- total weight gain: ~ 27 lbs.
- William’s heart rate: 131 bpm

I had to get tested for Group B strep, a bacteria that 30-40% of women have naturally occurring around their lower regions. It doesn’t affect the mother at all, but because a baby is born with a compromised immune system, it can have adverse affects for the baby. So, if I test positive (I won’t know till next week), I will be given antibiotics during labour.

I also had an internal exam. This revealed to the doctor that: William is head-down! Yay!!! Two weeks ago he was still in a breech position. Hopefully now he will stay head-down. (Darryl thinks that William has gotten lower in my abdomen, so that may be a good sign). The doctor also said that I am fingertip dilated and 70% effaced; he thought I could deliver early.

Of course, we are still worried about William potentially being born next week while Darryl is in Florida for work for 3 days! I think it would be entirely awful to go through labour without Darryl’s support and, even worse, for Darryl to miss such an important moment. But, I guess William will be born whenever he decides is the best time for him.

Five or more people on the pregnancy.org board have already given birth! Darryl set up the pack & play in our bedroom and I did some laundry, yesterday evening, to help get things ready. Still have to do some more laundry today. This weekend I would like to get the house clean and have a bag packed for me and one for William, for the hospital. Then, I think we will have everything as ready as reasonably possible! I can feel that William is sitting lower in my abdomen (even though to me it doesn’t look like it from the outside) and it feels as though the bones of my pelvic girdle are being stretched or strained. Although I don’t think Darryl or I can truly understand (I mean, viscerally) that we are going to be parents within the month, nor do we understand how our lives and emotions will be affected, we are both really really looking forward to William’s arrival!

And you thought we’d never be finished….

…at least, that’s what I thought! :-) By Sunday evening, we got our whole nursery room finished! That is, the room itself. We finished the touch-ups, got the blinds put up on Saturday evening, put up the wallpaper border on Sunday (it wasn’t nearly as cumbersome and messy as I’d expected), got the painting equipment, etc. out of there, and removed the plastic sheeting from the floor.

I am very pleased with the results! The border looks really great! The blinds (apart from a minor kerfuffle having the do with the fact that one blind is narrower than the other—argh!) give the room a sophisticated look and match the hardwood floor. It’s so nice to see the floor again, and it lessens the impact of the yellow walls. Because of the alphabet border and the hardwood floors, I find the nursery looks a bit like a schoolroom. Here are some photos of the room (no overall room photo, unfortunately, because a wardrobe and desk are still right in the middle of the floor):

(click on each photo for an enlarged version)

Looks pretty good, eh? Next up for this coming week is to sweep/wash the floor, wipe down the furniture and move it in, get it all set up, sort through all of the baby items (which are currently packed away in boxes and giftbags), wash some of William’s clothes and hang them up or put them away, get a bag ready for William and a bag for me for the trip to/from the hospital, get a car seat set up (I just ordered a second car seat base), and clean the rest of the house! I’m actually looking very forward to all of these things, because afterwards I will be able to rest a bit and mentally prepare myself for William’s birth. Once we walk through his room and see all of his little things, then I will feel as though all of this is truly real. And it’s coming up soon!!!

I hope at my next OB appointment there is some visible sign of progress towards labour (e.g. dilated cervix, William has dropped, etc.). I feel as though I may have been having some Braxton-Hicks contractions on the weekend, but it’s hard to know for sure since they didn’t feel all that different from William moving.

HAPPY MOTHER’S DAY!!! I guess this was my first official Mother’s day, though I don’t feel like a mother quite yet. Darryl (and William) got me a card and Mom also gave me a card and a book. Those made me feel special; I still don’t feel deserving though, since I haven’t had to deal with all of the sleepless nights and the crying and the changing diapers yet.


Week 36

“Your baby is gaining about an ounce a day. She now weighs almost 6 pounds and is a little less than 19 inches long. She's shedding most of the downy hair that covered her body, as well as the vernix caseosa. At the end of this week, your baby will be considered full-term. (Babies born between 37 and 42 weeks are considered full-term.) Most likely she's in a head-down position by now, which is optimal for a smooth delivery, but if she isn't head-down next week, your provider may suggest scheduling an external cephalic version, where your practitioner will try to turn your baby by pushing on the outside of your belly.”

--from: www.babycenter.com

Baby Shower!

Saturday morning I had to attend a funeral for Mrs. J. Curry, a lady I’d sat with for almost 2 years for Community Hospice. She passed away on Wednesday evening, which was particularly sad for me since the last time I’d seen her had been the previous Thursday. She was such a very strong and beautiful woman—I had really hoped (and expected) that she would someday meet William.

After the funeral, I drove over to St. Vincent’s, where 5 women from our church (Deirdra H, Judy M, Priscilla N, Peggy J, and Michelle S) hosted a baby shower for me! I think they must’ve invited all the women in the church; not all came, but there was a very good turn-out and it was amazing to me how many people showed their support for Darryl & me (and William). Especially considering I didn’t know all of them by name!

There were several games:
1) a clothespin game, where each attendee got to wear a clothespin with her name on it. After a set time, once everyone had arrived, no one was allowed to say the word “baby”. If someone caught another woman saying “baby” the first could take the clothespin of the second. And so the object was to accumulate as many clothespins as possible. I think Maddie, one of the Lacey girls, won with 13 clothespins!
2) a guess-my-circumference game, where each participant had to cut a piece of yarn the length she thought would fit around my tummy at its largest. Meanwhile I was measured and the results were compared. I measure 44.5”. The lowest guess was 40” and the highest was a whopping 83”!!! The two winners who were closest at 43” were Julie S (she is pregnant and due on June 22) and Priscilla N.
3) a word search to find baby-related words
4) a “baby body parts” word game where you had to deduce a body part from the clues (e.g. “found on the edge of a saw” = teeth; “two sailors saying ‘yes’”= two eyes [“ayes”])
5) a “baby names” word game, similar to the one above (e.g. “to be honest” = Frank [I think “Ernest” would fit as well]; “to write a post-script” = Adeline)

We ate some chicken tortillas, Spanish rice, chips & dip, and some lemon cake, and then I got to sit in a throne-like chair (it was comfortable, but actually quite difficult for me to get into and out of!). Donna W was the official gift-handler, and she kept me very busy with new cards and gifts to unwrap, which she would then hand off to the attendees to look at. Opening all of the gifts was quite overwhelming: there were so many and it all happened so quickly! I can’t possibly list everything we received, but most numerous among the gifts were: a lot of clothes, baby care/bath products, towels, blankets (Judy H made a lovely blue & white afghan), diapers and wipes, and books.

It was a very nice shower! It was really meaningful to me to see the outpouring of support, generosity, and kindness from our church family, and I feel blessed that we can be a part of such a congregation. I also feel blessed and happy that William will be able to grow up (physically and spiritually) with all the support and love of the folks at St. Vincent’s. THANK YOU to everyone!!

One of the girls on the pregnancy.org June 2007 bulletin board had her baby last weekend! She had been on bedrest due to signs of pre-eclampsia and her blood pressure was getting more and more elevated, so her doctor decided it would be best for her to have a c-section sooner rather than later. Her son, Jack Lewis, was about 35 weeks old and weighed 5 lbs, 5 oz. She posted some photos and he looks small but alert, and very adorable!

I know this is going to be happening more and more: me seeing my peers drop off the board periodically and return with wonderful stories and photos! This is all so exciting! Darryl & I are really, really looking forward to William's arrival. In some ways I think this month will go by so slowly, and in other ways it will fly by before we know it! I hope we will be as ready as possible (I don't know one can ever fully know what to expect with a first child).

I think William is back to just floating around my abdomen, instead of being head-down. Yesterday, at times, he seemed to be lying with his back across my stomach and during the night his head seemed to be near my ribs or in my side. It's a little hard for me to tell, still, how he's lying, but I am quite sure he's not ready to be born just yet! (I think Darryl is worried about me going into labour while he's in Florida for 3 days for work... May 21-23 or so).

I happened to mention in an email to Yemisi that I had to return to running my gels (electrophoresis at work). She was quite startled that I am using ethidium bromide while pregnant. The folks at my work didn't seem overly concerned about my using it, and I do take care when I am making gels (wearing gloves, holding my breath, etc.), but now I wonder if I should be a bit more worried...

It is very easy for me to become overly worried. Darryl told me not to worry about it and I really hadn't been concerned before. But, if William does turn out to be anything other than perfectly normal, I know I will feel incredibly guilty and think that I am somehow responsible (whether it be the EtBr or me taking Nexium or what if there was lead paint on that dresser I was sanding down?). That is guilt that I don't think I would be able to bear.

I know there is nothing to do except continue to be as vigilant as possible (I will have to keep taking my Nexium), wait, and hope/pray for a very healthy baby.

In other news: I am incredibly achy! I feel like I am 100 years old and have to drag myself to move around anywhere. It was very hard to get out of bed, even though I was uncomfortable in bed too. I'm pretty sure that I will start my maternity leave earlier than "I'm going into labour now!!", which was my original plan. So, right now I am thinking to begin my leave at the start of June. We'll see.

Not much more than a month left until William's due date! It's really hard to believe that 8 months have flown by so quickly already. I feel like we hardly have any time left at all to get things ready and to really prepare ourselves (as much as possible) for being parents!

We didn't accomplish much more on the nursery this past week. What we have left to do now, though, consists of: one coat of trim inside the closet (trim), one coat of trim on a small part of one window, two coats of trim on some knobs (for the guest room cupboards, actually), taking down the painter's tape, putting up the wallpaper border, and putting up the blinds. I guess someone will need to finish sanding that chest of drawers too....

The rest of it--setting up furniture, getting baby clothes washes and put away, etc. etc.--I don't consider "work" and I'm really looking forward to all of that!

This past weekend, Darryl bravely came with me to the breastfeeding preparation class. Neither of us knew exactly what to expect, but I had asked if it was okay for my husband to come along ("yes"). I wasn't sure if we'd be baring our breasts or what, but it was really more of a class type session. The class lasted took place at EAMC (East Alabama Medical Center--the hospital where we will be delivering) and lasted about 2 hours. We got info on: tips for positioning the baby to breastfeed, the hospital's routine (regarding breastfeeding and rooming in), pumping milk, storing milk and bottles, nursing bras, when/how often to feed the baby, how to tell if he's eating enough, etc. I enjoyed it and I think Darryl did too; we both learned new things.

I'm quite relieved that they have a lactation consultant on-staff at the hospital and she was really friendly and made us comfortable enough that we would not hesitate to call her anytime with questions. Also, the other maternity ward nurses are all trained to answer breastfeeding questions as well, and help out with that process after delivery. I don't feel nearly as intimidated now as I did before and I have every confidence that, with practise, I will be able to breastfeed successfully.

In other news: my body is starting to get a bit worn down by this whole pregnancy thing! This weekend my joints (mostly my hips, my knees, my ankles, my feet) have been achy and sore, especially in the mornings when I first wake up. When I walk, I definitely can't walk quickly and I think I'm developing a sort of waddle. My pelvic joints ache! I read up in my pregnancy book that my body is producing (more of) a hormone, relaxin, that will stretch ligaments and cause joints to become more loose. This will be a good and helpful thing during William's birth, but for now it's just a bit uncomfortable. It probably doesn't help when I walk around in flip-flops for hours or squat down to paint in the nursery! Otherwise, though, things are going well.

Some ladies at church are hosting a shower for me next Saturday at 12:30. I think they invited all of the church women because 42 invitations were sent out! This is a bit intimidating for me, who doesn't know most of the women very well, but it is really wonderful to see how much support there is in the church community for Darryl and me and William. We are really blessed to have found this congregation; they have been so welcoming and open. I recently joined the CWA (Catholic Women's Association) and I think it will be a wonderful opportunity for social interactions with the other women in the parish and also to help do good deeds for the church and for others. This past Sunday, Terry and her family gave us some diapers and a cute blue hippo bath set (towel, mitt, rattle) for William, since they will be visiting family for Mother's day next weekend. Thank you!!!!

Week 35

"Your baby's getting big. He weighs a tad over 5 pounds (think bag of sugar) and is just over 18 inches long from head to heel, and it's getting so snug in your womb that your baby isn't really floating anymore. But tighter quarters don't mean less-frequent movement — your baby should still be kicking at the same rate he always has. Your baby's kidneys are fully developed now, and his liver can process some waste products. Most of his basic physical development is now complete — the next few weeks are all about putting on weight."

-- from: www.babycenter.com

This past weekend Darryl finished painting the primer on the trim, and we got one full coat of "Coconut Milk" on the trim. This is very exciting because it means we are that much closer to William's room being finished! This evening, Darryl will paint a second coat of white in the closet (hopefully that'll do it for the closet, apart from the inside trim) and I will give a second coat of Coconut Milk to the doors and windows. By the end of the week, we should certainly have all the major painting out of the way (touch-ups will take a bit longer yet). Then we can think about exactly where we would like the wallpaper border to go. Yay!!!

William hasn't been moving around too much since I began coughing so heavily. I was worried that my vigorous coughing might somehow have a negative effect on him (can it dislodge the placenta??). I'm mostly over my sinus problems now, and today he has been moving quite well, which is a relief.

One thing that I really like is: when I'm reclining on the bed and Darryl talks to William, William usually responds by moving around. I think that's great! :-)

Some women at church are putting on a shower for me on May 12th. That was quite unexpected and very much appreciated. 42 invitations got sent out if you can believe it!!! I know there won't be that many people present, but it still makes me a bit nervous, especially as I don't know 90% of them very well at all!

Week 34

"Your baby now weighs about 4 3/4 pounds and is probably almost 18 inches long from the top of her head to the bottom of her feet. Her central nervous system is still maturing, but her lungs are well developed now. That's great news in case she decides to come early. If you've been nervous about going into preterm labor, you'll be happy to know that 99 percent of babies this age can survive outside the womb — and most have no major long-term problems related to prematurity. "

-- from: www.babycenter.com