OB appt and Christmas tree

I had my last OB appointment this morning. It was uneventful – all is checking out well. Today I measured 39″, which is up an inch from last week. Oy! I got my paperwork for the hospital and am just biding my time. S continues to be very active. I believe he has run out of room and is possibly as uncomfortable in there as I am out here!

I can’t believe Jen has probably already had her baby! So exciting!

Here are a couple of pics of our tree, followed by one of Casper enjoying his evening cuddle session before the baby comes and disrupts his routine 🙂

last date

DW and I decided to forget all of the housework we still need to do before my parents arrive on Friday and instead went on a daytime date! We went to a local restaurant for lunch and then went to The Arclight Theater in Hollywood and saw the new Pedro Almodovar movie Broken Embraces. We went shopping at Amoeba for Christmas music before the movie and I was having some kind of intense Braxton Hicks contractions. I wondered if they were the real deal a couple of times, but figured it would be much more intense if it were actual labor. Guess I was right as it did go away.

We are big Almodovar fans, but we agreed that this new release wasn’t up to par. It was actually rather boring. On our way back to the car, though, we had a celebrity sighting! Kate Moennig! Surely you ladies know who that is 🙂 She is short and tiny in real life. For some reason, I thought she’d be kind of tall as she appears so lanky on TV. It’s always fun to have a celebrity sighting, even though it happens somewhat frequently. Nerds!

ION, I have a cankle! One of my ankles is noticably swollen and the other might be a tad swollen as well. Baby is really bothering me today – I can feel a little foot up under my rib and it hurts. Even a bath didn’t quite do the trick and that is usually a way to get super relaxed and feeling good. I think it’s going to be super uncomfortable for the rest of my pregnancy, which is not very long to go now! Also, I added a 37 week belly shot to my previous post.

Next up:

• Last OB appointment Wednesday
• Parents arrive Friday
• S is born next Monday (!!!!!)

braxton hicks?

Last night in the early evening I had what felt like a few semi-strong contractions (lower abdomen seized up and had me doubled over briefly). It happened a couple of more times within about 2 hours, but then it went away. I was worried for a second that maybe baby had ideas of coming early! I looked up Braxton Hicks contractions versus regular contractions and it seems like what I had was more like regular in terms of how it felt, but more like BH in terms of it going away rather than getting stronger. It just made this all feel more real and like it could really happen any old time. I was also feeling strong baby movement, so it was kind of hard to tell what was actually going on. I figured if I were in labor, I’d certainly know it soon enough! It made me nervous, though, as I’m not supposed to go into labor. My OB told me to call if I had any signs of labor, so it was kind of anxiety-making as I don’t want to err on either side (calling with a false alarm or calling too late and having problems).

Today we are going to have my MiL over to decorate the tree. I love seeing all our ornaments every year. We do a woodland animals themed tree and last year, MiL bought me a big black bear to put by the tree that I had admired at a Christmas store. It will be so cute to photograph S next to it each year to chart his growth. I’ll post pictures when it’s all done.

Salvation Army came yesterday and hauled a bunch of crap away. We’re making room! This weekend, we need to go through the closet in our office and see what we can get rid of in there. I’ll be glad when we’re done with the nesting. I’m tired!

hiccups

Baby continues his trend of proving Mama wrong when I’m wondering about his development. On Friday, I mentioned to DW that I’ve never felt him hiccup. Well, guess what he did on Sunday (and again last night)? You got it – hiccups! Cutie. He continues to move a lot and he is such a big boy that you can see the movements pretty easily from the outside. The top of my stomach still kills. I can’t imagine what it’ll feel like in 5 more weeks. Ugh… I also think my belly button is about to pop out. I didn’t think it would happen as I have a very deep innie, but I’m pretty sure it’s going to happen, and soon.

On the home front, we are still trying to find places to store all of the great baby stuff we got at our shower. So. Much. Stuff! Of course, some of it is short term, so it won’t all be here for too long. Anyone in small spaces have good tips for smart storage? I’m figuring we’ll just have to live with less space, more baby stuff for a while.

Next up: Appt. with new OB tomorrow at 8:45AM.

>3rd trimester

>Dude, I’m only 3 days into the 3rd tri and already I’m feeling icky. I’m tired all the time, my back pain is getting worse, TMI…constipation ICK, and some nausea. I’ve worked from home 3 days this week and it’s been awesome. I’m hoping to continue the trend…

We toured the Women’s Pavilion at the hospital where little dude will be born last night. It was really nice. They have a separate entrance just for maternity, which is great with this H1N1 stuff going on. The entire ward is locked down. We saw 2 tiny little babies come through – they are SO SMALL! It was a nice facility and we got a good feeling being there. Yay!

Speaking of H1N1, my OB is telling me I should get the vaccination but they don’t have it and don’t know that they’ll be getting it. I called my high-risk OB and he also said it’s important to get vaccinated, but they don’t have it and don’t know if they’ll get it. So I asked at the hospital last night. Don’t have it, don’t know when they’ll get it. WTH? What are your thoughts on the vaccine and if you plan to get it, do you know where you’ll get it? I have this feeling it won’t be available in time. I’m trying not to be paranoid…

I’m a little worried that little dude isn’t as active as he should be. I do feel him every day, more than once a day, but at 28 weeks, I feel like he should be more active. When he does move it’s either a big old kick or these little movements that feel like he’s tickling me with his little fingers. Aw.

I had acupuncture yesterday for my back pain. It felt WONDERFUL and I had a great nap with the needles, but the pain was back in a couple of hours. I was really hoping it would last 😦 I hadn’t been to my acupuncturist since I was there for infertility and it was fun to see her reaction to my 7-months-pregnant belly. She and a woman in the waiting room acted like I was really small for 7 months, which felt good, too. The paranoid side of me was worrying that I was too small, of course, but I was just at my OB last Friday and she seemed to think I was doing great. CALM DOWN, MIND!

>OB visit

>The good: OB is pleased with how I’m doing. Weight is good as is everything else. Baby’s heartbeat sounded great and he showed off his kicking skills. I’ll be visiting the OB every two weeks now. Wow.

The bad: I mentioned my back pain and she told me some stuff I can do but said not to use a heating pad. Oops! I’ve been using a heating pad. She gave me an alarmed look and said it could “cook” the baby. Holy shit. I hope I haven’t hurt the little man… One more thing to worry about.

The ugly: She was talking about scheduling the C-section on Dec. 23, meaning I’d be in the hospital through Christmas. It’s not set in stone or anything but damn, I hope that doesn’t happen.

>m.i.a.

>Just a quick note to let you know I won’t be around much if at all for the next few days. My mom gets in this morning and will be here until Monday morning. Looking forward to a nice visit.

Quick baby update: He is moving a lot more. It is very reassuring and also nice that his Mama L can feel him poking around, too.

Hope all are well!

>showing

>It appears that I have officially reached the point at which a.) people know by looking at me that I’m pregnant and b.) I’m wearing maternity clothes pretty much exclusively. Earlier this week, a co-worker that I haven’t seen in a while comes up and points to my belly and says, “Are you????” To which I reply, “Yes!” And congrats all around. Yesterday I went over to Old Navy to look at maternity tops, thinking I still wouldn’t be fitting into them yet. Yeah, not so much. I bought 3 shirts that all fit, though they do have some room to grow. While checking out, the salesperson goes, “How far along are you?” “Five months.” “You’re tiny!” Bless her. I’m feeling pretty large.

Last night I went by Baby Gap to look in their maternity section and a shirt I tried on a few weeks ago and was swimming in was on sale. I thought I’d try it again, only in a size small (I’d tried medium previously). The small was crazy too small, so I tried the medium again. Fit like a glove with no room to grow! That was kind of scary! From big old moomoo (mumu?) to almost too small in a matter of weeks! Yikes.

I’m actually kind of loving it, though. Yes, my belly is getting big, but it looks cute (at least that’s what my wife tells me) and it is housing my little baby boy. It’s all very exciting! One thing that is causing me a little bit of concern is that I’m still not feeling crazy baby kicks. I feel little flutters and the occasional sharp pain, but nothing that feels undeniably baby-kicky. Maybe my placenta is still in front of him?

Next up: (another) anatomy scan on 8/31. Also, our remodel is going to be DONE as of next Friday. Thank God! So ready to have my house back!