"I carried a watermelon." |
Monday was another round of fetal non-stress test monitoring. This time she was pretty active at the start but then fell asleep and was very quiet. What wasn't quiet was my uterus. It was interesting to feel tightness and be able to watch my contractions on the monitor. They were much higher than the last monitoring session, but NOTHING compared to the day before!!
Tuesday sent me back to the hospital for our 4th Lamaze class, which you can read about by clicking this link right here!
Wednesday at work I was again leaning back with my eyes closed doing my 4 count breathing that we practice at Lamaze class .... as I was having another real, intense set of contractions. I am so happy that the breathing and focusing is happening automatically. That practice during class and at home is paying off. I hope I still do it on the big day!
Symptom wise, my sneezing isn't as often, but getting stronger with each sneeze. Heartburn has pretty much vanished, hallelujah. The bathroom and I are best friends. Thank you, Costco, for bulk toilet paper! My feet and calves are having more swelling starting earlier in the day than before, which keeps me happy in my recliner trying to elevate them. I bought a new pillow during Macy's going out of business sale and since using it I have been getting better sleep! Apparently this is what happens with $100 pillows --- I did NOT pay that much!!! No even close to that!!!!!! I've tried to incorporate orange and apple juice again, but it is still not agreeing with me. Darn it! And basically I just feel like a manatee and can no longer do a single thing in any sort of fast manner! And insomnia. Ugh, story of my life. Sleep? Do you exist? **Things changed a lot since earlier in this paragraph when I said I was sleeping better!
Thursday I was having my next monitoring session, where I took a photo from my point of view, as you can see to the left. Pretty darn exciting, right? Well, this round was mildly boring ... until the end. Our girl was pretty sleepy and didn't move much, but her activity and heart rate made the nurse happy at least. What wasn't boring was MY line. Non-stop contractions for me, but none of them painful. Just the regular strange twinging feeling. Apparently the intensity and frequency of them, however, did raise an eye brow for the nurse. She suggested that if that continues I might want to start timing them and added I'm basically at the point where she could come out at any time. WHAT?!?! Time to get that bag packed!
Friday I was back for my last doctor appointment of the week, this time with my actual OBGYN. I had my Group B Strep swab. I'll just say that you get swabbed in TWO places and let you decide was two orifices that would be. Since she was already "down there" I asked if she could check to see if I am dilated at all. Before she went in for the feel she was able to feel the baby through my tummy and find her head sitting way down low. Going in for the cervix check was NOT comfortable. I mean things are supposed to be going OUT and here is a human hand going IN. But I was willing to do it ... to find out that I am already 2 centimeters dilated! AND the doctor was able to feel her head. Eek!! So yeah, my girl is down there and she's lined up and getting ready to come see me!!
And Saturday - this has topped off the week, having it end like it started. REAL contractions, not the normal non-painful ones. Two of them happened so close together that I actually went to find the contraction timing feature on an app on my phone. Before I could find it I had to look at Man Friend and immediately say "I have to go to the bathroom NOW!" I thought my water broke, and had to high tail it to the potty. I was relieved to see that it did NOT happen, but basically after today let's just say "who needs a mucus plug anyway?!?" Ya, one step closer to the big day I guess!
Oh, and the hospital bags for myself and my daughter ARE officially packed and sitting by the bassinet waiting for the official departure to the hospital!
What a week!!! And my feet hardly fit in my shoes anymore, but my doctor assured me they are a lot smaller than most pregnant women. Win for me?!?
JANUARY 2016 | |||||||||||||
Sunday | Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday | Saturday | |||||||
1 | 2 | ||||||||||||
33 Weeks | |||||||||||||
3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | |||||||
Lamaze Class | Baby Shower | 34 Weeks | |||||||||||
10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | |||||||
OBGYN | Lamaze Class | 35 Weeks | |||||||||||
17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | |||||||
NST monitoring | Lamaze Class | Hospital Tour | NST monitoring | 36 Weeks | |||||||||
24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | |||||||
Babies R Us | NST monitoring | Lamaze Class | NST monitoring | OBGYN | 37 Weeks | ||||||||
31 | |||||||||||||