Weeks 37-38

Advice Request

1) How did you keep yourself occupied at the end so you weren’t constantly thinking of when baby will arrive?

2) Should I get any nursing clothing (bras, tanks…etc) ahead of time or just wait? 

How I am feeling 

I am having some back pain, especially at night.  I am using heat to try to calm it, but it can get pretty bad.  Darren has been great and so supportive: rubbing my back whenever I ask, getting me extra pillows at night, doing extra work around the house so I don’t have to bend down…etc.  What a guy!  J  I think I have said this before, but if a little back pain is the worst I endure during this pregnancy (not the labor, I am not that naïve!), then I am not going to complain. 

Emotionally I am feeling really ready!  I am trying so hard not to be anxious and impatient, but it’s so hard.  I am just dying to meet Lilly and hold her and start this next amazing part of our lives.  I know Darren is very anxious as well.  He said today that he thinks this weekend is the last weekend we will have with just the two of us.  I am not sure about that one because I am only 38 and a half weeks, but maybe.  I certainly would not complain if Lilly decided to come early, but I need to drum up all of my patience and try to just relax because I do not want to be induced or get to the point where I am changing my mind about that.   

We had a Murder Mystery performance last weekend, which was amazing.  I played a pregnant “prize girl” on a game show.  It was nice of my director to write in a pregnant character for me so I could do this show.  Darren was in it as well and we had so much fun working together.  We realized after the show that it is probably the last time the two of us will be able to be in a show together for a long time because one of us will always have to be with Lilly.  It was also neat because although Lilly was here for the shows I did in October, December and February, she was hidden.  This time she was actually part of the show in a way!  She was on stage before she was even born.  J

Here is what I look like at 37 weeks:

Darren, Lilly and I celebrating Darren as Teacher of the Year at HGMS.  He should have been Wake Country Teacher of the Year, but I guess he'll have to settle for being New Dad of the Year instead.

Here is what I look like at 38 weeks:

Baby movement/progress:

I went to the doctor at 37 weeks and had my first “check.”  Let me say, I had no idea what this actually meant and I guess I was completely naïve to what happens and what it would feel like, but let me tell you, it was bizarre!  The midwife was able to feel Lilly’s head and informed me that Lilly was poking her hand every time she moved it.  Now, I have felt her move a lot and Lilly is incredibly active, but this news was so strange to me!  She also informed me that Lilly was at -2 station and I was 1 cm dilated.  I realize this is not much, but again, it made things feel so real and it reminded me that I am at that point in pregnancy where she could come at any time. 

When I went back to the doctor at 38 weeks, the midwife said her head is still down and that I am almost 2 cm now.  It’s nice to know some progress has been made, but I also know women who were several cm for weeks, so I am trying to take these numbers with a grain of salt.  The midwife also reminded me that dilation is not really an indicator of when I will go into labor because babies come when they want to come and every pregnancy and birth is different. 

Lilly is in a good position and the midwife was able to clearly tell me how she is laying now, so I can be certain that the really hard kicks I feel on my left are in fact kicks.  I don’t know if Lilly has been working out along with me during this pregnancy, but trust me, this little tot has some leg muscle!  Darren and Michelle have been able to feel her big kicks and they are pretty intense!  I love them though.  I love that she seems strong already.  I actually gasped the other day at work after a particularly hard kick, but I don’t think my students noticed.   

Shout Outs

First, a huge shout out to Michelle and Chad S. for loaning us their baby girl stash!  They gave us clothing, toys, towels, bedding, a boppy, extra bouncy seat, jumper and all kinds of random items that will be a huge help!  We had a great time going through all of it and seeing all the adorable clothes we will get to dress Lilly in. 

Second, a huge shout out to my teammates, students and parents for throwing me a surprise baby shower today at school!  I received a strange email from Amber today telling me to eat my lunch during our team time before lunch with a smiley face.  I was confused, but at least the smiley told me it was something good, so I just went with it.  Little did I know that the students had asked her to have a baby shower for me and Amber was helping them organize it for who knows how long.  I truly had no idea!  I was completely overwhelmed by the love and generosity of my students and their parents.  I wish I could post pictures that show the students all sitting around and watching Darren and I open presents (we have 129 students!), but I don’t know the rules about posting pictures of the kids, so you can only see a few backs of heads.  It was truly an amazing surprise and I am just so blown away by this group of kids and parents and how much love they showed us!    

Nursery:

Dare I say it…we have everything we need!!!  At least, everything I think we need.  The crib finally has a mattress (completely with double mattress pads and sheets thanks to some great advice from some friends).  We have received a lot of diapers, wipes and essentials that should last us at least a little while.  We also have plenty of clothing and then some!  Believe me, I know how fun it is to buy baby girl clothing, so I understand that people love getting outfits for Lilly.  I just hope she actually gets to wear all of them!  I know a baby can go through many outfits in a day, but I still think we could go a solid few weeks without ever even having to do laundry with all of the stuff we have. 

I am actually completely overwhelmed by the amount of stuff we have for Lilly and am determined to get everything organized this weekend.  I am a person who needs a place for everything and everything in its place, and right now, that is not what I have in the nursery.  I am so grateful that people have been so generous and given us so much, so I am not complaining at all, but it’s definitely a little overwhelming.  I am trying to just picture dressing her in all of the outfits as I go through them and that makes it much more fun. 

Labor and Birth:

 We had another meeting with Kalan, our doula, last week.  While it threw me for a loop at first when our original doula, Helene, told us she was moving to Texas, I am starting to think it was meant to be.  We both loved Helene and were very comfortable with her, but we love Kalan just as much and her personality fits perfectly with us.  Plus Kalan introduced us to a few ideas that I had not previously thought of, including everyone’s favorite topic, the placenta encapsulation.  She is also going to be available for us post partum to help whenever needed or to help me with breast feeding, which makes me feel really really good.  I know that it is going to be a process and it might be difficult, so knowing I have someone I can call who is trained and has a lot of experience is huge.  Thankfully, I also have amazing friends and family who have experience as well, so I know I will never be without support.  I told someone the other day that I am actually more nervous about breast feeding than I am about giving birth.  That may sound insane, but I know I can handle pain and that it will pass and the reward at the end is completely worth it.  Breast feeding is a longer process that has a lot of room for error and many people I know have had trouble.  I am staying positive though and leaning on the support and advice of others as much as possible.  It helps me to read books as well, so that has also helped.  

Weeks 35-36

How I am feeling 

Overall I still feel very good, but I am definitely feeling bigger!  It is getting harder to do certain things, but so far I haven't slowed down too much.  In fact, as you can see from doubling up on my blog again, I am staying incredibly busy.  The past two weeks have been the busiest I've been during my entire pregnancy I think.  This weekend was the run of the production I directed, "You Can't Take It With You" which meant 4 hour rehearsals every night, plus it was EOG testing for the other tracks at school so we had students straight until 2:30 and only a 25 minute break.  Let's just say that this was wreaking havoc on my back to the point where I went to a professional massage therapist on Wednesday to try to help, but in some ways it made it worse because my muscles were even sorer after she worked on them.  Darren has tried to work the kinks out as well, but he has to press so hard his hands get tired pretty quickly.  I guess if some back pain is all I have to complain about for my entire pregnancy, I am getting off easy.  And truly, I am not complaining.  I am so thankful for Lilly and I would go through 9 months of this back pain and more for her. 

Here is what I look like at 35 weeks:

Here is what I look like at 36 weeks:

 at our staff baby shower

my bare belly!  

Baby movement:

At my last doctor's appointment, the midwife said her head is down and she is in a good position.  I was pretty excited at first, but then she told me that is very normal at this point for a first time pregnancy.  I am still excited though, because we only have about one more month to wait before we will finally get to meet our little girl!  I could cry with excitement right now!  I am just so ready to be Lilly's mom!  I am already completely in love with her.  I love every little (and big) kick, nudge, punch and swirl that she makes.  I feel so lucky that I get to experience this.  I know Darren jokes that we would never have kids if he was the one who had to be pregnant, but I wouldn't trade this for anything.

I have figured out how to make her move when she is awake and stirring.  If I rub my belly on the right side, she starts to kick and squirm on the left.  It was really working the other night when Darren was feeling her move.  He was completely baffled that the movements did not hurt and he was just awe struck by the fact that our baby is almost here and he was physically connecting with her.  I am glad he can connect with her in this way; it’s such a special time and I am glad he gets to share it.

Shout Outs

We are so lucky.  Have I said that on here before?  We have the most amazing people in our lives.  Our teammates at Holly Grove threw us a baby shower on Monday and we were literally showered with love by the most amazing staff ever.  I was so overwhelmed by the outpouring of love for Lilly.  So this shout out is for Sonya R, Kelly L, Carole S, Dave P, Shanequia H, Kim G and Amber C who threw this amazing shower and for all the staff members who celebrated with us.  We cannot wait for you all to meet the newest bulldog! 

Here are a few pictures from the shower:

Nursery:

We did some organizing today and are in the process of trying to figure out what we still need.  We are so lucky that we already have a lot of what we need for Lilly, but it will be fun to go shopping with some of the gift cards we received and buy some of the really cute things that we want!  I will probably recruit some mamas to come over and help me figure out what we need because I am still “in training” after all.

Labor and Birth:

Nothing has changed with our plans to have a natural childbirth and I am finding more and more people who are very supportive of this choice.  Granted, I still get people who think it’s fun to tell me their childbirth horror stories (really mamas…not the best topic of conversation for someone who is 9 months pregnant). 

I have been reading a lot more about breast feeding and talking to people about it to try to prepare myself as much as possible.  I really appreciate all of the advice people have shared with me because I know that the best thing I can do at this point is just learn what worked for others and prepare myself for the challenge.  I still welcome any other advice people have! 

   

Weeks 33-34

Advice Request

Since this blog is for 2 weeks, I have two pieces of advice that I would like.  PLEASE either comment on the blog, facebook or tell me your advice because I really want it J

1) I want to breast feed.  Is there anything I can do to prepare myself ahead of time so I can have the best chance of success? 

2) What are things we should pack for the hospital that we might not think of?  A friend who just had her baby told me to bring our Boppy pillow, which I would not have thought of, so it made me think, I bet there are other things I wouldn’t think of as well!  Send them my way.

How I am feeling 

I am feeling busy!  J  That is why I am combining weeks 33 and 34 on this blog.  We have been very busy getting Lilly’s nursery ready, hanging out with out of town guests, working on shows we are in (or directing in my case), getting back into the swing of things at work and working our second jobs.  Don’t get me wrong, we love it and wouldn’t trade all of the things we do, but it gets hard to sit down and write a blog!

Other than busy I am feeling great!  I am so thankful that I have had such a great pregnancy so far (knock on wood).  I really hope that I can say this every week.  I really like being pregnant, especially when people use the word “cute” to describe me more than any other time in my entire life!  People are so sweet.  I just hope “cute” is not code for gigantic and I am just oblivious! 

Here is what I look like at 33 weeks, including a picture of Darren and I at our baby shower:

Here is what I look like at 34 weeks including a picture of me after our Murder Mystery performance:

Baby movement:

I think she has dropped a little because I am feeling her much lower than I used to.  But then again, I am feeling her higher too!  I guess she is just bigger J  According to all the books she is almost 5 pounds at this point, and I think it shows.  Her movements are definitely much more defined at this point and easily visible.  My ribs are definitely a target, especially when I am sitting. 

The midwife that I saw on Monday was able to tell me that her feet are on my left side right now.  This makes a lot of sense because I am constantly feeling movement on that side and you can see little bulges pretty frequently.  I love to picture her stretching her little legs out and making herself comfy.  I watched her for almost 15 minutes straight the other night.  My belly was just swirling around and she was swimming or dancing or whatever she was doing.  I felt so connected to Lilly at that time.  It’s also great when Darren can see her and connect with her that way as well. 

Shout Outs

Big shout out to Kelly D. for loaning me the mother load (haha – pun completely intended) of maternity clothes!  You are so wonderful!

Also, a shout out to Matt and Antonia H. who welcomed their new baby boy Joseph last week!  We are so happy for them!

I don’t think the term shout out is enough to express how appreciative Darren and I are to the following people. 

First to my mom, Kathy, my sister, Susan, and my niece, Brianna, for driving all the way from New York just to see us and be here with us for our baby shower.  We love   you all so much and Lilly, Darren and I are so lucky to have you in our lives.  It truly meant the world to me that you came. 

Next to my best friend, Jess L, for flying in from Boston for the weekend to celebrate with us.  You are always there for me and I love you for it.  Lilly is going to love her Aunt Jekka! 

Also, to Kelly L for making her absolutely amazing cupcakes for our baby shower.  You have truly not lived until you have tried one (or four) of these!  Thank you for making our shower that much sweeter J

Last, but certainly not least to our amazing North Carolina family: Michelle, Chad, Carissa and Jared S. for organizing and hosting our baby shower.  We are so thankful to have you in our lives.  We know Lilly will be so loved by all of you!

Overall, we are just so thankful to everyone who came to celebrate with us at our shower and to those who could not make it but were still thinking of us.  We could not ask for better family and friends!  Here are some pictures from the shower:

Nursery:

Drum roll please…the nursery decorating is DONE!  Yay!  I know we are still missing a crib mattress, but the decorations are done!   Hehe.  We had so much fun doing it and creating Lilly’s cozy little space.  It’s amazing to walk in there now and think that in just 6 weeks we will have a baby girl to go with this room!  I sit in the glider sometimes and just imagine what it will be like to hold her and cuddle her.  

   

Labor and Birth:

I spoke with one of the midwives at our practice about the placenta encapsulation and she told me that she actually did this herself when she had her baby and she is a huge advocate of this practice.  This made me feel really good about this idea.  I am still not positive, but I think I am going to do it.  I know it’s very odd to most, and I am ok with people thinking I am odd.  J  Maybe other women reading this blog will research this and decide to do it themselves, the word will spread and this practice will become much more mainstream and acceptable in time.

   

Week 32

How I am feeling 

I had my first bout of heartburn the other night.  I actually wasn’t sure what it was at first because I have (thankfully) never had heartburn before.  Lucky for me it didn’t last too long and chewing a couple of Tums seemed to do the trick.  Other than that I have felt very good.  I am still exercising regularly so I have had solid energy and Darren and I have also been taking walks every day so I think staying active might be helping. 

I had a doctor’s appointment on Tuesday and I met the other OB at the practice I am working with.  I loved her too!  She was wonderful and very receptive to my questions and my thoughts about the birth.  I am measuring 32 cm, which is right on target, and Lilly’s heartbeat was 135, which is also right on target.  It’s nice to know she is growing well and seems to be healthy.  I just wish I could see her again!

Here is what I look like at 32 weeks:

Baby movement:

The other day I was trying to let Michelle and Chad’s daughter, Allie, feel Lilly move, but she wasn’t cooperating.  That seems to be a pattern.  Whenever I want her to move for someone or she is moving, as soon as they put their hand on my belly, she stops!  Michelle was able to feel her move a little bit later that evening, but even that was just some light thumps.  The cutest thing was when their son, Ryan, said goodbye to me and he kissed my belly to say goodbye to Lilly as well.  It was so cute it almost made me cry!

I am supposed to be counting kicks right now for the doctor.  I am supposed to count how many times she moves for an hour, twice a day.  It’s hard to count when she is moving a lot!  Last night I was actually confused because I could feel this weird slow pulsing that almost felt like a strong heartbeat, but it was far too slow to be hers.  I had Darren feel my belly to see if he could feel it, but he couldn’t at first.  I decided it must have been Lilly’s first hiccups!  It was crazy!  If I pressed Darren’s hand on my belly he could feel it a little.  She had them for about 10 minutes and I didn’t pay attention to anything else during that time.  It was so neat to know what was going on with her for once that I was entranced.  I asked the doctor if she could tell how Lilly was laying yet, but she said it was a little too early, so I am still always guessing if I feel a hand or foot.   

Shout Outs

There are a lot of shout outs this week!  First, thanks to Cindy V. for lending me some fabric scissors and hot glue guns for one of my DIY projects (more on that below).

We have started receiving early shower gifts from friends and family who are out of town, so it’s been a very exciting week! 

Huge thank you to my mom for getting us the Britax convertible carseat!

Huge thank you to Darren’s mom for getting us the Medela breast pump!

Huge thank you to my friend, Allie C, for getting us the changing pad and cover! 

We have such amazing friends and family J

Nursery:

Ok, sooooo the nursery is not quite done.  Boo!  I really wanted it done by the end of our track out.  However, it’s almost done!  We are just waiting to get some of the artwork we are going to put on the walls (see Week 28 post to see a few samples) and the frames for them so we can put everything up all at once and make sure everything fits and flows.  For now I will just post pictures of the different pieces we have completed and then next post will hopefully be of a finished nursery (at least the décor). 

First, we have the finished tree decal!  I was skeptical about this at first (and almost wanted to return it), but I am so glad we didn’t!  It only took about 30 minutes to put the entire thing up and that is including putting up each individual flower.  I thought it was going to be a nightmare, but it was kind of fun!  I absolutely love the way it turned out!  We saw similar decals on Etsy for anywhere from $70-$100.  We got this one from Babies R Us for only $17 (after using a $10 gift card we received for registering there).  What a great deal!

I made this hair bow holder/decoration from an old frame I got from goodwill for $8 that Darren re-stained, some hot glue and pink ribbon ($2 from Joann Fabric).  I can’t wait to get more cute clips for Lilly to add to this!

Darren’s big project was staining these solid wood shelves that we got from Michaels for $9 each.  These will be perfect for small stuffed animals, picture frames or other display items we get for Lilly. 

A big trend right now is displaying baby’s initials in the nursery.  Originally we were going to do this on a mirror, but after a small mishap with an old mirror we had, we decided to instead paint the letters pink and frame them with dark wood frames.  It will look much nicer on the green walls, but here is a preview.  The letters were $2.50 each at Michaels, the paint was $1 at Walmart and the frames were $3 each at Roses. 

Now onto my DIY version of Mount Everest…the pom poms.  I saw these online and loved them and I found a DIY blog post that made them seem very easy to make.  This is not untrue, because they are actually quite easy in terms of how they are made, but the process and the time involved was far more than I anticipated.  Tracing and cutting circles out of fabric is definitely not something I enjoy doing, and it’s not something Darren enjoys doing, but we powered through and traced and cut out literally thousands of them!  Thank goodness my husband is so wonderful and helped me (he is so amazing!)  Then I had to hot glue each circle on the paper lanterns, which again, is not difficult, but was very time consuming.  In hindsight, this is a DIY project that I might have been better off just buying, but I will always look at these pom poms and know how much love and effort went into them for Lilly…who will have no idea what they are and will not care what her rooms looks like for a long time, but oh well!  I think they turned out great and it was nice to have a big project for track out! 

Labor and Birth:

We met with Kalan, our new doula today.  She was adorable and so sweet!  She is actually pregnant herself with her third child (due in August) and Darren and I felt very comfortable with her right away.  She shared some of her experiences and made us feel really good about our birthing choices, especially our choice to work with Triangle OBGYN and deliver at WakeMed Cary.  She is also a great advocate for breast feeding and offered her support for as long as well need after Lilly is born, which is amazing since I know breast feeding can be a challenge and having a trained professional to help me will be so great. 

She also brought up an idea that we had never thought about or even heard about: placenta encapsulation.  Hold on, keep an open mind!  I first thought this was some sort of preservation of the placenta, but after she explained, it’s much different.  Placenta encapsulation is taking the placenta, dehydrating it, grinding it into powder form and then putting it into capsules (pills) to be ingested by mom.  I know this sounds odd and strange, but when I did some research there is a lot out there that supports this practice.  One of the main benefits is helping to ward off the very common “baby blues” that can sometimes lead to post partum depression.  Doing this helps balance hormone levels, enhance milk supply, increase energy and also increase iron levels.  What’s also important is that there is absolutely no evidence that there can be any harm to mom (or baby).  I know this sounds very odd, but I think we might try it.  The doula we are working with offered to encapsulate the placenta for us, so the “icky” part would be done and I would then just be taking another pill, similarly to how I take my prenatal vitamin.  If you are grossed out, I understand.  I was grossed out too when I thought about it.  But after doing some research, I think it might be something we try.  I am not definite yet, but when something has quite a few benefits and no risks or side effects, it kind of seems like a no-brainer, even if it’s taboo in society.  Let’s remember, breast feeding was considered taboo at one point too!

Week 31

How I am feeling 

Only two more months!  I really don’t have many complaints about being pregnant, but I am definitely excited for Lilly to arrive and to start the next big adventure in our lives.

I am sleeping so much better after speaking to Carissa about putting a body pillow behind me when I sleep to keep me from rolling into to my back, which inadvertently wakes me up (sometimes in a slight panic).  It’s funny to see me get ready for bed though because I have a big body pillow stuffed behind me (I am sleeping on my left side), a pillow between my knees, a small pillow propping my belly up and a pillow that I am hugging between my arms.  Darren calls it my “nest” and has been very supportive and accommodating J

Here is what I look like at 31 weeks:

Baby movement:

So according to my books, Lilly weighs about 3 ½ pounds right now and she is packing quite a punch!  I love that her movements are so prominent, but it can be very distracting and almost startling at times!  She seems like a little prankster right now too because every time she is moving and shaking like crazy, I grab Darren’s hand to let him feel and then she stops!  She takes after her daddy in that respect, who also loves to make jokes and play pranks. 

It’s also so crazy to actually feel her on the outside and the inside!  Sometimes there is just a big lump sticking out of my belly and if I push on it, it pushes back!  That sounds weird, but I hope you get what I mean.  I can’t imagine how much more active she is going to get, but I am very anxious to find out!

Shout Outs

A huge thank you to my mom for buying us our infant car seat (below) as well as our convertible car seat (which is on its way)!  You are awesome, mom, and we love you!

A big shout out to Jared and Carissa S. for taking a mini vacation with us to the coast.  We had a great time, as always!

Nursery:

We moved some of the furniture around in the nursery and have finally decided on the final décor!  This blog will be a lot of “before” shots of the nursery and the materials we are using to decorate, but by next week, I hope to have a completed (or almost completed) nursery!  Well…we are still missing some essentials, as you can see (i.e. crib mattress and bedding, changing pad…etc) but hopefully those things will be coming in the next few weeks. 

Here is the nursery now:

These are the shelves we bought that Darren is currently staining:

This is an old picture frame I found that I am going to make into a hair bow holder/decoration:

This is a mirror we had in our house that we are going to re-stain and mark with Lilly’s initials:

And lastly, this is the fabric I am going to use to create three “pom poms” to hang on the ceiling:

  

We ordered paper lanterns and will be hot gluing small pieces of fabric onto the lanterns to create the pom poms.  I am not normally very crafty, but I really love the idea of making things for Lilly.

Labor and Birth:

We received some bad news this week: our Doula, Helene, is moving to Dallas because her husband got a new job.  I am surprisingly not as stressed about it as I thought I would be.  I think it’s because we have educated ourselves so much about labor and birth, so I feel pretty confident.  However, Helene’s backup is another option for us, so we are not without a doula completely.  We have not met with her back up (I don’t even know her name because I am waiting to hear from her), so we are not positive if she will work out, but I am confident that things will work out.  Sometimes things happen for a reason. 

We also went on a tour of Wake Med Cary, which is where we will be delivering.  I was absolutely thrilled with the hospital and their progressive policies regarding labor and birth.  It was refreshing to see that they talked a lot about using different positions, utilizing a squat bar, bathtub or birthing ball and that they are advocates for healthy women and healthy babies, not a one-size-fits-all birth.  I came “armed” with a long list of questions to make sure that all the things we want in our birth plan would be able to be done, but I only had to ask a few because the majority were already addressed in the tour!  I was thrilled to know that the staff supports immediate skin-to-skin contact and breast feeding after baby is born and that all tests and treatments can and will be held off for an hour or more to provide adequate bonding time.  I was also thrilled to see that there was not a nursery full of babies because the hospital supports “rooming in” with baby so that there is minimal separation.  There are also long visiting hours (11 a.m.-8 p.m.) so we can have lots of friends come and visit us (hint, hint!)   

Oh, I almost forgot something really funny!  As we were on the tour, the tour guide brought us to the nurse’s station and announced “there are some of the nurses who might even be taking care of you when you come!”  We all waved and smiled and I realized that one of the nurses was my ex-boyfriend’s mom!  I don’t know that she saw me or recognized me, but it definitely made me laugh.  I told Darren this and he thought it was hilarious.  I know she would be an amazing nurse but I think if she happened to be there, I might have to request a switch.  It might be a little awkward to have her there and doing exams…etc.  Crazy small world!