9 days old

Post-bath

Snoozing with Uncle Alex

Pictures!

4 days old, 2 days home

Wow, have we really been home for 2 days now? It's honestly a blur, we've had some loooong nights (and EASY days because she is cheerful, and a great napper and eater) and tonight is going to be awful because we just have to suck it up and let her cry it out so she knows that if she cries we're not just going to go pick her up and let her sleep on us (the last two nights Patrick and I have switched out sleeping on the bowl chair with her-does NOT make either one of us a very cheerful person or very rested in the morning!)

We are going to cave in and buy the pack and play this week-it has a bassinett attatched to it, so she can be in our room-I absolutely refuse to let her sleep in bed with us. Or maybe by payday she'll have gotten used to sleeping in her crib-lets hope!

I'm still feeling icky, but better. I've learned that the squeezy bottle they gave me at the hospital has become one of my best friends. I think they put something in it at the hospital, for cleaning purposes, so it burned when I used it and I hated it-but I've been filling it with cold water and it's absolutely delightful. My body hasn't figured out yet that I am NOT nursing-I can't wait till it does. I need to learn to not overdo it, as much as I think it will make me better faster, because the more I do the more I bleed and the more my stitches hurt. Can't wait till this part is over-I swear it is worse than labor!

Ecchhh she's screaming her head off now... its going to be a long night.

We're home!

We got home a little after 10 this morning, but with Patrick running around getting checked out for leave, picking up formula, going back up to the Naval Hospital to get the phone charger, getting the sheets washed that my water broke on, getting everything from the hospital put away... it's been a long day!

Here's the story of the past few days-and many thanks to dear Kas for updating thus far!

Wednesday morning (the MORNING AFTER the terribly depressing OB appointment) Patrick left for the gym and work at about 445... a little after that I woke up thinking I PEED myself. I seriously thought, oh GREAT, how am I going to explain this one to Patrick... I am almost 25 years old and I just peed myself in my sleep! So I threw a towel over the spot after I cleaned myself and changed and hopped over on his (dry) side of the bed... and I could feel it happening again, but I was half asleep so I didn't know if I was seriously losing my mind and bladder control or what. Then I went back to bed again... happened again. It seriously happened a good 4 times before I was like ok... this is NOT pee, my bladder doesn't even hold enough to go this much in a half hour... so I called the Naval Hospital, they said to come in, and after sitting in Lejeune traffic for an eternity I finally checked in a little after 8 and yup, sure enough, it was my water! We were both in complete shock-especially knowing that since my water had broken this baby would be here within the next day.

I was dilated only 1cm, not having any contractions noticeable to me or that were making any sort of normal pattern. They hooked me up to everything under the sun and sometime around 9 or 10 I started on a teensy bit of Pitocin, and that was enough to jumpstart my body into labor. By noon I was 3-4cm and in quite a bit of pain so I got my epidural, an hour later it was still not kicking in at all (only making them seem shorter, not taking the edge off) and so the anesthesiologist came in to give me more something but wanted me checked first-holy crap I was at 9cm and almost completely effaced, just a little ridge to go, and 15 minutes after that was pushing, and she popped out an hour and 15 minutes later! I didn't even KNOW she was out till they were talking about her arms and head! It really wasn't that bad at all... I know you folks who had long or hard labors will hate me, but gosh it really was quite simple... I know I'm lucky! I did tear though, 2nd degree, inside and out. That does hurt.

Patrick is wonderful and amazing. He held one of my legs and counted my pushing, he clipped the cord, he was right down there watching the progress (when he swore he wouldn't!) I catch him staring at her, tearing up a little sometimes... she's got him so wrapped around her finger already. He's an awesome, very very loving daddy, and it's going to break my heart even more now when he deploys in a couple months.

Evie has taken great to her so far! She was VERY excited to see me home-I went to greet her first, and she must have known that the baby was out of my belly because the FIRST thing she started to do when she saw me (I was kneiling on the floor) was kind of pile-drive her body across my belly-just rubbing herself all over it! It was pretty hilarious, and I'm interested in hearing the dog-philosophy behind that (Sue-any words from the dog genious?) But she was VERY good at being gentle with the baby, and not going too far when she was being changed or getting her jammies on. Patrick took a little hat of Maya's home the first night, so Evie has been familiarizing herself with Maya's scent. I have a feeling they'll be the best of friends... it's so funny though, Evie looks like a GIANT compared to the baby!

I love being a mommy of course-it's all been surreal till now, really, but now that we're home it's going to be a blast and I am so so very excited for it. I am looking forward to tomorrow when we've had a good sleep in our own beds (she is thankfully a CHAMP at sleeping) and I'll hopefully be a bit less sore. I'll post pictures tomorrow too :) Time to go cuddle up with Patrick and stare at our beautiful little girl till its time for bed!

What A Beautiful Little Girl!

Since I am all the way in Maine and Mandi is in North Carolina, I had to wait for the pictures. I wish I could have been there to take them myself.. but I guess that's life.

Here are some pictures that our friends Sarah, Vanessa and Trina took at the hospital today. She is such a beautiful little girl!!

I'll leave the rest up to you Mandi. She should be home from the hospital tomorrow, so I'm sure in a few days she will post some updates in her own words.

Welcome Baby Maya!

Maya was born at 3:10pm. She is 7lbs 1oz and 18in long. With dark dark hair!! Mandi called me at work around 4:45... she sounded wonderful!! I should be getting some pictures from Alex so as soon as I do I'll post them!

Congratulations!! I cannot wait to see her!

UpDate

This is Kassy... I (with permission) hacked Mandi's blog to keep her readers updated. I talked to her around 7:00 this morning, her and Patrick were on their way to the hospital because her water broke!! She sounded awesome and very excited.

It's now almost 11:30 am and I just talked to Patrick. They gave Mandi (please excuse my spelling of this word) a potosin drip to induce labor. She is now four cm. dilated! She is pretty uncomfortable, they were about to give her something for the pain.

Sadly I have to go to work in just a few minutes, but Patrick is going to keep calling me and as soon as I get home tonight I will post another update for her!

Keep her in your prayers for a fast, safe, and painless delivery!

38w3d

38w3d. 38w3d. 38w3d. You'd think my body would be doing SOMETHING to get ready to push this baby out, right?

Wrong.

I mean she's as far down as she's going to get. Lt. Summerville could feel her head, right there, when she checked me. She's a low rider, and she's not going anywhere else.

As far as anything else... NOTHING. I'm dilated "maybe a fingertip". My cervix was way too far back to check-meaning no telling if I'm effaced at all, and there was no checking if that plug was still there.

Worst of all, that meant NO membrane stripping. She was going to try... I was SO excited because that meant if my body was ready, that would really fast forward everything. But nope... no dice. I'm just left in a gloomy mood with not a likely chance of her coming anytime in the next week (Lt. Summerville's opinion anyway) and now I'm crampy because she was messing with everything down there. I can hope that that might kick start something, but I'm not really optimistic about that since it did NOTHING when they checked me 3 weeks ago. I was really thinking this baby was coming in the next couple of days. The house is completely clean. Dishes are done. Orders are cought up on. I have nothing to do but wait.

Lt. Summerville is the midwife on duty on Thursday and Friday nights... so she said to come up there then and ask to see her and she'd check me again, and if things were better she'd try and strip the membranes then. Bless her heart, she's so wonderful... she knows how done and frustrated I am. So after my KV meeting Thursday night we'll go try... so please please pray that things start happening and things move to where they need to be... Oh gosh I need to go find some chocolate.

38w1d

Dear my sweet little baby:

There is a reason I did NOT buy cold-weather maternity clothes. I figured you'd be out by now, or soon-and I also did not figure on it being 50 degrees here the past couple of days. I mean we are in North Carolina now, not MICHIGAN! So it would be nice if you cooperated because flip flops, capris, and t-shirts are not quite cutting it.

Now, your daddy and I are about to go on yet another walk in a little while... it would be nice if you cooperated and did a little magic in there. I can feel your little fingers scraping everything down south-would you mind scraping a hole in your bag of waters, too, so we can get this show on the road?

38w

In 21 days or less, we will be parents. I'm so glad Naval Hospital has a cutoff date and I know there is an end in sight. Right now, that's the only good points they have with me.

The toilet paper no longer lives on the toilet paper holder. It lives on the counter next to the toilet because I can't reach over the what, 2 or 3 feet to grab it. Too hard. Especially in the middle of the night when I almost fall back asleep on the toilet-it's a concious effort to stay awake.

My stretch marks are now each between 1/4 inch-1/2 inch wide each-won't even go into how long they are-and they sometimes bleed. Can't. Stretch. Any. More.

She's dropped as low as she can get. We've been walking and walking and walking... we'll see in a couple of days if its done any good. Appointment Tuesday... I can't wait! (But I really HOPE I don't make it till then!)

37w5d

Today I feel like lousy, miserable crap.

This morning I woke up and my hands and feet were surprisingly really swollen and really sore. I didn't think anything of it at first except that it was really annoying. So I was just sitting around working on my belly book when I noticed the headache I had from last night was just getting worse (I go to a neurologist normally because I have such issues with my headaches, but surprisingly they have been BETTER with pregnancy).

So I look up stuff on preeclampsia because I know those are two indicators for it, swelling and headache. And then looking at the list I realize I have more than just those two-I had other things that I just also attributed to being pregnant (nausea, I thought that was from my headache, and a sharp pain in my abdomen-I no kidding was woken up yesterday by that, I didn't know what it was but it hadn't happened since). So had I not had that pain yesterday morning I wouldn't have called... but I did, my friend Trina had it and she was really messed up from it for awhile and so I know it is nothing to joke about. And since I hadn't had an appointment this week (THANK YOU NAVAL HOSPITAL) I had no idea what my BP was sitting at, even though its always been really good.

I call, and they say come in. This is annoying because I didn't take the car today. So Patrick comes to get me, we get up there, they check me out, everything is fine and everything just happens to be normal symptoms that pooled together that made it look like that. My BP was on the lower end of normal if anything (which is odd because it's usually smack dab on). So that was the end of my adventure today, we got back home around 10:30 and Patrick went back to work, I curled up in bed to see if I could relax for a bit... and sure enough, I slept till 2:30.

I woke up feeling just as cruddy as before. I don't want to do a single thing today, including going into labor-I just don't think I'd have the energy for it.

37w4d

Definitely thought I was in labor yesterday.

It was perpetuated a lot by me-since the weekend Patrick and I have been walking (a good long way, he thinks I'm overdoing it) every day. Yesterday was a full moon (I am a believer in the full moon madness-especially after my time spent in the classroom) and for lunch I had ordered Eggplant Parm from Olive Garden-it was yucky in my opinion, I think it was the texture that did me in, but I ate it anyway because of the theory that it puts women in labor-and then I went on my jolly way doing errands and such.

All afternoon I felt sooo sick to my stomach. Just gross. I figured I ate too much of the eggplant parm-I was kind of stuffed-but then when I was walking through the Commissary I started to be in a lot of pain, a lot in my back, at times almost like she was playing with my spinal cord or something. Very sharp, and it radiated. Sometimes I had to just stop and stretch myself out a bit. I got done with that and sat in the car outside Patrick's shop waiting for him to get off work, and I started feeling contractions-they didn't have a definite beginning or end, it was perpetual pain and then every few minutes it would just double in an almost sickening wave. That lasted for the hour that I was waiting for Patrick, and then we got home, he unloaded the car, I didn't eat dinner, I was too sick to my stomach. Then it was pretty allright. I was in a lot of pain all night but the contraction feeling part of it stopped, and I was in bed by 8, completely whooped.

This is where I wish the Naval Hospital wouldn't have screwed me over. I should have had an appointment yesterday or today. I could have asked them these questions then, and they could have checked me today to say oh yeah, you're getting somewhere-or clarified what it was I was feeling (back labor I'm GUESSING? I don't know, I have never had a baby before) ...I am not one of those people who go running to the hospital for every little thing, so I don't want to go up to L&D for them to say "oh it's nothing" again. It wastes my time and theirs, and I don't want to keep pulling Patrick out of work. They are doing too much important stuff right now with predeployment beginning, and he needs to be there as much as possible.

This morning I woke up with a sharp, sharp pain in my right side. Soon after I woke up it went away. No clue what it was. Baby has been quiet this morning, but I'm thankful to be at that point where I can shake her around, wake her up and make her mad and I'll get some kind of movement, even if it's little.

I think it's going to be soon, especially if last night was the beginning of something. We've been keeping the apartment as picked up as possible, and I am about to vacuum and dust and finish the laundry and then it will be completely done-just in case.

Come on, little Maya... it's time!

37w1d

I don't know if you can tell by the (blurry-its hard to take pictures of my OWN hands) picture, but these are my hands after a 3+ mile walk. Just to put it in perspective-my wedding rings are a size 5. My size 8 fake ring that I've worn through the pregnancy comes nowhere near fitting right now. Halfway through I had to stop and take off my crocs because my feet were getting so swollen that they were rubbing really bad-and now I have 4 blisters as a souvenir. Can ya tell I'm serious about getting her out? If anything, Patrick, Evie and I got a really nice workout-even if it did take an hour and a half to do!

37w

This is me today.
This evening we went and walked laps around the mall (I want to walk as much as possible to get her out, but it has been raining all day...) and people were staring at me. UM, haven't you ever seen a pregnant lady before? And I'm sure I'm nowhere close as big as they come-I just have the disadvantage of being very short. I'm glad that, on average, growth of the baby slows now... I'm not sure how much further my belly can stretch.

36w5d

One of the perks of being a military family is that we are offered all of these cool classes and great resources for just about everything-including having a baby. They have something called the New Parent Support Group, and they offer classes to new moms, new dads, kiddos who are going to be a big brother or big sister for the first time, and after the baby is born they will send someone out to your house to visit, weigh and measure the baby, see how you are doing, and give you any tips or answer any questions you may have. I love it, and as a KV I like to try out these programs so I can recommend them to other people.

So, yesterday and today Patrick has been going to the Daddy Boot Camp (I was signed up for the mommy one next week, but I figured that I would either have her by then or be too miserable to sit there in a class all day for two days in a row so I cancelled). It's some common sense stuff, but I think it was neat for him to go to-he got to practice changing a poopy diaper, bathe the baby, and hold the little one-all on dolls of course, it's almost too bad they couldn't make the dolls squirm and scream like real ones do! The hilarious part was they got to wear those empathy bellies for awhile. I heard that they got to do it, so I sent him with the camera-sure enough, he came back at lunch yesterday with a picture for me. He said it "wasn't too bad" but they only wore them for a little while-I would LOVE to see them wear them for the whole two days!

There's no progress here that I can tell, I've had terrible cramps the past couple of days but I don't think that's anything. For those of you who want to keep up with me going in and everything, I joined Twitter and will post updates from here and when we go to the hospital-it's a little box on the left hand side of our big blog, but for the sake of keeping track of the baby I might add it to this blog too. It's just a little box, and it will say whatever I type in... so when we go I'll update that, and keep updating from my phone... and then when she comes my dear, wonderful friend Kas will get on here and let you all know the details!

Here's the shot of Patrick with the belly on... enjoy!

36w4d

Soooo I had an appointment yesterday... it turned out to be the most aggravating and frustrating appointment yet, and left me in tears every time I would talk to anyone about it last night.

Everything is looking just fine. I've gained 2lbs since last week (and honestly one of those pounds are probably from the lunch I ate and giant pop I had drank right before). Blood pressure continues to be just dandy. This week my belly was measuring at 36 weeks right on the dot, and her heartbeat was strong in the 140's. So I should be happy, right?

I asked her if they were going to check me (as it is common knowledge-and was told to us at our orientation) since I'm 36 weeks now, and she said no. Now they don't do that till 38 weeks, and it's even optional then. So cool... it's not a big deal, I'd just like to know where I'm sitting at-if I've made any progress at all. And THEN she tells me when she hands me the appointment slip that they'll see me back in TWO weeks. I have never ever in my life heard of that before... when you are this far along its common sense and just peace of mind for the mother to be to be seen every week, because things could change so quickly, we have questions all the time about new things that pop up... and I just like to be assured that everything is fine. Especially with this being my first baby, I really really got flustered with that. I know she knows what she is doing-but come ON.

And so I went to make my appointment for two weeks. That would be the 20th. Well, there was nothing available-at ALL-for that entire week, let alone close to the beginning of the week... there was one appointment on the 24th but the lady who does the scheduling and the nurse didn't know if that would do since it's 2 1/2 weeks and lets face it... that's a long time. That is EIGHT days before my due date. I guarantee she's going to be here before that. So the schedule lady and the nurse couldn't get back ahold of the midwife since she was in with another patient already, they said they'd call later on that afternoon when they figured out what to do with me... and as of now, 8:30 the next morning, I still haven't heard anything.

And then at the end of all that I had to get an HIV test. No biggie, it just became North Carolina law since I got my initial bloodwork done that if the mother isn't screened for it then the baby has to as soon as it is born-and there is no way they are going to be fishing through my newborn's tiny veins for some blood if they don't have to. So the lady shot through my first vein and then got it with the second, and so that just annoyed me more since I was already irritated in the first place.

So I'm in a pretty foul mood still from all of this. It's just a bummer. I feel like I've been screwed around with appointments this entire pregnancy-if you remember correctly there was one time that I went 9 weeks between appointments-but I suppose that's the military for ya.

Just start praying for labor now... the midwife said that if I went, at this point, all would be well and they would not try and stop me. I'm ready to meet my little girl.

35w6d

(Under 30 days to go! EEK!)

Why I have the best husband ever:

Last night, even though it was his birthday and we were both honestly exhausted from the day, when we hopped into bed he climbed down to the end and asked for my feet.

See I cringe every night when I say "will you rub my feet" because honestly, WHO wants to do that? I know he hates it, I would hate to do it every night, and I really hate to ask him, but they just hurt so terribly... I'd rub them myself but uh, I kind of can't reach them!

So it was very very sweet and very much appreciated last night (when I sure wasn't about to ask for it since it was his day and all) when he just did it... he's the best :) thank you, love!

35w5d

SO... it's been an interesting afternoon.

This morning I woke up, and through the morning, as I was getting ready, I thought I was leaking fluid. As I had a lunch date with the girls planned, I was just going to call the Naval Hospital and ask them what I should do after lunch (if I was really going into labor, I'd want something on my stomach!) So I called Patrick just to give him a heads-up on what was going on, and then I went about my business and went to lunch...

So then we were standing outside waiting for everyone to get there and Patrick calls... apparently he was a little freaked out, and after talking to some of the people he works with he decided to call the nurse hotline at the hospital and told them what was going on and they said to come in... so he headed home to get me as I scarfed down a bowl of soup, he picked me up at Red Robin, and we went in.

They hooked me up to the monitors and checked progress for a little while, she looked good, she was moving around a LOT... then when the STUDENT midwife came in to check me she put the wrong size thingy in there (don't know what they are called) and so I'm OW OW OW-ing, and then it slipped and opened up all the way, and she's just moving it all around... I think the real midwife felt really bad... long story short no progress as of yet, it didn't end up being any fluid as far as they could tell, she's still got a bit to go, my cervix is still sitting back a ways... but I suppose we'll see if anything happens after all that poking and prodding. I just hope I don't get that same lady again... I feel pretty yucky now from it all.

35w4d

Had my first appointment in a MONTH today! (Not too happy that it was this long in between, but what can ya do)

Weight is good, I'm up to 31lbs gained for this pregnancy so far... not terrible, but I am already ready to get to the gym and start working it back off.

Blood pressure is good... sugar was low in my test, but yep I knew that... baby's heartbeat was at 150bpm and I am measuring between 36-37 weeks, so a little ahead.

Lieut. Summerville didn't want to check me this week because she was afraid that if she did, it would "stir up" things too much-well, I'd be ok with that-but they will check next week for any progress. She said the baby is definitely really really far down and in position though, and she thinks she will definitely be here early.

Last night we were at our friends' house watching a movie... we had to leave because I was having such sickening back pain and contractions that were about 8 minutes apart. They come and go, but it's definitely changing and happening more often. It's nuts to think that I am due a month from today... and it's likely that she will be here sometime before that!

35w

5 weeks to go... 6 at the most! It's so nice to have a light at the end of the tunnel!

Last night I was having contractions and a lot of lower back/abdomen pain... I timed contractions, but they weren't too regular, and at the most regular they were about 9 minutes apart. I'm getting them again today, but I don't think it's anything yet.

Today, though, has been interesting-at one point I had about the almost most painful 5 minutes of this pregnancy yet! We went and cleaned out the car, and apparently she didn't like that too much... after we got done wiping down the inside and vacuuming everything out, we hopped back in the car and she instantly flipped-usually if she pushes her butt up into my rib area it's on the right hand side, where there's an eensy bit of room-but today, however, she thought it would be cool to do it right smack in the middle and go as high up as she could. Seriously, I could feel the top of her butt about a half inch, if that, below my braline. IT HURT SO bad!and then her back was pushed into the side of my ribs... gosh I didn't know there was so much space between the ribs and skin, apparently there is (maybe there's not and she just made room!) but goodness that was wow. It was making me sick to my stomach because she was pushing up against my stomach and honestly I felt a bit lightheaded (wuss, I know). I'm glad it didn't last too long! That would be the WRONG place for her to decide to take a nap!

And then today we got the infant seat put in... although there are 5 weeks left, in the case that she gets here early the last thing Patrick is going to want to do before he can bring us home from the hospital is to go up to the fire station and get it installed. He didn't want to keep the infant seat itself in the car yet though-I think it intimidates him a little bit :) He said it's not 100% real yet to him... welll sir, pretty soon it will be!

34w4d

About the picture I posted yesterday: Apparently my hands look manly, because a friend on Facebook yesterday asked if they were Patrick's hands. Maybe that's a sign I should start getting my nails done? I don't work in a kitchen anymore, so that's no longer an excuse...

Anyway, I've been feeling ill today-like flu ill-so I was looking up some things and guess what I came across:

Pre-Labor: Signs that Labor is About to Begin

Possible Signs Labor May Begin Soon.
· Backache: Not the type of backache you have in late pregnancy that changes when you shift position, but a persistent dull ache that makes you restless and irritable. (have that)
· Cramps. Abdominal cramping that is mild to moderate in discomfort. (that too)
· PMS symptoms: crabby, irritable. (oh gosh, just ask poor Patrick)
· Nesting Urge. (YES)
· Frequent, soft bowel movements. Flu-like symptoms. (had me awake at 3am)

If you experience these symptoms, it is important to remember that they are not necessarily signs that labor is imminent. They may persist for days or weeks before labor begins. The presence of these symptoms is a good reminder to make sure you have everything prepared for labor and birth, and to make sure you are aware of what other signs to be watching for.
However, try not to get too excited about things, or start making too many plans assuming the baby is on its way. Continue your normal routines, get lots of rest, eat and drink well, nurture yourself in these precious days before the baby arrives.

34w3d

33w6d

Tonight was little Maya's first concert!
One Tree Hill taped a bit of one of their shows here at the Air Station, and Angels & Airways and a couple other people I've never heard of came and put on a concert. She was kicking and moving in there, that's for sure!

In other news, I'm pretty pretty sure she's dropped. I have so much pressure on my pelvis, and I am getting crazy back pains-just very crampy and very tight-even when I am just sitting watching TV.

33w5d

This particular post is for Aunt Gayle-she said to mark her words that little Maya will be here within a week. We'll see.

In the least, this past week has been a grand slam of signs that things are actually progressing and that my body is working its way up to the main event. Lots of Braxton Hicks, a great deal of lower back pain, decreased movement on her part (by a lot), way more trips to the bathroom at night... and crazy crazy pressure on my pelvis. THANKFULLY I think she's moved off my sciatic nerve-because I've noticed that hasn't been bothering me so much (watch I bet it gets me tonight!)

I really wish they wouldn't have scheduled my next appointment a month after my last one. I would have had one yesterday or the day before, so I'm just really paying attention to everything in the case that I need to give the Naval Hospital a call. She'll come out when she wants to I suppose-I'm not doing anything on the "labor encouraging" list till after the 1st, but I'll tell you what, Patrick is getting excited for me to pull that bag of dried chilies out of the cupboard to cook with every night.

At least it has begun...

33w2d

I'll be honest with you-Patrick's the one who has been walking Evie lately. By the time walk time comes around at night my sciatic nerve is so bad it's sometimes all I can take to hobble to the bathroom, or I'm so tired... and if I dare go in the morning it wears me out for the entire day and I am completely worthless. I know, bad me. But that's how it is, and I am being honest about it.

So today, even though I have the car, when I needed to mail a letter (and our mailman had already come around) I decided Evie and I would make the healthy choice and walk ourselves to the little annex-maybe between a half mile, mile total? I wear my crocs when I walk, because it's the coziest for my feet-flip flops hurt after a bit and it's too hot to put my tennis shoes on.Well I went to put on said crocs to head out the door-and they DON'T FIT! I mean serious don't fit too-my foot was hanging off the end, I couldn't fit them, width wise, in there at all. These suckers used to be a very comfortable fit, a little loose even. I couldn't believe it. I mean I knew I was swelling a little bit, especially since it has been steadily 90 (heat index still going up towards and past 100) but geez... sure am.

Since my goal starting October 1 is to do all I can to encourage labor, including taking hugely long walks every day (*hopefully* it will start to cool down, otherwise I'll have to suck it up) I'm going to have to find something to do with my little feetsies here. Poor crocs. Good thing we didn't end up getting another couple of pair for the pregnancy because they'd be worthless till I deliver.

Here's a shot of the poor sausages...

33w1d

We've done a lot to baby's room this weekend! Now I'm not as stressed about it... hahaha. I've been in full on nesting mode for the past few weeks and I know I've been driving Patrick nutty. The rest of the things we need in there can come as we get them... the glider (you'll have to use your imagination where it goes in the pictures, in the corner under her name, and the end table will move next to the glider on the other side), a lamp for the little end table, a clock for over the dresser, and a couple of pictures here and there-which we'll have plenty of, I'm sure, when she gets here!

32w6d

Soooo I've been having Braxton-Hicks for the past 3 days. Pretty intense at points too-the first day it happened I was good and did what they told me to in my previous appointments and such-drink a glass of water, relax for an hour or so (did that in the form of a heavy duty two hour nap) and see what's going on after. So I did, but they were still going on when I got up. They were there yesterday, though not so bad, but when I got up this morning (at 430) there were a lot of them, pretty frequent, and its now accompanied by a constant crampy feeling-like you feel when it's about that time of the month.

Of course today was grocery day, and I've had a lot to do-gosh is it uncomfortable when your uterus is squeezing away. Sometimes I had to slow down an awful lot just so I could keep walking. I called the Naval Hospital to see what they had to say about it, but she kind of dismissed it and told me to time them if I was concerned about it-so I guess I will maybe, I know they aren't true contractions because they aren't painful but still its uncomfortable and it's something different I am experiencing so... whatever I guess. I know I'm not in labor labor-the baby is still moving around a ton and I haven't dropped at all-and she's lying sideways, moreso than head down I think (though they say she is head down? Sure doesn't feel like it). I suppose its a start though... only 4 more weeks till full term, so there's gotta be something going on getting it all ready...

32w1d

I got to experience another fun pregnancy thing early this morning:

LEG CRAMPS.


It took all I had not to scream bloody murder when it came and woke me up. Good thing I read what to do to make it go away in one of my books just a couple of days ago.

32w

Misery, agony, I don't sleep, just ready to get this over with in general.