Take THAT Medical Science!

After being told since I was 19 that I might never get pregnant, and that if I did I would have a hard time carrying a baby to term...I AM 37 WEEKS TODAY!!! Not only did I successfully get pregnant, but I have no carried a child to full term!

Michael thinks I'm nuts (but he never had any faith in doctors anyways, so wasn't as worried as I was about our chances to be parents) but I am over the moon!!! 3 weeks until my due date, and I can not wait to meet my little miracle!!!

Just had to share...I am too excited!

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36 Weeks & Counting

My 36 week appointment was today. It was good and embarrassing and a little disappointing...

While most of the doctors in Women's Health are female, I had met one male doctor, an older, grandfatherly type doctor. Having him was fine when I did, because there was no inspection of my "no-no spots"...but they went and snuck another male doctor in, a much younger male doctor, and I had him today of all days! Today was my wonderful Strep-B test! For anyone who doesn't know, the Strep-B test involves two swabs, one vaginal and one anal swab. They are checking for the infection because, while it doesn't hurt Mommy, it can make the baby very, very sick if it's not treated. If I am positive (which I'll find out next week) I'll just have to have antibiotics during labor...no biggie!

But...I have never, ever had a male down there poking around other than my husband! So for me to have some strange doctor come in and shake my hand and then go "Now let me invade your most intimate parts with a q-tip!" (he didn't actually SAY that, but it FELT that way!) almost sent me into a panic! I was so tempted to go "You know what, we can do this another time! Like when I'm seeing a female doctor!" Michael, who knows my feelings about male doctors and anything below my waist, just sat there looking amused and smug. This is a look he wears quite frequently lately where all this baby stuff is involved...I suppose he can afford to look smug, since the baby is not coming out of any part of HIM. I know I should get used to it. After all, it could be a male delivering me, and some of the maternity nurses are male...but since I'm not in labor, it's still something I'm pretty self-conscious and shy about. (Everyone says I won't care while I'm in labor...We'll see. I'm pretty private about such things. I even have a hard time asking my husband to help me trim up down there, and we're MARRIED!)

I had hoped, since he'd be down there poking around anyways, that he'd at least check to see if I was dilated at all...but no such luck! I was so bummed out, but he said since I'm not having any regular contractions that I am aware of, it was pointless. I know it's an every day thing for him, but it didn't seem pointless to me...But I'm not the M.D. either. He had also said that they wouldn't see me back until 38 weeks...at which point I almost cried! What, so I'm never going to have weekly appointments? When I went to make my appointment though, the nurse said that they would want to see me every week at this point, so she made my appointment for next week instead of 2 weeks, which made me happy again. She said he had done that before, but that here the other doctors would want me to be coming in ever week. (I am assuming he's new here. I know different places have different policies on that kind of stuff.) So, from now on I will be having weekly appointments until the baby arrives! So, a little disappointment followed by some good news too! I like that...it's balanced!

The baby's heartbeat is still steady in the 150s, though Baby likes to hide from the monitor! I have actually lost a pound and a half in the last 3 weeks, which isn't concerning the doctors so I guess it shouldn't concern me...but it puts me back down under my pre-pregnancy weight again. Still, we know the baby is growing. The doctor poked around on my tummy, and said that the baby is head down (which is right where it should be at this point) and he's guessing about 6 and a half pounds! Since babies usually gain about a half a pound a week at this point, he's guessing I'll have about an 8 and a half pound baby! I of course looked at my stomach in a near panic and ordered my child to stop growing this instant, while the doctor looked amused and Michael giggled and looked smug again. (He really did giggle too...he is enjoying all this way too much at the moment, and I'm wondering if he'll feel differently when it's actually time. Stupid boys have it too easy!)

EIGHT AND A HALF POUNDS?!!! (Of course, doctors guesses can be wrong, especially when they are doing it by feel...so I could have a smaller baby...or a larger one...I suppose it's to be expected though, since I was 8lbs 7oz. Baby is taking after Mommy. Bad, bad baby!)

That's about it. Nothing super exciting! I was violated with a q-tip in ways I don't even want to think about, I'm losing weight still, baby is gaining weight still and Michael is being far too smug about the entire situation. All good news, and I'll be back NEXT Wednesday to find out if I'm dilating at all. (Unless, of course, the baby decides to come before then. I still say, whenever baby is 100% ready and healthy, they can come! I want to meet my little one!!!)

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Surprise!!!

I got thrown a surprise Baby Shower on Saturday! I really was surprised too, and so very touched...and slightly overwhelmed...there were a lot of people there and I tend to get shy with that many eyes being exclusively on me...being on stage is one thing, but being surrounded at a close proximity like that is quite another! It's intimidating to walk into a house and have a bunch of people yell "surprise" at you and take pictures while balloons fall on your head! (They had rigged up a pull thingy that dropped balloons on me when I came in. I felt famous!) The first little people to greet me though WERE the "little people", as children had been invited as well, and that was a bit of a comfort. It's hard to feel intimidated by grinning 2 year olds batting balloons around your feet. (Though, they kept walking in the "blind spot" caused by my belly, so I was forever worried that I was going to step on one of them!)

I'm not complaining AT ALL though! I was SUPER touched, and had a really good time...I was just overwhelmed at first. (And mortified that Michael had led me there without hinting that I might want to do my hair or put on a little make-up!!! Thank goodness he made sure I was wearing decent clothes, as I often go out in baggy sweatshirts and PJ bottoms these days if we're not going anywhere special!) Of course, Michael had been in on it, not to mention almost every person I know on this base...and not a ONE of them let anything slip! Even the guys in Michael's shop, who I had spent dinner with the night before, hadn't let a thing slip, though they were all in on it!

My friend Amanda organized it and had it at her house! I could have kissed her!!! She obviously put so much had work into it, and it was wonderful! The house was decorated beautifully, in my favorite colors too!!! (She had been doing covert research for weeks and weeks!!!) She had a TON of games for us to play, all of them amusing and entertaining!!! There was a cake and food and drinks...She even made me a diaper cake!!! I'll never, ever pull it apart to use though...it's just too darn pretty! (I will probably have it when I'm 80...won't people find me odd!) I even have a vase of "lolly pops" made out of baby wash cloths! (Something else I'll never use, but will probably use as decoration in Baby's room! We had yummy, Easter colored candy, bar-b-q food, including Sargent Flo's famous ribs!!! (These things really are a legend in the shop too!!! SOOOOOO good!!!) Amanda had even made sure there were people there to take pictures, since she knew I wouldn't know ahead of time to bring my camera! (I can't BELIEVE Michael didn't make sure I was in make-up!!! Or that my hair was half way decent!!! As usual these days, it was just thrown up and back to be out of my way!!!) We had party favors and gifts...it was just so much fun, and I can't believe everyone knew, and knew that I was bemoaning not being home so I could have a shower, and NO ONE said ANYTHING. (I honestly felt like an ass...After all, I really had been bummed out about the lack of shower, but had figured it was just part of being away from home for the pregnancy. And then my friends go and do this for me after listening to me lament...I really do need to have more faith in people's goodness every once in awhile!)

We got some amazing gifts (baby blankets are SOOOOO much softer than grown up ones!!! Why is that?)...and more diapers than I know what to do with!!! We have 350 Newborn Diapers, 296 Size 1 Diapers, 172 Size 2 Diapers, and even 72 Size 3 Diapers...plus one pack of adult Depends diapers. (One of the guys there is only 19, and looked completely forlorn, saying "The invitation just said "diapers..." I have never laughed like that, though I was careful not to do it in front of him!!!) We also have over 650 baby wipes!!! I've never been so overwhelmed by diapers in my life, and have spent the last 2 days trying to figure out where to put them all!!! We also have about a billion extra bottles now, more onsies, a travel first aid kit...there is just so much STUFF!!! I love it, and feel even more prepared now than I did!!!

It was just such a good time, and I was SOOOO touched...not just for me, but for Michael! There were more guys there than girls, all from Michael's shop, even the young single ones who must think having a baby is paramount to the end of your life...but they came to show their support and love for us and our Baby!!! (Well, and the guys got to play poker!!! Amanda even made a prize up for them with a wrestling champion belt and beer! lol! It looked REALLY cool!!!) It was just so NEAT!!! I've had a baby shower!!!

We got so much stuff that it took 2 trips to drive it from Amanda's house to ours, and I've spent much of the last two days trying to get it all put in its place. (Until I do, we don't have a kitchen table!) I even got TWO bunches of balloons!!! Inflated ones that float!!! I've never had TWO bunches of balloons got for me before!!! I don't know if I've even had ONE!!!!

I feel so special!!!

I didn't get to take many pictures myself, but will have more sent to me from different people in the next few days I am sure, and I will be sure to share!!!

Baby's First Easter Basket

I did the baby's Easter basket today. Goodness knows now that I've done it the baby will be 2 weeks late and it will be a completely moot point...but goodness also knows that if I hadn't made it up, my Little One would have come early and I would have felt like the worst mommy ever for not having an Easter basket ready for their first Easter! (I am due 2 days after Easter this year, but you never know after all!)

Blowing My...Nose?

If you have a queasy stomach...or are a man, I wouldn't suggest reading this one! lol! Even my dear husband doesn't want to hear about my possible mucus plug, and he's been very cool and understanding about all the grossest parts of pregnancy.

Here I am with less than 5 weeks to go, and all week I've been feeling different. I've been less and less comfortable, I've been more and more nauseous, my nesting has calmed a little bit, but I still feel the need to clean...(I'm just not cleaning so much I'm scraping paint off the stove anymore!) I just feel different! There is more pressure and more of what I think are Braxton Hicks contractions. (I'm really not sure, having never experienced them before, but they sound like what has been described.) Oh, and I'm in the bathroom every 5 minutes...either peeing or "the other one". Michael is kind of blowing it off as "wishful thinking" on my part, and maybe it is. This close to the end, I am very much looking forward to meeting my baby! (Even if I'm not looking forward to how the baby must get here!) This thing is, I have NO reason to think I'll have this baby early! I have had a shockingly easy pregnancy...sure I had morning sickness for 20 weeks, but considering the doctors have no clue how I managed to get pregnant, or if I'd be able to stay that way, this has been a very, very easy pregnancy for me!

Easy enough that I'm waiting for the other shoe to drop. Things don't usually come this easily for me, especially things I want so very badly...I'm just worried that it has been so easy and now something is going to hit me from the side here at the end!

I HAVE felt like I might be "damper" down there the last few days, but am not sure if I might have a small amniotic leak or if I'm just not as in control of my bladder as I used to be. (I pee myself almost every time I sneeze or cough or laugh now...it's really embarrassing, and I hope I go back to normal when the Little One gets here!) Then today, I go to the bathroom for the upteenth time and find a little wad of what looks like snotty mucus on the toilet paper after I wipe. It literally looked like I blew my nose...but from "down there". There was no bloody tinge to it, but I don't know if that happens all the time or not. I do know that you can lose your mucus plug in bits and pieces, and that it can happen for WEEKS before you actually go into labor, but it still alarmed me a bit. I feel ready, but what if I'm not??? What if the baby isn't yet, but comes early anyways???

I told the baby, as soon as he/she is ready, 100% ready, (lungs, organs, brain function, etc.) they can come...though I did request that they wait until after this weekend. (We are doing my belly cast this weekend, and I really want to get that done! We're also cleaning out the car and installing the car seat.) While I have no reason to think s/he is coming early, I just feel like I need to be ready NOW. We even bought the stuff today for an Easter basket, even though I'm not due until 2 days after Easter...I would feel like such a terrible mother if my baby didn't have an Easter basket their first Easter!

I'm wondering if I'm nuts and this really is just wishful thinking, or if some kind of mothering instinct is kicking in and letting me know that I need to be ready now! I guess I'll find out soon enough!

Thanks for Reading!

The big 3-5!

No, I am not turning 35...Though that little milestone is closer than I would like, even at a decade away...No, today is the day I am 35 weeks pregnant, which also leaves 35 days until the Baby's due date! I can't believe that it is so close, or that I have come so far!

If I could be 100% sure that the baby was 100% ready, I would say it would be wonderful to have the baby next week on St.Patrick's Day!!! My heritage is Irish on my Dad's side, and it is something that is VERY important in our family! It is also Shamrock's (my darling cat!) 15th birthday! I will be 36 weeks exactly on the day, and I think it would be kind of neat to have a "holiday baby", without it being something HUGE like Christmas. On the other hand, many babies are NOT ready at 36 weeks, and if the baby is not ready, I don't want him/her to come early. I'd rather be pregnant another 5 weeks than have an early baby who had to struggle. I can deal with the discomfort better than the Little One can I think.

I do feel more ready though. Our pack n play arrived today, and will be set up in our room tonight. (The baby will be sleeping in our room the first few months...at my hubby's request! I was surprised, but touched.) We have 2 swings, one in the nursery and one in the living room, (which I put together all by myself, thank you very much!) bottles and clothes are washed and waiting, the Baby's bag is packed and ready, and ours is almost ready...The stroller and car seat are here, though the stroller is not together yet. (I might need hubby's help with that one! It's HEAVY!) Even if our car isn't fixed by the time the baby gets here (it broke down a few weeks ago and hubby and some guys from the shop are fixing it) we have people willing to loan us a car to bring the baby home in. (We are currently using a pick up truck, but it will NOT be okayed by the hospital to bring the baby home in...I don't even think the car seat will fit in the back!) We have diapers and wipes and blankets and sleepers and every last thing I can think of or find on a list saying it's good to have when the baby comes home.

I even feel a little better about the house. (Which really isn't in bad shape at all, but I am nesting like CRAZY, so I'm going nuts cleaning!) Hubby has been helping a lot, and it looks pretty good. I wish I had more laundry done, but that is a never ending battle! The nursery is not done AT ALL, though everything is IN it. The crib is not set up, the shelves are not stocked, the curtains are not hung...but the weekends that should have been spent on it have been spent on the car, and it won't be terrible if the baby comes before the nursery is done, as the baby will be sleeping in our room for a few months anyways.

My parents will be arriving in May, and we will be having a shower/meet n greet/bar-b-q the weekend they are here so everyone can meet the Little One and have a good time! I even already have the invites done for that on PSP, they just have to be finished with a pic of the baby and then printed out.

I'm glad I'm feeling more ready, because I'm also feeling "different" the last few days. I'm a little more tired and have been waking up with headaches. I'm going to the bathroom a lot, both ways, and there is an increase in my general discomfort. I have no idea if these are signs or if I'm just feeling more pregnant, and I can't really describe all of it, but I do feel different, and it is comforting that if the baby does chose to make an early appearance I at least feel like we are more ready for it!

5 weeks to go, give or take! I can't believe it! I am so excited...and nervous...but more excited!

Thanks for Reading!

Dreaming of Baby

I had a baby dream last night!!! In this one, our little one was a little girl...the most beautiful child you have ever seen! She wasn't very old, but wasn't a new born either, and apparently Michael had talked me into getting her ears pierced early. (I don't think this will happen in real life, but dream baby had pretty little gold balls in her ears...just perfect and dainty for such a beautiful girl!) She had such large, dancing eyes, that just sparkled at everything around her like the whole world was a beautiful place, and lashes like you wouldn't believe!!!

We were at some kind of Mommy & Me swimming class...no idea why, because none of the babies there were very old (all were between 6 months and a year), but she kept doing the cutest thing. She'd slam her little hands down into the water and then bring them up real fast, clenched in fists, as though she was trying to hold the water up to show me! She never got frustrated that it wasn't working...she just laughed and laughed and tried again and again to hold the water up to show Mommy! She was giggling and I was laughing...it was such a wonderful dream!!!

And SOOOO real!! The love I felt for this little child was...well, not something that I could describe even if I were a much better writer...and I could actually FEEL her in my arms. I could feel the water and feel the splashes...I can even tell you what she was wearing! (It was the cutest little purple bathing suit, with a matching hair band...she didn't have much hair yet, but what she did have was very light and fine and soft...mine was also very light in color when I was about her age.) She was just so beautiful and happy...it was the most detailed dream I have had about the baby so far, and when I woke up I just wrapped my arms around my belly and said "She likes to swim!" (Which confused the heck out of Michael until I explained, at which point he just smiled that dopey little smile I'm beginning to think of as a baby drunk smile! Like when your drunk with happiness, but it's BABY happiness!!!)

So, as sure as I was a few weeks ago that it was a boy, I am now even more sure it is a girl!!! I have no "mothering instincts", though I have been told that I SHOULD, and that I will "know" what it is...I don't. My mind changes between boy and girl, though I feel more sure now than I ever have. Of course, that will mean the baby will come out a little boy! lol!

What's wonderful is that is honestly isn't something Michael or I care about either way. We're prepared for a girl and call the baby "she"...but we had both always wanted a boy first, so if it comes out a boy, we're prepared for that too! I know that some people really care and get really upset if they don't get what they wanted first, but we honestly couldn't care less, as long as s/he is healthy and safe when they come!!!

It was just such an amazing dream!!!

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