33 Weeks

Still not being a cooperative little boy!
He's got his momma's lips and his daddy's nose

33 weeks

There are two things on my mind right now. First is the pregnant waddle. It has finally arrived. I woke up yesterday and waddled to the shower and again into work. I figured it was because I was in so much pain. I now have siatic pains I never had before, my hips hurt, and I was being kneed in the upper abdomen all day. But I woke up this morning and again waddled to the shower. It was then that I realized the waddle is here, and I am just too tired to do anything but embrace it.

Its weird when you first start to waddle. You are used to seeing the world the way you normally walk, but when you waddle, you feel the sway back and forth, and you start to notice that your vision sways with you. Its kind of like getting used to glasses for the very first time. You have to get used to looking just through the lens and not anything else.

The second thing on my mind is why do we bother to register for our babies. Yes its a wish list of stuff we want, and its a ton of fun for first time new moms, but we all know because we are all guilty of it, that we just go in and buy whatever we think is cute. Oh we all go in with the best of intentions. We spend hours frustrated with the stupid machine that is supposed to print out the registry for the expectant mom. You look it over and you decide what you will get, but you have no idea where any of the stuff is in the store. You find your first item on the list, but then it happens, you get distracted. Now it can be just about anything that distracts you, it all depends on the person and small little baby things causes their obsession, (oh and each of us has some baby item that just calls to us and we spend hours at that section of the store).

Its at this point we stray from the list of coveted items and start buying based on cuteness. I know I have been guilty of this many times. I go in to get them one of their main items on the list then I find something that a friend loved, so I get that, and then I get to the bib section and I have to buy a few of those, and next thing I know I have one item off my friend's registry and 10 that I just had to get that aren't on it.

Now as an expectant mother I am on the other end of this. Its nice because my friends see stuff in the stores that I didn't get to look at because I mostly registered online, but the problem comes when you open your gifts and five of your friends fell in love with the same thing, but no one knew the other got it. I think I have come up with a solution for this.

Expectant parents should register for really big ticket items only, like nursery items and bedding themes and stuff. The rest of the stuff let people just pick out. I mean come on who knows better about bottles and binky's and toys, the first time mother, or the friend who has been there done that and knows what worked for her kids? Really? But see the stores need to help out with this. When we go to check out they should continue to ask did you purchase for someone who registered with us? If the answer is yes, instead of checking off items that were on the registry, it just keeps track of everything everyone bought. So when we go to print out that list that took us 10 minutes of our lives to figure it, it prints out something useful, a list of what the expectant mother is already being given. This would free us all up to shop in our obsession areas, and when we find that perfect gift that no one would ever think about getting the mother to be. You know the gift, the one that your friend will turn to you and say "you are such a genius to have thought of this, I never would have!", we can check to list to make sure none of her other friends have already beaten us down the road to glory. Because nothing sucks the joy out of the perfect gift like your friend opening the exact same thing before she has had a chance to open yours.

Week 32

Roman's first smile
Roman making kissy faces

32 Weeks

Look yet again a weekly blog from me. I am getting consistent. Maybe that means I am becoming ready to be a mom. I am nesting in my own way. I can't do any real nesting as we will be moving soon, so I can't set up a nursery or anything yet, but I finally got the baby clothes laundry soap, and washed all of Roman's clothes. I plan to take all the new born clothes with me to the hospital for him, since I think by the time he leaves the hospital he will have out grown them. Oh did I mention, at the last sonogram they predicted he will be 9 plus pounds at birth.

My mom got us a gift certificate to get one of those fancy 3d sonograms. I was so excited. I talked to Roman all week prior, asking, ok begging him to cooperate so we could see his face and see what he will look like. He was very active all week, like he always is. Then the day of the sonogram, he is calm and quiet the whole day.

We went into the office and we start the sonogram, and what do you know, he has again wedged himself up against my uterine wall and his placenta. We were able to see the bottom half of his face as you can see from the sonograms. So what we do know is that he has his momma's lips and his daddy's nose, the rest he wouldn't show us.

I had to walk around. I had to jump, and wiggle, and turn on my side and contort in many different ways. I was given chocolate to get him some sugar, but to no avail. He would not show us the rest of his face. The tech was so enthralled with his lips that when he did the kissy faces she snapped a picture and then when he smiled she snapped another and let us have those. We have to go back to try again, and I am supposed to drink tons and tons of water and bring OJ with me for sugar jolts. So I am crossing my fingers that he is going to behave next time.

Roman has been very active like I said. He seems to like to wedge his butt up into my ribs. He will lean into my hand if I rub on my left side, which is cool, but at the same time it can hurt, because he can really push pretty hard into my left side. I can't wait for him to get here. I think he will be a real cuddler, and I am looking forward to that.

Week 31

I get weekly emails from several different sources that let me know what is going on week by week with my little bundle of joy. Most have been talking about getting some sort of birthing plan in order. I have not been doing this because I thought the only plan I needed was to keep everyone without a medical license above my waist, and my Husband out of arms reach (for his safety of course).

Today out of curiosity I looked at an online birthing plan option list. I was glad I did for the most part. It allows me to say ahead of time what I want done and what I don't without having to think under extreme stress, pain and emotions. There were a couple of things I never thought of, and now wish I could get out of my head but can't, and since you know and love me and my personality, you know I must share these visions with you. So as I go through some of the options just remember to keep a very open mind and try to picture it all. It will be the only way I can share my terror with you.

Under the section for Labor everything seems normal and good. Yes I would like to be able to walk around and change positions during labor. I would like fluids by mouth when its allowed and I would like to bring my own music and have the lights dimmed. (I am not big on bright lights so I am really hoping I get this one). All these seem normal and reasonable. So far so good.

On to Monitoring. Again nothing more than normal to monitor or not to monitor, and to do this internally or externally. I prefer externally as long as Roman is not under and distress.

Induction....Yes please....

Anesthesia/Pain Meds is the next section, again still normal. Mind you I am not on the second page of the list, thinking everything is great, that I am just so glad I found this document and printed it out.

The section for Cesarean, again all normal even if not everything is to my taste. Things like avoid if necessary, get a second opinion, do I want my husband present, should he get the baby after. Of course there is the, do you want to view the child being riped from the open cut in your stomach? Ok so they don't phrase it quite that way, but I am perfectly ok keeping that curtain up and not witnessing the giant gaping womb the doctors made, or my intestines laid out on my stomach. Yeah I think I am good there.

The next section takes me back to normal again talking about the episiotomy, awww...that c-section part should be the worst of it. Then you get to the delivery section. Then things get weird.

Do I want to choose my position in which I give birth?...Hmm I think I will let the doctor tell me which she prefers me in. I may not listen well all the time, but I can and I will at that moment. Would I like my husband to support my legs while pushing?....ok that breaks my original plan with no one without a medical license below my waist... A nurse can do this for me if it needs to be done.

Would I like to deliver in the hands and knees position? Ummm...ok that just seems uncomfortable and and odd way to give birth, maybe I have been watching too many TV shows but I have never seen them do this and it just doesn't seem like the easy route to go.

Would I like to try the squatting position. Yeah I know that's how they used to do it in the old days, but we have doctors now, and while I am sure it is a very natural way to do things, I want to make sure my doctor has a good view of whats going on and can catch the baby...What if I move as the baby starts to come out and the doctor misses, that can be some major head trauma to my little one.

Would I like a mirror to see the baby's head when it crowns....Yeah no...I did an EMT course a while back and I didn't like seeing the picture of the head come out of someone else, I definitely don't need to see myself.

Do I want to touch the baby's head when it crowns? Yeah again I am going to go with no. There are a couple of reasons here...first he is going to be goopy, and I don't want to feel the goop anymore than I have to, and two it just seems like I am trying to reach areas that should be reached for in that moment.

Would you like the baby placed on your stomach immediately after delivery? Not unless he is goop free. Don't get me wrong I love my son and am very excited to meet him, but I have waited the 9 or so months I can wait the extra 5 minutes it takes for them to take all the goop off. I don't want the first expression on my face my son sees to be a grossed out look of get all this goop off me...you know the look..Its the same look you get when you step on a snail barefoot. Not a good first impression.

Now we are all the way to immediately after delivery. The first two options are about who cuts the cord. I know I don't want it to be me. I don't want my son blaming me for miss cutting if he ends up with an outtie, let someone else, anyone else be responsible for that one.

Then there is do I want to wait for the cord to stop pulsating before its cut? No what I want is to take back the knowledge that it pulsates at all. Can you do that for me, no you can't. Now I know and now I picture it, and now it will haunt my dreams

The last question for This section is would I like to see the placenta after it is delivered? No, why would I? Does it do tricks? Am I supposed to mourn it? Do I pet it? Whats the point of seeing it after its born...its medical waste, get rid of it. No I don't want to take it home either. Why you might ask would you be offered to take it home. Well some people like to bury it in their garden, and there are some people that actually like to eat it. Now I am not here to bash anyone for their beliefs. If you want to eat or bury your placenta more power to you. I personally don't even want to know what it looks like thank you.

Now the rest deals with wanting the baby with you and how often and to circumcise or not, and breastfeeding and photographing everything. So all things back to normal. Except how can things ever go back to normal after being given details like I just described. I am now hoping all of you who read this share the nightmares I will most likely have tonight.

Week 29 & 30

Week 29












Week 30

I have finally entered the stage where I go to see my doctor every 2 weeks. She was quite impressed with my pace of weight gain, which made me happy since prior to that I was kind of upset up by it. I know I know, I am pregnant I shouldn't worry about such things, but lets face it, there is a healthy amount of weight to gain, especially for someone who was over weight to begin with, so I worry.

I am not sure you can tell from the above pictures but I felt like I looked down yesterday and my belly grew a lot over night. I swear it wasn't nearly as big as when I went to sleep the night before. I think Roman might have been trying to show off his size for our doctor's appointment yesterday. I measured at 28 at my last appointment and jumped to 31 at the appointment yesterday.

I also think Roman has finally moved out my left side that he loves so much and into the center. This might have helped my stomach growth. He could be tired of me sleeping on him at night. I mean I can't help it, I am sleeping in the medically recommended position, on my left side. It's not my fault he has decided that is the side he also wants to stay on.

There are a couple of things I am pretty happy about during this pregnancy. I have still yet to feel the normal back pain I get during my period, which I was expecting to experience through most of this pregnancy. I am also not showing pregnancy in my face or anywhere else on my body except for the ever growing belly. My rings actually fit me better now that I am almost eight months pregnant than they did prior to being pregnant. I have not yet started to waddle, although I am told that will come. I also have no stretch marks as of yet. I know it might be naive of the to think I might escape that little blessing of pregnancy, but I still keep my fingers crossed on that one.

I think I am really starting to prepare for my son's arrival. I am holding my dogs in the baby position a lot more. They are both more than thrilled to oblige me in this as they will take any type of attention and affection they can get. I am starting to feel bad that I probably won't be able to hold them like that as much once Roman is here, but I am determined to do it as much as possible when the Husband has Roman in his arms. I don't want the dogs to feel like they are now exiled because we brought a new little thing home.

There is still so much to do and so much to get to prepare for our son, that it seems a bit overwhelming. I am trying to take it day by day to keep my stress levels down. We will see for how long that works.

Week 27 & 28

Week 27

Week 28

Ok Ok say I know I am getting pretty bad at keeping this thing updated. But to my defense I am also very tired all the time. I did find out that I am not diabetic, which was wonderful, since I do not have the ability to stick myself 3 times a day to check my blood sugar, but I am slightly anemic which means I need to find ways to increase iron in my diet. I am not sure how much you guys know about iron rich foods, but most of them are not recommended for pregnant women. Those that are are also very high in fiber. Fiber is good. It helps with the constipation that goes along with being pregnant, but for me I seem to have no in between. My body does not no what regular is anymore. Its one extreme to the other. Fun let me tell you!

Oh yeah there are a lot of other fun things about being pregnant other than that too. Got to love the nose bleeds. They seem to happen a little more often now. Also this child of mine love the rib cage area, which makes sitting with a short waist a fun little experiment. It lodges him up in there further and when I stand or move I can feel him slip out. There are a lot of things you should never feel, and something slipping along your rib cage is one of those things.

He has decided he needs some more room to stretch. Now my belly is growing as you can all see from the pictures, but does my son decide to stretch out front, or even up and down? No he stretches out sideways so that he can push both my sides at the same time. Now while I have grown in several different dimensions, width is not really one of them.

I have also learned a fun little fact this last weekend. My son does not like my singing voice, not that I can blame him. It is the reason why I only sing in the car, alone, with the music up so loud that I can't hear myself sing. I dropped Husband off at the airport the other night, and was singing with the radio on my way back and my son went completely still, which is rare during my waking hours. I thought cool, I sung my baby to sleep, either that or scared him into stillness. As soon as the horrible voice that leaves my throat was gone, he started moving again. So you can guess I didn't sing him to sleep, it must have been the other one.

My mom has been generous enough to give us a gift certificate for a 4D sonogram so be looking for those pictures to be posted soon. I only have 11 more weeks or so before this little one is out and about. I am getting more excited and more scared all at the same time.

Until the next installment.

Week 26

So I know I lagged again this week and this post is a bit late, but better late than never right. So I have the undeniable belly now. And a very active kid growing inside me. There are so many wonders of pregnancy that I thought I might escape.

I have been doing my kegals hoping to avoid that little bit of pee I hear about when sneezing. It didn't seem to help in the end. I still remember the first time it happened. It used to be only when laying down, but now it happens just about every time I sneeze. Oh joy let me tell you its fun when the first thing you do after you get to work, before you even have a chance to sit down is sneeze and realize yes you did indeed pee yourself. Thank god for panty liners.

There is also the heart burn, which I am not normally prone to, so thought, again mistakenly, that I might not have to deal with this. Oh no, I get this too, but I get the kind where it just sits in the throat all day long. I mean I didn't even feel like this in the first trimester why do I have to get it now.

Oh and all pregnant woman have to love the constipation. Yes I know for those who have never had a child grow in you, this is way too much information, but for those who have, you will totally understand the frustration of this. Nothing has ever felt so frustrating in your life. It makes me wonder how I am ever going to push the baby out if I can't even make my bowels work. I know I know all you mothers out there will tell me it can be done, and I am sure it can, since there are kids running around just about everywhere, but it does make me stop to think, maybe just maybe I won't be strong enough to get this kid out.

So as I look forward to the few weeks I have left before I get to meet my son, I wonder what else is in store for me. I just can't wait for the day when my son is here and we get to just hold him and be in awe of the little boy we created, and the memories of the pains and anxieties that went into the 9 months of making him are but a distant memory (nature's way of encouraging more offspring from the same mother).

Week 25

So I am not entering my 3rd Trimester. I am finally on the home stretch of this thing, and look I am finally showing without having to lift my shirt up, at least as long as I have something somewhat fitting on. Funny I never would have worn a fitted sweater before being pregnant because I always thought I looked so fat in them, but now I actually love the sweater I have on in the picture above.

I definitely feel pregnant now. Its all finally sunk in that I am. Still not quite sure its sunk in that I am going to be a mom yet, but I still have 3 months to get used to that little fact. So Roman kicks, a lot and hard. I can see my stomach jump when he kicks. Hubby saw it for the first time last week, and Roman finally let him feel one of his kicks. Every other time Hubby has tried, Roman would kick around where ever he had his hand.

Roman loves to kick and moves for the better part of the entire 24 hour period. He kicks to the front, he kicks to the back (which let me tell you is an interesting feeling that I will not miss) and he likes to kick straight down, (again I wont miss that feeling either) He has kicked me in the ribs a couple times, and I think the lungs because every so often I will get breathless on one of his kicks. He also likes to stretch out, and will kick or punch the very bottom of my stomach as far down as he can get, and at the same time punch or kick the very top of my stomach at my ribs.

He will also kick a lot if the dogs lay too close to my stomach and take up what he feels is rightfully his space. Oh and any time Frida, my female dog even touches my stomach or is near it he kicks out at her, not sure if that means he likes her or just wants her away from him. I choose to believe it means he likes her, because they are not hard kicks, but more like soft rolls.

Laying on my side/stomach is getting more uncomfortable which is really hard for me since that is my normal way to sleep. But Roman being the ever demanding child he is shaping up to be, kicks out when I lay too much on my stomach, letting me know he does not approve of the position.

I did get him to kick back when I pushed in on him for a while. I figured its only fair that if he is going to be kicking me all day that I push him around a little. Its all in good fun, and entertained me for the 5 minutes he would play. Oh and my stomach is lopsided because he still likes the stay to the left side. I really noticed the lopsidedness today when I was getting ready for work. Its kind of funny to see. I hope he goes more to the middle as he gets bigger or I am going to have a belly swinging to the left. As if my center of gravity isn't off enough or my balance horrible to begin with. That's all I need is a belly to the left causing me to walk in circles.