39 Weeks

Now that this pregnancy is almost over, let me fill you in on how things have been going for the last four months.  What a roller coaster pregnancy can be.  The morning sickness was rough at first; I lost weight, and looked old and tired.  I was surprised how much the malnutrition and dehydration showed up on my face.  Then weeks 15 through 32 were pretty good, considering.  I actually had an appetite, gained weight, slept decently, and kept up with life. 

14 1/2 Weeks

19 Weeks

With each of my pregnancies, my babies have seemed more active.  Maybe because things are more elastic, and baby has more room to squirm around.  And with this pregnancy, my placenta is posterior, which means there isn't that extra cushioning against my belly that I had with the other girls.  Whatever the reasons, I've never seen this much movement so early in pregnancy.  This was a day before 22 weeks, and she weighed about a pound.

I've been fighting the migraines, despite my best efforts to follow my own advice. When I was safely into the third trimester, I agreed to try codeine. The first time I took it was good. It made me feel a little groggy, but drastically decreased the pain in my head. Then the second time I took it, my body decided it didn't like it. I started throwing up. I had started the day with coffee and cereal (and just happened to weigh myself, since I try to do that occasionally when I'm pregnant), and then promptly kept nothing down for the entire day. By 9 pm, I realized my body must be severely dehydrated, and told Bryan that we needed to do something. So for the first time in my life, I had IV fluids. As the beautiful saline dripped into my veins, I became less thirsty. It was glorious. I threw up a few more times, but was able to get some sleep that night. The next day around noon, it occurred to me to see what my weight was. I was seven pounds lighter than I'd been about 30 hours prior. And I'd been keeping things down for a while. That was a rough run.  I haven't touched codeine since, and even told my doctor to list it as an "allergy."  So I have good ol' hydrocodone that I've taken a couple of times now for migraines.  What a blessing to experience some relief after months of toughing out the pain.

Me: 19 weeks, 5 days.  Jessie: 39 weeks, 6 days.

27 Weeks

My other girls never really hurt me like this girl has in utero.  I have been surprised that her kicks and jabs have actually caused me to double over in pain.  She did something at about 32 weeks that made me gasp for breath and stop in my tracks and lean on whatever was available.  And then I was actually sore in that spot for a couple of days.  Crazy kiddo.  More recently, she just tries to stretch out, and actually makes my ribs sore!  I'd heard of such things happening, and now I can empathize.  

This was at 30 weeks.  It seems like a long video, but she did this for about an hour that night. 

34 Weeks.  Enjoying a "hot" day in May.

As the baby (and my belly) got bigger, I started developing some pretty decent pelvic and hip pain. Bones shifting and muscles pinching nerves and all that good stuff. I found myself mostly confined to bed or the couch, and increasingly frustrated with my limitations. I even swallowed my pride and rode one of those little electric carts around Walmart. One particularly rough day at about 33 weeks, I decided to see what insurance would cover for a chiropractor. I saw Dr. McKenzie, and was so impressed with his holistic approach and the moderate pain relief I experienced. I always feel selfish spending money just to relieve pain, but ohmygoodness, three chiropractor appointments and a deep tissue massage made me feel like a new woman. I went from basically being crippled to being able to complete basic household chores with no pain! This last week has been so wonderful compared to the previous month. I've actually been able to do normal "nesting" things, like painting a dresser for the baby, organizing my pantry, and doing some deep cleaning.

34 1/2 Weeks

37 1/2 Weeks

I posted the most recent photos a few days ago.

Besides the pain, occasional headache, not-so-great sleep, occasional nausea and random throwing up, and heartburn, this pregnancy is really going pretty well.  (I'm currently using nine pillows at night to create the perfect little nest of pseudo-comfort.)  Baby has been head down for weeks, and usually anterior (with her back against my belly), which is where we want her to be. My weight, fundal height, blood pressure, lab results, and baby's heart rate have all been great.  I think it's funny that my weight has been exactly the same at the beginning and end of all three pregnancies, despite all of the variations in detail.  Last week Dr. Minudri said he would be happy to deliver, even if he's not on call. The other doctors in his practice are great, but I've been particularly impressed with everything I've seen and heard about him specifically, and am really relieved to know he's willing to be there.  Even though I've done with whole labor and delivery thing twice already, mentally preparing to go to a hospital feels like totally new territory.

The cute little newborn clothes are washed and waiting. I've been having some nice little Braxton-Hicks contractions, and my body is showing little hints of preparing to have this baby.  So now we wait.  We're all ready.  Any day, Baby Girl.  We can't wait to meet you.