Another Midwife Appointment

Maybe it will be my last one?

I lost my mucous plug this morning, so that's a good sign. Both of my due date buddies have had their babies (one two days ago and one this morning). Baby is really, really low and I'm ready.

My hemoglobin is back up which is great. Two weeks ago it was at 7.2 and today it was 10.3, so that's a HUGE improvement.

I'm ready to get this show on the road!

38 and a half weeks...

... and I'm ready. I'm tired of being short with Will. My patience has worn very thin. I just want to have this baby already. I shared a due date with two other people and one of them had her baby yesterday. My cousin, due 9 days after me, had her baby today. Is it my turn yet? I'm trying to be patient. I'm trying to be grateful that I'm still pregnant at over 38 weeks. I'm trying to remember how horrible NICU time is. But I just want to have this baby already.

Ok, ok, ok. I've been a blogging slacker. But after my birthday came Christmas and then we drove across the country for a week and I've been recovering ever since.

I'm currently 36 weeks and 3 days pregnant. Almost full term! I can't believe that we are so close to finally meeting the newest member of our family.

As big of a proponent of natural childbirth as I am, I am absolutely at the point in pregnancy where I can see how people would choose to be induced. I am ready to be done with pregnancy. My feet hurt, my hips hurt, my back hurts, I'm tired, I'm cranky. I'm ready to be done. However, I am so so very grateful that I will not have another delivery at 31 weeks. NICU time is not fun at all and I will be blessed if I never have to endure that again.

It's My Birthday!

I've never been pregnant on my birthday before. I kind of like it.

In other news, I had to break down and start taking Prevacid (a pregnancy category b)for my heartburn. NOTHING else was helping and I noticed that I wasn't eating or drinking properly, so I decided that the slight risk of taking a category b drug was better than the risk of not nourishing my baby properly. I've been taking it for four days now, and let me tell you, the difference is night and day. I feel so much better than I did before I started taking it. I'm properly hydrated. I have more energy because I'm eating again. Life is much, much happier.

I know I've said it multiple times before, but I am going to make a concerted effort to post more often. I asked for a journal for Christmas. I'd really like to start journaling a little something every day. I feel so much better when I write just a little, but man, it is so hard to find time with a very active 4 year old! I don't imagine that it will be any easier once newbaby gets here either. But beginning January 1, 2012, I am going to really try to either journal or blog once a day.

24 Weeks, 3 days

I had every intention of writing this post on Saturday, when I was 24 weeks, 0 days, but that just wasn't in the cards. 24 weeks is a big milestone: it's the age of viability. If baby were to be born today, he would have a decent chance of survival. That makes me feel good. Obviously, I would like baby to stay put for 16 more weeks or so, but just knowing that if the baby were to be born today that he would likely survive give me a little bit of security.

We interviewed doulas this weekend. One really wasn't a good fit at all and the other was AWESOME! I feel like we will hire her once our next paycheck hits. We had a third interview scheduled, but my due date just wasn't going to work with her family's schedule, so she backed out. I really respect her for doing that. There is one more doula that has been recommended and I am trying to decide if we will interview her or not.

I have my entire newborn stash of cloth diapers. Now just to wash them all and get them ready for new baby. I'm really excited about using cloth on an itty bitty since Will was about 18 months old or so before I started using cloth with him. I should probably take a picture of my stash and post it, but that seems like too much work right now.

Lack of sleep is an ongoing issue. Some nights I have trouble falling asleep from the get-go, usually due to heartburn or gas. Other nights I fall asleep the instant my head hits the pillow but have trouble getting back to sleep after getting up to go to the bathroom. I started using Hypnobabies a few days ago and I am really enjoying that. I think that has helped at least somewhat with my sleep. I'm hoping to see continued improvement the longer that I use it.

I go back to the midwife on Monday. I'm guessing that I may have one more monthly appointment after that and then switch to appointments every two weeks. That seems crazy to me! Things are getting close.

Another Midwife Appointment

I went back to the midwife again yesterday. It went really well. I'm up 4 pounds since last visit, so right on track for the 1 pound per week that I should be gaining at this point. My fundal height was right on track as well. This was the first appointment where she palpated the baby to find the position. That was really neat since that was never done during my last pregnancy. One of the pros of seeing a midwife instead of an OB this time around.

Thankfully, pregnancy is pretty boring right now. I'm still having some impressive heartburn and a fair amount of bloating in the evenings. But all in all, much less mentally and emotionally demanding than my first pregnancy.

Massive Update

I admit. I'm a delinquent blogger. I try, really I do, but life tends to get in the way of blogging about it. I'm ok with that as long as I get to do a few big updates now and then.

Let's see... where to start. My pregnancy is going along great! I am currently 18 weeks and 4 days. We had a little glitch several weeks ago though. My midwife called to inform me that while most of my blood work was perfectly normal, my hepatitis b test came back positive. Needless to say I was in shock! I haven't been engaging in any "risky behaviors" and haven't been exposed to anyone's blood. I was referred to an OB and was retested. After much stress and waiting, my repeat test came back negative (as I knew it had to) and my first test was determined to be a false positive. Whew! What a relief!

I had my anatomy scan a week ago. Everything looked great! No signs of any neural tube defects, large or small. And we are having another boy! Now I can start buying cute cloth diapers. I didn't start using cloth with Will until he was about 18 months old, so I don't have any newborn or small sized diapers. I have been having so much fun picking out the ones I'm going to use with the new baby.

Will turned 4 just over a week ago. He's still talking about the bounce house and loves telling people that he is "pour." I had to reschedule his well-child pediatrician appointment, so I don't have any stats to update right now. I do plan on talking to him about his speech though. He has trouble with several consonant sounds, especially blends. If it's normal and age appropriate, great! If not, I want to get him the help he needs. I've made a list of words that he consistently mispronounces and it's upwards of 25, and I'm not including "hard" word like "spaghetti." Anyway, his appointment is one week from today and I'm looking forward to seeing what our beloved pediatrician says.