Home Stretch!

Technically, I'm at 37w5d.  However, DS arrived 2 weeks early.  So things could be happening any moment now.  Nursery is done.  Hospital bag is mostly packed.  Carseat is installed.  Registered at the hospital.  Most of the big things are organized, but I still have so many things I want to organize (but in reality, it's no big deal if I don't get to my recipes -- see how obsessive this nesting can get?).  I have never done the "traditional" update, so I'm doing a variation of it this time.

Total Weight Gain: At my last appointment, I held steady at 156 lbs for over a week.  Phew.  I was probably at 120 lbs during IVF... So while I'm big for me, at least I'm not quite at Mariah Carey or Jessica Simpson levels.

Sleep: I dug out some old wrist guards from old injuries and they are helping with the arm/hand numbness.  If I didn't have to pee, I can actually sleep through the night!  I was so happy to figure this out, because I was starting to dread sleep.

Movement: Not a ton, but it's there.  At my 36w u/s, the head was confirmed to be facing down.  I get twinges here and there in my lower uterus, but not BH contractions or anything. 

Symptoms: Swollen hands and feet, particularly in the morning and night.  I have taken to soaking my feet in an ice bath (using a big canning pot) and then my hands in mixing bowls.  It's quite a sight.  Does provide some relief.  Also, hanging out in the pool while DS swims/plays has been another reliever.  My feet looked normal, which was a rare sight!  The swelling also contributes to joint pain.  It's hard to use a pen or do fine motor types of things.  Another weird/annoying symptom was that my teeth/jaw felt all out of whack for a while.  Then, things got totally misaligned and eating hurt and I couldn't bite down evenly on my teeth/jaw.  Just as I made a chiro appointment, things popped back into place upon waking one morning.  Phew.  It was a bummer when one of my biggest loves (eating) caused pain.

What I miss: Being able to move around easily.  Sleeping in any position.

What I look forward to: Meeting our new little boy!  While there is no reason to think otherwise, I am still nervous about having a healthy delivery/little baby.  But no matter what, we will love him to pieces...

Okay, on my agenda today: more organizing/puttering, some baking (we are having company tonight and tomorrow -- gotta squeeze in every last bit of socializing!!)...
I probably won't update again til the little guy makes his appearance.  Unless he's late...

Have a good weekend y'all!

The Latest -- 11w2d

Had my bonus ob/gyn appointment today -- as usual, I had to wait about an hour.  If I had a flexible schedule, I would go earlier in the day or earlier in the afternoon, when she isn't so behind, but I don't have that option as a teacher, unless I blow my annual leave time (which I need to save for maternity leave) for a substitute teacher.  Anyway, it's okay, as I do appreciate that I am never rushed and you get all the time that you want.  Also, today, she was back to her sane, kind, normal self.  Phew.

Dr. R followed up on some things she noticed in my chart from CCRM and confirmed my due date from them, which is 8/6/12.  The ultrasound was also on my belly, NOT transvag -- woohoo!  I asked about the spotting and she said she wasn't worried about it.  The gummy bear now looks like Mr. Peanut -- I have not posted, because the u/s pics aren't great -- and definitely has increased in size.  She also pressed on my belly (which just feels like belly to me) and said that my uterus is growing nicely.  HR is consistent at 161.  So this visit, which was definitely a courtesy/extra one, was very reassuring.  Without the movement yet, who knows what the heck is going on there???  It's reassuring, too, to know that my growing belly isn't all just hamburgers.  Though my ever-widening butt certainly feels like it.

I mentioned that given how well things are going, perhaps I should go ahead and tell people and Dr. R concurred.  She couldn't believe that we hadn't told MiL yet, but she guessed that I had already told my mom.  She chuckled at that.  So now DH and my plan is to tell DS on Friday and then we will see MiL on Saturday and have him tell her that he's going to be a big brother.  : )  Otherwise, I was going to be uber-conservative and wait til 13 weeks.

Next week I have the first trimester screen, so more u/s!  But then no more til 20 weeks, poo.  And not another appointment for another month.  C'mon, who wants to go in on an u/s machine with me??

9w6d

10 weeks tomorrow, which according to what I've read is a bit of a milestone in itself, before numbers end up being solidly in our favor after 12-13 weeks.  I've been thinking about my experience with my ob/gyn and DH thinks maybe I walked in with craploads of knowledge (from having gone through IF, CCRM, IVF, etc) and the ob/gyn maybe was getting defensive.  She didn't know much about the drugs I was taking, IVF, etc. and maybe I just came on too strong?  At any rate, you all have been great with your advice and I will give it another go before I potentially switch docs.

DH has been really awesome and excited lately (esp for "coming out of the closet" which coincides with my 37th birthday.  Ahhhh, advanced maternal age... ).  I've got another u/s appointment with the ob/gyn in about a week and a half and also my first trimester screen has been scheduled for later this month too.  So I've been lucky to have regular ultrasounds spaced out thus far.  OH!  And I self-advocated and pushed for another E2/progesterone blood check at CCRM and they said yes, so I'm doing that on Monday morning.  Yay.  I just wanted peace of mind.  (Yesterday was my last endometrin insert...)

DH also left a sweet poem on my nightstand the other evening:

A preternaturally sensitive nose,
objecting to even the sweetest rose,
and eating a burger
with gustatory fervor,
makes me happy for reasons nobody else knows.

FYI: My sense of smell is definitely heightened.  I woke up one morning at the crack of dawn when DH was up and I felt like something was burning.  It was just coffee.  His deodorant, which I usually don't mind, I cannot stand and have asked him to stop using.  I almost puked the other day taking out the compost as it smelled like feces to me.  I stopped using my hair conditioner because the smell was way too strong...

I'm an idiot!

I just broke my rule of not reading new blogs and came across one where the woman lost her baby at 10 weeks, after multiple u/s of good, solid heartbeats.  Aiiiiiiiiiiii!!!!!  Also, googling "rate of miscarriage after heartbeat" doesn't help either because you get stories from all over the spectrum.  I'm like a moth to a flame... and I just got burned.

Meanwhile, I continue to be perpetually woozy, which I'm trying to embrace.  I'm thankful that I don't have to actually hurl and I can pretty much go about my business, though I'd rather be lying down, watching TV, eating bonbons.  It's also weird to be simultaneously starving -- what an odd combo.  My stomach will start growling shortly after consuming a monstrous meal.  Aren't you only supposed to eat an extra 200 calories a day?  I think I'm probably at 1000 extra calories a day... I gained 40 lbs w/ DS on a low 100 lb frame, so that is substantial.  So am trying to embrace the perpetual hunger too, but not go nutsos.

Less than 24 hrs to go until the big u/s... until then, I'm going to pick up a book.  (OH, except for last night, reading before bed (Gene Weingarten's The Fiddler in the Subway), I happened upon a story of parents who accidentally killed their infant children by leaving them to cook in the back seat of their cars.  F**K ME (Sorry Rebecca @ Life of an Army Wife)!  These situations have always haunted me because it can happen to anyone.  And how can you even go on with your life?  So that was a lovely way to end my night and try to get to sleep.  W/ DH out of town for work, I immediately crawled into DS's bed and squeezed the bejesus out of him (and stayed there for a few hours before I got really uncomfortable).  Anyhoo... maybe I'll just bake or something.  That would be safe.

Do I sound like a total mess?