Saturday, March 26, 2011

32 Weeks!

Things here have not been boring. That's for sure! I meant to write on this last weekend, but I did not get to it. Instead I did nothing. Here's why.

I had a ton of contractions again last Sunday. No pain just tightness, but they felt stronger than what I have been having. Ever since I had that scare the last time, I have contractions a lot, but mostly when I move around. This time they were about every 10 minutes while I was laying down. After the first hour, I took Unisom and Tylenol, as the doctor said to do, and still had them the second hour. I was about to call the on call doctor if the third hour was the same, but instead I fell asleep. They kind of continued throughout the day, but I don't even count the ones when I move since they occur so often.

I called the doctor Monday, and went in. Everything is completely fine. Baby's not coming just yet, or wasn't coming on Monday, but I was tested for how often and the length of the contractions. They wrapped a senor thing around me, and baby girl kept trying to kick it off. She was seriously kicking that exact spot. She has good aim! I did get to see her again! She is finally head down, and she had one foot up by her head. She was also hiccuping. She's so active! She definitely was the cause of every contraction that happened. I had about 4 contractions in about 15 minutes, and they were lasting about 40 seconds each. The doctor said this was a lot, and if they got to be 60 to 90 seconds in length they would definitely need to be worried. She put me on modified bed rest, so I can go to work, and do as little as possible. When I'm home I am sitting with my feet up. No laundry, cleaning (I'm real sad about these:), no grocery shopping, etc. Basically no moving if not necessary. Work has been great. They let me park as close to my room as possible, and everyone is very understanding and supportive. I couldn't ask for better people at work. (I can only ask for more sick days, or short term disability to be offered, but that's a different argument!) I go back to the doctor Monday. I feel fine, but it just causes me to worry. Should I go to the hospital, or am I just fine? That's the hardest and most annoying decision.

Baby girl is moving around like crazy. Some nights she kicks and/or punches so hard at me that I jump, forgetting in my half asleepness that I have a baby growing in my stomach. Then I try to move, and I remember! haha! It is difficult to move these days anyway. I now sleep in the recliner of the love seat downstairs, which has really helped my back pain and hips. Justin sleeps on the couch next to me. I kind of made him. I didn't want to sleep downstairs by myself! Plus he likes sleeping on the couch anyway. He's fine. He's been very great about doing everything  this week. Let's be honest he was doing most stuff around the house anyway, but now he's had to step it up a notch and even do the cooking. He pretty good at it too. He probably wishes I didn't know that now! I'll ask him to do it more often!

We have such amazing family and friends! We are so lucky! Thank you to everyone who has gotten us stuff before and recently sent us stuff. It's super sweet! It definitely makes me feel like we're not the 1000 miles away that we are! (I'm not saying anyone has to send us anything, so please don't think that if you're reading this. I'm just appreciative of everyone. Sorry if I have forgotten someone. I'm very forgetful lately as well.)


                  Thanks Kimmy and Bill for the awesome glove and cute sweatshirt! Thanks Jerrine for the onesie with penguins on it!


 Thanks Courtney for the socks, booties and book! Thanks Auntie Kate for the dress with sweet matching shoes!
 Thank you Aunt Arlene for the handmade baby picture book and afghan!

Other developments are baby girl's room.

 She now has girl clothes! Thanks to my mom and a coworker who has given me her hand me downs.
We bought this chair from a coworker of mine for a good price. We might still get a glider depending on how much we still need from the registry after our work showers. (Thanks mom for the giant caterpillar!)

The most recent stuff from the student comments is mostly that I'm huge. They tell me how big I am. I just say thank you. The funny conversation I did have with a student was about my eating habits, since I am always eating, it tends to come up.
My student asked me one day,
"Mrs. Wolfe, why do you eat that unhealthy stuff all the time?"
I was quite confused since I usually eat pretty healthy, and if I don't I usually hide it from my students, because I'm embarrassed to eat junk in front of them. I'm embarrassed mostly because I pick on them for the constant eating of chips and junk...for breakfast..that's again a different story.
 "What unhealthy stuff?" I asked.
 "That colorful stuff that has crunchy brown stuff."
"You mean the trail mix with dried fruit that I have every morning?"
"Yeah, that. Why do you eat that? Isn't that bad for you and the baby?"
This student was so sincere too. I explained to her how that actually was healthy. See, I teach way more than math everyday!

Here's what will happen during week 33, which starts tomorrow.

How your baby's growing:

This week your baby weighs a little over 4 pounds (heft a pineapple) and has passed the 17-inch mark. She's rapidly losing that wrinkled, alien look and her skeleton is hardening. The bones in her skull aren't fused together, which allows them to move and slightly overlap, thus making it easier for her to fit through the birth canal. (The pressure on the head during birth is so intense that many babies are born with a conehead-like appearance.) These bones don't entirely fuse until early adulthood, so they can grow as his brain and other tissue expands during infancy and childhood.

http://www.babycenter.com/6_your-pregnancy-33-weeks_1122.bc

One more week until spring break!
The doctor said to be ready for her to come early, like 35 or 37 weeks. Hopefully we can make it to 37! I'll keep you updated!




Monday, March 7, 2011

Time is flying!

I'm really not sure where the last two weeks or weekends have gone. I'll try to recap them quickly.

Two weekends ago, right as the students left my classroom my cell phone rang. I had it on waiting for the doctor to call back, otherwise it would have been on silent. It was the alarm company. It was real confusing. The guy kept coming in and out and asking if I knew this lady, he said my mom's name, so I said yes. Then he said someone had opened the back door of our house and the garage. He asked if I wanted the police called. I said yes, because no one should be home yet. (The whole time all I could think about was if someone broke in they better have not let out our cat Puma or they would die. Just sayin.) He was like, wait I thought you knew this lady. Yes, I said, that's my mom, wait.. I finally put it together.. she's there? Yes, he replied. I then told him not to call the police, but I was still pretty suspicious, since it's 16 hours of driving for my mom to get to my house. I hung up and called my mom's cell phone right away. Sure enough, her and my dad were there, and they had kindly let themselves in, forgetting or not really caring about, our alarm system. It definitely is a good story though! What a great surprise! :)

We had a wonderful weekend, full of shopping, my dad putting up a new ceiling fan, eating, my mom cleaning for us, eating, and just being us.


Mom and I getting ready to shop.


Mom and I trying on clothes in the dressing room. We like to match.


Sunday, dad, mom, and I, in our new clothes from the successful shopping day before. (Not dad, he napped while Justin did school work. There was no shopping for the boys.)


Finally, a picture of the three of us. Turns out we haven't had one all together since Christmas.

It was a great weekend. I hate that it ended. I almost cried, but I kept thinking, "Don't cry because it's over, Smile because it happened." I used that quote in my speech at high school graduation, so I'm going to start listening to it since it's been 10 years.


This past weekend went by really fast. I felt really tired Friday, and I was asleep by 10pm. I was still tired Saturday and not that hungry (this is weird for me, pregnant or not), that's when I realized it. I was getting sick. I don't do the sick thing much, so when I do it's confusing for me. By Sunday I realized I was definitely sick, and it was not just allergies. I thought about calling in today, but it would have been more annoying to get everything ready for a substitute to come in. That, along with me saving all my sick time for when baby girl gets here made me go in. After I finally got going it wasn't too bad.  I just had a sore throat. I'm going to bed right after I am done typing this, so I'll be fine tomorrow.

Besides that I had a check up last Wednesday. I finally do not have a UTI! It's pretty exciting! I will still drink the cranberry juice twice a day to prevent another, but I feel much better knowing that it's gone. This doctor (I have 4 that I rotate around in the office) also said that if exercise causes the Braxton Hicks then I shouldn't do it or should slow way down. This makes me sad.  I have already slowed way down. I wanted to stay more active, but basically if I do any legs lifts or walk pretty much at all, I can get a contraction, or a bunch. Oh well, a few more weeks here and I'll be in the clear. Then I'll have to exercise a bunch! I mean I can't afford more clothes. This is what will be my motivation after the baby is born.

Here is my train of thoughts... 3 weeks after this week is over is spring break, then a week off to get everything finalized, then 3 weeks after that it will be May, and in May baby can come any time:) So really I have about 8 weeks until baby could be here! Crazy!

Today I'm 29 weeks 2 days.. so week 30. That's right almost 3/4 done...75%, whichever you prefer.

Week 30
Your baby's about 15.7 inches long now, and she weighs almost 3 pounds (like a head of cabbage). A pint and a half of amniotic fluid surrounds her, but that volume will decrease as she gets bigger and takes up more room in your uterus. Her eyesight continues to develop, though it's not very keen; even after she's born, she'll keep her eyes closed for a good part of the day. When she does open them, she'll respond to changes in light but will have 20/400 vision — which means she can only make out objects a few inches from her face. (Normal adult vision is 20/20.)

http://www.babycenter.com/6_your-pregnancy-30-weeks_1119.bc

Here is what I look like this week:


I feel baby girl moving all the time these days.

The name is still being worked on, so no updates on that.

Oh, one last note. Here is what I look like when we finally find a place in SC with shamrock shakes. VERY HAPPY ABOUT THIS FIND:)

Good day!