Wednesday, April 13, 2011

So close to being a Wolfe Pack

I’m really not sure where spring break went. I definitely thought I would have written during spring break, but I did other things and then it was over.
 The week before spring break I had a horrible night.  I had 2 hours of sleep and then I started to get contractions every 3-5 minutes, and about every hour a painful contraction, which was what worried me. I was 32 weeks 2 days at the time, so I was quite concerned, and deciding whether to go to the hospital or wait it out is the hardest decision ever. I already had a doctor’s appointment that day, so I rearranged it for morning. It did slow down in the early morning, and when I got to the doctor’s everything seemed to be fine and all tests good. The doctor said that since I’ve had the regular contractions so often to probably not count those, but come in again when the painful ones started to have a pattern and get closer together. No problem.  I did get to see baby girl again though. J_ She was weighing an estimated 4 pounds 2 ounces. Today I’m 34 weeks 4 days. Since babies gain about ½ of a pound per week these last weeks, she should be about 5 pounds now.

32 weeks 2 days - She looks like me. I know.

Yesterday, I had a regular check up again. Since I’m now suppose to be having contractions the doctor was not concerned about the ones I’ve been having, and they haven’t been as bad as that one night either. I am measuring between 1 and 2 weeks larger, which I really thought it’d be like 4 weeks, but apparently I’m a normal huge and I'm no doctor! The doctor said to continue to do nothing extra until the next check up in two weeks, and of course to call if I had some concern before then. He said if she was to come right now they probably wouldn’t do much to stop it, since she’s passed all the milestones of development. We, of course, want her to make it to 37 weeks to be safe, so two weeks from this Saturday we will begin to convince her to get out! I’m sure it’ll work. Children always listen to their parents from the start, right?! HAHAHAAAA…ahh..
Spring break was in the perfect spot. I wasn’t sure I was going to make it much further with teaching.  I realize people go to work each day for long stretches of time, and I could totally do it, but I once in awhile need a break from my students, (I truly do love them(okay, most of them), not sure why most of the time) and most importantly they need a break from each other.  We hadn’t had a break since our snow days in January. When I say I could make it, I’m saying a teacher in-service or work day is a break for us teachers. Even when working it’s not the continuous alertness that emotionally drains you. I was so thankful for that nice long break. I did so much here at home. Baby’s clothes are cleaned and hung up, room organized and most importantly all the stuff needed for baby is put together. We are lucky enough to have great friends here, who also have great family members. They came over for lunch and first of all fed us, then they helped put together; 2 swings, the stroller, the pack in play, a shelf, and the glider. Thank you to Susanne, Collin, Lissa, Jeff, Lissa’s parents Kathleen and Kevin, and her siblings, Peter, Andrew and Anna!  After they left we finished baby’s room by hanging everything up and it’s almost all ready! Just a few more things to wash and hang and we’re good to go!





Along with the goal of 37 weeks, I need to try to get in a few more weeks of working (13 days to be exact) and I’ll have enough sick days to get me through the school year. We’ll see if it happens. Each day it gets a little harder. My back hurts when I sit too long, my feet hurt if I stand at all (which I’m not supposed to do anyway). I am feeling giantly huge. I don’t recognize my face in the mirror and my feet and hands decided to start swelling a lot the last 2 weeks…so after the 37 week mark the money doesn’t even matter! Wait.. it never really did or I would have done something besides teaching.. right!?
Baby’s so large now that when she moves it really does keep me awake at night.  I can’t quite tell what is hitting me, but I keep trying to figure it out.  Justin doesn’t yell at me when I poke at her anymore. This is probably because he can see her poking at me from across the room now. He even poked at her once.
Justin has been so great with all of this. Turns out he can cook things pretty well. Our usual agreement is I make the food and he cleans up, but now he does everything. He’s pretty amazing. NBD. J 
Today I’m 34 weeks 4 days, so in Week 35.
How your baby's growing:
Your baby doesn't have much room to maneuver now that she's over 18 inches long and tips the scales at 5 1/4 pounds (pick up a honeydew melon). Because it's so snug in your womb, she isn't likely to be doing somersaults anymore, but the number of times she kicks should remain about the same. Her kidneys are fully developed now, and her liver can process some waste products. Most of her basic physical development is now complete — she'll spend the next few weeks putting on weight.

Some days I think of how this pregnancy has been so stressful and crazy and annoying with all these little things, but then I have to remind myself that nothing has been wrong for real. I'm so lucky to just have little bumps in the road, and overall be fine. As long as baby girl is fine in the end then all the other crap is worth it.