35 Weeks!

5 more weeks to go!! And boy am I ready!! Between the swollen hands and feet, constant peeing, the lack of sleep, heartburn and just overall being uncomfortable - I am r-e-a-d-y!! We had our baby shower last sunday and had such an awesome time! I will post pics below in a minute. We got so many great gifts and had lots of fun playing cute baby shower games. My sister really outdid herself! It was very special.

 I had a dr. appt on Tuesday and they stated I have a little bit of protein in my urine. But my blood pressure is normal so she wasn't too concerned. I just hope it's not an onset beginning stage of Preeclampsia. Everything else went fine - baby sounds great and I am measuring 37 weeks!! Insane. I always felt my belly was pretty big for my date - but the dr. thinks it's just extra fluid in there. I wish I was 37 weeks! haha! Let's get this show on the road!

 Anyway, we have a few things coming up. Tomorrow we are doing a hospital tour of the Labor and Delivery dept. Just to learn where to go and what to expect once we are there. Then on Monday I will have my 35 week Maternal Fetal Medicine scan. I will start having those weekly after Monday since I am "high risk" aka old. Whatever - it's comforting to constantly keep tabs on her.

 Speaking of her - girlfriend is kicking and moving up a storm lately. I feel her little butt and feet press hard against my belly all of the time. It's very reassuring that she is growing as she should. She also get's hiccups frequently. Another good sign if you listen to the dr.s and not google. Google will scare you saying that the cord could be strangling her. Doctors will tell you that's a great sign her lungs are developing and that her diaphram is working as it should. See the difference. Stay off google!! haha

 In other exciting news, my job is allowing me to do my work from home after the baby is born!! It will only be part - time, but hey, better than nothing!! I am excited because that is a huge stress lifted off of my shoulders. Now I can still bring in some income and stay home with baby girl. Perfect. The only downfall - another stress - is that we have to move out of our adorable townhome. We simply cannot afford it with baby expenses on top of me going part time. So now on top of handling a newborn - we have to pack the entire house up and move. Our lease is up in Sept. What a nightmare that will be. But it is what it is. Gotta cut corners and save where you can, ya know?

 Anyway...here are some pics from the shower! I will keep in touch soon! xo

                                                         The beautiful quilt my sister made!

30 Weeks!

I am officially in the 30's!! Crazy how time is flying! I have about 10 weeks left if she decides to stick in there until the bitter end! I hope so, but they can be unpredictable at this stage. My friends water broke at 37 weeks! So who knows...but so far things are still progressing nicely. I am starting to feel her roll around and poke her little feet/hands out. It's such a weird feeling. I gently poke back and she seems to like that game.

 My next Dr. appt is on Tues after memorial day. It's just a routine appt, blood pressure, pee in a cup, monitor heart beat deal. My next fetal medicine ultrasound isn't until 35 weeks, so we have a little wait for that. I am planning on weaning off the prednisone here soon. I will finish this week out with the 5mg and then next will taper down to 2.5. At this stage, I just really feel I don't really need it anymore. I am also going to go off hydroxychloroquine soon. Probably after 32 weeks. I just want to start minimizing as much as I can so when I breast feed - there won't be much flowing between me and her directly. Hydroxy stays in your system for like 50 days - but they say it isn't harmful for breastfeeding. So I am not too worried. It will definitely be nice to be off the steroids though!

 Other than that - pretty standard pregnancy symptoms going on. My fatigue is back with a bang. I have no energy anymore. I'm sure that is partially due to the fact that I barely sleep at night as well. When I am not pee'ing every hour - I am tossing and turning. So needless to say, I'm tired. Acid reflux is my enemy. It's brutttalll. I am trying not to OD on Zantec or Tums but man, it's hard! I can't eat anything anymore without it coming back and burning my throat. Ready for that to be over with. My feet...my poor, poor feet. They are taking the brunt of it all - along with my knees. It hurts to walk. But I just bought some new Toms so I am hoping that will help a bit. They are very comfortable.

 But I am embracing everything the best I can as I reach the final stretch with this pregnancy. I admire all women that have gone through this multiple times. I can honestly say, one time is plenty for me! haha! We have decided after all of this that if we were to have one...it would just be a singleton. Yeah I am not doing this again. haha! As I am further along though, it's become so much more real. Especially when I feel her little feet, and her moving around. It's very surreal. It's very weird. And it's very, very emotional for me. Because I cannot believe in just 10 short weeks or less, I will finally be able to hold her in my arms and my journey will finally be over as a new one begins. But every day is still a day by day mentality. I am optimistic to think that way, but I remain grounded. Pregnancy is a tricky beast and can throw you curve balls at any given time. So I am counting my blessings that I have made it this far, and I am hopeful we will reach the finish line without hiccups. Fingers crossed!

xo