Wednesday, December 28, 2011

36 Weeks

12/28/11

We're in the last month until our due date! Only 4 weeks left, but honestly, I'm expecting to go over the due date. So we may have a little longer than a month. We'll see :)

Christmas was wonderful this past weekend. We went down to my family's house on Friday afternoon and got back on Monday. My sister and family, my brother, and my Grandma were all there (and obviously my parents). My mom and dad let us have their bedroom, which was so nice, especially since I had to get up and use the bathroom several times a night. We ate lots of good food, and even had a little baby shower on Monday with my extended family. It was so nice to be home.

We were supposed to have a midwife appointment this morning, but I got a call that the midwives were with a lady in labor so it got moved to Friday morning. I'm curious to see what position the baby is in. I think it's still left occiput anterior which is great... the ideal birthing position. I feel like it's starting to get cramped, because when it moves I feel it in several different places. It's really fun feeling it move around, except when a foot tickles me behind the ribs when I'm trying to sleep. That has only happened a few times though :)

We got some more money at our baby shower, so on the way home from Grenada we stopped at Costco in Medford and found a pack n play and a carseat for way inexpensive! And today we went into Salem and found a glider on Craigslist that is in great shape. Then we went to Target and finished buying things for our registry with 10% off. Now we just have to get some things on Amazon and we'll be set! We're good and ready for this baby to come at any time.

Changes this week: I think I'm really starting to stick out there. I still don't really look terribly pregnant from behind, but my belly sure is there. No stretch marks yet though, fingers crossed... We're getting so excited to meet our baby!!!!!

Our friend Kristen took maternity photos of us last month and gave some of them to us yesterday. They turned out very cute... so here they are!








Wednesday, December 21, 2011

35 Weeks

12/21/11

This week Big Baby is about 5 ¼ pounds and is over 18 inches long. It just has some more fat to put on before it’s ready to be born, hopefully sometime in the next 5-6 weeks We’re getting so excited! I’ve been majorly nesting with huge to-do lists every night when I get home. Andy’s been great about helping me get stuff done. The only frustrating thing to me is being at work and not being able to check things off my list.

We had our midwife home visit this morning. We’re getting supplies ready for the birth, and hopefully we’ll pick up the birthing tub this weekend. As of today, I can officially give birth at home (until 43 weeks).

We’ve been working on our baby names. We’ve had a girl name picked out for a long time, but the decision on a boy name remains difficult. We said we’d have our names picked out by Christmas, so we have a few days still to decide. There are a lot of funny guesses as far as names on our baby pool (bebepool.com/jillcpullen) I really doubt we’ll name the baby Hermeker or Festis.

This weekend is Christmas! We’re heading down to see my family on Friday, and then we’ll come back up on Monday. It will be fun to see everybody. I’m anticipating lots of comments on my belly from people at my parents’ church. It’s kind of strange that we’re celebrating our last Christmas with just us in our family. We’re excited that we’re going to have a baby to share Christmas with next year.

The night before last I dreamt that our doctor friend Guesly had an ultrasound machine on his phone and he scanned my belly. Then he and his wife Sara knew what the gender of our baby was, and she told me that it was a girl. I told her not to tell anyone and I wouldn’t tell Andy in the dream. That was the first gender dream I’ve had about this baby. Every time I dream about it it’s just a baby, not a boy or girl. Andy keeps dreaming that it’s a boy… so we’ll see!

Changes this week: I’ve been having major hip pain in both hips by the morning. Getting up and walking on the treadmill or doing yoga helps. Last night I curled around my pregnancy pillow and made a cushion for my hip and slept on top of that with another pillow between my knees. That seemed to help, so I might just have to do that for the next month. Also, the baby has been pushing all of my organs around so much that my stomach is way high. When I drink anything and then bend at all, it gurgles really loud It’s kind of funny. I’m still feeling good overall at 35 weeks! I’m excited about that. I have little to no swelling and mostly only weight gain in my belly area. I’m really liking pregnancy!

Thursday, December 15, 2011

34 Weeks


12/14/11

We’re really moving along here in this last trimester! Only 6 weeks until our due date, 3 weeks until full term. The baby’s almost 5 pounds now, and I’m still feeling good! I walk briskly on my treadmill or do yoga every morning, so I think that has helped a lot. I’m also eating pretty well.

Except for Saturday night… We went with a group from our church to put on a Christmas party for the inmates at Hillcrest Youth Correctional Facility. It was really cool to be able to do that for those boys, but the food there was not good! Fried chicken, jojo’s, and lots of sweets. I was swollen for two days after that Thankfully that has gone down. I also went to a knife techniques class with my friend Kristen on Saturday morning in Portland, which was a ton of fun! I learned all kinds of things about knives and slicing/dicing.

Sunday afternoon was my Foothills church baby shower. There was a lot of people there (probably 35-40 or more), and we got a lot of very nice things. The baby’s room is kind of a disaster right now because we just put everything in there on the floor. Hopefully we’ll have time this weekend to get it sorted out and make returns of some duplicates. I feel very blessed though from everyone’s generosity.

We had our 34 week midwife appointment today. Everything's looking great still! The baby has moved around to anterior instead of posterior, which is great. Hopefully it will stay in that position, or a least get in it at the birth. The heart rate was 138 bpm. I had my iron levels tested, and they were great. I also got Easy Birthing formula to start taking next week, which will hopefully help me have a faster, more productive labor. Next week is our midwife home visit. I asked Carol when her first time moms usually deliver, and she said about 7-10 days after their due date! So I'm really starting to expect a February baby :)

We also met with our doula today to discuss and sign her contract. Her name is Amy and we really like her. I think she will be a great asset to our birthing team. We're getting excited about bringing this baby into the world!

Changes this week: Actually in the past few weeks I’ve been suffering from pregnancy stuffy nose at night. It’s pretty lame because then I have to breathe out of my mouth and it gets really dry. We got a humidifier at our baby shower, so we’ve been using that and it has been helping a little bit. My hip pain comes and goes at night still, and I've been getting up to use the bathroom about once every two hours, so that all makes for not good sleep, unfortunately. I wish I had time for naps every day, but I don't. I do, however, take advantage of nap time on the weekends. :)

Wednesday, December 7, 2011

33 Weeks

12/7/11

Only 7 weeks until go time! And only 4 weeks until the baby is full term. And we could technically deliver at home if I go into labor in 2 weeks! Craziness. There’s so much to get done still, but we’ve gotten a lot done already. After this week things will start to slow down before Christmas, which will be nice. Right now Big Baby is a little over 4 pounds and a little over 17 inches long, so about the weight of a pineapple. After next week’s midwife appointment we have a home visit, then we’ll go to every week appointments until the baby is here. As far as I know, the baby is still posterior. Please pray that it will get in the optimal birthing position by the end!

On Friday night at our birth class we did mock labor, which was actually fun for me. I had to hold onto an ice cube for the length of a contraction and we practiced different labor positions. Andy was great at helping me to relax, rubbing my back/shoulders, and just being encouraging. I’m actually excited to do labor together

Friday was also our 5th anniversary. On Saturday we celebrated by going up to stay at the Heathman Hotel in Portland, which is the one we stayed at the first two nights of our honeymoon. It was fabulous, as usual. We also went to a very nice dinner at Serratto which we ate at once when we were dating, and then we had dessert at the Heathman listening to Jazz music downstairs. It was a lovely weekend. We went to a few baby stores and looked at cute baby things along with strollers. Let me tell you… I’m kind of glad we don’t have a Babies R Us in Salem, because that store is huge and insane! We did get to park in the expecting mommy spot though. The whole weekend was just the thing we needed to relax. A nice little last babymoon.

I had a baby shower at work today during lunch, and got lots of nice gifts from everyone! It helps to get necessities and gift cards so we can get everything we need. Everyone was really generous.

Changes this week: I’ve started spilling things on my belly, it’s getting that big. It’s like I have a basketball strapped to my stomach. I’m also getting head butted in the bladder, which makes for quick trips upstairs to the bathroom at work. At least I’ve been keeping up on my kegels and haven’t had leakage issues My hips are feeling really loose too. I have to be careful so I don’t injure myself. The baby has been getting lots of hiccups throughout the day and the night, and that’s kind of fun to feel. It’s only a little annoying when I’m trying to sleep.

Family photos

For the week of August 18-24 Boy, with buying a house and moving and starting the kids' online school and starting my doula mentorship a...