Work Plans

My last day at work will be this Friday (well, assuming she doesn't come tonight!). We have the ultrasound and non-stress test scheduled for that afternoon, so I'm leaving after lunch. I will be taking vacation next Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday, unless I have her before then and in that case I'll start my FMLA leave on the first working day after she's born. Otherwise I'll start FMLA on the 1st when they'll be inducing.

Doctor's Appointment Update

This morning we had another doctor's appointment. I went from being 50% effaced to 60% and he said that she's dropped some more. Still not dilated though. He decided to see if he could manipulate my cervix to make me start dilating. It worked and now I'm dilated to 2 cm. I hadn't ever heard of that being done. Oh and last night I lost my mucous plug, but they say it doesn't mean much -- sometimes women will go into labor hours after losing it and other times it will be weeks.
We set an induction date of 12/1, but the doctor said he's hopeful that she won't wait until then (I'm hopeful, too!). In the meantime, to make sure that everything is ok to wait until then, we will have an ultrasound to check the fluid levels and we'll do a non-stress test. Both are scheduled for this Friday afternoon. Even though it would be better to see her in real life and I know that at this point, she's pretty squished, I'm excited to have another ultrasound. We probably won't see the doctor on Friday, but we have another appointment scheduled for next Monday.

Waiting Game

This weekend we installed the carseat and put our bags in the car. So now we just need to patiently wait. The next appointment is tomorrow morning, so hopefully things are still moving along and we only have a couple days to wait and not a couple weeks!

Well, I Finally Broke Down...

Thus far I have stayed out of Aaron's closet. I thought for sure that his XL and 2XL shirts would be too big and the few men's L shirts that I bought would fit me through the end. They almost did, but alas, today I threw one of my "big" t-shirts on only to realize that it didn't take much for it to start inching up and for my belly to start showing. Bummer. I pulled out one of his XL shirts and put it on and I have to admit, it felt like heaven. Even my maternity shirts that still fit are a bit tight, but his t-shirt fit perfectly. At least now I have a slightly larger wardrobe, even if it isn't too pretty.

39 Week Appointment

Today I had another doctor's appointment. Aaron wasn't able to come to the visit because he had a work meeting to attend.
I'm now measuring right on for 39 weeks, so either she or I has been making up for lost ground for measuring small the last few visits! After being extremely active last week when he was trying to measure her heart rate, she was calm as a clam this time. I think she wore herself out wiggling around after I had lunch and she was asleep. Her heart rate was 135 bpm.
I am now 50% effaced, but still not dilated. He seemed really happy to see that I had started to make some progress and said I just need to keep having contractions. I've been getting a few everyday and last Friday I had them all afternoon and evening. Only a couple have been what I'd guess are medium-level contractions, most are just uncomfortable. Since my energy level seems fine, I'm going to try to do some more walking, which seems to always make me have at least a couple contractions.
He talked to me a bit about inducing. He suggested 11/24. It was a little shocking think about her having a birthday! At this point, I don't think that we'll induce unless medically necessary, but I told him that I'd like to talk again at my visit next Tuesday. I may feel differently about it by then! Besides, who knows, as Mom keeps reminding me, tomorrow is a full moon... a girl can hope, can't she? :)

Weekend Update

While I don't have my hopes up that it means anything and I hope you won't either, I did find myself doing a bit of nesting this weekend.

Saturday we met with Jason and Kim for lunch, then she and I went to have our nails done. We've decided that it is going to be a tradition for us. We did the same thing a week before her daughter Jocelyn was due. We were to go exactly a week before my due date, but she and Jason are going to Vegas that day, so we decided to do it the weekend before. I got a pinkish-red (I believe it was called "Strawberry") on my fingernails and I did a french pedicure on my toes. She put some rhinestone hearts on my big toes - I think they look really cute. Hopefully they'll still look good by the time the baby is born!

Aaron and I had an idea for a nursery decoration (we have a huge empty wall that I've been trying to figure out how to decorate), so I made the wall decoration on Sunday. I wanted to get it put up, but we ended up spending a bunch of time moving things into the office so we could have the carpets cleaned today and we didn't make the time to get everything hung in the nursery. I'm hoping we can do it tonight because once it is up, I think that the nursery will be 99% complete and I can take some pictures to post on the blog!

DA Update

We had another doctor's appointment today. I didn't expect much since we were just there on Thursday and I was right -- still no progress at all. The good thing about that news this time is that I'm feeling A LOT better this week than I was last week and the thought of being pregnant for 4 more weeks is a lot more bearable. Of course I would take her now though, no complaints!

I am now measuring a bit closer to 38 weeks, so she had a bit of a growth spurt this week. The doctor said that he'd guess she'll be an averaged size baby. I know that everyone who has tried to feel her move will be dissapointed to hear this, but she would not stop moving when he was trying to listen to her heartrate. He asked if she's always that active and I said that as long as she's awake and no one is trying to feel her move, she is! He said that it is a really great sign and that he thinks she's going to be very healthy.

While I have been feeling better, I am looking terrible! My right foot started swelling on Friday and has probably tripled in size since then. It is very bothersome to look at! Since my blood pressure and urine looked good, he is not concerned and said that it is because the baby is sitting more on my right side and is probably pinching off some veins and the blood isn't pumping back as well as it should. He followed that up by saying that I just need to not be pregnant any more and that it will be fine. I have also developed some sort of skin condition where my skin looks extra pink. Once again he said that it is just because of pregnancy and nothing to worry about.