35 Weeks

I am feeling a little lazy today because I just finished doing three hours of homework and I am still not finished! So, I am not going to list my symptoms.
I will say that I am having some brax and hicks contractions every now and then. It is kind of neat to know my body is preparing for the birth of this baby soon. They aren't to severe..at least I don't think.
I had my doctor's appointment yesterday afternoon. I am not going to post my weight or how much weight I have gained. I am going to be done embarrassing myself. I do have to remind myself that it was 3:30 and I had eaten two meals that day and drank a ton of water. Plus I am swollen in the afternoons.
My blood pressure was up just a little, but nothing major. It is still good and I had just walked to my mom's from the college to go to my appointment, so that had some influence.
Babies heart rate is good at 136 bpm. It was a little scary at first when she was listening to it because it has slowed down since the beginning. I was hoping it wouldn't be a concern. It was so strong and that was neat to hear.
I had my Group B Strep swab done. I thought it was going to be more like a pap, but it wasn't and it was painless.
He asked if I wanted to have my cervix checked and I did because I was interested to know if it was softening or if I was dilating yet. It was painful to have him check! My cervix has come forward which is good and it is opened like a finger tip which is very normal at this point.
He is a little worried that I may have to have a c-section. The front part of my pelvis is very tight and the thinks that I may have some trouble pushing baby out. The back of my pelvic area is muscular, so if I can relax those muscles he thinks I should be okay. He asked me what my pain method was going to be. I told him I would like to try not to have an epidural, but if he thinks that I should get one to see if it relaxes those muscles I am totally up for that. I would rather do that than recover from a c-section. He told me that he could be wrong and I could walk in deliver a nine pound baby and be fine. So, he just is putting it out there just in case. He really doesn't want to do a c-section because at this hospital once you have one, you have to have one every time.
I did talk to him about being induced. I would like to see if I could just to plan around school better..plus my dad and brother wouldn't miss elk hunting. That is Eastern Oregon for you:) He did say he wants me to be dilated or have a favorable cervix to do so. He said that earliest he would it would be 38 weeks a week before my due date. He also said that if my group b strep test came back positive that he wouldn't want to do it something to do with stripping the membranes. At week 37 is when they would start stripping the membranes to start getting me to dilate if he says it is okay to go ahead and do that. So, we will see...
I would just like for some prayer in that I wouldn't have to have a c-section. I just really don't want to deal with the recovery process of one.

34 Weeks

Symptoms:
* backache
* fatigue
* frequent potty breaks
* swelling in hands(mostly in afternoon)

This week has been a fairly easy one. I am still having a lot of the same symptoms. I am sleeping a little better, but I think that is because I am so exhausted from being at school all day and then the five hours or more homework a night. But, I don't really care why I sleep well as long as I do:)
I didn't go to my pre-natal class this week. I was going to with my mom since Matt is now working the swing shift. My mom hasn't been feeling well and she wasn't that night, so we didn't go. I wasn't upset about it because I was tired and didn't really feel like going. I know that the talk was about epidurals, so maybe it was a good thing I didn't go because I won't be as tempted to get one.
This week I got all of the envelopes addressed for the baby announcements. Call me crazy, but I wanted to get it done before he came. I think there is about fifty and there is now way I could have addressed them all after he was born on top of school. So, I just need to put stamps on them and get the announcement.
I am almost finished with his room. I did get his clothes into his dressed, which is nice to have them out of the crib. I bought some kids hangers and hung all of his jackets and overalls in the closet. I have a few things to hang the wall and then I will have pictures posted of the room. I am going to wait to get that stuff after the first of the month. So, hopefully next weekend I will have some pictures for everyone to see.
I am becoming more and more excited as the weeks dwindle down. I remember thinking it would take forever to get to this point. It really goes by fast and I have been blessed to have a really easy pregnancy.

33 Weeks

Symptoms:
* back ache
* stretching skin of my belly
* leg cramps
* heartburn
* no sleep
* swelling of my feet and hands

This week there aren't a lot of new symptoms, pretty much the same from last week. I haven't really slept well since I don't know my fifth month of pregnancy, but it has gotten a lot worse. I used to be able to get at least two nights of good sleep in during the week, but now I don't at all. I am up tossing and turning and his movements wake me up. Plus I have to get up at least twice during the night to use the bathroom. I have been trying to limit my intake of fluids after like seven or eight at night, which has seemed to help a little bit.
What is frustrating is that I am always like man I really have to go to the bathroom and so I walk from my classroom into the main building and when I do go it is like I rushed for that! I know it sounds silly, but it must just be that pressure I guess.
We had our second birthing class last week. It was over the stages of labor and it was pretty boring:) I think it is because I have read all this stuff, but I know it is good to go over again. We watched a video of a birth and she didn't use an epidural, so that was interesting to watch. We also practiced our breathing. We reviewed our breathing from the week before and then she showed us to ways to breath during active labor. So, we practiced those with our coaches. Matt and I didn't laugh this time! She also had us get down on the floor and practice "pushing". We had to bring our knees up and then "fake" push while our coaches counted to ten and then take a breath. It was good practice and Matt is always asking me if I am practicing. It is funny how nervous he is.
I had my baby shower in Ontario this week. It was great and I won't go into much detail about it because I blogged in my other post about it.
I feel like I am noticing more movements than in the past from him. I think I just feel more pushing and stuff since he is running out of room. I have felt his arm, elbow, feet, and knee. It is so fun to finally be able to tell what is what. It really freaks Matt out sometimes and I think it is funny.
I have a doctor's appointment next Thursday!

32 Weeks

Symptoms:

*pinched nerve on right side

* aching pain on right side of rib cage

* hand swelling

* heartburn

* leg cramps

This week my list of symptoms seem so long! I have really noticed the pinched nerve on the right side of my back. It is awful sometimes and I try to massage it and then I know he gets mad at me because he moves. Must be his favorite spot or something.

I have also noticed more pain on my right side below my rib cage. Part of it is because he likes to push either his butt or back right there, but I am thinking that part of it may be stretching skin too.

I was finally able to get my wedding ring off. My hands have been pretty swollen for the past couple of weeks and I haven't been able to get it off. I finally was able to get it off one morning and I hate not wearing it. On the other hand it was really uncomfortable and I didn't want to have to re-size it later on after the pregnancy. I do have a nice tan line there though:)

I am noticing more heartburn this week. Nothing compared to the beginning of my pregnancy. It is just with some meals that I will notice it afterwards, but it has been bad enough for me to have to take something for it.

Baby isn't moving as freely I can tell he is starting to run out of room. He more wiggles around in there. He still is keeping to the same schedule as far as his movements go. I can feel him up really high and it is like how much further can you go buddy! I am looking forward to when he starts to drop:)

I hung his name up in wooden letters that I painted to match the room. It looks really cute and I will have a picture when I am completely done with nursery. I still need to hang the curtain and get baskets to put things in. There are a couple more things that I want to hang on the wall. I brought in my little rocking chair that my great grandpa had made for me. It is really cute and I am happy to have it in there. I also got the bumper up that my Aunt re-made with new fabric in the cradle.

We had our first pre-natal class this week. They are long sessions 6:30-9:00. Matt and I were exhausted by the end because it makes for such a long day. This session she went over what we would be covering and the special guest speakers that would be coming in. Everyone that is in there is expecting their first baby, so that is nice because we can all sort of relate. The slides and information that she went over that night was kind of a repeat for me because I have read it and re-read it in all of my books:) They did have yummy snacks of fruit and banana bread. We were able to tour the ob floor, which hasn't changed much since my little sister was born. She showed us the room and things in there. Also, we were able to see the room where they do the c-sections. After we were done touring she showed us some back exercises and kegals. Then she showed us the breathing technique that we would use in the first stage of labor. We practiced breathing through a 45 second contraction and she was talking to us like she was our coach. The second time around she had our partners do the coaching. Matt was so funny because he was having a hard time taking it seriously and he was laughing, which then made me laugh. I felt like we were two teenagers! It was fun though. I think it made it more real to me and exciting to be on the floor where I would be having the baby. Hopefully Matt and I will be able to control our laughing this week!

Here is a picture of the baby's outfit that we are going to bring him home in. We bought it at baby's r us last time we were in Boise. It it so cute and I love to look at it.

Oh! We also purchased our first package of diapers this weekend. They are so cute and little. I am sure I may not find them so cute at three in the morning, but still! I got a huggies sample in the mail and there were coupons in there for diapers. So, we decided to buy some. Plus we need to start stocking up!

32 Week Pictures

I haven't blogged about 32 weeks yet, since I just started it, but I wanted to post this pictures. Hope that you enjoy. I am surprised with the difference in my size in just a month. I think from here on out I am going to take them every two weeks. The baby is really going start putting on his fat which means I will get bigger:)