Week 36 - 9 Months

I am now in my 9th month of pregnancy!!! In the home stretch. Emile things I'm going to give birth in two weeks; I'm thinking it will be more like 5 weeks. Very soon we'll have our little girl home with us!

I've decided today that I no longer recognize my body -- I don't see remnants of the non-pregnant me left. I'm getting ready to finish being pregnant not only to hold our daughter but to be able to bend over to put my shoes on and go for a run! It's hard to see around the big belly, swollen feet, hands and calves, and skin rash on my neck and arms. Not being able to get out of bed or up from a chair easily. The constant waddle due to aching. I miss the old Rachel. Of course, the outcome makes it all worth it -- I just wish I still saw me in the mirror.

I visited a pediatrician's office on Wednesday, Growing Child Pediatrics, and was pretty happy with it. I've heard great things about the place and it turns out our neighbor, Tippy, takes her son there also. We're looking for a place that will work with us on the vaccination schedule and that is helpful for encouraging successful breastfeeding. So far this place seems to fit what we're looking for. So we've pretty much decided to go with this office. We don't choose our actual pediatrician until after the birth -- the doctor on-call will be the one who comes to the hospital to check her out the first day etc. After that we'll get a chance to decide if we want to stay with that doctor or go with another. I'm glad to finally have this item marked off my list of things to take care of before the birth.

I've started packing my bag for the hospital which I hope to have finished by tomorrow. There are a few things I want to pick up at the store like non-slip socks to walk around in. Emile and I will be putting the car seat in my car and ordering our video camera tomorrow. Now, if we could only decide on a name.

She's been moving around a lot the last few days -- I can actually now distinguish more of her body parts. It's pretty neat to see and feel.

Week 35

Two weeks until I'm full term. Time is really flying by! I had my 34 week doctor's appointment on Tuesday (34w3d) with Dr. Placide. He was much younger than I was expecting but a nice guy. Everything went well. He said my weight gain was on track (surprised me, I feel like a whale), blood pressure looked good, etc. He confirmed that she's still head down (yay!) and estimated that she's about 5 lbs right now, average weight. My fundal height measurement (measurement of my belly from my pelvic bone to my breast bone) indicates I'm a little further along than 34 weeks -- more like 36 and half weeks but I don't know if this will have anything to do with whether she'll decide to come early or not. Dr. Placide also indicated he didn't think the skin rash I've been bothered with is actually related specifically with pregnancy but rather because I'm pregnant and more sensitive to things, I came in contact with something that's causing an allergic reaction. He recommended taking Benadryl -- and surprisingly, the rash was gone by the next day and hasn't really bothered me since then. I wish the nurse would have said that two weeks ago when I called versus telling me it was just a normal pregnancy symptom.

Starting with my next appointment at 36 weeks, I'll be going in to see the doctor weekly until she's born! Emile is planning to come with at the next appointment because they'll be doing a Group B Strep test which is an internal exam -- they'll be able to tell at that point if I've already started dilating or not (won't be getting my hopes up, it will still be early).

I've started moving my projects at work over to others for my upcoming maternity leave. I want to make sure everything is taken care of well before I head to the hospital. My plan now is to work up until I go into labor so pretty much anywhere between the next 2 to 6 weeks!

We finished the nursery!!! I'm very excited about this. Since my dad and Emile painted, we had chair rail installed which Emile painted and then did some other touch-up painting. We've assembled the crib and put up the blinds, shelves, plants, decorations and diaper stacker. Just this morning, we got the glider in (but I have to call the store on Monday -- the finish is scratched up and poorly painted! Not something I really want to deal with). I'm really excited with how the room has turned out. We're still planning to add a small bookshelf next to the glider for her books but just haven't gotten one yet. Now if I could only convince the cats that the crib and the changing pad are not their new sleeping spots!

Our little girl has been moving around quite a bit now but it's much different than before -- a lot of poking out of her limbs and so forth. It's kind of weird to see my stomach go from being round to being lop-sided with a butt pushing out! My belly feels really heavy now so when I lay down on my side I typically have to have something supporting my belly. I've also noticed that my crotch feels bruised or like I've been riding a horse for awhile. Apparently this is pelvic floor pain and is caused by the weight of the baby pushing down on my muscles. It's not painful or anything, just annoying at times. According to the books, our little one should have a sufficient amount of surfactant in her lungs for them to work well on their own now.

Also, I've definitely felt her hiccup a few times over the last few weeks. At first I wasn't sure that that's what it was, but now I feel pretty confident -- there will be these repetitive bubble type feelings I'll get in my belly that last for a few minutes. Emile's even felt them with his hand. It's pretty neat!

Don't forget to enter a guess for when you think our little girl will arrive and her expected weight! (see the orange box on the right) I'm curious to see what everyone thinks!

Week 34

Two big milestones this week -- Airlines will no longer allow me to fly on their planes and most importantly, if our little girl comes early, I won't need steroid shots to speed up development of her lungs. Her lungs should be developed enough to handle it if she comes early. Relieving news!

Today Emile and I attended a Infant/Child CPR class. We've both taken CPR before for adults but there were definite different things to do for a child and definitely an infant. I'm glad we went. Hopefully, we'll not have to use it though.

On Tuesday, we attended our final birth class with Elissa Brody at Carolina Childbirth Classes. Up to this point, we had been watching birthing DVDs that Elissa provided to us. The 2-hour class with her on Tuesday was very helpful. She reviewed the items discussed in the birth videos and then had me practice some of the breathing techniques (I prefer the slow breathing typical in the Bradley Method than the short breathes of Lamaze (they only teach one form of the Lamaze breathing nowadays versus the 5 different types from years ago)) while Emile practiced some pain soothing methods on me. I think it will help both Emile and I feel more comfortable with what to do come delivery.

Yesterday, I officially noticed that I have lost my ankles and seem to have developed "cankles". This makes me incredibly sad! I don't like feeling this large. I was really hoping to avoid the cankle look by working out occasionally, drinking lots of water, and eating pretty well -- but that didn't seem to work. I no longer wear my wedding rings, I get itchy skin rashes, I snore, and I now have cankles. All it all, it could be worse so my pregnancy is still going well.

According to the books, our baby is probably around 5.5 lbs now. I have a doctor's appointment on Tuesday so I'm hoping to find out if he has a better estimate based on my actual size. Given how large my belly feels, I wonder if she's actually on the higher end of the scale. I sure hope not! I can't believe I'm already at 34 weeks. In as little as 3 weeks or probably at most 7 weeks, our little girl will be here. Very exciting but slightly scary at the same time!

Week 33

We're starting to get things checked off our list of to-dos before the baby comes which I'm relieved about. This past Tuesday, Emile and I toured the hospital, Rex, that I'll be delivering at. Rex is about 35 minutes from our house in Raleigh. We were pretty impressed with how progressive the hospital was -- they have available birthing balls, tubs, birthing bars, etc. Our little girl will get to room-in with us the entire time -- she won't need to leave the room unless there is something wrong (which hopefully is not the case) or I ask the nurses to watch her if I want to take a shower or something (if Emile isn't there). The rooms are all LDR (labor, delivery and recovery) although you're only in there for recovery for about an hour and a half before moving on to the post-delivery rooms for the remainder of our stay (1-2 days for vaginal deliver, 3-4 for c-section). I was glad to hear that electronic fetal monitoring is not required the whole time I'm in the hospital -- if things are going well with both baby and I, they'll only do intermittent monitoring which means I'll have more flexibility to be up and moving around (better to help labor progress than to be laying in the bed the whole time hooked to a monitor). They also have lactation consultants available and encourage breastfeeding within the first hour after delivery. Overall, we were really happy with the hospital and have no reservations about delivering there. I'm so glad to have the tour out of the way.

Today, Emile finished touching up the paint in the nursery and we both put the crib together. I'm so excited to start decorating. The paint job that he and my dad did looks great and we're really happy with the chair rail. Here's a sneak peak at us putting the crib together. Once I have the room fully decorated, I'll post photos again.



The big pregnancy issues for me this week have been round ligament pain and a skin rash. On Sunday night, I woke up to take one of my many bathroom breaks when I got this horrible pain shooting down the left side of my belly. It then emanated over to my right side. Nothing I did would make it go away -- I was walking around the bedroom and house, breathing like in the birthing videos, rubbing my belly etc. I started to get a little worried that it was a contraction and I was going into pre-term labor but it lasted for about 2-3 minutes so I didn't think it was an actual contraction. It eventually went away but I didn't sleep well after because I kept checking the clock to see if it happened again (and if so, when). Luckily, it didn't. I spoke with the doctor the next day and she confirmed that it was mostly like just round ligament pain which is just caused by the muscles around my uterus stretching etc. Little things like moving the wrong way etc. can spark it. She was actually surprised that this was the first time I had it happen, at 32 weeks. So far, it hasn't happened again. Given how much I thought it hurt, I figure I'm in a world of trouble when I actually start having contractions :)

I've also started developing skin rashes at random times throughout the day and at different places on my body. Mostly I get it on my neck, underarms, forearms, upper chest, hands and feet. It itches and is driving me nuts (although on the scale of things, it could be worse). The doctor confirmed that it is normal for pregnant women to randomly get skin rashes at this stage in pregnancy. Pretty much the only thing to do for it is put Calamine lotion or something similar. It should go away after I give birth!

Our little girl is probably about 4.5 to 5 lbs now (I feel like I'm getting huge overall). She will gain more than half her birth weight in the next seven weeks. She'll begin to move less now as she runs out of room and curls up with knees bent, chin resting on chest and arms and legs crossed.

Week 32

My big news for this week -- I'm now snoring to Emile's dismay and according to him, like a freight train. I'm not stuffed up or anything -- just snoring. I'm sure it's because the baby is putting more pressure on my chest/body now. I think he may have to get ear plugs soon. Or he's just getting a taste of how frequently I'm getting up each night anyways to go to the bathroom and how much we'll be waking up when the baby comes anyways :)

Our little girl is probably about 4-4.5 pounds now! Her irises are now responsive to light, dilating and contracting as needed. Due to deposits of fat under the skin, her skin is now pink rather than red. Her nails are now long enough to reach to the tip of her fingers or beyond and may need trimming as soon as she's born so she doesn't scratch herself. A loud noise near me may actually cause our little one to jump.

On Monday, I had my 31 week appointment, this time with Dr. Gaines. My mom was still in town that morning so I had her come with me. She got to hear our daughter's heartbeat with the Doppler. I'm sure she enjoyed having that opportunity given how far away we live from each other. It was nice having her be there for that. Dr. Gaines confirmed that I am feeling Braxton Hicks contractions. He stated that if I have more than 7 in one hour I should lie down on my left side for another hour and count if again I have more than 7. If I do, I'm supposed to call them but so far I'm not having them that frequently, maybe 4-5 an hour and not every hour. I also spoke with Dr. Gaines about the swelling I'm encountering occasionally now. As expected, there isn't much I can do about it but drink enough water and rest up. He did confirm that my bloodwork, weight gain and urine samples didn't indicate I had pre-eclampsia which is great. So I'm just stuck with the typical pregnancy swelling for awhile. I did stop wearing my rings last Sunday. He also confirmed that she's still head down. Overall, everything is going as expected and I'm right on track. I didn't like Dr. Gaines, however, as much as the last two doctors; however, he may just take some time to get used to.

This past Wednesday, Emile and I started watching our birthing DVDs. I'm so relieved to finally be looking into these items. As I've mentioned before, we decided to DVDs from Carolina Childbirth Classes and then meet with the instructor for a 2 hour session after because all the classes were full at the hospital when we moved here and the class dates for Carolina Childbirth were too close to my due date. The DVDs are just recordings of her at home classes. So far the items she's taught are things I've already read in the books I've gotten but it's still useful to listen to her go over them again. We're both glad though that we didn't end up driving the hour to go to her class -- so far the DVD is doing the trick.

On Wednesday, the guy who put up the chair rail and backer board in the downstairs rooms of our house came to put up chair rail in the nursery for us. It looks great. Now all we need to do is prime and paint it -- then the room is ready for decorating!! I can't wait!

Today I bought our cloth diapers! I'm so excited to finally have that taken care of. There is a Women's Birth Center in Chapel Hill that sells them so I didn't have to order them on-line. After doing a lot of research and asking around, I decided to start with the following items:

• 24 chinese pre-fold cloth diapers
• 6 Kissaluvs newborn fitted cloth diapers
• 2 BumGenius 3.0 cloth diapers
• 6 newborn prowraps
• 4 small Bummis Super Whisper Wraps
• 24 flannel wipes
• 1 concentrated Kissaluve diaper lotion potion
• 3 Snappis
• 1 Bumgenius diaper sprayer
• 1 diaper pail
• 2 diaper pail wet bags
• 1 wet bag for diaper bag

If you're curious as to what all these items are, check out the following websites:

http://www.cottonbabies.com/

http://www.jilliansdrawers.com/

Week 31 -- 8 Months

I have now completed my 7th month of pregnancy and am starting my 8th month! Wow! The biggest change for me this week was on Thursday night I noticed my feet and hands are starting to swell up. This was a little disconcerting for me. More than likely, it's due to all the time I've been spending lately sitting between my hours in front of the computer for work and the hours I've been spending driving for work and on airplanes recently. This isn't helping my circulation or the fact that my tailbone and butt hurt all the time now from sitting. Luckily, I think my last flight before the baby is born was earlier this week when I went to Ohio for work. Now that we're going to be spending more time at home with more relaxed weekends, I'm hoping to get in more walks and pilates workouts in hopes of helping my circulation. In addition, I'm trying to drink even more water and put my feet up more at night.

From how my friends have described it, I'm pretty sure I've also been experiencing Braxton Hicks contractions the last week or two -- my whole front part of my stomach will periodically become super hard and tight. This lasts for about 30 seconds to a minute and then goes away. It's definitely not her body pushing out as that feels very different.

Our baby probably measures about 18 inches long from head to toe and weighs about 3.5 pounds right now. Rather than hearing vibrations, her nerve endings in her ears are connected now so that she can hear distinct sounds, like familiar voices and music. This week, a layer of fat will form underneath the thin, wrinkly skin. She'll also start practicing opening her eyes and breathing.

My parents drove into town for this Easter weekend. They are our first house guest! It was great to finally get to show our house to part of our family. It was great having them here. My dad was also kind enough to help Emile paint the nursery yesterday and today. The first lavender color I picked for the top half of the walls turned out to be much more purple than it appeared on the sample card. So they repainted it today with a light shade of lavender that looks so much better -- exactly what I was hoping for. We're going to have the guy who put up the chair rail in the rest of the house put up chair rail in the nursery on Friday. Then I can finish decorating!! I can't wait -- I'll post photos of the finished room soon. Here are some photos of their painting adventure.

While Emile and my dad painted, my mom and I started organizing all the baby items we received from family and friends plus those that Emile and I have purchased recently. We then put together a list of remaining items I will need to get in the next few weeks before our little girl arrives. I'm looking forward to getting everything put into the nursery and for her to start using the great gifts we've received from everyone.

My mom and I also set up in our bedroom the Pack-N-Play we received from Emile's aunt and cousin. We'll be using the PNP as our daughter's bed for the first few months after our her birth instead of the crib in the nursery so that she's close to us.

Week 30

My last week of Month 7! This week has been pretty low key pregnancy-wise. She's still moving around but movements seem less significant -- less flips and so forth, more pushes. She definitely responds a lot when I drink grapefruit juice! That gets her moving right away. We've started taping off the nursery in order to paint. My parents are coming next weekend for Easter and luckily, my dad is going to help Emile with painting the nursery. We're planning to do lavender on the top and cream on the bottom, separated by chair rail. We ordered and received recently all the bedding and decorations. I'm looking forward to finally getting the room set up.

Emile and I flew to Minneapolis for the weekend. Emile's mom, Riet, is celebrating her 20th anniversary of her ballet company, The Continental Ballet Company. She had a special performance for it this weekend that Emile, me, my mom and sister all attended. It was wonderful! It's always so enjoyable to see her performances. The baby seemed to really like it also -- every time the music and dancing started, she started moving all over the place -- significantly more than normal. She must be practicing for her lessons already! :) If you're ever in the area, I recommend checking it out: www.continentalballet.com.