40 weeks

I can't wait to take pictures of our baby and have been a little sad I haven't gotten any really "good" maternity photos throughout this pregnancy (I actually hate photos of myself - but I want to be able to look back at this one day!).  Brent isn't patient with the camera and could care less about lighting - we end up with a ton of pictures of me looking really annoyed at him.  And I hate paying someone else to take my photos since I have the equipment to do it myself.  HOWEVER - I just bought a hand-held remote for my camera and my world has changed.  I no longer need to be behind the viewfinder.

40 weeks have gone by so quickly.  This belly has grown so big.  I'm ready to meet this baby!

 

 

39 weeks

Hopefully that is my last belly pic.

It's my first day of being unemployed - I can't really call this maternity leave as I'm not planning on going back to the job I left.  I feel really unproductive - I don't know what to do with myself when I'm at home.  So far I've done laundry.

We are ready to have this baby.

We've been walking for a couple hours a day to try to get things moving - it's been gorgeous in Seattle so this hasn't been a hard thing to do.  We're taking all kinds of induction tips - one woman told me she went into labor immediately after eating a peach - so Brent bought me a peach at the grocery store last night.   I'm sure it won't help - but it can't hurt!

I was up all night with painful contractions but they've slowed down significantly this morning, I managed to sleep about 3 hours.  I should probably take a nap.  I know they can go on like this for days or weeks so resting is probably the best thing I  can do. 

I feel tired - physically and mentally.  It's a good thing I am done with work - I am not functioning at normal capacity.  

In other news,  Brent started his student teaching today!  He's pretty excited about his kindergarten classroom.  Hopefully he's is able to focus better than I am today. 

This entry is really disjointed... naptime?

38.5 weeks

No picture this week - just picture slightly bigger than last week and just as round.  The midwives and nurses all laugh every time I have an appointment at my "roundest belly!!!"  Well, when you're 5 feet tall and you have a huge baby inside you - it takes over.  Our appointment yesterday was with my FAVORITE midwife - she's finally back from maternity leave and I'm keeping my fingers crossed she'll be on call when I go into labor.  I really do love all the midwives, but we 'click' with her really well.  Plus, she remembered us from our 10 week visit!  Our appointment went great, except for the fact I gained 3 pounds in a week!  Yikes, shouldn't this weight gain thing slow down now??? My blood pressure was perfect and she thought it was ridiculous I was getting hassled by the OBs so much for a problem I don't have ("you do not have hypertension! Why do we keep bugging you so much?" - I love those words!)  Yet I will continue to do the non-stress tests weekly for the remainder of this pregnancy even though I'm not high-risk or anything - just because I'm already scheduled for them and "it doesn't hurt to keep getting them" the midwife told me.  The NSTs are fun actually - laying in bed and listening to our baby's heartbeat, Brent usually reads something to me from one of the corny traveling magazines they have in the room, and the nurse in the antepartem department is a hoot!  I also like seeing my contractions get stronger every week during the test.  Our midwife looked at the chart with my contractions on it and said, "well, I'm on call Wednesday and Thursday this week so maybe I'll see you."  False hope, I'm sure.  The contractions have been regular and timeable for the past 3 days - getting as close to 5 minutes apart and then they just STOP.  I'm feeling sure I have at least another week.
hopefully not much longer than a week though - during our appointment the midwife felt the baby and made a pretty confident guess that he's weighing in at 7.5 lbs right now ("he's a good-sized baby, but you've got a nice wide pelvis").  What?!  My family has 6 lb. babies....  This baby must take after the Allred side. 
All in all, things with baby are great.  I feel good.  2 more days of work is making me a little sad... 

37 week update

 

yes, that's a BIG round belly.

I cut my work hours down this week - I now only work one full day.  I just cannot spend my entire day getting up and down from the floor and sitting in chairs made for 3 year olds.  OUCH.  I have a massage scheduled for tomorrow - that should be AWESOME.

We had an appointment today which was not very eventful.  Our midwife told us we could have this baby tonight or a month from now, but until he comes - enjoy EVERYTHING that we get to do without a baby. We've been trying to do this - going out A LOT.  It's definitely not good for my weight gain or our wallets - but our days of doing that together are seriously numbered. 

Brent's classmates threw us a "baby party" on Saturday - it was so much fun!  They all pitched in for Target gift cards for us and made little fetuses out of play-doh (it was a contest...)  Brent has been in class with them for the past 3 years and this week is their last week of classes together EVER.  Hopefully they all keep in touch - we love them :)  

Our timeline for March looks like:

Touring the birthing center - March 11th

38 week appointment - March 16th

Last day of work for Brent and Brandi - March 19th

Brent starts student teaching - March 22nd

39 week appointment - March 23rd

Due Date - March 27th

40 week appointment - March 30th

March is definitely a busy month.  Hopefully the birth date of our little guy falls in there somewhere.