February Update

There's no theme to this blog post. I've been trying to think of one to write a themed post for a while, but I just don't have one in mind. I just want to let the world know how we're doing.

Well, as far as the kids go, Anna is a growing girl! We're weeding out 6X clothing now. She is so tall! She has just gone through another growth spurt, putting her into the 83rd percentile for height and 89th for weight. She is learning every day new things. Just the other day, we were working on a Kindergarten Homeschooling book. The name of the game was to fill in the missing letter. There would be a missing vowel or a missing consonant. For example, there would be a picture of a pig and the letters would be "p_g" and she'd have to fill in the blanks. Let me tell you, I was so surprised at how quickly she filled in the missing letters. She basically filled them in as quickly as any learned reader would! Kindergarten is going to be such a breeze for her! Speaking of which, she will be starting kindergarten in just six months! It's hard to believe!

Charlie is growing as well. He will be turning 4 months old on the 1st and I recently put 9 month clothing and a few 12 month outfits into his drawers, which he fits quite well. He has discovered his toes - which he grabs at any chance! He nurses at night probably too much, but maybe that's because I wake him up with my own movements.

Paul's still job-hunting. Grrr. However, he is working a contract position through an awesome Redmond, WA company which is paying the bills and giving us much needed financial freedom. I am so excited at the prospect of having our own place again and seeing the kids enjoy it, too. You never know how great that freedom is until it's taken from you. That being said, I am extremely thankful for my in-laws for their help during this time. I'm also thankful for the chance to hang out with my church family. Anna loves being around her friends a lot, too. I know she craves more company (i.e. kindergarten peers), but this is the way it has to be. Sigh.

I've been volunteering for a non-profit which houses at-risk youth and offers counseling to the community. It's a lot of fun and it's really rewarding. I love knowing that something is going on my resume at last. It's also great to give my brain some exercise again! I do miss testing and taking courses, but I suppose before I know it I'll be in grad school and hoping for a break again. I guess you can't have it all. ;)

Anna and Charlie love one another, but they are already starting to 'argue'. Anna will get in his face to love on Charlie and he'll push her away, turn his head and/or scream! Oh, boy! The other day, she was sitting next to me and Charlie was in my lap. Charlie kept reaching onto her book and patting it. Anna would get angry and tell me that he kept touching her stuff! Ugh! Today, she told me that it was 'no fair' that I was sitting with Charlie at the restaurant and not her. God save me. Do such disagreements have to be prerequisite to being siblings? No thanks! But I suppose it'll get worse and at the same time they'll learn to share and be friends, so there will be good parts, I'm sure!

Enough for now! TTFN!

Let's Talk "Flat Head Syndrome": Anna's Story

Well world, I'm coming out of the Plagio closet! Why write about this now? I've had plenty of friends (many of you are reading now or about to) worrying about their own little ones and their flat spots. 99% of the time, there's nothing to worry about. But I do have thoughts on the subject. Here is our story...

Anna was born with a perfectly normal shaped head... kind of. The fact is, it did not 'mold' like babies heads usually do when they squeeze out of the birth canal. This is because of the posterior positioning that she had when she came out (posterior AKA sunny side up... babies aren't meant to come out this way and it's much harder to come out than sunny side down!). She didn't have a cone head whatsoever. I remember looking at her head and thinking that that was a funny little quirk. Being a new mom, I head read a million baby books and watched a million and one Birth Day episodes to know what to expect. Just as it should be, her birth was anything but ordinary. But that's for another day and another story. (As it turns out, children like Anna and Charlie who were posterior, or any other child who didn't sit "right" in the womb tend to tussle with Plagio... same goes for multiples for the same reason!)

When the tummy time days came around, we lived in a little apartment with carpet that was laid directly on top of the concrete floor. She was two weeks old when she got her first go around with tummy time and... she hated it! Big surprise, right? Every kid (with the miraculous exception of one or two) hate tummy time at first. Of course, she screamed and I decided to give her "back time" to get her used to being on the floor. I bet you know what happened next, right? Soft baby skull + time laying on a concrete floor? I began to notice marked flatness by six weeks old. Her head was on the bigger side and when she was around 8 weeks old, she got an x-ray to make sure her sutures weren't sealing early. Other than that, the pediatrician made no comments about the actual shape her head. As it turns out, most pediatricians think this is a more cosmetic issue anyway and being that I was on state insurance at the time, a 2,000 dollar helmet to correct the issue wasn't even an option, so I never brought it up with the pediatrician. I've recently read that "Flat Head Syndrome" has been linked to cognitive and motor delays in a study done on Seattle. So no, it is not just a cosmetic issue any more.

Note: Looking back on it, I should have brought it up with the pediatrician. He could have referred me to a specialist or did a little research for himself (thereby helping a future patient of his, probably). Insurance or lack of insurance shouldn't bar someone from knowledge.

(Above: Anna, 5 1/2 months old)

Thankfully, I had never noticed any delays in Anna. If anything, she was always on the early side of things when it came to baby milestones.

On a warm spring day in Seattle, when Anna was 5 1/2 months old, we went down to the chapel at Northwest and sat on the green lawn. It was a little chilly, but it was beautiful. I took lots of pictures of Anna. Then I looked at those pictures. Frankly, I was alarmed. Her head was so flat! I spent many hours doing lots of Googling. "Flat head baby", I would search. I discovered Plagiocephaly. Anna actually fell more into the Brachycephaly category, having a pronounced flat spot on the back of her head. More scared than ever that my child would end up "deformed" and it would be my fault, I felt extreme guilt. I still feel a little guilty. And I was afraid that If I came across people who were a little more educated on the subject, they would think that her flat head was caused by my neglect (which isn't necessarily true, by the way). So, I kept my mouth shut. When I mentioned anything to my husband, he would think I was overreacting. To be honest, I do overreact, but this was something that I felt I had to fix... by myself.

(Above and below: Anna on the beach at 7 months old.)

Being that we were co-sleepers, it made my next move pretty easy. I rolled Anna onto her side at night for months, holding her around her waist. She never turned her head in her sleep, so this was one way I could make sure the pressure was on the side of her head instead of the back. (Please, this is my story, so it isn't medical advice. Please talk to your pediatrician about these things. I'm not saying what I did was the approved thing to do.) Another great thing was that our little girl was a mover and a shaker. At 4 months, she began rolling. At 5 months, she began sitting up. At 7 months, she did the army crawl. At 9 months, she began to properly crawl. At 9 1/2 months, she took her first steps! This certainly must have helped with keeping pressure off the back of her little noggin. Besides that, bows somehow disguised the flatness of her head... it took 2 years before she had enough hair for a clip! haha

(Above: Anna at her 1 year appointment on her first birthday.)

You can already tell the difference, can't you? Helmet-free, my daughter's head slowly began to move into a normal shape... or at least really close to normal. The use of a helmet does its best work if used before the age of 6 months... which is about the time I began to freak out about Anna's Brachycephaly. It looked better from the side. When she looked down, though, there was a very obvious flatness to her head.

So, where are we today? Anna's face is on the wider side, for sure, but she isn't exactly a petite girl, being in the 75th percentile for height and 90th for weight. She's proportional. When her hair began to come in, it came in with lots of curls, which I was delighted by, it disguised it a bit more. Her head looks much better. When I fix her hair, I still feel the flat spot, but it's much better and I'm really thankful that her face wasn't changed by the Brachy (sometimes the forehead protrudes or changes in shape).

Anna often got "big head" comments as she was growing up. Her head was proportional to her body. I'm sure that the flatness on the back of her head, making her face wider, did not help with her appearance. Nonetheless, I made it a rule after a while of smiling at the comments and boiling inside, that I do not appreciate comments about my childrens' appearances.

As far as family goes, Charlie was also posterior. I keep him off from his head as much as possible. Car seats are for cars, is the rule. I carry him around just as much as I carried Anna around. He switches sides throughout the night as I nurse him, so he spends equal amounts of time on each side of his head. His head wasn't as flat as Anna's was at birth, so I think we had a better "starting point" than we had with Anna. Despite all of this, I still see a teeny flat spot, but from what I've read, that's totally normal and it really doesn't look bad like Anna's was. A lot of children have at least a little flatness in infancy since the Back to Sleep Campaign started up nearly two decades ago. It rounds out as they become mobile. Charlie's flat spot is next to unnoticeable... you know, unless you're an overprotective mom like me hehe. Thank goodness. Now, is my family more educated on Plagiocephaly and Brachycephaly? Unfortunately no. I don't really talk about it at all. Paul has heard most of my thoughts on the subject. My mother-in-law has heard nearly none of it. Flat Head Syndrome is more of a 1990s+ issue. Whew! Now, for pictures of Anna today...

(Above: Anna, age 4)

(Anna, age 5.)

2 Months Old!

Newborn, 1 month, 2 months

Weight: 15 pounds 5 ounces, ~97th percentile
Height: 24 inches, ~80th percentile

Charlie is a healthy and growing boy! He's a big boy, too! The appointment today went well. He got three shots and an oral vaccine. He cried just a little bit, but big sister Anna cried even more - poor girl! One thing to note is that Charlie has an enlarged testicle (hydrocele testis). The pediatrician noticed it at birth and it's still there. If it doesn't clear up by 4 months, then we'll have to see a urologist. (Also, it can cause a hernia.) I hope it clears up. I can't imagine what kind of procedure would be used to drain that fluid. :( Please say a prayer for our little man. It doesn't hurt him thankfully - he just looks very endowed!

Anna's Birth Story

I wrote this after Anna was born:

Anna Daisy P______
November 19, 2006
8:10 p.m.
7 lbs 11 oz
19 inches long

(Sorry if this seems short, I'm exhausted.) I went in to be induced on Sunday morning 5am. The doctor checked me and I was already 3cm dilated and 80% efffaced, so they broke my water to see if that alone would stimulate contractions, but it didn't. They gave me pitocin at like 8 am-ish. It really wasn't bad at all at first. They checked me, I was still very comfortable and when they checked me I was 4cm and 100% effaced. I actually remember thinking how "easy" it was at this point and the nursing staff was impressed that I wasn't begging for the epidural yet. I asked for one some time later when I was like 6 cm but only because it would take 20 minutes to kick in and I wanted it to work once I was fully dilated. Well, I got the epidural and the first dose did not work at all, I wasn't concerned at this point... then I got the second dose and I was able to sleep a little because it dulled the pain enough... THEN I woke up in terrible pain not 1 hour after the second dose. They gave me a third dose of the epidural and it STILL wasn't working. I was numb from the knees down and my butt was numb (gee, if I were giving birth through my toes it would have been very nice!) The anesthesiologist said that the epidural is equal to ones' height and by then they had given me the dose of a 6 foot 2 inch person! Unfortunately, Anna was also posterior, so I had the worst back labor as well. At last I was checked and I was 9 cm, then they checked me a half an hour later and I was +2. They asked me if I wanted to start pushing and I said YES! I was in so much pain, I just wanted it to end! So I pushed for an hour and I was so exhausted from hunger (I had only had a bowl of cereal at 5am that morning and by then it was 7. I pushed so hard for so long and it hurt so bad that I kept throwing up. The contractions were coming one after another. Finally my OBGYN came in and he said that he would try to use the vacuum to pull her out and if it didn't work I'd need a C-Section. Anna was stuck in the birth canal because of her posterior position and because I was too exhausted to push very hard or very consistently. I was so tired that I couldn't keep my eyes open and I was even resting during contractions. So, finally the doctor put on the pump and I pushed as hard as I could and some time during this the doctor gave me a "generous" episiotomy--I didn't even notice! The vacuum released which made my body pop back, then the doctor put it back on and pulled her out. I didn't even know that she was born until she was put on my stomach. I kept my eyes closed for most of the labor (I was too exhausted to keep them open...) She was screaming and everything and she is so cute. The only thing that hurts is the episiotomy. It was pretty big, too. I asked the doctor how many stitches I had and he said, "We're up to six so far." and he wasn't even close to being done yet!

Anyhow, I'm in a ton of pain and the Percocet only helps a little with the pain, but Anna makes it all worth it! She is so beautiful! She has dark black hair and a poor scabby red mark from when the vacuum popped off. She's just adorable! It was all worth it. I'll just try not to relive that delivery, though!

Anna is a great little breastfeeder, too! She caught on right away and the nurses said that babies who have traumatic deliveries usually don't feed very well, but she caught on right away. I was able to try to feed her just an hour or two after she delivered.

_____

To add to the story, I was 39 weeks 2 days pregnant with Anna when I had her. After she was born, I had issues with the Percocet. At 6 days postpartum, I went into the hospital because of a bowel obstruction caused by the medication. That was fun... not. More like humiliating and horrifying! I think the emotional healing after her birth took the longest. I didn't have a very good experience. I couldn't remember much of her birth because of being so exhausted and it took forever to feel like myself again. I can tell the difference between Charlie and Anna's births. The difference is huge! I was up and walking around immediately. I was able to get up with relative ease after Charlie's birth, go to the bathroom without issue (#1 and #2), go on walks within a few days of birth, go to church 5 days post-birth, etc., etc., etc. I feel like I can be a better mom, although juggling is difficult. I remember crying because I couldn't do anything for Anna for so long except for feed her. I'm glad to be able to have a better experience the second time around, even if it wasn't perfect. Even if it wasn't one of those births where baby and mom both come out unscathed - ah, well. God protected us both times. Both times c-sections were strong possibilities, especially in Charlie's case and both times we were healthy and alive afterward. I'm thankful for that. God is good!

Just Two

Paul (hubby) and I are fairly certain that we just want two. And to even think about getting pregnant again is a little frightening to me. Thankfully both pregnancies have been fairly complication free (with the exception of having high BP during my pregnancy with Anna), but it's just the delivery part! Both babies have been posterior and have needed to be vacuum-extracted. Charlie had the added fun of having the cord around his neck and shoulder dystocia because of being nearly 10 pounds. And let me tell you, carrying a nearly 10 pound baby was no walk in the park. I had pubic symphysis pain for weeks before delivery and for a week or two after - I'm still sensitive down there. Recovery was hell after having Anna and not too fun this time around, although much better. After having Charlie, the first to hold him was a warming bassinet surrounded by the NICU staff. Thankfully, I got to hold Anna first after having her. The point is, I'll never be one of those two-pushes-and-they're-out ladies. I'll never be a homebirth candidate (not that that's on my list, but still!). I'll never been one of those ladies who goes out and runs a mile a few weeks after birth.

But after having Charlie, the epidural actually worked and I was able to enjoy those first moments of his life, remember them, remember holding him for the first time, cuddling him, remember nursing him for the first time... it was wonderful! The recovery hasn't been too bad, although there have been a few bumps in the road... and I find that I'm sad that this is likely our last baby. I'm sad I won't experience that first moment ever again. At the same time, I don't want to go through what it takes to experience that first moment.

So, here I am. A mama of two. Maybe there'll be adoption in our future, just as I had always dreamed, but for now, it's just the four of us. And there will be plenty of firsts ahead of us... first smiles, first days at preschool, Anna getting married, Charlie getting married, first grandchildren... lots of firsts.

Photos - Anna and Charlie (10 days old)

Charlie is now 2 weeks and 5 days old. He is well over 10 pounds and we'll be retiring newborn clothes this week. (They look so short on his arms and legs!!! Also, they're short on his long torso.) He is a great breastfeeder, just like his sister! I'm so thankful for that. I loved nursing Anna and I'm loving nursing this little guy. :)
Anna just had her 5th birthday party. She got lots of My Little Ponies, Littlest Petshop and Squinkies. She had a great day. We went to the Children's Museum with her and enjoyed her experiencing something new. :)
Anna loves being a big sister. Charlie is crying now, so this was a short update, but here it is. :)

BIRTH STORY! :)

Charles David, born 11/1/11 at 5:21 PM PST, 9 lbs 13 oz (12.6 oz), 21 1/4 inches, head 15.25, 41 weeks gestation

2:30 AM - Paul (DH) woke me up because my nose was wheezing. I got up, feeling like I had to pee, but every time I sat down, it hurt really badly and my back was hurting. I woke up about every 1/2 hour until around 4 when I gave up and stayed awake.

5:45 AM - Left for the hospital, scheduled induction. My back was killing me, my pelvis hurting. I wanted to kill DH for stopping for coffee.

6:00 AM - Checked in to L&D - it was the exact same room that Anna (our daughter) was born in! They attached the monitors and I was already in labor! Here I thought I was having the most horrible back ache ever (just as it was on "false alarm day", but worse). I guess it was meant to be this little guy's birthday! Contractions were around every 2-3 minutes. I labored on my hands and knees to relieve the pain. I went into the whirl pool until that didn't help any more. I kept trying to go pee, but it was way too painful. DH kept saying, "Maybe you don't have to pee? Maybe he's just pushing on your bladder." Maybe, I agreed.

I was checked and I was 2-3 cm and my cervix was way posterior! What?! I had actually regressed?! How could that be with all of this horrible pain? (I had been 4 cm, 70% for the last two appts and anterior for the last appt.)

8:30 - Given 1/2 dose Phentanol for the pain. Ah, it felt nice.

9:30 - Made wise choice to have epidural. I could tell it was back labor all over again. I prayed the epi would work this time and it did!!! :)

The doctor came in finally and checked me. He was also feeling a posterior cervix and then he thought the baby was breech! He had an ultrasound machine brought in and it was hard to see the baby. He realized the problem and had the nurse give me a catheter. I had over a liter of urine in my bladder! I knew I had to go!!! He could see that the baby was actually head-down, not breech! Whew! I was praying so hard that he wasn't!

After that, the doctor checked me and I was actually 5 cm and 80% effaced! I knew I had made progress!

10:00 - My contractions were alright, but needed to be augmented with Pitocin. Yay for having a working epidural on board! I kept checking the machine to make sure I was still in labor!

11:00 - 6 cm, 80% effaced, -2 station

12:10 - 6 cm still, water broken. This part was hilarious. I had so much fluid that it was gushing out, soaked the doctor's sleeves and the sheets all the way up to my ribs! I had "copius amounts" of fluid, according to the nurse. My stomach actually deflated quite a bit with that. I did not have that experience with my daughter!

There was meconium staining in the fluid. :(

1:00 PM - 7 cm, 90% effaced

2:15 - 8-9 cm, 100% effaced. I couldn't believe how fast this was going!

3:15 - Just a lip of cervix left. They noticed he was ROP (right occiput posterior) and had me start pushing to get him to turn on his own. I pushed like this for a couple 1 hour, 45 minutes. He didn't turn on his own, just a little bit, but not all the way. I had to keep turning from my left side, to the back, to the right because of heartrate decels, while keeping an oxygen mask on. I was praying the whole time this didn't turn into a c-section situation.

5:00 - The doctor came in and had me start actual pushing. I could definitely feel pain and pressure as he moved down the birth canal. The doctor wanted to get him out of there, especially after noticing more meconium. The doctor talked about using a vacuum. I was so afraid of the same thing that happened with DD (Anna), vacuum and gigantic episiotomy. I asked immediately if it was possible to use the vacuum and not need an episiotomy and he said yes. As I pushed, he used the vacuum to turn him from ROP to anterior. Thankfully he did turn with this help! Once the vacuum was on, it only took two sets of four pushes for him to come into the world at 5:21. :) The doctor noticed that the cord was around his neck. Paul said the doctor was sweating as he pried the cord off from his neck. Paul cut the cord and blood sprayed across the room and soaked a nurse. haha :)

He was immediately brought to the pediatric team who assessed him because of the cord around the neck, the vacuum and the meconium. It took several minutes before I could actually see him. But he was a healthy boy. I was shocked at how huge he was - we all were! No wonder I was so uncomfortable. I gave up my evening one-mile walks a few days before he was born - it was just too hard any more. He's doing such a great job nursing! He always wants to suckle on things - his hands, me, or a pacifier. He likes to be warm and swaddled. He has tons of dark hair.He's fine with sleeping in the bassinet as well. He's wearing size 1 diapers lol! He has a little bruise on his head from the vacuum.

I made off with a 2nd degree tear and I'm doing great with 800 mg of Ibuprofen. I feel pretty great, considering. I feel so lucky. It was a great birth and it's making off to be a great recovery! So many things are working better this time around, compared to last. :) So many things could have gone wrong, but didn't. We are very, very blessed. God answered many of our prayers yesterday - from the breech situation to the healing thing. Very blessed!!!

Oh, and Anna loves her little brother so much! She's currently holding him and singing Twinkle Twinkle to him. That's the song I always sung to her. :)

ETA: I had to add that because of his surprising size, they've checked his blood sugar three times! Paul overheard them say, "Everything's OK. He's just a big boy!" haha :)

ETA2: I forgot to add that his shoulders also got stuck when he was coming out. Another "big boy" situation!

40 Week Appointment

40 Weeks 2 Days

My posts are getting shorter and shorter. Mostly because I'm so exhausted. I'm beyond the point of being excited and now I'm just exhausted and hoping for the end. Charlie's still hanging out... stubborn little boy! Anyway...

BP is still looking good, still 4 centimeters and 70% effaced, bag of waters is still bulging. Still no baby. This kid is stubborn! :) Anyway, I had my membranes stripped, so I've had a lot of contractions since. Hopefully that leads to something. If all else fails, he'll be evicted on 11/1/11 at 6:00 AM (induction). Having an end in sight is helping me to stay sane. If there was none, I'd be... well, like I was two days ago, bawling, upset all the time, etc. I'm in so much pain any more and to top it all off, I've gotten about a million new stretch marks that wouldn't have been there had Charlie made his grand appearance a week ago. :( I'm trying not to think about that any more. That was so not helping my mental health!

Well, I'm looking forward to new mommy things... breastfeeding, cuddling, kissing.
Not looking forward to... pain, pain meds, not being mobile for a few days... not that my mobility is very awesome right now... I can hardly get out of bed! Ugh. Time to come out, Charlie. I'll brave the pain!

In Labor! NOT!!!

Last night was my first ever trip to L&D for false labor. Anyway, I was having real contractions, but they were really inconsistent. I have made progress, though. I'm a "strong 4 cm" dilated, 70% effaced and I have a bulging bag of waters. My stubborn little man is still hanging out in my uterus... torturing me. haha They said they wouldn't be surprised if they saw me soon, so hopefully they're right. Owww...!

(39 w 3 d)

39 Week Appointment

39 Weeks 2 Days
Weight: 153
BP: 110/68

I'm 3, almost 4 centimeters (just like last week), but stretchy up to 5 cm, so that's new. I'm still 60% effaced. Charlie is still -3 station. The only real change is that my cervix is now at an anterior position. (It was mid-position last week.) That bumped my Bishop's score from a 7 to an 8. I hope this is the week. I'm just having a hard time emotionally right now, dealing with pain and discomfort. I'm just done, done, done.

I've had a few good contractions this week. That's always fun when nothing is stinking happening. ;) I think I need more distractions. I wish grad school had worked out this semester, I'd have plenty to keep my mind occupied. Ah, well.

38 Week Appointment Stats

Weight: 152
BP: 124/70
Charlie's heart rate is in the 120s
-3 Station
Almost 4 cm dilated
60% effaced
Flu shot: Check!

I'm feeling... like crap. I'm ready for this little boy to come into this world! Hopefully he will soon. It seems that after 4 cm, things should get going, right? Last week I was 2-3 cm and 50-60% and too high to tell a station, so things are moving along... sometimes much slower than my liking. I'm tired. I pulled a tendon in my leg/crotch yesterday and I'm in pain from that and the pubic symphysis issue. Ah, well. I keep saying it'll be any day. The sad part is that at this point, I'm not sure if I'm more excited to just not be pregnant any more or to meet Charlie. I guess I'm at the bummer end of pregnancy. I'm not Little Miss Chippy Chipperson today!

37 Week Appointment

Today I met with a midwife named Jody in Newberg. I was so nervous about changing providers so late in the game, but it turned out great. She was really kind and smart. I felt comfortable. As it turns out, I think we should get ready for Charlie soon! That kind of makes me nervous. You'll see shortly why I say that... So, here are the stats:

2-3 centimeters dilated, 50-60% effaced.
BP: 120/68 (I had just jumped off the table and was nervous, so it's a tad higher than my usual, but still actually considered "normal".)
Weight: 150.5 lbs
Measuring... I don't know, but it looked like a little higher than usual. The midwife didn't say anything.
He is still "high" and needs to drop. I'm sure that once he drops, things will progress pretty quickly.

I Laughed 'Til I Cried

Anna has been learning how to spell. Sometimes I ask her how to spell a word and she usually gets the first letter right, then she completely makes up the rest of the word. (I think because she doesn't want to "play" the game.) Today, I had a nice little conversation with my four-year ten-month old daughter. It went something like this...

Me: Anna, how do you spell 'ball'?

Anna: B-O-N-E-R.

I laughed until I cried. I laughed so hard that I couldn't tell Paul or my mom-in-law why I was laughing so hard. It's been a while since I've laughed like that!

36 Weeks (and 1 day)!

(Above: Overlain 26 week/36 week photos)

36 weeks!

36 Weeks! (The look says either, "Take the photo already" or "If I pop, I hope you have an umbrella.")

Here we are! Less than a month to go. Am I in denial? You betcha! Am I freaked out about labor? Absolutely! Am I terrified of the recovery? YES! But mostly I can't wait to see my little guy... and my toes again! I can't wait for those new baby things... snuggling, nursing, baby kisses!

Here are the stats...

36 weeks, second baby - Charles...
107/59 BP
148 pounds
I'm up around 25-28 pounds. I gained 40 total with Anna. Including swelling.

Compared to 36 weeks pregnant with Anna...
140/80 BP
152 pounds

How am I feeling?
My pubic symphysis feels like it's going to split in two. It hurts so much to walk and to turn in bed. I'm getting a lot of Braxton-Hicks contractions, some painful, most uncomfortable. I'm just really uncomfortable and basically done with being pregnant. I'm past the point of Happy Pregnant Lady. Now I'm at the Complaining Pregnant Lady stage. I'll be full term in 6 days. Charlie is free to make his grand appearance starting next Tuesday. Let's hope he isn't fashionably late!!!

34 Weeks

(Above: Week 33)

Weight: 144 - It looks like I'm right on with the 1 lb-per-week thing. :)
BP: 112/53 - Still nice and low. I hope it stays that way.

Charlie weighs about 5 lbs and 18 inches this week. That explains the discomfort! I feel so heavy out in front and my back has begun to ache when I walk for long periods of time. I love walking! I love exercise! It's such a bummer for it to be painful or uncomfortable. The other day I was walking and I had such terrible pressure and pain down there! Two days ago, I was watching TV and I had contractions, some painful some not, every 3-7 minutes. They subsided and were never regular, so nothing to worry about quite yet thankfully.

More news. I'm switching providers mid-pregnancy. Fun, fun. That means my next appointment won't be until October 6th. I'll be 37 weeks pregnant and ready to go by then. Argh. Oh, well. At least I can keep an eye on my BP and weight until then. As long as both are steady, there's no need to worry.