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.

32 Weeks - Pictures, Plus Beautiful Anna

(Above: Anna Daisy, age 4 1/2)

(Above: 32 weeks 2 days)

32 Week Appointment

As far as the due date post previously, yes they have my due date as October 25th in their records. (I thought it was the 27th because of online calculators, which are apparently wrong!)

Gestation: 31 weeks 6 days
Weight (me): 142 pounds (haha... let's hope that's NOT Charlie's weight... hehehe)

Interesting fact: at 33 weeks in my pregnancy with Anna, I was 149 pounds - 7 pounds heavier. Goodness gracious. My everything hurts right now. No wonder my back was killing me throughout that pregnancy. So far, no back pain here (OK, so not my everything...). However, I have some wonderful crotch pain - it feels like I've done a few dozen thigh presses on a thigh machine at the gym. I feel seriously sore! But, that might be because of this next bit of news...

CHARLIE IS HEAD-DOWN! Thank you, Jesus! Now, stay that way, young man! Don't make me ground you to your... erm... womb? Anyway... :) I was on top of the moon leaving that appointment. Every day he's head down gives me hope that he's going to stay that way and I won't need a c-section. :)

Blood pressure: 102/58

Still looking great! Every day my BP stays low is assurance that I won't need to be induced due to pre-e like I did with Anna. At my 36 week appointment, my BP was 140-something over 70-something. Eeep! So, by the time that milestone comes, I'll be doing some comparisons. Thank God that every pregnancy is different. I definitely have hope that I'll be able to give birth naturally like I want to.

Fundal height - right on! 32 centimeters!

Heartbeat - 150 bpm, 160s when he was squirming.

I had so many Braxton-Hicks contractions today from sitting in the car for hours that I started to worry about what was too many and what was safe. Our lovely midwife (I'll miss the midwives at this hospital, sniff sniff) said anything over 6/hour was of concern, just as I read online. I was easily having that or more today in the car, but because I wasn't able to change positions, I didn't worry about it (usually they tell you to drink water and change positions to check to see if they're consistent). Anyway, now that we're home I haven't had one. It's been about an hour, so I'm not so worried.

Overall, it was a great appointment. :) It's always great to hear this little guy's heartbeat and be reassured that he's doing well.

Miss Anna Daisy

Yesterday we took some photos of our little girl. Here are some of my favorites. :)

Anna: What do trees turn into?
Us: What?
Anna: Pencils!

30 Weeks

30 Weeks Pregnant today! It's hard to believe that he'll be here in just ten weeks!

Weight: 139 lbs
Feeling: Big, tired, lots of BH contractions, no new stretch marks so far, guzzling water.

Charlie: Stretching, squirming, occasionally kicking. Most likely still breech. Sigh.

Next appointment: Next week!

Quick facts:
* Baby will gain about 1/2 a pound between here and week 38.
*Average weight gain for mom: about a pound a week.
* Baby can control its own body temp.

28 Week Appointment

For some reason they have me down as 28 weeks 4 days. That might be going off my ultrasound, though. (I'm 28 weeks 1 day according to LMP.) Interesting. Anyway, here are the stats...

Results of the Glucose Tolerance Test: Not diabetic! :) However, I am a little anemic. I was with Anna, too. To tell you the truth, I might always be... I don't like red meats or sea food... or a lot of foods that are rich in iron. Go figure.

My weight: 138. :) Up 2 lbs from last appointment. The average is a pound a week, so I'm averaging 1/2 lb per week. That's still within the norm. No worries there. I need ice cream. hmmm Might need to fix that.

My BP: 108/58

Charlie...

Fundus: 29.5, big jump from last time, but that's probably because... (see below)

Charlie is breech this week. Sigh. I freaked out on the way home. I do not want a Caesarian! I had a hard time with my recovery from having Anna (episiotomy) and the pain meds they gave me. Pain meds are not optional with abdominal surgery. Please, God, turn this little guy vertex!

Heartbeat: 128-132 bpm

That was the gist of the appointment. Eat more iron-rich foods. Find foods that I like that contain iron or take a supplement. Blueberries, spinach, nuts, beans, oatmeal. Good thing they don't check for calcium. I don't like to drink milk or eat yogurt and I rarely eat cheese... if only ice cream was a healthy food! Oh, ice cream sounds good... frozen yogurt? Is that a good alternative? Hmmm... I think I'll have to do some Googling.

Zoo Day Pics!

We went to the Oregon Zoo after my Glucose test (bad idea on my part, by the way, but a good idea overall). I was tired and didn't have a lot of energy - of course that could just be a pregnancy thing - but Anna had a wonderful time! Above are some of my favorite pictures from that morning. :)

27 Weeks: Third Trimester!

• The fetus weighs almost 2 pounds now and is about 14.5 inches long.
• Baby now weighs about 875 grams and is 36.5 cm in length.
• The head is over 2.5 inches (7cm) in diameter.
• Your baby's hearing continues to develop.
• The eyes can blink, open and close.

Me:
Weight: 135 in the morning, 138 in the afternoon
Size: Large and in charge!
Feeling: Tired. Back hurts, stomach muscles are struggling to hang on, toes can no longer be seen (picture above is deceptive), belly button threatens to pop out (evidence above), multiple pee-stops at night. Waiting for results of Glucose Tolerance Test. 28 week appointment is scheduled for next week - then bimonthly appointments begin! :) I need more maternity shirts - With Anna, she was tucked in for a long time and I carried her deeply. Charlie is out there for the world to see!
Charlie: He does a lot of rolling and stretching, but rarely do I feel any sharp kicks or jabs. He's most active late at night.
Anna: Thinks Charlie will come out ready to climb trees with her. I think she doesn't realize he will have very little mobility for a while!
Wishful thinking birthday: I hope he comes on October 16th so I will only miss one class and will have more than a week to recover. :)

26 Weeks

Gestation: 26 Weeks
Time left: 14 weeks, 98 days
Weight: 136.5
Feeling: OK. I am actually liking my cute little bump!
Cute Anna thing: Anna wakes up in the morning, hugs my tummy and kisses it, then says, "Good morning, baby Charlie." :)

25 Weeks

I measured my natural waist today, around my belly button. I'll post that measurement below. Not a whole lot to report on this end. I feel so sleepy and thirsty all of the time. I am making middle-of-the-night pee trips already. This is going to be a long 3-4 more months! Meanwhile, we're going through our household items and planning on a garage sale to raise money for a grad school fee (350 dollars... ugh). Hopefully we meet and/or exceed that goal. I really need to go to school this fall!

Natural waist: 36 inches
Weight: 137.5
Gestation: 25 weeks today
Glucose tolerance test: tomorrow. Wish me luck! I'm hoping to take the test here in Oregon (we're visiting) and transfer the info up to Washington. We'll see if they care about that. It was my MIL's idea and I really don't think it's as cut-n-dry as she thinks it is. Then again, going outside the rules or norms makes me uncomfortable naturally, so we'll see if it's just me or not. haha. :)

In other baby news, my sister-in-law CJ has been feeling dizzy and yucky for a while now. She's 37 weeks and we'll see if she has pre-e and will be induced tomorrow. Wishing her luck! She's tired and feels like crap, so maybe we'll get to meet little Isaiah a tad early!

24 Week Appointment Stats

Me...
136 pounds
BP 110/60

Charlie...
Fundal height/measurement - 23 weeks
150 bpm heart rate

The midwife let Anna help measure my tummy and as the the MW held the doppler up to my tummy, Anna talked into the doppler like a walkie-talkie and said, "Hi, Baby Charlie!" So cute! And when I said we were going to the doctor to check on Charlie, Anna asked if I was going to push him out yet. She's really excited. :)

Fourth of July Photos

Unfortunately my camera died early in the day, but here are a couple of my favorites. :)
The little boy pictured is Anna's second cousin Elijah. He was waiting for Anna out front when we pulled into the driveway. When they saw each other, they were calling each other's names and ran toward one another and hugged - too cute. :)

24 Weeks (in two days)

We have been so busy lately that I've really neglected updating. Anyway, I'm 23 weeks 5 days right now. I'll be 24 weeks in two days. Charlie is technically already there, but ah, well... Thursday is still my day to say that I'm officially in the next week. :) Charlie is quite the kicker. He does have quiet days, though - and those days make me nervous! I love this little guy and I can't wait to meet him on the outside. Anna wakes up and hugs my belly every morning and kisses it and says, "Good morning, baby Charlie." When that happens, I must be very careful not to rub her back too much or she'll say, "I'm hugging baby Charlie, not you." Out of the mouths of babes. haha :) She's going to be a fantastic big sister!!!

As for symptoms... most bad symptoms have disappeared, with the exception of back and hip aches. I guess that's the magic of having your second baby - you get to be in more pain earlier! Wahoo? I guess it's for a good cause. hehe ;)

For the most part, I'm just enjoying my cute new bump. Soon I'll be much more uncomfortable and large. I'll take it all in stride, just as I take all of life - that's the secret, you know.

This photo was taken yesterday on the Fourth of July. I'm on the left and my beautiful sister-in-law CJ is on the right. Shes' 36 weeks - nearly full term! We're both having little boys. I think they'll have fun playing together someday. :)