34 Weeks: Six weeks to go!

The last week or so has been a reminder of just how pregnant I am. From shitty doctor appointments to realizing that as a new mom, I'm going to have a lot of sticking up for myself to do, it's becoming more apparent that I am at the end of the journey. So, what's been going on with me?

Nursery

It is, for the most part, finished. We are still waiting on a couple of showers, so there are a few items that aren't in place yet, since we don't yet have them. My lovely friends came over to help me paint the room, since the husband had lots of homework to get done and could only help out every now-and-then. It was so much fun, and now that the nursery is more together than it was before, I feel like I can properly nest. :) Here are some pictures:

Monsters on the Wall

The Door

Crib in Place

Diaper Cart

Glider!

Work

School is back in session as of yesterday! I have loved being back at work, but it is also reminding me that I will be leaving sooner than it feels. Unless some other reason comes up, I can't leave until my due date, so I am glad that my schedule is lending me some down time to rest. I really have to make sure I am taking care of myself in the next six weeks and limit how much I am taking on. 

Yesterday was the first day students were back, and though I don't have many, I still left work feeling absolutely exhausted. I had some back contractions during the day, and when I got home, they came back. The head cold is still persisting into a second week, which is making me think that it might be a sinus issue and not a true head cold. It is keeping me from breathing well, and this little boy cramming his butt against my ribs doesn't help out either. I gave up after an appointment last night and came home and got into bed. I couldn't take not feeling like I couldn't breathe, and sitting up was getting to be too much. 

Here is hoping that the weather stays nice (since my classroom is not air conditioned) and all goes well for the next month!

Baby

The baby is doing well! He's growing right on schedule. My last appointment was at 33w3d, and I was measuring at 34 weeks, so that is good. He is super active, some days more than others, and those hiccups are still going strong! He's been head down for the past couple of months and was still head down as of last Thursday, so here's hoping he doesn't flip last minute or anything. 

I had a horrible OB appointment on Thursday with an OB I've never seen before. Long story short, she basically called me fat a couple of times, then violated my HIPPA. Needless to say, I was not happy. At all. I'm in the process of filing complaints, which I never do, but I felt so violated that I can't just let this go.

All in all, I can't believe there's only six weeks left. This little guy can come at any time, which is crazy to think about. I am so happy that my body has been growing my baby without any issues at all. After twenty-seven months of wanting to give up on it, and hating it for not doing what it was supposed to be doing, the last nine months have been a blessing and a reminder that there's nothing wrong with my body at all...it just needed a little bit of help. 

Oh! Shady Grove also invited me to share my journey with them for their new e-book, so if any of you new readers are here from Shady Grove, welcome! :) I hope my story can inspire you to keep strong. 

Here's a bonus bump picture. It's not great, but it's what I could manage on my own:

33w2d: The Day in the Life of my Unborn Son

It is said that unborn babies develop "schedules" that their mother's can tune into at around five to six months. By the seventh and eighth month, it's easier to tell what the baby is doing, because he is much bigger, and so periods of sleep don't go by unnoticed.

I would like to share with you my son's daily schedule:

When Mommy Wakes Up (Between 6-9 am): Time to start rolling around, and then get the hiccups.
9-10 am: Kick as much as I possibly can.
11-3 pm-ish: Sleep. Zzzz. With hiccups.
4-7 pm: Usually sleeping, but wakes when mommy starts eating dinner. Then hiccups.
8-Mommy's Bedtime: Mostly quiet with periods of rolling around and being strange.
Mommy's Bedtime: Hiccups. A lot of them. I make sure they are super annoying too, so she can't fall asleep. Also, if she turns onto her left side, I throw a tantrum until she turns back on her right side.
Through the night: Mostly sleeping, but I have kicking fits around 2 am.


I believe that at least 75% of his day is spent hiccuping. :)

32 Weeks: 8 Months and GD Free!

Sunday marked the beginning of my 8th month of pregnancy. I am so excited! One more month of baking to go, and my little man will be out and in this world!

I am also happy to report that after having gone in to get my three hour gestational diabetes test THREE TIMES (because they messed up the second time, and the office was closed for no reason the first time) that I passed it and DO NOT have gestational diabetes. Hooray!

I'm so blessed that my pregnancy has gone so well so far. Keep us in your thoughts and prayers. <3

31 Weeks: Baby Shower!

I am 31 weeks today! Six more weeks until I am full term, and nine more weeks until my due date! Wow. Time surely is flying by. It's amazing.

So, what has been happening in the past week? It was the last week of summer school, which I am so grateful for having the chance to teach it. Not only did it make me feel more secure about our financial situation (teachers here don't get paid over the summer), but it was really nice to interact with high schoolers again. They were a wonderful class, and I couldn't have asked for better.

Baby-wise, nothing new has been going on. My son is still very, very active and bouncing around in there. He still puts up a fuss when I sleep on my left side or put anything on my stomach. He is very active at night, too, which sometimes wakes me up.

No new symptoms as of now! I was feeling a little run down last week, so maybe the baby was going through a growth spurt! I treated myself to a prenatal massage today at a new healing center advertised on the Maryland Birth Network. It was a very lovely massage with a very wonderful massage therapist who listened to my needs and tended to the areas I was having issues with, which is mostly my neck and migraines.

Yesterday was my baby shower! My sister threw me a surprise shower under the guise of a graduation party for my other little sister. I kind of caught on when my mom didn't know the graduation party story, and I can tell when my husband is lying from a mile away. But, I made a going away college box for my sister and brought it anyway. When I got there, I saw everyone on the porch with green and blue balloons, and everyone yelled "SURPRISE!"

It was very surreal to me, but not overwhelming. I was afraid that I'd have a hard time being the center of attention, but it was just small enough that I didn't feel that way. Everything was perfect, absolutely perfect. We got most of what we asked for off our registry, and then some.

 I spent tonight putting away all the clothes and trying to organize the presents. There's not much I can do, since we still have to paint the nursery, but at least I can get the little things organized! While I was folding little, tiny newborn clothes, I had a moment when it all hit me, and I started to cry. This time, last year, I was cursing my luck and wondering when I'd ever get to have my baby. Today, I am holding newborn clothes in my hands while my son kicks the heck out of me.

This past week, a friend of mine announced her pregnancy to me after her own infertility struggle. She said that my words in this blog helped her through, and it really touched me. It also made me realize that God works in his own time, and sometimes it's hard to be complacent with that...but it's always worth it in the end. I'm not a very religious person, I consider myself more of a spiritual person, and it's when things like this happen that I understand that everything happens for a reason. Everything. Even the shitty things we don't want to happen.

All the shitty things that have happened to me in my infertility journey happened so I can have the baby that is inside of me now. If they didn't happen, I wouldn't have him, and even if I haven't met him yet, I couldn't imagine it any other way.

Enjoy a shower picture!