37 weeks...and counting!

We made it! Lloyd is officially considered full-term as of today! I have to admit, I got a little teary eyed when I opened up my Babycenter.com update email for this week. We have come so far and I can hardly believe it has been 8 weeks since I was admitted to the hospital!!

We also made it to our OB visit yesterday where she let us know that my cervix is still closed, I am 80% effaced and Lloyd's at zero station. Basically this means that my cervix is softening again, which is totally normal at this point and Lloyd's head is hanging out on my cervix. I've also gained 27 pounds since being pregnant...which is showing in my face a bit.

37 weeks

The OB also formally ordered me off of bedrest. We let her know that we wanted to stay on it so that we can get him as close to his due date as possible, but she explained that there are several complications for me that can arrise as a result of extended bedrest (including blood clots, swelling, etc.) and that at this point it is riskier for me to be on bedrest than it is for Lloyd to be born now. This made since to us and so we decided that I will just gradually start doing more. As it was, I had already started doing more things like get my own water or the occational snack, while Brad did all the regular meals and house chores. I was also limiting showers to every other day to keep down on that effort...even though I do have that groovy shower chair to use!

So, yesterday while I didn't go for a formal walk like she suggested (after all we still aren't in any rush to get him out and I do need to get my strength back...I get tired and winded really easily), we did go out for dinner and I actually went to the grocery store to get dessert after! It was funny, because it was really hard to eat sitting up at a 90 degree angle. It almost hurt and I kept wanting to lay over in the booth to rest. By the time we were done with dinner, I was exhausted! But it was so nice to be out! I also took another shower this morning and we went to the library to get a DVD I had requested. I feel like there's nothing wrong doing these things and still taking it easy around the house. After all, I am 37 weeks pregnant! I wouldn't be doing a lot of things at this point under the most normal of circumstances, so there is no reason for me to feel like I have to act like I'm not pregnant and push too much. I figure, I can do more things around here, but if I get tired or he starts to put a ton of pressure on my pelvis, I will sit down!

I also have to say that with the news of how I was progressing and where Lloyd was at this point, I got really excited. I feel like I can say that I am mentally ready. I got excited about getting a few of the birthing preparations completed (birth plan, hospital bag, etc.) and once we make it through next week (Brad is super crazy busy next week and we have a baby shower on the 31st :-), he can come whenever he likes! It will be so nice to feel like when things start happening this time, they can actually happen! Also, the calm that I was feeling about labor as a result of our HypnoBirthing preparations has started to come back and I'm really looking forward to meeting this little guy!

Me moving around more is also good for Jenny. I noticed several times today that she got a little ticked at me when I wasn't sitting on the couch. Obviously she will get over this, but it is nice that she can start to adjust to our normal life before she also has to adjust to having a baby around the house.

And if you think that she is a bit spoiled, you would be right...I mean, look at this face?

Sleep

Ever since we told my friend Mimi about us being pregnant, she has joked about the fact that we've had entirely too much sleep in the past ten years and often reminds us to rest up now! Unfortunately, me and sleep are no longer on speaking terms. I've always slept well...well at least as long as I can remember (I can't really comment on my super early days). I fall asleep fast and could probably count my bad nights (during my adult life) on both hands. Sleep is just not usually a problem for me...unlike a certain sleeping partner I have.

But the last few weeks have been rough. I'm up every one to two hours to rotate positions from one side to the other when my lower hip/thigh starts to hurt. This is no easy process, I might add. I have pillows in strategic places on either side of me and the effort to move such a strangely shaped body is not exactly a walk in the park at the moment. And then, I might as well get up to go to the bathroom since if I don't I'll just wake up in another 15 minutes anyway...plus its just plain easier to rotate sides as part of getting back in bed. So that's bad enough, right? Well, lets add some insomnia. And boy, I have it all...can't get to sleep, can't stay asleep and up at the crack of dawn. There have been nights that I haven't been able to fall asleep until 3 or 4 in the morning, but awake again at 6 (usually starving, I might add). And if that's not enough?...can you add in some restless leg syndrome? Its common in pregnancy and seems to get me on nights I would otherwise be able to fall asleep...except for the fact that it feels like the skin on my legs is crawling.

All this means that I no longer enjoy going to bed at night (which makes me sad) because it just seems like what's the point? This has caused my regular bed time (usually between 10 and 11 pm) to slowly creep up to 1-2 am and even then I end up going to bed because it seems like I should, not because I'm tired. Last night was another bad one. By the time I actually got to sleep, I was wide awake every half hour or hour. I finally got to sleep around 8 am in time for the alarm to go off at 8:15...so we could get up and watch the inauguration. ugh.

So while you might argue this is clearly one of Mother Nature's cruelest jokes, I'm going to chalk it up to pregnancy preparation. I've decided that I can hardly wait until Lloyd gets here, because I would love to be able to sleep in two or three hour blocks again. How sad is that! ;)

Play Time

One of the things we've been trying to capture on video for a while is Lloyd during one of his play times. However, he seems to know when we get the camera ready because he will promptly stop moving around. Anyway, while watching TV one night we were able to get the following video. However, the audio became corrupted at some point (which is probably for the best given that you pretty much just heard the TV in the background), so Brad added music and a couple other movie bits. Its a little over three minutes and you can get a good idea of his kicks as well as a knee or two. Also, what you are looking at it my right side (the red is my shirt and the blue is my jeans), which he likes to kick more than my left for some reason. He tends to explore his environment when our fingers or my arm or something pushes on my tummy. In fact just this morning, he was pushing back at Jenny while she was draped over my belly hoping to get some of my cerial...needless to say her preoccupation with my bowl meant she didn't seem to notice anything out of the ordinary.

Lloyd playing at 35 weeks

I also recently started a photo album site through Shutterfly to house our family photos called Sundays in the Park - Photos (password: sundays). This will be a great way to share baby photos once there is a baby since it lets us notify members once new photos are added plus it gives people the opportunity to order prints if they are so inclined. I'm not going to add members until Lloyd is born, but in the meantime some of our vacation photos are up and you can check those out. Its a semi-private site just in that you need to type in the password before you can view the page...but we aren't exactly keeping that a super secret. ;) I also added a link in the sidebar to the right.

First Day of the 9th Month

Wow. I think that's pretty much all I can say about that.

Random thoughts about bedrest

1. Its kinda nice to take a shower sitting in a chair
2. Yoga pants are the best invention EVER
3. Its amazing how switching from one side of the couch to the other can mark an important transition in the day
4. Sometimes its really hard to ask for things
5. You can eventually run out of things to look up online
6. You are an adult, but you can go a whole week without putting on a pair of shoes
7. Short, layered hair makes for awesome bedhead
8. You burp...a lot
9. When you don't shower every day...they feel so amazing!
10. You dream of being able to sit in a chair like a normal person

Drug-free at 35 weeks

Two more milestone completed: no more drugs and we've reached 35 weeks! Yesterday was my first day off my round-the-clock dosages of nifedapine. I'd like to say it was completely smooth sailing, but that would be fibbing.

What I have discovered is that between pregnancy hormones and the emotional vulnerabilities of bedrest, I have become extremely sensitive to outside comments. I am religiously practicing my pre-term labor hypnotherapy track, I am making plans for things based on a February birth, and I am trying to stay positive. Unfortunately, the new mistrust I have in my body (because of all of this) leaves me open to accepting thoughts that fall in the "realistic" vs. "positive" camp. This then opens the door for misjudging every little ache and pain...and practice contraction. And pretty soon its snowballs into "maybe I really did NEEDED those drugs", "maybe labor really is eminant", "what if this is labor NOW?"

So yeah, yesterday saw some snowballing...especially when I couldn't decide if I needed food or I was in labor at 3:00 am last night. The next thing I knew I was in full blown panic mode. Thankfully, Brad was able to "talk me down". He fed me, talked to me and got me right sided again. This morning, while tired, I felt a lot better. I also decided that there are a few things that are 100% fact at this point:

1. I never needed those drugs.
2. I will be pregnant all of January.
3. This baby will be born in February...February 10th if my brain ends up being right (my brain jumped right to this date during a hypnotherapy session I had the day I left the hospital).
4. Drinking water, eating regularly, using the bathroom regularly and staying relaxed are all I have to do to make this happen.

So there. Call me dilusional, call me unrealistic, call me whatever, but these are the things I need to believe right now if I'm going to do this successfuly.

To celebrate the next chapter of the rest of my pregnancy, Brad took a current photo of me today:

35 weeks

I'm still slightly shocked that we were not only able to take a photo, but I actually got it off my camera on the same day! I guess all this organization and 'keeping things handy' stuff really is working!

Hospital Revisited

First of all...I'm still at home...I just wanted to post a couple photos off Brad's phone before it got too far away from my hospital stay last month.

Belly shot at 29 weeks...

And here's a quick video.

You can see all the pillows they like you to use while on bed rest to keep your legs, tummy and back supported while you are on your side. Also, I don't think this was a bad day, I think I just look sadder than I was, since I'm pretty sure we took the photo above the same day...but when you shower every 3 days...clothes don't really mean anything anymore ;-)