40w1d & progress update

Made it to my due date yesterday and he's still not here.  I've been super busy the past few weeks especially since my parents arrived on the 27th.  So, this post will be a bit of a 'thought vomit' one but I thought that I'd give all my readers an update.

• Blood pressure is still good for this stage of pregnancy at 118/78 but I'm a bit bummed it is so close to normal ... because my blood pressure is always on the low side.  But that is to be expected.  
• Still technically working and was in the office Friday.  People seem to think I'm nuts but when I explain I don't want to come back from mat leave too close to New Years' 2013 they get it.  
• Had 10 days off over Christmas and New Year's and went back on January 3rd.  That's the earliest I've EVER gone back to work in the new year.  Felt really weird.
• Finally got some decorating finished but I had to stop because my parents were about to arrive.

• Had a really weird Christmas Day.  I had a nap in the afternoon and didn't do much of anything at all.  
• I got all my cookies made but have one more batch sitting in the fridge.  Didn't manage to get the pies done so unfortunately my mom had to make them.  
• Had Christmas meals on New Year's Even and New Year's Day.  Felt a lot more like Christmas after that even though I missed out on the usual stuff and seeing my niece and nephew back home.  Next year will be better including for my sister who spent 3 hours in the ER because of a wacky serious eye infection that was progressing really fast.  Merry Christmas Eve to her!  
• Finally met my primary midwife now that she is back from leave.  Feels really weird to meet her so close to delivery but it can't be any worse than going to the hospital and getting some random OB, right?
• Parents arrived on the 27th and we've been busy since.
• The baby's room is ready to go now that we've gotten the finishing touches in.  Dresser and rocking chair are ready.  Thank you Ik.ea!  One bookshelf needs to come out and moved into the other bedroom up front.
• My house is being fitted with all kinds of shelving, all over the place.  My townhouse will have the best shelving in the suburb, I kid you not.  ;-)
• Cloth diapers are washed and ready to go thanks to my mom.  She didn't realize they should be dried between washes but luckily I caught that after the second wash and they got fluffed up nicely.
• Have 2 types of cloth diapers to try out - Indian prefolds and some microfibre ones made at a local baby store.  My mom has offered to make me more microfibre ones if she can find out what is in them.  That would be awesome!  
• Tons of freezing rain here since the week before Christmas including 2 days on which I had midwife appointments.  Made it out to the clinic no problem by driving responsibly.  ;-)
• Unfortunately, tested positive for Gr.oup B Str.ep.  Really not happy about this because I'm allergic to penicillin and clindamycin.  My only option is vancomycin and that's nasty stuff.  So, we're going to see how things go and if there are no warning signs we're going to do this without antibiotics.  Fingers crossed my water doesn't break before going to the hospital.
• Changed the hospital I'm going to because of GB.S results.  I'm now going out of town.  Pre-registered last Wednesday and it felt a lot like going into my home town hospital except the old one was multi-storied and this is a more recently built 1 storey building.  Will be a longer drive but I think we'll get excellent care there if we need to be in more than a few hours.

And now for the progress update:

• At my midwife appointment on Wednesday I was 2 cm dilated with little effacement.  While I've been told that is good for 39 weeks I was a bit bummed I wasn't further along.  Met the brand new student midwife who is working with my primary.  She will be at my birth and I think that will be her first one in this practicum so exciting stuff for her.  
• Had cramps Wednesday night.  My mom wanted me to come upstairs for just a few minutes (she's an organizing junkie ... no appearance on hoarding for her, ever!) and that turned into 45 minutes.  And, of course, it was during the only show that's been on TV worth watching in the past 2 months and wasn't repeated until 11 pm that night.  I repeatedly told my mom I couldn't keep doing stuff because I was crampy.  So I finally stopped at 9 (after missing 45 minutes of the show).  It didn't stop until about 11.  Apparently my mom thought I meant my legs were crampy.  Um, no.  I've never had crampy legs in my life even with a nasty flu.  I meant contraction type cramps.  Decided to stay home Thursday just in case.  I didn't want to try to find out how to get home while having contractions if that happened.
• Spent a lazy Thursday at home and felt much better.  Baby was very active that day since I was relaxing.
• Went to work Friday and had more cramping, particularly in the morning.  Getting stressed out about new stuff coming up at work and inability to get things on my list done before going on leave.  Taking Monday off because I'm too tired to work more than 4 days a week.  
• Noticed something a little different about the discharge yesterday morning.  Wondered whether it was a bit blood tinged but it might not have been so I didn't think too much about it.  Went shopping and when I came home I had bloody show and my mucous plug had definitely started to come out.  Yay!  Progress!  Had difficulty falling asleep.
• Overnight, not much to report.  Bloody show and mucous plug continuing to come out.  Had major discomfort after getting back to bed after going to the bathroom at 3:30 and 8 am.  Took about 1/2 hour to go away. 
• This morning I had some bright red show and got a bit worried about it.  Got my mom to check ... yes, very lovely, but she's used to working with bodily fluids and tissue so it wasn't weird for her at all.  She thought it looked like a clot or maybe some mucous.  Decided to wait and see.
• Show turned brownish again so put off call to midwife.  Then it turned a bit red again so called my doula.  She said this was fine and as long as the bright red stuff wasn't more than the volume of a light period I was fine.  
• Baby has been quiet today after a very active night.  He's definitely moved from his curled spot to bum out behind my belly button.  This is starting to get really uncomfortable, especially when he moves.  
• Continuing show this afternoon.  Spent most of it on the couch because every time I'm on my feet I get really uncomfortable.  Baby is definitely much further down than he was on Thursday.  The ultrasound to check where his head is and fluid levels (because my m/w was a bit concerned) probably won't be necessary because I think he's really far down now.  
• Likely to use my TENS machine tonight just to make sure I can get some sleep.  
• Feeling what is likely mild, erratic contractions.  It is hard for me to tell because I usually get extremely painful menstrual cramps and what is simply uncomfortable for me is really painful for someone else.  

So, after all that I'm thinking this guy is going to arrive sooner this week than later.  And I'm really hoping before Thursday because my dad has to leave to go back to work.  Bummer.  So my fingers are crossed I go into labour soon and with all the progress I've had over the past couple days I'm sure I'm more than 2 cm dilated now.  That makes me very happy!

Anyway, took the last set of belly photos, or what I think will be the last ones, today.  So, here you go:

I should have taken more photos in the bathroom ... better light from the south facing windows to use the camera without the flash.

35 weeks

Eeek!  How did that happen?  I've now officially reached the 'do not fly without a medical certificate' weeks.  Well, that's how it is most relevant to me, anyway.  lol

I haven't been online much the past little while because when I get home from work I just don't want to turn on the computer. When I do I get distracted from other things I need or want to do and I end up staying up way too late buzzing around on the internet.  And the past few weekends have been jam packed full of errands even though I've taken Fridays off.  Even Sunday mornings when I usually make time to connect and check out blogs and tend to personal email.

Since it has been a couple weeks since I provided an update here is what I can tell you.

T hanging out on a new rug in the foyer.

T is continuing to settle in.  He still gets anxious when I disappear and he doesn't know where I am.  It is particularly bad when he's using the litter and I go behind a closed door.  His litter problems have settled down.  I thought I had a nasty mess to clean up this past week but it turned out to be a major vomit dump beside the litter.  Poop or vomit?  Which is better?  I'll take the vomit any day, thanks.  He is still interested in scratching the furniture and took to scratching the other chair which, thankfully, was mostly covered up.  But I added some more carpet tape in empty areas and covered it with some throws very thoroughly so he can't damage it.  My living room looks ridiculously silly at the moment thanks to all the covered furniture.  But the good news is that he is using the upright sisal scratching post and the same on his cat stand by the window, more than once a day.  I'm hopeful I can redirect his scratching but I think he's always going to prefer the furniture.  So, some of it will likely be covered in some way as long as I have him.  I don't care if he claws the crap out of my front entrance mats.  They're probably not good for his claws but if he wants to take those on I don't care.

I'm still feeling really well and can't complain much about that.  I did have some red bleeding a couple weekends ago but thankfully was able to page my midwife and she determined it was likely one of those freaky late pregnancy things since it stopped.  I had an appointment just 3 days later and baby was doing fine with a h/b in the 140s.  The student's measurement had me 2 weeks behind and I was a bit panicked at the time but my midwife came in and showed her how she measured and it turned out I was right on time for 33 weeks.  Relief!  And the student had a hard time finding his head.  I suspect he's head down as his heart beat was really low down and when she was feeling for his head she was way down in the pubic area.  I just hope he stays there.

I'm feeling a bit more tired and have trouble getting up in the dark in the morning but I think part of it is just the fact that winter is coming.  I love being able to sleep without the sun waking me up but I'm really loathing getting up in the dark this year.  I'm taking as many Fridays off at the moment just so I can get things done.  It has really helped my energy levels.  I'm pretty much done errand running now so I can focus on stuff at home.  It doesn't mean I don't go shopping ... of course I do!  I just don't have to buy any more Christmas gifts or a huge supply of baby items.  I do need to get some more prefolds and a few covers for the next size up from newborn and I'm still without a travel system.  But worst come to worst I do have a 3-in-1 car seat that I could use if I needed to.  And if I need extra diapers to start it isn't like I live some place without stores that sell disposables.  I'm skipping a lot of laundry since my sister gave me suitcases of clothes.  I know they aren't dirty since she would have washed them before packing them away or giving them to me.  One less thing to do.

There are a few small things that I'll still need but I'm really hoping that I get them soon.  I've been told to be at work on December 12th which must mean that I'm getting a shower that day.  Good thing too because I'd been worried nothing was going to be done.  Not that I want a gigantic party with a bunch of games that I am not interested in playing or that I want a bunch of gifts ... no, I was just worried that since I might only get to do this once I might not get a shower and that would totally bum me out.  Yes, very eloquent, I know.  lol  So, I'm waiting to see if I get actual items and whether any come from my registry.  My parents are still the only ones to have purchased anything from it.  My co-workers might just end up getting me a bunch of gift cards, which would still be good, but it would be nice to get some actual stuff so I have less to shop for.

I haven't had any bouts of swelling and my plantar fasciitis has improved since I got the hard soled slippers.  It still flares up when I overdo activity, such as spending many hours on my feet shopping, but it is much better.  The little guy is starting to feel heavy now but he isn't overly active.  He's buzzing around right now which he loves to do when I have a lazy morning.  But since I've been very busy the past month and the available free space in there is shrinking I've expected him to quiet down.

And the belly finally popped a couple weeks ago.  It does depend some on what I'm wearing but since I take my photos in the same cut of T-shirt you can really see the difference now.  Here is a bit of a progression over the past little while so you can see the change.  Sorry some of the photos are a bit dark.  I don't have tons of light in the front of my town house and with all the errand running I've been doing I haven't always gotten the photos done early enough in the day.

30 Weeks

32 Weeks

T wanted in on the action

33 Weeks

The belly really popped this week.

34 Weeks

A bit bigger but not by much.

35 weeks

Nowhere to go but out from here.

And that's about it for now.  I've got more stuff to get done today.  A tiny bit of shopping and lots of laundry.  ;-)

No new bleeding

Just thought I should update everyone.  And thanks for the reassuring comments. 

I had no more bleeding.  Nothing showed on the liner I had on overnight and I had a bit more brown CM pop out about 6 am when I woke up and had to go to the bathroom.  I haven't been feeling crampy, well any more than I usually do.  All I'm feeling is stretching cramps like I've been feeling the past few weeks.  And I think I feel the corpus luteum starting to shrink too.  Nothing has changed in that department so I'm taking that as a good sign. 

My mom was also reassuring even though she never experienced this with any of her pregnancies.  My sister spotted throughout the first trimester with my niece who is now a bright, happy and crazy (good crazy) almost 5-year old.  Everything I've read said that this can happen, even bright red bleeding and if it isn't accompanied by cramping it should be fine ... even if it is pretty awesomely fear inducing. 

We have great hospital care here but our ERs are overloaded with people who don't know what the 'E' in ER stands for:  emergency.  There are also plenty of folks who don't have family doctors who rely on the ER for general care and then there are those who should just know better before sticking their fingers into a plugged in, still moving lawnmower (yes, Gr. 8 science teacher, that includes you).  Since the bleeding stopped and hasn't returned and is definitely not accompanied by any cramping I don't see the point in going to the ER.  I'd be stuck there for the entire weekend waiting to be seen.  If it returns I can go but until then I'm sitting at home and resting. 

I'll call the NP and OB's offices on Monday just to let them know what happened.  But I'm still hoping there will be something visible on the u/s on Tuesday that can explain this.  If it is just a usual pregnancy thing (SCH, low lying placenta) then I won't be too worried but I will want the doctors to know so they can keep an eye on it. 

The good news is that my freezer and mattress were delivered early.  The delivery guys wanted to get their jobs done before the forecast rain sets in late this afternoon.  Good plan.  In a way it was good to be caught a bit off guard (11:30 am instead of between noon and 6 pm) because I had no time to even consider cleaning, vacuuming, etc.  They just had to deliver and ignore my cat hair covered hardwood floor.  All I had to do to help them keep safe was clear out my entrance of shoes and a few things I'd dumped there over the past few days after getting home, such as my purse.  I'm certain they've seen a lot worse.  ;-)

Bleeding

I started bleeding this afternoon, bright red.  I went to the washroom before heading home on the bus.  When I looked I saw a lot of red blood in the toilet.  No, no, no!  When I wiped I could tell it was not related to a hemorrhoid because it was coming from my vagina.  Lovely.  I know I wasn't constipated but pushed a little too much so I thought maybe it was from a broken blood vessel in my cervix since there is a lot going on in there right now. 

The bleeding stopped on my way home and I had only a little spotting on my liner.  I didn't have any more bleeding but tonight I did have a mass of brown CM come out.  I'm crossing my fingers the bleeding, whatever the cause, is over.  I am not ready for this pregnancy to be over at 9w6d. 

I haven't been experiencing any cramping beyond what I've been feeling the past few weeks.  I think the pain I've been feeling today is a continuation of typical growing pains.  Although, I am feeling something deeper that might be vaginal but I get that the odd time when not pregnant too so that isn't a good measurement to go by.

I have an u/s scheduled for Tuesday morning.  My NP wanted me to get an initial one as a 'dating' scan ... she knows full well that I was at the fertility clinic and I know my dates.  But she saw nothing wrong with doing that and then another one for the NT scan in just a few weeks.  She even said I could set that up right there on my appointment day.  Then I saw the OB the next day and he said I didn't need the dating scan and to cancel the dating scan and book the NT scan.  I debated that one and decided I wasn't going to cancel it.  I know there are concerns about getting too many u/s during pregnancy but I seriously doubt that one extra one is going to do any harm.  Plus, I really want to get it done now.  If I make it to Tuesday I just want reassurances that there is something in there and things are still fine.  And if they can locate anything that indicates where this bleeding might have come from (SCH, low lying placenta, etc.) then I want to know. 

Ugh, this weekend is going to drag by so slowly.