My Life

Only 5 weeks and roughly 4 days to go until delivery day. In many ways, this pregnancy seems like it started so long ago, and at the same time, it seems like time has flown by.

Here’s what I’ve been up to this past week:

:: I had my first non-stress test for the pregnancy last week. It went well, only I’m going to remember next time not to recline the chair I sit in – just in case lying reclined for 40 minutes decides to throw a wrench in my back again.

:: I will have non-stress tests every week until I deliver the baby. This is the first pregnancy I’ve ever had to do this.

:: My back is WAY better! Praise the Lord! I’m not 100%, but nowhere near the pain I was in just 2 weeks ago.

:: I have another ultrasound scheduled next week! The ultrasound is just to be sure that things are fine with the baby as there was a small problem with baby’s kidneys early on. Things seem to have cleared up though.

:: We know who will be watching the 4 older kids on the day I go in for my c-section. My mom is kindly going to take the day off of work to come over and stay with the kids while Ruben and I are at the hospital. Once the baby is born and Ruben gets the chance to leave, he’ll come and pick up the kids to go to the hospital to meet their new sister.

:: We are pretty sure on a first name for the baby but still a bit undecided on a middle name. I’m thinking about Anne, Ann, Joy, or Grace for a middle name.

:: I have my hospital bag about 1/4 of the way packed.

:: I’ve been having stronger contractions and some with a little pain more frequently, but mostly at night or while I’m doing my walking for exercise. Once I settle down, the contractions subside or stop. No early labor for me! 🙂

:: I’ve gained a total of 24.5 lbs. so far.

:: I got a slew of new-to-me maternity clothes from my sister, who just recently had a baby! These clothes should definitely take me to the end of this pregnancy and not require me to buy any new clothes. Thanks, Sarah!

:: I can’t wait to be able to eat cold lunch meat and tuna fish again.

:: I have NO diapers for the new baby – yet. I’ve actually been thinking about cloth diapering lately, but I don’t know that I have it in me. It’s the poopy diapers that scare me when it comes to cloth diapering. 🙂 That and all the “methods” to do it.

It’s hard to believe I’m 32 weeks along in this pregnancy, but it’s true. I’m 32 weeks, and if the baby doesn’t decide to come early (none of my other 4 children ever have), I’ll be delivering her in just about 6 weeks and 5 days. And let me tell you, because of all the back pain this pregnancy has caused me so early in my third trimester, delivery day can’t come any sooner. I’d love for the next 6 weeks to just fly by so that we can meet our new little girl, and my body can go back to normal.

In the meantime….here’s what I’ve been up to lately:

:: I had a doctor’s appointment last week where I discussed by back pain with my doctor. She suggested physical therapy if I had time. I’ve decided not to go that route just yet but will wait until Tuesday for my next office visit to see if things have improved at all by then. If things continue on this slippery slope as they have for the past week and a half, I’m going to have to find a way to fit physical therapy into my days somewhere.

:: I can no longer keep up with my family at the grocery store, and I’m walking slower and slower by the day.

:: Other than the back pain, the baby seems fine. The doctor easily found her heartbeat at my last appointment, and she’s moving regularly. 🙂

:: Also on the plus side, I don’t have all the swelling in my feet and hands that I’ve had with my other pregnancies. I’m guessing partly because of all the time I spend on my feet these days, walking and standing in order to help the pain in my back.

:: The kids are now doing impressions of the way I walk…..leaning to the side and with my hand on my back. Very funny.

:: I’ve gained a total of 24 lbs. I’m hoping to stay under 30 pounds gained and hoping even more that all of this weight comes off in the first 3 weeks or so after I deliver.

:: I found out that my c-section will be the first one of the day on my scheduled delivery day, so we’ll need to be at the hospital bright and early! I still need to make arrangements for who will watch the 4 older kids while Ruben is with me at the hospital for delivery. Typically, we have the grandparents watch the kids for a few hours until the baby is born, and Ruben can leave to pick them up.

:: I’m hoping the weather stays fair around here for as long as possible so that I don’t have to get any new maternity clothes for the less than 2 months that I have left being pregnant. I’m still wearing my summer maternity clothes (a couple pairs of capris, shorts, and a skirt) and would like to avoid buying maternity pants.

:: David, our 2.5 yr. old, is still in complete denial about the baby.

:: I started packing my bag for the hospital! And I’m planning on trying to enjoy my time there as much as possible – just me and the baby. I also want to soak up as much recovery time as I can before I have to return home. And I won’t lie…..I’m also looking forward to the food! Why? Because the last time I was in the Emergency Room (for something minor earlier in the pregnancy), I was watching “hospital TV” and they had a program on talking about their “room service”. Basically you can order anything you want and as much of it as you want, and they made this perk look so good. Count me in!

:: I’m planning on spending some time this week going through the little girl baby clothes that we have in storage to see what I can use for our new baby girl.

And that’s what I’ve been up to lately with this pregnancy. 🙂

I’m just a bit over 31 weeks pregnant at the moment, and I have just under 8 weeks to go before we deliver this baby. Time sure does fly. Here’s what been going on with me and this little baby girl the past few weeks:

:: I had another ultrasound last Wednesday to check on the baby and everything looked good! There was some concern about a small problem with her kidneys early on, but now everything looks “normal” according to the technician. Praise the Lord!

:: The bad news is that being flat on my back for about 45 minutes for the ultrasound totally bothered my back ALL OVER AGAIN. The back pain has never left me, BUT it was getting more and more manageable as the days progressed from my last update to you a few weeks ago. Immediately after I got up from the ultrasound bed, my back started acting up again and by Thursday, it was very painful once again. I’m having quite a bit of pain and discomfort going from a sitting to a standing position today, but hopefully things will get better in the next 4-5 days as they did the last time around.

:: The baby is measured to be 3lbs. 6oz. at this point and is said to be in the 40th percentile.

:: I am seriously lacking motivation to cook anything that requires much effort the last few days, so Ruben has been helping out more often with meals. I write out our weekly menus either Saturday or Sunday, and this week is all about simple, quick, and easy meals.

:: I see my doctor on Tuesday, and after this appointment I should “graduate” to seeing her every 2 weeks instead of every 3.

:: I passed my glucose test.

:: David, our youngest, is still in denial that we are having another baby – even though he’s been to my last two ultrasounds and we talk about the baby often.

:: I’m going to spend some time this week signing up for those sweet baby offers from Similac, Enfamil, Nestle, Huggies, etc…..  Signing up for these offers has always resulted in free formula (although I’ll breastfeed, I can always donate or give this away), formula checks (which I can sell on ebay), and GREAT coupons! Oh, and there’s usually a free diaper bag involved, too. Can’t have too many of those! 🙂

All in all, things are going well with this pregnancy other than that pesky back pain that won’t go away.

It’s about time for an update, don’t you think? I know I’ve been absent around the blog for the last two months, but I’m going to try to jump back in here. And what better way to get started than with an update about this wonderful pregnancy I’ve been experiencing?

Here goes:

:: I will be 29 weeks pregnant on Friday

:: At around 27-28 weeks, I started to experience back pain and now that back pain is KILLING me

:: I went out today and bought a “belly band” to help relieve my back pain which I could barely stand any longer – I’ve never had to do this with any of my other pregnancies

:: The belly band isn’t working – I almost had to call my children to have them help me out of the most comfortable chair we own

:: This back pain is going to make me cry if it gets any worse

:: So far I’ve gained 22.5 lbs. with this pregnancy and I’m hoping to stay under 30 lbs. overall

:: I have my c-section scheduled to deliver this baby in December when I’m 39 weeks pregnant

:: Only 10 more weeks to go until we get to meet our daughter

:: Oh, yes, I did say a daughter because it’s a girl! Sorry I’m so late in updating!

:: Picking out girl names is harder than I thought – suggestions?

:: We are slowly buying baby items for our new addition and by shopping early we’ve found some great deals! I’ll try to post some pics later on.

:: I’m having another ultrasound in less than 2 weeks

:: And finally, I really want to enjoy these last few weeks of pregnancy, but this back pain is making it really hard to

I’ve got to get going now because my 4 year old just informed me that he used some of my “stickers” and put them in his collection. If only my stickers didn’t happen to be the stamps we just bought today! 🙁