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Week 29 Milestones: Baby weighs over 2 and a half pounds now and becoming sensitive to light, sound, taste and smell. My Journal: My goodness has this baby boy of mine been busy lately!!! His sleeping/waking schedule seems to have switched and I find he's up a lot during the daytime now! I still don't hear from him too much in the mornings, but from lunch time to bed time, I hear from him often. When he's awake, it seems he's frequently in motion - kicking, punching, wiggling, rolling, everything. During our daily little "chats", I am often asking him what on earth he's up to now and where he is. When Paul comes to bed every night and finds me already tucked in, cocoa butter stick in hand (and/or music playing next to my belly), we often get to play "Guess where the baby is now". I think Avery may be trying to find a comfy spot (I keep recommending "head down, feet up", but I feel he may already be tuning out his mother's advice). I have to say that as much as I love those little kicks and pokes dearly, they are often not very comfortable (but I don't dare start saying "Why can't you be more like your sister?" already!). One evening last week, he had his feet up in my ribs somewhere, in a very uncomfortable spot! Waking up the next morning, I found new stretch marks right in that area! Even Harmony said "Mom, your stretch marks are really red" that day. I've felt his little feet in pretty much every spot across my whole upper belly area (a few inches above my belly button), and sometimes it feels like he is lying diagonally. He is so big now that he takes up the whole belly space anyways, but I think I can usually tell where his feet are. Sometimes those wiggles and wobbles look so strange - watching my belly is like watching sci-fi. I think fetuses are supposed to start settling into a "head-down" position sometime around now though, so hopefully Avery will find his comfy spot soon. October is flying by so quickly! Last weekend, we decorated for Halloween, and we have everything ready now for Harmony's costume too (she's going as a fairy princess, what a surprise). I'm still deciding on my costume. Usually I just go as a vampire, but Paul thinks it would be funny to dress my belly up like a pumpkin, so we'll see if that costume comes together nicely or not (have no idea how we're going to pull that one off - it's too cold for just body paints!). My Christmas shopping and the Christmas gifts I'm making are coming along nicely as well - I should be able to be finished at the end of this month as planned. As for everything being ready for Avery by the end of the month as planned... well, we're getting there. I put all his clothes away in the dresser and am washing a few more items this week as well as all of the baby blankets (many are still in good shape from big sister). I can't believe how many sleepers this little one has - I think Paul and I counted about 4 dozen of them while putting them away! It is soooo wonderful to just stare at those little clothes and think about how small Avery will be - can't wait to see those little tiny feet and hands! It has also been fun explaining the whole clothes thing to Paul too- he's been really cute with learning what everything is (like what the difference is between a diaper shirt, an undershirt, a sleeper, an outfit, etc!!). I think he has the hang of it now, but maybe I'll quiz him one more time before I go asking him to please get something specific from the dresser if I'm sitting down nursing or something and can't grab it myself. As much as he jokes about all this baby "stuff" (knowing this from that, being able to look after the baby), I know he'll pick it up quick when the time comes, especially when it's all "hands on" (literally!). Can't wait for our prenatal classes next month! I find I'm starting to think more and more about what things will be like once Avery is here - the daily routines of feeding and dressing and bathing a baby! I feel like I am much more relaxed about things since it's the second time around, and also feel like I will be better prepared. I already know what works and what doesn't (at least as far as setting things up goes). Like the fact that I have baskets ready to throw bibs and wash cloths into for easy access, I'm making room for some baby toys in the family room (and babyproofing some of Harmony's stuff too!). I don't think anyone can be fully prepared for having a newborn in the house (I'm sure even 7th-time-around-parents require some adjustment based on the individual baby's temperment - they are all such different and unpredictable little people!), but there's a lot of comfort in having a general idea of how things will go and what to expect. I'm tying to fill Paul in on this as much as possible since it'll be his first time around. In a way, it's nice that we're having a boy because I haven't "been there, done that" and there are quite a few things that will be really new for me as well. There's also a good chance that Avery will be really different from Harmony, since he has already shown very different reactions as a fetus than she did as one! For example, he hates the car! Harmony used to fall asleep whenever we were in motion - walking, riding in a car, busing, etc! Whatever it was would put her right to sleep and she was the same way as an infant than she was in utero. Avery's a different story - it seems that as soon as I buckle up, he starts to protest being squished like that and starts giving me big kicks no matter how I try to sit. Even while I'm walking around now, I'll hear from him, which didn't used to happen. At prenatal Aquafit this week, he even woke up while I was in the water (was that ever a weird sensation). It might just be part of his new "waking up during the day" routine, but it seems like this kid is always on the go. Makes me worry he'll be one of those really active, mobile babies that crawl insanely early, like at 4 months or something (get out the baby gates!). So maybe some of the experience I have with Harmony as an infant will be going right out the window when Avery shows up on the scene - he is already very much his own little baby with a very different activity cycle! But still, it's been so nice to be able to plan ahead (and dream ahead!) with some idea of what this whole new baby thing is all about. Test Results/Ultrasounds/Appointments: My 28-week appt. went well. Best news is that I don't have gestational diabetes! Yay! Even Harmony had been aware that mommy was waiting on this test that would tell me whether or not I would be allowed to have any "Christmas treats" and was happy to hear that mommy could indeed join in all the holiday snacking. Avery's heartbeat was good - around 150 bpm (so much for that old wive's tale of a boy's heartbeat always being under 140). The nurse had a little trouble finding it at first, until I told her what position he'd last been lying in (or my best guess anyways!). After I let her know that I thought perhaps he was lying transverse with his feet off to the right side, she moved the doppler to the left of my belly button, and sure enough, there was that little heart! My fundal height is measuring at 30 weeks, so I'm still measuring a little "big" for my dates, but within the normal range. My blood pressure was fine, and my weight gain not too bad according to their scales either. I asked my OB a few general questions - yes, it's safe to take calcium carbonate for my heartburn, etc. She didn't seem too concerned about the "spots" in my vision but suggested I might check it out with my optometrist if it continued after the pregnancy. The blurry vision could also be related to the pregnancy. One thing we discussed quite a bit was the C-section, of course. She confirmed the time and date - yes, it's booked for 8am on the 29th. And also, the hospital stay has now changed from 4 days to 3 days! So I would be able to come home on the 1st of January if everything was going well for both Avery and I. I had still been trying to decide about the option of getting my tubes tied while I'm going through the surgery, and was glad to hear that it wouldn't interfere much with my first moments with Avery. The procedure would only take another 5-10 minutes since they are "in there" anyways, and they should be able to do everything with only the spinal, so the "cuddle time" with my baby boy that I am looking forward to so much won't be negatively affected. They'll be cleaning him up and doing his Apgars, etc. while I'm getting stitched up anyways, and either way (getting tubes tied or not), I should be able to hold him and perhaps nurse him within 30-60 minutes after the birth! So I do need to make a final decision on this, but I am pretty sure at this point that I will ask to have my tubes tied if I go in for the Cesarean. Paul and I have talked about what would happen if I ended up getting to have a VBAC, and in that case, he would probably go in to get "snipped' while he's home on paternity leave anyways. In either case, we're sure that we're done, so it makes sense to just go ahead with a permanent choice. I think my OB wanted an answer by next week so we could send in the paperwork, so I'll have to make the final decision on that one soon. My next appointment will be next Wednesday since I'm going every 2 weeks now! Physical: I'm coping reasonably well with the usual aches and pains and trying not to complain too much. I'm still feeling very tired in the afternoon, but my new "nap" schedule has been going well. Paul calls me every day at 2:35 and then I have 10 minutes to wake up enough to walk down to Harmony's bus stop. I actually fell asleep during this rest time more often than not last week, even today when I only had about 25 minutes to rest. I find I am also ready to sleep as soon as I turn my light out - even if Paul is reading in bed beside me, I just pass right out. The only weird thing is that I've started waking up at 5am and then not being able to go fully back to sleep! I guess it's just my body's way of starting to put me on a newborn schedule. Soon enough I'll be sleeping a few hours at a time, spread out a bit more throughout the day, instead of sleeping a whole chunk all at once. I have gone from selecting clothes based on what looks nicer (including which ones accentuate the preggie belly insetad of hiding the belly and making me just look like I've put on weight), to selecting clothes based on what is comfy and what still fits! Yes, I'm even talking about maternity clothes now - I gave up wearing most of my non-maternity clothes a long time ago, but now even some of the maternity clothes are getting snug. Most noticeably, my favourite pair of mat. jeans (that I bought when I was preg. with Harmony and have worn tons during every pregnancy) are not so comfortable anymore. Thankfully, my mat. overalls still fit (and are slowly becoming my daytime "uniform"). So glad that I have those new black pants I bought for Thanksgiving and other holiday events, they are super comfy and not too dressy. Weight Gain/Food: Still at 15lbs total, and still going to aquafit to make sure those pounds are healthy baby weight and mommy-muscles (ready to lift that heavy carseat!) and not too much fat! It's been funny to notice how different my body feels in the water now, even on a week-to-week basis. Sometimes doing the same exercises feels different, as my belly takes up more space. Getting out of the water is just the most bizare feeling! The pool I swim at has a "beach" entrance/exit to the pool, so you're coming out of the water inch by inch. The step when my belly loses the support of the water around it really throws me off balance now - it's amazing how much weight is concentrated just in that one area! It feels like someone handing you a pile of bricks all at once. But I do actually find that sticking with this weekly schedule has been helping my back-aches. I feel a little bit worse right after aquafit but feel better the day afterwards. Ooh, I haven't been behaving very well with saying "no" to those cravings! I woke up one morning (yes, morning!) craving jelly beans, of all things! So those have been in the house and now of course I've been picking at them non-stop. My little Spark also has some Girl Guide cookies to sell, so of course Mommy is helping by buying a box for the family (I suspect we will end up buying more than one before the cookie sale period is over!). Emotional: Feeling a little better than I was last week, that's for sure! I braved the mall again and went back to the store where I got the socks and actually ended up running into the same employee. She apologized profusely and I said I was sorry I got all upset at her the last time - made some joke about pregnancy hormones and all was smoothed over. The manager of the store was there too, which was great because it turns out that the new salesclerk was doing it all wrong anyways (so I got to keep the socks I'd picked in the first place in addition to getting a refund for being overcharged for them!)! I felt a lot better about that whole thing, although the mall experience in general was horrible again. One lady pushed her stroller (an empty one, no less!) right next to my foot so that when I lifted it, the stroller was blocking my step. At another store, someone held up the check-out complaining about only getting a 10% discount on damaged Halloween decorations (after the line had already been held up while the clerk called to see what the discount could be, and then called back again because she realized after getting off the phone that she needed a price check). Can I just say that I really hate the mall right now!? I find it is already starting to get really busy too, so I am glad I am on my way to being finished with my Christmas shopping. I'm determined to be completely finished by the end of this month so that I don't have to step one foot into the mall again until like, February! Another pet peeve (but much lower on the list than malls) is not being able to do what I used to be able to do. I find I really get frustrated (not quite to a two-year-old-temper-tantrum point, but still ...) when I find I'm not physically able to keep up. I am starting to have trouble getting up off the floor when I'm sitting, reaching into the washing machine or grocery cart, keeping up with Paul and Harmony when we walk to the bus stop in the morning, and especially with driving! I knew this would happen, and yes, I am coping okay with the need to slow down. I just get mad sometimes that I have to, I would rather it be by choice (although yes, knowing me, I would never choose to slow down - I need to be forced to anyways!). I have promised to "camp out" at home in December and barely lift a finger (and especially not lift a finger to move furniture because Paul would flip right out), but until then, there's not much I can do to put my fiercy independent nature on hold! There's still this biological, instinctual mantra running through my head every day - "Gotta be ready for baby, baby's coming!" that I just can't ignore. So I'll just have to paint and clean and fold and organize the day away until everything's in place!
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