|
|
|
Week 36
Milestones: The weight of an average baby is now about 5 and a half pounds (and I suspect Avery is probably around 6!). Length is 16 and a half to 17 inches. He is packing on the fat now - it is starting to "dimple" around the elbows and knees and forming creases on the neck and wrists! My Journal: I can't believe how close I'm getting to finally being able to meet my son!! It was a very strange feeling flipping the calendar page to December and saying "We are having our baby this month!"! :) Little realizations are starting to hit us that soon we will be home parenting our newborn - even small actions like putting the baby washcloths in the bathroom and clearing off the counter for a baby tub remind us of how our lives will be very different soon. And there are lots of preparations that we've been waiting for that it's now time for! Like our plans to install the carseat in our car sometime this week. Also I realized this week that I'd better add my little cotton underpad to my side of the bed this week in case my water breaks sometime before I do the wash again, since I usually wash the sheets every 2 weeks! It is very neat to think about how soon things could be happening - Avery will be full-term in just a week's time and could come anytime in the next few weeks. Just 3 weeks from now, we will either be getting ready for our last sleep at home before we go in for a C-section or maybe Avery will already be here. I'm really starting to have a strong feeling he will be early though, maybe around the 18th or 20th even! Good thing my hospital bags are pretty much packed - throwing in a toothbrush and contact lens solution at the last minute is about all I will need to do. We had our pre-admission appointment at the hospital last Thursday, and it went pretty smoothly (other than the fact that it was so long - we were there for two hours!). We found out that even though Paul has the highest level of coverage in the PSHCP, we will still have to pay a little extra to get a private room. But we felt it was worth the extra expense, especially after we found out that in private rooms, spouses/partners have cots available to sleep on whereas in semi-private rooms there are only chairs! Once all the details about the hospital room were settled, we went upstairs to meet with a nurse and an anesthesiologist. I filled out a survery about my medical history, and then when we went in to meet with the nurse, she walked us through how things would go and gave us an info booklet on C-section births and recovery. It is very helpful to have all the info ahead of time this time! Already this planned Cesarean is noticeably different from when I had to have one after 40 hours of labour, two nights of no sleep, and "failure to progress" stamped on my file (and the discouraged feeling that goes along with that!). Still, it's not like the recovery afterwards will be a breeze. The booklet had information like "getting up with assistance by day 2" that reminded me of just how difficult it will be to get over. I am not looking forward to all the not-so-fun things I remember about my last C-section happening again (like that awful first sneeze and getting the staples taken out), so I think although the appointment really helped me feel informed about what would happen, it was also an unpleasant reminder of what I will have to go through. I'm sure being able to hold my baby in my arms will make all the pain worthwhile though! This week has been a really busy one because it's been my last week of work! I finished my transcribing work and have the machine and tapes all packed up to drop off on campus sometime soon. I sent off the last invoice too, and should get the paycheque for this work in early January (perfect timing!). I also had my last Workshop and placed my last CM order, so that's another job wrapping up. I still have a few "odds and ends" to finish up here and there with those two jobs and my other work-at-home jobs, but for the most part, I'm done! And very glad that I'll now be able to concentrate completely on my family. As much as I've liked working from home, I am actually looking forward to being a stay-at-home mom. I know it's been a while (since Harmony was 7 months old!) since I've done that as my sole focus, but I think I can get back into the swing of things again. We haven't quite decided yet when I'll be going back to work or back to university to get my Masters, but I will be at home at least until the end of this summer. We have finally decided about how long Paul's parental leave will be, though! He is taking about 10 weeks off, and will be off starting in a couple weeks (his last day of work will be the same as Harmony's last day of school before holidays - the 17th)! He is staying home with the kids and I until March 1st, which I think is perfect. It means he'll be here long enough to really be able to bond with Avery and be around for a lot of cute moments, like when the baby starts being able to smile back at us!!! And he'll be able to make sure I am listening to my "surgery recovery" instructions (about 6 weeks is when they say I'll be back somewhere close to normal!) and not over-doing it. Also, the weather will be starting to get better in early March, which means Avery and I will start being able to make the daily walk to pick up Harmony at the bus stop each day (whereas in freezing cold January and February, either Paul or I will be able to go while the other parent stays home with the baby). It feels so strange to be making all these arrangements, and it's hard to picture what our day-to-day life will be like then, but I imagine we'll be learning as we go and "playing it by ear" a lot! Maybe Avery will be a lot like Harmony and will want to be "out and about" at an early age, or maybe he will be happiest at home. We'll find out soon enough! Test Results/Ultrasounds/Appointments: My 36-week appointment is tomorrow, and I'm actually looking forward to the start of the internal check-ups (even though as a general rule, I hate them). I am curious to find out if things are moving along at all, especially given all the funny pressure I've felt in that area! I wouldn't be surprised to find out that I am starting to efface a little bit and that Avery's head is a lot lower down - maybe I've even dilated a tiny bit! It would be very exciting to have signs that Avery was getting ready to be born pretty soon! Physical: A lot of things are starting to feel very "different" and it makes me wonder exactly what's going on in there! I really think that the baby has dropped, because everytime I get up from sitting now, I feel so much weight and pressure right on my perineal floor (or cervix or somewhere?). Sometimes it can be really painful, especially if I'm also getting up with a full bladder (like at 3 in the morning, for example!). It is sometimes a sharp and shooting pain, but sometimes it is just a heavy pressure that just feels really strange! My belly also looks a little lower, and my belly button is sticking out way more. I have gotten a ton of new stretch marks this week too, unfortunately! There are about a dozen very wide red ones across my upper belly. :( I don't think much of the day goes by without some achiness in my back, especially my lower back. Sometimes it's just a dull ache in the background, but at other times it's so painful. I am starting to have more and more trouble getting around - the aches and pains I used to get after an hour of walking are starting to come up after the short walk to and from Harmony's bus stop or going up both flights of stairs in the house without a pause in between. I have really had to slow right down this week, and am trying to take care of my body as much as possible and be aware of my posture and having enough support for my belly and back. Weight Gain/Food: Great news in this section - I have actually lost a pound since last week! So my total gain is 25lbs, it would be really nice if I could just stay here for a couple more weeks. I think perhaps the baby has reached a point where even though he is gaining more weight, I am burning that many more calories just from carrying around his extra weight! Or another possibility might be the fact that since Harmony and Paul's birthday celebrations are over, there is no leftover cake in the fridge to tempt me. ;) Either way, I'm happy to have lost instead of gained, and even more happy to not have gained another 2lbs again! As far as food goes, I am still sooooo thirsty! I am getting back into the habit of drinking water though, and am glad that it tastes better to me now. I got really sick of it after drinking soooo much water during my first trimester and was drinking mostly juice (although at least it was my dilluted version of juice consisting of half juice, half water) up until recently. Still having quite a few food aversions though - pizza and KD will just never be the same, I think. As for cravings, it's been a very "carb"-y week for me - muffins, toast, etc. It's been a couple months since I've had a Tim Horton's donut, so I think I'm about due for one. Emotional: Feeling a little less anxious about day-to-day stuff these days, especially as my work life winds to a close, but I find I'm getting increasingly nervous about all the actual baby stuff - especially the labour/delivery or surgery/delivery part! I am getting more excited about meeting Avery, about entering this baby world full of all these new and unique baby moments (nursing him, dressing him, having him fall asleep on me), but at the same time starting to feel unprepared to cope with the sleep deprivation and surgery recovery, etc! A lot of mixed emotions these days as the time gets closer and closer, but I think the excitement is really starting to win out! Every time I think about all those little moments, like the first time I'll hear him cry, the first time I'll hold him, the first time Harmony will give him a little kiss, I just get so emotional and teary-eyed! It's like sometimes I can't imagine that this dream come true is so close to being real!
|
