Doctor

We had a checkup this morning. It was with a labor and delivery nurse from the hospital since Dr. Labban is on Christmas break. Everything was fine. My blood pressure was a little high for me, but still healthy (124/72). The nurse said it's likely because I'm swelling a little and that it's typical for your blood pressure to start running a little high at the end of pregnancy. She wasn't concerned about it. Baby's heartbeat sounded good and she said she could tell he was moving around in there from the doppler!

Also, I asked if she could tell if he was head down or not, but she couldn't really tell either. Her best guess was that he was not exactly head down, but kind of at a diagonal angle. But we've rescheduled the ultrasound for January 4th and hopefully by then he'll be settled into a good position. Either way, the nurse said we have plenty of time and shouldn't be concerned. And that even if he isn't in the right position, there are things we can do to get him there and that we both seem healthy and should be fine. So I'm not too worried. I would like to know how he's positioned in there though.

Also it's crazy to think that I'm 8 months pregnant. I'm going to have a baby soon. Like, for real. So weird. 

Blizzard

We were supposed to have an ultrasound today to make sure Baby Madren isn't breech, but we ended up having a blizzard instead, so pretty much everything was closed today, including Dr. Labban's office. We ended up with over ten inches of snow. But it stopped around 1:30 this afternoon and the roads have been plowed and we should be back to normal in the morning. We have one of our normal check-ups tomorrow, with a Labor and Delivery nurse from the hospital because Dr. Labban is out of town. Hopefully she'll be able to tell if the baby is head down or not and if she cannot, I suppose we'll be rescheduling that ultrasound.

However, one nice thing about being snowed in today...

Seth randomly looked at me this afternoon and said,

"We have a pretty good life."

Agreed.

Car Seat

Here's some pictures of the awesome carseat/stroller combo my mom got us:

  

We really like it. We chose it for the carseat. It has the best safety rating on the market currently. Also, the whole thing is pretty user friendly and cute!

 Anyway, we had our carseat safety inspection this morning. Bloomington Hospital offers this service since many people do not actually install car seats correctly. Seth had already installed our carseat, and when she checked it over, she said he had done everything exactly right! Yay, Seth! However, he had installed it behind the driver seat and apparently the middle seat is safest, so we moved it over there. Also, she said we had picked her favorite carseat and that they haven't had a recall in over six years. 

So I'm pretty excited that our little one is ready to ride in style, safely.

Bump Watch 34 Weeks

How far along: 34 weeks
Baby is the size of a: canteloupe (~4.75 pounds and ~18 inches)
News: Still having some swelling in my hands and feet. I find it gets worse when I'm on my feet a lot. I've also decided my hips hurt worse when it's cold outside, which is bad now that winter has come to Indiana. Although I think I'll make it for six-ish more weeks. :)

Meltdown

I posted recently that I was enjoying the third trimester more so than the others. In some ways it's true. But not as much in other ways.

My meltdown rate is increasing.

So far in pregnancy I've only had a few meltdowns. Seriously. Like 3 or 4 total. And at least one of them was legit. But now I'm not sleeping well and am tired and my body hurts. I've reached the uncomfortable stage of pregnancy. So now when things feel like they're going badly, it escalates quickly into the worst thing that's ever happened to me. Except I only feel like it's the worst thing ever and in my head I still know it's silly. So I keep ending up sobbing and laughing at the same time.

Today I had a meltdown because Seth made me stay at work an hour longer than he originally said and I was tired and hungry and then I went outside and it was sleeting/snowing. I was already unhappy about being so hungry (thanks Kroger for having gross apples and ruining my afternoon snack), but the snow. weather.com told me 30% chance of rain and that it was going to be 45*. Liars. So, yes, I had a meltdown because of the weather.

Although, I think I have determined that cold weather makes my hips hurt worse. So that's fun.

Anyway, I'm hoping this isn't going to continue until the baby pops out. Don't want the poor kid to think his mother's crazy. (I might be, but I don't want him to think so. :D)

Strangers

I had my first encounter with a stranger today! That only took 8 months! And it wasn't bad at all.

We had our lab holiday outing today. Lunch at HuHot Mongolian grill. I was in line at the grill and the lady next to me was way excited and I could immediately tell she was going to talk to me. Turns out, she was really nice. No belly touching. No unsolicited advice. She just wanted to know the normal things (when are you due, boy or girl, names). But since we were in line until our food cooked, it was a pretty long conversation. Long, but nice. She even told me I looked fantastic for almost 34 weeks.

I keep waiting on a stranger to ask if they can touch my belly so that I can ask if I can touch theirs, but this kind of encounter is okay too. :)

Bump Watch 33 Weeks

How far along: 33 weeks
Baby is the size of a: pineapple (>4 pounds and >17 inches)
News: The possibility that he's breech means we get a fourth ultrasound. (Although I don't really think he's breech. But the uncertainty is making me think about it more than I had been.) Also, we cleaned out the car really well and installed the car seat today. Just have to get it checked at the hospital and we'll be good to go.

Doctor

I got manhandled at the doctor this morning! It was just a routine weight, blood pressure, pee in a cup, heartbeat appointment, but at the end they were feeling around to make sure Baby Madren is head down. Mark, our student doctor, couldn't really tell so Dr. Labban poked around as well. He really looks for the head! It kind of hurt. Like I could my stretch marks getting stretchier. Oy. Anyway, Dr. Labban couldn't feel the head either, so we are now scheduled for our FOURTH ultrasound for the day after Christmas. He is definitely vertical, not transverse, because his back is obvious. I'm pretty certain he is head down based on the movements I feel, but they just want to double check. Dr. Labban says that it could just be that his head is already down in the pelvic cavity so that you cannot feel it from the belly anymore. I think that's likely because I feel like he scooted down a little this week. The top part of my belly is flatter now than it was and I've felt more pressure in the southern hemisphere than I had been feeling before. And I didn't tell him because I didn't think about it, but I feel baby hiccups pretty much on my rectum (weirdest feeling ever), so I'm not worried. (Sidenote, this has got to be the most hiccuping baby ever. He gets hiccups like three times a day.) So a second bonus ultrasound of a giant baby. I'm kind of looking forward to seeing how squished he is in there.

Bump Watch 32 Weeks

How far along: 32 weeks
Baby is the size of a: large jicama (about 6.7 inches and approximately 3.75 pounds)
Gender:  Boy
Total weight gain/loss: 28 pounds
Maternity clothes: yep
Sleep: Better this past week than it has been lately.
Best moment this week: Got all our diapers washed! 
Food cravings: plain Ruffle chips with Ranch dip  
Food aversions: I think they're gone! Finally!
Movement: Ninja bursts! Also, this has got to be the most hiccuping baby ever.
Symptoms: Hips still hurt but have been better the last couple nights. Lots of movement.
Labor Signs: I think I've had a few Braxton Hicks contractions, but otherwise, no.
Stretch Marks: Yep.
Swelling: It was bad in my hands and feet last week, but has gone back down in the last couple days.
Belly Button in or out: In, but I can see the bottom of it and it is weird.
What I miss: Sushi. And I'm a little sad that I won't be partaking in any eggnog this year.
What I am looking forward to: Meeting him! Saying Hi for the first time. Baby hugs.  
Milestones: I can't believe there are only 8 weeks left.

Comparison photo:

Swollen

My hands and feet are swollen this week. Not terribly, but enough that I finally took my wedding ring off. Now I'm wearing my rings on the Open Hearts necklace my mom gave me when Seth and I got married. I miss having them on my finger.

Recliner

I slept in the recliner for half the night because it hurt my hips too bad to lay in bed. :-/

Bump Watch 31 Weeks

How far along: 31 weeks
Baby is the size of a: four navel oranges (~3.3 pounds and >16 inches)
News: Single digit weeks left! Also, I ate chocolate, ham, and butter chicken. I think my food aversions are over! And the baby is turning into a super ninja making my belly dance all over the place with his flailings.

Thoughts

You may have noticed that I didn't post a lot for about six weeks or so. I just didn't really feel like it.

People say that the second trimester is like the "honeymoon phase." You get your energy back, and you're not comically rotund yet. It's the time to enjoy pregnancy and blah blah blah.

I have to say that that isn't really the second trimester I had.

I did get some energy back. Staying up past 7:30 is awesome! But then I was put on pelvic rest. So not so honeymoon like in that regard. And I couldn't exercise like I planned, which was a bummer. And apparently my baby grows in spurts, even in utero. Around 24ish weeks, all of a sudden EVERYONE was telling me how HUGE I was. It started with that lady in my sock class. Then we went home for baby showers with our families and again people just kept commenting on how large I was. And we came back to Bloomington and it just kept on and on and on...

"You're sure you're only having one baby?"

"You're not due until February?!?!? You look like you're due much sooner than that."

"But you're so big."

Seriously, these are things you should not say to a pregnant lady.

And it was just so bad because it was a seemingly never ending litany from all kinds of people. And it coincided with me starting to feel huge. So it was sort of depressing.

And it ended about when my second trimester ended (around 29ish weeks).

But honestly, I don't really care that much about being huge. I have absolute faith in my body. In fact, I'm proud of it. Yes, I have stretch marks. Yes, I feel rather large. But I'm growing a person. A whole 'nother life. And it's amazing. And if my body has to gain 60 pounds to do it, whatever. (Although for the record, I'm on track to gain about 35 pounds, which is on the higher side of average.)

Anyway, besides the rudeness/insensitivity of others, I just didn't feel like the second trimester was all everyone cracked it up to be. But, I am enjoying the third trimester so far. I feel like I have more energy, or at least am more focused in my energies. I do get tired more easily, but I'm adjusting to that. My hips hurt (seriously my biggest pregnancy complaint thus far) and it's hard to put my shoes on, but I just feel so much better. I'm really excited to meet our little one. I'm just like... happy. I feel like I've gotten my glow back. And I'm looking forward to the rest of this pregnancy.

I'm glad I've regained my perspective and can enjoy this process again. Because I really love this little dude, even though he's mostly kicks and wiggles right now. And he deserves a happy mama.