Also, I know everyone wants to hear how the baby progress is going. I'm 39 weeks on Wednesday! It's an exciting time, but also a pretty uncomfortable one. Baby really dropped about 2 weeks ago, and a few nights a week I just cannot sleep long I am hurting so bad. There is no good way to brace the weight of my stomach that I've found, with materials or pillows or whatever. Baths are soothing on the muscle aches at least. Baby Girl seems content in there, but we are finally, finally ready for her arrival. Hunting season ends on the 15th here, which I'd like her to come after so that Jonathan gets every day he can to hunt, and so that the car can get a deep clean from all the boots, stands, mud, guns, corn, you name it that have been mucking it up so bad these past months! :)
I did have about 11 hours of contractions on Friday, that I precisely timed & wrote down for about 2-3 hours. They came between 4-7 minutes apart, but no more than 25-35 seconds long. They were painful, but not terribly so. I could smile between them (rather than needing to be prepared for the next one), and they did not take my entire concentration to get through. We'd hoped it would turn out to be more, but by the next morning when they'd subsided, I re-read the emotional map of labor and other parts of the Bradley book, and was confident my body was actively working on getting the baby here, but had decided to wait some more. I definitely stayed at the 1st emotional signpost (excitement) and so it was pretty empowering/good for Jonathan and me to re-read this all after the fact and know what to anticipate, and understand what we'd gone through. Pretty exciting. Since I desire to labor at home and go to the hospital later (to avoid time-pressure by staff and potential unnecessary medical intervention), there wasn't even a question of leaving the house yet, so it felt good and in control.
Anyway, more later after my appointment today. And I want to post my now-completed birth plan for your viewing pleasure. :) But now to pictures!
Granddaddy at the Christmas table! He was pretty happy!
Daddy donned an apron and did dishes! It was too hilarious seeing him like that not to snap a photo!
Stuart and Carter got into a cool whip fight... It was... memorable. Mom was pretty upset at first, but once everything was cleaned up, she laughed. She is amazing!
Daddy and Mom
Daddy and Carter
Shiona Marie - what a little pixie!!! She loooooooooved opening presents! She opened anything in sight!
Crystal and Noah
Mary and Mom
This Christmas, Grandma and Grandpa spent the night with us all at the Wilsons. It was super fun having Christmas Eve dinner and Christmas morning/breakfast with them!
Here's a photo Carter took & edited of Karen and me over Thanksiving. We are 20 weeks apart, so I was 32 weeks, she was 12. It's exciting to know these cousins will be so close in age.
5 comments:
That's so exciting, Denise! I can't wait to see pictures of you holding your sweet baby girl.
That last month I have found to be borderline unbearable, between the pain and the contractions. (Your "practice" labor was a familiar experience.) You sound like you are having a patient attitude though. Rumour has it that although women with lots of pre-labor contractions are no more likely to deliver early, that when they do actually go into labor they have shorter labors. I like that!
Ah yes, BH ctx. One of the things I definitely do NOT miss about pregnancy.
I don't know if anyone's mentioned it to you before, but pilates (find a program specifically tailored for pg ladies) can help a lot with the aches and pains. I have a program I did several times a week right up to the end with Judah and it helped so much. BUt really, any kind of no-impact exercise can help a lot. Ooo, yeah, especially swimming!
Actually Lisi, it was not BH. I've had BH since my 26th week or so, and they are REALLY different (LOL, obviously). Everywhere I read said BH contractions aren't painful, and I didn't get that at all (I thought mine for sure were, week after week). Well, finally after real contractions for hours, I TOTALLY get the difference. BH's aren't painful, they're just tons of pressure and discomfort. But not pain like a contraction. You don't have to breathe through a BH, but you do a real contraction. Anyway, I know something's working, I just want it to keep it going.
It's so exciting that you're getting close. I'm curious to read about your birth plan, too. I'd love to find a mw that would support a homebirth.
Happy to here all is going well!
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