The bitch is back

Yes... the dreaded AF is back. She stayed away for 12 weeks. But really, the PP bleeding wasn't done for 6 weeks so I was only pad free for 6 weeks :/ Looking into getting the diva cup but at the moment, it hurts to use tampons. Well, maybe after using tampons, it won't hurt so much to have sex :/

2 month sticker pictures

2 months old

2 month stats:

Weight: 13lb 5.8oz

Clothing Size: 3 months

Diaper Size: 2

Sleeps 6-8 hour stretches

Firsts: 

• first prescription... lol
• first belly laugh
• first time in a woven wrap
• first smile in reaction to a word (boobies)

He now smiles a TON at anyone. It's hard to get the smiles when you're holding him upright but when someone else is, he will smile at you. He smiles when he's laying on the ground, on the change table, etc. Changing his diaper is the place I get the most smiles. He's a total angel!

He's in cloth diapers now and has been for an entire month! I'm loving it just like I knew I would!

Of course there's lots of other firsts and I feel bad for not recording them, but I'm lucky to get on the computer for 20 minutes during the day and facebook is a priority right now!

Milk donor

Through Human Milk 4 Human Babies, I found a local momma who needed milk to get her 4 month old through a 9 day span away from her. She has PPD and is struggling so her family bought her a 9 day trip just to recharge and such. She's unable to pump a lot and her daughter can't take formula.

I donated about 100oz to her last week and she's headed here tomorrow for some more. She needs 48oz more to get her through the trip and I have about 30-40 in the freezer right now. I told her that she's welcome to send her hubby or someone to pick up more while she's gone since it takes time to pump milk of course. I can get 4-8oz a day, usually just pumping once!

Moo

85oz pumped since Nov 20! Pumping once a day is a great way to build up a stash!

Rant: Guide dogs

Since I was 16, I have volunteered with weekend workshops for parents of blind children and I've made a lot of friends who are visually impaired as well. I have many of those friends on my facebook and I often read posts about funny things or issues that they deal with because of being blind. It's quite frustrating to me as someone who knows a lot of people who are blind and works with people who are blind to have other sighted people think that guide dogs are the solution to being able to get around safely. It's a huge commitment for the owner of the dog (not all people like dogs too). Some people just prefer to use the cane anyways. Also, in order for someone to get a guide dog, they have to be able to get around with a cane WELL, so if they have trouble with a cane, a dog won't fix it because they wouldn't be able to get a dog...

Night time

Well, Carlo has slept through the night for the last few nights! He has averaged 6-8 hours over the last 5 days. He'll wake up between 5 and 5:30 most mornings now. 5:30 is when DH's alarm goes off and DH will change him and bring him back to me. I love my good sleeper!

He's also getting better at self soothing too. If he finishes eating before he falls asleep I put him in his bed and he will wiggle and coo for a while before falling asleep. Usually I'll continue watching tv while he falls asleep just so that if he gets grumpy, I'm awake and ready to pick him up so he doesn't wake DH.

Today we had a nap in the middle of the day. He fell asleep on the boob and I took him to bed, put a swaddle on him and put him down in his bed. He talked a bit but eventually fell asleep. We were in the bedroom for 2 hours... It was heavenly!

1 month old

1 month stats:

Weight: 11lbs
Length: 22 inches

Clothing Size: 3 months

Diaper Size: 1

Sleeps 4-6 hour stretches

Firsts: well, this month, everything he did was a first

These included (doesn't include everything of course): 

• first movie
• first thanksgiving
• first outing (local touristy gardens)
• first cloth diaper (didn't last long because he got rashes)
• first smile
• first giggle
• first shower and bath in the big tub
• (my dad loves to share this piece of info so I had to include it here) first spit up on grampa... lol

He smiles a lot more now and giggles and squeals at us when we talk to him. He loves to talk to his gramma and always has smiles for her. He loves to talk and smile at his daddy after bath time (every other day). I often walk into to bedroom to find them lying on the bed talking to each other. It's so cute when DH talks to him in German. He has started grabbing things and bringing them to his mouth to chew on when he is hungry.

After battling rash after rash since he was born with only a few days in between in cloth, Carlo was fighting yeast. We're still using disposable diapers but hope to use his cloth starting after his doctor appointment on monday.

Dreams

Had a dream the other night that someone made fun of my leg hair... It was terrible. We're talking a WHOLE room of people started laughing at me... I need to shave! But I need TIME to shave. Legs are just so time consuming!

Things I've learned

• you can plan all you want, but sometimes wrenches get thrown in your plans... we've been fighting rash after rash with Carlo. we figured out the problem with the first two rashes but right now he has a yeast rash which takes time and antibiotic cream to get rid of... our plan was to use cloth diapers and not buy any disposables. so far we've bought 2 packages and used other packages that were given to us. we'll be in cloth soon!
• it takes at least 30 minutes for me to get out of the house now
• just because you don't have sensitive skin, doesn't mean your baby won't... rash #1 caused by disposable wipes. rash #2 caused by prefolds (keep the moisture at the baby's bum). Carlo was sensitive to being wet so we need to use diapers that wick the moisture away or fleece liners. We are using Pampers Sensitive wipes right now (can't use the cloth wipes because of yeast) and those seem to work for him.
• sometimes you can be surprised... as soon as my milk came in, Carlo was sleeping 4 hours straight at night... then all of a sudden he's had a few 6.5 hour stretches! it's amazing. He's a great sleeper
• my boob is out a lot more at home than while we're out... Carlo eats a lot less while we're out and about. He often naps in his stroller or carseat and basically eats every 2 hours. At home he eats every 1-2 hours but more often 1-1.5 hours.
• babies eat a lot... all the time... especially during growth spurts. It was almost useless to put my boob away for the first 3 weeks. He would eat and then root to eat some more after falling asleep...
• the newborn cry is so adorable it makes me smile
• you really do get used to their noises... Carlo has a grunt and groan he does while eating that means he's got a burp that needs to come out
• bottle feeding a breastfed baby isn't easy... he doesn't understand how to use the bottle
• their startle reflex is so so so cute!
• some babies are noisy eaters and it's kind of embarrassing in a quiet room!
• the hungry fish lip face he makes is the most adorable thing to see when he's half asleep
• it's very easy to keep him quiet at night... he grunts and groans as he wakes up and I can get him before he's totally awake and give him boob. he rarely cries at night unless he's mad at me for taking him off to burp him
• nursing without a cover isn't hard... I don't want to show the world my nipple/boob, nor am I a person who feels confident about her body. I pushed myself to be comfortable with nursing without a cover because it's normal and it's me doing my part to make the world realize that breasts aren't always about sex. I have not been confronted by anyone about it yet and the guys my age that we hang out with seem to be comfortable enough to look me in the eyes and talk to me while I'm nursing. It's still weird for me, but it's getting easier.

Early routines and Carlo's schedule

With Carlo being as young as he is, he is unable to fall into adult made routines for sleeping and eating (though I will never put him on a schedule for nursing). Here are the routines and schedules that we're following.

Nurse on demand all day and night. I do not schedule his nursings. He eats when he's hungry. When people schedule out feedings because a Dr or nurse tells them that "a ___ month old should only be eating every ___ hours," you risk having your baby gained weight slower than he should or even risk him losing weight. This is especially true with nursing. Baby might only take a small amount of milk at each feeding and nurse more often. He may need the nursings... ESPECIALLY while in a growth spurt. Carlo went through a growth spurt for about 2.5 weeks straight. He would nurse at LEAST every hour and sometimes a couple times an hour. It was rough, but he's calmed down to 1-2 hours now and usually goes about 2 hours if we're out of the house.

Bath or shower everyday at 8 pm. He has a bath with me and gets a full wash down. He loves the bathtub and floating! After his bath, I get to shower and DH takes him to get him ready for bed. He showers with DH and gets his boy parts washed. When that's done, I get him ready for bed and DH gets a shower. This routine ensures that Carlo gets exposed to water daily (on his ears, face, etc) and hopefully will not grow to be scared of water.

No nap schedule. He falls asleep when he's tired, often on a person...

Carlo has fallen into a bedtime routine all on his own. Usually right after he's done his bath, he will nurse a couple times before 9 pm. Around 9 pm he wants to nurse non stop for about 30 minutes to an hour. If he falls asleep too early, I will change his diaper or swaddle him to try wake him. He's usually asleep anywhere between 9:45 and 10:30.

His night nursing routine usually has him up about twice a night. He sleeps for about 5 hours (but always between 4 and 6.5 hours so far) before waking to eat for about 15-30 minutes. This puts his feeding between 2 am and 4:30 am. His 2nd feeding is about 2-3 hours later. I can usually nurse him back to sleep again after his second feeding but by that time, DH is up getting ready for work or already gone to work, so it's not really night time anymore lol. If I get him back to sleep after that, he usually goes about an hour before being up to eat again.

House Routine Changes:

• Dishes don't get done at night after dinner. They get done mostly by DH in the morning and if I'm able to put Carlo down in the day time, I'll do what's left.
• DH cooks dinner while I nurse Carlo. This means that usually I end up being ABLE to eat my dinner without being interrupted by a baby wanting to nurse. Even if Carlo doesn't act like he wants to eat, he often will eat when offered.
• Baby laundry gets done when needed. Adult laundry sometimes gets thrown in the washer if I have time while doing baby laundry, otherwise DH or I will do it on the weekend like we did before.
• Yeah... haven't vacuumed in a LONGGGG time lol. I vacuumed Carlo's room because the dog hair was driving me nuts (and carpet is much easier for me than laminate flooring which is in the rest of the house).

1 month sticker pictures

 

4 weeks old pics

3 weeks 6 days: in the bumbo like a big boy / loves his mobile

3 weeks 6 days: Halloween

 4 weeks: in the stroller like a big boy. He loves the lights

4 weeks: christmas sleeper!!! grampa was all like "uhhh nooooo!" haha

4 weeks 2 days: outfit made by his secret gift giver from my september moms facebook group

didn't take any PP pics of myself this week again... hopefully next week :)

Belated 3 weeks old pics

2 weeks 6 days

3 weeks: all ready to nurse him and he passed out on the bed and slept more... -_- 

3 weeks 1 day: smiles

3 weeks 1 day: he has my crooked yawn apparently

3 weeks 1 day: talk to the hand mom, I'm sleeping

Didn't take any PP pics this week... oh well :)

Belated 2 weeks old & 2 week PP pics

2 weeks

2 weeks 1 day in the one outfit we bought for the baby we lost

2 weeks 2 days

41 weeks, 1 week PP and 2 weeks PP

Belated 1 week old & 1 week PP pics

Carlo:

6 days old at the Dr

1 week old... finally got around to the just born sticker pics

1 week old... looking in the mirror

Me:

41 weeks pregnant / 1 week postpartum

Boobie boy (13 days old)

Birth: 7lb 6.5 oz

2 days old: 6lb 13oz

6 days old: 7lb 5oz

13 days old: 8lb 3oz

Since he was 2 days old, he's gained 2 oz per day... mama's milk is good for him! My little chunker!

This pic was from thanksgiving at 3 days old.

 

From my parents

Poor baby bum (10 days old)

Poor baby's bum is all red... I need to figure out why...
Have a few things to try, but for now he's back in sposies :(

Carlo's Birth Story

It all started on Tuesday Oct 2nd when I went in for an NST and ultrasound. Carlo looked great on the ultrasound but the tech told us that his fluid was low. It measured at 2.5 where normal is 5-25 (watching a baby story, they called 3.7 REALLY low). His cord was good, his movement had always been good and his heart was good. She seemed apologetic to give us that news... of course, I knew he was doing fine but that kinda raised my anxiety and all about everything.

After the ultrasound, we went for our NST. They hooked up 2 monitors to me. One measured his heart rate and one measured my contractions. I also had a button to press whenever he moved. He wasn't moving a ton so the nurse gave me ice water and cheese. It was super boring but interesting to watch the numbers. His heart rate audibly sped up whenever he moved and I started having regular braxton hicks contractions. The number on the machine watching my contractions got higher with the contractions and went back down. It was amusing and I finally knew 100% for sure that they were actually contractions! :) Eventually Carlo moved enough for the nurse to be happy and she came in and talked to us about the fact that I'd be induced.

Later on, my Dr. called me and explained what would happen. There were 2 other people that were in the same situation as me, we were all at the top of the list and I'd be going in for an induction the next morning/afternoon instead of friday/saturday like we'd spoken about (as the routine post date induction time period).

So late that night, I started having contractions that were slightly painful. Being a first time mom, I knew they were more painful than the braxton hicks so I started timing them. Well, we ended up going to the hospital and into labour delivery. They were just early labour contractions. After being monitored, they sent me home with some T3's and sleeping pills and told me to stay in bed at least until 9am. Well, I did and then I got up and played on the computer, waiting for my call.

Around 11:30am, I got the call from the hospital and called my husband to come home from work. I showered and tried to pack everything and eat something light for lunch. We went to the hospital and got there about an hour after they'd called... oops, didn't mean to take that long. When you're facing a 2-3 day (or longer) hospital stay, you can't just leave at the drop of a hat!

So I went in and they checked me into antepartum (where all the pregnant patients not in labour go who are getting induced or being monitored) and did all the paperwork and such and called my Dr. He checked me and my contractions from the night before had caused me to go from 1cm, to 1-2cm... whatever that means... but it was definitely a bit more than the day before when he'd checked me. Cervix was still posterior (meaning the check hurt, yet again lol) so because of that and the dilation, I was a candidate for cervadil and NOT pitocin (YAY!!!). Around 1, my doctor placed the cervadil and then I was stuck in bed for 1.5 hours on the monitors (same as the NST without the button to press for movement).

The interesting thing about placing the cervadil is the difference between the Dr.'s office and the hospital. In the Dr.'s office, he left for me to take my pants and underwear off and gave me a paper sheet. In the hospital, the nurse took my pants off for me with him standing right there... WEIRD! lol

After I finally got off the monitor at like 2:30, we got some lunch in the cafeteria and wandered the hospital. Then we went back to my room and played some cards, cell phone games and such.

My contractions started around 7pm. We wandered the halls and up and down the stairs for a while. Eventually they wanted me back on the monitors. It really sucked. I was still in early labour so it wasn't as bad as it could have been though. We placed some more card games to kill time.

While I was hooked to the monitors, I felt a strong semi-painful pop. I was pretty sure it was my water but the nurses weren't sure so they grabbed some fluid to test. Because of my low fluid levels, there wouldn't have been much coming out anyways.

I think at this point I was in active labour but didn't know it! I don't remember closing my eyes to concentrate with early labour contractions...

Shortly after I was unhooked, around 10:30pm, they decided to give me some drugs to help me get some sleep and sent my husband home. They gave me a shot of morphine with gravol to help me sleep and then when that did nothing, they gave me some more of the sleeping pills they'd given me before. After the longest waiting period of my life, I was still miserable. My contractions were getting stronger and nothing was helping me get any sleep. I was able to ALMOST relax in between contractions, but when they started, it was torture.

Finally I called the nurse back and asked if the drugs would ever work for me. I had at least 2 contractions while she was talking to me so she decided to put me back on the monitors (the most miserable thing ever...) to make sure my contractions weren't too close together. She left me on my own for at least 10 minutes. I wasn't supposed to have more than 5 contractions in those 10 minutes but I had 6. She pulled the cervadil out and checked me. I was 4-5cm, which meant I was in active labour! It was obvious at that time that my water had broken. Because I was GBS+, that meant it was time for my I.V. and antibiotics. The I.V. didn't hurt at all compared to the contractions and I was totally freaking out about getting it beforehand!

It also meant it was time to call my husband and get him back from home! He'd only had about 30 minutes in bed and the poor doggy was super excited to see him :( Poor animal! He arrived shortly after my I.V. had been placed. I was still stuck in bed at the time and miserable. I felt so dizzy from the pain and it was the worst feeling in my entire life. Of course, there was nothing they could do; it was just the way my body was handling the pain. I was ready to cry.

I was begging for an epidural at the time. It was terrible! I think it was made so much worse by the monitors and being forced to lie down. Hopefully next time I'll labour on my own and won't be stuck in bed during active labour!

So finally around midnight they moved me from antepartum to labour delivery. They made me walk. I had like 2 contractions on the way and I didn't even have to walk very far. I also had to drag my I.V. stand with me. That walk was the longest walk ever because the pain from my contractions never really went away after the contraction ended.

In my delivery room, they told me to try use the restroom... yeah, that wasn't gonna happen while I was contracting so often and couldn't relax enough to sit comfortably on the toilet, plus with my husband not leaving my side... STAGE FRIGHT, haha! After that, I had to get into their bed for MORE monitoring... can you say MISERABLE?!

Check out that blood pressure! 149/96! Wow! That's apparently not even as high as it got!

The labour room... that pink tube on the wall... laughing gas! It really helped focus me through contractions...when they finally gave it to me! JERKS! ;)

At this point, everything is super fuzzy. I can't remember a ton, but I'll do my best.

-----(Maybe TMI for some)---- Sometime between finding out that I was in active labour and actually moving to labour delivery, I started getting these weird feelings. I was trying my best to relax my body and not tense up but I felt an uncontrollable tensing... It felt like I had to poop and like my body was TRYING to poop. This happened with EVERY contraction from that point on.

For comparison: early labour contractions (left) and active labour contractions (right)

They never unhooked me from the monitors from that point on... This means I spent most of my active labour tied into a bed in one spot, on my back, fighting through the pain on my own, with no coping techniques outside of breathing (which didn't help much).

This whole part of labour felt like a ton of waiting for me... anesthesiologist, epidural try 1, try 2, epidural to take, Dr... etc.

Finally they called my Dr., who then okay'd the anesthesiologist and they called him. So we waited on him to arrive to do the epidural. While we were waiting, they FINALLY gave me the laughing gas. It was weird. It made me super dizzy but trying to hold the mask on my mouth helped me to focus while I was breathing through the contractions.

They sat me up on the bed with my feet on a bucket and made me sit as still as possible. That was super hard because he was trying to race between my contractions, which were a lot closer than he expected. He was a total dick about it too. I tried my best to vocalize when they were starting and he just commented things like "another one" or "really?". While trying to sit still, I was dealing with that uncontrollable tension. The freezing shot literally felt like a pinch... and again, I'd been really concerned about it. The catheter felt like pressure... no pain. It really was NOTHING compared to labour. He had trouble finding the landmarks on me. The first time he tried, he missed and hit a blood vessel. Apparently blood went everywhere and soaked a couple towels. My hubby was shocked and said there was a LOT of blood. The second time he placed the catheter, he thought he'd done it right but when they put me back down on the bed and tried running medication through it, I felt nothing... and not the painless nothing you're supposed to feel... nothing changed. The epidural did not work!

By that time, the nurse had noticed something about my hips during my contractions and during that tension feeling. She asked me about it. I didn't know I was doing anything with my hips but I mentioned the pooping feeling. She checked me and told me I was at a TEN and I think the baby was already touchable!! This was probably around 1:30am at the earliest. She told me to push as my body wanted to and that's what the feeling was. I was SHOCKED. My body was telling me to push and I didn't even know it. What a miracle!

So they called my Dr. and he rushed in, checked in on me, went "okay, I have time to change" and rushed out. When he came back, they got everything ready for me to push. I can't remember what all they had to do but I remember that I barely had to scoot down the bed at all. I guess that's how close things were.

They took away my laughing gas at this point. I was upset! Once I started pushing, I just naturally started moaning... it's odd to remember. It went really quickly, although it felt like a really long time for me. The waiting period between contractions seemed so much longer than it had when I was just dealing with normal contractions. I guess when you're dreading something, it comes quickly and when you want something to happen, it takes forever! I can't keep track of the timeline of pushing but I remember the burning feeling that came with the ring of fire and his head. It hurt but the worst part was between peaks, trying not to let his head slip back and still feeling that burning feeling.

Once his head was out, his whole body just slid out. I don't think I even had to push his shoulders out at all! I only pushed for SEVEN MINUTES and he was born at 2:04am! It was amazing! It was such a relief to have his body out. He cried almost immediately. He sounded like Donald Duck. Because he came out so fast, he was all mucus-y and garbled sounding. He scored a 6 on his first apgar test and a 9 on his second. I got a nice break while they dried him off and stuck him on my chest.

Super awake, right from the moment he came out! He had white, wrinkly hands and feet and no vernix!

After hubby cut the cord (which apparently was the weirdest thing to cut ever!!) the Dr. poked at my belly and such to get the placenta to release. That was an easy thing to push out compared to the baby. Hubby said it looked so funky! I wish I'd gotten to see it!

And, after that, the fun part... stitches. I didn't feel the numbing except for a poke. He guessed that the epidural was working a tiny bit, but I wasn't hooked up to meds or anything for it to keep dripping through the catheter. I'm guessing it was just similar to the epidural needle and I.V. where that pain just wouldn't compare to all the other pain I'd felt! He told me that I'd torn more internally than externally and I found out later that it was a 2nd degree tear.

I am still totally on a birth high after everything. Aside from the laughing gas, all was natural! I'm so happy with myself and amazed. Birth was a miracle and the most amazing thing I've ever experienced. I can't wait to do it all over again!

Advice from me to you:

• go with the flow! I went in wanting no epidural (I'm thrilled now that it never worked) but with the pain and being strapped to my bed, I begged for it
• this pertains to the next two... be open. I went in, wanting nothing to do with seeing what's going on down there, no pictures and DEFINITELY no hubby seeing. yeah, I REALLLLLLY didn't care! I'm so happy to have my pictures, video and hubby's view on things.
• if you're curious at all about watching or think it would help you push with a purpose, get a mirror. they brought in a mirror, but I don't remember looking at all because I was so focused
• if you want to remember things, have your husband take pictures! we got a bunch of pictures and some of them are amazing! he also got baby's first cry on video! so amazing!
• make sure you have someone with you who can remember those details for you and fill you in on all the pieces that end up being fuzzy! so much is fuzzy for me still.

Finally in cloth! (9 days old)

We finally got Carlo into his cloth diapers! Woohoo! It only took 9 days, almost 3 packs of sposies (given to us at a baby shower) and for his rash to clear up.

I didn't take a picture of his first one, but he was in a snappi'd prefold with a thirsties duo size 1 cover over top. It's a good thing we waited for the cord stump to fall off (happened this morning) because both diapers so far have come up over his belly button!

He didn't hate it I promise. He was just a bit grumpy!

Flying high! (6 days old)

Yesterday, we had a visit from the public health nurse. She says that he's super alert for his age and his latch is awesome! She thinks he's adorable (and so does everyone else who meets him). There are so many resources available for us here through them. I'm super excited.

Get this though... my little baby who weighed 7lb 6.5oz at birth and 6lb 13oz at discharge now weighs 7lb 8oz. Apparently mommy has CREAM for him!

He also had his first doctor's appointment. Everything was all good. The Dr weighed him as 7lb 5oz which is under his birth weight but still amazing. We don't have another appointment until he's 6 weeks old (instead of 3-4 weeks like usual) :) I'm so happy the Dr didn't use the F word or the S word (formula or supplement)!

Baby is here!

Born Oct 4 at 2:04 a.m.
His name is Carlo Glenn.
Discharged yesterday and will post more when I get to a computer.

First time momma

False alarm... kinda. I was having contractions, but they weren't bad enough even though they were a lot worse than the ones I'd had off and on for the last week. They monitored baby and contractions, checked me again to see if the contractions made progress (nada), did all my paperwork (one less thing to do today) and looked over my birth plan (had a bunch written in pen :/ lol I didn't have time to reprint it!). Then they sent me home with sleeping pills and T3 to try get some sleep! It worked but I had to take both sleeping pills so I was awake for an hour before I took the 2nd one (per her suggestion since I never take sleeping pills.

I'll be back later today for cervadil and probably stay in hospital since my fluid is low (like a 2.5... not sure if they measure fluid levels the same in the states as they do here but that seems super low to me). Time to pack some bored games and chug some water! Baby is still moving great and I'm getting really excited!

For those of you who don't have babies yet and find it awkward to be checked down there... it is still awkward for me, but not as bad as it used to be! I'll let you know how I feel about it after I push something out of there with everyone watching! Haha!

41 weeks

If you know me in real life, you will be in HUGE trouble if you share this information (especially today's) with anyone!

Dr appointment:

• 1 cm dilated (still... booooo!)
• 25-50% effaced (up from 10-20%) he told me 25% then when writing it down in my records said 50%... weird eh?
• still soft
• still posterior (made the check borderline painful. very hard to reach)
• baby at a -1 station (from -3/-4 last week and 2 weeks before that!) super excited about this because it means I'm not imagining the feeling of a rock in my bum! haha

NST/Ultrasound

• baby's spine on my left
• cord all good
• heart adorable beating like a mouth opening and closing
• didn't see any big movements on the ultrasound
• fluid low so I'm on a list for induction for wednesday morning/afternoon. I'm a priority.
• NST frustrated the nurse/Dr/whatever she was because it wasn't baby's active time so we didn't get a lot of movement
• had a bunch of pretty consistent early labour/BH contractions during the test
• SUPER uncomfy position to stay in especially on my back. If I get to my induction and they need to use pitocin, I want a portable monitor! It was TERRRRRRIBLE being stuck in one position strapped to monitors!

And here's the interesting part: I was on the list for tomorrow morning/afternoon to get induced for low fluid. However, I'm having contractions and heading to the hospital shortly. Here's hoping it's not a false alarm... these hurt more!

Contraction 0:01:17 / Start 22:53:37
Rest 0:05:23 / Stop 22:54:54
Contraction 0:00:52 / Start 23:00:17
Rest 0:04:47 / Stop 23:01:09
Contraction 0:00:59 / Start 23:05:56
Rest 0:04:07 / Stop 23:06:55
Contraction 0:00:55 / Start 23:11:02
Rest 0:05:21 / Stop 23:11:57
Contraction 0:01:05 / Start 23:17:18
Rest 0:03:56 / Stop 23:18:23
Contraction 0:00:46 / Start 23:22:19
Rest 0:04:05 / Stop 23:23:05
Contraction 0:00:56 / Start 23:27:10
Rest 0:05:40 / Stop 23:28:06
Contraction 0:00:53 / Start 23:33:46
Rest 0:02:19 / Stop 23:34:39
Contraction 0:00:16 / Start 23:36:58
Rest 0:09:33 / Stop 23:37:14
Contraction 0:00:50 / Start 23:46:47
Rest 0:05:00 / Stop 23:47:37
Contraction 0:00:36 / Start 23:52:37
Rest 0:05:48 / Stop 23:53:13
Contraction 0:00:53 / Start 23:59:01
Rest 0:03:50 / Stop 23:59:54
Contraction 0:00:42 / Start 00:03:44

How your baby's growing:

A bit over 20 inches long, your baby has continued to grow and may now weigh almost 8 pounds. As cozy as he is, your baby can't stay inside you forever. For your baby's safety, your practitioner will talk with you about inducing labor if your baby isn't born in the next week friday at 11 days post due date is when they get you on the list here. we spoke about that today at my appt — earlier if there are any problems. Most practitioners won't let you wait more than two weeks past your due date to give birth because it puts you and your baby at increased risk for complications. About 5 to 6 percent of women have prolonged pregnancies that extend three or more weeks beyond their estimated due dates. Babies born at 42 weeks and beyond can have dry parchment-like skin and are often overweight. Waiting that long to deliver also increases your chance of developing an infection in your uterus that could be dangerous for your baby or of having a stillbirth. this is what makes me the most anxious... praying that all will be good! What's more, your labor is more likely to be prolonged or stalled, both you and your baby have an increased risk of injury during a vaginal delivery, and you double your chances of needing a c-section.

How your life is changing:

It's hard not to be anxious when your due date comes and goes and you're still hugely pregnant (especially when well-meaning family and friends keep calling to check on your status!). But don't fret — you won't be pregnant forever. There's a good chance you'll go into labor on your own this week, hope hope hope! and if you don't, you'll be induced by 42 weeks, or earlier if you or your baby has any problems.

The methods your practitioner uses to induce labor will depend on the condition of your cervix. If your cervix hasn't started to soften, efface (thin out), or dilate (open), it's considered "unripe," or not yet ready for labor. In that case, your practitioner will use either hormones or "mechanical" methods to ripen your cervix before the induction. Sometimes these will end up jump-starting your labor as well. seems like it might have done it to me! Depending on your situation, the procedures can include stripping or rupturing your membranes, or using drugs like oxytocin (Pitocin) to start your contractions. stripped my membranes today... barely felt it! atm I'm a candidate for cervadil (prostaglandin) If these and other methods don't work, you'll end up having a c-section.

In the meantime, be sure to tell your practitioner immediately if your baby's movements slow down or if any fluid is leaking from your vagina.

40 weeks

How your baby's growing:

It's hard to say for sure how big your baby will be, but the average newborn weighs about 7 1/2 pounds (a small pumpkin) and is about 20 inches long. His skull bones are not yet fused, which allows them to overlap a bit if it's a snug fit through the birth canal during labor. This so-called "molding" is the reason your baby's noggin may look a little conehead-ish after birth. Rest assured — it's normal and temporary.

How your life's changing:

After months of anticipation, your due date rolls around, and... you're still pregnant. It's a frustrating, but common, situation in which to find yourself. You may not be as late as you think, especially if you're relying solely on a due date calculated from the day of your last period because sometimes women ovulate later than expected. Even with reliable dating, some women have prolonged pregnancies for no apparent reason.

You still have a couple of weeks before you'll be considered "post-term." But to be sure your baby is still thriving, your practitioner will schedule you for testing to keep an eye on her if your pregnancy continues.

You may have a biophysical profile (BPP), which consists of an ultrasound to look at your baby's overall movements, breathing movements (movement of her chest muscles and diaphragm), and muscle tone (whether she opens and closes her hand or extends and then flexes her limbs), as well as the amount of amniotic fluid that surrounds her (important because it's a reflection of how well the placenta is supporting your baby).

Fetal heart rate monitoring (called a nonstress test or NST) will generally be done as well — by itself or as part of the BPP. Or, you may have what's known as a modified BPP, which consists of an NST and an ultrasound to assess the amount of amniotic fluid.

If the fetal testing isn't reassuring — the amniotic fluid level is too low, for example — you'll be induced. If there's a serious, urgent problem, you may have an immediate c-section.

Your practitioner will also check your cervix to see if it's "ripening." Its position, how soft it is, how effaced (thinned out) it is, and how dilated (open) it is can all affect when and how your labor is induced. If you don't go into labor on your own, you'll be induced, usually sometime between 41 and 42 weeks.

Pre-WW, pre-pregnancy and current picture comparison

Got the inspiration from someone on a fb group today to put my pictures all together and see what I look like now compared to what I looked like around the same weight while NOT pregnant...

First picture: side shots (had no side shot of me at my heaviest pre WW)
Left: 2 weeks pregnant
Right: 39 weeks pregnant

Second picture: face shots

Left: August 2011 at starting weight

Middle: NYE 2011 down 30ish lbs (lost another 5 before finding out I was preg) 2 weeks pregnant

Right: August 2012 up 35ish lbs (right around WW starting weight) and 35 weeks pregnant

Third picture: front shots

Left: August 2011 at starting weight

Middle: NYE 2011 down 30ish lbs (lost another 5 before finding out I was preg) 2 weeks pregnant

Right: September 20/2012 up 40ish lbs (about 5 more than starting WW weight) and 39 weeks pregnant