Tuesday, January 28, 2014

39 weeks

I have realized that my blog is really just a journal for my pregnancies. As soon as I have a baby, life picks up and insomnia is replaced with someone who needs to nurse thus taking up my blogging time.

The past month my Braxton Hicks Contractions have really picked up. Nightly they range from 5-20 min apart and three weeks ago I thought for the first time we might be heading to the hospital. They stayed at 5 min (or under) apart for 45 minutes- and then went to 40 min apart. Back to bed! Tristan HATES them. I always know one is coming on because he pushes his feet out hard on either side of my ribs about 20 seconds before I feel the effects of it. Sometimes it even feels like he is scratching me with his fingernails in attempt to stop them- the length of those fingernails will be one of the things I take a look at within the first hours of his life outside the womb. He's going to be a little fighter!

Thursday evening I started timing my contractions around 7pm. Friday they were still going strong, so I took Gabriel out shopping to get some walking in (walk that baby out!) and errands done while Shaun worked on homework at home. I let Gabriel run around the toy isles, pulling toys off the shelves to try out and put back until I couldn't handle bending over to pick up the ones he forgot to put away himself anymore. He had a blast. We left the toys after picking up his big birthday present from Shaun and I, and continued down the sports isles. You would think he had knowledge of just about every sport by intuition. He found a volleyball and hit it up in the air. He found a set of tennis rackets and handed me one and started bouncing a tennis ball trying to hit it to me. Then a baseball glove- which he had no clue what to do with as it was wrapped in plastic- so he sat on it. Next was a soccer ball (which he threw- guess he's a goaltender...). The best deal I found all night were on roman shades to block the light out of the boys rooms- $10 each!! I'm pretty excited about them, especially as it means I can get curtains for their rooms that don't have to be the drab blackout ones. I also bought several "my first Christmas" stockings on sale from $20 each to $1. After a baby's first Christmas, I plan on covering over that part with some removable white fur material and having their names embroidered. Shaun and I don't have a set number of how many kids we would like to have- we have decided to make that decision as the time comes one baby at a time to see how we are handling what we are already blessed with in all areas of our lives (kids we already have, our relationship, financial, emotional, time, physical... etc, etc.)

Walking, resting, sitting- I was having those contractions regularly and they were building in pressure over the hours. Back home, I put Gabriel to bed in a disposable diaper just in case we ended up going to the hospital. I kept timing things on my little app (which I have grown to love after trying several and hating them), took a shower and gave Shaun a warning that it looked likely that we'd end up heading for the hospital. I called my Dr. when we hit 1 hour and she told us to head in to monitor things- especially with how things went with Gabriel's labor and delivery. We called Gabriel's godmother (who had only gone to bed an hour before, God bless her), and did a few things around the house to make sure it was set for me to be gone for a few days if this was it. We left fairly quickly after she arrived, but not before Shaun tried to steal Beth's attention from me onto himself talking about how much his hands were going to hurt because I would make him rub my back (don't worry, she gave him no sympathy- and he never would have done that if I were in pain at the time). We got to the hospital passed midnight and they got us set up in suite 15. They checked me- I was still only at a 3 and 60% thinned- not cool. So we weren't officially checked in until they were sure what was going on. My contractions slowed down to 6-8 min apart (not encouraging) and we began walking the halls and doing lunges together as we walked (first lunges I've done since pelvic pain set in back at the end of Sept). After an hour, nothing had changed and they sent us home. DEPRESSING. I thought the next time I went home it would be with our babies in carseats across from each other sporting the matching outfits I got for he and his brother for the big homecoming. As my contractions where at the magic number, I received new instructions: come back when you have a hard time breathing, communicating and moving. That sounds fun! Shaun looked just as shocked as I felt when we heard that. Last time I hit that point, I went from a 4 to a 9 1/2 in an hour.

I have panicked at least three times over the fact that I might not get the epidural that has to this point kept me happily sane when thinking of labor and delivery. In fact the thing I have dreaded the most is staying on a super uncomfortable bed for a couple nights after delivering and being away from Gabriel and Shaun overnight. That's not the case anymore. Slowly I have come to accept it and place it back in God's hands.

It's come to be a blessing in disguise that Tristan didn't arrive that night. Shaun was getting a cold on the day we went in, and the following two days Gabriel and I have caught it as well- that would have been awful to handle with a newborn learning to nurse. Praying we are totally healthy soon so that when he does decide it's time (and I can't breath, communicate or move), we will all be ready to meet him without the need of facemasks. I have cooled it a little in trying to induce myself by racking up some miles after realizing how sore and tired I am from the lunges, contractions and being sick. Especially the contractions. Once we are all healthy again, Gabriel and I are going to be adding some more miles to that single stroller. Even without that, the contractions are still at a steady pace of 10-20 min apart most of the day, with spurts of closer together and every now and then 40 min apart. My body is definitely gearing up and I feel swollen in my face, belly and my lower back, legs and pelvis are amazingly sore at all times (I look like a true pregnant woman getting up after sitting or laying down- having to push myself up with my arms as I need the balance and strength).

I have an appointment today as I am now 39 weeks along (Gabriel was born the day I turned 39 weeks with him). Crossing my fingers that all these contractions aren't just good for making me really sore and worn out, but that things have progressed some. So I leave this post with many things going on. I am so excited for my second son to arrive!! I am so gratful God's timing was to wait until we passed through being sick. I have lived my fear of being sent home with a false alarm (Father of the Bride II, I blame entirely for this silly fear). I thought I was big last time, but this time I am way bigger- so adding to that, I relate with ladies who reach that point of "very pregnant" and total strangers have actually look at me and say things like, "you look ready to deliver at any moment." I even had a store manager jokingly ask me to hurry up and pay while at the cash register so that I didn't chance having my water break in his store! Fun times!

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