38 Weeks...Almost :)

Okay, I don't have a new picture to put up with this post, although if I get a chance to take one tomorrow, I will add it then.  Today has been a lazy day and I am still in comfy clothes (aka PJs :)) so no picture right now!  But I did want to update about my appt. yesterday, since it was a bit more "interesting" than most.

The short story is that my blood pressure jumped to 139/90, which was disappointing (but not surprising given my past history).  It was 128/86 when lying down, but still a concern because of the higher numbers when I was sitting upright.  The long story is that Sherry decided to order some blood labs to check for other signs of possible pre-eclampsia.  So after a longer-than-usual appt. with her, wherein she spent some time looking over my records from the past 2 pregnancies, as well as consulting with a couple other midwives on the phone, the kids and I headed back to town and to our local hospital for the blood draw.  On the way, we stopped by the health food store to pick up some herbal tinctures that should help with bringing the blood pressure down.  Now to clarify, these b/p numbers are not super scary.  90 is sort of the borderline number where they start to get more concerned, so that is why she wanted to have the bloodwork done, to rule out other possible issues.  My numbers got to just about the same place with both Julia and Josiah at the last appt. or two before they were born, so I am not really worried, but I appreciated her desire to cover the bases and be safe.

The good news is, the bloodwork results came back without any major warning signs for pre-eclampsia, so most likely this is simply "pregnancy induced hypertension."  I have "midwife's orders ;)" to get a lot more rest, eat tons of protein, and take the herbal tinctures, and we will see if there's any change for the better at my appt. next Weds.  If my b/p should get higher, we would be looking at consulting with an OB and possibly doing a hospital birth, but Lord-willing the steps we are taking will help, and everything will stay under control.  Pray about that with me, if you think of it!!

We had a neat little blessing when I was at the hospital for the blood draw, so I wanted to share about that, too.  The boys were happy to stay in the waiting room and play on my iPod, but Julia was acting a bit worried and really wanted to come in with me when I got the blood drawn, so I asked the nurse if it was okay.  She was fine with it, and almost the first thing she said to Julia was, "It's so early in the day, I'm guessing you must be homeschooled?" (in a very friendly way :)).  When we said yes, she said she would make this into a little learning time for Julia, and she carefully explained every step of the process to her!  Julia is fascinated by medical stuff like that, so in no time at all she didn't seem worried anymore, but just interested in all the nurse was doing.  Thankfully I don't mind getting blood drawn, and I have good veins for it , so it wasn't a big deal for me, either. :)  Julia got to help wipe down my vein/arm area before the needle was put in, and the nurse even put some of the stretchy wrap around her arm like I had around mine, after we were all done (I thought it was funny that they use "vet wrap" now instead of putting a band-aid on over the gauze!).  I really appreciated so much how the nurse took the extra time to give Julia a sort of "hands-on" lesson.  I have been amazed by how many people we meet who are homeschool-friendly; we rarely get a disapproving look or word if we happen to be out somewhere during school hours, and I am grateful.

So other than all the b/p stuff, my appt. went fine.  I'm measuring right at 38 weeks, and baby's heart rate was anywhere from 120s-140s.  Baby is still in a good position for delivery, and not likely to change, although it sometimes moves from left to right a bit, but it's definitely hanging out most on the left side.  I'm still feeling lots of movement, especially at night.  I had quite a few contractions 2 nights ago, but mostly Braxton-Hicks and not really painful.  Still, it's nice to know my body is getting ready. :)  Heartburn has been minimal for quite a while now--I still get some daily, but can usually keep it at bay with a few Tums.  SO thankful for that.  I've been drinking tons of pregnancy tea and getting excited that I probably only have a couple weeks or less left of pregnancy!  Looking forward to meeting this little person very soon!! :)

37 Weeks!!!

Sorry for the wonky angle of this pic!  Julia was my photographer and she got creative. ;)  But out of the three pics she took, I liked this one the best, so I will use it.

As of yesterday, I am now officially past the 37 week mark, and very happy to be here!  This means I can now have a homebirth legally, so it's always a relief to reach this milestone.  Anytime Baby wants to come now is fine with me. :)  I'm still not super uncomfortable most of the time, just moving slower and starting to waddle more.  I've been having a bit more swelling over the past few days, mostly in my ankles and feet, so I am trying to guzzle lots of water and pregnancy tea to help with that, and today I stayed home from church to keep my feet up.  I had to do that toward the end of my last two pregnancies as well, and although I don't like missing church, I know I need to take care of myself and Baby, too, which sometimes means taking the time to rest.  Soon enough, Baby will be here and we will be finding our new normal, and eventually getting back into the swing of regular life again!

This past Tuesday, Sherry and the other midwife who will be assisting came over for our home visit. I was happy that my b/p was back down (no surprise since I am always more relaxed at home); it was 119/76.  The previous week it had been higher, but I can't remember exactly what it was.  Nothing super bad, just something to keep an eye on.  I might have already blogged about that.  Baby's heart rate was in the 120s-130s.  Baby is still in the LOA position (best position for birth), so I am happy about that!  We had blown up the birth pool that I'm hoping to use, so I showed them that and we discussed my hopes for the birth a little bit.  Basically I just have instructions to call as SOON as I think something is happening, since my last 2 labors were only about 2 hours each. :)  So far I haven't really seen any signs of impending labor, but things started very fast without a whole lot of warning when I had Josiah, so I know that could happen again.  Or this one might be totally different!  (But I still hope it is fairly fast. :))  My next appt. will be this coming Thursday, unless Baby arrives before then.

I wrote the above paragraphs yesterday, then Jim and the kids got home from church and I got busy with supper and family time, and didn't get back to this post till now.  It is so hard to find uninterrupted time to write these days!  Today (Monday) I am up early with more energy than I've had in a while.  I hope that is a sign that Baby might come sooner than later. :)  We will see, though!

Last week we took a quick trip to a larger town and I bought some flannel at Joann's.  My plan was/is to make some gender-neutral burp cloths . . . I have lots of boyish and girlish flannel, but wanted something that would work for either.  Anyway, I found two cute prints--one seems a little more boyish but I loved it, so I decided to use it anyway. :)  And then I got thinking about how much fabric I had (a yard of each) and realized I could do more than just burp cloths . . . so I made a Boppy cover. :)  I love it!

I didn't even use the Boppy much with the last two kids, for nursing anyway, but since I'm way out of practice with that, I'm thinking I may need it again this time around.  Plus it's a nice place to prop a baby when my arms need a break, or for a picture . . . and it was due for a fresh new look. :)  I found tutorials for making covers on Pinterest and kinda winged it using those as a guideline.  Next time I would give myself a little more seam allowance so it didn't fit quite so tight, but I didn't want it to be too loose, so overall I'm happy with it.

I was thinking it's about time for people to post their guesses for when Baby will arrive, and what the gender/weight/etc. will be!  For reference, Sam was born at 37 weeks on the dot and weighed 5 lb. 14 oz.  Julia arrived at 37.5 weeks and weighted 6.5 lbs, and Josiah was 39+ weeks (almost to my due date, but my dates were a bit iffy with him so I'm not really sure if my due date was accurate) and weighed 7 lb. 4 oz.  I can't remember the length of any of them and am too lazy to go look it up, but you can take a guess on that too, if you want. :)  My "official" due date is November 15, and my dates are pretty certain this time, so you can keep that in mind when you're guessing.

Hopefully I will have another update to post by next weekend, whether it's a 38 week update or baby news!

35 Weeks

Here is another update, finally!  I hit the 35 week mark on Saturday.  It is super exciting to realize that in less than 2 weeks I'll be in the safe zone for a homebirth, and that hopefully we will be welcoming our little one in about a month or less!  We are getting so close, and I am getting READY!  I have to say though, that I think this has been my easiest and least uncomfortable pregnancy of the four.  I've gained more weight than I would like, but I haven't had much back pain, really bad heartburn (except for a handful of times), or leg cramps, etc.  My swelling hasn't been bad, either.  I still don't love pregnancy, but I am so very thankful that this one has been so smooth and straightforward.  And I'm praying that the labor and delivery will be the same way. :)

Here are a couple pictures from the past two Sundays.  First, here I am at 34 weeks . . . I got Jim to be in the picture with me. :)  I doubt I could get him to pose for actual "pregnancy shots" like some couples take, with his hands on my belly and all that--he's just not the type!--but it was fun to get a regular picture of the two of us.

And here I am at 35 weeks:

And at this point it's fun looking at my dressy maternity clothes and wondering how many more Sundays I will need to wear them. :)  For the first time ever, I've had so many choices that I haven't gotten sick of them yet!  It's been fun to see what I can come up with by mixing and matching.

I had my 35 week visit with Sherry on Saturday, 10/11. Everything continues to look good.  Baby's heart rate was in the 130s/140s and I was measuring between 34/35 weeks.  My b/p was 120-something over 77 (I think--I forgot to write it down).  At least I know it was in the normal range. :)  I will have another appt. this coming Weds.--appts. are now every week, and even though it won't have been a full week since my last visit, this was the way it worked out best with factoring in Sherry's home visit the following week.

I think I finally have collected all the birth supplies we need, including some that weren't on the list, but might be handy to have.  The only big things I still need to get are diapers and wipes.  I've been feeling the need to "nest" this week, and have been doing some cleaning and organizing.  I've also been working on stocking the freezer with some meals over the past month or so.  As of tonight, I have 5 casseroles and 1 bag of beef stew starter mix in there.  I want to make some stuffed shells later this week, and maybe some bread and cookies or bars, too.  It's nice to know I have about a week's worth of meals ready to go, anyway.  My mom also brought some granola for the freezer, so we have some breakfast options too!

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I wrote all that on Monday night, never got it posted, and now it's Wednesday, so I figured I might as
well update on today's appt. too.  I was feeling really tired today (up a lot to use the bathroom last night), so I asked Jim if he would mind going with the kids and me.  He didn't mind, and it was really nice to have him with us.  Baby's heart rate today was 120s-130s (I think), and position is still good.  My b/p was up a bit, I think it was something like 124/82.  Not a huge concern, but something to watch, as my b/p has a history of getting higher at the end of pregnancy.  I've been having more swelling this week, especially in my feet and ankles, but also some in my fingers.  I can still wear my rings most of the time, so that's nice.

So next Tuesday, Sherry and the assisting midwife will come for the home visit.  It'll be nice not to have to drive anywhere for that appt! :)

We stopped at Walmart on the way home and bought some diapers and wipes.  They ended up being a really good price after coupons and rebate offers.  And I think that's the last thing I needed to get before baby's arrival!  We also bought a little Thanksgiving onesie just because. :)  I'm blogging this from my iPod (while keeping my feet up!) and I have a pic of the onesie on here, but can't figure out how to post it on the blog.  Maybe I'll be able to add it later, or I'm sure eventually I'll post a pic of Baby wearing it. Now hopefully Baby will actually arrive before Thanksgiving... :)

Well, I guess I will stop chattering for now...blogging from an iPod can be challenging. :)  I hope to get a chance to post in my regular blog soon!  Till next time...thanks for reading!