Posted on my Facebook today!

Moira's impending arrival


As I get closer and closer to the arrival of our beautiful daughter, I have to think back on how we got here. Dave and I will be married for 9 years on August 12th of this year. We have been through ups and downs like any other marriage. I went to school full-time for the first 3 years we were married and only worked part-time which was tough on the budget. Then I worked doing home services for children with autism and although I loved my job, the commute and all of the time I spent in the car made for stressful times at home. We went through a rough patch about 5 years ago, but we got through it and grew much closer. We focused on our marriage and paying off some bills so that we could finally buy our own house. We decided that when we bought a house, we would start trying to get pregnant. Finally in April of 2007 we bought our first house after 7 years of marriage and all of our ups and downs, mostly ups!! We started trying to conceive almost right away. Month after month there was heartache, no baby. Finally in March of 2008 we went to a fertility doctor and in April 2008 we started with appointments and procedures for me to determine what the problem was. I wasn't ovulating, so that meant medications and IUI's, Inter Uterine Insemination. I have been very open with everyone about the whole process with anyone who wants to listen, so I really don't mind talking about it. We did three months in a row, June, July, and August, of medications and the IUI's. Every month, on the 13th of the month, I had my IUI. On August 13th was the last one and then Labor Day weekend we found out it took!! Our lucky little peanut conceived on the 13th of the month was finally a reality!! After 15 months of trying to conceive and all of the fertility appointments, we were FINALLY going to be parents. So, as the date of Moira's arrival gets closer, we both grow more and more anxious for her to get here. We have had 9 years to be together, enjoy ourselves, do what we want, relax, read, and be alone. We are now more than ready to give that all up! I can't wait to be mom and for Dave to be a dad. I would much rather be up in the middle of the night for a feeding than to be up because I have to pee or I have a headache or my leg hurts from the sciatica. Who knows how I will feel after a few months of that, but as of right now, I have had enough rest, I want this baby!!!:)
Anyway, if you made it this far through this note, thanks for listening. Now you see why I am so anxious and why I don't want to be on maternity leave without a baby! We'll see what my doctor says on Wednesday of this week!

38 weeks 5 days

cranky

* I am tired! I spent last night in L & D because my right foot/ankle was totally swollen, but my left wasn't. They wanted me to come in and everything is fine now. I was there from 9:30pm-1:40am

* Both of my feet, ankles, and legs, are swollen today.

* I am cranky and crabby for no reason.

* I have a headache too.

* It's hot here and I am 10 times hotter than it really is, so I am glad I won't be pregnant all summer long.

* I want this baby to come today!!!:)

* Dave thinks that I am going to go into labor soon because my mood has changed the last few days. I was contracting last night while in L & D, but didn't feel anything.

* Tuesday I am going to check out a store about 45 minutes from our house that has cloth diapers and supplies, wooden toys, slings, etc. I am so excited!! I want to see if they have a wet bag and/or diaper pail liner too.

* Sorry for complaining. I am in that kind of mood. I can't even wear my flip flops.

* I am glad I don't have to work tomorrow. Yay!!

* I got the car seat installed today at the police station, it makes me feel so much better that it's in their safely and correctly!

*OK, I am tired and I am going to bed soon, even though it's 8pm.

*Thanks for listening!

Moira can come anytime now!!

We got back from Babies R Us a little while ago and some other errands too. We got a little over $200 from Dave's school, the English and History departments, a $25 gift card from one of the women at my school, plus a ton of clothes and stuff from the little baby shower the special ed. department threw for me, and we had some money of our own. I spent about $300 and got a bunch of stuff from our registry plus some other things, so now I feel better. Moira can come for sure now!! We needed a few more sheets for the pack and play and covers for the changing table. I also wanted to have a couple of bottles on hand along with some breast milk storage bags just to get started with. We won't use them until later in the summer, but I wanted a few. I got two of the Born Free glass bottles and these covers to go over them so if they are dropped they hopefully won't break. I don't have a breast pump yet, but I am going to look for one on Craigslist over the summer. I also got some more onesies, a few more cute rompers for her to wear during the summer, a few more sleepers because I felt like I didn't have enough, more hangers for the closet, more towels and washcloths, and a bunch of other things. Still don't have a diaper bag, but I asked my mom if she would get me one. She said she would!!:)
I came home and ordered some Burt's Bees baby stuff from drugstore.com, I love that site, some 7th Generation wipes to go along with my cloth wipes, and some more 7th Generation baby laundry detergent. The 7th generation stuff was on sale. I always get free shipping from drugstore.com and I usually have drugstore.com dollars too. So, free shipping and I saved some money too! We also bought a little fan for her room to circulate the air when she is in there. We had taken down the crappy ceiling fan and replaced it with a nice light fixture. We decided not to put another fan in the room because we didn't like any of them. Instead a small fan for the room should be good. It's a small room anyways!!:)
Still need a wetbag and diaper pail bag. I haven't found any I like on the cloth diaper sites, or the ones I like only come in smalls because they are out of the sizes. I want to make sure I have a good sized wetbag for daycare in the fall and when we travel this summer.
OK, I have to go put all of the stuff in the dryer now that I bought today and then we are going to clean up the living room because it's trashed and I am making Dave's birthday dinner tonight. I was just WAY too tired last night and he said that was fine to do it tonight!!

Pain in my butt!!

For the last 3 days I have had a sciatica pain in my left hip and just below my butt. OMG does it hurt!! I figure if I can get through this, I have to be able to get through labor, right??? I was on and off my feet on Saturday, slept horribly, off my feet pretty much all day Sunday. I sat in my in-law's recliner all day except to eat and pee. Friday I slept bad too because I think that is when it was starting, I was all achy and such. So, this morning I felt pretty good, I had slept well, didn't hurt as bad this morning, but after being at work all day I can't move. I can barely stand up and walk around my house. So, I am trying to stay off of my feet as much as I can. I have to make it through this week and then I am done with work. I went Friday with Dave to his chiro. appointment and tried to see if I could get in there this week in the afternoon. Their initial appointments are an hour long. They couldn't get me in, but scheduled me for next Monday. Dave went in this afternoon for his appointment and asked if there were any cancellations since the sciatica had gotten worse and they had a cancellation and got me in for tomorrow afternoon at 2:30!!! I can go there right after work! YAY! I know it won't fix it right away, but I am hoping for some relief tomorrow and then hopefully they can get me in again this week.

I am currently sitting on my birth/exercise ball in hopes of stretching it out a little. I will take a bath AGAIN tonight to hopefully relax it some before going to bed. I was supposed to go to a yoga class tonight with my old yoga teacher, but I called her and told her I just can't do it. I know it would be good for me, but I can barely stand. She is also an awesome massage therapist too, so she is going to try and squeeze me in this week and if not for sure next week. Depending on how I am feeling next week, I will try to fit in the yoga class to help me out some before I give birth. This beautiful baby better come quickly because I hate this pain!!! Plus, I just want to see her!!!:)

Doctor's apt. and ultrasound

Today I had another doctor's appointment, 36 weeks 2 days!! I have a little less than four weeks left of this pregnancy, hopefully less than that. My blood pressure was down a little more, 126/88, still high but better than it has been the last few times. I had the first of my weekly ultrasounds too to check on the fluid levels and make sure Moira is moving around like she should be. Everything checked out great!! After the tech. checked everything, she did a 3D ultrasound to our surprise. They don't usually do them, but will do it for practice for themselves. It was so amazing to actually see our little girl's face!! Anyway, here is a picture!

update on my BP

Yesterday I had an appt. with my regular OB. My BP was a little better than it was on Tuesday when I saw the nurse. Today it was 136/90 and Tuesday it was 144/96 and that is when they sent me to L & D, etc. My 24 hour urine test results came back within normal limits so that's good too!
So, my OB said that she doesn't see me going to my due date, whether she induces me or Moira comes on her own. She said we are going to try to avoid induction because I would rather Moira come on her own. If it means the health of both of us, then I will take the induction. She said if we get to 39/40 weeks and Moira hasn't come yet and my BP is increasing, then we'll induce.
It was a good apt., I got some questions answered that I have had the last week or so, induction being the biggest one. Starting next week she is having me come for weekly ultrasounds as well as my weekly appointments. She wants them to check the fluid levels and make sure she is moving around nicely. She said that high BP can affect the placenta which can affect the fluid levels, so she wants to make sure everything stays good the way it has been!! I don't mind seeing her weekly until she comes!!
So, we'll see what happens in the next few weeks. At this point, she can come whenever she wants to come now that the crib is set up, we are ready! I will post some pictures too!

afternoon in labor and delivery

So, today I had to go in for a nurse apt. because on Friday my BP had creaped up some more 126/90, so the dr. I saw, not mine because she was on call, wanted me to come in this week so I wouldn't go two weeks without my BP being checked. I see my OB on April 10th. I went in today, BP was 144/96!! YIKES!! It went up a lot. They sent me to L & D to have an NST and blood work. Moira passed the NST with flying colors, she was moving, kicking, and her HB was good too. My blood work was good, but now I have to do ANOTHER 24 hour urine collection. Should be interesting since I work in a Jr. High. They did say I don't have to refrigerate the urine, which I had been told I had to do before. I was trying to imagine keeping the urine in the fridge in the teacher's room.
I am going to be staying home tomorrow to do the urine sample because otherwise I would have to carry around a bag while at school with my urine and collection hat so that I can use it every time I have to go to the bathroom, which is a lot lately. I don't want to because I am so close to being done with work, but if I do take the day, I will take it unpaid. I only have a few sick/personal days left and I want to save those to use for a week of my maternity leave. I am not getting paid leave. I was hoping to use the sick bank to get paid, but that isn't going to happen. Luckily we have our tax money to use.

I was so worried that they were going to be keeping me at the hospital for bed rest. They were saying that if my blood work didn't come back normal, that I would be staying! UGH! I was going over in my head what I would need Dave to bring me!!

breakdown

We went and got our stroller/car seat yesterday along with the rug for the baby's room and a bunch of other errands. We left around 11:45am and got home around 4:30pm. I was so tired, but determined to set up the stroller. I started doing it, but there were these little pins that you had to stick into a little hole in order to hold the back wheels on. I struggled, Dave tried helping me and got one on with LOTS of swearing, and then struggled with the 2nd one. He gave up and got annoyed. I got annoyed and wanted the darn thing put together. I tried doing it and then that was it, I lost it. I was BAWLING!! Tears running down my face, that sort of hyper ventilating cry, snot in my nose, everything. I wanted the stroller put together so badly, it was awful. Dave felt bad, started at it again. Finally got the pin in there and got it together. I started crying again because I was glad he got it together. Then we finished putting it together. That wasn't the last of it. I started crying a little later because my back hurt, because I was overwhelmed by our laundry, and then later on when Dave was helping me put clean sheets on our bed, I lost it again because I was tired, overwhelmed, and my back hurt. Finally I went and took a shower at 9:30pm and then passed out by 10ish and slept almost through the night for once. I woke up at some point and had to go to the bathroom, but I was so tired I didn't get up. Finally at 5:30 this morning I woke up and my stomach hurt so bad because I had to go so badly that I was like a little old lady trying to get out of bed and go to the bathroom. So, needless to say, yesterday was probably one of my WORST emotional days yet! Yikes!! Later I was laughing with Dave because he was trying to make me laugh to cheer me up. He was awesome about it!!

That's my story!! Thanks for listening!

Update!!

My mom left on Monday afternoon and we had a really nice visit. Friday we went to the Eric Carle Museum and shopping at Home Depot to spend our gift card on closet shelves, etc. for Moira's room. Saturday was my shower at my in-law's house. It was very nice, relaxing, and laid back. We got some good stuff!! Dave's Aunt, who is also his godmother, really hooked us up. She got us the high chair, a bouncy seat, some blankets, a sleep sack, a diaper pail, and some wipes. We also got the swing we wanted from Dave's sister and brother and families. It is so cute!! Dave's sister had bought it for their daughter and I fell in love with it when I saw it. So, I immediatley changed our swing on our registry!!:o)
Here is the link to it! www.toysrus.com/product/index.jsp
Sunday we spent the day working on the baby's room, finishing up some painting, hanging the curtains, and Dave put together the dresser/changing table. There is still some more to do to put the room together, but it is nice to be taking a break from it these past few days.
I am currently sitting on my new birth ball that I just bought at Wal-mart. It is really comfy to just sit on while I am sitting at the computer. I bought a bunch of trial size toiletry stuff to pack for our hospital bag. That feels good to have that ready to go. I want to start getting my bag packed in the next week, just in case. I went to Old Navy too and they are have a big $5 baby sale and I got 6 outfits for Moira for $40. I bought all 3-6 month sizes in case she does come out a little bigger. If she doesn't, the outfits will just be a little big on her!! I also bought some tennis balls that our birth class nurse suggested for massage and to put two of them in a sock.
Last night was our last class and she showed us different massagers and techniques to use during labor, including using our partners for support, and the birth ball. It was a good class.
Last week we had our tour of the L & D floor which was really nice and made it all feel much more real! I do have to get my pictures from the shower on the computer. My plan is to do that tonight.

This weekend, on Saturday, is my last shower with my friends at our neighbor's house. I am looking forward to it!
Hope you all are doing well!