38 Week Appt.!

I had my 38 week appointment today. At my 36 week appointment they checked my cervix and I was 1cm dilated. Then at my 37 week appointment they didn't check and said they would at my next appointment. So, I go in today totally expecting to be checked and planning to ask if he would strip my membranes (a process of sweeping the bag of waters away from the uterus near the cervix in order to release prostoglandins, which cause contractions). So I go in, and when the doctor comes in he says, "Well, we'll check your cervix next time!" and I said, "They said that last time!" and he said, "I like to do it at 39 weeks"" so I said, "Can you just check it, pleeease?" and he said OKAY!!! YAY! So, as he was getting ready to check I said, "Would you strip my membranes today, too?" and he said OKAY!!! YAY! So, he said I am about 2cm dilated, very low and soft and thin! All good news! He said that IF the membrane stripping works (cause it doesn't always), it can take UP TO a week! So, we'll see what happens :)

Everything else was great! My blood pressure was just fine - so no concerns there. My swelling has gone down considerably! Although it seems as though the swelling in my feet has gone mostly away (depending on the time of day) and moved to my hands... ick! But, it's not so bad that my rings are stuck on or anything. Just getting uncomfortable.

Aiden's heartbeat was good and strong and he's getting lower... so hopefully when labor DOES start, he won't have far to travel :)

37 week appt.

I had my 37 week appointment today. They didn't check for dilation or anything this time (they did last week and I was 1cm). But they did say my blood pressure was a little high and I'm a little swollen. This is the first time at my appointment that everything hasn't been "perfect", so needless to say, I'm a bit disappointed... But, she said to just keep an eye on my swelling and if I start developing headaches, to come in sooner than my next appointment, which is next Monday. I'm sure I'll be fine... not really worried, just disappointed.

One of my mom's friends is letting us borrow her portable blood pressure cuff that she had to use when she was pregnant. So, I'll at least be able to catch a spike in my blood pressure if one occurs.

Week 36

Today is the first day of my 36th week... 4 more weeks til my due date... hopefully more like 1 week til Aiden's born, but we'll see. As long as he's healthy, I won't be too impatient about the next 4 weeks!

This week we have our 36 week doctor appointment on Tuesday, March 16th. This is just a routine check-up, but they will do the Group B Strep Test to see if they need to run antibiotics during labor so Aiden doesn't get sick on the way out. Hopefully they'll check for dilation and effacement at the same time - if not, I'll probably ask for them to do so.

We had a great visit yesterday with my brother and his wife and their baby Eli. He is too precious for words! Jeff held him and fed him a bottle. It was great to see how well he did! He said he felt totally comfortable with it too, which was comforting to him (and me)! :-)

I'm starting to feel pretty tired, but nothing to complain too bad about. Just ready to be done being pregnant!

week 35

Today is March 11th, officially one month from Aiden's due date!!! However, my guess is that he'll come on March 30th or March 31st.... simply because the full moon is on March 30th, and I have looked into this a lot and it seems to be that A LOT of babies are born on a full moon! My SIL just had her baby on Feb. 28th - full moon. I am really starting to feel DONE with this whole pregnancy thing! I have been so blessed and so fortunate to have such an uncomplicated, easy pregnancy, that I feel selfish for being so done with it all. However, I am ready to meet my son and hold him in my arms!!! 40 weeks is a LONG time for an impatient person like myself! So now that I am almost 36 weeks, I really would be a-okay with him coming any time now ;-) I started drinking Red Raspberry Leaf Tea. I found some interesting articles about it, and decided I would give it a try. The articles said it helps tone the uterus and can help you have a quicker, easier, and less painful delivery, as well as strengthening your milk supply and giving you all kinds of vitamins and nutrients essential to milk production and healthy babies! SO... I bought 2 boxes from The Vitamin Shoppe here in town where I work and have been drinking it since yesterday. I had 2 cups of it hot in the morning, and 2 cups of it hot in the afternoon. Then I made some iced yesterday, and brought that to drink this afternoon and am drinking some hot right now. It tastes soooo good, so that's a plus anyway since I was getting sick of drinking water all day every day! Our next doctor's appointment is March 16th. They will be doing the Group B Strep Test, and I will ask them to check for dilation at that time if they don't do it automatically. Also on the 16th we have our breastfeeding class! I am really looking forward to this and learning all about it, since I really am clueless :-)

Aiden has doctor!

Jeff and I had been going back and forth about Aiden seeing the pediatrician that my parents took my brother and I to when we were little. My brother was a very sick little baby, and he took excellent care of him. However, he is getting up there in age, and I have been hearing some negative feedback from patients of his that we know (one said that his nurse mixed up her daughter's urine sample with another patient!!! BIG mistake!!!) So, my mom, who sees the same Family Doctor that I do, has been to our doctor a lot lately because of some infections so she has been talking to my doctor about me getting so close to having Aiden, and our doctor mentioned to her that she can't wait to see him when he's born! So, I started thinking, "Hmm... does that mean Aiden can see her as his pediatrician??" So my mom went back for another check-up, and she asked the nurse if Dr. Wilson would be willing to take Aiden as a new patient for me once he was born. The nurse said that she wasn't sure because she isn't taking any new patients right now, not even family members, because they are so over-booked. But, the nurse knows how much Dr. Wilson loves our family (she was one of the biggest supports for me after having our MC, and one of my biggest cheer-leaders when we got pregnant again!) so she said she would pull my file and put a note on it and put it on Dr. Wilson's desk and have her get back to me. So, I got a call from her nurse who said that Dr. Wilson would be more than willing to accept Aiden as a new patient! So once he is born, I just have to call and schedule an appointment for him to be seen!!!!!!! I could not be more happy right now! I just feel like I KNOW Aiden will be in excellent hands when he gets sick or even has a well-baby visit! It is so reassuring to know that he will be so incredibly well taken care of by a doctor, instead of having to fret every time he gets sick! What a huge relief...

I'm an Aunt!!!

My brother's wife, Megan, had their baby Sunday, February 28, 2010 at 11:45am! And it's a BOY!!! I am so excited for Aiden to have a boy cousin to play with! These are the first 2 grandbabies on all sides of family, so they are sure to be best friends ;-) Anyway, my nephew's name is Elijah Benjamin Wolfe. He was 8lbs 14oz and 21 inches long! That's a BIG baby for my teensy tiny sister-in-law to push out, but she did an awesome job! She was in labor for about 11 hours! It was totally worth the wait at the hospital though! He's just perfect!

34 weeks

At my appointment this week I was measuring 35 weeks. The doctor said that is great and we are looking at delivering a healthy baby boy hopefully in the next 3-6 weeks!

Everything is ready and waiting on Aiden... especially me and Jeff!!!!!!

On Sunday, when I hit 34 weeks, we had a beautiful surprise and my nephew (Elijah) was born!!!!!!!!! My brother and his wife didn't know if they were having a boy or girl, so it was very exciting to find out that Aiden will have a boy cousin to get into lots of trouble with! It was so cute - when I was holding Elijah, Aiden started kicking him! I said, "They're playing rough already!" It was so special to be there to hold my beautiful nephew so soon after his birth! It was definitely worth the 8 hour wait in the waiting room... which I'm sure was nothing compared to the 11 hour labor my SIL was enduring while we were all having a good old time in the waiting room ;-) But I hear she did awesome, and I hope my delivery is just as great!!! (And that Aiden is just as beautiful as Elijah! - though they're bound to look NOTHING alike because he is dark skinned and has curly jet-black hair! I don't think that unless Aiden gets my mom's genes that I am capable of producing such a baby with mine and Jeff's fair skin and hair!)

At my appointment we were able to schedule the rest of my doctor's appointments. They will be March 16, March 22, March 29, and April 5th! They didn't schedule one for April 12th since my due date is April 11th. I hope this is a good sign that we won't need an appointment that week!!!

33 Weeks

... and still goin strong!

This week's goal is to pack the bag for the hospital. I want to have it done by Sunday, when I will be 34 weeks! I have my list made and everything (mostly) is bought on the list, so now we just have to put it together!

This past weekend we bought everything that we still needed to buy for Aiden! We got his carseat and extra base, cradle sheets, a gate for the nursery door, another coming home outfit (in 0-3 month size), 2 Halo Sleep Sacks, and some more hangers. I think that was it... we opted not to buy a clothing hamper, and just use a small wicker laundry basket I've had laying around for ages.

Our next doctor's appointment is Monday, March 1st!

Slacking...

Again, I've been slacking with the posts... so, I'll copy and paste my posts from my other blog to this one in :-)