Our Pregnancy: Week 36 - 28 Days to Go!
8/19/13 35w1d - still wishing away the days over here! :) I'm thrilled to be in our 35th week, and continue to tick off the days through the next roll-over to 36! Just 13 more days to hit full term and be that much closer to meeting this little one! I still wonder every day if we'll actually make it to 37 weeks - but whether we do or not, I am just thankful for each day that Lindsey has to grow and get stronger in utero and prepare for life outside the womb. This past weekend was "blah" and I'm ready for a fresh start and a new week.
Most recent early labor stuff includes gassiness, the need to pee more often the last couple days, contractions that radiate down the backs of my legs or between my thighs, and yesterday in particular I was noticing the "loose pelvis" sensation where it feels like things are almost sliding around and not all that stable! Kind of a disturbing sensation. Yesterday I noticed what I think was a small amount of my mucous plug, and today a small amount more. Not a whole lot, but a little which might indicate some slight cervical change. It's still early and still a complete guessing game - but I am keeping track of all of these little changes and things going on and am excited to get closer and closer, day by day, to meeting this little one.
We had to go pick up the missing pieces of the crib yesterday afternoon, so we should be able to assemble it now and then finish up the nursery which is exciting! I can't wait to see it all put together. I have all the bedding in the laundry basket and just need to run it through the wash but was sort of waiting 'til we were closer to having the crib ready so I'd have a place to put it! The crib has a drawer underneath it too, which I am happy about - great place for all the extra blankets, crib sheets, etc.
Yesterday I was pretty cranky off and on. I napped at least twice and felt better after each nap, but the continued contractions and just feeling icky (lots of nausea yesterday) really wear on me after awhile and I just need some quiet time or sleep to feel back to "me" again. My poor hubby. I definitely snapped at him yesterday! :( We went to dinner with Kenneth's grandmother at Texas Roadhouse last night and that was very yummy and nice to have a hot meal that I didn't have to oversee or cook! :) It's been a little more difficult getting around to homemade dinners since Kent started back to school - between homework and trying to work on yardwork in the evenings he hasn't had much time so we've been doing a lot more "quick and easy" type meals. I need to get back into planning things better so we can do crockpot dinners or plan for 30 minute dinners to make sure we are getting to eat "real" food every night again.
8/20/13 35w2d - I am struggling today - my energy levels are REALLY low and I just want a nap so bad. I was able to go pick my car back up from the shop today, so that was nice to have it back again. I keep thinking I feel a leaking sensation, but so far have just been imagining it. I feel like my brain is a little frazzled, and I just can't concentrate like I should be able to! It's frustrating to me, and all I can think about is getting some sleep! I keep thinking about how I'm going to keep this up for another 2-3 weeks (or theoretically more!) I look back at my last singleton pregnancy and all of this seems pretty "par for the course". I mentioned in a few of my posts in my 35th - 37th weeks about taking a day off from work, or a half day, to rest because I was so tired. I think I am getting to that point again. I think I might try to do a half day on Friday and plan for that going forward, except on OB appointment days when I already leave early on Friday. My job isn't very demanding, and I am thankful I can take it fairly easy throughout the day, but there are just those days where my brain wants to shut down, and it makes it hard to be here. I'll get through - I just need to remember this is NORMAL - not only for every pregnant woman, but for me; I've done this before, and I can do it again. :) It helps to look back and remember I have written the same thing, at the same point, before - and I still have some time left to go. Her arrival is not imminent, and this is the part that feels the most like the long-haul. I just have to go with it and let my body do what it's doing, and do my best to take care of myself and not be too obsessive in the mean time. It's REALLY hard to think about anything other than every twinge, cramp, or sensation and wonder what it means, but it makes me cranky to keep focusing so much on my signs and symptoms and I know I need to be better about focusing my attention elsewhere!!
8/21/13 35w3d - I hit my mid-day slump again and am tired, but ok today. I've noticed a lot more menstrual like cramping sensations today, as opposed to the tightening across my upper abdomen that I usually get when I'm having Braxton Hicks. I had a fairly large piece of my mucous plug come out today as well (at least compared to the last few days). Otherwise all seems fairly quiet on the "impending labor signs and symptoms" front! My mid back is a little sore, and it feels good to get up and stretch and move a little throughout the day. Bouncing and rocking on the medicine ball (my "chair" at work) helps too. Sometimes I just roll the ball backwards and lean my upper half forwards to stretch out my back too - probably looks funny, but feels good.
I really need to go get my toenails painted! Maybe I'll stop on my way home and enjoy a little R and R. I know a foot / leg massage would feel heavenly... Dinner is in the crock pot, so that will be nice and easy.
8/22/13 35w4d - I am now 2 weeks further along than I was with the twins when they were born! I am so thankful for each passing day - although I readily admit with all the things my body has been doing the past 3 weeks I am incredibly anxious too, wondering if labor is going to start soon or if we'll make it to full term in just 10 more days? We are SO close to hitting 36 weeks, which is definitely another "milestone" I'm counting down to. Just 3 days away! Last night I was a little concerned that maybe that was going to be "the" night. After loosing some of my mucous plug in the AM, by that afternoon I was getting some uncomfortable cramps that would come and go. I usually don't get many of those when I'm sitting - usually just when standing and walking. When I'm sitting if I get anything, it's usually the upper abdomen tightening sensation. So the cramps were coming and going, my breasts were feeling particularly tingly and sore, and then I got the really loose hips sensation. I told Kenneth it felt like my legs were about to fall off. It was a very strange feeling. I felt "off" most of the evening. I paced around for awhile, and finally convinced myself I needed to put my feet up and drink some water and just chill out. I slept through most of the night, a couple wake ups but I was able to go straight back to sleep.
Today has been relatively uneventful so far - some cervical pressure, but no more mucous plug (yet), and no real contractions or cramps to complain about. A few, but nothing much. Just trying to get through another 40 ounces of water in the next 3 hours before heading home (I try to drink 60 ounces while at work to make sure I'm getting enough water in each day), and then home again home again! So glad it's Friday tomorrow!
8/23/13 35w5d - Yay! It's Friday!! I am super excited for the weekend. No real plans - just some stuff around the house and I asked Kenneth if we could get a date night in; I think it would be good for us to get out of the house and get some one on one time in. No real cramps or contractions to note last night. I didn't feel all that great, but it was an ok evening. The most contractions happened between my way home and the first hour or so home - the walking and driving seems to cause stress, which seems to be a trigger. As soon as I was able to stop and get my feet up things started settling down and I felt better. We have the refrigerator stocked with items ready to be cooked up and frozen starting tonight and hopefully finishing up tomorrow. I'm going to have Kent help me make up a bunch of ready to heat and eat, or thaw and cook, dinners. Everything from shredded BBQ chicken, to pot roast, lasagna, ziti, etc. The nesting urges seem to currently be manifesting in the form of "food prep". I haven't had much urge to cook lately, but the idea of stocking the freezer up a little to make dinners easier in the coming weeks just feels like a really good plan and I'm excited to get everything organized! I'm going to have Kent chop up a bunch of onions and peppers tonight, and probably do some of the stove top items, then work on crock pot things, and things in marinade, tomorrow. I want to get to the nail salon and get my pedicure on Saturday or Sunday too - that and get the crib finished. If I can get those 3 things done (food, feet, and crib!) then I'll be a happy camper and feel like I accomplished my weekend goals. Ken and Donna are planning to come tomorrow AM to help install the ceiling fans, and Kenneth may try to rope his dad into helping with a couple other small projects - though I know the fans are going to be time consuming enough so we'll see how that goes! I need to get some breakfast goodies prepped in the AM and make sure we have lunch fixings... with how full my refrigerator is, that's not really a concern though. I'll probably go with my plan for last week and make sure to throw chicken in the crock pot for shredded BBQ sandwiches, and have some sliced fresh veggies and fresh fruit available. Sounds like a plan to me!
The only "warm up" type things I've noticed so far today are sore breasts and a few contractions that are traveling down my legs again - though only a few. I'm hoping this weekend will be relatively uneventful so we can get lots of things done! Fingers crossed!
8/24/13 35w6d - Operation Stock The Freezer (with freezer meals) is well under way. Kent and I got 5 meals packaged up on Friday night, and today I got a bunch more in! Ken and Donna came over around 8am and I baked up some scones for breakfast while the guys got started on installing the 2 fans. When breakfast was done, I left the scones out on the counter so the guys could eat when they were hungry and I headed out to get what I needed for my big freezer stocking escapades. I picked up some disposable pans at WalMart along with a couple small grocery things I needed, and then went to Sam's Club and spent over $300 and mostly on meat. I got 3 big packages of frozen chicken (since I'd used up everything we had already, and had more plans for other chicken meals to prepare), and then I noticed that there were still some of the "reduced for quick sale" items in the meat section! I forgot they do that on Saturday morning, so I had great timing. I was able to get a giant package of pork chops, country style pork ribs, large boneless pork roast, 2 cuts of steak, and chicken legs / thighs all on sale. I also got a 10-lb package of ground beef, and a large beef roast. They had good sized pans that would be the perfect size for casserole dishes there, so I got those with lids, a big thing of plastic wrap, and more freezer bags too. I am as prepared as can be! I got home just before 11am and was in the kitchen probably until about 1:30. In that time I got 3 pork roasts in marinade into bags (crock pot), 2 bags of prepared taco meat, 2 bags of prepared shredded BBQ chicken, 2 bags of beef stew meat and mushrooms (crock pot), 2 beef pot roasts (crock pot), 1 large and 1 small tray of sweet n sour meatballs, and 3 bags of pork chops in marinade. I still have several more things I want to fix, but am going to wait until tomorrow to give everything in the freezer time to firm up before adding anything else to it - especially since I have a bunch of casserole dishes I want to do next which will go in trays, and will need a solid base to be set on so they freeze right. I used up a few staple / seasoning items which had to go back onto the shopping list for next time I'm out!
I definitely feel like this is full blown nesting mode. I keep looking around and seeing things to organize, pick up, put away, straighten... Kenneth finished assembling the crib this morning, so I went in there and put all the bedding in the wash, opened the mattress and put it in the crib, pulled out the boxes of "get rid of" clothes to be taken downstairs, opened the lamp and set that up on the table and put a few other miscellaneous little things away. Donna brought over a new framed piece she'd cross-stitched for the nursery, and I found a spot I think I like for it and hung that up. I still have 2 other paintings to hang up in there - and I know my 2 sisters-in-law have made things for the nursery too but I don't know what they are. There are 3 cloth butterflies to hang, and the mobile as well. Hopefully Kenneth will help me get some of those up this evening or tomorrow maybe. Overall it's looking good in there though and I'm feeling happy with our progress!
I pulled out the 3 things for the car to get those out of the nursery, and will get those installed maybe tomorrow, though if that gets put off another week it's probably fine. If we end up needing it before then it won't take long to put in the car (the seat protector, base, and I have one of those mirrors to see rear facing infants).
I've had a few good contractions today, more of that "loose pelvis" feeling, and am wiped out - though I expended a fair amount of energy earlier, so that isn't surprising!! I had more of my mucous plug come out yesterday afternoon, but nothing more so far today. Hanging in there, trying to make the most of the time we have left, and enjoying my remaining time left with baby girl in utero! She was pretty quiet most of the day, but has been making up for it this afternoon!
8/25/13 36w0d - It's Sunday and we are officially 36 weeks!! I had some "bloody show" yesterday afternoon and some painful pressure / cramping off and on throughout the afternoon and evening. I know it could still be another week, 2 weeks, or more - but I think we're all on "baby watch" mode now. Kenneth said we should get the car seat installed today - so I know he realizes it's probably only a matter of days at this point. The only other pregnancy I had bloody show in, I delivered 2 days later. So, we'll just see how things go in the next few days!! I'm up before the boys this morning, getting breakfast going and trying to finish up some of the "freezer meals" I've been working on. After today we should be set for the next month plus, and have our refrigerator back. :)
According to Baby Center:
Most recent early labor stuff includes gassiness, the need to pee more often the last couple days, contractions that radiate down the backs of my legs or between my thighs, and yesterday in particular I was noticing the "loose pelvis" sensation where it feels like things are almost sliding around and not all that stable! Kind of a disturbing sensation. Yesterday I noticed what I think was a small amount of my mucous plug, and today a small amount more. Not a whole lot, but a little which might indicate some slight cervical change. It's still early and still a complete guessing game - but I am keeping track of all of these little changes and things going on and am excited to get closer and closer, day by day, to meeting this little one.
We had to go pick up the missing pieces of the crib yesterday afternoon, so we should be able to assemble it now and then finish up the nursery which is exciting! I can't wait to see it all put together. I have all the bedding in the laundry basket and just need to run it through the wash but was sort of waiting 'til we were closer to having the crib ready so I'd have a place to put it! The crib has a drawer underneath it too, which I am happy about - great place for all the extra blankets, crib sheets, etc.
Yesterday I was pretty cranky off and on. I napped at least twice and felt better after each nap, but the continued contractions and just feeling icky (lots of nausea yesterday) really wear on me after awhile and I just need some quiet time or sleep to feel back to "me" again. My poor hubby. I definitely snapped at him yesterday! :( We went to dinner with Kenneth's grandmother at Texas Roadhouse last night and that was very yummy and nice to have a hot meal that I didn't have to oversee or cook! :) It's been a little more difficult getting around to homemade dinners since Kent started back to school - between homework and trying to work on yardwork in the evenings he hasn't had much time so we've been doing a lot more "quick and easy" type meals. I need to get back into planning things better so we can do crockpot dinners or plan for 30 minute dinners to make sure we are getting to eat "real" food every night again.
8/20/13 35w2d - I am struggling today - my energy levels are REALLY low and I just want a nap so bad. I was able to go pick my car back up from the shop today, so that was nice to have it back again. I keep thinking I feel a leaking sensation, but so far have just been imagining it. I feel like my brain is a little frazzled, and I just can't concentrate like I should be able to! It's frustrating to me, and all I can think about is getting some sleep! I keep thinking about how I'm going to keep this up for another 2-3 weeks (or theoretically more!) I look back at my last singleton pregnancy and all of this seems pretty "par for the course". I mentioned in a few of my posts in my 35th - 37th weeks about taking a day off from work, or a half day, to rest because I was so tired. I think I am getting to that point again. I think I might try to do a half day on Friday and plan for that going forward, except on OB appointment days when I already leave early on Friday. My job isn't very demanding, and I am thankful I can take it fairly easy throughout the day, but there are just those days where my brain wants to shut down, and it makes it hard to be here. I'll get through - I just need to remember this is NORMAL - not only for every pregnant woman, but for me; I've done this before, and I can do it again. :) It helps to look back and remember I have written the same thing, at the same point, before - and I still have some time left to go. Her arrival is not imminent, and this is the part that feels the most like the long-haul. I just have to go with it and let my body do what it's doing, and do my best to take care of myself and not be too obsessive in the mean time. It's REALLY hard to think about anything other than every twinge, cramp, or sensation and wonder what it means, but it makes me cranky to keep focusing so much on my signs and symptoms and I know I need to be better about focusing my attention elsewhere!!
8/21/13 35w3d - I hit my mid-day slump again and am tired, but ok today. I've noticed a lot more menstrual like cramping sensations today, as opposed to the tightening across my upper abdomen that I usually get when I'm having Braxton Hicks. I had a fairly large piece of my mucous plug come out today as well (at least compared to the last few days). Otherwise all seems fairly quiet on the "impending labor signs and symptoms" front! My mid back is a little sore, and it feels good to get up and stretch and move a little throughout the day. Bouncing and rocking on the medicine ball (my "chair" at work) helps too. Sometimes I just roll the ball backwards and lean my upper half forwards to stretch out my back too - probably looks funny, but feels good.
I really need to go get my toenails painted! Maybe I'll stop on my way home and enjoy a little R and R. I know a foot / leg massage would feel heavenly... Dinner is in the crock pot, so that will be nice and easy.
8/22/13 35w4d - I am now 2 weeks further along than I was with the twins when they were born! I am so thankful for each passing day - although I readily admit with all the things my body has been doing the past 3 weeks I am incredibly anxious too, wondering if labor is going to start soon or if we'll make it to full term in just 10 more days? We are SO close to hitting 36 weeks, which is definitely another "milestone" I'm counting down to. Just 3 days away! Last night I was a little concerned that maybe that was going to be "the" night. After loosing some of my mucous plug in the AM, by that afternoon I was getting some uncomfortable cramps that would come and go. I usually don't get many of those when I'm sitting - usually just when standing and walking. When I'm sitting if I get anything, it's usually the upper abdomen tightening sensation. So the cramps were coming and going, my breasts were feeling particularly tingly and sore, and then I got the really loose hips sensation. I told Kenneth it felt like my legs were about to fall off. It was a very strange feeling. I felt "off" most of the evening. I paced around for awhile, and finally convinced myself I needed to put my feet up and drink some water and just chill out. I slept through most of the night, a couple wake ups but I was able to go straight back to sleep.
Today has been relatively uneventful so far - some cervical pressure, but no more mucous plug (yet), and no real contractions or cramps to complain about. A few, but nothing much. Just trying to get through another 40 ounces of water in the next 3 hours before heading home (I try to drink 60 ounces while at work to make sure I'm getting enough water in each day), and then home again home again! So glad it's Friday tomorrow!
8/23/13 35w5d - Yay! It's Friday!! I am super excited for the weekend. No real plans - just some stuff around the house and I asked Kenneth if we could get a date night in; I think it would be good for us to get out of the house and get some one on one time in. No real cramps or contractions to note last night. I didn't feel all that great, but it was an ok evening. The most contractions happened between my way home and the first hour or so home - the walking and driving seems to cause stress, which seems to be a trigger. As soon as I was able to stop and get my feet up things started settling down and I felt better. We have the refrigerator stocked with items ready to be cooked up and frozen starting tonight and hopefully finishing up tomorrow. I'm going to have Kent help me make up a bunch of ready to heat and eat, or thaw and cook, dinners. Everything from shredded BBQ chicken, to pot roast, lasagna, ziti, etc. The nesting urges seem to currently be manifesting in the form of "food prep". I haven't had much urge to cook lately, but the idea of stocking the freezer up a little to make dinners easier in the coming weeks just feels like a really good plan and I'm excited to get everything organized! I'm going to have Kent chop up a bunch of onions and peppers tonight, and probably do some of the stove top items, then work on crock pot things, and things in marinade, tomorrow. I want to get to the nail salon and get my pedicure on Saturday or Sunday too - that and get the crib finished. If I can get those 3 things done (food, feet, and crib!) then I'll be a happy camper and feel like I accomplished my weekend goals. Ken and Donna are planning to come tomorrow AM to help install the ceiling fans, and Kenneth may try to rope his dad into helping with a couple other small projects - though I know the fans are going to be time consuming enough so we'll see how that goes! I need to get some breakfast goodies prepped in the AM and make sure we have lunch fixings... with how full my refrigerator is, that's not really a concern though. I'll probably go with my plan for last week and make sure to throw chicken in the crock pot for shredded BBQ sandwiches, and have some sliced fresh veggies and fresh fruit available. Sounds like a plan to me!
The only "warm up" type things I've noticed so far today are sore breasts and a few contractions that are traveling down my legs again - though only a few. I'm hoping this weekend will be relatively uneventful so we can get lots of things done! Fingers crossed!
8/24/13 35w6d - Operation Stock The Freezer (with freezer meals) is well under way. Kent and I got 5 meals packaged up on Friday night, and today I got a bunch more in! Ken and Donna came over around 8am and I baked up some scones for breakfast while the guys got started on installing the 2 fans. When breakfast was done, I left the scones out on the counter so the guys could eat when they were hungry and I headed out to get what I needed for my big freezer stocking escapades. I picked up some disposable pans at WalMart along with a couple small grocery things I needed, and then went to Sam's Club and spent over $300 and mostly on meat. I got 3 big packages of frozen chicken (since I'd used up everything we had already, and had more plans for other chicken meals to prepare), and then I noticed that there were still some of the "reduced for quick sale" items in the meat section! I forgot they do that on Saturday morning, so I had great timing. I was able to get a giant package of pork chops, country style pork ribs, large boneless pork roast, 2 cuts of steak, and chicken legs / thighs all on sale. I also got a 10-lb package of ground beef, and a large beef roast. They had good sized pans that would be the perfect size for casserole dishes there, so I got those with lids, a big thing of plastic wrap, and more freezer bags too. I am as prepared as can be! I got home just before 11am and was in the kitchen probably until about 1:30. In that time I got 3 pork roasts in marinade into bags (crock pot), 2 bags of prepared taco meat, 2 bags of prepared shredded BBQ chicken, 2 bags of beef stew meat and mushrooms (crock pot), 2 beef pot roasts (crock pot), 1 large and 1 small tray of sweet n sour meatballs, and 3 bags of pork chops in marinade. I still have several more things I want to fix, but am going to wait until tomorrow to give everything in the freezer time to firm up before adding anything else to it - especially since I have a bunch of casserole dishes I want to do next which will go in trays, and will need a solid base to be set on so they freeze right. I used up a few staple / seasoning items which had to go back onto the shopping list for next time I'm out!
I definitely feel like this is full blown nesting mode. I keep looking around and seeing things to organize, pick up, put away, straighten... Kenneth finished assembling the crib this morning, so I went in there and put all the bedding in the wash, opened the mattress and put it in the crib, pulled out the boxes of "get rid of" clothes to be taken downstairs, opened the lamp and set that up on the table and put a few other miscellaneous little things away. Donna brought over a new framed piece she'd cross-stitched for the nursery, and I found a spot I think I like for it and hung that up. I still have 2 other paintings to hang up in there - and I know my 2 sisters-in-law have made things for the nursery too but I don't know what they are. There are 3 cloth butterflies to hang, and the mobile as well. Hopefully Kenneth will help me get some of those up this evening or tomorrow maybe. Overall it's looking good in there though and I'm feeling happy with our progress!
I pulled out the 3 things for the car to get those out of the nursery, and will get those installed maybe tomorrow, though if that gets put off another week it's probably fine. If we end up needing it before then it won't take long to put in the car (the seat protector, base, and I have one of those mirrors to see rear facing infants).
I've had a few good contractions today, more of that "loose pelvis" feeling, and am wiped out - though I expended a fair amount of energy earlier, so that isn't surprising!! I had more of my mucous plug come out yesterday afternoon, but nothing more so far today. Hanging in there, trying to make the most of the time we have left, and enjoying my remaining time left with baby girl in utero! She was pretty quiet most of the day, but has been making up for it this afternoon!
8/25/13 36w0d - It's Sunday and we are officially 36 weeks!! I had some "bloody show" yesterday afternoon and some painful pressure / cramping off and on throughout the afternoon and evening. I know it could still be another week, 2 weeks, or more - but I think we're all on "baby watch" mode now. Kenneth said we should get the car seat installed today - so I know he realizes it's probably only a matter of days at this point. The only other pregnancy I had bloody show in, I delivered 2 days later. So, we'll just see how things go in the next few days!! I'm up before the boys this morning, getting breakfast going and trying to finish up some of the "freezer meals" I've been working on. After today we should be set for the next month plus, and have our refrigerator back. :)
According to Baby Center:
How your baby's growing:
Your baby is still packing on the pounds — at the rate of about an ounce a day. She now weighs almost 6 pounds and is more than 18 1/2 inches long (about the size of a head of romaine lettuce). She's shedding most of the downy covering of hair that covered her body as well as the vernix caseosa, the waxy substance that covered and protected her skin during her nine-month amniotic bath. Your baby swallows both of these substances, along with other secretions, resulting in a blackish mixture, called meconium, will form the contents of her first bowel movement.
At the end of this week, your baby will be considered full-term. (Full-term is 37 to 42 weeks; babies born before 37 weeks are pre-term and those born after 42 are post-term.) Most likely she's in a head-down position. But if she isn't, your practitioner may suggest scheduling an "external cephalic version," which is a fancy way of saying she'll try to coax your baby into a head-down position by manipulating her from the outside of your belly.
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