Round 2: 37 Weeks

How far along:  37 weeks


Baby Size:  A big bag of potato chips or a 2 L of soda (dr. pepper maybe?),

Weight:   Still generally around the 30-33lb gained mark.  Maybe I won't hit 40 this time?

Symptoms:   

• Out of breath all the time
• Restless legs.  I feel like this at night sometimes. 
  
• Sciatic nerve pain came back this week and it was a bad weekend.  And of course I planned to do all my freezer meals then so limping around the store was a hoot.
• Insomnia
• Exhaustion (see above)
• Reflux
• Getting out of bed or off the couch feels like this
  
• And this is random but I've been getting really nauseous in the car.  It's happened when I've been riding and when I've been driving so I don't know what that's about. 
• Lots of trips to the bathroom
  

Maternity Clothes:  Yes, and some tops are starting to get short already, but I only have a few weeks to go.

Sleep:  There were a few nights that I didn't fall asleep until at least 2am.   It was a combination of restless legs and insomnia and it stunk. Most nights though I fall asleep around midnight.  I think Rob thinks all I do is be lazy when I say I slept in until 8am but if Eleanor is going to sleep in so am I since I'm up so late anyway. 

Cravings/Food Aversions:   Still loving chocolate.

Belly Button:  Out

Rings on or off: On

Gender:  I had a dream that it was a girl (of course it was also a horrible dream that I don't even want to mention because it's depressing).  But I also have boy vibes often too, especially lately.

Name:  Settled on the middle name for the girl name

Movement:  Generally enough that I feel comfortable and not nervous, but Monday morning was a quiet morning combined with my dream mentioned above and naturally I was a little nervous. But then I got a few thumps and felt better.

Stretch Marks: Yes, but I probably have some I just can't even see. 

Best moment: Just getting some good time in with Eleanor

Looking forward to:  Seeing Eleanor interact with the baby. 

Nervous about: What to do with Eleanor when the baby comes.  Worried that there will be a snow storm or blizzard when this baby comes.  Having two kids.  Being on one income. 

What I miss:  Not being out of breath all the time. I seriously got out of breath just singing in church on Sunday


Labor signs:  Braxton Hicks

Appointments:   I had an appointment yesterday.  They did the swab for group b, and heartrate was good and measuring right at 37 weeks.  
I asked if Eleanor would even be allowed to come to the hospital since it's cold/flu season and they said yes as long as she isn't sick herself.  
Although I'm hoping for a vaginal delivery I'm also preparing for a c-section.  Because I didn't know what to expect last time and hadn't planned on it, there are things I know I want to do differently this time.  I asked about having the drape lowered or a mirror when she/he is delivered and they said that was doable.  I also asked about how quickly I could do skin to skin since I didn't get that with Eleanor and they said they now use a drape with a pass through thing (which I just recently read about actually) so once they baby is delivered they will pass the baby through for me to hold (although likely I may need Rob's help).  Of course if it winds up being an emergency c-section these things won't happen.  Eleanor's delivery wasn't an emergency, just a yep this is what's got to happen kind of thing. 
When the midwife who was helping did the swab she did a check and said I was like 1 to 1 1/2 cm which I know doesn't really even mean anything, but she also could feel the head so I know baby is head down at least, and unlikely to flip (Although anything is possible still) at this point thankfully. 

Misc. 

To Get

• New pump parts
• Ring sling  (Ordered one last night.  I found one I liked on etsy, but the seller had a website and there was free shipping on the website.  It was under what I thought I'd pay for one and I used paypal funds from a sponsored post a few months ago so that was nice)
• Newborn diapers
• Size 1 diapers 
• Gripe water
• A baby book  (Thanks Sadie for the tip on where to get them cheaper)
• Receiving blankets (we used this as burp clothes) or burp cloths
• New bibs
• Pacifiers (just a few in the smallest size and really I'm debating holding off and trying the ones I have to see if this baby likes them anyway.  If it's a boy he will be fine with a pink one until I buy a 'boy color')
• Some fleece sleepers
• Bottle brush
• Gas drops
• Petroleum Jelly
• Hand sanitizer. 
• Big sister gift for Eleanor (shirt, book, doll, dry erase markers-random but she loves the ones she got at Christmas).  I already have some other stuff for her to entertain her when we get home. 

To do:

• Wash clothes/nursing pillow covers/car seat cover/rock n play cover/newborn cloth diapers
• Check Snuza Battery
• Hang up wall art, and shelving in Eleanor's big girl room (but first I have to paint them)
• Clean closet in Eleanor's big girl room and move her clothes into there, get extra hanging storage 
(We ordered this and so far it's doing the trick. Organize It All Closet Doubler (1346W) )
• Install car set bases
• Sanitize bottles/pacifiers/pump parts
• Wash playmat
• Clean baby bathtub
• Make freezer meals (made 2 batches of veggie soup, 2 batches of chili, beef stew, black bean, corn and salsa chicken, meatball vegetable soup, chicken caccitore, baked pasta and teriyaki chicken; all for the crockpot as well as some taco meat and some extra ground beef)
• Raise crib height back up  (I did this all by myself!  Expect for one small screw that Rob hekped me with because it was missing an insert and needed that to be tight enough.  I was/am so proud of myself!)
• Call insurance about breast pump 

With Eleanor and then this baby.

The Eleanor Update: 37 weeks

Food:  

Not the healthiest of weeks for feeding her.  Lots of potatoes - tater tots, potato wedges, and yesterday I stopped at Mcdonald's after church and she took the french fry out of my mouth at home.  Seriously right out of my mouth.

We did try chicken puree and she was kind of meh about that.

Sweet potato puffs (again with the potato thing) was another thing she liked.

Peaches were okay. I usually will try what she eats - just because- and actually I thought these were gross so on a rainy day I let her play with them.

I bought her a new straw sippy cup (Target clearance for the win) and she figured it out.  Which is good since she doesn't love bottles.


I'm always getting kicked in the face when nursing.

Sleep:

It was rough this week.  There were several drive around to get her to sleep days, and most days were wide awake for hours in the middle of the night days.

Friday night was bad.  I was so tired that I actually didn't wake up right away when the snuza (which I can't not use) went off.  Luckily it was because she wiggled it lose and was a false alarm, but not waking up right away to her needs worries me. 

Misc:
Some new and exciting things this week!

Her second tooth popped through!


And she crawled for real, but only twice.  Once on Friday and once this morning.  Each time I'm like "Did she do that?"  Oh my word! She did!"

She can pull herself up to her knees now.



She says a lot of things that sound like words.  Like I was holding her so she couldn't crawl away when I was getting dressed and I'm sure she said "let go"  Haha.  Also I'm pretty sure she said "mama" but it was mixed in with crying so I'm not positive.

37 weeks ~ Full term!

How far along:  37 weeks.  Full term.  I'm going to have a baby soon.  

Baby Size: 

Weight:  Down again this week.  Total gained is 33lbs.  Maybe I won't hit the 40lb mark after all.

Symptoms:   

• I'm sore, and get that way really easily.  
• I also get out of breath quickly.  Singing at church on Sunday made me out of breath
• Restless legs/arms every single night.
• I'm really hungry.  I wake up in the middle of the night and just want to eat sometimes even if I eat something shortly before bed. 

Maternity Clothes: Yeah, 90% of what I wear is maternity.  The only non-maternity tops I wear are shirts to sleep, and with the exception of a couple of skirts and sweatpants all my bottoms are maternity.

Sleep:  I wish I could get comfortable at night.  I toss and turn all night.  I sleep with a ton of pillows.  Pillows under my head, under my feet, between my knees, and I have my arms wrapped around one.
One plus to not working is that I can sleep in and do most days until 10am now.  So I guess I'm getting sleep, just not good sleep.

Cravings/Food Aversions:  Loving these two things. 

Oh and this too.  Since I can't have wine yet, this is the next best thing (sort of anyway)

Belly Button: It's out, but not like a turkey timer, or so I've been told

Rings on or off: Off almost all the time

Gender:  Girl

Name:  Eleanor Rose

Movement: She is still moving around, but the movements aren't as strong and are almost more wave like.  My stomach rolls a lot.  

Rob doesn't normally try to feel her move.  Every time I tell him to and he puts his hand on my stomach she stops. Finally on Saturday he got to feel her for a while.

Stretch Marks: New ones all the time it seems like. And in odd spots.  Like my legs?  I have ones that Rob pointed out on my upper thighs.  I can't see them over the belly, so I don't know how long they were there. 

Best moment: The hospital tour was a good thing that we did.  Although I think it made me more nervous seeing the delivery room and knowing that I will be in one of those soon. 

I ordered the video monitor.  I debated between 2, but went with the cheaper one, because it still had great reviews.  I used earned/won amazon gift cards so it didn't even cost anything.  I haven't got it, but I choose this one. 



Looking forward to:  Meeting her!

Nervous about: Only having a few weeks left before she get's here.  Eeek!

What I miss:  I miss Rob.  I know I see him everyday, but we don't sleep in the same bed anymore, we don't really have sex anymore (sorry if that's to much information for some of you; we try, but it just doesn't work out so well with a belly in the way)


Labor signs: Still lot's of Braxton Hicks. Most of the day Saturday I was having them.

Appointments:  I had one today.  It went well.  Measuring at 38 weeks, they couldn't get a heart rate number, but could hear it.   Next one is next week Tuesday (which is also my birthday!)

Misc.  I had all these great intentions of making freezer meals, but we don't have freezer space.  All we have is a fridge/top freezer combo and that doesn't hold much.  I've been telling Rob for a looooonnngggg time (well before getting pregnant) that I wanted a chest freezer.  But we still don't have one.  Looks like we are going to be eating lots of canned soup (which I will have to buy) since that will be an easy meal to make. 

People touching my stomach has never really bugged me, although I do think it's odd when she's not moving to want to, but I don't really care.   I kind of hate it when I say she's moving, someone tries to feel, and then she stops.  I feel like it's my fault or something.  Haha. 

I moved a ton of stuff out of her room and closet down to the basement on Friday.  I overdid it because I was sore the rest of the day and spent the night with the heating pad.  I even moved all the one size cloth diapers since we have an abundance of size 1 diapers, probably close to 800, and we even have about 150 newborn sized disposables.  We didn't buy any; we were given them.  I have a few newborn cloth diapers that I bought and a few that I won, but I'm not I will use them.  

Her room is pretty much done, just a few things to hang up.  I bought a storage ottoman at Target today for books.  It doesn't match anything, but I returned a toy that we got a duplicate of, plus got a discount because it had a blemish kind of stain on it, and used the cartwheel savings so the total cost was only around $1.  And I used a gift card so really it was free.  There was one that matched better, but it had a soft top and if she tried to sit or stand it would probably collapse so I didn't want that.