40 weeks

Well, here we are.  40 weeks pregnant.  The big due date.  I feel like we’ve been talking about “February 26” forever and now it’s here.  And the baby isn’t.  Oh well.  Whatever happens, it can’t be much longer now!

The past couple of days have been a bit challenging.  Littleman was home from daycare yesterday due to a fever the day before (even though he was perfectly fine).  Of course, he chose yesterday to not nap, which is totally out of character for him.  I was dying for a rest after my sleepless, contraction-filled night on Monday.

Then, to add insult to injury, I developed a nice cold yesterday.  Throughout this whole pregnancy, I’ve managed to avoid all the bugs that D and Littleman have picked up and brought home.  And now, right at the very end, I get sick.  Ugh.  I could barely breathe through my nose so I did everything I could to make myself more comfortable before bed: Tylenol, humidifier, saline nasal spray, Vicks vaporub and nose strips.  Something did the trick and I managed to get a bit of sleep.  I was wide awake by 4am, but at least I felt ok.

Symptoms: Symptom-wise, there isn’t much new to report.  I’ve actually noticed that the acid reflux has gotten a bit better.  I’m wondering if the fact that the baby has dropped is helping a bit.  However, on the flip side, the baby being so low seems to make emptying my bladder much more difficult.  That is, of course, unless I sneeze.  Then it empties itself quite freely!

Anyway, with Littleman back at daycare today, I think I’ll try to enjoy some time to myself.  I just cried watching an episode of the Baby Story and now I’m going to bake some muffins.  I’m doing whatever I can to distract myself from the fact that today is the due date AND my OB is on call today.  Maybe if I stop thinking about it, baby will come?  Maybe?  Seriously, little guy, you are welcome to join us at any time!!

 

 

(Another) false alarm

A couple of hours after I returned home from yesterday’s OB appointment, I started experiencing some mild contractions.  Although Dr. P had told me that he thought the membrane sweep would be successful and that I could go into labour as early as that night, I still didn’t really believe it.  This certainly wasn’t the first time I’d had contractions during this pregnancy so there wasn’t much point in getting too excited.

To make matters a bit more complicated, I had received a call from the daycare earlier in the day, telling me that Littleman had a fever.  That meant I had to pick him up and that he wasn’t allowed to return the next day (today).  Of course, when I brought him home, he had no fever and was totally fine.  But, it means that I can’t just worry about what my body is doing.  I have to make sure he’s taken care of too!

Anyway, D got home from work and I started timing the contractions.  We had dinner and hung out a bit.  Contractions were about 7 minutes apart.  I also noticed some pinkish mucus when I wiped, which was a first for me.  Dr. P had warned that I may get some spotting after the internal exam, so I knew this was nothing to get excited about.

Around 7:30ish, we decided to call my mom.  We figured it would make more sense to take Littleman over to her house to spend the night, rather than worrying about whether or not we would have to call her to come over to our place in the middle of the night.  We packed up some stuff for him and D drove him there.  I actually got a little emotional when they were leaving.  This could be the last time that he was our only child!

After that, I had a shower and then relaxed on the couch a bit.  Contractions continued but didn’t get any worse or closer together.  I decided to get into bed a read for a bit.  When things continued with no change, I finally turned off the light to try to rest between contractions.  This is where timing them got tricky.  I would relax and start to doze off.  Then a contraction would start.  I’d reach for my phone to start the timer on my app and then lie there through the contraction.  But after a while, I guess I would doze off when the contraction ended without stopping the timer.  The next contraction would come and my timer was all screwed up.  I gave up and decided that rest was more important.  I knew I wouldn’t sleep through any serious contractions and that I would certainly wake up if things were progressing.

After several hours of off and on contractions, lasting 7-10 minutes, things finally started to taper off.  Somewhere between 3 and 5am,they stopped all together.  Ugh.

I managed to get a couple of hours sleep after that.  My mom still has Littleman and will bring him back a bit later today.  If I’m feeling up for it, we may go somewhere to walk around for a bit.  It’s freezing outside so we’ll have to hit up a mall or large store.  We’ll see.

Needless to say, these false alarms are starting to frustrate me a bit.  I know my baby boy will come when he’s ready, but I also know how much harder the labour will be if I’m already totally exhausted from a bunch of sleepless nights caused by false labour.

As D left for work early this morning, he reminded me that “good things come to those who wait.”  I normally hate those kind of expressions, but he’s right.  A strong, healthy baby is certainly worth waiting for!

Ready and waiting

I’m an early person.  Or at least, I’m an on time person.  I’ve always been that way.  I’m no good at being late (fashionably or otherwise).  When I would meet my friends for dinner or drinks, I would have to try extra hard to be late, lest I end up sitting at a table for eight all alone.

A chip off the old block, my first baby arrived a full week earlier than expected.  It was kind of nice because I always just assumed that he would be late.  So, a week before my due date, I wasn’t really even waiting for him yet.

This time, things are bit different.  I am two days away from my due date and am already wondering where this kid is.  I think we all expected him to be here by now – even my doctor.  I know he’s not late yet – in fact it’s still early – but I can’t really believe he’s not here.

I saw my OB today and it looks like things have progressed a bit since last week.  I’m now 2cm dilated and 80% effaced.  The baby’s head is nice and low.  He “stretched my membranes” which hurt like a bitch.  He seems to think things are imminent and that I could even go into labour as soon as tonight.  I’m not so confident.

So, I guess we continue to wait and see.

My niece is here!

Very early this morning, my sister gave birth to my sweet little niece, Mackenzie!

In my 39 week update yesterday, I mentioned that my sister had just been to her 39 week appointment and was 2cm dilated.  She was feeling fine and was spending the afternoon doing some cooking so that she’d have some meals ready in the freezer (haha, first time expectant mom with time on her hands!)  Then, a little after 4pm yesterday, I got this text:

She called me (as I demanded) and described what she was feeling.  She thought it could be pee, but I assured her that she wouldn’t be continuously peeing every time she stood up or moved.  I think I read somewhere that only about 10% of women experience their water breaking when they start labour.  Funny that it happened to both my sister and I.

Anyway, I told her to go call her husband and she hurried off to finish packing her bags.  About an hour later, my mom arrived a my house to spend the evening with me and Littleman.  By the time she arrived, my sister’s contractions had started.  When we heard from my brother-in-law at 8pm, they had been admitted.  Contractions were 2 minutes apart and they were awaiting the epidural.  At 9:30pm, she was more than 9cm dilated and they were letting her rest a bit before she started pushing.

At this point, my usual bedtime these days, I was getting pretty anxious.  I tried to go to sleep and dozed off and on for a few hours.  Every time I woke up to pee, I’d frantically check my phone for updates.  By 3am, I was pretty much wide awake.  Luckily, I didn’t have a wait long for news.  A few minutes after 3, my brother-in-law texted to tell me that my baby niece was here!

This is my sister’s first baby and I’m so glad that everything went well.  They are doing great and the baby is absolutely gorgeous.  The only thing that makes me sad is that they live two hours away so I don’t know when I’ll get to meet her.

When Littleman woke up this morning, I told him that his cousin was born.  He said “she come out?” and then “why her not a boy?”  After that, he got a little teary and patted my belly, saying “I want ‘my baby’ to come out.”

I think we all expected my baby to come first, so little Mackenzie’s birth was a bit of surprise to everyone in the family.  But I’m absolutely thrilled that she’s here.  Now, her cousin Bo can feel free to arrive at any time!!

39 weeks

I’m actually a bit surprised that I’m 39 weeks today and I’m still pregnant.  I really didn’t believe we would make it this long.  I know 39 weeks is still early, but Littleman came at exactly 39 weeks (without many prior labour signs or warning) so with all the contractions I’ve experienced this time, I really thought Bo would come sooner.

That being said, I’m actually feeling ok and am happy that (so far) Bo is staying put while D finishes up his stretch of night shifts.  After tonight, I’m comfortable with him coming any time.

At yesterday’s OB appointment, Dr. P checked me for dilation.  I was surprised to learn that I’m not quite 1 cm dilated.  I really thought that the many incidents of contractions that I’ve experienced over the past couple of months would have progressed me further.  It doesn’t really matter to me, but it was interesting to find out.  He offered to strip my membranes while he was “in there” but I declined.  With D working, I’m not really feeling the need to rush Bo along.   If he chooses to come on his own, that’s great.  If not, we can think about it again next week.

One thing that’s keeping me busy while I await the baby’s arrival is the Olympics.  In fact, it’s entirely possible that this post will make no sense because I’m supremely distracted by switching channels back and forth between hockey and bobsleigh.  Woohoo, Canada just got a gold medal in women’s bobsleigh.  Now I can focus on the hockey game only.  Geez, this is intense.  But watching it live is so much nicer than watching the prime time recaps.

So, here’s how the last week has shaken down…

Symptoms: By far, the worst symptom continues to be the reflux.  I can’t make it through the night without taking Zantac.  If I try not to take anything, I inevitably wake up at some point in the night with some barf in my mouth.  So gross.  I’ve also had a bit of cramping this week, but nothing major.  Felt a bit like minor menstrual cramps.  Other than that, I haven’t had any regular contractions for over a week now.

Sleep: Littleman has a cold so he’s been waking up in the night for the past few nights.  Since I’ve been on my own this week, I’m the one who has to get up with him.  Between that, the reflux and the general insomnia, I’m getting very little sleep these days.  I try to squeeze in afternoon naps whenever I can, but I’m a terrible napper.

Other: Just talked to my sister who is due the day after me.  She just had an appointment and is 2cm dilated.  My poor mom is starting to panic a bit about who is going to go first and where she’s going to be when each baby arrives (my sister lives two hours away).  There is really no knowing how this will all go down, so we just need to wait and see.  It’s still just kind of crazy to think that our babies could be born so close together.

Getting older

As I climbed out of bed last night to head to the bathroom for one of my many pee breaks, I caught a glimpse of my very pregnant self in the mirror.  This is going to sound kind of stupid, but in that moment, it hit me that I’m an adult.  A real, full-blown grown up.

My husband was at work and I was home alone with my three-year-old asleep in the room next door.  I’m expecting another baby any day now.  I have a house.  I’m a mom.  I’m old!

I mean, obviously, I knew I was an adult before that moment.  But for some reason, something about seeing myself in the mirror threw me off.  It took me a moment to regroup.

Thinking about it today, it kind of makes me laugh.  I’m 35-years-old (will be 36 in a couple of weeks!) and I know that isn’t terribly old, but sometimes I wonder where all the years went.  At times, I feel like a teenage girl inside.  If my husband could tolerate it, I would pull out my old fuchsia and purple bedding for our room (my only regret when we moved in together was giving up my hot pink room!).  I have a bunch of episodes of vampire-centric tv shows saved up on my PVR.  I can’t wait for the super-slushy snow to melt so I can pull out my new purple Uggs.

So when did I suddenly get so old?  It feels like it wasn’t all that long ago that I first left home for university and had to figure out how to take care of myself.  Now, I’m responsible for raising a family.  Crazy.

I guess the fact that I’m about to become a mother of two has made me realize how quickly time goes by.

 

Operation Big Boy Room – the reveal

I realized that I shared some of our progress on Littleman’s “big boy room” but never showed the finished product.  Now that he’s been living in there for a few weeks, I figured it was good time to take a look at how things have been going.

Since baby #2 is on the way, we chose to move Littleman into the spare room, rather than make any changes to the nursery.  It was easier to tackle one room rather than two.  That being said, the spare room wasn’t exactly “spare.”  In fact, it was pretty darn full of every piece of crap that we’ve ever held on to and didn’t know what to do with.  After some major purging and donations to charities, we finally ended up with a blank slate.

Choosing a theme for the new room was pretty easy.  Littleman’s favourite colour is orange and he loves construction sites.  So when I came across some super-cute construction vehicle sheets at Target, I knew that was our starting point.  I didn’t love the comforter that went along with the sheet set – and it would have been too big for our Ikea bed anyway – so my mom offered to use the sheet set to sew us a duvet cover.  She cut down a twin sized duvet so that it would fit the kiddie bed.  While the bed is the perfect size for a little kid, Ikea doesn’t actually make bedding that fits it (aside for a fitted sheet).  They recommend either a cot duvet or twin duvet, but neither actually fit the bed properly.  That was annoying to me, so I was happy my mom was able to help with a solution.

The new bedding

With the bedding figured out, we decided to use wall decals on one portion of the room.  I found a bunch of construction-related decals on Etsy but then realized that Target sells some in the same line as the bedding.  And for much cheaper.  So we decided to go with those.  We chose to run the road between the bookshelf and the window, creating a little nook where the bed is.

The decals

At the end of the bed, used a bookshelf we already had to store a bunch of Littleman’s stuffed toys.  Within the closed doors of the bookshelf, we keep all his books.  That way he can reach them himself, but we don’t have to look at the messy piles.  It doesn’t matter how often I straighten his books, they always end up in a big mess!

Book and toy storage

Finally, we put a couple of simple storage cubes on the floor so Littleman has somewhere to dump his toys.  Most nights, he wants to bring a toy upstairs with him while he gets ready for bed, but he knows he has to put them away before he goes to sleep.  Having an easy place to chuck the toys has helped keep his room nice and neat.

Along the wall that you can’t see is a simple white dresser that used to be mine.  It needs to be painted (I’m considering orange, but may stick with white) and I plan to replace the knobs.  We also need a piece of art for the wall above it, which is totally blank and plain.

So, now that it’s all done, how does the kid like it?  He LOVES it!  The transition to the new room has gone amazingly well.  I think we waited until the right time to move him and he was really ready.  It only took a couple of nights in the new bed before he was sleeping through the night again (I think he would wake up and get a bit confused/scared at first).  When he wakes up in the morning or after naps, he calls out for us and doesn’t actually get out of bed (fingers crossed that this will last for a while!)  When people come over to visit, he takes them upstairs to see his room.  He calls his old room “the baby’s room” and really hasn’t looked back since he moved.  All in all, we’ve very happy with the result!

A great place to sleep!

Then and now

I was looking through some old photos on the computer yesterday when I came across the pics from when I was pregnant with Littleman. I didn’t take weekly pregnancy photos for either of the pregnancies, but I took random bump shots throughout. Turns out, I had taken a 38 week shot last time.

Since I was 38 weeks yesterday (and coincidentally wearing the same top!) I thought it would be fun to take a photo to compare my bump sizes.

So, here’s the side-by-side view of my belly three years ago vs now:

I look pretty farm similar in the photos, although I think my current bump is a tiny bit smaller and lower than Littleman was.

Anyway, I spent today walking around a mall to try to let gravity help bring the baby down. Hopefully I’m making progress and Bo is getting himself all ready to go!

38 weeks – false labour or the real deal?

I’m 38 weeks today and feeling pretty good.  Well, at least I’m feeling good at the moment.  On Monday night, I was pretty sure it was “go time” and that we’d be welcoming our new little boy.

But nope.  False alarm.  I’ve had a couple of incidents of contractions during this pregnancy, but Monday night was different.  Around 10:00 p.m. I started getting some crampy pains.  By 10:30, I could tell they were coming in waves so I started timing them.  I was pretty uncomfortable and kept having to get out of bed.  They were around 7 minutes apart for quite a while, sometimes dipping closer to 5-6 minutes.  As the time got later, we contemplated whether we should call my parents to come over and watch Littleman.

At my OB appointment this week, Dr. P had said I should go in and get checked if the contractions were 6-7 minutes apart for an hour.  Although I certainly met that criteria, I just didn’t really feel like it was time yet.  So we decided to wait it out a bit longer.  By after midnight, I was getting pretty miserable.  We decided we’d both shower and then see how I felt.  Again, I just couldn’t decide.  I dried my hair (stopping a couple of times to get through the cramps) and then we lay down on the bed for a bit.  I figured I’d be more comfortable progressing a bit further at home, rather than dragging myself to the hospital in the middle of the night, only to be possibly sent back home.

Finally, around 3:30 a.m., I must have dozed off between contractions because when the next one hit, I realized I’d never stopped my timer from the previous contraction and it had been counting for 17 minutes.  Obviously, they were tapering off.  At that point, I put away my phone, stopped timing and finally, finally, got a bit of sleep.

As you can imagine, I felt like crap yesterday after getting very little sleep.  I was kind of expecting things to start up again once I started moving, but for the last 36 hours or so, I’ve felt fine.

I’ve read that false labour can help prepare your body for the real thing, making actual labour can be quicker/easier.  I sure hope that’s true.  Because, if so, I’m super prepared!

Other than that, not much has changed this week in terms of pregnancy symptoms…

Sleep: Awkward and uncomfortable, with pretty consistent insomnia between 3:00 and 5:00 a.m.

Symptoms: The acid reflux is still horrible.  I’m snoring like a mo-fo (although I’ve bought some nasal strips which I think are helping a bit).  I’m feeling a ton of pressure down below and my bladder feels like it is constantly full.

Other: It’s a really good thing that I’m on maternity leave now because I would be having a really hard time if I had to continue to get dressed for work.  Most of my tops are too short now and I struggle to keep the bottom of my belly covered.  I don’t feel like I’m all that huge, but I guess the baby’s dropped just enough to make clothing awkward.

How’s he going to react?

I think my three-year-old is starting to sense how imminent the arrival of the new baby is.  And, I’m starting to worry about how he’s going to react when it actually happens.

Littleman is a pretty smart kid and we’ve been talking about the baby for many months.  I think he understands what’s going on as much as he possibly can at his age.  He knows there’s a baby in mommy’s tummy.  He knows that it’s his baby brother.  He likes playing “baby” a lot these days.  But he’s also a typical first-born or only child.  He is used to having constant attention and one-on-one time.  He is not used to playing by himself.

We’ve been trying our best to prepare him for the baby’s arrival.  We have a couple of books about being a big brother.  We talk about the things that the baby won’t be able to do – the things that only a big boy can do.  We’ve practiced having him sleep at Nana and Nonno’s house (my parents).  But I’m just not sure that there’s anything we can do to really, truly get him ready for the change that’s about to happen.

As I said before, I think he’s starting to realize how soon this baby will be here.  He’s always been a daddy’s boy, but lately he’s been wanting mommy for everything.  This weekend, I got tons of cuddles and kisses.  When we were both around, he pretty much only chose me to do things with him.  That is very abnormal behaviour for him.

Now that I’m done work, I’m hoping I’ll have some more energy to play with Littleman  in the evenings.  I want to spend as much time with him as I can in these final days before the baby arrives because I know my attention will be stretched between the two of them once Bo is here.

If anyone has any advice on what else we can do to prep Littleman for the baby’s arrival, please pass it along!  I certainly don’t expect the transition to a family of four to be easy, but I’m willing to try anything we can to do to make it a little less hard.