This could only happen to me...

About two weeks ago I had a cold. It passed fairly quickly but left me with a cough that made my ribs pretty sore. This morning I was puttering around in the kitchen when a sneeze just snuck up on me. It wasn't a big sneeze, but it was enough to snap something. I literally heard and felt a pop in my right rib cage. I immediately doubled over in pain and almost blacked out.

I'm not sure if I actually cracked a rib. The nurse thought it was a possiblity although she had never heard of such a thing happening. It could also just be a sprain or torn cartilage (apparently, pregnant women get really loose limbs at this stage and are susceptible to injury). So, I've spent the day in a tremendous amount of pain--it hurts to breathe. Ice seems to be helping and I've even tried some gentle stretching. I'm not sure if I'm feeling better or if I'm becoming immune to the pain.

Yesterday I was hoping the little guy would come early. Now I'm praying he'll give me time to heal. I can't imagine laboring like this. There's just no way.

A Day of Doctor's Appointments

Because of the Gestational Diabetes I now have to have two weekly stress tests and one weekly ultrasound. (Good thing I'm now on maternity leave. How do people work and make babies?!) For the stress test I go to the hospital and am hooked up to a monitor to listen to the heartbeat for half an hour. They also monitor any contractions that I might have. Today's test went well. Baby was active and his heart rate was strong. No contractions, but lots of movement.

Next, I went downstairs for the ultrasound. The goal of the utlrasound is to measure the amniotic fluid levels. Everything was fine there so no worries. The nurse printed out a creepy picture of his face. I thought it was an early Halloween gift and not my baby. I think she could've found a more photogenic angle, but I guess I can't be too picky--a photo is a photo.

In the afternoon I went to my last Gestational Diabetes appointment. My numbers have been great so there's no reason for me to go back. They want me to be checked for Diabetes after he's born and then once a year after that and since Diabetes runs in the family they recommend I lose 10 to 15 pounds.

Birthing Class (4 of 4)

Tonight was our last birthing class. We learned all about ceseareans and life after the baby. The video about ceseareans wasn't graphic, but it was enough to make me cry. Again, I looked around and I was the only cry baby in the room. What's up with all these insensitive pregnant women?!! Am I just hyper-sensitive?

Anyway, we spent the rest of the class trying out different birthing positions with our breathing techniques. It's hard to imagine what will actually feel good in the moment. I guess I just have to arm myself with options and try out everything.

Prenatal Visit

Weight: Lost 5 pounds

Blood pressure: Little high

Fundal Height (distance from my pubic bone to the top of my uterus): 36 cm

Apparently, at this point a slow down in weight gain and even a weight loss is common so no worries there. I don't understand how baby is getting bigger, but I'm getting smaller. The shrinking fundal height means that baby has dropped which is a welcome relief and I've noticed a definite increase in appetite.

Doctor says that the baby could come anytime and I'm ready. But, I guess it's not just up to me. :) Ultimately Dr. Hank thinks he'll be late but only because most babies to first time moms are late.

Birthing Class (3 of 4)

We learned all about epidurals in tonight's class and talked more about pain management. It's reassuring to know that the epidurals they give nowadays are less intense, but it does seem like you can go down a slippery slope of medicinal cocktails to manage side effects. I'm trying to keep an open mind about everything. Who knows what I'll need and what I'll want.

The best part of the class was when we got on the floor and got massages from our partners. Apparently, massaging hands and feet in early labor can be a great way to deal with pain...but not so good later when I'll turn into the devil and will more than likely yell, "don't touch me!

I don't know why but I cry after every birthing class. I guess I'm just a bundle of sensitive nerves.

Prenatal Visit

Blood pressure: Normal

Weight: Gained 17 pounds total

Fundal Height (distance from my pubic bone to the top of my uterus): 37 cm

Besides being sick as a dog, all is well. By the time I got home from work last night I had the worst sore throat. I ended up throwing up 3 different times during the night. It's never a pleasant experience, but it's way worse when you're pregnant. I feel like death warmed over today. Doctor Hank gave me a short list of over the counter medication that I could have. I'm sure Murphy's Law dictates that I will go into labor while I'm sick, can't breathe and am not sleeping.

Doc looked at my cankle and said it was normal. I just need to put the feet up more. Thankfully my blood pressure is normal otherwise it could be indicative of preeclampsia.

Photos: 37 weeks!

It's been 7 weeks since I did my weekly side profile shot so the belly is bustin' out quite a bit in comparison.

• Photo 1: 37 weeks


• Photo 2: 35 weeks (from our one year anniversary trip up the coast to Mendocino County)

It looks like I've really popped in the last two weeks. Crazy!

The Baby's Mural

Josh had started the mural the previous week so the anticipation of seeing the completed project was killing me. Tonight Josh, Mia and Jeremy put the finishing touches on and we called the mural complete. Originally Josh had incorporated a lot more detail--fishies, a sea turtle, jelly fish, etc--but ultimately we decided to keep it more simple so we'd have places for furniture and other decorations.

It really turned out so cute. I wanted a nursery that when you walked into you just smiled and this is definitely it. The octopus (I've named him Oliver) has so much personality. I'm not sure what he's listening to, but his headphones are jacked into the yellow submarine so it's gotta be good.

And one final little personal detail...a life guard tower representing "the Wedge", a famous surf spot in Jeremy's hometown.

Next up: furniture, curtains, rug...

Birthing Class (2 of 4)

We had our second birthing class tonight. It went well, but I felt a little overwhelmed by the amount of lists I think I should be maintaining.

• "we're in labor" call list
• things I want to have on hand when I go into labor at home list
• things I want to have on hand when I go into labor at the hospital list
• things I want to eat after the baby's born
• who needs to be called/emailed after the baby's born list
• etc.

We also took a tour of labor and delivery. I was already familiar with the floor because of my 4 day stay there previously but it was interesting to see the birthing rooms and then the postpartum rooms. They were much smaller than the antepartum room I stayed in, but the birthing bed was truely an impressive hunk of machinery. That thing can do anything! Some of the rooms have showers, some bath tubs and three have jacuzzi tubs. If I go into labor and my water hasn't broke we can request a jacuzzi tub room...which I am ALL about! I feel most comfy in the tub so I think that would be an excellent way to spend much of my labor. Plus, Jeremy can get in there with me!

We also checked out the nursery--not expecting to see any babies because they really advocate keeping the baby in the room with you at all times, but sometimes parents need to sleep I guess. And in cases of cesearean the baby will go hang in the nursery while Mom gets stitched up. To our surprise there were 3 cute teeny tiny babies there getting all swaddled up like burritos. They were so tiny I just couldn't believe it. I forgot how tiny these little newborns really are. It made me feel a tad bit better about poppin' one of them out.

Finally we watched a labor video where the woman opted for narcotics (last week was natural). It obviously took the edge off her pain, but it also seemed to make her a disconnected. She looked really out of it. I don't think narcotics are for me.

Cankles!! Or The Return of Big Foot!

About two weeks ago I started to get swollen feet. I knew this was a possible side effect of pregnancy, but I thought I was in the clear since I'd made it this far without seeing any signs. But alas, I have been hit and hit hard. Strangely enough it's mostly just my right foot.

This photo is after a particularly long day of sitting and working. There was a nasty accident that shut down the entire freeway (in both directions) so Whit and I were forced to take a very, very long way to work. Too much sitting is bad, too much standing is bad. It's kind of hard to avoid either when I'm working so this is the end result.

Honestly though, this angle of this photo really makes it look much more horrific than it really is.

Prenatal Visit

Blood pressure: Normal

Weight: Gained a pound!

Fundal Height (distance from my pubic bone to the top of my uterus): 36cm

Doc says I'm measuring a tad big. He thinks it's my fibroids. At this point he believes my baby will be a little over 8 pounds but it's hard to say because of the fibroids.

He gave me all some paper work to keep with me at all times so that I can give to the hospital when I go into labor. I took this as a sign that baby will come early even though the doctor said it was standard procedure.

I think baby is ready. I mean, it's really cramped in there.

Birthing Class (1 of 4)

We went to our first birthing class tonight. It's part of a 4 part series through the hospital. I wasn't sure what to expect, but it was fun to be amongst my kind--a room full of little round women with their feet propped up. :)

We started out with introductions, which took quite awhile because there were about 15 couples and the teacher wanted us to talk about our pregnancy so far and any concerns we had. Our due date is the earliest by a long shot. Everyone else is due in late November, December and a few in early January. Everyone claimed to have perfect pregnancies so I was the only one with a woeful tale of gestational diabetes, bladder infections and hospitalization. The teacher seemed to think that a talk with Dr. Hank was in order regarding my commute and number of hours at work. She thinks I'm pushing it.

After the introductions we had a lecture on the anatomy of birth with some very graphic illustrations. It was absolutely, completely amazing and terrifying all at once.

Then she showed us some breathing techniques and positions for dealing with contractions. The positions were really cool because they all required assistance from your partner.

We ended the night by watching a birthing video. Each class they'll show us a different style birth (natural, with medication, with epidural and finally cesarean). This one was the natural--although the poor woman in the video had every intention of getting an epidural, but ran out of time. It was pretty intense. I was crying by the end. When the lights came on I realized I was the only preggo crying!! What's up with that?!

We don't have a class next Monday, so we've got to wait 2 more weeks. As we were walking out the door, the teacher yelled after me, "Keep your legs crossed!". Jeremy yelled back, "We'll be reading ahead!".