Week 30

Ok, so I know I just posted 2 days ago but this is going to be more about the ultrasound I had today and more about the actual health of the baby. Also, my numbers might be a little off in previous posts as to which week it is but we are going to just stick with what the doctor told us at this point and that is April 8. I have a feeling he's coming early but who knows. It's better for the baby if he can be in there the full 40-week term but I would love if he came a little earlier!

The reason I am getting so many ultrasounds during this pregnancy is because of that first one where we had the scare of whether he might be at risk for cystic fibrosis or downs so they have just wanted to monitor him about every month to make sure he is progressing fine and continues to do so. Everything looked great today! His head is facing downward which is awesome, but the likelihood that he'll stay put for the next 10 weeks isn't likely as he'll probably move around some more. Just hoping come delivery time he's facing down! It was fun to see his arms and legs and little hands around his face. Funny especially to find out where is legs and bum are because that has been an area he has been pushing on particularly hard in the past couple of days! It all makes sense now.

He is weighing about 4 lbs 2 ounces so he might just be there to stay since he is on the larger side.I'm really interested to see again what he weighs at my final ultrasound on February 28-really hoping he's not going to be 10 pounds... Also, he has hair! Just a little fringe around the lower back part of his head but I'm anticipating him to have quite a bit come his birthday, a prediction I've had for a while.

I've gained about 35 pounds at this point, which is the upper side of "normal" but to be perfectly honest, it has been too cold and too icy to even think about going outside and we don't belong to a gym. Even if we did, with how cold it was, my motivation was at zero and felt much more like hibernating than being active at all. I have been eating well, still trying not to indulge on everything and maintain a balanced diet. I have also just been kind of waiting for him to be born so we can go for walks and be outside in the beautiful spring weather. The weather has been warming up (all of a sudden...) and I am feeling more motivated to be mobile and a little more active, so that's good. And even though my weight gain is up there, I still feel like it's mostly all baby, which is good and shouldn't be as hard to lose.

Anyway, I know you all love hearing about my weight-haha. We are getting so close to having the "nursery" set up and I'm excited to put up our before and after pictures!! But we both need a bit of a break from baby stuff for a little while. Between setting up the room, Lamaze class, and just talking about the baby, it's a a lot to be thinking about all the time on top of everything else. Besides, we have time. I just always like having everything ready and set up way ahead of time, but there's not that much left to do as far as setting up so I'm on the breathing easier side of stress :)

At our class last night, our teacher brought an empathy suit where the men can try on this apparatus to pretend they are pregnant. I got a couple pictures but my phone died suddenly and didn't get as many as I would have liked, oh well. Still funny, but the suit is definitely easier than actually being pregnant-duh! I would like to point out Katara photobombing my pics...hilarious!

Changes

Whew! This has been a crazy month. I know it's not over yet but I feel like we are finally starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel. Everything has been organized in Finn's room and now we are working on setting it up to be more baby-friendly. We still have some organizing and setting up, pictures on the walls, place for shoes, etc., but at least we don't have boxes all over the place. My job is going well and I am getting used to working with kindergarteners a little better. I decided to put my singing on hold and told my choir director at church that I would join up again after the baby is born. It was a bummer, but it was just turning into too many things after school.

I'm also getting much bigger. Sometimes I see my side profile of my belly and am just like, "Wow! That's me?" And let's just say, I'm not getting more graceful as the days go by. Getting up, bending over, walking in general...all look more and more awkward the bigger I get. It's fun, though, I remember being so disappointed with not showing for about 5 months and now I actually feel like my less than lady-like movements are more acceptable. I do get frustrated with how little I can move around without getting tired or our of breath. I was able to play some basketball, just shooting hoops, yesterday with Brett, but running and jumping to get the ball is pretty much out of the picture. I looked really cool trying to shoot a 3-pointer initially, but it was still fun. Unfortunately I have to put my competitive nature on hold but it's worth it!

Finn has been so active! It is especially noticeable once I sit down. I think I am also experiencing some Braxton Hicks contractions which feel weird, like a tightening in my upper abdomen, almost like a little pinch once in a while. They aren't painful, but can be uncomfortable since it just feels like he is stretching out or pushing harder in one spot for a longer period of time. But that's kind of it. Right now he's just kind of boring, which is a good thing haha, so I'm really excited for him to get here!

My grandparents were in town this weekend which was fun. So nice to have some family come visit because we all live so far away from every one! We were so excited to live in Boise thinking it was so central, which it is, but it's actually a lot more difficult to get to and farther than we thought in some cases. Oh well. Anyway, my grandpa was able to help Brett set up our little cradle, which will go in our room, and Brett put together our crib, a surprisingly difficult task, pretty much all on his own (I helped hold a few bars and screw in a few screws, but he did the rest!). We got our mattress today and I am just washing the sheet before I put it on there and am looking forward to decorating! I have all his clothes organized by size and put away and just need a few more key items-diaper pail, DIAPERS! haha, a diaper bag, and a few other things and then we'll be all set! We're so close! We're also so close to the due date, just over two months away! Crazy! Can't wait!

 

 

 

  

It's freezing, but I keep my baby warm at night

We had another doctor's appointment on Wednesday and it went better than the last one, but it almost didn't. My nurse has been super sweet and supportive and we were chatting about  about my weight gain and as Brett said, she wanted to tell me I was fine but knew she couldn't as that was not really her place. She had gained 100 pounds with each of her two children! We also talked about how it had been a really busy day and hoped that my doctor had found some time to have some lunch in between patients. When my doctor came into the room, she looked like she was trying to collect herself and looked exhausted. Before she really had a chance to say anything, I said, "Busy day? So sorry to hear that." And I think that helped her not be as irritable towards me.

I had gained 5 more pounds and this time we talked about what I had eaten that day: Cereal and English muffin for breakfast, hard-boiled egg for a snack, peanut butter and banana sandwich and an apple for lunch and another hard-boiled egg for a snack. She said that all sounded good, maybe cut back on carbs a little (I had pizza for dinner...oops) but she said it sounds like eating has not been the problem...it's actually probably been exercise since I have been doing little to none. Staying active, since I am teaching, but it is just too cold to do anything outside and I'm really not much for walks, that's pretty much my only option right now. I also gathered that she's not actually too concerned with my weight gain as much as she is worried about me having to lose it at the end. That made me kind of mad. I know I am going to have to lose weight after the baby, if it is a problem NOW that I am gaining weight, then tell me that, not, "you will not be happy if you have too much to lose later." Let me worry about later and you worry about now. I will actually have more motivation to get out and exercise later since he will be a spring baby and Brett and I will want to go on walks with him and I'll be playing tennis later on in the summer. Ok so maybe I'll be tired but I know I won't be sitting inside all day long.

Anyway, our Lamaze (childbirth prep) class has been going really well. We have had two classes so far and I really like our teacher. We have been slowly meeting some other couples, but they all pretty much keep to themselves, it's kind of annoying. So far we have talked a a lot about nutrition, did some breathing exercises and stretches, we are learning different, more comfortable ways to give birth, and last time we talked a lot about the three stages of labor so that was pretty interesting. We also watched a video about labor and giving birth which I watched the whole thing and actually wasn't really bothered by it (very surprisingly) until they showed the placenta emerging (disgusting) and a newborn still kind of yucky from the afterbirth being kissed by her mom. I asked our teacher if I can ask that he be cleaned off and that I do not have to see my placenta. "Would it be ok to tell my doctors to clean off the baby before they hand him to me? I'd rather have a happy look on my face rather than a disgusted one and would feel bad if they are handing him to me and I'm saying 'No, no, take him away!'" haha She said I can let them know anything I would like them to do to make everything more comfortable.

I have had one good night sleep in the last week and after that has all been declining due to stress and anxiety about preparing our house, let alone for the baby.  We still have a ton of stuff all over the floor in Finn's room and this new place is great, but very, very limited storage. I woke up in the middle of the night thinking, "do we have a mattress for the cradle? Where are we going to put his playpen? We can't have bookshelves if we don't even have a dresser for his clothes!" I hate waiting until the last minute to set things up and to have things ready for just about anything and I feel like this is all totally out of my control since my mobility and strength is so limited. I have been looking forward to decorating his room and haven't even been able to do that because we have to do so many other things first. I'm at about 29 weeks now so I'm getting closer and closer every day, and things aren't getting any easier as far as energy, moving around, and lifting things. I know it will all come together in the end, but I want everything done NOW! Super frustrating since we have a long weekend and I don't know how much I will actually be able to enjoy the extra time off and rather just stress about everything. There is always something on my mind recently and I would just like a little relief. Ugh. We are getting closer and our crib should be here next week or so (yay!) but it's hard to just always be thinking about what needs to be done next.

Next ultra sound is January 30! Super excited to see how much he's grown!!

This is a video of him moving. I caught him as he was slowing down but if you look closely at the left-ish side and on the blue stripe, you will see a little movement. I will try and get some better ones later. So cool to see him moving like that!

Mother Nature is a tricky lady

This whole not knowing exactly what my due date has been frustrating, but not only that, I feel like I entered into the third trimester earlier even though technically (according to my doctor's due date of April 8) I shouldn't be in it until tomorrow. My body seems to think otherwise as this is the message Mother Nature decided to drop by recently:

Dear Danielle,

Without warning, your sleep is going to get crappy again and you are going to feel about as tired as you did during the first trimester. Your acne is going to start popping in at two a day on your chin and you will start feeling more hormonal. Maybe not sad, but angry and irritable, mostly due to lack of sleep. As far as sleep goes, you have a couple of options: you will be up in the middle of the night, around 2:30, and will stay awake for an hour or two, just wide awake thinking about things you have no control over nor any way of accomplishing at that hour, nevertheless you will be wide awake and have no way of just rolling over and going back to sleep. You will be getting up to pee at least 3 times during the night and as for getting comfortable? That's a thing of the past. Some nights no position will feel at all comfortable. I'm really sorry about all this except for not really because it gets better! Finn will start kicking at all hours, day and night, as soon as you get comfortable on the couch you will have to get up to pee and again 5 minutes later. Your tummy will continue to stretch so good luck putting on your shoes or picking things up off the floor in a dignified manner. Also, remember how people say that birth is so beautiful and such a miracle? While that may be true to some degree, there are lots of yucky things that will be coming out of your body, so have fun with that especially because most people do not understand the degree of your squeamishness and will have no regard or sensitivity towards that.

Best of luck to you (you're going to need it).
Sincerely yours,
Mother Nature

Ok, so those are a lot of the negatives that I have been experiencing recently, I mean I JUST went to the bathroom a few minutes before I started writing this and even mentioning going to the bathroom has made me feel like I have to pee again...Brett and I started our pregnancy classes last Tuesday which seem like they will be good and informative; amazing how much your organs all move around in your body which explains why singing has been significantly harder (it's difficult to get good support for breathing) amongst other things. We also learned that the placenta is the only organ the body creates and then disposes of which is crazy. I also apparently have 50% more blood (bring on the steaks and burgers! Just kidding, I don't really eat steak...) not to mention am creating baby bones and organs, which is so fascinating to think about. I am super squeamish as mentioned earlier and started to get light-headed at the mention of certain things in my class, which is going to be interesting come birth-day. For example, the woman leading the class was really excited about (as she mentioned two times) the fact that as soon as the baby is born, they will put him on my chest. Nope. No thanks. If he is all cleaned off and ready to go, sure, but otherwise, nope. I know I will be super excited to see little Finn, but I want to see clean little Finn...that's not too weird, is it?

Another thing we learned is that the traditonal way of giving the birth is not only the most painful, it's not the most logical. Your pelvis tilts upward and the baby has to not only go up but also over your tailbone...ouch. They talked about different positions of giving birth which I thought intriguing as I would like to avoid an epidural so if there is a more effective way to deliver that is also less painful, I'm willing to try it out :)

In other news, we are completely moved out of our old apartment and are well on our way to getting our new place organized and then setting up the baby's room! I also have a new job. I am working as a Kindergarten Aide at Sacred Heart Elementary School with the potential of being considered for a full-time 4th grade teaching position next school year! Hooray! But as exciting as that is, it is still stressful to change jobs yet again (4th time in the year since we've been in Boise) and I am ready to start crossing stressors off my list...

 My next doctor's appointment is on Thursday so stay tuned for updates! :)

Recap ALL THE THINGS!

OK, so I have a lot to catch up since my last post. We've traveled to San Diego where we spent Christmas, moved in to our new apartment, been to the doctor again, and have started telling people the name of our baby!

I will start first with the name: Finnegan Richard Lofgren, and we will call him Finn :) We're pretty much set on this and are very happy to have chosen a name that is incorporating both some uniqueness as well as keeping a family name. We both like the name Finnegan/Finn and Richard is my grandfather's name. And yes, we weren't going to tell people but we decided that it will be fun for people to know and to start referring to him as "Finn" rather than "the baby".

We went to San Diego for Christmas break which was super fun; so nice that Brett and I have the same holiday schedule now and were able to take that much time to visit family. While down there, they threw me a baby shower which was so nice and we received some really amazing, generous gifts. He is going to be a very comfortable baby, that is for sure :) We also have about 4 different different ways of transporting him around from a baby sling to a great stroller and a couple different types of backpacks/carriers. He also received some adorable clothes and blankies as well a crib and Classic Pooh bedding set. We don't have everything in his room all set yet since we are still in the process of moving, but it will be so fun to really start converting a room to make it comfortable for Mom and baby (and guests!!). All so exciting!

It was nice being in San Diego for Christmas but definitely a different experience. A lot of family around so a lot going on all the time and not to mention no snow! That's ok though, we had a lot of fun and it was neat to see another family's traditions since this was my first Christmas with the Lofgren/Waters clan.

As soon as we got back from our trip, we started packing up and moving to our new place. Brett has done a phenomenal job moving just about everything (aside from the big heavy stuff in which we enlisted a few extra hands for help yesterday) from our second story apartment to our third story apartment. It's nice that the distance from one to the other is not too far because we stayed here New Year's Eve and definitely forgot food for Katara...Brett went over and got that for her. We kind of set things up for a couple days and then Brett went back to work on Wednesday. I put some things together, organized the kitchen, the bathrooms, and closet. As I said, yesterday we moved the last of our big things: couch, chair, coffee table, guest bed, dresser, entertainment center, and dining room table and let me tell you, that entertainment center is the heaviest thing we own and I greatly appreciate the guys that were able to move that as well as Pat for letting us borrow a Uhaul! Now that we have all that in here, it really looks and feels like home. We spent several nights trying to get comfortable with blankets and pillows on the floor and it worked well enough since we both fell asleep Friday night around 6:15 watching a documentary about the people of 10,000 BC...but it is definitely nice to have our couch and recliner in here :) Katara is adjusting well and has really enjoyed exploring the whole place over and over again. It's quite a bit bigger than our old place so she has some extra hiding places and more space to run at breakneck speeds, always hilarious to see.

Ok now for more baby stuff (I'm at 27 weeks!)... I went to the doctor on Friday and let me just say, I don't know if it was because it was Friday or what, but this was the first time my doctor really has rubbed me the wrong way. Normally she's really nice and friendly and this time she was just insensitive and smug. After weighing myself, I was shocked to see the numbers on the scale because I did not think I had gained that much at all, especially in the last two weeks, it seemed like a huge change. I know I have defintely put on some weight but from when I first came in until now, I've put on 27 pounds, or so the scale says. Even though I know there is a lot associated with gaining pregancy weight, fluids, baby, etc., it's still never fun to see those numbers and feel that heavy. Stupid scale. I asked my doctor about it towards the end of the appointment to see if that was normal and why it jumped up so much so fast. I was weighed at my ultra sound two weeks prior (different scale) and the increase was 14 pounds. Her responses were interesting, "It was the holidays, what do you want me to do about it?" Well, fair enough, I did indulge much more than I had been for a few days over Christmas, but not 14 pounds worth. So I asked, is it normal to have gained this much by now? "Well, it's not ideal, but we can't take back what's been done, so just try to go for a few walks every week, and cut out sugar, that's easy." When I told that part to Brett, he looked at me and said, "I'm sorry, she told a pregnant woman to cut out sugar and that would be easy?" My thoughts exactly. To make matters worse, she really had nothing positive to say and said things like I should only gain about 10 more pounds from here on out, anything more than that and I would be unhappy with myself afterwards. Wait, so am I supposed to be unhappy with myself right now? What are you saying?! Why are you being so mean?! I was the one that brought this up thinking it probably wasn't a big deal since you hadn't mentioned it but now that I did, apparently you're not happy with my weight gain?! Have you forgotten that this is my first baby, I don't know all the questions to ask, I don't know everything that is normal, and I don't have a bunch of family or girlfriends who are pregnant or who have kids that I can look to for support so why are you being so rude? Finn was mad too because when she put the wand on my belly to get his heartbeat he kicked it really hard. I like to imagine him saying, "Nobody talks to my mommy like that!" haha... I tried to take a step back and think, ok, maybe it's just hormones making me think that she is being rude and insensitive, but no. Talking to a couple people about this later they totally agreed with me, that she was not very nice. I'm already sensitive about my weight to begin with and now I feel like I have no idea what to eat. I thought I have been doing pretty well with my diet, maybe not so much with staying active, but still. I was definitely distraught about this for the past couple of days.

That episode in the doctor's office led me to start thinking about all the "don'ts" of pregnancy and why the "do's" are not brought up as much. I also feel like the list of "don'ts" has gotten longer and longer recently and more and more kids have ADD, autism, etc. Maybe there is no correlation, but I like to think that keeping myself and my baby in a protective "on the safe side of everything" bubble is actually more harmful. The more protective the environment, the more illness and allergies. At least that's what I believe. I feel the more the baby is exposed to at a young age, the better he will be at fighting things and adapting to the world around him. Granted, I'm not going to start smoking and drinking but I don't want to have to be SO careful about every little thing. My doctor asked if we had a pediatrician yet and I said no and she mentioned that some mothers like to interview the pediatricians beforehand. I think that's ridiculous. I understand finding a good one is important, but to interview? I have no desire to do that, it's a doctor, they treat things, and does check-ups. It doesn't all need to be perfect.

Last thing about that visit. While the nurse was getting my blood pressure, she had asked me a couple questions and I mentioned to her that the ultra sound technician noticed that Finn was quite big for only being 24 weeks along and that they might want to change the due date. She dogeared the page for my doctor and said she would let her know to check on that and to get back to me about that. When I mentioned it to my doctor she seemed to get almost defensive, "They never told me anything about that!" Um...maybe if you open your file to the pages marked, or, I don't know, read my file before coming in here, you would have seen that? She said that the earlier ultra sounds are more accurate and she was going to stick with the April 8th due date. I personally think that's way too late and that he's going to come in March. She said that they would closely monitor me around 35-36 weeks, however, to make sure I wasn't going to end up delivering a 10-12 pound baby. If that were the case, they would induce me early.

I hate to criticize someone so painstakingly but I just felt very uncomfortable after leaving there and not happy how she handled the touchy subject of weight with a pregnant woman. I understand she was doing her job and she is probably busy with delivering babies, and other patients, but it onlt takes a second to read through my new paperwork, to take 5 extra minutes to discuss healthy weight gain, and to maybe take interest in my as a patient. I'm paying you to take care of me and trusting that you are doing a good job, that's why you make the big bucks. I've had enough stress in the past few months, some reassurance that I'm doing a good job shouldn't be that hard.

That being said, I'm to the point now where I start going in every two weeks which is crazy. It's really getting much closer. He is so active and just felt and saw him kick through my shirt! I'm also looking a lot more pregnant and have gotten friendly smiles from strangers as I walk by. Today Brett and I went to brunch and I ordered biscuits and gravy, a pregnancy favorite of mine, and apparently the woman looked at my belly after I ordered and smiled. What?! I like food...