Week 37

Week 37

Charlie is the size of a baby!  He's full-term.

Total Weight Gained: 24.5 pounds

This week:

Well, there have been many happenings in the Wheawill home.  We have baby items everywhere.  Car seats are in the cars.  Pack and play is up.  Swing is set up.  His sleeper for our bedroom is together and waiting for him.  Wally hasn't been real thrilled with all of these items but for the most part, he seems to have ignored them.  Matt and I managed to get it all accomplished last weekend.  I was more of a supervisor than able to put things together but I tried to do my part.  I'm not very good at sitting back and watching so this has been a new role for me.  I think it's probably been good for me to sit back and let someone else, who is more than capable, do it.  And, Matt has done a wonderful job getting everything ready for our baby boy! 
 
My weight is steadily growing which my doctor thinks is a little bit of swelling that is attributing to the growing number.  (Don't get me wrong, I see a noticeable difference in this growing belly, so it's not all swelling.)  My doc. said that during the last month, weight fluctuates so it's hard to tell a lot from a number.  My feet stay a little bit swollen even when I wake up in the mornings and my fingers and hands are swelling more.  I haven't been able to wear my wedding rings for a while but now my watch is getting tight.  I'm still wearing tennis shoes which I understand a lot of women can't wear.  I've had to give up a few pairs of my shoes because they are too uncomfortably tight.  Despite a little bit of swelling, my blood pressure is still good (116/80).
 
So, Charlie was happy at the doctor's appointment and had a strong heart beat.  I'm not getting as many kicks from him because he just doesn't quite have the space.  But, he's still moving around which I love. 
 
This week, I've been uncomfortable and since last week was so good, I'm not willing to say this is for sure the new normal.  In fact, I have no idea what is normal (every pregnancy can be so different and every woman is different in how their bodies respond).  My doctor says that he's dropped even more from last week and I'm dilated 1 cm and my cervix is continuing to thin so I'm progressing as she would expect at this point. I think the worst is the hip pain, especially at night.  My doctor says this is due to my pelvic bones separating.
 
So, I don't know when Charlie will make his debut and can't wait for him to do so.  However, I am okay with the idea of him staying put for another week or two.  It's been hard to prepare for leaving work.  I'm certainly excited about my maternity leave but will miss work.  (I know to some that sounds crazy!)  I like my job and I like routine, both of which are going to be a little different for me.  I know I will adjust to a new normal which will take me some time to figure out.  :-)  And I also know work will do just fine without me.  But, if they want to miss me, that's fine with me too.  Even if they just miss me a little bit!  :-)  As my due date approaches, I've been working on transitioning much of my duties over.  It's hard to think that everyday I need to leave like I may or may not be in the next day. 
 

Week 36

Week 36

Size of baby: size of a crenshaw melon

Total Weight Gained:  21.5 pounds

This week:

What a big week!  Yesterday was pretty busy.  I had my 36 week appointment.  However, Wally scared Matt and I to death yesterday morning.  We always give him a treat before we leave the house so, we did just the ordinary but Wally got choked.  It was quite possibly the scariest thing I've been through with Wally.  Bless his heart, he was trying to get it up but wasn't able to.  He looked so helpless.  Matt tried getting it out but it was too far back so then I tried without success.  He was producing a little saliva but he was just making this horrible choking sound.  By this point, I was worried he was going to stop breathing.  I freaked and did everything you are not supposed to do.  I cried hysterically, started pacing back and forth.  Matt continued to try to work with Wally.  I have to say he was doing so good with him.  He kept talking to him and we were both, saying, "Come on Wally.  Keep trying.  Come on.  Stay with us."  He even tried to do the Heimlich on the dog.  It was very emotional.  I told Matt to go to the vet with him.  So, Matt grabbed his leash and they left within seconds of me saying to go.  Wally was able to walk out the door and even started running when Matt ran to get him to the car.  (In the meantime, I needed to get myself together to go to the doctor so I called my mom hysterically crying because she tends to be able to calm me down.)  Matt said he got a few blocks down the road and noticed that Wally wasn't making the choking sound anymore so he looked in his mirror and Wally was sitting there looking out the window with his normal goofy looking smile.  So, Matt pulled over and sure enough, Wally was fine.  He got it down!  Thank goodness.  It was pretty awful and I have to say Wally got a lot of extra loving yesterday because of it.  He came straight in and went over to where the treat was and tried to finish the part of the treat that he didn't choke on.  Stupid dog. We traded that out with him for a piece of bread covered with butter, which I think hit the spot.  Matt said that Wally was going to put me in labor! 

After the trauma, off we went to the doctor.  By that point, I was exhausted and running right on time with no minutes to spare.  Matt dropped me off at the door and went and parked.  Luckily, we made it all in time.  The ultrasound was first.  Matt and I saw Charlie for what I think will be the last time on ultrasound.  His head is down.  He's measuring at 6 pounds 12 ounces (that's the weight that I was when I was born!) and is in the 77th percentile.  The ultrasound showed my due date as May 4th this time.  The ultrasound tech said he has a chubby little face and he has hair!  Matt and I didn't have much hair when we were born so we'll see how much he actually has.  He was moving around and breathing well on his own.  The tech was very satisfied with what she saw.  Charlies HR was lower than normal at 128 but maybe he was resting after all our excitement earlier!  :-)

My blood pressure was excellent (120/84).  My doctor is impressed at how well I've done throughout this entire pregnancy and so am I.  Pregnancy isn't easy but compared to a lot of ladies, I've had a really good pregnancy and no complications.  Thank goodness!  I am not dilated yet which wasn't too much of a surprise but I'm 50% effaced so my body is preparing.  My doctor said she would take Charlie as early as week 39 but wouldn't let him go past week 41, if I don't go on my own.  At this point, Matt and I have decided we want Charlie to come on his schedule so we'll just wait and see.  If I don't go by week 40, we may talk about inducing but that is still a ways away and hopefully Charlie will decide he's ready so we don't have to make that decision.  I'm kind of hoping for a Mother's Day gift. 

After my doctors appt, I came on in to work and they threw me a very sweet baby shower luncheon.  Charlie got some more goodies and we also played the game of  "How big is Stephanie?"  Some of my coworkers were kinder than others.  :-)

This past week has been excellent.  I had a blast this past weekend at the baby shower that was thrown for me by Ali (will do a separate post) and enjoyed a good visit with my Mom and Dad.  Matt and I cooked lunch for our parents on Sunday, which was a lot of fun too.  The weekend flew by and it was jammed pack.  My mom and I worked on a sewing project that I'm going to try to work on some more this weekend.  I'll post pictures on it as well. 

I've felt really good this week and have no real complaints.  Charlie is lower which is actually giving me some relief.  No indigestion and no kicking me in the ribs!  I can't wait to meet our baby boy soon but until then I will keep updating with my progress as I have weekly appointments until he comes.

Week 35

Week 35

Size of baby: size of a honeydew melon

This week:

When I was a little kid, I always thought 28 was really old.  I think I knew someone that was 28 and remember thinking that when I get to be 28, I'll be old.  Of course, now that 28 has come and gone, I don't think it's that old.  It's all about perspective, I guess.  So, in thinking about this pregnancy, 35 weeks seemed to be really pregnant to me.  I remember when my friend, Ali, was pregnant, when she got to 35 weeks, I remember thinking, the baby could come anytime.  Of course, Wyatt waited and came at the end of week 39.  So, in the following weeks, I'm sure I'll feel even more pregnant, but I keep telling Matt and I really can't imagine my belly getting bigger.  Maybe at my 36 week appointment next week, I'll know more about how I'm progressing but 5 weeks isn't very long to wait.  And I'm definitely counting down now.  I'm a little uncomfortable and just can't wait to see what he looks like.    I feel like I no longer have a bump but I have a basketball in my stomach.  My belly button is still an inie which is good with me.  I've heard belly buttons never look the same after pregnancy.  As for Charlie, I read that he won't get much longer but will just be plumping up for the next few weeks.

We have started preparing Wally for his rude awakening.  He moved sides of the beds months ago (back in Jan.) and has adjusted well to being on Matt's side.  Last weekend, someone told me that they heard that it was good to play the sound of a baby crying to your animals so they could get used to it.  So, I googled baby crying and was able to get it.  Matt was downstairs at the time and Wally and I were upstairs.  So, I played it and Matt said that it sounded like this moaning coming from upstairs and he shot up off the couch at first, thinking I was in labor.  He was in go mode until he realized what I was doing.  As for Wally, he didn't react in the slightest.  Not that we have a very smart dog, but I think he is smarter than that.  He knows the difference so I don't think that was very helpful.  We have received other pieces of advice in preparing Wally so we are working with him.  We have a couple other good ideas:  1)  We are bringing a blanket to the hospital to wrap Charlie in and Matt will take it home so Wally can check it out and hopefully get adjusted to his scent before Charlie and I come home from the hospital.  2)  We want to have a basket of treats for Wallyand when any guests come over, we will ask them to pet him and give him a treat before holding the baby. 

We have a busy weekend planned.  My parents are coming in town and Ali is throwing me a fun baby shower.  I can't wait!  Friday afternoon can't get here soon enough.

Shower #2 for Charlie and Me

Albeit a few weeks late, I have pictures to share from such a wonderful day.  Matt's sister, Courtney, and my sister, Meredith, threw me the nicest shower.  They both really outdid themselves.  I know they both have been working hard with their respective jobs (both of them are speech pathologists!) and felt honored that they spent so much time and hard work in making Charlie and I feel very special.  So, here is picture overload.  Thanks to much picture sharing and Debbie's good friend/Courtney's boss, Laura,  who took awesome pictures of the day!

Me arriving at the shower:

with my mom...

The girls hard at work:

The food was delicious.

There were kinds of cute decorations.

They had such a cute idea where they had onsies and burp clothes with iron on appliques for each guest to personalize for Charlie.  Then everyone left him a sweet note to go along.

Charlie's many presents:

Matt and I are honored to have so many people who are sharing in our excitement and joy over our little boy.  We are truly blessed to have such a large support system from our family and friends. 

We look forward to introducing Charlie to everyone very soon.