Month 8 (Week 32-36)

I didn't realize it had been so long since I updated this blog.   Work and school have gotten so busy that I don't have time for much else aside from getting ready for Maia :)   Maia continues to get bigger and bigger.   Shortly after my last post, we went back to Womb with a View and we were able to get some good shots of her face: 

Maia at 32 weeks

Meanwhile, My belly continues to get bigger and bigger, leaving me not much room to move and I constantly have her head in my ribcage which makes it hard to breath.

Week 33

Week 34

Week 35

Week 36

We have been spending every spare moment trying to get ready for her arrival.   In addition to regular appointments, I also have to go to Kaiser twice a week for a fetal scan to make sure the amniotic fluid levels are okay and that her heart rate and movement counts are okay.   I also have had the preterm labor team from Santa Clara calling in once a week to check on me as well.   However being at 36 weeks today, I am officially discharged from that service because she is considered full term :) 

Josh has been busy nesting in his own way, putting things together, cleaning stuff out, etc.   

Our 2nd and 3rd showers were this month as well.  I don't have any pictures from the 3rd one that my work gave me, but I will add some pictures from the 2nd shower when I get them :)   We were showered with so much love and good times with friends and family.  Thank you Heather and Becky for hosting!  

Physically I have reached the very uncomfortable portion of the pregnancy as we head into the final weeks.   I have had a couple of bad back episodes, I cannot sleep very well and not in bed at all.   During Braxton Hicks contractions you can literally see her head trying to push out the front of my belly.   Painful but I'm handling it :)   The worst part so far is the swollen feet.  The tops of my feet are so swollen they feel like that first day after a really bad sunburn.  I can't fit into ANY of my regular shoes, including flip flops.   I went to buy a bigger pair to tide me over.   I usually wear a 7 1/2-8 but had to get  9-9.5!!! OMG!  Below is a picture I took of my feet last summer at Morro Bay. The other picture is what the same feet look like about a week ago completely swollen :(

We also got a couple nice gifts from Josh's aunt Laurie and my friend Kathi "Roo"

Kathi's gifts

We have also been working on her room and our hospital bags:

Her room about 3 weeks ago

Our hospital bag

Her carseat and hospital bag/diaper bag

Josh spent quite awhile adding all these decals, added the video monitor, installed a dimmer switch, etc.  We still have some cleaning up to do, but her room is pretty much done :)   Notice the monkey standing on the lion's head, placed by Josh.   

After our last appointment our doctor told us what I already knew...she is still in the breech position.  She has been there since late January.  They were hoping she'd flip eventually.   She's been going back and forth between breech and transverse over the past couple of weeks.    I believe that the shape of my uterus (heart shaped, sort of) has a narrow bottom and will not allow her to easily flip to head down.   The dr. said they could try to move her manually later on, but that it would be risky and probably not work with the uterus shape.   So that left us with planning out our c-section.   While I was hoping for a regular birth, it is nice to know that I will not have to go through labor (or very little if she comes earlier and we have to go in for an emergency c-section) and that family that lives far away can plan to be there.   Unfortunately the only date during week 39, when our dr. wanted me to to have it, was April 1st!   We tried for the 2nd (sorry Toby :)), but the first was the only date open.   So Maia will be born on 4/1/13, unless she comes early.  Many friends have mentioned that they think I have "dropped" and I do feel more pressure and uncomfortable.   I will start my maternity leave on March 25th, so hopefully she can hold out until then.    

So she will be here 3 weeks from today, or less! :)   I have began to ponder about whether those of you who read this will want me to continue after she is born since this blog was about the journey to get to the birth of our child.   I can continue into her development I suppose.    

We'll keep you updated on everything that is going on :)   

Thanks for checking in on us!!!    

Month 7 (week 28-31) and today's L&D scare

What a crazy and busy month this has been!   It feels like January went by in a blink of an eye.  For a number of reasons, Maia's arrival has been feeling more "real".   

Most of the month we spent doing small things to get ready: organizing the clothes we had already received by size (newborn, 0-3 months, etc) and washing the cloth parts of items we had received from friends and family.   I will organize them more neatly when all the showers are over, but at least the sizes are all organized :)    

Josh also decided to paint her room about a week ago.  We both had a favorite "theme" that we couldn't decide on and registered for both, but both had green and pink as a common set of base colors, so he went with green for the walls, so that in the future a boy could  occupy the room as well (if we are blessed or destined to have another:)).   He worked so hard and got it all done in one day to surprise me.   The brown curtains are temporary :)

Here's a belly pic from week 29

She was approximately 17 inches long, crown to feet, in fetal position.  

Week 30 came and went as well, but hitting the "30's" made her arrival seem so much closer.   

My belly seems to have really "popped" out the last 2 weeks or so.   I cannot fit in most booths at restaurants, definitely not in class at Stan State, and I'm constantly running into counters and other belly high items LOL :)

Baby shower #1 was also this past weekend, thrown by my sister in law Anji, my bro-in-law's gf Jen, and Josh's stepmom Lynette.  They really went all out and everything looked great.  My nephew's girlfriend also made some really awesome cupcakes.  

 Clothesline for a memory game

Close up of some of the clothes

Gifts and diaper raffle table

gift bags for the guests :) 

Food table

Jordan's flower and vase cupcakes :) Yum!!!

Toby's cotton candy martinis :)   I heard they were good :)

The letters on the table were later put up in her room over her crib.  Josh couldn't wait to put them up :) 

Josh's mother also sent a package for Maia :) 

My dear, dear long time childhood friend Carisa has also been very generous in letting us use her stroller :) I am constantly amazed how blessed we are to have such great and wonderful people in our lives :) 
We went to Womb with a view again on the 1st, but Maia refused to uncover her face, other than her big cheeks, and then eventually turned her back to us, so we will be going back again this Monday.   We did see she was in the transverse position (laying left to right) and at her appointment yesterday she was in breech position (head up and feet down).   I am hoping she will turn head down before she decides to come out, however the added fun of having a bicornute uterus means that she may have a harder time with the narrower part of the "heart" shape part of the uterus at the bottom.   I guess we'll see :)    

Which brings us to today's adventure....
I woke up this morning to bright red spotting-not a lot, like we saw back in September or in previous pregnancies, but since the bright red color is a warning sign, because it indicates fresh blood, I thought I'd better call my perinatal nurse that checks in with me once a week from the premature clinic in Santa Clara.  I had also had some pinching type pains that I thought were round ligament pain/stretching pains.   Apparently the combination of these two, with my background urged them to send me to labor and delivery right away.   I went to the restroom again and the bleeding had decreased so thought I'd hold out to at least my work lunch and see how I felt then.   The bleeding continued to decrease but when I called she even more urgent that I go immediately to labor and delivery to be monitored and checked out.  Even if it was nothing to worry about, she wanted to be safe than sorry.   So, in the space of about 10-15 minutes, I had to alert work, the office, and Josh as to what was going on and leave quickly to get to Modesto within the time I told them I'd be there.   
On the ride from Tracy to Modesto, I felt pains going up my spine and a tightening in my stomach like a metal ball trying to push through my skin.  My whole lower abdominal area started to get a dull ache and I could feel pressure from the inside side of the cervix.   I started to get more and more worried as I got closer to home.   I have never made it this far, and my only experiences with pain in that capacity all had to do with miscarriages-but I could still feel her moving around :)
We checked into Labor and Delivery and got signed in and got a room.   My vitals were taken and the fetal monitor went on my tummy to track contractions and movement and Maia's heartbeat.  There were definitely a couple of uncomfortable, slightly painful contractions happening about every 30 minutes or so.  After being monitored and an exam, it was shown that the cervix was still closed *yay!* and that what I was experiencing was most likely practice contractions/Braxton Hicks.   I was relieved that Maia was okay and that she wasn't coming today (the to do list that was running through my brain).   My crazy brain remembered to bring all the paperwork with us (birth plan, preadmit forms, etc.) just in case.   I did have a slight elevated fever probably related to the congestion I've had, but nothing to be worried about.  
This whole experience today has made me realize just how close we are and I am even more determined to finish the last couple big "to Do's" on our list.   It was kind of like a practice run or drill for the big day.   Josh was awesome the whole time-keeping me from freaking out, making sure things at home were taken care of in case we were not there for awhile while he waited for me to come home from Tracy and even talked to Maia during the whole process :)   
I will be 32 weeks on Monday and will be full term *37 weeks?*  in just over a month.   Here's hoping February and March go by quickly.