34 Weeks!!!

 

What is insane is that my due date is six weeks away! How crazy is that? It’s so hard to believe that in THREE weeks I will be considered full term and he could come at any time. I’m sure he will be a late one since first time moms typically deliver later and have longer labors… And because I’m so punctual and such a planner. But if he’s late, wonderful. There are so many babies being born early around me that I thank God for each day that Roman stays inside my womb. Some of these babies have made it, some have struggles, and others are no longer with us. It’s heartbreaking and like any mom, I want the best for my son. With that said, there really isn’t that much time left. It’s almost January 1 and Roman is due on February 10. My job has mentioned that they are planning a shower, my coworkers have planned an work social for 3 1/2 weeks away, the Super Bowl is coming up, and my OB appointments are going to be moving to weekly visits soon – so many events to speed up the time. Oh and we have a childbirth/lamaze class this Saturday!

Despite how quickly things are moving, this past week was the longest week of my pregnancy and it is once again attributable to the pains of the house we are renting. Christmas Eve morning I awoke to read my email on my phone as I always do and saw that my husband, who was sound asleep next to me, had CC’d me on an email to our landlord/property manager/realtor (I don’t know WTF he is) that informed him our thermostat was broken after the batteries inside had corroded and our heat was no longer working. -.- Seriously?! I just wanted to roll over and pretend like there wasn’t another damn thing wrong with our house. We received a response promptly at 8 am referring us to one of his handymen who we called at 9 am and left a message. We continued to call but received no response. That night we bought firewood and a space heater so that we could keep our downstairs warm enough for Craig, our bearded dragon, as his heating pads were not producing sufficient heat. To sum this story up, we were freezing on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day/night. The handyman didn’t return our call until my husband returned to work on Thursday.  Fortunately the heat was back on and the house was roasting by the time I got home from work that night.

I have some new symptoms this week. Numbness, tingling, and mild pain in my arms. The numbness and tingling happens in the morning when I’m in bed – even when I haven’t been sleeping on my arms. I make it a point to keep them free from my body weight but it still comes regardless.

Also, I have slight swelling in my hands. It’s not too noticeable but as you can see from the pic below, my wedding ring is too tight. It used to be that my fingers would swell at night but now it comes and goes throughout the day. I keep a necklace with me so that I can wear my ring around my neck in the event that it becomes too tight.

Other than the new symptoms, I’ve been dealing with my and Roman’s weight. At the end of the day my legs and feet are killing me. I can start my day of with a normal, pre-pregnancy stride but by mid-day I’m waddling like penguin. And when I lay down at night, I cannot get comfortable. I always sleep on my left side (though I find myself on the right side when I wake up in the middle of the night) with a pillow between my legs and something supporting my stomach but I cannot get any support for my back, even with I sleep on the couch. As much as I look forward to laying down every night, a part of me dreads it because I know that no matter what I do, I will toss and turn all night and wake up at least 3-4 times to get comfortable and/or use the bathroom.

I’ve begun looking for a pediatrician. 😉 This isn’t fun at all. In fact it’s overwhelming. I have advice coming in left and right. I just need to sit back and focus on what’s important for us instead of what is important for other people. We have one appointment scheduled for 1/14 with a small practice of three pediatricians. It’s close to home and work and on the way to base. The receptionist was very friendly and the doctor we are meeting with is affiliated with my hospital so those are good signs. I also like what I’ve read about her and what was posted on their website. A second practice I called was kind of rude and never called back to give me an appointment date. They didn’t seem to concerned to have our business so I think I’m going to scratch them off the list despite evening hours and being in our neighborhood.

Survey

My age: 26

How far along: 34 weeks, 2 days

How big is baby: 5+ pounds, 20 inches or so

What have you been up to: enjoying my days off thanks to Christmas and New Years. 🙂

Exercise/Activity Level: plateauing again.

Stretch marks: Nope.

Belly Button: Still in the in between stage sometimes

Sleep: *grumble*

Newest baby milestones this week: Apparently Roman is peeing a pint a day… that he then consumes. Gross.

Best Moment of the Week: Coming home to a 76 degree home.

Worst Moment of the Week: Waking up to no heat and falling asleep without heat.

Food cravings: a chocolate milkshake and gatorade.

Food aversions: none

Symptoms: see above

Movement: No change, though last night he stretched and turned at the same time and boy, did it leave me breathless.

Gender: Boy

What I’m looking forward to:  Spending January 1st with my husband. 🙂

What I’m nervous about/praying for: That everything is perfectly well with Roman when he is born. Seeing all these babies being born with complications really scares me.

Next appointment: Today! Look for an update later. Now, one last photo…

from my fortune cookie. 🙂