Annoying back pains I don't know if I'm starting early labor or what. I may have overdone myself from yesterday's activities. Normally when I have back pain and I sleep it off, it goes away but I didn't get enough sleep last night. I was tossing and turning every 2 hours and my back pain is still here. I called Labor & Delivery just to get reassurance and they said that it's possible that I've started early labor. I don't really have regular contractions, menstrual-like cramps or bloody discharge but that doesn't mean anything. I just have to monitor it I guess. I took a long warm bath and it helped a bit. I really have to finish packing my hospital bag just in case. I'm glad I'm going on maternity leave soon, that is, if my baby boy doesn't show up before then.
My cousin told me that she delivered early with all 3 of her babies so when I told her I was having some back pain, she got REALLY concerned. That's how her labor started with her firstborn. She had no idea that she was in labor. My mom's no help because she had a c-section and knew exactly when we're coming out. Oh well, I guess this uncertainty goes with the territory. I just have to be prepared to roll with it.
2007-09-14 (36 weeks)
Getting closer by the day I had my 36 week appointment yesterday. I was told that I was probably dehydrated cause my urine was borderline. I think she's right though. Ever since we moved to a new building and they took out the water cooler at work, I've been bringing my own 1-gallon jug. If you know me, I usually drink water like a fish but since that 1-gallon jug can get heavy at times along with bringing other crap with me to work, I've been rationing what I've been drinking but I think from now on, I don't care anymore. I'll just drink as much as I want. Anyway, I've noticed some slight swelling on my ankles. She said my weight gain was good, my uterus is measuring right where it should be and the baby's heartbeat is strong. She also did the Group B strep. It kinda hurt a little bit, especially when she swabbed my rectal area (TMI I know, sorry!). She also tried to check my dilation and I found out that I'm 1 cm dilated and my cervix has shortened a bit.
I brought in my State forms for disability and one thing I found out was that I can actually go off work now if I wanted to. So this was what some people were telling me about. I didn't know that you're given 4 weeks off before your due date and then 6 weeks postpartum. Well, if I knew that, I could've gotten off work earlier this week! It's okay though. I'm planning on going off work next Wednesday so I need to get my ass in gear on Monday and Tuesday to get everything finished before I leave. The commute to my work (30 miles each way) is getting to me. Besides, my back started hurting REALLY bad yesterday. I think this week, I was just running myself ragged which is so not good. I don't wanna go on an early labor. So until then, I'll get a chance to rest up this weekend and do some housework.
2007-09-12 (36 weeks)
Ache in my bones and other pregnancy woes You know you're in the home stretch when even shopping doesn't sound as exciting anymore. These days, I try to get a nap and 8-hour sleep and it still leaves me tired in the morning. Boy, what a difference from the earlier trimesters. Even cooking in the kitchen proves to be such a chore. I'm just glad my husband is patient with me. When I wake up in the morning, I feel numbness either on my right or left arms, most likely from sleeping on them through the night. I usually wake up with swollen fingers now. It won't be long before I have to stop wearing my engagement and wedding rings. My feet and ankles are still pretty ok I think but I know trying on some of my shoes in the afternoon are a bit hard. I've been peeing a lot more in the daytime but so far I've been lucky at night. My stomach is definitely getting bigger by the week but that's okay since I know our little boy has to put on some weight before he comes out. I can't believe I still have about 2.5 weeks before I go on maternity leave but I think I can still hang. However, if my body really doesn't wanna go on anymore, I won't hesitate to just stay home.
2007-09-10 (35 weeks)
Finishing Touches So we finally went through our last baby shower yesterday and I'm pretty exhausted from the weekend's activities. Saturday was our Childbirth class and it was a whole day thing and then we had a date night that night. We didn't get home until about 10 PM. Thank goodness the restaurant was only one block away from us. The next day was my usual church thing and then the baby shower right afterwards. After church, we only stayed home to change and then it's off to our friend's house. We got home around 6 PM. I took a nap and then woke up to eat some dinner and then went back to sleep around 11 PM. My body is paying a price for it today.
This week is gonna be a busy one too--kinda like hell week. I'm giving myself a break from choir practice because I can't have activities Tues-Friday night back to back. I'm gonna end up delivering this baby due to exhaustion. It probably wouldn't matter if I didn't work a full time job but at this point, I'm gonna cut myself some slack.
Anyway, of all the baby showers, we did pretty good I think. We got the important stuff we needed, including the big ticket items. So now we can use our gift cards and extra money to buy some extra crib sheets, mattress pads and the health/grooming kit. This baby is set! This weekend, if our refund check comes, we should put in the closet organizers and we will wash all the baby clothes and pack my hospital bag. I know I still have about a month ago but I'm starting to have that "I-can't-wait-to-have-this-baby" mentality. I can still sleep relatively well at night save for some cramps, arm numbness and once a night peeing. I'm still having mixed emotions about this birth but for the most part, I feel excited and happy.
