Full Term

Emily is full term this week! That means I'm ready for this little girl to come out now! My doctor told me she will only let me go 2 weeks past my due date... that's in a month! I could be induced the day after my due date (doctor thinks I'll be begging for it by then) but I'd like to give her more time to come out on her own. We'll see how I feel at that point if Emily hasn't shown up yet.

I've read that her growth will slow down now that she's full term. That's good news for me- I don't know how much bigger I can get! Some people have told me I look like I'm going to pop, and a lot of people keep telling me how small I am. I think I look about average? Aside from the back pain and heartburn, I still feel pretty good.

I'm feeling better about everything lately. Chris has been helping me calm down and I don't feel so stressed out today. He's been working overtime this weekend to make some extra money so we're not in a bind between maternity leave starting and my short term disability kicking in.

I'm finally working from home! Well, my mom's home. She lives 10 minutes from the hospital and has a faster internet connection. I'm also less distracted when I'm there. When I'm at my house, I want to clean up the house during my lunch break or wash a load of laundry while I'm waiting for a report to load. At my mom's house, I'm able to concentrate on work.

At my last appointment, the doctor told me that I'm 1cm dilated. Hooray progress! I go in again tomorrow for my (almost) 38 week appointment.


She has definitely dropped! Most of my shirts don't fit anymore because she hangs out of the bottom. Now we just have to wait! 18 more days!

35/35

Yesterday I made it to a pretty important milestone- 35 weeks pregnant, only 35 days to go! That's 5 weeks! Miss Emily Jean could be here in the next couple of weeks, although I'm pretty sure she's going to hold out until October. It's surreal to think that I could be holding her any day now.

I've been having what I think are BH contractions just about every day for the past week, but they aren't frequent or regular. I usually get them after I get home from work while I'm trying to cook dinner or do the dishes. I think it has to do with sitting all day at my desk, sitting in my car during traffic, then standing for an hour, leaning awkwardly to keep my belly out of the sink. They're pretty painful, but don't last very long. It's like a sharp pain that wraps around the bottom of my belly from one side to the other and my belly gets really hard. I'm going to be such a wuss during labor, but I'm getting better at handling these. Occasionally I'll get one that is so bad I have to lay down, but for the most part I can just walk it off.

Work is getting more and more difficult for me. At my 33 week appointment, my doctor recommended that I start working from home at 35 weeks since I'm so far from the hospital (it's a 2 hour drive). She said that if something were to happen, she wants me to go to the nearest hospital and said I shouldn't try to make it to Austin. She hasn't said she thinks Emily will show up early, she just tells me that she could come at any time.

I got the okay from work to start working from home at the beginning of September (36 weeks), but they haven't gotten a temp for me to train. They seem to think that I'll just hang around until they get someone. They almost had a temp but changed their minds and decided to keep looking! This baby isn't going to wait on a temp! I won't be having this baby in San Antonio at an unfamiliar hospital with a doctor I don't know. I feel bad, but I'm going to talk to my doctor at my appointment next week and see if I can get a note from her saying I should be working from home. I'll still work and train someone, I'll just have to do it from home! I'm not taking any chances, having a baby is kind of important.

I've got my 35 week pictures but I think Chris took the camera. He's going to New Orleans for a bachelor party this weekend. I'll admit it, I'm pretty jealous. I want to go to New Orleans. However, I'm glad I'm not going on this trip. Seven dudes are taking a big van on an 8 hour car ride and then packing themselves into 3 hotel rooms when they get there. No thanks! Roger and I get the king sized bed all to ourselves while he's gone.

He told me I'm not allowed to have the baby this weekend. He said no shopping, no walking around too much, no spicy foods and no sex, haha. I guess I can handle that. I'm spending the day with Kristen tomorrow doing girly (non stressful) things. I miss him already, hope he has fun, and it wouldn't hurt if he happened to step into a casino and win some money while he's there. :)

But I am Le Tired...

Hey there 3rd trimester, I know we just met, but I think things have gotten off to a rocky start. Maybe you forgot our conversation last week? I specifically asked you (very nicely, in fact) to be kind to me. That's all I asked. But you have not been kind to me.

Yes, you are the last step before I get to meet my little girl, and I am glad that you're here. However, you did not have to give me this god awful acid reflux. I've never had it before. I didn't know what it was until a couple of days ago. I just thought everything I ate was bad and my body was rejecting it. It burns, it hurts, and the gas has got to stop. Please make it go away. If not for me, then for Chris. He really doesn't deserve to sleep in a gas chamber.

Well, sometimes he does.

If you can't do that for me, how about easing up on the exhaustion a bit? I'll admit you aren't as hard on me as 1st tri was, but you are a little trickier. 1st tri let me sleep. On my back, on my side, curled up, stretched out, even on my stomach. You aren't that nice. You don't allow me to sleep on my stomach, on my back, or even on my right side. All I get is the left side. And if that weren't enough, you make my back pain excruciating during the night. You even threw in the "wake up twice a night to pee" thing. Real funny.

Have you been plotting against me with my own daughter, 3rd trimester? She seems to enjoy kicking the crap out of my insides during those few and far between moments of actual comfortable sleep. What did you say to her? What can I do to make it stop? If you're in good with her, can you tell her that if she lets up during the night, I'll buy her a car when she turns 16? Maybe not a brand new BMW, but I promise I'll work with her.

I'm afraid I'm freezing my family out at night. You make me hot, 3rd trimester, and not in a good way. I'm already waking up for a million other things at night, now I'm waking up to turn the AC down. Even with it set at 68 and sleeping with a thin blanket, I manage to wake up covered in sweat like I just ran a 1/2 mile. Yes, 1/2 mile. Why didn't I say marathon? Because if I ran a marathon, I wouldn't be covered in sweat, I.... well, I wouldn't finish the marathon. I'd probably get about 1/2 a mile and say screw it, I'm eating a bowl of ice cream.

Here's a good one- how is it that you make me feel either drunk or hungover 75% of the time when I haven't ingested a drop of alcohol since January? I'm lightheaded. I'm dizzy. I run into things (more than normal). I forget things. The other day I ran the dryer for 30 minutes before realizing it was empty. I forget what I'm saying halfway through a sentence. I'm surprised I haven't gotten lost on my way home from work yet.

Lastly, I would like my patience back. Why would you take that from me? You know I didn't have much to begin with.

I know you don't like me. I don't really like you either. That being said, I would still appreciate you hanging around until late September. I really want to meet Emily Jean, but not too soon. You're the only thing keeping her in there until she's ready.