33 Weeks: Apparently my child is a medieval weapon

33 weeks, y'all, and here's the proof:

 

 

 

Also, MY view of things:

 

 

 Notice anything missing? Lean back, and...

 

 

Hey, there they are!

 

I'm getting bigger by the day (and feeling it, too - whew!).

 

Baby is the size of a: Durian fruit. Yes, a durian fruit.

 

 



Seriously, Baby Fruit Comparison People? Who even knows that the heck a durian fruit is? It looks more like a medieval weapon to me...you know, the big spiky ball on a chain? What's it called - a mace? This thing:

 

 

Um. Is this supposed to summon thoughts of all things sweet and precious and baby-like? Because it's not really working for me.

 

But, anyway...about 4.5-5 pounds and 17 inches.

 

Development: She's beginning to coordinate breathing with sucking and swallowing. This is HUGE because this is one of the main things that would keep her in NICU, if she were to come early.

 

Movement: It seems like she gets more active every day (and night). Her living space is obviously getting cramped, too, because she's pushing and shoving like nobody's business.

Weight gain: Haven't weighed this week, so this'll have to wait until my doctor's appointment next week. For now, I'm sticking with 15 pounds total.

 

Maternity clothes: This week, mostly maternity shirts with my regular jeans (with a hair elastic through the button hole). And slippers. Always slippers.

Sleep: Yuck, yuck, yuck.

Aversions/Cravings: Not really, just hungry all the freaking time. Current faves: maple instant oatmeal, spanakopita (the frozen ones), stuffed-crust pizza (sigh), and pretzel M&Ms (again: sigh). Oh, and my prenatal vitamins - no kidding. I have the gummy ones, and they're soooo yummy. Ha.

Symptoms: I'm a walking radiator - overheated all the stinking time. Seriously, poor Alex...he's got to be sick of me asking, "Is it just me or is it HOT in here?" (Note to self: yes, it's just you.) Also, contractions continue, sometimes frequent enough to be a bit scary...but no dilation, so that's good.

I miss: Is this pathetic? I actually miss cleaning my bathroom.

I feel: SICK of bedrest but so, so grateful to be at 33 weeks. I honestly can't believe we've come so far from the first pre-term labor scare at 24 weeks. The Lord has been good.

Looking forward to: My 34-week OB appointment next week. We'll be doing an ultrasound to measure Baby and see how she's doing and how big she is, and I can't wait. ALSO, there's a good possibility that the doctor may modify my bedrest restrictions at that point (freedoooooom); I'm trying so hard not to get my hopes up on that one, but can't help it, really.

More to come!

32 Weeks: Merry Christmas, Baby

Yep, that's this week's View from the Glider Chair. It's Christmas Eve, and all the gifts are wrapped and ready for...er, UNwrapping. But I've got my favorite/best gift already this year - I've made it to 32 weeks! I'm SO grateful that Baby Sylvia is still happily in utero and that NEXT Christmas will be her first one with us (outside the womb). In celebration...a long-overdue crappy self-pic (woo hoo):

 



I look overjoyed, huh? What can I say? Seven weeks on bedrest, and I'm feeling a little...blech.

 

Oh, some good news, though: I did the dreaded three-hour glucose tolerance test a few days ago (for the record, it sucked...100 grams of glucose on an empty stomach, with blood draws every hour for three hours, makes for some nasty nausea/dizziness/grossness) - and passed this time. So, no gestational diabetes. Whew!

 

Baby is the size of a: Squash (15-16 inches long and almost 4 pounds).

 



Development: She's working hard at getting fatter every day - should be gaining about a half pound every week at this point!

 

Movement: Never. Ever. Stops. Whew...this little gal is pushing, stretching, and shoving like nobody's business.

Weight gain: Another growth spurt - four pounds in the last two weeks! Yikes...it made the doctor happy, though. That means a total gain of 15 pounds so far. To be honest, it's kind of hard for me to see the numbers on the scale going up, but I know it's good for Baby, so I'm trying to go with it and not already be in "How long will it take me to lose this post-baby?" mode.

 

Maternity clothes: Same as usual - a mix, though a lot of my shirts aren't fitting anymore. Belly's getting biiiiig. (I don't think the picture above does it justice.)

Sleep: Still rotten. Boo.

Aversions/Cravings: The last couple of weeks, I've been hungry alllll the stinking time and am eating probably double what I should. Oy.

Symptoms: Pelvic pressure - I won't know for sure until my ultrasound in a couple of weeks, but I think she's finally flipped head-down. She's also pressing upward, against my ribs and lungs, and the result is a pretty out-of-breath mama.

By the way, two symptoms that I'm grateful to be lacking: no stretch marks as of yet (knock on wood), and my belly button, though suspiciously shallow these days, remains an "innie." Woo hoo.

I miss: Let's not even go there. I want soooo badly to be off bedrest and doing 1.6 bazillion different things (like puttering around decorating, cleaning, and cooking for Christmas Eve). But I have to hang tight for a few more weeks.

I feel: Still pretty "meh" most of the time. But, I admit, getting to spend time with my mother in law, sister in law, and stepson (and Alex, of course) this afternoon really made it better. Seeing my mom and brother this evening with make it even more better (mo' better). And lying here right now with dimmed lighting, Christmas tree lit, and the smell of spices and Crockpot cocktail sausages simmering...it's pretty nice...Christmas-y.

Looking forward to: Christmas Eve tonight with Mom and Adam tonight, and a quiet Christmas Day tomorrow with Alex.

Papi moment: I mentioned that Alex bought Sylvia a Christmas gift, right? Well, here's a picture:

Love it. Love her. Love him.

Merry Christmas, everyone!

The Big 3-0 (30 Weeks!): Double Bedrest Continues

Alex and I continued our joint couch-surfing adventure this week. His leg (a Frankenstein-looking mess of staples and bruises right now) is beginning to heal well, it seems, but it's been a rough week for sure. I want to take care of him, he wants to take care of me, and neither of us has been able to do much at all. He manages to get up and fetch me water and whatnot on crutches, and I clean and dress his surgical incision while lying down in bed. What a pair.

 

Thankfully, our family and friends have been fantastic - bringing us meals, sending cards and care packages, cleaning our apartment, picking up our prescriptions at CVS, checking our mail...a ton of little things that have added up to an incredible help and encouragement.

 

Oh, and Alex and I also discovered the joy that is Netflix a few days ago. We're kind of nerds in that we really enjoy documentaries, so this has been a goldmine. (I also MAY have watched about six episodes of "D.C. Cupcakes" in a row yesterday. Don't judge me, y'all - those girls made a nine-foot glow-in-the-dark guitar out of cupcakes; how could I not be into that??)

 

Anyway, on to Baby:

 

Baby is the size of an: Cucumber. About 16 inches long, and slightly more than three pounds.

 

 



Development: Her brain is getting wrinkly (quite the accomplishment), and she's getting stronger every day - in fact, she should be strong enough now to grasp a finger.

 

Movement: A picture's worth a thousand words, no? (Hint: the action starts around 16-17 seconds. Sorry, didn't edit the video.)

Weight gain: I've actually lost a pound since I was weighed two weeks ago, so total gain now stands at 11 pounds. Doctor wasn't thrilled about this, and I'm under instructions to try to eat more calorie-dense foods. We also will be doing an extra ultrasound in the new few weeks to make sure Sylvie is actually growing well and measuring on track. In the meantime, more peanut butter is in my future, I think.

Maternity clothes: Still a mix, and still mostly tights, slippers, and comfy tops. I did get pretty excited to put on skinny jeans and a cute top for my trip to the OB's office this morning, though. "Real" clothes? Boots? A scarf? Earrings? Yessss! I was living it up.

Sleep: Pretty rotten. Since Alex's surgery, we both are awake about every hour throughout the night - to take meds, to pee (this would be me), to readjust his leg, to pee again (er, yeah, me again), to take more meds, to take Alex's temperature (keeping watch on a low-grade fever), to pee again (sigh...), and so on.

Aversions/Cravings: Nah.

Symptoms: Contractions, of course. Um...what else? Not a lot that I think is specifically baby-related as opposed to bedrest-related. I'm still achy/sore and have some trouble with heartburn and nausea, but that seems to be, like I said, from being on my back all the time, inactive.

I miss: Taking care of Alex. Not being able to make him meals, pick up his medications, fluff his pillows...all those things...has been ridiculously frustrating.

I feel: Meh. {{Shrug}}

Looking forward to: Wrapping Christmas gifts...maybe...if I can figure out how to do it from the couch or glider chair. Hm...

29 Weeks: The Convalescent Home (TWO Invalids!)

Well, folks, the Mendoza household has, as of today, officially turned into a convalescent home. Alex's turn to be in the hospital was yesterday. He had knee surgery in the afternoon, came home this morning, and now is laid up, too! Proof (blurry, sorry):

 

 

Stylin' no-slip socks, compliments of the hospital:

 

 

Between the two of us, we've become our own pharmacy:

 

 

My new view from the glider chair:

 

 

We're kind of a sad pair, actually - he CAN get up and about (on crutches), but is in pain, on heavy meds, and hooked up to a machine that keeps his knee iced via tubing and chilled water...here's a pic:

 

 

 

Pretty cool machine, eh? (Pun sort of intended. Ha.)

 

Anyway, getting up is generally a no-no for me, and it's painful and a hassle for him...so...yeah...interesting times here at our apartment.

 

That said, despite her mama and papi being stuck on their backs, Baby Girl is doing great. Here she is, chilling:

 

 

Want an update on her? She's more fun to talk about than Alex and I are, anyway. Ha. Sooo...

 

Baby is the size of an: Acorn squash. About three pounds, and about 16 inches long.

 

 

 

Development: She's continuing to accumulate fat, and her quarters are probably feeling a bit tighter these days as she gets bigger and has far less room to "swim" around.

 

Movement: Sometimes I don't feel her for well over an hour, and other times she goes nuts for long periods of time. I love all the jabs, rolls, flutters, etc. (She's doing some in-utero gymnastics as I type this, actually.)

PTL (pre-term labor) update: I still contract throughout every day. It happens every time I get upright to go to the bathroom, move from the couch to the glider, or whatever else. It happens when I sneeze or cough. It happens if I make the mistake of setting my laptop too close to my belly (usually I keep it sort of propped up on my legs with blankets and pillows). It happens if my bladder gets too full, if I have a gassy stomach, or if I get overly hungry. Basically...the Evil Uterus is ridiculously irritable and easy to provoke.

I also still have periods where the Evil Uterus just seems to, unprovoked, go nuts and start contracting every 3-5 minutes again. Not cool. If that goes on for a half hour, I try drinking a TON of water and lying on my side. If that doesn't work, I take an extra nifedipene pill. Usually that will calm things down within about an hour. But it's admittedly stressful.

Weight gain: I haven't weighed since last week, so still just saying 12 pounds total for now.

Maternity clothes: Tights and slippers, y'all. Occasionally jeans...I do have those on today. Kind of makes me feel halfway human, actually.

Sleep: Crappy lately. The end.

Aversions/Cravings: Nah, not really. Everything gives me gas and heartburn lately anyway, so...meh...

Symptoms: Baby-wise, not much is different from last week. But I'm starting to really feel the effects of having been on my back for a month now - my muscles ache, and my stamina is WAY down; just getting up to shower leaves me a little winded. Good grief. Some serious working out is in my future, post-baby!

I miss: Um...everything? Normal life?

I feel: Like an inmate. But at least I have a cellmate for a while (thanks, Alex). And, on a serious note, I'm SO grateful that the Lord is sustaining this pregnancy thus far and keeping Baby safely inside the womb.

Looking forward to: Reaching 30 weeks this coming Monday; that seems like such a landmark!

NOT looking forward to: The three-hour glucose tolerance test. Yep, I failed the one-hour last week, so I have to go back for the longer test. Great. For those who aren't familiar with this, it's a test to see how my body is processing glucose - the purpose is to test for gestational diabetes. I'll go in to the OB's office after fasting for 12 hours and have blood drawn. Then I have to down this bad boy:

It's a SUPER sugary/syrupy orange drink - it kind of reminds me of a really thick, even sweeter version of those Bug Juice drinks that kids like. Blech. After drinking it, I basically camp out in the waiting room for the next three hours, and have my blood drawn at every hour mark. So...lots of sugar on an empty stomach, lots of needle-poking, and lots of waiting. Fun, fun...

Anyway, hopefully I pass this one. From what I'm reading, the majority of women who fail the one-hour test do pass the three-hour. I'm hoping I'll fall within that majority.

Daddy Papi moment: Alex came home a few days ago with a Christmas present for Sylvie. Cute.

More on the bed-bound Mendozas next week!