39 weeks and they are coming TODAY!!!

Today is the day!! Woo! I'm so excited and relieved to have made it to this point. We no longer have to worry about Ben and Ali missing the birth (unless I happen to give birth in the next 4 hours which is not seeming very likely). I feel like I can relax and enjoy the rest of the pregnancy and their visit while they are here. We have a busy rest of the week planned and as ready as I am to get this show going I kind of hope that (s)he waits until Saturday... or at least Friday night. Thursday we have the biophysical which will be fun. I'm so curious what they say about the baby's size. This is the 2nd ultrasound that Ali and Ben have been able to attend. Then right after that my mom, who is a maternity nurse and has also had extra training in breastfeeding, is giving me, Ali, my doula client (who is due 6 days after me) and my doula (who is currently nursing), a crash course in breastfeeding. I am SOO looking forward to this! I love learning! No I won't be breastfeeding this time around, but it will give me some useful tools in helping my doula clients learn to breastfeed and get a good latch in the future. Then Friday we have another dr's apt... hoping to get my membranes stripped, another NST right after and then that evening a party for a few of my friends to meet Ali and Ben for the first time. I REALLY don't want to miss any of those events!! So I'm hoping this baby hangs in there until then. Anyone who knows me knows that I would do anything to attend any sort of social event and this one sounds even funner than usual. :)

I have been feeling some stirrings within my body of things to come. I have been having cramping and some braxton hicks that feel more like real contractions, but so far nothing has changed. I went to the dr. on Monday on the verge of calling Ben and Ali to come only to have him check me and find out that I was not dilating yet and my cervix is still posterior. He was pretty sure I had another 2 days in me. That set my nerves at ease and we agreed that they would wait until the previously agreed upon date. I have found it so nerve wracking knowing that they are so far away. I couldn't help but read into every little twinge that I felt b/c I knew that the only chance they had of not missing the birth if this baby decided to come early, was if I recognized the early signs of labour. Thankfully since yesterday I have had little to no uterine activity (for once) and we have all been able to rest easy and know that they were very likely going to make it. This is our last week (I HOPE) and that means that the baby really could come any time. Both my daughters were early (one 5 days and the other 3 days early) so going overdue would be a new (and somewhat unwelcome) experience haha.

It has finally sunk in that this is actually happening. Feeling the cramping and braxton hicks has really got me excited to experience a labour and delivery again and although my husband and I aren't preparing for a baby we are still preparing for a birth. The waiting game at the end is SOO much fun! :) I'm excited to share this with Ben and Ali when they get here. I hope we can go and do a bit of baby shopping just to get the full experience of the final days. I still can't believe that we are finally here!! Thinking back to the first conversation with Ali and then telling friends and family and actually going through the hormones and transfer just seem so far away. We were looking at this point as a possible future outcome and praying it would happen, but really having no idea if it actually would. It has happened and we are almost done and it really blows my mind. God is so good!! It has been such a blessing to be able to join in this experience and soon welcome Ben and Ali's baby into this world. I have felt since about a year after I delivered my first daughter that this was something that I was called to do. God put the desire in my heart and this whole process has been in his hands from before we even knew it was beginning. From how we were able to meet to the moment Ali receives her little one in her arms and we hear that glorious first cry. It's blessings upon blessings that years cannot forget and I'm so thankful!!

I will keep everyone updated and post one final belly shot the day we go into labour. I can't wait!!

38 1/2 weeks! Only 1 1/2 left to go!

We are in the home stretch!! It literally could be any day from now to 10 days after our due date (which WON'T happen!!!) I am remembering exactly what the last couple weeks entails and it's making me excited. The braxton hicks are a constant companion which I completely expected. They feel really strange b/c the baby's bum sticks out further than anything else so when I get some tightening my belly gets SUPER lopsided. It will be interesting to see what it looks like with real contractions. I think I have been saying to my husband almost everyday for the last 3 or 4 days that I am feeling strange today. I can't seem to pinpoint what it is, but I can just tell my body is priming itself for the major event it's about to undergo. It's really really hard not to read into every little twinge or pain. Is it the baby moving or is that cramping?? I can't tell where one begins and the other ends. Is it my uterus or my bowels?? My whole insides feel like they are all twisted and intertwined with eachother and I can't tell where each sensation is coming from. If the parents were here I really wouldn't be focusing on the little things nearly as much b/c when the baby comes doesn't really matter. Right now if I miss the early warning signs it would very likely mean the difference between them being here for the birth and missing it. They get here in 4 short days so we won't have to worry about that for very much longer.

The busy time of pregnancy has started once again. I enjoy this part :) I have a non-stress test every Friday until the baby is here (unless we go overdue then I have two a week). I have a dr's apt. once a week and we are also having a biophysical done on the baby. A biophysical is really just more of an in depth ultrasound. It gives us a better idea of how my cervix and amniotic fluid are holding up and gives a better estimate for the size of the baby. So far my dr. is still thinking under 7lbs. The NST I just had yesterday wasn't exactly stellar. They like to see lots of fluctuation in the heart rate as well as a good solid baseline. The baby had the baseline, but little to no fluctuations even while it was moving. Finally after turning onto my left side and not having it improve I ate a cookie my doula had brought for me and WOW did that do the trick! Their baby went CRAZY! We could barely get the heart rate it was moving so much. Thankfully the rest of the strip looked good and they sent me home, but it was enough to get me thinking that if we got another flat strip like that they probably wouldn't let us go overdue. Flat NST's can be a sign that baby isn't loving it in there and would probably be happier on the outside. If I could chose the delivery day I would pick August 28th (I no longer want to wait until my birthday on the 30th). We are having a get together with my friends and the baby's parents on Friday the 27th and I have decided that it would be just great to go into labour at the party, but not so intense that I couldn't still enjoy myself. All the key players will be there, my husband, our doula, baby's parents, my dr. (he's a friend of ours)... so we would be set!

It's the most surreal feeling right now. It seems weird to even talk about a delivery. We aren't preparing for a baby to come, our lives really aren't changing along with this major life event, but as I feel my body preparing more and more it has started to feel more real. I am still having a hard time puting feelings to this experience. I think that I am excited, but other than that I don't feel a lot right now. I will be interested myself to see how I am during and afterwards. I really have no idea what it will be like. Right now the experience isn't connecting in my head. Maybe when Ben and Ali get here it will be different. Sorry if that was confusing... I have a hard time understanding it myself.

SO all in all still good :) Pray that this baby waits atleast until it's parents get here on the 25th.

Time is slowing down...

I was hoping this wouldn't happen, but sort of figured it would. I think it's because we are getting so close and I've become a little obsessed with the countdown. It's not that I'm DIEING to be done this pregnancy I think it's more that there is an exciting event on the horizon. There is something to countdown to and now that we are so close the reality is setting in and I'm realizing that it's going to be awesome. Regardless of how the delivery goes (which I think will be beautiful and much like my last two) this is an amazing event! I am starting to feel the effects of being 9 months pregnant. I am fighting a daily battle with water retention and my body can't see to decide if I'm winning or loosing. I seem to go from piglet toes to normal in about 10 minutes and then back again. I actually find swelling to be one of the most uncomfortable symptoms of pregnancy. It makes me feel less like myself and more like a whale trying to move around on land. I can hear it in my voice sometimes too. It's the pregnant women voice that some people get. It sounds like swollen lips that cause some sort of a lisp mixed with breathlessness. I'm also getting indigestion and heartburn. Nothing to complain about, but just a reminder of what we've got going on here. If I eat too much I pay for it for about 4 hours. I feel soooo full and can't catch my breath and then I get indigestion and once it's started to digest, the heartburn comes. I try to lay down and stretch my body out as much as I can so that there's more room for my body to do what it needs doing, but that only helps so much and laying down isn't really that awesome since the food tries to make it's way back up. The weird thing is I never know what too much is going to be. Sometimes I can eat a lot and not feel it and then other times I'll indulge in a freezie and that will push me over the edge. It's weird...

I'm really not complaining. I know that these are all symptoms of pregnancy and they really aren't that bad. I can live with them. It's all just part of the experience and again this is exactly what I signed up for. One of my clients (I'm a doula) just went into pre-term labour and delivered a baby at 33 weeks. That has really put everything into perspective for me. We have been so blessed with a healthy pregnancy. We are literally weeks away and everything is pointing to a normal healthy delivery and baby. We really couldn't have asked for a better journey.

Anyways, here are some updated pics. I'm feeling baby in every spot on this belly. It's running out of room in there. Thankfully it won't need much more since we only have 3 weeks to go. I was looking at my pictures from 13 weeks pregnant and I can't even imagine looking like that again!! It blows my mind. I feel so large and round and I really can't see past the belly into the future of normalcy again. It's weird to imagine it... actually I can't imagine it. I'm excited to experience it again though :D

36 week photo's ... finally :)

No bare belly shots... I think it looks weird on me haha. I think that I am carrying pretty low which is fine. More comfortable than carrying high I think. Less baby in the stomach, ribs and lungs. More room for food and oxygen. I also feel like I have plateaued in belly growth in the last few weeks. I am still growing and baby is still growing, but not at an alarming rate. I have a friend who is due 6 days after me and it feels like every time I see her she has visibly grown whereas I can't tell that I've changed. As long as baby is fine I really don't mind. Less belly to loose afterwards. I have been feeling really good lately as well. Staying cool by eating ice, swimming at the lake and using our fans and the swelling really hasn't been an issue too much yet. Some days are worse than others. I can still wear my rings so that's nice! I have gotten my pregnancy induced carpel tunnel back... which kind of sucks. I had it for the last 3 months with my first pregnancy and it was miserable and very painful, but this time it isn't nearly as bad. I can put my arms above my head when I'm laying down and feel my arms and hands return to normal. Basically it's a farely healthy normal pregnancy. I'm happy with how things are going and I can't wait for things to start happening. I'm no longer feeling scared about the delivery just excited to experience it again. Ali and Ben will be getting here so soon and that's something to look forward to!! :D

36 weeks!!!

Sorry for the lack of posts in the last few weeks. Summer is so busy and we have just been on a whole slew of holidays that have kept us having fun and out of the house. We just spent 4 days at a house on the edge of Slave Lake and it was one of the best camping trips I have ever been on. Just such an awesome time spent with my husband, kids and friends. I have come home feeling absolutely rejuvenated and thankful for life. It has hit me lately that the countdown is on! Ali and Ben will be getting her in 3 weeks to await the arrival of their baby which I am hoping will come farely close, if not a tad earlier than the due date. It's only 4 weeks away!! I really can't believe how fast this last 10 weeks has gone. I'm hoping that the last 4 will go by just as fast, but in the same breath I really don't want to wish away the summer. I have been enjoying this pregnancy for the most part and even with the heat of summer I have come to conclusion that summer is an AWESOME time to be pregnant. I never tan as well as I do when I'm pregnant and I with all the family, friends and fun that come along with summer there really hasn't been any time to think about the discomforts of pregnancy. I don't know if it's b/c it's not my baby, but this summer I have felt that the countdown didn't take as excruciatingly long to get through as it did during the winter months. I am a little sad to realize that I may have just returned home from my last camping trip until after their baby is born. I guess it's only a short time and I will be fine, but it kind of feels like summer is being pried from my grips and Autumn is close on my heels.... I'm NOT a fall person and even less of a winter person. Again I ask myself WHY do I live in NORTHERN BC?!?!?!

News on the baby front is good. We have what I am assuming is our last ultrasound on August 5th. This one will be with the OB and act as our final checkup with him before delivering. I am confident that they will find everything is in tip top shape and if there is any surprises to be found we are close enough to the end that delivery would be a safe option. I'm excited to come home with some more photo's for the baby book that his/her mom is making. Next week we begin our weekly dr's visits and I "get" to have the dreaded Group B strep. swab done then as well. This swab is my all time least favorite test out there. It's similar to a pap, but for some reason makes me nauseous with apprehension at the thought of getting it done. For those of you who haven't had this lovely experience basically what they do is swab the area around the rectum and vagina for a bacteria that can be harmful to the baby. If the woman delivering is positive for this bacteria they need to be given antibiotics during labour to help protect the baby from any complications that could arise if they were to get the bacteria transmitted to them during the delivery. 10-30% of pregnant women carry this bacteria and it doesn't effect them. I have been negative with my past two pregnancy's, but that doesn't mean it won't be positive now so I know it's important to get I'm just REALLY not looking forward to it.

Anyways, I'll write another post after my ultrasound and dr's visits to update on the baby's status and I have found my camera so I will really try and remember to take another picture today. I have been forgetting that lately.