36 Weeks!

Today marks the end of my 36th week, and the commencement of what is the "last week before he is full term".  Yes, I am still pregnant; and I hope to be pregnant for at least 2 more weeks. While, yes, I am uncomfortable; I know that the longer he cooks the better it is for little man.

This week presented me with new challenges. I spent most of it sick with a nasty head cold turned sinus infection. It all started last Friday while I was working from home and all of the sudden around noon I started sneezing and feeling tired overall. Luckily I had managed to get in a quick walk early in the morning; so even though I was pretty wiped I was glad I got to move for a while.

On Saturday, hubby had his birthday (as well as my nephew), and we had the celebration at home. I tried as hard as I could to play hostess, but my body wanted none of it. I sort of slugged through it and after everybody left I retreated to my bed. Not only was I congested and feeling crappy overall; having this huge belly does NOT help. There are very few positions I can lay down on and after a while, it becomes even more uncomfortable. But I thought that it just felt like a regular cold; the more I rested, the quicker it would go away. Man, I was wrong!

By Sunday I was still feeling like death, so I stayed in bed one more day. I tried sleeping, sitting up, laying on my side, propping myself up with pillows; nothing seemed to work. I felt completely useless, which is never good to feel, but it just adds to the level of "helplessness" you feel this late in pregnancy.

Monday rolled around and I was still super congested, but with added pressure in my head, and absolutely no voice. Every time I sneezed I thought my head was going to explode, my ears popped each time I blew my nose, my throat hurt. It was then I decided to head to the doctor. Off I went and of course, like 9 out of 10 times they told me it was a virus... Need to let it run its course. Luckily for me, the doctor lady took pity on me and gave me a prescription for some antibiotics with instructions not to start taking it NOW; but if things did not get better, or I started having nose discharge that was anything but clear. Otherwise I was told to just take cold medicines; which is fine and dandy, but being pregnant there is a HUGE limitation to what you can and cannot take. Wouldn't you know that by the time I got home my nose discharge had turned yellow, so I went out again and got my prescription filled. 

As of today, I am feeling slightly better; still have a very congested head and by the time 6 pm rolls around I am really tired and ready for bed... This is sad to admit, but I have cried about this maybe one time (or two or three). I just want to feel better, you know? Late pregnancy is hard enough; I really do not need the added sickness.

On the good side of things, I have graduated to weekly doctor's appointments. Some of you might think that going to the doctor on a weekly basis is a hassle; and while I in part agree with that statement, I can't help but to be happy about it because it means that the end is near. Only 4 more weeks until I hit my due date; and hopefully we will get to meet the little dude soon.

Goals

The time keeps ticking and little by little we are getting closer to my due date. I am so ready for this little guy to get here! It has been a tough journey, a little tougher than I remember it being with my first child; but I am ready to welcome Baby K to the world and get working on becoming my old self again.


With that in mind I decided to put some of my bigger goals out there for the universe to know. So here it goes…

It is no secret that pregnancy adds weight to your frame. At this point I have stopped counting how many lbs I have gained (let’s just leave it at a LOT), but I am painfully aware of the toll this has taken on my body. My goal is that by the time I am one year post partum I will have lost the weight I put on during this pregnancy. The last thing I did before I got pregnant was train for ironman; and while that was hard, I did end up with an extra 10 lbs, so I am adding those lbs to the amount I want to lose. How am I going to do this? I have already enlisted the help of a nutritionist; and we are just waiting for me to give birth, come back home and “settle” some before we start the work

I am planning to keep a detailed journal, not only of the food I eat, but also of how I feel. When my first child was born I had a big case of the baby blues; and I want to keep a close look on that this time around. Postpartum depression scares me; and I want to make sure I do NOT go there.

I plan on returning to workouts as soon as I can; so next year I can have a nice triathlon season. I know it will take work to get to where I was; but I will work extra hard to get there. Part of working with the nutritionist is not just to lose the weight; but it is also related to my sports performance. I still want to be “good” at the sport; and the fact that I will have 2 kids instead of one; only means I will have to get better at being organized. I will continue to work full time; and I have already lined up daycare for Baby K; so that I can return to the gym/pool as soon as I get back to work. Why not before? Because Baby K will be too young to be left at the gym’s daycare center; so while I will be working on my bike/run fitness; my swim fitness will have to wait until I go back to work.

On the more “vain” side of things (as if losing the weight and gaining fitness were not vain enough); I am planning on a total overhaul of my “style”. What do I mean by this? I want to look at myself everyday when I go into work and feel like I look professional. Right now (and before getting pregnant) you could say I look frumpy… I have zero style, and I want to change that. I like my job a lot and I think I can have a strong career; but I need to look the part if I want to get it, don’t you think? I also want to look more like a “girl” during the weekends. I am all for comfort; but I am determined to find a happy medium. My weapon of choice??? Shopping at Athleta.com. Now that is a store that will break my bank any day.
I know I “plan” on a lot of stuff; and that the going might get rough with a newborn and all; but I am determined. And if I have proved something to myself over the years is that I can accomplish whatever I set my mind to.

Perspective

Sunday afternoon we headed to the Hospital where we will be having baby#2 for the hospital tour. Being that this hospital is not in the main downtown area of Charlotte, they hold these tours only once a month or so. This was the one time we would be able to attend without me being super uncomfortable.

What was on the agenda? Just touring the maternity ward and taking a look at the facility; getting instructions on where to come in depending on what time a day the little dude decides it is time to make an appearance; and what to expect in terms of medical care during the time we are there.

It wasn’t until we were touring the maternity suite that it hit me. Holy mother! We are really doing this in less than 2 months, and I am going to be in a whole lot of pain. I started remembering all the things that happened during Megan’s delivery. It was a long labor; 26 hours since the first contraction woke me up at 2 am. I remember being told by the hospital that I should not come in until my contractions were evenly “spaced” every 5 minutes or so; and thinking “screw this, I am in pain; I am going in NOW”. Turns out that my labor was NOT text book; my contractions never got evenly spaced out and they certainly did not last the normal one to 2 minutes. I had some suckers that lasted 6 minutes! And that was painful. So if I was to wait until I had my contractions evenly spaced, I would have had Megan at home.

I remember having back labor, using the birthing ball, being in the bathtub with the handheld shower head aimed at my lower back at all times (to relieve back labor pain); and counting down the minutes until I could get the epidural. You see, I had made up my mind from the get go, that I wanted to have the shot. Now, I can withstand a fair amount of pain; but I am in no way dumb. I wanted to enjoy my birthing experience, and being in pain I knew was not for me. So as soon as I was allowed I asked for the anesthesia. And it made a whole world of difference. My delivery was not exactly “pleasant”; but it was not horrible either. It did not make my shy away from wanting to have another child down the road.

The tour was informative, we got all our questions answered (not that we had many); and left the place with a sense of “tranquility”. Seeing the little bassinet, the identification bracelets and the little white hat that Baby will be wearing made everything that much more real. We will be a family of four; soon.

About an hour after we were done with our tour, Megan was signed up to take a siblings class; where she was to learn about babies (what they do, what they can’t do); as well as take a mini tour of the delivery suite so she would know where Mommy and Daddy would be staying once our little person comes out. She was SO excited to get to see everything, practice changing a diaper and learning how to properly hold baby.

I think one of my biggest concerns is making sure Megan does not feel left out once Baby is here. She has been an only child for a long time and I am sure that it will be a big adjustment for her to realize that even though we still love her to pieces, we will not always have time to play with her; and that taking care of baby will sometimes take precedence over anything else our family might decide to do. So we have been trying to include her in every choice we make regarding her little brother as it pertains to non medical things. She chose the first outfit we bought him; she helped picked toys, and I made sure to explain to her as many things as I could about what will go on, when she will be able to hold him, feed him and even help us change his diapers (“As long as they are not poopy ones”) Still, I am nervous about how she will take it.

The lady that taught the siblings class had a very interesting point. She said that being a mother of five, she thought that making the older sibling “pitty” the baby approach was much better that making them envy the newborn. What did she mean by this? Basically, pointing out to the older child how “boring” being a baby can be sometimes… For example: baby can only drink milk, he can’t have any of the good stuff like chocolate or ice cream, he can’t go to the movies, he can’t ride a bike, etc. And knowing Megan I think this will be a good approach to take with her. This helped ease some of my concerns.

Sometimes all it takes is a little outside perspective…

On doctor's check ups...

This past week I had my 32 week check up appointment. I usually like to make these appointments early in the morning, to minimize the wait time. My doctor is pretty good at going through the appts quickly, and while I still wait for longer than he sees me, it is not that big of a wait.

I got there nice and early. You know you have been to the office many times when the receptionist does not have to ask you your name to be able to pull your chart out. "You are here to see Doctor K, right?" To which I nod. "I'll let them know you are here".

I wait in the reception area all of 5 minutes, when my "regular" nurse calls my name. I think in this practice there are nurses assigned to each doctor, and I really like the girl that my doc has assigned. After the regular courtesies (how are you? you are looking great, not long to go, etc.) She asks me to step on the scale. Oh boy.... This is my least favorite part of the whole visit. I do NOT like the numbers I see on the scale. I am currently on my 33rd week and I have already put on 33 lbs. At this rate, if I go all the way to 40 weeks, I will probably put on close to 40 lbs.. And I am not too happy about it.

The worst part about gaining so much weight this time around is that I have really not modified my eating at all. I have not been "indulging" (like I did when I was pregnant with Megan, which led me to gain 50 lbs); I have been exercising to the best of my ability and yet I am still gaining all this weight. To make matters worse is that I now officially am the heaviest person in this household. Lovely. It is for a greater purpose I tell myself everyday; but it still does not help.

After getting off the scale I am required to leave a urine sample. As I have been doing each time I go to the doctor. Let me tell you, I have mastered the art of peeing in a cup. It is not as glamorous as it sounds (maybe it does not even sound glamorous); but heck, it's a new skill! The weirdest thing is that while I am leaving them this beautiful gift I remember a post that my coach did while she was pregnant about how the nurse told her she did not need to leave that much pee; and I can't help but laugh about it.

Next on the list, blood pressure. Mine has stayed pretty constant, not really any major shifts, the high is on the low 100's and the low is staying in the 60's. "Perfect", nurse D tells me. We go through the normal list of questions... Do I notice any excessive swelling? Am I having contractions? Any headaches? To all of those my answer is NO. The only thing I ask her about is if there is anything I can rub on my sore ribs, to make the pain go away. She tells me that while pregnant we are not allowed to rub Icy hot, and she says that she will check her list of allowed medications to see if she can find something; but if she can't she is sure Doctor K will know what to do. And I think to myself... He better know, he is a doctor!

We then proceed to hear the heartbeat. To do this they use this device called a doppler, that while I am not sure exactly how it works I believe it has something to do with sound waves and all that stuff. At first she tries to get Baby's heartbeat near my belly button, she is unsuccessful. Baby likes to hang on my right side, so when I tell her that she moves the little wand to the right side of my belly, and sure enough, there he is! His heartbeat is strong, over 150 bpms; and I LOVE hearing it.  After helping me sit back up, and yes, at this point my belly is so big, that I need help sitting up; she exits the room.

I am left to my own thoughts for about 5 minutes. Not a lot goes through my head. As usual, all the questions that I had intended to ask my doc have left my head the minute I stepped in the door; so I just sit there and wait.

Doctor K comes in, and we go through our "routine"... Shake hands, make small talk, measure my belly (which has consistently measured 1 1/2 weeks ahead), and then we are done. Here is where I ask him about my side pain. A couple of weeks ago, they had me come in and they ran a battery of tests to rule out some kind of kidney infection, liver problem and some other stuff I can't remember, due to how the pain goes all around from the front of my ribs all the way to the back. After finally agreeing with me that it is some kind of muscle pain, he prescribes me a muscle relaxant that is safe to take during pregnancy. He tells me that I will probably NOT like the side effects (it will make me really tired), but that he hopes it will help the pain go away.

Next thing I know he starts talking to me about getting the flu shot. I politely decline, saying that I have NEVER gotten one before, no one in my family does; and I am not about to get started with it now. Besides, I have read from people that got it, that the side effects can be pretty nasty, and I think I do not need to feel any worse than I already do. He goes through his list of reasons why I should get it, including the scare tactics..."You know if you contract H1N1, there is a 1 in 20 chance you could die?" And I am thinking to myself, really?? Do you have to use THAT excuse? After sensing that he would NOT let up until I agreed, I asked if I could think about it some more and let him know on my next appointment. He reluctantly agrees, and we call it a day. He leaves the room and I am free to go, with instructions to come back in 2 weeks.

The routine of it all is somewhat comforting. You know what to expect, and you are prepared for it. Even though I still have about 2 months until my due date; the countdown has started. I will go to the doc's every 2 weeks and then I will start going weekly... And then, before we know it our little guy will be here; and with him, the mysteries of being parents to 2 kids...