Week 35: Aches and Pregnancy questions

So, to go off my last posting; my hips are starting to feel very disconnected... I know, that is a good thing, but it's kinda' annoying until I give birth! hehehe


It was funny because I go between being pretty tire and very awake and active. Saturday, I was pretty tired, but Sunday I was very active and cleaning a whole bunch. I am proud of myself - I have kept the house pretty clean! I think I can now define what I am doing as "nesting." I usually am really not this good about cleaning! :)


So, I love looking at other blogs and copying their stuff ;) I saw on this blog a list of Pregnancy questions and thought I'd give it a try...



How did you find out you were pregnant?
Home Pregnancy Test. I did have a feeling though by that time - I was all of a sudden eating all this cheese! (late at night too!)

What kind of Pregnancy test did you take?
Rite Aid, First Response, Digital Blue (or something like that)

How many?
I believe 4 at first, then I was taking a test every week probably until about week 6-7 (until I saw the doctor)

What were your 1st symptoms?
Craving cheese... late at night.

Who did you tell first?
My husband

Who was with you when you found out?
By myself- I took the test and then waited another day and took another test (just to be sure) and THEN told my husband (I think it was only 2 days; I was probably planning to wait more, but didn't happen)

My 1st reaction:
I suppose disbelief. We weren't really trying or not trying and I didn't think it would happen so fast. But, excited. (I finally put the test to good use... you know, you test a bunch when it COULD happen!)

Was your baby planned?
Pretty much

When was the baby conceived?
I have no idea - seems like end of May...? I assume in our room ;)

How far were you when you found out?
Apparently only 4 weeks.

How did your parents react?
Very excited!

My baby

Due Date: February 16, 2010

Do you know the sex? Girl

Any names? Yep; we knew the name going in. My husband is from Jordan and so they all pretty much have the baby names down by the time they are 13-14 years old. :) hehehe It's kinda' an interesting cultural thing- babies and families are HUGE in the Middle East (seriously, you haven't seen family connections like with someone from the Middle East!). He feels bad because he know it looks like I don't have a choice, but I didn't have any names in mind and I like his names! :) For this blog, it's Baby H... you only get the first initial ;P The middle name is my husband's first name (again, cultural thing- you always know EXACTLY what family you are in - the last name = same family, the middle name helps you see what part because going off the last name you can literally have tens of thousands of 'family')

Any Ultrasounds? 1st appointment (7-8 weeks); 1st trimester screening- can't remember what week that was; 19 weeks... that's it! Would love more :(

Have you heard the heart beat? Yep! Every appointment! Yay! Very comforting, especially in the later part of pregnancy.

Who do you think it will look like? Combination - both of our families have strong genes. I think she'll look at bit more like husband F

Will the baby have siblings? Nope

Have you felt the baby move? Yep - was 'pops' for such a long time and now squirms and stuff. Never really that uncomfortable - yay! :)

Miscellaneous

Did you have morning sickness? Not really

Did you have any cravings? Not really. Haven't really liked rice that much, but nothing extreme. First trimester, I did have a big aversion to drinking anything but water.

Did you have any mood swings? Not really; maybe a bit moody at times - particularly if tired.

Are you a high risk pregnancy? Nope.

Any complications? Nope.

Formula or Breastfeeding? Planning on breastfeeding and we'll see how that goes!

Have you bought anything for the baby yet? Yep.; she pretty much has everything she needs... We were lucky that family and friends gave us TONS of hand-me-downs!

When did you start to show? Hmmm, pretty early on - I'll have to check my pictures again. I was wearing maternity pants by 9 weeks, I think.

How long could you wear your regular clothes? Hehehe - not very long. I'm ALLL about comfort! And I'm glad- maternity pants are the BEST!!!

Will you keep the baby’s clothes? Until we're done with kids, sure! The, probably just a few things.

Home or Hospital? Hospital. Going to the one farther away per doctor preference, but may change with later births. :)

Natural or Medicated birth? We'll see how it feels. I'm guessing that the internal pain really hurts, but I'm curious to see how bad. :) I figure if I'm in labor over 5 hours, I'll want something to help so I can rest, as needed. If I do get medication, I plan to have them taper it off so that I can feel when it get time to push. People always say that otherwise you can't really push that effectively because you can't feel when and how things are going... This is pending I don't have a c-section, of course. I'm thinking my baby may be big (I'M big!)

Who will be in the delivery room with you? Hopefully my mom and/or sister. They are flying cross-country though, so it really will be iffy if they make it! Otherwise, just support from the nurses, I guess. I don't have any friends that I would really want there and I'm not that big into having my husband there either (I think he would make me tense and I know he won't want to see me in any pain).

Do you think you will need a C-section? I hope not, but I may because I think baby H is going to be pretty big! :) hehehe I suppose it wouldn't be so bad besides the stitches and stuff afterwards. I mean, does you v-gina still get stretched? ;)

Will you cry when you hold the baby for the 1st time? Although I'm not one to cry, I'm willing to bet I will. I think I'll be tired and just really emotional.

What’s the 1st thing you might say to the baby? Probably a prayer

Will you let anyone video tape the birth? NO!

Are you excited? Yep! A whole new life! :)

Who will help you with the baby after the birth? My mom will stay with us for about 2 weeks and my sister about 10 days. Then, about 3 months in, my mom-in law will stay with us about 2-3 months (she's coming in from Jordan when I go back to work - thank goodness for family!)

What is your favorite thing about being pregnant? Umm, I'm not sure. It's all pretty interesting! I enjoy feeling the baby, now that the movements are a lot stronger.

What is the worst thing about being pregnant? Not that thrilled with the weight gain and swollen everything, but ah well!

What’s one thing you miss doing since being pregnant? Right now? Bending over, hehe

Any days you wish you were not pregnant? Eh...

Are you ready for a baby? As much as I can be!

Do you have insurance? Yes, thank goodness

How many kids do you want? 4

Do you talk to the baby? Yep - try to get in both English and Arabic (of course, my Arabic is so basic - I feel bad for her already to have to hear me talk. It should be better when there is more people she can listen to!)

Do you still feel attractive? Yep- my husband is AWESOME! (but, now I'm so big, we have pretty much given up on sex... :( )

Have you had your baby shower yet? Had one in Nov at 27 weeks and one this weekend (at 35 weeks)

Do you like kids? Yep - always babysat and coached them...

How far along are you now? 35 weeks and counting…

Week 35: Doctors Appointment

I had another doctor's appointment today; I am 34 weeks down (in my 35 week, hehe) and have another appointment in 2 weeks, then start every week until Baby H is born!!!

Unfortunately, my husband was not able to come with me this time. This is the first appointment he hasn't been able to make :( Ah, well.

For the most part, it was the same old, same old: Blood pressure (good), check heartbeat (good 130 a minute I think), measure uterus, and check where baby is. Baby H is head down now and she pointed out where her backside was (to the left, which baby H seems to like).

She asked if we got a Ped doctor yet - I said yes, although I haven't actually filled the paperwork; we have a visit on Jan 18 where we get a tour of the office and ask questions. Note: What questions should you ask? They had a pretty good webpage and I guess I am going more to get a feel of their office and doctors...

She asked if we did a birth class; I said no, what did she think? She is very ok (as was the other doctor last time who asked this) with this -she said that she finds it more helpful for the dad's who don't read as much stuff as us moms :) To which, I brought up that we were NOT planning to have my husband in the room during delivery. She did ask about that - basically, she said that her and her husband (of course her husband is also a doctor) really found it very important to have him there. She said that my husband can be in the room, but doesn't have to see anything- just hear what's going on and hold the baby once it comes out. She was also concerned about me having a support partner there; I said that my mom and sister were going to try to time it right to be there, although I do know there is a pretty good chance that no one will be there (my mom is in CA and my sister is in Washington State - I'm in Virginia). Anyways, I'm not that concerned about having people I know be there for support - I think that may actually make me more tense, really... I brought it up with my husband again and said that he wouldn't be able to hang out in the hall, but would have to be in the downstairs waiting room and he was still ok with that. I'm ok with that too; It may be nice to have him there so that he could hear Baby H's first cry, however if I'm in pain, I know that he will be VERY worried and that could possibly be rather disruptive to the labor process...

Oh; I was actually the first person to say that I didn't want him there - I don't think the whole process is that 'pretty' and, again, if I'm in pain I know that my husband will be very concerned. :) This is how we are doing it; I know that other people wouldn't change it for anything! If we decide that we would like it differently, we'll keep that in mind next time :)

What else...? Oh - I have gained a bunch of weight this pregnancy and am very swollen; My doctor walks in and exclaims "You are all cheeks!" She went on to say that she was that way in her pregnancy (her baby is 18 months) and that one of her first deliveries when she joined the practice was on this women who ended up needing a c-section because she wasn't progressing. She went in to do that and she said the women was rather large... 6 weeks later, she was to see that women again for the post-delivery check-up and she walked into the room and thought that she had the wrong room, so apologized and walked out. She asked the nurses if they changed the rooms and they said, no. She walked back in and the women was like "yep, this is how I REALLY look." hehe My doctor said that it was like going from Oprah to Halle Berry! :)

Hopefully, I'll be like that. Ok - I'm been pretty mute on this, but I have gained 65 pounds so far this pregnancy. I still have 5-6 weeks to go! I averaged about 10 pounds a month; I changed my diet and stuff, but nothing really changed... :( Ah well. I know I have to work hard after I give birth and I CERTAINLY plan to breastfeed to help with this! hehehe

Week 35: My checklist of things to do before baby arrives

As so many people have been inspired (me from hisboyscanswim.com), here is my Checklist of Things I still need to do before baby arrives. Thankfully I just found my pediatrician and sent off my hospital pre-registration! :)



Here’s my list:

1. Send thanks you notes from shower in November (and for shower next weekend)
2. Buy Nursing tanks
3. Set up appointment to get car seat installed in car (http://www.seatcheck.org/)
4. Pack hospital bag for me and husband
5. Register for CPR class ? (I took a class, but it's been over 10 years, so I probably need a new one)
6. List of people to call after baby is born
7. Print out address labels for baby notifications
8. Buy bottle nipples (???)
9. Buy Nursing bras
10. Buy petroleum jelly
11. Buy infant Tylenol
12. Buy saline drops.

Post Baby H
1. Get photo announcement cards from Costco
2. Mail out said photo cards
3. Call insurance with birth info
4. Call to update my info for short-term disability benefits

Thankfully, I have much of the other stuff done that I have seen on other people's lists - yay! :) Anything else, you would recommend I do/get?