Feeling like a fat guy peeling an orange

Heavy and sweaty that is.  One pregnancy symptom that I have not escaped is being very and grossly sweaty, especially at night.  I felt so bad for Jeremy during our yoga birthing class, that he had to hold my hands for stability during partner's yoga, because he would slip and then have to wipe his hands on his shirt.  Yuck.  Also, I may be the only person in America who sweat through the night during the Arctic temperatures.  Between the sweat and the newfound difficulty turning over, sleep has gotten noticeably less fun!

Today I also started feeling how heavy she is, and struggling with balance a little more during yoga class (I totally wiped out on my butt trying to go from squatting to sitting.  So graceful.)  She feels a little lower today too, so I'm glad we have on date on the books because this little lady is starting to get ready to come out!

Hope we can make it another ten days!

Staying frank

I had my 38 week appointment today, and no surprise, she is still in the same position as always.  This week she pulled her left foot back up from it's previously curled position, so she is in full Greg Louganis diver pose.  She is getting pretty tight in there, so tight that they weren't able to capture any 3D images of her face (apparently they need a certain amount of fluid in front of the face with no obstructions), but my fluid level is still normal (normal at this stage is 5 and I'm holding steady at 10).  Heartrate was the same (135), my weight and belly are right on track, and I am showing no signs of dilation or effacing at all.  All this means that she is snug in there and most likely going to make it to the 20th.  I have one more appointment for an ultrasound next Thursday to be sure she hasn't turned, which should be the last one before the delivery.

So excited!  11 days to go!

Scheduling the big day

So, folks, there is a date in the books for the Bun to arrive.  The big day will be Monday, January 20th at 2 pm.  This is assuming a few things, first that she doesn't turn on her own before then, in which case we just wait for me to go into labor.  The second is (of course) that I don't go into labor before that time, in which case they perform the c-section if she still hasn't dropped.  But no matter what, I will be a mother by the 20th.  Wow!

In scheduling this time I had to use my strong negotiation skills.  I prefer two of the five doctors that work at my ob/gyn practice, and they only schedule c-sections for Mondays and Tuesdays.  It's also the policy at my practice to schedule in the week before the due date to minimize the risk of going into labor.  Since my week turns over on Saturdays, the combination of these two policies had them scheduling to deliver her almost a full week early.  I was very uncomfortable with this.  Everything I've read says that the more time they get in utero, the better, and that a baby can turn at the very last minute, even when labor initially starts.  Add to this the fact that even if I do go into labor, we live less than a mile from the hospital (a 3 minute drive), and all of the doctors and midwives agreed that since I have had such a calm pregnancy there is minimal risk of problems with me going into labor in her current position.  In the end I was able to get a c-section date for two days after my due date.  It felt good to take a position on something, advocate for myself, and to be heard!

So mark your calendars, dear readers.  You will know her name on or before the 20th!

Dressing the bump, Part 3

Since I did a post way back in August about how I first covered, then celebrated the bump, I figured I should do a follow up post about how I am handling it now that it is pretty substantial.  Before I got pregnant, I always envisioned that by the time I was this big I would be rocking empire waisted jersey dresses and maxi skirts, but alas, the epic temperatures of late have necessitated much more significant layering.  So it has been a bit of a challenge and my look tends to be rather one note lately, but I feel like that one note is pretty solid, so there's that.  I took a picture of my daily outfit over the past few days to show how this overly tall/massively pregnant girl has been covering herself and keeping the cold at bay.

First up, a work outfit.  This sweater is non-maternity and one of the few that I wore last year that I have been able to repurpose.  This is because it used to end around my thighs as a loose, dolman sleeve piece that I love.  However now, it just baaaarely fits over the bump.  The pants are a maternity pair that I bought new from Old Navy for $10 on a massive online sale right before Thanksgiving.  They are a different brownish/khaki color that is hard to work with, so I don't know that I would buy regular pants in this color, but for that price on new pants cut long I couldn't pass it up.  To cover the wide waist band at the top (since the sweater couldn't) I'm wearing a maternity black camisole.  It's fairly ubiquitous in my outfits these days, as you'll see in later shots.  I added a super cute pashmina that Ashley gave me for Christmas as a balance to the bump, and am wearing knee high brown boots below where you can see.  I think it's safe to say I wear these brown boots about 80% of the time since they zip up the side, which allows me to take them on and off independently (hussah!).

Next is what I wore to the second day of the yoga birth workshop.  The top and yoga pants are both maternity and both were acquired second hand.  The pants are actually "a pea in the pod" brand and nice enough that I wore them with a long maternity top to work a couple of times before the belly got too big for the top to cover the waistband.  They are insanely comfortable and definitely my favorite item.  One thing I'd like to point out about this picture is the fact that this is a maternity top, yet it is not long enough to cover me without the black camisole underneath.  This necessitates the following series of outfits...

AKA, wearing sweater dresses as a sweater.  In all of the shots below, my top is meant to be a dress on normal people.  In the first one, it is a small Old Navy long sleeve T-shirt dress, yet it only just covers the full maternity paneled jeans I'm wearing.  I tried to balance the bump with a flowy cardigan that I used to be able to belt.  To be fair, I still could, but it looks all stretched and crazy when I do that now, so I just left it open.  I added a long necklace to try to break up all the monotonous neutrality.

In this one, I am wearing a dark green sweater dress from TJ Maxx that I bought new, thinking I can still wear it post-baby.  I actually bought it with the intention of wearing it as a holiday sweater, as it had the right color and an interesting side detail (hard to see in this picture, but it's a little dark brown belt buckle looking thing right at empire waist level).  Again I'm wearing it over jeans, one of the two pairs I originally had that still fit me.  They are one of two pairs of long jeans that I miraculously found at Goodwill; the other, sadly, no longer fits over my hips and slid down quite often.  I'm again wearing the brown boots with this outfit.

Finally, today I am wearing a sweater dress purchased and worn last year.  This was my Thanksgiving sweater this year because it is a nice maroon color.  I added the skinny silver belt as a "pregnancy indicator" belt to break up the long stretch of maroon.  I wore one of these pretty often in the second and early third trimester to distinguish my belly and to declare "I'm pregnant, not in love with donuts!!"  The pants are my warmest pants, actually a pre-pregnancy pair, necessitated by the super freezing day.  They are completely, utterly unzipped and stretched to the limit in the front, but I'm wearing them over maternity tights, which has helped to keep them up.  Luckily, since it's a sweater dress, it's long enough to cover the whole mess.  A long sleeve, black maternity shirt bought second-hand is keeping my skin safe from the scratchy wool.

So that's a sampling of the outfits that I have been wearing lately.  As the weeks have progressed my selection has decreased, but I have a few items that have sustained me.

1) Two pairs of maternity jeans, each bought at Goodwill, one long, one not, for $5 each

2) Three maternity tank tops, two bought new at Old Navy for $8 each, one on loan from Sandi for $0

3) Four wrap dresses bought and worn pre-pregnancy that I throw over leggings for church

4) Three pairs of non-maternity leggings that are fitting less and less well, bought on nomorerack.com for $17 for all three

5) Four previously owned skinny belts of varying color/pattern to modify boring tops and to give me shape

6) Five sweater dresses that should be wearable after baby, ranging in price from $16 to $30, bought at TJ Maxx and the Banana Republic Outlet

7) One pair of brownish/khaki long maternity pants bought from Old Navy for $10

Mix and match those, and you can get an idea of how a tall girl with a giant belly has been getting by in this cold, cold weather.  Luckily I have been able to wear my same coats from last year by just leaving the last button unbuttoned.  I have had to stop wearing my water-resistant, fleece-lined coat because it zips up, but Jeremy has been sharing his with me, which does still zip up.  Since I only have at most two weeks left, I'm feeling like this will be my story until the end.

I hope this helps anyone else trying to figure out how to be tall, pregnant, and dressed, all at the same time!

Nurturing the Pregnant Couple Workshop

Over the weekend Jeremy and I took a two day workshop taught by one of my regular yoga teachers focused on relaxation and body work for labor, delivery, and beyond.  I was excited about taking this class since my yoga teacher told me about it back in October (just in time for me to be too late for the Fall one), and hoped that I would still be pregnant by the time January 4th rolled around.  Luckily for me, I was (and still am), so we got to enjoy two days of learning beyond what was taught in the hospital based Birth and Baby class.

We're in the back, right in the middle

Day 1 started with some partner's yoga, pretty much my regular class but with the added bonus of Jeremy doing it next to me.  Then we had some time to learn about various labor/birth facts, all of which was review for us and a little boring.  The class ended with an extended lesson for Jeremy on how to massage me (totally the best part of class!) and he did very well.  I think the overall point was to help us connect and for Jeremy to know how to help my body feel better during labor. We also learned about "Rebozo" techniques, which was basically a series of movements using a large scarf in various ways to stretch, relax, and massage me.

Day 2 started with some light yoga again (Jeremy and I did very well, by the way, one of the only couple capable of some of the twistier stretches.  High fives all around.)  Then I got to learn how to massage Jeremy (which he said he enjoyed) to stay with the theme of connecting with our partner.  Then we had more lecture time before actually practicing pushing positions.  It was crazy to get down and pretend to push, curling my body around and feeling the resistance of her little pokey head as it jammed in my ribs.  Very surreal!  It was also interesting to hear all the guttural noises one can make while in such a position, and I can definitely understand why delivery rooms tend to be so noisy!  The class ended with some newborn massage, which I think was my favorite part of the day.  I touched my belly every so often, feeling her various bumps and envisioning what it would be like to actually massage her when she was cranky/overstimulated/gassy.  It is really so amazing to think about how close we are to being with her for real, seeing her face and reading her little signals.

Something for me

I took a little time yesterday to whip up a quick and super useful item for me to have post-pregnancy; nursing tank tops.  Not the most glamorous item, but something that would allow me to wear any of my normal tops, still nurse, and not have to expose my belly to the world.  I first got the idea from a friend, who sent me an online tutorial as a guide.  Basically, one just buys super cheap regular camisoles from anywhere that sells them (in my case, I got three in a buy one, get two free sale at Ann Taylor Loft) and sew the straps in a certain kind of way to make them hook over the straps in a nursing bra.  Then, one just has to take down both the bra and the tank straps to nurse, allowing you to push up your regular shirt.  So easy!  I have three photos below and a little tutorial of my own for anyone that is interested:

I started by clipping the little plastic ring that makes the straps adjustable, which allowed me to cut the strap without leaving a little itchy tab in the back to drive me crazy.

The only part left in the back is a little loop that came on the shirt, no itch at all!

Then I made a little loop big enough to slip over the nursing bra clip with the long part of the strap in the front of the shirt.  I measured it by wearing the top over my nursing bra and just pinning it where it felt comfortable.  I then cut most of the strap off, leaving just the loop and a teensy bit extra to attach to the shirt.  I then just used a needle and thread to sew the loop to the shirt, since it was too small a job for my sewing machine.

Basically it ends up looking like a strapless tank with two tiny loops on top

Then, to save time in making the other tops, I just used the part of the strap I cut from the other tank to measure on the next one, and repeated the process.  You can see in the picture below how much I cut, which was about 75% of the whole strap.

Anywhere I can save time/effort, I do!

So that was it.  I think I spent a total of a half hour on all three.  The most time consuming part was the actual sewing, since the rest was just a series of cuts.  I'm excited to try them out, since right now they definitely don't fit over the tum.  If they work, I just may have to whip out a few more!

Just call her "Frankie"

So far, this little lady is staying frank breech.  We had an ultrasound on Tuesday to check her position, and even though I was hopeful that I was wrong, I could tell that she was in the same orientation as usual.  Her little head is snugged right up against my ribs and not moving anywhere thank-you-very-much.  The tech was able to tell us that her right leg is up near her face, but that her left leg is curled under her, which would explain why I was feeling kicks in a new area, and was a little hopeful that she shifted.  It means that her overall orientation is fairly splayed out, and to me seems a little hard to completely do a 180, but I choose to remain hopeful.  I will continue to play music low on my belly, do lots of helpful yoga poses, and show her the "swim down" clip from Finding Nemo, just in case!  I will also be optimistic enough to take a yoga birthing class on Saturday, just in case she turns.

At this appointment they also did a weight check for the first time, and the Bun is weighing in at a respectable 6 lbs, 15 ounces.  The sonographer projected that she would be 8 lbs by the end, which is right where Jeremy and I both were, so it makes sense.  She kept her face shielded behind her hands during the sonogram, so we don't have any good shots to share this time, but she is still small and precious :-).

The doctor requested another ultrasound to check position on January 9, and they will call me to schedule a C-section for sometime in the week of January 13-17 in the next few days.  I'm hoping I can make it for the 17th to give her as much time as possible to turn, so keep your fingers crossed!