35 weeks along

35 weeks along

34 weeks and 3 days along 

Starting to get some swelling in the feet.  Compression socks seem to help some.

34 weeks along

33 weeks along 

The start of the awesome swelling in my legs.

33 weeks and 1 day along

32 weeks along

31 weeks and 2 days along

I can't believe we are in the final countdown now.  I have 5 more weeks before my official due date but honestly he could come in 2-3 weeks easily.  That is so crazy to me and seems like it is going to be here before I know it.  I am honestly not even ready, bag still isn't packed yet for the hospital

I have my last 2 week appointment on the 28th and then I go every single week til he is born!  I can say now that I will be having this little boy next month and that I won't be pregnant sometime next month.  Mind blown!

Mrs. California has sent me pictures just recently of the cute decorations in his room and sent a picture of the baby car seat that came in the mail!!  I love getting those updates and seeing the excitement of them preparing.  With them not living close it is all that I get and I love it.  I can tell how excited they are for his arrival!

This past month has been a whirlwind of chaos to say the least.  I just recently started having swelling in my feet and mostly in just one foot.  We had been monitoring for pre-eclampsia (toxemia) since I had a tiny bit of protein in my urine at my last appointment.  I looked up signs for pre-e and one of them was one foot swelling up bigger then the other.  I called the office and talked to the nurse and they said since my blood pressure looked awesome that they weren't concerned about that.  Although they did want me to go in for a blood clot; it is another indicator with the shrek swelling in my one foot.  I literally started freaking out.  I had an Uncle pass away from a blood clot that went from his foot to his lungs causing a pulmonary embolism.  Even though I have been checked for that marker and it came back negative and everything looked good when I was younger, I immediately was panicking.  I was able to take the afternoon off from work and go straight to the hospital to get an ultrasound done on my leg.  In the end there was NOT a blood clot, thank goodness!  This baby's head is sitting in a way that he is cutting off some circulation in my one leg.  I have been wearing compression socks at night and that seems to be helping some of the issue but by the end of the day my feet and more so on the one side are nice and swollen again.

Another bump in the road that happened this past month was a little labor & delivery visit.  I had been having consistent contractions/back pain/braxton hicks to the point that I was getting a bit nervous.  I went in to get monitored and they were only able to see maybe 2 actual contractions on the monitor in the couple hours that we were there, which was good.  They said that I had a possible kidney stone that was irritating my uterus and causing the pain and contractions.  I seriously was wishing for contractions at that point, at least they can give me something to stop them and order bed rest.  Kidney stones are painful and awful!  I had an appointment set up for the next day to double check and see if there was a kidney stone floating around.  I didn't realize how painful my kidney's would hurt from her pushing on them and checking for an ultrasound but they sure did and it definitely had a tiny little "baby" stone in there.  It is funny because when I initially went to the L&D I had a thought that it was going to be a kidney stone for some reason and sure enough it was.  They gave me a strainer to catch my little "baby" but I opted out of it since they weren't going to be analyzing it at all.  I am pretty sure that I have passed it since I haven't had any issues for a week or so with that.  It was a tiny one and they said that I probably wouldn't even feel it when it did pass anyways.

Some really freaking good news is that he is finally HEAD DOWN!!!  He has been consistently breech from 12 weeks and on and just this last appointment he has finally turned.  We did an ultrasound check to make sure and he was!  That was the best news all month since we were getting concerned about what to do.  Now that doesn't need to be a worry anymore.

This pregnancy has been like night and day compared to my pregnancy with my daughter and I definitely wasn't expecting that at all.  There have been a lot of bumps in the road and a lot of scares along the way but we area finally in the last stretch!  Just 2 more weeks and I will be considered full term!!  I can't wait for some maternity leave and a much needed rest/break.

Weight Gain: 45 lbs.  I'm sure by the time I deliver I will have gained as much as I did with my daughter.  Let's just hope it comes off as easily as it did with her.

Cravings:  I am pretty sure I have Pica, yes I think it is absolutely bizarre and soo weird.  I crave the smell of downy softner and tide laundry detergent and pine sol, the original and lemon scents!  I could have that smell around me ALL. THE. TIME.  Simply amazing!  There really aren't any other things that I must have but those smells are definitely must have.  It helps that I'm smack dab in the middle of nesting, which means LOTS of cleaning!

Symptoms: Braxton hicks, some contractions, leaky boobs every so often, pressure down there, baby not wiggling as much since room is limited in there, feet in my ribs, tossing and turning at night, waking up in the middle of the night for numerous potty breaks, feeling huge, uncomfortable, waddling, can't breath since he is so high up still, and finally my boobs are starting to get bigger!

Their baby's the size of a coconut!

He's about 17.2 to 18.7 inches. From here on out, he won't get much longer, but he's plumping up. He's now about 4.2 to 5.8 pounds, and he'll put on a pound or more of baby fat before birth.

Their baby at 35 weeks!

• Now, his hearing is fully developed, and he responds best to high-pitched noises.
• If it's a boy, his testes have probably fully descended.

5 weeks along

 My little one took these and she did her best job being my photographer!

Weight Gain: 1 lb weigh gain.  I didn't gain anything from 

Cravings: Orange Chicken, Chocolate, Cranberry Chicken

Aversions: Hamburger Meat, Bananas, Yogurt

Symptoms: Weight Gain, Hunger Pains, Headaches, Nausea all day and every day, Heat flashes, Sore behind from shots, and Bloated, Sore Boobies, Tired, Emotional

What I miss: Maybe not having the constant sick and yuck feeling.  Every once in a while that feeling goes away and it is a breath of fresh air but then it comes back.

your baby's the size of an appleseed!

Your embryo is now measurable -- though at week five, it's a wee .13 inches -- and she's gearing up for much more growth. In fact, in the next week, she'll almost double in size. Grow baby grow!

your baby at 5 weeks

• The embryo doesn't look like much more than a tadpole right now, but at five weeks, she's already starting to form major organs (heart, stomach, liver, kidney) and systems (digestive, circulatory, nervous)

Man I feel like a huge complainer after that.  I really am grateful to be apart of this amazing process and hopefully my Intended Parents are just reassured that their little pea is sticking around.

This is all new to me because with my pregnancy with my daughter I can name on ONE hand the amounts of time I felt like hell.  I knew there would be morning sickness but not the day after transfer and not every single day.  This is going to get used to so please bare with me if I am complaining.  It definitely is not that I am not so excited to be doing this or proud of what is going on but I am just not used to it.  I know the extra progesterone I am shooting in my body probably is duplicating the symptoms ten fold.  This just didn't happen til a little later in my first trimester!

I am tired just from having a toddler and I didn't think it would get much worse.  Boy, was I wrong!  I can be in bed at 8:30 pm which does happen and sleep til 7 am the next morning.  I am good for a couple hours and then I'm dragging again.  My IM gave me these Folic Acid, Vitamin B6 and B12 tablet and I thought for sure that pill would boost my energy.  I will just say I'm still waiting for that boost of energy!  Maybe in the 2nd trimester! ha

Side Effects

Since being on delestrogen shots I have had a few side effects that I wasn't expecting and was texting or calling a friend freaking thinking something was wrong.  Only to discover that it is just one of the many side effects of the hormone they have me on.  If it wasn't for friends who have been on these meds I would think I was going to die.

All my shots are done at night and so these effects don't hit me until the following day if I'm lucky.  One of the first things to hit me and hit me hard was the worst and I mean WORST headache I've ever had.  I spread from my neck clear to my eyes and then rotated back and forth.  No amount of fluids and rest would make that beast go away.  I am anti taking medicine so I just waited it out and hoped for the best.  Having an awesome headache right now and it just plain sucks!

I went for a run the day after the shot and although it had been a while since I had ran I was having what felt like a panic attack, completely drenched in sweat, super red faced and it wasn't like I sprinted by any means.  I couldn't figure out what was going on until when I was doing nothing in the cool air conditioned apartment and a rush went over me and then I knew I was having a hot flash.  Welcome to hormone induced menopause!  I completely get it now mom, I still don't feel like it needs to be 50 degrees in the house at all times of the day and year round. :)

Emotional roller coaster was almost left out and then I got the sweetest text from Mrs. California and I was practically in tears.  I don't usually cry, like ever unless something is really just amazing!  I just feel so blessed to be helping such an amazing family and count them as my forever friends and apart of my life!  The mountains the Lord has moved for us to be apart of this journey together is simply amazing and a miracle!

I have had bouts of nausea and tiredness as well which are just preparing me for the awesomeness known to the first trimester!

As much as the side effects aren't very fun I would do it all over again to help this family or any family.  I know the outcome is going to be amazing!