Baby #2: Week 39

Another week, another Tuesday morning gym session.  The strength was overhead squats, which I thought I kept light but I did make it up to 80# and my quads were definitely sore afterwards.

The WOD was more OH squats (I used 55#), rowing (I did the bike), and pull ups (I did ring rows).  The workout was challenging, but I felt good afterwards.  I rewarded myself by getting a big breakfast from Chick-fil-A after doing my civic duty and dropping V off.

Hit play twice.

I had my 39 week appointment on Wednesday and it was really great.  Once again, everything was normal with my BP, baby's heartbeat, and they guessed 7.5 lbs so right on track.  I had a wonderful discussion with the student and the midwife about how I was looking forward to birth and how good it feels to fully trust my provider.  The midwife told me she wished she could be at my birth.  I left feeling really positive and excited.

I made it back to the gym on Friday thinking it would probably be my last time before birth.  The workout was a lot of wall balls and rowing (aka bike for me) but I didn't want to cook my quads again since they were still a tiny bit sore from Tuesday, so I mixed in some L sit dumbbell presses and ring rows.  The workout was 20 minutes long and I did 7 rounds of 4 cals on the bike, 6 wall balls, 8 ring rows, and 10 presses, plus made it through round 8 of the bike + 4 wall balls.  Everything felt great!

No footage, just a selfie.

I worked from home all week and it was just so nice to be able to be in my PJs and to be able to get into whatever position I could find some comfort in.  I am so glad my work is family friendly.

The weekend was nice.  On Friday I got a serious nesting urge to scrub our master shower, so I was legit on my hands and knees scrubbing the crap out of the grout (pro tip, never get white grout on the floor of a shower, seriously don't do it).  The rest of the weekend was mostly about hibernating and relaxing, but on Saturday Shayna and Kimber came over with Chipotle, laundry folding hands, and lots of laughs.  On Sunday I got dressed in real clothes for the first time all week to meet Leah for lunch at Buffalo Wild Wings for the Giants game.  I tried to spice the baby out with some mango habanero sauce.  We also got some really nice mani pedis afterwards.  It was super relaxing, but I'd be lying if I wasn't also hoping that the foot massage wasn't going to hit some acupressure points and get things going.

I'm finally over being pregnant!   Last time I had basically accepted the fact that I would be a week late and was super surprised when my labor slowly started at 39w+5d... But this time I can't get that timing out of my head.  I know every pregnancy is different and I know that baby will come when she is ready but dang it I am uncomfortable and every little cramping feeling has me thinking please God let this be it.  And then nothing!

I guess I can't really complain, I'm still only waking up once to pee.  My ankles aren't swollen.  I was experiencing some painful carpel tunnel symptoms last time and that's not a thing.  I know she will come when she's ready.  But I am just SO ready to not be pregnant anymore!!!!

This post from Motherly really sums it up:

We wait for this special, life-changing moment to happen.

But with waiting can come frustration, impatience and worry.

At this stage of pregnancy, the waiting seems like f-o-r-e-v-e-r.

It feels like the lower back pain will never go away. Like the discomfort of getting in and out of bed because of our large bellies and sore pelvic bones will always be part of our lives.

Like we will never fit into our clothes again because the baby will just set up shop inside of us for all of eternity and we'll just have to forgo clothes and only wear sports bras and sweatpants for life.

But we’ve got this, mamas.

Baby #2: Week 38

Started the week off with a bunch of jerks!  Push jerks, that is.  The olympic lifting was 3 push jerks, every 2 minutes x 5.  I did 65#, 70#, 75#, and then 80# twice.  It felt relatively easy.

Hi Heather :)

The WOD was a 12 minute AMRAP of 15 push jerks (I did 55#), 30 air squats (I decided on 20), and 60 dubs (which I replaced with 7 cals on the bike).  I got through 3 rounds + the jerks, squats, and 5 cals.  Working out still feels good, so I'll probably shoot to go till the end like last time.  My last workout was at 39 weeks + 1 day, we'll see!

On Tuesday night we blew up the kitchen and made 3 loaded lasagnas!  We made one to eat for dinner on Wednesday and two for the freezer.  They were super easy to make since we used jarred sauce, no boil noodles, etc., but the kitchen was a total mess at the end.  Dave was amazing because I was super exhausted and he cleaned up everything!

On Wednesday I had my 38 week appointment at Lifecycle.  While I was driving there, I had the thought that I hadn't really felt the baby much that day, so I figured I'd mention it to the midwife.  She listened to the heartbeat and felt some movement, but just to be sure she hooked me up with some monitoring for a non stress test.  I sat in a recliner for 30 minutes while we listened to the baby's heartbeat.  Of course as soon as we started she began moving a ton and passed with flying colors before we were even 10 minutes into the test.  I'm usually so laid back about baby and what she's doing in there, but it felt good to have the reassurance because decreased fetal movement can definitely be a bad sign.

I finally got my flu shot while I was there!  My BP was perfect.  The midwife thinks the baby is a little over 7 lbs.  I'm 5 lbs under my weight from this time last time and I officially weigh more than Dave lol!

Halloween was Thursday so we rushed off after work to take Vienna for her first trick or treating experience at Leah's sister's neighborhood.  She was a little overwhelmed when we first got there, but once she got into the groove she loved it.  I don't know how far we walked, but we were out for about an hour and a half and it was definitely more walking than I had done in a while.

I felt pretty crappy for the rest of the night and decided I would skip the gym Friday morning, which ended up being a good plan since a crazy storm rolled through and knocked our power out around 11:30 pm.  In the morning Dave couldn't get our generator to start, so we got ready in the dark and packed up all our food to take to my in-laws.  I was NOT losing any of the freezer meals, including those delicious lasagnas!  Thankfully our power came back on around noon.

My weekend was low key, which was good because I am finally pretty dang uncomfortable.  Rachel stayed with us Friday and Saturday night and was an excellent house guest, tidying up and playing with Vienna.

Don't take my picture Mom!  Oh wait, I'm happy now because I have snacks.

And her stay forced me to FINALLY pack my birth center bag since the contents were all over the spare bed.  Huzzah!  I also put together this snack basket as a thank you for the nurses and midwives at the birth center.

I'm officially working from home now, thank goodness.  I'm spending a lot of time on my birth ball, sitting on the floor, learning over my ottoman, just trying to find some comfortable position and I'm really enjoying being in my PJs.  I'm trying really hard to be patient, I haven't really had any signs that birth is coming.  It's such a weird feeling to know I could give birth tomorrow or it could be two weeks from now.  I'm ready to not be pregnant, but I'm also somehow still sleeping really well so I'm trying to enjoy that.  Baby will come when she's ready!

Baby #2: Week 37

First of all, we got our photos from our family/maternity mini session with my roommate from college (C. Orkin Photography) and they came out great (especially considering Vienna wasn't having it at all).  I'm definitely going to put together some kind of photo collage to hang in the house. These photos aren't even really my favorites... going to post them on Facebook later in the week haha.

Vienna legit took this picture!

I had my 37 week appointment on Wednesday and it was very positive.  My BP was normal, baby's heart rate was 150 bmp, and my Group B Strep test came back negative, so I do not need antibiotics during labor yay!  The nurse practitioner said she thinks baby girl is about 7 lbs right now and will be in the low to mid 8s when she is born.  Vienna was 8 lbs 2 oz, so that sounds about right.  I was supposed to get my flu shot, which I deferred the week before since I was still feeling kind of rundown, but the NP didn't mention it and I totally forgot.  So I'll be writing FLU SHOT on my forehead before I head in for my appointment this week.

I know, I'm such a dork.

I'm feeling very laid back and confident about birth.  The birth center wanted me to put together my "birthing hopes and dreams" and I was having some trouble getting started because my "birth preferences" from last time were basically a list of things I didn't want the OB to do (break my water without my consent, force me to push on my back, etc.)  I feel a lot more at ease this time, fully trusting my provider and knowing that most of my "preferences" are just standard care.

Some of the things I did include:

• I will be using self-hypnosis to manage my birthing time (speaking of which, Vienna's birth was just featured on the Hypnobabies website and when I shared it on FB, I tricked a few people into thinking I had given birth to baby #2... not yet!)
• I would like minimal vaginal exams and do not want to be informed of my number of dilation (this is something that saved me last time because I think I would've had a breakdown if they told me I was only at 4 cms after being in labor for 24 hours)
• I included some affirmations I enjoy (you are strong, you are making progress, you are doing it!)
• I listed some fears I have based on last time (a long labor, high blood pressure, having the urge to push before I am fully dilated)
• And some things I am visualizing and hoping for (being more mobile to speed up labor, enjoying relief in the tub, normal blood pressure, and being able to push whenever and however it feels natural to me)
• I also mentioned that I'm hoping for a lot of breastfeeding support, since getting a good latch was a huge struggle with Vienna when we first started

After a 3 week hiatus, I finally made it back to the gym on Friday!  CrossFit moved the worldwide Open competition to the fall this year (it's usually held in March and April) and this week's workout was a repeat from 2018, so I was feeling a little sad not to be busting out some handstand push ups and trying to beat my score.  I did a 9 minute workout of 85# deadlifts and L sit overhead presses with 15# dumbbells.  I also did a mile on the assault bike just for fun.  I was happy just to be there, get moving, and cheer everyone else on.

Saturday night I randomly felt super crappy and nauseous.  I did eat wings and pizza at a bar for lunch, so maybe that had something to do with it, but this seemed different.  Looking back, I had a night of nausea and some cramping at 38 weeks last time, so maybe this is just something my body does to prep for labor.  I'm definitely at the point where every odd feeling in my body has me pondering if it could be time, but I also still feel like baby girl is super high and comfy, so I'm not counting on anything actually happening yet.

Our to do list is dwindling... I think pretty much all of the baby laundry is done, the last few things were the car seat covers, nursing pillow covers, some blankets, and random odds and ends like that.  Dave rearranged our furniture into last year's Christmas configuration and set up the pack and play in the living room to utilize as our changing station.  We also finally got out all the pump bottles and nipple shields and sanitized them, just in case I end up pumping immediately like last time.

I'm still dragging my feet on actually packing my birth center bag.  I have almost everything laid out on the spare bed, I just need to jam it all in a bag!  I'm really trying not to over pack, but that's not exactly my strong suit.  I also need to pack a little overnight bag for V since my in-laws will be watching her whenever things go down.

Random thoughts:

• I had a great week of sleep!  I've been getting up once to pee, but otherwise sleeping through the night.
• Turns out my MIL did not have the flu, hallelujah.  I have been randomly stuffy, but I don't think it could still be my cold, so it may just be a pregnancy side effect at this point.
• I ordered a personalized hat for baby girl and it came in the mail today!  I also finally ordered a big wooden letter to match the one we made for Vienna.  Guess our name choice is really set in stone now!
• This is my last full week in the office.  I was debating coming in on Monday and possibly Tuesday, but I may just call Friday my last day.  I am so grateful to be able to work from home.  This mama is done putting on real clothing and looking presentable.

Almost there...