38 Weeks! Are we there yet??

Grayson Updates: 

+ Had an OB appointment this morning and everything is good!

+ His heart rate was in the 140's this morning--strong and steady!

+ Still head down. Extremely unlikely for that to change now.

+ He is definitely running out of room in there. He stretches and pokes out of both sides of my belly pretty much all the time. It's more uncommon now for me to not feel him.

+ Gets hiccups pretty frequently. It's a feeling I'm not crazy about.

+ We chose a pediatrician! This little boy officially has a doctor for when he comes out! :)

Mom Updates:

+ Had my first exam today to check for dilation. I'm slightly dilated, but still not quite 1 cm. Fortunately this is not an indicator of how soon I'll go into labor, but I admit I was hoping to be a little further along.

+ Experiencing TONS of pelvic pressure and pain, bladder spasms, and sporadic BH contractions.

+ Had quite a bit of swelling, particularly in my hands, over the weekend. I noticed as we were walking around the mall after lunch. I started to get a little worried because the swelling seemed to increase quickly and I could feel extra pressure in my joints. Fortunately we were able to find a blood pressure reader and I was relieved to find I was still in the totally normal range. It went back down later (though no where near normal, but that won't happen until after delivery at this point). I think it was because of a high sodium lunch, combined with lots of walking around. 

+ Overall I guess I'm feeling mostly good, all things considered. I still manage to sleep at night, even though I wake up every 1-2 hours to pee or move my achy body into a new position. I haven't had any major complications. I am blessed!

+ Getting anxious and impatient to meet my little boy! But trying to stay as patient as possible. I know it could still be up to 4 more weeks, worst case.

~Christy~

37 Weeks!

It's official. I'm full term! 

I could technically go into labor at any time and the doctors would not try to stop it or slow it down.

Of course, Grayson could still put off his arrival for another 5 weeks or so.

I'm hoping he doesn't feel the need to wait that long, though!

Baby Grayson Updates:

+ I had a doctor appointment a couple days ago, and all is still well!

+ He's head down and ready to go!

+ He has dropped further into my pelvis, increasing the pressure I feel there, but I have more room for breathing and eating, which is always a plus!

+ Heart rate is still strong and steady.

+ He's about 6.5 pounds. He's not measuring as far ahead as he used to, which is a good thing. This means he's much less likely to be 10 pounds at birth! We're still thinking around 8.

+ We discovered the protruding body part from my right side is actually his feet, not his bottom. I just thought bottom because it felt so big and round, but I guess I'm just feeling the roundness of my belly and uterus. But he still LOVES stretching out and kicking me there.

+ My amniotic fluid is measuring just fine, so no need to worry about inducing at this point. If I reach my due date before going into labor I'll have another ultrasound to make sure he still has enough fluid in there. If he does, they'll let me go up to 2 weeks past my due date before inducing. 

Mommy Updates:

+ Braxton Hicks contractions are getting more frequent and more intense, particularly since yesterday afternoon. No other signs of labor so I don't think this is the real thing, but it is making it more challenging to get up and go to work when I'm dealing with painful cramping every hour or so.

+ The swelling in my hands and feet has increased (which is perfectly normal), and I have one toe that is starting to feel kind of numb. :/ The doctor says this is also normal. Fun times.

+ Our meeting with our doula was AWESOME! I'm so excited to have her there during labor and delivery! She taught us some great labor positions and some techniques/massages that Scott can do throughout. She also gave me some tips about ways to get prepared. 

+ I finished my birth plan and showed the doctor. All my requests were deemed reasonable, assuming there are no medical emergencies. Hooray!

+ My weight gain, fluids, and blood pressure have been just fine

+ My Group B Strep test came back negative. 

+ Getting more and more eager to meet this little guy! Feeling excited and empowered about labor and delivery!

~Christy~

Maternity Pictures!!

Hello, everyone! 

Today I want to share some of our maternity pictures with you. 

We took them a couple days ago, so this is just the "sneak peek" that our photographer posted on Facebook.

We will have a disc of all the images, in their highest quality, by the end of the week.

I'll be sure to share our favorites then, too.

We took the pictures on the GSU campus and in downtown Statesboro.

It was 90+ degree, extremely humid, and there were gnats everywhere.

Needless to say, not the most pleasant conditions! 

I was soaked in sweat the whole time and my hair would not behave! 

But our amazing photographer still managed to get some shots 

of us looking halfway decent! ;)

So...here they are! Enjoy!

I think this is my favorite, so far!

Pregnancy updates coming soon. I'm 37 weeks tomorrow! Eek! :)

~Christy~

36 Weeks!

At this point it's basically all I can do to keep up with these weekly (or semi-weekly) pregnancy updates. Work is extremely busy and I'm trying to get as much accomplished as possible before this little boy decides to make his debut. So, without further adieu, here are the updates!

36 Weeks

It must be the shirt or the angle or me being crazy, but I feel like the bump looks smaller in this picture than the last one! Oh, well! I assure you, Baby Grayson is out there, loud and proud! :)

Baby Grayson Updates:

+ He likes to stick what I believe is his little bottom out my right side, right under my ribs. I often feel like I'm stretching out so much I might burst! 

+ When his movements become too uncomfortable, I always ask Scott to calm him down. He just has to rub my belly and talk to him and he usually stops moving, or at least is more gentle. A couple times Scott has touched his little protruding bottom and he's retreated, slipping away like a fish! (He NEVER does that for me!!)

+ At my appointment last week he was still in the correct position and his heart rate was in the 150's. He goes nuts when they do the doppler and starts kicking all over the place. I don't think he likes it.

+ According to Baby Center, he's around 6 pounds now and gaining about an ounce a day! He's been consistently measuring ahead by a week or two all along, so I'm wondering how big he really is.

Mommy Updates:

+ Feeling pretty good the past couple weeks, all things considered.

+ Walked around downtown Statesboro for hours last Friday night during the Taste of Downtown Festival. It must have been all the yummy samples that kept my stamina up! I did notice some ankle swelling afterwards, but nothing too drastic. 

+ Speaking of swelling, I no longer wear my wedding rings. :( I have very, very thin fingers (and ankles, for that matter) so even slight swelling makes a difference.

+ My biggest complaint right now is lower hip/pelvic pain. It hurts down the back of my butt cheeks (best way I can think to describe it) and even worse on my inner-thighs, like around my bikini line. It feels like I've done hundreds of reps on the hip abductor machines at the gym! 

+ I try to stretch and exercise regularly to help with the pain. Prenatal yoga and pilates are my friends. I workout on my lunch break and after work. "Workout" might be a bit of an overstatement. We're talking 10-20 minutes of light stretching and movements, just to keep my blood moving and to keep from being so stiff. + I still manage to sleep at night, but I wake up so stiff that pulling myself out of bed feels nearly impossible. + Definitely having Braxton Hicks contractions, some of which are even a little painful (or rather, uncomfortable), but they are still infrequent and random. Usually 1-2 a day, mostly early morning or in the middle of the night.

+ I have my next dr appointment on Monday of next week and we'll do my final ultrasound. I should also get the results from my Group B Strep culture that they took last week.

+ I have our next meeting with our doula on Saturday. We'll go over our birth plan (which I just wrote yesterday!) and labor positions, etc. I'm so thankful to have her on my birthing team! :)

+ We're trying to set up pediatrician interviews next week. I know, we should have done that like...a month ago...but whatever, we're doing it now! 

+ We have our pregnancy photo shoot on Sunday! :) So excited!

+ Was surprised with a mini-baby shower at church on Sunday and again at work today. I'm so thankful for all the friends and support I have during this time. So many people are excited to meet the little boy! 

+ I had a small little emotional breakdown last night, which started due to my hips locking up while I was trying to get out of bed, and somehow (thanks to hormones!!) culminated into crying about how it's hard to be pregnant but how not being pregnant means that we'll have a baby and everything is going to change and what if it's too hard or we don't like it or I miss how our relationship was before the baby??? Yeah, fun times. {I feel MUCH better about this today, after talking with Scott and praying together.}

+ Fact is...this little boy could come any time now. Could be today, could be in 4 weeks around the due date, could be in 6 weeks when they finally have to induce me, or any time in between. We just don't know. So keep us in your prayers as we prepare and await his arrival! :)

~Christy~  

35 Weeks!!

It's hard to believe I'm already 35 weeks! 

Only 5 more weeks until I reach the due date, 

and only 2 more weeks until I'm technically considered "full term." 

Crazy pants!

34 weeks

35 Weeks (this week)

Baby Grayson Updates:

+ I'm wondering if he's dropped, or maybe in the process. I've started having a lot of pressure and pain in my hips. Although I still have trouble breathing which is supposed to ease up when he drops, so I'm not so sure. I have a doctor appointment this afternoon so maybe they can tell me.

+ He's still pretty active, but not as much as before. I think he's running out of room!

+According to Baby Center, he's about the size of a honeydew melon now. Big boy!

Mommy Updates:

+ As I mentioned, hip pain! Oh goodness the hip pain! It didn't really get bad until this week.

Now it hurts to walk, sleep, put on pants... pretty much anything but sitting up right. 

+ I had to break down and buy more maternity clothes. Both outfits above are new. :)

+ I wake up multiple times to pee at night. I also have a pharmacy regime that happens sometime in the middle of the night... a couple Tums, some nasal spray b/c I'm always congested at night, some lotion on my itchy belly, and sometimes a dose of Tylenol (a necessity the last two nights!)

+ I'm still working out, mostly doing prenatal yoga and pilates. As much as I don't want to do it some days, I do think it helps with the pain.

+ Taking walks is not really fun at all anymore. Along with the hip pain, difficulty breathing, and the fact that it's 100+ degrees outside, I have terrible bladder spasms from my condition (IC) and I think I've even started having Braxton Hicks contractions. I'm not fully convinced that's what it is, but my belly gets really tight and sometimes sore, like a cramp. Then it goes away. It happens more when I'm walking in the heat.

+ I've had two baby showers in the last two weeks and they were both awesome! We got so many nice gifts and it was so much fun to hang out with family and friends and celebrate Baby Grayson! :)

+ I think I'm noticing some slight (very slight!) swelling in my ankles now. 

+ I'm getting super excited about meeting this little boy, and I'm starting to hope that I don't go a full 40 weeks.

+ Speaking of, I asked Grayson when he thought his birthday would be. I counted off some dates and he started going nuts when I said October 5th. We shall see! :)

+ The nursery is coming along more and more! I'll be sure to post pictures of the final product. 

Hope all is well with you guys! I'm hoping for some good results and updates at the doctor this afternoon. Other than that, just making it through each day as best I can. Prayers are greatly appreciated! :)

~Christy~