Pregnancy Update – 36 weeks!
I have just finished my 36th week, which means I’m basically full-term now. Baby is ready, he can safely come at any time.
A few interesting things happened at the 36 wk dr.’s appt — first, I got to switch from the Fragmin injections every 12 hours that I’ve been doing since September (ugh) to Lovanox injections that I can do once-daily (yay). I never thought I’d be so excited to jab myself with a needle once a day. The new injections don’t sting at all, which is also really nice — but the needle is thicker and bigger, ouch. Second, the dr. took a bunch of measurements of the baby in an ultra sound and estimates that he is over 6 pounds now. WOW, he really is fully-cooked in there, I guess. The dr. also said that the baby has long legs and a big belly. Third, the dr. said that due to my injections, he wants to induce me on or before the due date in order to stop injections 48 hours before labor (due to risks of internal bleeding, especially if a c-section is needed. Remember, I’m basically a hemophiliac right now. Also, if I want an epidural, I need to be clear of blood-thinners). So, next Friday David and I have an appointment to pick the induction date with the dr. How weird that we get to pick the baby’s birthday? While it is nice to know for sure when he’ll be coming and to know that I won’t go overdue, the idea of induction is a little scary, but it is the safest option for me and baby. Lastly, the baby is in the ready position! All this time that I’ve thought he’s been kicking me in the ribs on my right side, really that has been his bottom. His head is way down, bottom up to the right and legs folded towards the left/back, which I guess is great positioning for coming out facing back and cork-screwing around and out. So, hopefully he’ll stay in this position for the last few weeks and he’ll slide right out!
In other baby news – we have kinda, sorta picked a name. We’ve been trying it out to see if it feels right and so far so good. But, don’t bother asking, because we won’t tell you! You’ll have to wait until he comes.
So, now I really am HUGE. I thought I was before, but now I actually am. I’m even outgrowing some of my maternity clothes! That is just wrong. I’ve gained 25 pounds so far, so I’m on track to gain 30 total, which is pretty good. I was going to be happy with staying under 35. I’ve still been working out with my trainer and walking a lot, and I’m feeling pretty good. So, hopefully I’ll be back to normal in no time, except for my butt which I fear will never be the same 😦
Quote of the week – “I saw a big fat woman across the room and then I realized it was YOU”. How sweet, right? That was even said by a woman, I won’t say who though.
And to quote my handy-man a little while back – most of you have heard this one already, but I gotta document it here because it was so bad – [after asking my age] “You’d have a much easier time getting your figure back if you had a baby at 25 instead of 32!” What great advice, dontcha think?
I honestly can’t believe some of the stuff people will say to a pregnant woman. As if I already don’t feel like a giant amazon woman, thanks people! I do actually love my big belly and have been embracing my pregnantness, but still….come on!
My baby shower was May 3rd and it was a really wonderful brunch at the Tea House hosted by my mama. I think there were about 14 girls, including me, and we had a really nice time. I got some amazing gifts and we played a cute game of “Guess Who’s Baby Pic Is Who”. Katie helped out a lot with the invitations and the game. I really appreciated having all my girlies there. There should be more reasons to have brunch with all of your friends, shouldn’t there?
Here are some pics from 32 wks, 34 wks, and 36 wks. I think there was a big jump in belly size from 34 to 36 wks, yikes!
We are so excited to finally meet our son, and it is just around the corner now. I don’t know how I’m going to make it through the next few weeks, the suspense is killing me – and those of you who know me well, know that I am not a very patient person. I want to meet him NOW. I just want to hold him and snuggle him and love him. Soon enough, I suppose. I’ll write again when we pick the induction date, how exciting!
Babymoon in Paris
I have the most thoughtful husband EVER! For my birthday, David surprised me with a babymoon trip to Paris. We left for a week in Paris in the end of January. He had planned it out perfectly so that we’d go before I got too big and uncomfortable. Genius.
We stayed at the Relais Christine in the 6th district http://www.relais-christine.com/ based on the referral by the Paris expert, Amy Batchelor. It was wonderful. A small, boutique hotel in a prime location. Just out the door we were surrounded by narrow Parisian alleys full of brasseries, patisseries, creperies, chocolatiers, shops, pubs — anything you could possibly want! We were also very centrally located to all the sites, walking distance to the Louvre, Champs Elysees, many museums, Notre Dame, and many beautiful parts of Paris.
Just a little street outside of our hotel
The first day we went with a small tour group to Versailles. I loved it. It was amazing to see the size and extravagance of the palace and get an idea of how the royalty of that time lived. My favorite part was the bedchamber of Marie Antoinette. Just being in the room where she lived and delivered her 3 children was definitely amazing.
We also had several fun days of exploring the city by foot. We did a night-time city tour by boat to see Paris light up, hiked up the Arc de Triomphe (close to 300 stairs, not bad for 21 weeks pregnant), browsed the Champs Elysees, went to the top of the Eiffel Tower (holy shit that was higher than I thought!), explored the ‘Napolean in Egypt’ exhibit at the Institute of Arabs, hunted down the best creperies and chocolatiers, wandered through Notre Dame, and toured the Louvre. We got in at least 2.5 hours of walking each day as our daily exercise (gotta earn those crepes and sugar waffles!). I came down with a pretty brutal cold on our second to last night there, so our last day of museum exploration had to be sacrificed. So, we didn’t make it to the Musee d’Orsay or the Georges Pompidou, which we would have liked to see. But, I didn’t want to overdue it with FBB – I was defintely tiring more easily (with about a 12 pound weight gain, it’s like I’m carrying around a bowling ball all day) and being out in the cold every day caught up with me. I think we covered a lot of ground and we experienced all of the main sites that we had wanted to check out!
Stairs up the Arc de Triomphe
It was a wonderful trip. I’ve been to a lot of exotic places in the world, but Paris has always been at the top of my list and I’ve never made it there! So, it was really sweet of David to plan this trip for us and I’ll cherish the memories!
David took some videos while we were there – check em out: http://dgcohen23.posterous.com/
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