On The Homestretch

Where to begin for my update...it's hard to think because I have been in pain for the past few days. :( Last Thurs I began having a pinching feeling in my cervix -- it feels identical to a pap smear. It has been off and on (sometimes even skipping days), so nothing to cause me to go to the doctor, but I looked it up and read that it is most likely dilation! A lot of women talk about experiencing this. Babycenter says: Some women occasionally feel a sharp, stabbing pain inside the vagina during late pregnancy. This is linked to the cervix starting to dilate, which can happen weeks, days or hours before labor begins.

On the bright side, I consider dilation pain a GOOD thing. I was almost 4 cm at my 36 week check up with Logan, so more than likely I went from 0 to 1 a few weeks before that. . .well, right now I'm 33.5 weeks which means I'm less than three weeks away from my 36 week check up where I hope to have the same results because that's the first key to a fast labor which I hope to have again!

Instead, the "bad" pain is that as of Sunday evening my back has been killing me. Remember when I said that during my pregnancy with Logan and with this baby I haven't had any pain in my lower back? Well that has all changed. It's pain ALL over my pelvis -- from my back to my hips to the front. It is waking me up every single night, and yesterday morning I was almost in tears because it hurt so bad. The nights/mornings are the worst because it feels like I have bruises all over me probably from the weight of the baby/my uterus, etc while sleeping. I actually started this post on Wednesday but didn't publish until Thursday because I had to take so many breaks because sitting upright (i.e. using the computer) is the worst. I also occasionally get restless leg syndrome at night (another symptom of pregnancy where the cause is unknown) and have been getting heartburn when lying down.

The baby is not posterior anymore (since my last post her kicks have all been to my side, indicating that she is anterior which is good and still head down), so I'm not sure what is causing this. Maybe my pelvis is just actually stretching this time (which would be another good thing), preparing itself this time for the baby that's going to be passing through. I can't tolerate it for 6.5 more weeks though. :( Yes, I am ready to go now! (Forget what I said about hoping to go late a couple of weeks ago, lol.)

Anyway. . .to pick up where I left off of our update in 8 Months Pregnant, Thursday, May 26 is a blur -- I swear we had plans that day but can't remember what we did!

Friday, May 27 we took Logan to meet Joe's mom for him to spend the weekend. On our way home, Joe and I went out for supper at Wingstop -- the best buffalo wing restaurant in the entire world! We hadn't eaten there in awhile because it's far away from our house, but I wanted to make sure to eat there before we moved away since there aren't any in Iowa!

Saturday, May 28 Joe and I went to the Broadway performance of Wicked. It was fabulous!!!! As I had mentioned in a previous post, Joe's mom got us tickets for our anniversary back in April. It was one of my favorite plays ever. Joe agrees. I'm interested in reading the book now!

For supper, we went out to eat to Sam & Louie's Pizza because we had a free pizza, thanks to our trash collecting service.

On Sunday, May 29 we drove to Iowa to meet with our realtor to see the inside of the house identical to what we are building. We continued to love it! You can see pics on our photo site. We aren't making that many changes; just - tile instead of hardwood in the kitchen (I'm not a hardwood fan because it's harder to keep clean and looking nice especially when it comes to scratches when you have kids who like to drive cars all over!), lighter wood to match our furniture (rather than cherry), black & stainless steel appliances (rather than just black), and a vanity in the main floor bath (currently it's just a pedestal sink). All except the wood are upgrades, though, and we will be purchasing our stainless steel fridge through them as well as a fence, possibly a bigger deck, and an estimate on plumbing for a future wet bar in the basement (had hoped to also purchase blinds but he doesn't currently have a vendor for that), so it's going to be a little more than what the original price was - but thankfully not a lot; the builder is emailing us tomorrow the total cost of if we do everything, and we can decide which stuff not to do.

But that day we signed the papers, put down a deposit, and made it official!!!! They wrote Sept. 15th for the closing date but said they're still hoping for Sept 1st. . .which is what I hope, too! (Even quicker would be ideal. . .I'll be majorly bummed if it's later than the 15th, but the builder has never missed a closing day in his life.)

From there we went to Newton and met Joe's mom and Logan at a Mexican restaurant that her friend Willy opened a few years ago in Grinnell. It was great to see my little buddy again. It sounded like he had fun on his little getaway.

On Monday (Memorial Day), May 30th, we took Sandi to see the new neighborhood and our lot and the outside of the house identical to the one we are building. (My mom and stepdad had driven there on their own earlier.)

Remember how I said that my sophomore year roommate lives in the same neighborhood? Well she lives less than a block away! Our streets intersect. So fun! She gave me the name of her OBGYN (Dr. Stephanie Morgan with Iowa Clinic - it's a group of doctors just like my HS friend uses but is 20 min away compared to my HS friend's 9 min) and her dentist is Douglas Rittler (my HS friend doesn't currently have one).

We arrived back to Omaha in time for Logan's nap. Our neighbors Sean and Brenda had watched our dogs because Sandi's dog wasn't able to go to the kennel that weekend (usually when Logan comes she puts him in the kennel but now he's old enough that they do great together, however our dogs together is another story).

After Logan woke up from his nap, he complained of a stomachache. . .and then spent two hours throwing up! Poor guy, by 8 pm and he said, "I want to go to bed so that I will feel better in the morning." We had no idea what was wrong as he didn't have a fever or any other signs of having a virus nor had he eaten anything unusual that day. Ironically, it was 11 days after we went to The Children's Museum -- the exact amount of days it was when we went back in Nov and then he began showing his pneumonia symptoms! But I think it was just a coincidence and that more than likely traveling so much got him run down! Joe & I realized how lucky we've been that this was only the third time in his entire life that he's thrown up. This was by far the messiest and the most -- it confirmed that I would never want to be a nurse or teacher or janitor or any job where I'd have to commonly clean up vomit!!!! Thankfully, he was back to his normal self in the morning and never had any other sign of being sick!

Tuesday, May 31 we met Brooke and Kaelyn at the zoo. That evening we took what was probably our last family walk (with Joe) around our neighborhood and to the school playground. I ended up having to go pee BAD while we were there and it got worse once we started walking home. I seriously thought I was going to wet my pants and almost allowed myself to except that every other house had people outside who said hi to me, so I kept painfully holding it. Toward the end I just started running! Joe said everyone (even in cars) were staring at me. . .I guess it's not every day you see an eight month pregnant woman running, especially wearing jeans and probably looking panicked. Needless to say, I no longer am worried (or hopeful once I get to 36 weeks) that walking is going to induce labor for me. To say I pushed myself to the max on that walk home was an understatement (I still don't get the pinching or the cramps during walking that I had during weeks 24-28, nor have I had just the cramps while resting except during week 30).

Wednesday, June 1st was my 32 week check up with my doctor, another easy, non-eventful appt. (my cervix pain and pelvis pain started after). My 34 week appt. is this next Wed, June 15th and then my 36th week check up will be two weeks after that -- when I have an ultrasound to see her exact size! I can't believe she's already estimated at 5 lbs (she's measuring average right now). I've gained 32 lbs which means I'm just 5 away from what I weighed when I had Logan (even though I gained 42 lbs with him, I started off this pregnancy 5 lbs higher) so hopefully I don't gain more than those 5 -- recommended would be 4 (since the last month you're only supposed to gain 1/2 lb a week, plus that would be just one more pound than the recommended total of 35 lbs).

Thursday, June 2nd we met Joe for a picnic at our park (once again, probably our last time before we move) and then Logan and I went to a clothing store for a second attempt to find a summer maternity outfit. I came home with a short sleeved shirt and a dress which will be sufficient for the remainder of my pregnancy. That evening I went to my last "mom's night out at the movies" with Brooke. We saw Bridesmaids which was a lot better than what I had expected.

Friday, June 3rd we drove yet again to Iowa. I told Joe it HAD to be my last time traveling. . .the car is the most uncomfortable place in the world for me right now!!! (Plus, Logan who is usually a good traveler has been acting up, too, as he's clearly burnt out from these car rides, too!) But we needed to pick our exact tile, granite counter tops, carpet, wood, etc. so we spent the night at my mom & stepdad's house and then they watched Logan (and our dogs) while Joe and I met our realtor and builder the next morning (Saturday, June 4th). It was less overwhelming than we thought (we had always said we'd never want to build because we like seeing the finished product rather than trying to make all of the decisions based on little squares, etc). So we are happy with our choices and hope we still are once our house is completed!

After Logan woke up from his nap we headed back to Omaha and arrived that night (while in West Des Moines we ate at the Mexican restaurant, On The Border. I'd never been there before, it was super good). On Sunday, June 5 we took Logan to the Splash Pad for the first time in a year! He remembered every detail, as he described it to us the entire ride there. He wasn't hesitant at all -- as soon as the water turned on he excitedly ran around for 45 minutes. I was getting really hot watching him and Joe, and so toward the end I decided to run through, too! No need for a swimsuit, haha!

Monday, June 6 Logan started his three-days-a-week at preschool for this month. As I wrote on my recipe post, it was a good thing because I had been up all night the night before (due to my back and pelvis) so I spent most of that day sleeping! The good news is that my sore throat went away so I never caught Joe's cold -- yeay! (Nor did Logan, and Joe's over it now!)

Tuesday, June 7 we went with Brooke & Kaelyn to Bounce-U for our final time. It was 100 degrees outside so we were worried it might be crowded, but it wasn't. They had both rooms open and Logan had a blast. Afterward, we went out to lunch at Don & Millie's for my last time (my fav fast food place, only in Omaha as far as I know).

Wednesday, June 8, they had water day at Logan's preschool and had a collage of pictures on the wall -- most of them were of Logan so I was happy to be able to see how much fun he had. :-) They said he did great, that a lot of kids wouldn't run through the sprinklers.

A couple of weeks ago when I picked him up I saw Miss Liz and she said she heard we are moving which figures because "all of the best kids leave." So that was nice of her to say. When Joe picked him up on Friday, he came home with Logan's sack of pull ups -- apparently they haven't been putting any on him at naptime the past month so they don't need them anymore! (At home I still do for naptime even though he wears underwear all of the other time.) So looks like now I'll have to give it a try here!

Lately he's been telling me "I like my house." So that makes me a little sad since I know he's saying it because he knows we are getting a new house. But I know age three will adjust much easier than any age older so I tell him that he will like our new house, too, and he always nods and says, "Mommy and Daddy and Cosmo and Bella and all of my toys will be there, too."

On Sunday Joe took him to Home Depot where Logan hadn't been in a year (since last summer when we were landscaping with Joe's mom) and Logan walked in and said, "I remember this place, we came with Grandma Sandi!" Joe was really impressed at his memory.

As for me, I had to give up two more shirts -- the last of my pregnancy wardrobe with Logan, as they are both too hot now. A pink sweatsuit that I bought for this pregnancy was put in my suitcase for what I'll wear home from the hospital so that gave up another shirt (leaving me with 6 + the new shirt I bought last week) and a pair of pants (leaving me with 5).

My grandma hasn't eaten any food this past week nor is she talking anymore, she spends about 23 hrs a day sleeping. I about burst into tears when my dad texted me on Tuesday night and said that the only words she'd spoken that day were to ask how Jacob and I were. I told him to tell her that I love her and then he texted back that she said she loved us, too.

As for Joe, he had his final golf league night on Tuesday and then golfed with some different friends after work on Wednesday. Today (Thursday) is his going away lunch and then tomorrow is his last day of work at Lockheed Martin. He turned in his badge to the Airforce Base yesterday and said he felt a bit sentimental thinking he wouldn't ever be working there again. (For those who don't know, Lockheed Martin's business is with the U.S. Department of Defense and the U.S. federal government agencies. Lockheed Martin is the largest provider of IT services, systems integration, and training to the U.S. Government. The remaining portion of Lockheed Martin's business is comprised of international government and some commercial sales. The business areas are: Aeronautics - tactical aircraft, airlift, and aeronautical research and development lines of business. Electronic Systems - missiles and fire control, naval systems, platform integration, simulation and training and energy programs lines of business. Information Systems & Global Solutions (IS&GS) - C4I, federal services, government and commercial IT solutions. And, Space Systems - space launch, commercial satellites, government satellites, and strategic missiles lines of business.)

I can't believe the day is actually here, either. We could be apart for as long as 6 weeks (aside from weekends) -- yikes! Some moments I feel overwhelmed but other moments I see Logan oblivious and happy and playing and realize our life hasn't changed at all yet and so there's no need to fret. (Hopefully he will continue to be happy once things actually DO change.) Joe pointed out that we really aren't doing everything at once but rather in a good order, so that's true. For example, he accepted the job, then we found a house, now he's starting the job, next comes the baby, and then moving into our house. Of course there's still our current house - when to put it on the market (sometime after we paint and put some of our stuff in a POD) but in reality that's not going to take a ton of time so I'm trying not to stress about that anymore. Plus, I don't think I'm going 6 more weeks (or even 5 is probably the realistic max) -- with this whole pelvis thing lately I really feel like I'm going to go earlier than Logan's 37 weeks. . .but we will see. . .

Here's the post I wrote at this point of my pregnancy with Logan: For Moms Who Are Going To Have Boys.