Almost done! There's lots of catching up to do in this post since I haven't updated in a long time. I've enjoyed reading old posts from when I was pregnant with Owen so it's kind of too bad that I wasn't as diligent this time around. Oh well...life happens and other things have become more important this time.
I'm feeling a lot better at this point of pregnancy than I did with Owen. I'm still sleeping really well and I still have ankles! I've had very little swelling this time around which is pretty amazing. My rings are just a little bit tight so I haven't been wearing them much for the last couple of weeks. I still can if I really want to but they are just a little uncomfortable. I've still had the same pelvic pain I did with Owen but it seems to come and go so I'm hoping it doesn't hang around after this baby is born like it did with Owen. I have had horrible lower back pain that feels like my vertebrae are grinding on each other but that comes and goes as well. There were a lot of days where it felt like my back was being popped every time I moved which is rather unpleasant. I bought a support belt this time which seems to help a lot. Not a miracle worker but it does help with some of the back pain and the heavy belly feeling.
I'm still having blood pressure issues but started on medication around 32-33 weeks and it seems to be keeping it under control. It makes me feel super lightheaded and tired when I take it in the morning so I just have to be careful about what I do during that time. Because of the hypertension I had to start doing NST's twice a week at 34 weeks which is a little bit of a pain but at the same time I get to lie in a bed listening to my babe's heartbeat for a half-hour and not feel like I should be doing something productive. All of those tests have been normal so far so I'm hoping to keep it that way. We have an induction scheduled for April 7 so unless I go before that on my own that will be baby day! It's nice knowing when the end will be here. As much as I'd love to go into labor on my own (which could still happen) having it scheduled is kind of convenient when you have another child that needs to be cared for. My parents are planning on coming down the day before the induction and staying for a few days so it's nice to know that Owen will be taken care of.
We had an ultrasound earlier this week to check fluid levels and baby's size and everything looks great. Baby is measuring about 7lbs which the tech said can be off by a pound or so but sounds like he/she won't be tiny or huge which is good. It was really hard to see much with this ultrasound compared to the one at 20 weeks. Baby is so squished in there so you don't get a good view of much. She asked if we still wanted to to be surprised about gender and even though I really want to know we decided it was silly to find out now after waiting this long. She later told us that she probably wouldn't have been able to tell anyway due to the way baby's legs were twisted around.
It's strange to know that this is our last week as parents of one child and we are trying to make the most of it with Owen. Pat has a lot going on but he's been great about setting time aside so we can do some fun things as a family. I'm trying to use this final week to rest and although my house could use a good cleaning that may not happen.
I talked to my doctor yesterday about how this induction will differ from the one with Owen. I'm trying to decide if I want them to just break my water when I come in and wait to start pitocin or start the pitocin right away. I'm kind of torn between wanting labor to start as naturally as possible and wanting to just get it done. I started praying this morning that I would go into labor on my own this week. I realized that it's okay for me to ask for that with the understanding that I may not get my way. I just have a really strong desire to go into labor naturally and although I'm much more okay with being induced this time than I was with Owen that desire is still very strong.
We've settled on a girl name but if this baby is a boy we might be in trouble.
I've had some emotional moments in the last week as I think about this being the end of our family of 3. I'm so excited for this baby and to see Owen be a big brother and I know that having a sibling is a really great thing but there are times where I get sad about not being able to pour all of my attention into him. He's such a great little boy and has become so much fun! I'm also nervous about going through the newborn and baby stage again. I've gotten used to being able to communicate with Owen and so going back to the not knowing what is wrong stage is a little bit scary. I'm so excited to meet this baby though and get to know him/hers personality and see how we parent differently. I also feel a little more confident about being able to handle this newborn stage since I've experienced it before and have a little more of an idea of what to expect. The part where I lose confidence is when I think about how I react to Owen when I'm tired and know that I'm going to be even more exhausted when baby arrives and that scares me a little bit. I just don't want to be the mom that's freaking out all of the time.
I'll have to get Pat to take a belly picture before Monday. The first picture will also be the last! We did not do a good job of documenting this pregnancy. Sorry second child!
