Birth Stories

Still pregnant. 37 weeks + 1 day, but who's counting?

Me. ME. MEEEEE. 

I'm the one counting.

I didn't have an appointment this week due to Thanksgiving, but my blood pressure has been staying down relatively low. Contractions are kicking, though, as to be expected with a second pregnancy, I guess. I went crazy with the nesting yesterday and the whole house is scrubbed clean top to bottom. Now we just need this baby to come because I'm not sure how I'll keep it this clean for the next few weeks, you know? 

Zelie's godmother, Lauren, set up one of those baby pools where you guess the due date and birth weight. #WhenWillZelieEmergeFromTheBelly. So far, everyone has guessed that I won't make it to my due date AND that Zelie will weigh less than 9 pounds. God bless you all. Click on over to put in your vote. Lauren promises there will be an "exclusive" prize for the winner. 

In an effort to drive myself crazy, just like last time, I've taken to the Internet to attempt to read every birth story ever. Unfortunately, the birth story link-up to end all birth story link-ups was indefinitely shut down. (Camp Patton, we miss you forever). So now I need your help. Googling birth stories is harder than it sounds, okay? I mean, I've read them all, I think. But I need to read them all again.

Some favorites I've read lately include: 

• Sarah's drug free birth story with Baby #2. I'm currently just dreaming that I can go into labor at 37+6 like she did. 
• Kallah's drug free birth with Baby #2 and her corresponding post on natural childbirth. She just has the most thoughtful reflections on it all!
• This hilariously long, well-written birth story, found via Google. Spoiler: ends in a c-section, but it was seriously entertaining. 
• Kate's birth stories of all three babes: numero un, numero dos, and tres.
• All SEVEN of Kendra's birth stories, because she is ninja-status organized and puts them all in one post for us. Oh, plus baby #8 she had in the bath tub on accident like it ain't no thang.
• And of course, here's my own birth story for Little Will: Part I & Part II. 

Note to self: wear contacts this time. Makes for better birth story photos.

Do a large, pregnant lady a solid and add your birth stories below! Or just comment in with links to your faves. Whatever you like. The link-up closes in 33 days because that's all my free subscription to InLinkz allowed. So get to linking pronto, por favor!

An InLinkz Link-up

Lately

We've been happily settling into a new routine since Will got home from TDY! Look at this happy reunited family. 

Spoiler: Will probz appear on our Christmas cards.

That is, temporarily at least, until Zelie comes on the scene and we find ourselves in a new routine. Yep, fret not, I'm still pregnant. 

Here I'm 33 weeks and some change during our trip to NC a few weeks ago to visit family. I'm actually currently 36 weeks on the dot today. My girl has dropped. I was growing increasingly forlorn from the state of my Tums consumption situation, when one day Zelie dropped and almost all my heartburn disappeared. Magical. And I also have the feeling every time I bend over that I am actually crushing a baby. So lots of bending in the knees these days. 

How I feel during the day has everything to do with how well I slept the night before. I've been having lots of practice contractions and cramping already. I'm skeptical that I'll make it to my due date based on the contracting, my progress so far (see below!), and my history of gestational hypertension. I've been keeping tabs on my blood pressure and it's been slowly creeping up again. The highest reading recently was 110/85, with my diastolic reading consistently in the 80s, and so we'll see what happens there. I have a LOT less stress about having the baby this time around, so fingers crossed I can just go into labor naturally . . . a little early. ;) 

At my appointment yesterday, I was already 2.5cm dilated and 60% effaced. Pretty similar to my progress at my 36 week checkup with Will actually. I hadn't gained any weight since my last appointment despite lots of ice cream and second helpings at dinner (sitting at 30 lbs gained, woot woot!), but was measuring right on track for 36 weeks. She's been moving a lot less, likely attributable to dropping, but for peace of mind, we had an ultrasound to check her fluids. We saw her puckering up and practicing her breathing. I can't wait to squish her squishy squish face.

What can I say about these two? 

It's been really great having Will back home! As far as TDYs and pregnancies go (ugh), I think the timing of this TDY was really great. I was able to get into a routine of caring for Little Will and then Husband Will returned sort of just as I was getting to the exhausting end of pregnancy. But, due to inertia, I've been able to keep up the energy to take care of Little Will all day without losing my mind or utilizing Nanny Netflix for hours upon hours on end (though he probably gets at least an hour of screen time per day… just. keeping. it. real.) I even encourage Will to go to the gym after work. This does make me feel like a hero. ;) It's the little sacrifices. 

Little Will is 21.5 months. When people ask me his age, I officially tell them "he'll be two in February" rather than "he's just over one and a half." It is an emotionally-charged and significant change.

I can see you rolling your eyes, you know.

What a joy this kid is! He's always surprising us with new words we didn't know he knew. For example, Will showed him the parts of an airplane in a photograph a week or two ago, e.g., the nose, the wings, the tail, and the propeller, and he was able to point them out to us on one of his airplane toys. The mind of a toddler is a sponge. Take another example, however: Little Will really likes to angry-shout at the dogs to sit or be quiet. Don't know where he learned that . . . . Must be from a book. 

He's a total lover lately. During playdates, he tries to give all the other kids—and their moms—hugs and kisses. It's endearing and yet paradoxical considering he has extreme separation anxiety when I try leaving him with the kind ladies he has met many times at the Y childcare playroom. 

He's beginning to outgrow his 18m sized clothes. He LOVES trains, airplanes, and cars, and has no patience for things like crafts, crayons, or chalk. But he does love books! Especially those with subject matter pertaining to dump trucks, pickup trucks, or animals of any kind. Also, due to some loving/borderline obsessive encouragement from his parents, he's obsessed with babies. We're really excited to see how he likes having a little sister live in our house! 

We pushed back his bedtime to 7:30pm because he's been waking up before 6am. So far it's helped a little, but it's been nice for extra daddy time at night. We all get to eat dinner together as a family. He's still napping a solid 1.5-2 hours a day though, so the early wake ups are a tradeoff I can live with. 

I must mention he still poops 3-4 times a day. We introduced the potty ring a few days ago after he showed that he can control his peepee before baths. Every time we put him on the potty, he eeks out a little pee, whether or not he has to go. So that's cool! We have yet to see a pooper though. Suffice it to say we are not getting rid of the diapers any time soon. But hopefully he'll just pick up on communicating when he needs to go, etc., in the next several months or so. No pressure. Promise. 

These are the details you've been missing in your life! What is the diaper status of Baby Billy Brez!? 

Anyway, we are trudging along here. We'll be celebrating Thanksgiving here in IL with some neighbors due to pregnancy travel restrictions. And then Operation: Wait On Baby Zelie really commences.