2 down, 8 to go!

No baby yet... at my appt, my bp was a bit up, 147/94... and my doc checked me. I am 2 cms dilated. I go back on Thursday... unless something happens between now and then. Send me labor vibes, people!! :)

Waiting is the hardest part...

Waiting is the hardest part..., originally uploaded by tjsmommabear.

We're all anxious to meet this new little girl... I just KNOW Travis is going to adore her sooo much!
He talks to my belly, and says "Come out, Ashley and be with us!"

Yada, yada...

Well... it looks like this baby will be an April kid after all... still no progress into labor land...

My bp was down a bit today.. 130-ish/80-something.... and there was no protein in my pee. Apparently there WAS on Monday... but no one told me until today. Mmmhmm... okay.

I go back Monday... we'll see what there is to see then...

Rachael is visiting family in the Bay Area.. and is most likely coming down to visit us for a day trip this weekend... and that will kick ass!! :)

Anyway... tired, heartburn... ready to sleep... and I've had waaay too much Easter chocolate today. Orange Creme Cadbury eggs are the work of the devil, I tell you!

Wating, waiting, waiting....

Had another OB appointment this morning... bp was 145/95 = hanging in there... but need to go back Thursday... and twice a week to monitor it... hopefully for not too much longer, though. Please... cross fingers for this baby to come soon.

I had an internal exam... no dilation yet... grrr... so all these Braxton-Hicks have apparently just been to piss me off so far. My pelvis and low back have been killing me... so she is most definitely engaged, and LOW... but nada yet on the progress front.

I am supposed to go do the pre-reg stuf @ the hospital this week... so I guess it's good to get that over with before baby gets here... I did start packing my hospital bag today... toiletries, jammies (for me), nursing pads, and lollipops for labor.

I ordered a Bravado nursing tank and bra online, so hopefully they will be here soon. When I went grocery shopping today, I stocked up on postpartum pads - just need some Tucks pads, and I should be all set.

Still need to go to storage and locate my nursing pillow... and also wash baby laundry, and my slings.

Jeff's birthday is this Saturday... so I guess only time will tell if we'll have a new baby to help us celebrate... or else, I suppose the waiting game will continue...

I am sooo tired... I have heartburn... and just realized I am completely out of Tums.... crap.

Spring is here... baby stays put for now...

My OB appointment today went well. BP was down a bit... 140/87 - and I had a Non-Stress Test... which was reactive. So, basically, everything is good... and I go back Monday. I'm thinking I will have to go 2-3 times a week now, just to make sure my blood pressure is behaving.

I do still think this baby will end up having a March birthday... but maybe I'm just being hopeful. I am ready to meet her, and not be pregnant any longer than absolutely necessary. It sounds like induction is off the table for now... so let's hope all these crazy BH contractions are doing something.... something besides annoying the crap out of me, and making it hard to sleep. I guess I'll be checked for progress on that Monday as well.

As for Travis... I think he's finally recovered from this last round of ickiness... and the bad attitude/whine-fest/emo-ness that came along with it. He's still not wanting to eat very much, at ALL... but I guess the kid won't starve... right?

So, barring anything unexpected... we should have a nice, mostly quiet weekend with family... Saturday, we're taking Travis to the city-wide Easter Egg Hunt, and probably heading over to some friends for an afternoon BBQ. Then, Sunday, we go to Jeff's Grandma's for Easter... with uncles, cousins, etc.

It should be nice... except for the faux-grief I'm going to get from Jeff's Uncle Steve for not bringing my carrot cake. Seriously... it's like crack - but I am NOT baking a cake right now. As good as EATING it sounds.... MAKING it is a pain-in-my-ass... and I already have one of those right now. Oh, and in my back, and legs, and cervix, and.... you know.... everywhere.

Ready for blast-off!

Dunno what it was that worked... the hoping, praying, acupuncture, chiropractic treatments... but something did. Miss Ashley is now head down, and engaged in my pelvis. Which also explains why my pelvis has been killing me the last two days! :)

My blood pressure read high today... 145/95 - so I am going back to be checked again Thursday...

My doctor did say specifically he'd like to NOT have to induce me... but it may not be possible... we'll just have to wait and see. When my bp got to 150/110 with Travis he did induce... it was only 4 days early... and I'm only at 37 weeks right now... but, again... we'll just have to wait and see.

I'm supposed to "stay down as much as possible" and "rest". Errr. Right. I am a stay at home mom of a 3-year-old. That's really gonna happen.

We really need to set up the co-sleeper for the baby, and wash some of her clothes as well as pack a hospital bag, though.

Anyway... cross fingers for us! :)

Rambly...

Well, my acupuncture chick flaked... to be fair, she had a cold, but still. Ugh. After some scrambling, I have an appointment scheduled for tomorrow morning.... with another lady. I had a chiro adjustment today, so hopefully, they will work to get this kiddo to turn head down.

Travis has been feverish for the last few days. Feverish, clingy, cranky, whiny, you name it. At first I thought it must be his back molars coming in... but I'm convinced after talking to the Pediatric nurse on the phone today, it's something viral that's been going around. Poor kid's been sick so much lately... especially considering how healthy he always has been. But, again, he nursed right up until this November - and this is the cold & flu season he's been vulnerable because he's not getting my antibodies any longer. Poor little man! I just hope we don't get it, too.

Anyway... family is coming in tomorrow to celebrate Jeff's birthday early. His birthday isn't until the 29th.... but we could have a baby by then! Even though it's supposed to rain... hopefully we will manage to have a good time! :)

Waiting for Jeff & Travis to get back from Papa John's with our pizza. Mmm. Pizza!

36 weeks, 6 days... and counting.

Turn, Baby - TURN!

Well, Ashley is at this moment, breech. She's Oblique, or, not exactly transverse... but kinda at an angle. Head is down by my right side, bottom, up by my left. Lovely, huh?
I kinda had my suspicions of this... because over the last couple of weeks, I have felt round "parts" at BOTH sides of my abdomen.

Anyway. Doc wants me to come back next Tuesday to see if she's moved. Supposedly, because I have adequate amniotic fluid - there's a bout a 70% chance that she will either turn on her own, or they will do the version. If that doesn't work? Ugh. You know what comes next. I don't even want to think about the "C-word" right now. Really, I don't.

I spent awhile on SpinningBabies today... and tried to get educated on the topic...

I made an appointment for Acupuncture this Thursday, after speaking to a few people who SWEAR it helped them or someone they know. I am also calling my Chiropractor in the morning, and pulling out my exercise ball. Wish me luck, ok?

Getting Ready...

I've been such a blogging slacker lately... cause hello? Tired... and 36 weeks pregnant. Okay... enough said! ;)

I have an OB appointment tomorrow... and an ultrasound scheduled to see whether Ashley is head-down yet. Please, please be head-down!!

Also.. I found a really cool meal-planning site via another blog... although my pregnant brain can't remember which blog... so sorry I can't give credit where credit is due. It's $7.00 a month... but really... a small price to pay...

Anyway.... in the interest of simplifying my menu-making/shopping list/meal prep process as we get closer to baby day... I thought this would be a great thing to try out. It's great!! You pick 5 of 15 available meals, tell it whether you're feeding 4, 6, or 8 people... and it imports the recipes, shopping list, etc. into a PDF... all beautifully organized, and neat... ready to be printed out. I love it.

There are also 10 freezer meals available per month... and I already have one all set and ready to go. It's Pork chops in an Orange-Herb Marinade. Prep took like 5 minutes, and when the time comes to cook it, I just need to defrost, drain marinade, and grill. Love it! :)

The freezer meals come complete with a checklist to stick on the fridge, including prep-instructions, and side dish suggestions. And, there are labels you can print out and stick directly on the freezer bag with directions on preparation, too. Ahh.... yay! I really needed some recipes of freeze-ahead meals for when the baby comes. Also, I don't have the luxury of a chest freezer any longer... so they have to fit into my regular freezer. Most look like they do, into the freezer bags, or disposable aluminum pans.

Anyway... for this week my meal plan is as follows:

Monday: Panko-Crusted Pork Chops served with veggies (Trader Joes frozen Organic Foursome with butter & garlic) and mashed potatoes

There's no official recipe for this... but I take boneless pork loin chops, salt and pepper both sides, brush top and sides with Maille honey mustard, and cover with a mixture of Panko and Italian bread crumbs seasoned with garlic powder, salt and pepper, drizzled with olive oil, and baked at 400 degrees for about 45 minutes (they were really thick chops... )


Tuesday: Knit night - Pasta with Barilla sauce and (frozen Trader Joes meatballs)
Wednesday: Honey Glazed Chicken (Relish recipe) veggies, brown rice
Thursday: Sauteed Chicken with Paprika cream Sauce (Relish recipe) roasted fingerling potatoes, sugar snap peas.
Friday: Dinner out

Eh, okay...

Saturday, for some inexplicable reason, Travis barfed in the parking lot of trader Joes. I thought it was because I kinda tossed him over my shoulder - compressing his tummy while getting him in the cart. Everything was okay, until some hours later, when we met the in-laws in San Jose for dinner at the Cheesecake Factory. Travis kept saying he had a tummy ache and didn't feel very good. Jeff rushed him outside a few times, just in case he puked again... nothing. Then took him into the bathroom the following time... because we were kinda convinced it was some sort of ploy to go outside, when daddy really just wanted to drink his margarita in peace.

Still, he wasn't acting himself... and he told me again he didn't feel well. I admit, I didn't jump up, cause well... it's sort of impossible for me to jump up right now.... and I was thinking this was just his way of being a pain while we waited for dinner. No such luck.

Thankfully, we had a folded-up sweatshirt with us... and I was able to catch the offending fluids - coupled with the fact that the Cheesecake Factory has really tall booths... anyway, the people around us were oblivious to the fact that my kid was puking. Ugh.

So.... we finished with dinner, and said goodbye to the il's... we went to the Apple Store so I could get a desperately-needed new case for my poor scratched up iPod... and drove the hour home.

Everything was quiet from the backseat... he fell asleep... but 5 or so miles from home, the poor kid puked again all over himself - and his carseat, while he was sleeping. We pulled over, cleaned him up as best we could, and went home.

After getting home, Jeff pulled out his carseat... which really needed to be cleaned... and the poor boy dry heaved all night.

Sunday, we had quite a few watery-barfing moments, but for the most part he was okay... Monday morning, he didn't listen to me.... and drank water too fast, causing it to come back up all over my couch, carpets, twice.

I think he's totally better now... no puking yesterday... despite eating fairly normally...

I - on the other hand have had stomach cramps since last night, and frequent visits to the bathroom to do something other than peeing throughout the night and this morning. No barfing, so crossing fingers! Hopefully, it's just a coincidence... cause damn.... we JUST went through all this crap a few weeks ago (no pun intended!)