HELLO
Mom to Iris. Wife to Todd. Our little family lives at the foothills of the Ozark Mountains in Fayetteville, Arkansas. We love it here and I love sharing little bits of our life.

© 2014 sarahfortune.

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Posts Tagged: maternity blog

Pregnancy Blog: 39 weeks

Pregnancy Blog: 39 weeks

Well, here I am.
Two days shy of my estimated due date of October 12.
And no signs of labor.

I’ve tried it all.
Yesterday I ate an entire pineapple for breakfast. About half a bottle of hot sauce on a burrito for lunch. And have been walking every day even though it hurts just to stand. But let’s back up a bit…

The 39th week started with my birthday, as well as my weekly appointment. I was more excited to find out what my doctor had to say than I was about any birthday celebration. The good news is that I have actually started to dilate, but only to one cm. The bad news is that I wasn’t nearly as effaced as she estimated the previous week (she guessed it to be maybe 20%, but noted that she didn’t even like to put a number on it when it was that low).

While the doctor did say that anything could happen and that I could go into labor over the weekend, she also made plans to see me in another week. She still gave us the option to induce labor at any time. In fact, we could have left there with an official date set. But with the way my body is progressing, there’s a good chance it would be a long, hard labor if we force it. So as tempting as it is to meet Iris soon, we have decided to wait till the next appointment to set an induction (with fingers crossed that she’ll come on her own anyway).

This Thursday is our next visit and, depending on how things have changed, we could very well end up with our original induction date of October 14. But except for the usual Braxton Hicks contractions and the occasional cramps, I don’t feel like too much is changing. Even if that’s the case, the latest my doctor will let me go is 41 weeks, which means that October 20th is the absolute latest that we would schedule anything.

As mentally and physically done I am with being pregnant, I just try to keep in mind that labor can happen at any moment and that a lot of times all of these checks of progress mean absolutely nothing. I’m trying to enjoy the last few days of No Baby Land, but it is hard when it’s all I think about and all I feel.

I did have a lovely birthday thanks to my friends & family. It started with a near two hour prenatal massage by a midwife. I was hoping that the pressure points might trigger labor, but no such luck. At least it made me feel a million times better! Another amazing gift was that my mom surprised me by cleaning our house from top to bottom while I was at work. Vacuuming is the last thing I feel like doing these days, so it was much appreciated.

Well, it looks like we could have a 40 week pregnancy blog (or at this rate a 67 week post), but only time will tell…

For now though, all you get is a silly photo of our other baby.

Pregnancy Blog: 39 weeks

Pregnancy Blog: 38 weeks

Pregnancy Blog: 38 weeks

Waiting. Wondering. Walking.

That’s what week 38 has been full of. I’m trying to wait patiently and savor these last few days before everything I’ve ever known completely changes. It’s tough though, because I spend most of my time wondering how things will go and what little Iris will be like. I’ve been trying to ‘get things going’ by walking whenever I can muster up some energy. Just putting on my sneakers is a task at this point. I’m hoping that I’ll get good news from the doctor this Thursday about how I’m progressing, but I wouldn’t be too surprised if things are exactly the same.

Last year during this time I was doing a different kind of counting down.
Counting down to my 30th birthday.

This year, instead of sitting in a bar

30th Birthday!

or sitting in a… cow?

30th Birthday!

I could very well be sitting a hospital.
My oh my how things can change in a year!

 

Here’s how I’ve spent the rest of week 38 (in pictures).
Crossing off the last days of September.

See ya, September! October is (finally) almost here.

Snuggling with my Sadie Pup.

Sadie Pup recovering from her bath.

Freezing bunches of burritos for easy meals when baby is here.

Frozen Burritos for when baby is here

Watching the Razorbacks win.

Razorbacks!

Enjoying the fall weather.
(I can officially see my due date on the 10 day forecast.
And it looks right nice.)

I can officially see my due date on the 10 day weather forecast. And it looks right nice.

 

With my next appointment in a few days, I’ll try to keep this thing updated but of course it depends on how everything plays out. Like mentioned in last week’s post, Twitter is probably the best way to keep up with me as I’m sure updating my blog won’t be my top priority if anything actually does ‘get goin.’

Till then…

Pregnancy Blog: 38 weeks

Pregnancy Blog: 37 weeks

Pregnancy Blog: 37 weeks

Eeeep! I can’t believe that tomorrow I will be 38 weeks exactly. But let’s not skip ahead of ourselves. Here’s how week 37 went…

After a very busy last week, I decided that I just needed to take it easy from here on out. So that’s exactly what I’ve been doing. This weekend I got into my pajamas before 5 o’clock on Friday and only got out of them once to go to the grocery. I am still working full time and intend to do so up until the bitter end. Each day I don’t take off now, is a day that I can have off with Iris once she’s here.

The one bit of excitement I did have this week was today’s trip to the doctor. While the doc guessed I was maybe about 40 to 50 percent effaced, there’s still no dilation. This didn’t really surprise me considering last week’s appointment and the fact that nothing really feels any different. The good news is that the baby’s head is very low, so she does expect me to have some slight progress by next week. At the same time, she also expects that I will make it to my due date. She wants to see me next week on October 6th (my birthday!) and it looks like that’s when we’ll officially set a date to be induced, unless of course she decides to come on her own before then. But Todd, myself, and the doctor looked at the calendar and it looks like Friday, October 14th might be the day! The doctor is actually giving us the option to induce as early as the 6th, but I feel like I should at least give my baby the chance to get past her due date. And who knows, I’ve heard stories about just setting the date helps to get labor going.

Till next week… or sooner!

Pregnancy Blog: 37 weeks

Pregnancy Blog: 36 weeks

Pregnancy Blog: 36 weeks

So tomorrow (Wednesday) my 36th week will be over and
do you know what that makes Iris?

A full term baby! That means she’ll be safe to come out and play,
but turns out… it might be a while.

This week was a busy one. Probably a bit too busy, but at least I had some fun. It was full of friends, football, family, and GL’s baby shower. It was also full of me complaining since I am still getting more uncomfortable by the day. I didn’t even think that was possible. Any time I was able to rest, I found myself counting strong Braxton Hicks contractions, sometimes as many as seven in an hour. So I thought SURELY I was making progress towards labor, but after my doctor’s visit this week, I found out otherwise.

The good news:
The doctor said that it looks like the baby has dropped and that she’s head down.

The bummer news:
I’m not dilated or effaced. (Nothing. Zero. Zilch.) Meaning, she’s most likely going to be cooking for a little while longer.

I know it’s still early (my due date is October 12), but I couldn’t help but feel a little discouraged. These last nine months have flown by, but imagining being this uncomfortable for another three weeks seems crazy. Anything can happen though, so at this point I’m just embracing it and relaxing as much as possible till the big day.

A few photos from the week…

Our nursery was featured on the Australian baby/kids blog, Baby Space
Pregnancy Blog: 36 weeks

Baby gifts keep arriving!
This sweet one is Flora & Henri
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Newborn cozies.

Yep. I’m pregnant.
I carry waffles & syrup in my purse these days.
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GL’s amazingly sweet baby shower.
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Animals in the nursery
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One of Sadie Pup & me just for fun.
Pregnancy Blog: 36 weeks

Well… settle on in folks, it looks like we have at least a couple more weeks of blog posts. If there are any miraculous changes, I’ll be updating on Twitter, so feel free to follow me there.

Pregnancy Blog: 29 weeks

Pregnancy Blog: 29 weeks

Truth be told, I cried after Todd took my photos this week.

I’ve only cried a few times since being pregnant, but I think this batch of tears had to do with seeing myself as officially huge and the fact that I’m entering the stage where I’m constantly uncomfortable. Okay, maybe it had a little to do with hormones too. But the tears only lasted a few minutes and, all in all, week 29 was a good set of days.

● I spent a couple of days in Chicago on a work trip, which was a nice (slight) break from this southern heat. Traveling in the third trimester was surprisingly easy, but direct flights, good company, & lots of sleep certainly helped.

Pregnancy Blog: 29 weeks

John Hancock building across from our hotel

Pregnancy Blog: 29 weeks

Pregnancy Blog: 29 weeks

Pregnancy Blog: 29 weeks

I discovered H&M has baby clothes

Pregnancy Blog: 29 weeks

Our laughable air-conditioner in the cab from the airport

Pregnancy Blog: 29 weeks

● Speaking of the heat, can I just point out for a minute that I’m pregnant during a historic heatwave? It’s been terrible and this week is supposed to be even worse. We’ve had record breaking temperatures & days on end of reaching over 100 degrees. Now someone hand me a milkshake and point me towards a pool.

Pregnancy Blog: 29 weeks

● We had another doctor’s visit (this “appointment every two weeks” thing is awesome) and Iris seems to be doing great!

● Iris has started hiccuping within the last couple of weeks. The first time I noticed it I was eating a spicy chicken sandwich from Chick-fil-A. Maybe spicy isn’t her thing. Sorry girl, it sure is mine.

● We have a new tradition of going over to my mom’s house every Sunday for dinner. It’s been a long time since I’ve lived in the same town as a parent, so just getting together for a meal is quite a treat. I can’t wait to continue this once Iris is here.

● Todd and I worked a little more on the nursery, finally decorating a little bit. He hung shelves and I made paper flowers.

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So even though there were a few tears (that’s to be expect though), I made it through another seven days and am oh-so-close to that 30 week mark.

Hip hip hooray!