The Hardest Thing I Have Ever Done

As I sit and write this, I am exactly one day away from my goal of breastfeeding my son for an entire year.  By the time you read it, I will have passed that goal. The thought honestly brings me to tears.  I thought we’d never make.  I thought this day would never come.  I pushed myself harder than I ever have and I made it.  I hit my goal. What’s even better?  We aren’t even going to stop. We are going to keep moving forward.

This post may not be for everyone, but I needed to get this all out in writing.  My story.  It is very long, so bear with me.

As the title says, breastfeeding has been the single hardest thing I have ever done in my life.  Yes I have done difficult things (I mean hello, I birthed a child) but most of those things were just fleeting moments.  A couple of hours of my life.  This task, nursing my son, has lasted an entire year of my life.

Most women say that they love breastfeeding and the relationship with their child. They will say it is magical and beautiful and many other positive things. I can’t honestly say those things.  I never felt the magic, which is hard for me.  I think it is partly because our journey has been VERY rough.

All of my life I knew I wanted to breastfeed my kids.  My mom did it, so I knew I would too. I never even questioned it. I knew there were benefits to it, but learned so much more about it once I became pregnant and began researching. I read articles upon articles and even took a three hour class at our hospital to prepare. Nothing though, prepared me for what actually happened.

When Noah was born, he seemed to latch immediately.  I was so happy and proud.  It was a weird feeling, those first moments, but I knew I was doing what was best for my little guy.  While in the hospital, I tried nursing for what felt like pretty much the whole time.   The lactation consultant visited me while in our room and tried to help us get the latch thing down perfect. But she was very rough. She would pile pillows around me and make me sit up in such awkward positions in my hospital bed that I felt so weird. 

Noah wasn’t doing well with it though.  They didn’t think he was getting enough.  I became stressed.  I let a nurse talk me into giving him tiny bit of formula that first night. I wish I wouldn’t have given in so easily, but it’s really not that big of a deal. It didn’t hurt anything.  We continued to try and breastfeed.  I remember that I thought it was going well, but every time a nurse or the lactation consultant saw me, they tried to fix everything I was doing.  It because frustrating.  My doctor released me to go home after the first night if I wanted, but the nurses suggested I stay the night so I could get more help breastfeeding, so I did.  We just couldn’t get his latch to a point where I wasn’t in pain.

Nursing was painful. So painful.  I know that they always say it is painful in the beginning while your body gets used to it, but man was this excruciating. I pushed on. 

When we went to Noah’s pediatrician appointments in the first few days, the doctor was concerned. He wasn’t gaining any weight back (most newborns lose about 10% of their birth weight in the first couple of days). They had us come in again in a few days for a weight check.  I was also in so much pain that I started to use a nipple shield to provide some relief when feeding him. Though they aren’t the best thing, I knew I couldn’t move forward without it. I was crying while feeding him I was in so much pain.

Meanwhile, I was researching. Reading everything I could get my hands on about breastfeeding.  I had read something about babies having tongue ties and how it could cause a lot of pain for mothers and how it could affect how much milk baby was getting. I decided to pay to see a lactation consultant. I met with her when Noah was 8 days old and I asked her if she could check Noah for a tongue tie.  She helped us with his latch, but I just could not get him to do it the same way when I tried on my own. She also said she thought he could possibly have a tongue tie.  If you aren’t aware, I tongue tie is a little piece of skin that attached at the base of the tongue making it harder for the tongue to move or stick our very far.

During all of this, I was still in excruciating pain. Noah was literally tearing my body apart. Pieces of my most intimate body parts were literally coming off during breastfeeding (if you get my gist…). I was often bleeding as well.  I finally gave up.  I was so broken and upset with myself that I couldn’t push forward. I would have to give my baby a bottle.  Nine days after Noah was born, on May 20th, I woke C up early in the morning bawling and asked him to go to Target and get a special type of bottle (Dr. Browns with a preemie nipple is what our LC suggested). I felt like I had failed. I was so unhappy.

I was grasping at straws and still suspecting the tongue tie so I called to make an emergency consultation appointment with our pediatrician.  Little did I know when I chose him, but he is one of the most well-known tongue tie doctors in AZ. Our appointment was the next morning. I am so grateful they were able to get us in quickly. It was such a relief.  Once at the appointment, the doctor confirm Noah’s tongue tie and suggested a revision.  Everything I was experiencing could be due to that. We scheduled his surgery for the following day, the 22^nd. 

 

It was a hard decision, to choose to do the revision.  I knew it would be putting Noah in pain, but I also knew it would be beneficial to him for the rest of his life.  Some tongue ties can cause a lot of issues into adulthood if they are not corrected, namely major speech issues and neck/back pain. 

The procedure lasted all of 5 minutes.  They took my little man to another room while C and I just stood there holding each other.  I heard him cry and then they brought him back.  Once back in the room he was happy again and nursed like a champ.  He latched on better and I felt instant relief from a lot of the pain I had been feeling.

With a revision like this, you have to do “stretches” of the babies tongue 3 times a day…..basically to keep the wound open and let it heal that way.  I had such a hard time doing these, knowing that they hurt my little man each time.  We forged on though and did what we needed to do. Luckily he would only cry during the few seconds of the exercises and was perfectly content once they were done.

Though a lot of the pain had been relieved and I was able to nurse Noah around the clock again, I was still hurting. I was grasping at straws to fix it. I thought maybe I had an infection called thrush that can be in both mama and baby and can be painful. I went to see my OB and she told me I didn’t have it. I was going to be alone with Noah for the first time that weekend while C traveled and she told me she thought it would be best if I pumped and fed him that way.  I honestly think she was scared for my sanity, that I may have a breakdown if I kept trying. I followed her advice, which was a nice relief, but so much work.  It was exhausting trying to pump hooked up to a machine and take care of a newborn all alone.

When we had the tongue tie consultation, our doctor also informed us that Noah had a lip tie. A lip tie is a little piece of skin connecting your lip to your gums, usually right above but between your top two middle teeth. Since they don’t usually do the revisions at the same time, C and I had a little time to decide if we wanted to go through with that one or not.  As Noah still wasn’t gaining weight very well and I was still having pain, I wanted to go through with it.  C wasn’t too sure, he didn’t want to put Noah through so much in such a short time.  We deliberated for quite a while.  The problem is, some lip ties do not cause problems in the future and some do.  I actually have a very large lip tie (which I didn’t even realize I had until I started this journey) and never had any problems.  Other times, they can cause a big gap in your teeth and a lot of speech problems.  I thought though, it was better to prevent those things now while he was young than to wait until he was a few years old and have a much larger issue to deal with.

On July 20^th, Noah had the lip tie revision.  He took it like a champ again and didn’t even cry.  They usually suggest baby Tylenol if baby seems to be in pain after the surgery but Noah didn’t even really seem to need it. We gave him one dose and he was fine after that (whereas with the tongue he took it for a couple of days).  He little lip got puffy that night, but he wasn’t fussy at all.  We did his “stretches” during bath time (which he loves) so I think that kept him happy.  He would whine for a second just like before and then it would be all over again.

Over time, our breastfeeding relationship got much better.  Noah ate faster and there was so much less pain.  I was finally happy to do it.  I wouldn’t say I enjoyed it per-se but I didn’t dread it.

As the months went on, Noah was still having problems with his weight gain and I began having problems with my milk supply. I knew the two might be correlated so I knew I needed to do something.  I researched and talked to many other breastfeeding women and even sent emails back and forth with our LC many times.  Everyone kept saying I was doing all the right things and that I should have a plentiful supply.  It was so frustrating. Noah was consistently in the 3% or under weight percentile and at was point was even at .03%.  Not even a full percent.  Our doctor gave us one last chance before he made us supplement with formula, which I really didn’t want to do. 

Through all of my research I had heard of a prescription called Reglan  that had some scary side effect possibilities but also helped women up their milk supply.  In order to get it, you had to have low prolactin, which is a hormone that causes your body to make milk.  Well, I called my doctor and asked her to order me a blood test for prolactin (among a few other things, like thyroid, that can cause low milk supply).

When the results came back I wasn’t surprised.  Most pregnant or lactating women have prolactin levels in the high 100’s to 200’s.  Mine was at 13.  13!  I had found the cause of my low supply! Knowing that the Reglan prescription should help me, I requested a prescription from my Doctor.  Turns out, she didn’t know much about it though, so she denied it and just told me to pump more (since I didn’t talk to her I couldn’t explain all of the things I had already tried and thought I was just taking an easy route).  I had to call back and fight for myself. I spoke with a nurse at length and told her everything I had tried and the research I had done on the pill.   She talked to the Doctor again, who approved it this time!

I was given a dose of 10 days.  As I mentioned before, the side effects of Reglan can be scary. It can cause severe depression.  Because I didn’t have any hormonal issues during or after pregnancy, I was hoping I’d be ok.  I asked C to watch me very closely to make sure I wasn’t having any problems with it that I couldn’t pick up on myself. Thankfully, I had no problems at all.  In fact, I had just the effect I wanted. More milk! So much more milk! My doctor agreed after I had no issues to continue my prescription, which I’ve continued to take for 5 months now.

I am so proud of myself that I fought for that prescription too.   I had run out of options and out of people that thought they could help me.  I did a ton of research on my own and requested my own blood testing, learned how to read my own results and asked for a specific prescription.  I honestly think I taught my Doctor about it too!

Since going back to work when Noah was a little less than three months old, I have had to pump at work too.  I had to fight for a space to pump (showing my office the law that they have to provide a space for you that isn’t a bathroom) and 3 times a day take time out of my job to pump milk.  At about 10 months old, I dropped to 2 sessions a day and at around 11 months old I dropped to only one pumping session a day.  I am currently working on dropping all pumping sessions during the day and just feeding him when we are together.

I hate pumping.  Always have. It’s funny though, I have looked forward to the day I wouldn’t have to pump anymore, but now that it’s here, I just can’t stop it.  I know what an amazing benefit the milk I provide is to my child, it feels selfish to stop giving him that. I’m having a hard time with it. I NEVER thought I would feel that way! I'm going to stop though....soon. Really. I keep telling myself that.

Ok so there it is, my entire breastfeeding story.  I know, I know, it is soooooo long. I just had to get it all written out, for me. If you made it to the end though, congrats! I hope someday I can encourage someone that is struggling to keep going.  I never thought I would make it to a year and I am so proud of myself for pushing through to my goal….and beyond!  Through it all I have learned that every relationship and breastfeeding journey looks different and they aren’t all easy peasy. I also learned that breastfeeding is an amazing thing and whether you do it for 2 days or 2 years, you are still giving your child an amazing benefit!

Noah's Birth Story - Part 3

Ok I am finally going to finish up Noah’s birth story! It only took me four months haha. Bear with me on this one.  It is pretty long and may have a bit more detail than you’d like, but I want to get this all written down so I remember it!

Last thing I wrote about was us jumping into the car and heading to the hospital on the morning on May 11^th around 10:30am.  We live about 20 minutes away from the hospital and I can’t say that was the most comfortable car ride of my life!   I had several contractions along the way and just had to suck it up while sitting there in the front seat.  

Once we arrived we went to the registration desk.  I am VERY grateful I had pre-registered so I didn’t have to fill out a ton of paperwork.  The receptionist still did need some info from us and I probably had about 3 contractions while sitting there with her.  Normally, they send you to triage to get checked first to see if it is “time” but she said she could tell from the pain on my face during my contractions that they were the real thing!  At least it was evident!

By 11am we were checked into the hospital with a wristband on my wrist and headed to our laboring room!  The first thing they did was strap a heart monitor on my belly so they could watch Noah.  Man, that thing was so uncomfortable!  Besides the painful contractions, this thing bothered me the most.  It was seriously digging into my belly the whole day. 

The nurse checked me when we got settled and said I was only at 3 centimeters dilated.  She said that is on the verge of when they keep people or send them home, so she let me make the decision if I wanted to stay or not.  Um hello?  Of course I wanted to stay!  I am very glad I did too. My contractions weren’t necessarily even, they were between 2-5 minutes apart still, but they were very intense.  Once they hooked me up to the monitor I could see the evidence of that.  By noon I was at 4cm though, so I was moving right along.

Next we discussed an epidural, which I definitely knew I wanted.  I had read that sometimes it can slow labor though and since my contractions weren’t exactly regular I thought I would try and wait it out a bit.  I thought maybe if I didn’t have it yet I could walk around the hospital to help my contractions become stronger. She said she’d hook up my IV (which happened around 12:20) and then I could let her know when I was ready. It took about two more contractions before I called the nurse in and decided I was ready for my epidural!

Epidural time!

At about 1 o’clock the doctor came in to start my epidural.  Now, I really dislike needles and getting my blood drawn so I was not too excited about this process.  I made sure I never looked at the needle (I’ve heard how scary it is) to help keep myself calm.  I can say I felt a pinch when they inserted the numbing stuff and maybe some tightness when they inserted the epidural needle itself, but it was not as painful as I was imaging at all. Heck, compared to contractions it was easy! The whole process took probably less than 10 minutes.  Also, because I had gotten it pretty early, I didn’t have to try and “stay still” during a contraction, which most women say is very difficult (no duh).  I got checked again after this and I had gone from 4 to 6 centimeters in this hour, so progress was happening!

Now a lot of this is a little fuzzy (mainly because I don’t have photos to help me with the timeline…and it took my forever to write) but I know my mom finally arrived and then the doctor stopped by around 1:40pm and broke my water.  By now, I was feeling good from the epidural and literally could not feel a thing!  I know she was doing something down there….but I didn’t even feel the water haha.  Is that TMI?  Both Cliff and I had to ask if she had actually broken it, because I had no clue!  She also told us at this time that she though he was going to come fast.  Yay! Best news ever right?  I wouldn’t have to spend all day in labor :)

Around 2:30 they checked me again and I was at 7 centimeters and my contractions were 3 minutes apart and regular.  They had turned me to lying sideways and put this giant ball type thing between my legs (I guess it helps with labor?!?) but Noah didn’t like it too much.  His heart rate kept dropping, so they had to put me on oxygen. They had me lay back down on my back, which I liked better anyways.  Oddly enough, I was never scared when they had to put me on oxygen.  I went with the flow and let the nurses do what they needed to.  Maybe it was how calm they were acting, but I never felt worried.  I knew they would take care of us!

Oxygen Selfie #1

Oxygen Selfie #2

The next bit of the day was just a lot of “sit around and wait.”  I spent time looking through face book and texting my closest girlfriends. There was a tv on playing some sort of movie (I honestly can’t even remember what it was) but I couldn’t focus on it at all, so I didn’t even bother.  The nurses were coming in and out of the room and preparing for little man’s arrival.  At one point the baby nurse came in with his bassinet and all of the items he would need right away.  I think that’s when it became pretty darn real!

"Noah's corner"

At 3:45pm they checked me again and I was at 9cm!  Ah!  This was happening soon!  They called my doctor to come back to the hospital and got everything prepared.  At some point they had decided that I didn’t need any more epidural medicine and that they were just gonna let it wear off.  I knew that they do this a little bit, so you can kind of feel what you are doing, but I had no clue how strongly I would still feel all of the contractions.  I was mad as heck because I remember it hurting soooo bad! I thought, I paid the anesthesiologist so I wouldn’t feel this and now I am in so much pain! It was not fair!

The nurses thought that to help take my mind off the pain they would tell me I could start pushing.  My doctor wasn’t there yet and they thought it really wouldn’t get anywhere, but lo and behold the first push they could already see Noah’s head.   I think everyone kicked it into high gear at this point! The doctor walked in nonchalantly thinking she had plenty of time but quickly realized she needed to get ready a bit faster. She coached me through about 6 sets of pushes, only 3 of them where she was actually in position before Noah arrived. I’m not quite she the exact length of time I pushed for, but I know it was an hour or less. It felt like forever, but I know now it wasn’t.  

During my pushing, they kept trying to get me to look into a mirror.  They brought one over and thought that for some reason this would help me.  Um no thanks!  Plus I was way too focused on pushing and closing my eyes to be able to see anything. I’m not sure if my doctor was in a hurry or if it was really needed, but I did received an episiotomy.  I never discussed with her beforehand about that, but in all honestly at the time I could have cared less! Anything to get the baby out quicker and take away my pain sounded good to me. I didn’t feel it at all, but I do remember the stitching up part being a bit uncomfortable because she was tugging so hard on the sutures. 

Noah was born on May 11^th (5/11/15) at 5:12pm and he weighed 6 pounds and 11 ounces (6-11).  How’s that for confusing? Poor C still gets the date, time and weight mixed up haha.

The first moment I held him...you can't tell but the cord is still attached!

Daddy skin to skin time :)

They cleaned him all up, weighed him and brought him back to me to cuddle.  He latched on like a champ and ate a bit within the first hour. Then he cuddled with daddy and grandma and had his first bath…..which he hated! He very much enjoyed the heat lamp though they put him under after that though. The nurses even commented on it.  By 8:15pm or so, they were moving us to our new room where we would spend the next two nights!

Not happy taking his first bath....

But loving the heat lamp!

Moving to our new room!

The next morning C's coach wouldn't let him off the hook for practice, so he had to take off for a few hours.  I am sure glad for nurses!  Being alone after having a baby 14 hours previous was not easy. Thankfully, he got lots of cuddles with daddy before and after that.

Our doctor actually cleared us to go home that evening, but we decided to stay another night based on recommendations from the nurses and lactation consultants.  Noah was having a bit of trouble breastfeeding, so they thought it would be good for us to stay and get more help.

We headed home as a little family on Wednesday May 13^th around noon….and life has been amazing ever since!

Noah's Birth Story - Part 2

Well I last left off on Noah's birth story the weekend before he was born. C was traveling to New Orleans for a game and I was paranoid I'd go into labor so I put myself on a self imposed bed rest almost the whole time he was gone.

My little man!

He returned home late Sunday afternoon and I decided that since I had spent the weekend in bed trying to prevent the birth, now I was going to try and speed it up! I had heard that lots of walking is helpful and also bouncing on a big exercise ball could help, so off to run errands we went! 

We spent at least an hour walking around Buy Buy Baby, then headed to Target for more errands (and to get an exercise ball!) and stopped at Olive Garden for dinner. At this point I was feeling just really uncomfortable. My body hurt and it was tired. I was done being pregnant. I remember saying that I was so glad I only had a week to go cause I wasn't sure I'd make it much longer. I was ready!

After dinner we went to Walmart to run one last errand. Leaving the building, I felt really light headed so we decided to head home. Once we got on the road, the light headedness got worse and I started seeing spots. I was on the verge of passing out and I was really scared. I just kept trying to breath through it all. 

Once we got home, C called the hospital to ask if there was anything we should do and if that was normal. They thought that I was probably dehydrated so suggested I chug some water and call back if I didn't feel better soon. C drew me a bath and I climbed in with a few water bottles to drink while I was in there. Thankfully, it made me feel a lot better and I was able to go to bed. Pregnant women, make sure to drink your water!!! 

Sometime during the night I started waking up feeling some pain and then going back to sleep. I was only half awake, so I honestly have no clue what time this actually started. I would wake up in a lot of discomfort, try to get settled in a different position and then go back to sleep. Around 5am, I woke up enough to realize what was going on. Could this be a contraction?

I started timing them around this point and would try to go back to sleep after each one. Soon enough though, the pain was a little too much to go back to sleep. I would lay in bed and whimper a bit through each one. Around 7am, I saw on my handy dandy contraction tracking app (seriously this thing was awesome!) that they were getting closer and closer together. They were sitting about 6 minutes apart at this point. 

I decided to wake C up and let him know what was going on, but also make him walk around the house with me. I had held off labor for the weekend, but now I was ready to make this thing happen! He helped me out of bed and we started to pace. I text work and let them know I wasn't going to be in right away and I might not be in at all. 

I was really hoping this was it, so the vain woman in me decided to put on some makeup! I would pace for a bit, have a contraction, then head to the bathroom to do my makeup for a few minutes. Then I'd start the process all over again. C worked on putting the last items into our hospital bags while I did this. 

Sadly, after an hour or so I noticed the contractions were starting to slow down and I was getting bummed. I wasn't about to let them stop! So I did what any woman would do....I used my husband hehe. I had read many times that sex can help kick start labor, so we tested that theory! 

After that we realized we were really hungry and I was craving bisquick biscuits. Of course we didn't have any bisquick. Off to the grocery store we went! I continued to have contractions while we were there. I would just put my head down and lean on the grocery cart, hoping I didn't look like a crazy person. 

At the end of our trip, C and I split up to each grab one more thing. One of the Rattler fans works at the grocery store and unfortunately saw me. He started chatting with me even though I wasn't too responsive! I actually had a full on contraction while he was talking and I don't think he even noticed! I was trying to look as normal as possible haha.

Once we got back home the contractions were definitely starting to pick back up. They were getting pretty intense. C was busy making breakfast and I was busy laboring. I think the position that was the most comfortable was on my knees leaning over the couch during each contraction. 

I started to notice the contractions were getting pretty intense, but they weren't totally consistent on their timing. Some would even be only a few minutes apart. Finally, I told C that I thought it would be time to go to the hospital pretty soon. Of course, the biscuits had JUST gone into the oven. I conceded that we would wait until they came out and then take off. Talking myself through that 15 extra minutes was not my favorite!
 

Had to take a picture of the egg that we had
 to wait on before we left for the hospital!

Finally the biscuits came out and we were ready to go. Or so I thought! C wanted to make a breakfast sandwich so he was quickly making an egg. Such a man right? Gotta get some food before everything goes down! 

After the sandwich was complete, we piled into the car and took off to the hospital! Eek! Was this really happening??

Noah's Birth Story - Part One

I really would have liked to get this written sooner, but man, life with a newborn is quite busy!!

As you may or may not know, Noah's due date was May 25th. Due to daddy's traveling schedule and the fact that he had a bye week (meaning no practice, traveling, or appearances) the week before that, we had scheduled an induction for May 18th. I would have been 39 weeks pregnant. 

Well...little man had other plans! 

On Thursday, May 7th I was working and started noticing I was getting contractions. They weren't painful at all, just regular Braxton hicks. What I did notice was they felt pretty regular. I started timing them on my handy app and it turns out they were about ten minutes apart. 
 

We had finally installed his car seat on the 6th!

 

Now, around this time I had also experienced some of the not so flattering signs of possible labor. If you want to know, feel free to ask, but I'm not going to go into detail here. Sometimes these mean labor is imminent, sometimes they mean it's still a ways off. Not confusing at all right?

 

That weekend, C had an away game in New Orleans. With the labor signs and the regular (albeit non-painful) contractions I was starting to get worried. Arizona and Louisiana aren't exactly close. If he left, and I went into labor, it would be at least 7 hours before he made it back home. 

 

As the day wore on, my contractions started to get closer together. At one point, they were at almost five minutes apart. Still though, they weren't painful at all. 

I decided that it would be best to see my Doctor and get her opinion. I called the office and of course she was out of town that weekend, but thankfully the other doctor (who I had just met the week previous) was willing to see me. 

 

When I got to the office, she checked me and I had gone from 50% effaced and 1 centimeter dialated on Monday to 90% effaced and 1 centimeter. Doesn't sound like much of a change, but it was only over a period of 3 days and I was having other signs. She told me she couldn't predict that I would for sure go into labor, but if it were her, she wouldn't let her husband make the trip. 

Of course, of all the weeks, this was a game that the team really needed C. One of their best guys had been suspended and C was going to play his position. He talked it over with the team and we all decided, as long as something didn't happen that night, that C would travel. The team promised that if aI started to go into labor while he was away, he would be on the next plane home and they would make sure of it. I got phone numbers of some of the personnel so I could contact them if need be during the game. 

 

Daddy putting together the final baby items the night before he
 left while I lay in bed with light contractions!

Thankfully, that evening the contractions stopped around 8pm. I decided that since C was going to travel, I was going to do everything I could to rest and keep little man comfy, inside my belly! 

How I spent my Saturday night....watching C's game

 

I went to work the next day, but then put myself on a self imposed bed rest for the weekend. I had heard that walking around a lot could definitely cause labor, so I was too afraid to do anything!  I left the house for a quick lunch, but from Friday evening to Sunday afternoon I just laid around the house. Let's just say, I am very thankful I chose to do that!



The bump barely fitting into a booth the night during lunch on Saturday



Next up...the real labor begins!

 

He's Here!

Well if you haven't guessed already from my absence on the blog, baby Noah has arrived!

He came early at exactly 38 weeks on May 11, which was the 1 year anniversary of our engagement and also his grandpas birthday (who he's named after).

Weighing in at 6 pounds and 11 ounces and 20 inches long....

This is Noah Joseph Dukes!

I will try to find some time in the near future to write his birth story, but for now I'll be taking a break from the blog. Newborns are hard ya'll! 

Ok one more photo before I go....he was 6 days old here. 

Week 37

Sorry so grainy...it was getting dark and it was our last chance for a photo this week!

What's Going on in There?

You guys…this week little man is considered FULL TERM.  This is it!  He can come any time now.  I seriously can’t believe it. He is a bit over 20 inches and a bit over (or maybe more than a bit) 6 pounds.  This week he is the size of a winter melon….whatever that is. All of his organs are now developed and he is ready for the outside world. He is practicing sucking his thumb and blinking his eyes in preparation as well!

Maternity Clothes? 
Even some of those are getting tight.  I am so ready for a bigger variety of clothes!

Weight? 
Still 28 pounds. How is this number not changing?  Not that I’m complaining!

Stretch Marks? 

No more than usual.  I noticed at different times of the day the ones I do have seem to be darker…it’s quite odd.

Movement? 
He sticks his foot out the side of my belly probably 40 times a day. Maybe more.  It’s starting to get really uncomfortable. I’m pretty sure the area is starting to get bruised.    

Food Cravings? 
I’m loving soft serve ice cream lately.  Chich-fil-a and Burger King ice cream cones are where its at!

Anything Making you Queasy or Sick? 

Not at all!

What I Miss? 
I miss sleeping regularly, with no pain, no major effort to switch sides, no potty breaks. Just glorious sleep.

Nausea/Vomiting?  
Nope!

Symptoms? 
Just the general complaints as always.  Tired, sore, acid reflux. Yuck.  I can tell he has moved down too (Dr. said she felt his head when she checked me!) because there is more pain in walking, especially on the side he is laying.

Labor Signs? 
Well we had our first check this week and I am officially 1 cm dialated and 50% effaced.  Which I know doesn’t mean much, but I’m excited to see my body is starting the process and doing what it’s supposed to!

Gender? 
Little boy blue!

Belly Button In or Out?
Out.  C loves rubbing my belly but I have to remind him to go around the belly button these days, its uncomfortable to the touch.

Wedding Rings On or Off? 
Still sporting a fake rock that turns my finger green by the end of the day! I get lots of compliments on it though hahah, so people clearly can’t tell its fake!

Bare belly!

Sleep?
I think this is starting to get a bit worse.  I am waking up more to go to the bathroom and its getting harder and harder to fall asleep after I lay back down.  I am so thankfully I only have a little over a week left!

Snuck this pic of daddy putting together his swing while I laid in bed!

What I'm Looking Forward To?

I am ready to get my body back. I think I have definitely hit the “I’m over it” stage of pregnancy!  I also obviously can’t wait to meet Noah!  As long as he stays in this weekend since C is out of town for a game, we are good. Then bring it on little guy!