august is sleeping in his bassinet right now. he has been sleeping in there for the past few nights.

of course he gets up around four-five and is probably more awake than he was the times before that i’ll feed and lay him back in there…so then, i usually just coax him to lay with me and sleep so i can get a few more hours in and we don’t have neighbors banging against the walls at four am because the baby is screaming at the top of his lungs.
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today was one of the tougher days i’ve had with august. it came after a good night, however, no matter how good the nights can be, mark and i still aren’t getting much sleep…so, i’m seeing a good night doesn’t really balance a tough day out very well if we aren’t very rested and don’t have much energy to take on feisty baby days.
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How far along are you?
39W5D.

What symptoms are you experiencing?
- itchy belly/chest.
- contractions.
- occasional sharp pains from down below.
- losing my plug. (sorry guys– shouldn’t read if you don’t want tmi!)
- fun bathroom issues!
- moodiness.

How are you feeling?
the past two weeks i am finding that i’m reeeally uncomfortable even though i’m not noticing much of a difference in size. this past week i have been really moody and quick to freak out (ask mark!). as i’m nearing august’s due date and fearing that he’s going to come late, i can’t help but worry that he’s not going to make his due date. it’s not so much that i am worried because i am being impatient and needing to have him right now. i actually don’t want to be annoying and seem selfish of my little bug’s time to develop within me. i want him to come when he’s ready. but i also really want him to come in time so that mark and i can meet and spend a day or two with him before all of our guests come in town. even more important than that is i want all of the guests that have spent a good amount of money on plane/hotel tickets to come visit us to actually get to meet little one before they head back across the country/world. if august comes two weeks later than his due date, there are going to be people missing him and that concerns me a little even though i am well aware that that pressure is not mine to take on considering i have chosen to not do a planned c-section and do not plan to get induced unless there are complications that warrant an induction or he is two or more weeks late.

Any doctor’s appointments this week and how did they go?
had one last week. wrote all about it here. we’ll have another appointment with a midwife this wednesday around 4 PM PST. hopefully, my body and baby have shown some progress!

Anything big going on in your personal life (family, work related, moving, etc)?
not so much. mark and i have been pretty on top of preparations for baby. baby clothes/blankets/etc. have been washed and put away, baby’s section of the room is all ready, bags are packed and in car, car seat is installed, house is ready for guests, we’re just waiting for baby! the fact that, within a couple of weeks, we’ll be holding our little one is a pretty big thing in itself!

Any questions?
no.

Any belly pictures?
yes.
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a couple of weeks ago, while walking around safeway, we were offered a free sample of cinnamon vanilla walnuts. mark, of course, hated them (we don’t really have the same tastes as far as sweets go) but i loooved them and had to get a little cone of them.

they were even freshly roasted. YEHM.

now, i’m craving some.

cinnamon vanilla walnuts. and i wouldn’t mind something with some cool crab in it, too.

strange.

it’s not even 11 in the morning yet.
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this morning i woke up with what felt like it could be a contraction that seemed to last for atleast five or so minutes. i say “contraction” because, that whole time, my stomach was pretty hard and there was pain. and not pain from trying to reposition the wrong way or get out of bed, but pain just by laying on my side. it would get even more intense if i tried to move and switch sides to accomodate what i hoped was just skittle’s weird positioning. this isn’t the first time i’ve gotten this. i, maybe, get the painful like contractions one to three times a day and, the rest of the day, it seems all i have to do is look at my stomach and i get the more commonly explained painless braxton hicks contraction that are merely tightening but without the pain.
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so, yesterday was our pre-natal appointment. it went really well. i’m measuring at, what the midwife said was a a good size (34″), my weight gain is at 20 lbs, and the baby is head down! he also seems to favor facing my left side. when we asked the midwife how he’s positioned, she felt around and explained what was where. from that, it feels like skittle likes to stick his little bum up against my rib cage on my top right-hand side (does NOT feel nice) and likes to be cradled along that side of my stomach. this makes sense because i frequently feel a huge mass in there and haven’t been sure if i’ve been feeling a head, butt, or back. i’ve also noticed A LOT of movement all over my left-hand side. turns out, i’ve been feeling little hands and feet pushing and kicking!
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so, it turns out that our child birth classes don’t start today but next tuesday.

jghdfhgfhh. i feel like our minds are scattered all over the place.

i wasn’t really looking forward to going today because i feel a little out of it but the past twenty minutes that i’ve spent getting ready, i found myself feeling more ready and actually looking forward to it.

i really need to get in the habit of “getting ready” more often…even when i’m not going somewhere. it helps my mood.
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How far along are you?
29W5D.

What symptoms are you experiencing?
fatigue, mild nausea (could be caused by the warmer weather), cramping, nesting, loss of balance.

How are you feeling?
tired and worn out. the reality that will be here in just a little over two months is finally starting to hit me.

Any Dr. appointments/ultrasounds/tests this past week and how did they go?
we have an appointment with the midwife tomorrow morning. we start taking birthing/breast feeding/newborn care classes provided by kaiser starting next week.

Anything big happening in your personal life (moving, work related, etc..)
we just got settled into the new place and got through entertaining an apartment full o’ relatives this past week. that was pretty eventful and fun but it took a lot out of us. we’re still recovering!!!

Any questions you want to ask?
not really any questions so much as a concern. mark and i watched the business of being born last night and at one point in the documentary, there was concern that one of the babies was breech. one of the ways the doctor knew this was by asking the mother if she was feeling fluttering around her vaginal area to which she answered yes. after they did an ultra sound, the baby was, sure enough, feet down. this made me a bit nervous because i’ve been experiencing quite a bit of fluttering down below in addition to what feels like kicks. and after thinking about it more today, the bulge that i’ve been feeling around the top of my belly feels more and more like it could be a head. i’ll just have to talk to the midwife about this tomorrow.

Any belly pics from this week?
yes…
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that subject line was lame. i’m sorry. but i always think about that when i wake up before it’s light out.

here i am. it’s five am and i am wide awake.

just me and the cates.

and that’s really all i have to say. that it is five am…and i am wide awake.

OH AND, ALSO, THAT I AM 28 WEEKS TODAY.
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had the prenatal appointment this morning. the nurse that weighed and checked me in asked me if anyone had talked to me about the gestational diabetes (GD) testing and i said that it was supposed to happen today, after the check up. so, she went and got the paper work and the bright orange fluid i was supposed to drink and brought them back. right at that moment, my doctor came in the room and seemed bewildered at the fact that i was getting tested when i am not supposed to be tested until i hit 24 weeks.
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