The light at the end of the tunnel...

I can see the light at the end of the pregnancy tunnel!!! Yes, I'm feeling very optimistic today! I will be 39 weeks pregnant tomorrow and I had my weekly OB appointment today. Despite the fact that I was there for over 2 hours waiting, I left feeling energized and excited! I got to see Dr. A again today (no more appointments with the nurse practitioner - who, btw, I had been incorrectly referring to as a physician's assistant, but whatever) and she was very excited with the progress I've made since she last saw me 3 weeks ago. She said that I am now between 1 and 2cm dilated and the baby has gotten lower, etc. So, she said there is a good chance that something will happen soon! Oh boy! She shouldn't get my hopes up like that!

The real thing that I am excited about, though, is that I have an induction date! I'm not going to post the date here because right now it's just between MrKLB and myself. We don't really want people waiting/emailing/calling that day to see if the baby is here yet, so we're just going to let people know when it does happen. Anyway, if the baby doesn't come on his own then I will be induced not too long after my due date. So, yay! The end is in sight.... or, I should say, the beginning!!

Let's see... other than that, we had a very nice weekend. We went to the pool again on Saturday, which was awesome! We watched a movie at home and we also went to see a movie on Sunday - The Hangover. It was really funny. We've seen a lot of movies lately because my brother's only advice to me when I told him I was pregnant was to go see movies now before we have to pay for babysitters to do so! Anyway, Sunday afternoon we went to a birthday party/cookout for a friend and then installed the carseat in the car when we got home. I need to finish packing my hospital bags, but other than that, we're ready to go.

It won't be long until we meet our sweet baby boy now... and I really believe that now! :)

OB update

I had my weekly OB appointment today and saw the Physician's Assistant again. The baby is still doing well - heartbeat in the 140's and moving around a lot! My weight gain seems to have essentially stopped over the past couple of weeks, which is apparently normal. I have made some progress since my last appointment, but still no contractions. I'm still 1cm dilated, but 70% effaced and at station -1 (was 50% effaced and at -2 last week). So, I guess progress is good, but I still don't get the feeling the baby is coming any time soon. The PA asked if I had an appointment with my OB soon and I told her it will be Monday. She said that since they don't want me to go more than a week past my due date, Dr. A will want to start talking to me about induction. I wonder if that means she'll go ahead and schedule an induction date for me in case i don't go into labor on my own? I'm not crazy about the idea of having to be induced, but it would be nice to have a date on my calendar that tells me I'll be holding my baby no later than that day! So, I guess we'll see what she says when I go in on Monday. Hopefully I'll still go into labor on my own some time around my due date.

38 weeks

Yep, I'm 38 weeks pregnant today! I am getting really excited to meet our baby boy, but I am truly thankful for each week that this baby stays inside the womb. I've said from the beginning that I want to go full-term... all 40 weeks. According to an article I read in the Wall Street Journal, "A study in the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology calculated that for each week a baby stayed in the womb between 32 and 39 weeks, there is a 23% decrease in problems such as respiratory distress, jaundice, seizures, temperature instability and brain hemorrhages." All of that sounds like stuff I'd like to avoid, so I'm good with waiting a couple more weeks if that's what BabyKLB has in mind.

Of course, that being said, if he decides to come a few days early I won't complain! :)

MrKLB and I had a great weekend. We are all done with "baby preparation" - no more classes or things to buy for now - and just got to enjoy a fun weekend. Oh, actually, on Saturday we did do something that was in preparation for baby. We went to the Dinner A'fare and made a bunch of frozen meals so that we'll have those handy after the baby arrives. Saturday night we went to a party for a friend who is moving to NYC. Oh, and I had some Dom Perignon! Yes, you heard that... I had a big ole swig of champagne! I am very surprised to say that I have not drank any alcoholic beverages during this pregnancy, even though I know that drinking a small amount is allowed in the 3rd trimester. I really thought I'd have a glass of wine at some point or something, but I just haven't been into it. I could not pass up the Dom, though, so I did enjoy a very tasty sip at the party. MrKLB said he wishes he had a picture of that because I drank it right out of the bottle... classy! :)

On Sunday MrKLB took the puppies for a run and I actually jogged part of the way, too. We did a 3 mile trail and I probably ran about half of it. I was very surprised at how good I felt. It was crazy hot, but I had no cramps and felt invigorated! After that, we went to the pool and I laid about on a float. That was excellent! I will be doing that again this weekend if time permits!

My OB appointment this week is on Thursday. I am not expecting to hear of any changes, but it would be nice if the baby has dropped down a little more. Either way, though, I'm just killing time for a couple more weeks until he arrives...

37 week OB update

I had another OB appointment today and basically there's not much change since last week. I've actually lost a pound (wow!) and baby's heart rate was in the 140's. Everything looks good. I saw the Physician's Assistant today and she recommended that I keep walking as much as I can to help the baby's head drop down lower in my pelvis. She said he is still pretty high and walking is supposed to help him move down. So, I will be walking almost every day now. I've mostly stopped running since last week because I don't want to put too much pressure on my pelvic bones now that he is dropping. I've been doing the elliptical and bike at the gym, though, and still yoga once or twice a week. I'm not sure there's too much else I can do, though, so now it's up to baby to do the rest!

Oh, and on a very exciting note, MrKLB just got a new job offer! He interviewed with a company a couple of weeks ago that he was really interested in, and he got called back last week for more interviews and then he found out on Saturday that they are making him an offer!! It seems like a really great company to work for - they have a lot of benefits for employees like sodas and snacks at work, free memberships to the YMCA, membership in the IBM Credit Union, lots of holidays, good vacation plan, 401k matching, etc. Also, he told them that I'm having a baby soon and they have agreed to be flexible on his start date so that he can start after the baby is born. So, anyway, I'm very excited for him and excited that the timing should work out pretty well! Hopefully he'll like the job.

That's all for now.

37 weeks = FULL TERM!!!

I am 37 weeks pregnant today, which means BabyKLB is officially full term! Woohoo! This is a very exciting milestone! He can decide to join us any day now and should be perfectly healthy! I've been convinced that I will go past 40 weeks, but then this morning a guy I work with that has 2 kids swears to me that I'll have him in 2 weeks. Everyone is an expert, right? LOL! Anyway, it is just a very strange feeling to know that I could go into labor at any moment or that it could be another 3 weeks or so. Crazy! I think if he'll give us 2 more weeks we'll be ready. I mean, we're ready today, but if he wants to stay in there and bake a little longer that's okay with us, too!

MrKLB has been taking belly pictures for me every week so I thought I'd post what I look like at week 37. As you can see, I did end up with an outtie after all, but the good news is that I can still wear my wedding rings. :)



My next OB appointment is tomorrow so we'll see if there is any change from last week. Other than that, I'm just continuing to try to get some things done at work and working towards 38 weeks!

36w2d OB Appointment

I had my weekly OB appointment this morning and things are going really well! I found out that I was negative for the Group B Strep (which is good). I also found out that the baby has started to drop some and is head down. Awesome! AND, she said that I am 1cm dilated! Wow... I wasn't expecting that! She said that doesn't mean I'm close to going into labor or that I'll go early, but that it is a good start for when I do go into labor. She seemed really pleased, so yay! My blood pressure is still good and the baby's heartbeat was around 130bpm. So, as I said, everything looks good.

I go back next Wednesday for another appointment. Oh, the only negative thing I can say is that my left ankle has been pretty swollen for the past couple of days. It's strange that it's just my left one, but Dr. A said that it was normal. She said it meant that the pressure from my uterus was concentrated on one side or something like that, which is restricting blood flow. Doesn't sound so good to me, but apparently it's normal. So, I guess I have one fat ankle for now.

This weekend I am going to a baby shower for a friend. She is 3 weeks behind me and is on bedrest, so that sucks. I'm sure she will enjoy the company, though. Then I will be going to watch MrKLB play in the Kickball City Championships which should be exciting! I'll actually miss the first game because of the shower but if they win that one I'll get to see him play the next game(s). Wish him luck! Sunday we're going to an infant to toddler CPR class. It's given at the hospital and is supposed to cover CPR techniques for infants up through about 8 years of age, I believe. Hopefully we'll learn a lot of useful information that we'll never have the need to use!

I'm also going to try to cook a few meals this weekend to freeze so that we can have them after the baby arrives. I'll keep doing this over the next few weeks as I have time. We may also do the Dinner A'Fare thing again since that's an easy way to put together a bunch of frozen meals. We've done that in the past and really enjoyed it.

That's all I have for an update now. I'm looking forward to hitting 37 weeks so that I can officially be considered "full-term"!!!

36 week update

I'm now officially 36 weeks pregnant! It's exciting to reach this point. I'm definitely feeling ready to have this baby now. I feel like we have most of what we need and we're as prepared as we'll ever be... so now we just wait. I still think he'll be late, but who knows. I will pack my bags for the hospital within the next 2 weeks and MrKLB will install the carseat so I guess we'll just be ready whenever he is!

I'm still feeling pretty good. I'm getting uncomfortable at night when I first lay down, but for the most part I am able to fall asleep and sleep pretty well. I'm tired lately but it hasn't been too bad. I'm still exercising and hope to continue that as long as I can. I'm also still going to work and will probably only start working from home when I'm a week or so from my due date. That depends on how I feel over the next few weeks, though.

Today I am getting my hair cut (my last one before baby!) and tomorrow I have an appointment to talk with HR about what administrative items I need to do before and after baby. Thursday I have my next OB appointment. So, I'm basically just trying to finish up some things so that I'm ready to focus on the baby when he arrives.

4 weeks to go and counting...

35w3d Update

This week has been a great one. I feel awesome and I'll be 36 weeks pregnant on Tuesday! I have gone to the gym twice, I ran on Tuesday, and I did yoga one day. It feels good to stay active! I never thought I'd still be able to do all of this at 35 weeks pregnant, but I guess the fact that I've stayed active throughout the pregnancy has helped.

I had my OB appointment today and things went smoothly. Weight, blood pressure, measurements, etc. look good. Baby's heart rate was in the 140's, which is good. They ran some test today for Group B Strep. Apparently some women have this and some do not. If I have it, it just means they'll give me an antibiotic through my IV while I'm in labor - to avoid passing it to the baby. Apparently it's essentially harmless to adults but can cause serious problems in newborns. As long as they know whether you have it, though, the risks aren't that high.

I will be going back to the doctor weekly now until I have the baby. I was able to go ahead and make my appointments for the next 4 weeks, so it's good to already have those on my calendar.

I went to Babies R Us yesterday and bought a bunch of items that were still on our list - receiving blankets, towels, wash cloths, etc. I think we pretty much have everything we need for now. I'm sure there will be many things we find out that we need and don't have, but I at least feel good about the fact that we have the majority of it. My office had a shower for me today during lunch. We ate Maggiano's, tried to guess what kind of baby food was in jars with the labels removed (we didn't taste them!), and they gave me TONS of diapers. We have so many diapers now in all sizes that it seriously should be a LONG time before we have to buy any. That's awesome!!!

I've been making a list of what I need to pack for the hospital and I guess I'll pack my bags soon - probably within the next couple of weeks. Then we'll install the car seat and be ready to go! I still don't think I'm going to go early, but I do want to be prepared just in case. It's such a strange feeling to know that it could happen any day now... I wonder if I'll have any warning signs and where I'll be when labor actually starts?? I hope I'm at home... and I hope he waits just a few more weeks. :)

I'm excited for the weekend! We have some fun things planned but it should be a lot more relaxing weekend than we had last weekend!

Maternity Photos

As I mentioned in a previous post, we had some maternity photos taken on Mother's Day. We got the proofs this weekend and there are some really great shots! I know that in the future MrKLB and I will enjoy looking back on these and remembering how it felt to be expecting our first child. Here are a few of my favorites...





This is one of my favorite shots:


The puppies were also there for a great family photo:




This is MrKLB's favorite:




And I just love something about this one, too:


That's all I have as an update today. I will be 35 weeks pregnant tomorrow! Today is the first day of June... I wonder if we'll have our baby in June or if he's going to hold out for July? I guess we'll know in just a few short weeks!