sniderkin

I didn’t think it was possible, but I seem to get bigger and more uncomfortable by the day!  Cavan is really strong and his kicks are a force not to be ignored, he’s about 8 pounds now.  We had a doctor appointment today, and we’re scheduled for an ultrasound on Tuesday to check his weight and health.  If all that looks fine we’ll be looking at having him on Wednesday February 6, he should be around 8.5 lbs then and very ready to come out due to the fact that I’ve been measuring ahead and the steroid boosts he got when I had Bells Palsy.

My doctor doesn’t want to wait any longer than Wednesday because there’s a chance he’d come on the weekend, and she really wants to be the one to deliver him rather than have us just go to the on call doctor in labor and delivery.  Of course, he could come earlier than Wednesday (I’ve been having lots of contractions), but we’re hoping he won’t decide to come over the weekend.

So, by next Wednesday, we’re going to have a baby!  It seems so surreal, but we’re both very excited to move on to the next phase in parenthood.

Yesterday we had another check up - no progress since last time!  Gah!  I’m still measuring ahead, so by that I’m 39 weeks 1 day - which means he should be coming very soon.  My doctor says that if by my appointment next week he has not decided to come on his own, we’re going to schedule induction because she does not want me going past my due date (he’d be gigantic!)  She said we just have to hope that this week he decides to come on his own.

I’m still hoping that the measurements are off and he’ll be an average size baby - it seems odd that I haven’t gained a ton and he’d be so big, but I guess there’s no real way to predict these things.  My doctor says he’s probably going to be around 9 pounds.  I guess I’d rather have a big healthy baby than a small one that needs extra attention and care - but still… 9 pounds is a bit much!

In the meantime, I’m serving Cavan with an eviction notice!  If he gets any bigger and any stronger, he’s going to crack my ribs when he kicks!

Our checkup on Wednesday revealed that I am 2 centimeters dilated with 80% effacement, but my cervix is still posterior.  For a first time pregnancy the cervix usually effaces before it dilates, so we’re right on track.  At this point the baby could come any time, which would be fine because we’re ready for him now.

We washed the last loads of his clothing and blankets last night, no small task.  Cavan officially has more clothes than Shannon and I put together, and half of them probably won’t even fit him since our doctor says “He’s going to be a bigger baby… “  The last thing I want to hear is that he’s going to be on the big side, it’s good that he’s nice and healthy, and good that most of my weight gain has been baby, but it’s scary to think of delivering a big baby!

The cramping that I had been having has subsided quite a bit.  That’s both good and bad, since it was preparing my body for delivery, but it was also painful.  I read that the cramping is my cervix dilating and becomming more effaced, so I guess I should hope for more.

Sleeping at night is getting more and more difficult.  I’ve slowly been going from waking up every 2 hours, to every hour and a half, and lately every hour.  I had some really bad contractions last night, the same as the really bad one I had a few nights ago - same time and everything!  Maybe it’s a warning sigh that when Cavan decides to come, it will be at 5 am.  So far, the 5 am contractions have been the worst I’ve had, or best, depending on how you want to view the situation.

We had a baby shower over the weekend, for the Watson side of the family.  Cavan is officially set on newborn/0-3 month clothing.  A few people have asked what we still need, and the answer is very little!  We’re pretty much set, but could use clothing for 6+ months, and children’s books.  All of the essentials are pretty much covered now, which is fantastic because Cavan could be here any day!

We had a scare the other night, I was having trouble sleeping because of gas pressure buildup (the last month or so I can not eliminate gas so I just bloat and bloat until I feel like I’m going to explode), but in the midst of my tossing and turning I got a very bad contraction that lasted about a minute and was down low in my abdomen.  It was just one, but it was bad enough that I looked at the clock just in case others were to follow.  I’ve had menstrual like cramps for the last 5 days, and those can get pretty painful.  I’ve also been having mild contractions throughout the days.  All of this is just my body getting ready to Cavan, but it’s enough that we’ve been alert.

Because the reality of the situation is sinking in, we’ve been trying to finish up all the little things and tie off loose ends so we’re 100% ready for Cavan.  I plan to try to breastfeed, but we’ll need bottles anyway so we need to order some.  We had to return all of the Avent bottles and equipment we bought because they can leach BPA (a harmful chemical) when heated.  The ones that were opened we’re keeping just for cold things.  We found a site online that sells BPA free bottles that are cheaper than the Born Free brand you can buy in stores, so we’ll be stocking up on bottles from http://www.greentogrow.com for formula supplementing (even if I am able to breastfeed we will only do so for a couple months, and for when we’re out).

Our next doctor appointment is Wednesday, look for an update then!

We had another Doctor appointment this week (from now on they’ll be weekly), everything is looking good!  Cavan is weighing in at about 6 pounds  9 ounces now, is head down (which he has been almost the entire pregnancy), his heart rate was 132 bpm.  I’m measuring ahead still (37 weeks) so that puts him in the 88th percentile for his weight - what a change from 3 weeks ago!  The ultrasound nurse is absolutely certain I won’t go more than another 3 weeks, and my doctor seems to think the same.  We could have a January baby on our hands!

We’ve been trying to get in gear and finish everything up so we’re ready for Cavan.  I started having some contractions, really mild ones, yesterday afternoon.  It felt more uncomfortable than painful, but it’s a sign that my body is getting ready.  Today I’ve had what feels like menstrual cramps all day long, they’ve eased up a little but were really bothering me earlier.  Another sign that my body is getting ready for Cavan to be born!

My family is having a baby shower for me this Saturday, it’s a really long drive up there so I hope the weather holds, and it’s at 6pm so we’ll be getting home late.  Also, riding in the car is very uncomfortable for me since it makes Cavan jam his head down into my cervix and press his butt or feet up under my ribs trying to get more room.  Hopefully the cramping will stop by then too - otherwise I’ll be a cranky fuddy dud.

I have now washed all of Cavan’s clothes and blankets.  We still need to sterilize all of his bottles and pacifiers (which I’m not sure how to do), the crib needs to be put together, we need a crib matress, the pack and play needs to get put together, and we need to buy a starter supply of diapers and wipes because I have a feeling the small packs we got at the shower from Shannon’s family will last only a day, maybe two.  I also need to find a robe for the hospital so I don’t have to show my behind to everyone when I get up to walk around.  Overall there’s not a lot left to do, but the few things we do have waiting are sort of biggies.

Happy birthday to me!  We had a Doctor appointment earlier this week, Cavan was so smashed down into my cervix and cramped that we didn’t get any good ultrasound pictures, though I may put up the one of his foot kicking me.  Everything seems to be going just fine, he’s still measuring ahead but we get a new weight estimate for him at the ultrasound this Wednesday to, as my Doctor put it, make sure I won’t be having a huge baby.

Every little move he makes feels like an earthquake in my belly.  He doesn’t have a lot of room and he’s strong, so when he decides to flip or turn or kick I know it.  I can sit and watch my stomach shift around and jump when he kicks, every little movement right now is visible from the outside.  He had hiccups two night ago and Shannon and I watched as my stomach jumped up with every hiccup.  In the last ultrasound he was practice breathing, we could see his breast bone moving up and down.  He’s doing really well!

My doctor did my pelvic exam, I’m not dilated at all yet, which is good - it means we probably have some time before he’ll be here despite him being pretty much fully developed at this point.

I can’t wait to see how much he weighs on Wednesday, that will also tell us if he’s measuring right on target.  In the meantime, my belly is huge and I feel uncomfortable - pretty soon I’m going to need Shannon to use a forklift to get me around….