39 Weeks- On Maternity Leave!

This week started off pretty rough. I was quite unhappy on Sunday and my back had been killing me for most of the day.  I had lunch with my friend, Gina, and her little girl, Emma (which was so much fun!) then headed to Wal Mart to run a few "quick" errands. Nothing is really ever quick any more and I'm moving quite slowly these days. It took twice as long as I anticipated. That evening I was super uncomfortable and the middle of my back hurt constantly. I didn't think it was back labor because it wasn't low. We left my mom's house early and headed home. We have a back massager thingy so I used that a few times and it helped loosen things up. That night though, I was up nearly every hour and between peeing and not being able to get comfortable it was rough and I didn't fall asleep for real until about 4:45am.

High risk fluid check: Monday, 26cm. We also found out on Monday that the reason I was so uncomfortable was that Gianna was facing out towards my belly button, not in towards my spine. They call this "sunny side up" and it SUCKS! I really hope she turns before I go into labor because I can not even imagine what it will feel like if I am having contractions while her spine is against mine. Back labor is not in my birth plan. I will take a c-section instead please. :(

Another thing that kept me up that night, was that my dear friend, Jona, went into labor!!!! We are due only one day apart and her water broke on 10/21. I got lots of text updates about how labor was going and hubby Logan sent me updates the next day, too. Baby Olivia arrived on Monday, October 22nd- 8lbs, 3oz! I'm so proud of my friend and I know she is going to be the best mom!

Wednesday was my last day of work, thank goodness. My worst nightmare of my water breaking on campus and Niagra Falls flooding my office have been avoided. My co-workers are awesome and decorated my office with fun decorations! If I wasn't so uncomfortable, I would want to stay longer. The decorations will probably still be up when I come back from leave in March! :)

Thursday was my first day of maternity leave and we had an 8:30 appointment at High Risk. My fluid was the highest it has been at 28cm. This condition has a name even though I just call it "too much fluid". It's called Polyhydramnios. The nurse asked if my doctor had planned to induce me but we didn't have our OB appointment until the next day so I didn't know. Afterwards, I went and got my nails done, then had lunch with my friend, Marissa. it was a nice relaxing day but I was exhausted by 3pm. :) I went home and did nothing for the rest of the day. It was great!

We had our OB visit the next day and my doctor measured my belly. Even though I am *only* 39 weeks my belly measures 44 weeks. There is so much extra amniotic fluid that my belly looks like I'm 11 months pregnant. And I'll tell you what- I feel like it. There were no internal changes from last week either. So she's comfy in there with no immediate plans to vacate the premises. My next OB appointment is Nov. 2nd (my due date) and we'll talk about inducing then if she doesn't come this week.

While I have really enjoyed being pregnant, these last two weeks have been pretty rough. I can't begin to explain how uncomfortable I am with all this extra fluid. I wonder what it would be like if I didn't have it. I can't imagine being pregnant for two more weeks! Sometimes I just need to take it one hour at a time. I can't really yawn, sneeze or cough because my lungs don't have the room to expand anymore. If I have a harder time breathing they'll look to do an amnio to drain some of the fluid. I'd rather just be induced at this point. Here is a pic of my belly in relation to the steering wheel. Not much room left there!

Here's a funny story though- I told my doctor that I started sitting on a towel in the car in case my water broke. He smiled, then suggested I have three towels in there instead. Marco thought maybe a Sham Wow would do the trick. My doctor suggested we have a canoe handy just in case. Lol! It was a pretty hilarious exchange. In all seriousness, if my water does break I have to be careful that the cord doesn't come out first. She's not engaged at a zero station and because of all the fluid she is just bobbing around in there so if it gushes the cord may "go out with the bath water" which can be life threatening for Gianna. It's called Cord Prolapse.

It took being 39 weeks along and me actually measuring ahead at 44 weeks for my first stretch marks. I was doing so well! If you have seen this gigundo belly in person you'll know this is no small feat. :) I think if I didn't have all this extra fluid causing me to carry a 12 pound baby (sarcasm- hopefully...) I would have been home free! Oh well. Badge of honor. :)

How far along? 39 weeks
Maternity clothes? Mostly
Stretch marks? Some above my belly button.
Sleep: Not awful.

Best moment of the week: Going on maternity leave!!!!
Miss anything: The usual.

Movement: Less in the last week or so. She still does a good job on her kick counts but I think she's running out of room.
Food cravings: Orange juice.
Anything making you queasy or sick: Braxton Hicks.
Gender: Girl!

Symptoms: Major back pain this week.
Belly button in or out: Still flat- not a popper. One of my hernia's likes to stick out a little sometimes- you can kind of see it in this pic. It depends on the position of the baby.

Wedding rings on or off: Off. 
Labor Signs: Still 50% effaced at a -2 station. No dilation.

Happy or moody most of the time: Happy
Looking forward to: Holding my baby! (not the labor)