35 Weeks

Total Weight Gain: 28 lbs at home, 31 lbs at the doctor. Whatever - I don't really care at this point. 

Size of Baby: Claire is about the size of a coconut!

Maternity Clothes: Yes! One of the gifts my parents usually give me for Christmas is clothes, but since it's too late to buy more maternity clothes, they gave me several sets of new pajamas and a robe instead. Nice, comfy things that will be great to have in the hospital and after when I'm home with a new baby. And since they're regular pjs, they'll work before and after she arrives!

Sleep: Okay. I've been sick this week, so sleep has been hit or miss. I've taken a ton of good naps though!

Movement: She is so big and constantly on the move right now. It's crazy to think that there's pretty much a fully developed baby moving around inside!

Cravings: Pie, my mom's dressing, sandwiches.

What I Miss: Not being such a klutz - I literally drop everything I pick up! Especially in the shower - ugh!

Gender: It's a girl - Claire Campbell Todd!

Mood: Pretty good. It's been so nice being off this week and getting to spend Christmas with family! But being sick has been a bummer, plus I've been a little nervous all week leading up to today's appointment.

Symptoms: Carpal tunnel in my hands, being very tired, some contractions last night. Being congested while pregnant is something I wouldn't wish on my worst enemy! I lost count after going through FOUR boxes of kleenex!

Milestones: The baby has dropped! My doctor told me that today - somehow I didn't realize it, but now I can tell. I think it may have happened in the last day or so. We're getting really close on the nursery! We're waiting on our chair to come in and Cam will be painting the mural in the next few days. I need to finish washing everything and we have a little chandelier to install - then we should be close to set! Claire got several really sweet Christmas gifts - she is a very loved little girl! My sister and her family gave us this - so sweet it makes me cry!

Anything Else You'd Like to Share: My appointment today went really well! My blood pressure was normal, swelling was good, and no protein in my urine. Looks like a week of rest and being away from the stress of work did me a lot of good! So I don't have to go on bedrest and can basically do what I want. My doctor said we'll just see what happens when I go back to work. Had my first check this week - not dilated at all, but baby has dropped and is head down!

What I'm Looking Forward to: Cam's family coming down for a few days to celebrate a late Christmas - so fun!

And a bump picture from today...

Update

I went back for my 34 week appointment today. It went well overall. No protein in my urine, I'd lost a pound, and my swelling was so much better than it was on Wednesday. It was a million times better than it was last night, as a matter of fact. My feet are actually sore from having to wear shoes yesterday to work - none of my shoes fit anymore! My blood pressure was high initially - 130ish/90. When Dr. Orth saw that she mentioned something about bedrest, but when she checked it on the other arm, it was 122/80 - normal. She said I can go ahead and do what I want this week, but I should definitely take it easy and not travel. She's having me come back next Thursday. If the blood pressure is high next week, she said she'll put me on bedrest and induce labor at 37 weeks...eeek! I'm hopeful that by then, with a week of being off work and able to relax, my blood pressure will come down on its own. It will either do that or if it doesn't, then we will know it's preeclampsia. This really makes me confident in my doctor's advice not to travel - the idea that I could be having Claire in 3 weeks instead of 6 makes it crystal clear, as I wouln't dream of traveling at 37 weeks if I was delivering at 40...so it's basically the same difference. I'm overwhelmed at the idea of possibly being put on bedrest for the duration in less than a week - there's so much left to do. But I know it will all be fine, things will get done, and all that matters is Claire being alright. I love this baby girl so much and know that she will arrive exactly when God wants her to.

34 Weeks

I'm sorry that lately these updates are never on Wednesdays when my new week of pregnancy starts - seems like every Wednesday is so busy!

Total Weight Gain: 26 lbs on my scale at home, 29 on the doctor's scale

Size of Baby: Claire weighs as much as a cantaloupe!

Maternity Clothes: Yes! Yesterday at work, one of my coworkers laughed and commented on my cardigan not being maternity - thing is, it was maternity! Even some maternity clothes aren't long enough to cover this huge bump! For the last few days I've been sitting around at night with my shirt pulled up over my stomach because very few t-shirts cover the bump comfortably anymore. 

Sleep: I've eaten late a couple of times this week, which leads to being so uncomfortable at night.   

Movement: Yes, lots! She's getting so big that it can be a little uncomfortable. And apparently some of what I've been thinking were kicks have actually been hiccups!

Cravings: Christmas cookies are top of my list right now.

What I Miss: Eating a big meal and not feeling so bad afterward.

Gender: Sweet baby girl - Claire Campbell Todd

Mood: Tired, stressed, crazed. Just like all of you are this time of year...it's the American way!

Symptoms: Pain in my hands and wrists, rib pain on my left side, wearing a bra feels like some type of ancient binding torture.

I had a little scare yesterday. My sister let me borrow her portable blood pressure machine, so I've been occasionally checking my blood pressure, especially since Dr. Orth is watching it because of my swelling and sister's history of preeclampsia. Tuesday I noticed my numbers were high for me - normally my blood pressure is below or at 120/80. I took the machine with me to work on Wednesday and kept a running log of my readings throughout the day, most of which were high. Now, I'd hazard a guess that my blood pressure is always elevated at work, pregnant or not. Especially considering it's the last week of school and I'm trying to finalize semester grades for 140 students. And finish sub plans for maternity leave. And interview for long term subs - did I mention my subs both bailed this week? Anyway, after some urging from my mom and sister, I called my doctor and they said I could come in and they'd check out my weight and urine. A rapid weight gain and/or protein in the urine are signs of preeclampsia, as are swelling and high blood pressure, of course. I was really nervous all day at work trying to get stuff done, thinking I might not be coming back. I didn't feel good either. I convinced myself I had preeclampsia and that like my sister, I was going to go to the doctor, be sent to the hospital, and never leave. My sister was diagnosed right at this point in her pregnancy and then she delivered at 35 weeks. My weight was the same as last week and I had a trace amount of protein in my urine, so those were not a concern. My blood pressure was higher than it'd been all day though - I know the top number was 144, can't remember the bottom number. And my swelling was out of control bad - the worst it's ever been. My feet and ankles looked like the elephant man - I keep thinking about taking a picture to post but I can't bring myself to - it's so gross. Dr. Orth decided to send me over to Labor and Delivery at the hospital to have my blood pressure monitored for a couple hours. I immediately started crying and called Cam to come meet me. It was our wedding anniversary - is there anything more romantical? I thought I'd just sit there in my regular clothes and be monitored but they had me in a triage room in a hospital gown. The good news is that my blood pressure went way down once I got to the hospital...at one point the top number was 100. My blood work all came back great and so they let me leave after a little over an hour. No preeclampsia diagnosis, thanks goodness. 

I'm going back to the doctor for my already scheduled appointment tomorrow, so it will be good to see how things looks then. Today was the last day of work before the break, and it truly couldn't have come at a better time. My plan is to rest and do things I enjoy. Dr. Orth says I need to find a way to be really lazy. Unfortunately, she recommended that we not travel to Houston on Christmas like we'd planned. She was like "What if something happened and you had to deliver there?". She just doesn't think I should travel this far along and that I would swell horribly traveling in the car and be miserable. I know she's right, but it's hard. I don't like to change plans on people or inconvenience them - especially because of something having to do with my body. It will be the first Christmas that Cam spends away from his family and I hate that. I know it's okay though - all that matters is that Claire is alright! I want her to stay put for as long as possible. I will say though that I'm reaching the point where I'm looking forward to not being pregnant anymore. I don't want to wish away one second of this experience, but when I think about six more weeks of being so uncomfortable and worrying constantly about issues like this, I just feel very tired. I don't think there's been a single pregnancy symptom that I haven't dealt with in a big way. It's a blessing to be pregnant though, and I know that. 

Milestones: I can't think of anything this week! The monitor at the hospital picked up hiccups - is that a milestone? I'd been thinking those were kicks this whole time. Everyone at the hospital commented on what a mover she is!

Anything Else You'd Like to Share: I feel like I've shared a lot already. Sorry for rambling!

What I'm Looking Forward to: Christmas and the break

No bump picture this week, but believe me - I'm huge!

The Last Christmas

It's a really special Christmas for me and Cam this year. Our baby girl is almost here and it's crazy/exciting to think we'll have an almost 1 year old next Christmas! We love Christmastime, especially all of the music this time of year. I've liked this song for several years, but of course it's really special to me this Christmas.

Hope you enjoy!

33 Weeks

Total Weight Gain: Not sure. When I was at the doctor this week, I was wearing heavy winter clothes and it was the end of the day, so I'm not counting that. Never question the logic of a pregnant woman. ;)

Size of Baby: Claire is the size of a durian fruit. Another thing I've never heard of! And from the picture, it looks gross. 

Maternity Clothes: Yes

Sleep: Comes and goes. I've started waking up around 4 am - I think this is my body starting to prepare for the baby's schedule. 

Movement: She moves all the time! And she's getting so big that it's very noticeable. I spend a lot of time watching my stomach move - it's incredible.

Cravings/Aversions: I'm really thirsty all the time right now.

What I Miss: Nothing 

Gender: It's a girl - Claire Campbell!

Mood: I'm exhausted, which makes me emotional. Getting ready for the baby while working so much and trying to keep up with all the Christmas frenzy is overwhelming. It's also been a tough week for some very good friends of mine and with all the horrible stuff on the news since yesterday, it's just a sad time. 

Symptoms: Rib and back pain. Lots of swelling in my ankles. My doctor added an appointment this week because of the swelling, but everything checked out fine. 

Milestones: I had another beautiful baby shower this week at work. My friends were so sweet to put it together. I got so many nice and generous gifts, many of them handmade. I'm blessed to work with some very sweet people.

Anything Else You'd Like to Share: The bedding arrived this week and it is gorgeous! I'm so pleased with it - it's exactly what I pictured in my mind. I got several gifts at my shower that incorporated the toile fabric in the bedding, which is so neat!

What I'm Looking Forward to: Christmas Break! 4 more days!

No bump picture of me this week, but here's a pic of one of the gifts from my shower!

32 Weeks

Total Weight Gain: On my scale at home first thing this morning, I'd gained 22 lbs. On the doctor's evil scale at the end of the day after eating, I'd gained 26 lbs. 

Size of Baby: Claire's about the size of a squash.

Maternity Clothes: Yep. At night I wear regular t-shirts around the house and they aren't really covering my belly anymore!

Sleep: Pretty good, except I feel like I wake up every half hour or so and one of my hands is completely asleep. Then I'll wake up a little later and the opposite hand is asleep. It's weird because I'm not laying on them funny or anything that usually causes that. Must be a pregnancy thing!

Movement: Lots of movement! Sometimes it's a little uncomfortable since she's getting bigger. Sometimes I'm having a hard time differentiating between movement and Braxton Hicks contractions. Monday night I had what I thought were Braxton Hicks contractions, but then today I found out Claire's feet are right were I was feeling them, so maybe it was just movement? My belly doesn't get rock hard like everyone says it does with Braxton Hicks, so maybe not.

Cravings/Aversions: I'm craving the "Texas trash" my mom makes during the holidays. Other than that, I'm just extremely hungry. This baby wants food!

What I Miss: Ankle bones that I can see! Before the last week or so, when I woke up in the morning my swelling would've gone down and my ankles would look normal again. That ship has sailed though - they're swollen all the time now!

Gender: Baby girl - Claire Campbell Todd!

Mood: It was an awesome weekend, so I was in a great mood then! I had another wonderful baby shower on Saturday hosted by my sweet sister and friends. It was amazing! Cam and I are truly blessed to have so many generous people in our lives. I plan to post about it soon! My in-laws were in town for the weekend and it was so much fun! 

I've been stressed out ever since getting back to the grind on Monday, of course. It's another crazy week at work plus Cam and I've been dealing with a never-ending nightmare landscape job. We hired a landscaper months ago to plant some bushes in our front beds and it has taken months to get things done and the landscaper/his worker cut both our cable and sprinkler system lines in the process. It's been very stressful having to get all of this repaired over the last few weeks and get the landscape job itself done. When I expressed this to our landscaper on Monday night, he told me I was just being emotional because I'm pregnant. I can't really think of anything more demeaning that someone could say to me right now, especially considering I'm a customer whose paid him mucho dinero, only to have him damage a bunch of stuff. Needless to say, he's no longer our landscaper.

Symptoms: Swelling, random aches and pains, just being uncomfortable. I'm also burning up all the time. I'm freezing Cam out at home, with the A/C turned way down and the fan on! Hopefully it will cool off outside soon - that will help!

Milestones: We're 2 months away now! 

Anything Else You'd Like to Share: I went to the doctor today and got to have an ultrasound first. It was great to see Claire again! She's getting so big and looks so filled out. She was sleeping so sweetly with her hand propped under her chin on the 4D ultrasound. It's just amazing what technology allows us to see! Everything is looking good! They measured her and estimate that she's about 4 lbs, 14 ounces, which puts her in the 76th percentile. They said a lot of that is because of her head - Lord help me in the delivery room! I thought the measurements sounded really big, but my doctor said that's fine/pretty average and would lead to about an 8 lb baby. She's very happy with how everything's looking, but she's a little concerned about my swelling and is having me come back next week now. My blood pressure has been fine, but she doesn't want to take any chances considering that my sister had preeclampsia. I will say that the last week has been one of the most physically taxing of my entire pregnancy - I've been on my feet a lot, so I'm hoping the swelling will improve.

What I'm Looking Forward to: The bedding should be arriving soon! I'm really looking forward to seeing it. Also, I have a baby shower at work on Monday - very excited about that!

And here's an ultrasound AND a bump pic!!! 

I am totally in love with this beautiful little girl! Can't wait to really see this sweet face in 2 months!