Yaaaaaaay!!  We made it!  Full term!  And feeling, well, very pregnant these days. 

How I'm feeling:  Tired would be a good word to describe it!  And to be honest, I think 90% of that is due to having little Riley to look after.  I can't believe I ever complained of being tired during my first pregnancy, with no toddler to look after all day long.  Other than being tired though, I feel alright.  Heartburn is starting to come back a bit in the evenings, but it's not too bad at all. And the baby is doing some serious pushing/stretching against my belly and it hurts sometimes!  Also there were a few days where it was pretty painful to walk at times since baby seems to be pretty low, and I have to pee ALL the time..  But after Riley is in bed, and I can just lay down and relax, and usually I feel much better.

About baby:  At this point, he's just packing on the pounds.  He could be around 6.5 pounds maybe?  Maybe 19 inches long?  But who really knows.  I'm going to create a little poll in the side bar so you can vote on (1) when you think he will come and (2) how much he will weigh!

Weight gain this week: aah forgot to weigh myself and i honestly can't be bothered getting up to go do it right now.
Total weight gain: likely somewhere around 28 or 29 pounds.

Best part of the week: Hmmm... I had ladies' night last night, no husband, no toddler, delicious pizza and good conversation which was definitely much needed after a fairly anti-social week.
Worst part of the week: My stupid OB appointment and scheduling the induction.

The OB appointment/INDUCTION:  Okay so, finally met with the OB again to schedule an induction date! The plan all along was to induce me around 38 weeks, which would be February 10th.  Well, actually, they want to do it more around 38.5 weeks which is great in that baby has more time to be "ready" to come out, and there's more chance I can go into labor on my own... not so great because my mom is only here Feb 7-15th.  So we're cutting it a little close with her visit, although I do have a feeling I will have this baby before the 13th, so we'll see.  The OB also recommended I have my membranes stripped, so I'm currently scheduled for that to occur on Saturday the 11th.  Not my idea of a fun time.  The method of induction will depend a little bit on how "favorable" I am going into the hospital on the 13th (at 7:30am!). 

Anyway, until then I'm starting some "natural" but safe ways of encouraging labor to start.  Obviously none of these will work unless baby is really ready, but can't hurt to try and encourage him!  Things like raspberry leaf tea (tones your uterus, so doesn't actually cause labor), lots of walking, maybe some acupressure, and a few other things I've read about.  I'll let you know how it goes!

Also, if it goes quiet on the blog, it probably doesn't mean I'm in labor. The internet in our house has been acting up a bit (which is why this is a day late), so sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't.  Although be warned, there is no internet at the hospital, so you will have to wait until we get home for an update and any photos!

Oh and I plan to take a 37 week photo tomorrow, don't you worry.

One more week until full term!  Hooray!  Here's the latest version of me:

How I'm feeling:  Actually, feeling pretty good.  Tired chasing after and entertaining a toddler all day, but I get to look forward to a nice long nap or two during the weekend, and maybe even a sleep in if I'm lucky, so that helps.  No more heartburn (yay!), and still no carpal tunnel (yay yay!).  I am definitely feeling very pregnant though, and things like rolling over in bed and getting down to pick up Riley's toys are requiring a bit more effort these days.  I get out of breath much quicker, and I'm definitely feeling like I'm waddling a bit these days. I swear I get up to use the bathroom hourly during the night, which is less than ideal, but I remember it very well from last time.  What else... sitting certain ways has started to become pretty uncomfortable, the baby just doesn't have any room to move and he's squishing me!! The cramping has started, just like it did leading up to Riley's labor, so that's a good sign, although not really indicative of when labor will start.

Best part of the week:  Finally getting hospital bags packed, car seat ready to go, bottles and other baby things all sterilized and ready... pretty much everything directly related to the baby is all done and ready to be used.

Worst part of the week:  Realizing there's probably no chance all our stuff shipped from the US is going to get here before the baby is born.  Which means not only won't I have some essential items, but I will have to be unpacking and washing and putting away all that stuff right after the baby is born.  Lame.  Oh also, finding out I need to continue the injections for 6 weeks after baby is born.  Boo.

Weight gain this week: Well at first I wasn't going to weight myself, because I always do it in the morning and today I forgot, but then I got curious and just jumped on the scale after dinner (nice timing, I know).  Buuuut then I realized I didnt' really remember what I was last week, so who knows how much I gained... let's say 1 pound?
Total weight gain: Approximately 27 or 28 pounds.  I think my weight gain is slowing a bit, as my appetite has not been as big.

Cravings: Hmmm... apple juice, and oddly, whipped cream.

The OB appointment:  Okay so.  I saw the OB yesterday, and things didn't go exactly as planned.  First of all, turns out I have a UTI.  Never would have guessed that, since I have not a single symptom, but apparently I have one.  So I'm now on antibiotics for that.  Secondly, according to him I'm only measuring at 32 weeks, which makes me "small for dates" and he was concerned about IUGR (intra-uterine growth restriction).  I found that a little odd since this entire pregnancy (including at my appointment last week) I have been measuring just fine.  But he sent me for an ultrasound to confirm, also informing me that if baby was measuring too small, I would be induced asap (basically because something would be wrong and preventing baby from getting the nutrients he needs to grow).  So therefore, we did NOT set an induction date for 38 weeks, because we needed to wait and see the results from the ultrasound.  Needless to say, I was just a little bit stressed out.  Lucky for me I was able to get an ultrasound appointment fairly quickly (helps when your OB labels you urgent).

The ultrasound: Well, conveniently, my midwife's office is in the ultrasound office, so she stopped in to see me.  She measured me before I went in for the ultrasound, and according to her I was measuring 33/34 weeks, not 32, but better to get the ultrasound to be safe.  She said she'd wait and chat with me after the appointment.  So I go in, and turns out, baby is measuring "perfectly average" as the ultrasound tech put it.  Pretty much 50% across the board.  Best guess as to current weight is 6 pounds, 2 ounces.  So no cause for concern, no need for immediate induction, no need to stress!  If that measurement is correct though, and I'm induced at 38 weeks, we may be looking at a little 7 pound baby!  Riley was 7 pounds 6 ounces and she was SWIMMING in her newborn clothes, so looks like I should be getting some preemie clothes just in case!

The induction:  SO as I said, no date set.  We will do that at my next appointment when I'm 37 weeks.  The date will likely be around Feb 10, when I turn 38 weeks.  My mom arrives on the 7th, so I'm hoping baby will come on his own between the 7th and the 10th!!  The reason for induction has to do with my clotting disorder, which means there is more potential for the placenta to deteriorate or the cord to clot late in pregnancy, both of which are serious risks to the baby.  Also, with the amount of bleeding that occurs in labor/delivery, it's really not a good idea to be on blood thinners when that happens, so with an induction I will go off the blood thinners a day before.  If that were the only reason, I would push for a later induction (even just to 39 weeks!), but because there is added risk to the baby, I'm going to trust that these doctors know what they are talking about.  Better to have a slightly small baby than to have something horrible happen simply because an induction is not the way I wanted it to go (and yes I know there are other risks and possible downsides to an induction).

Whether I go naturally or via induction, I will have a baby in TWO WEEKS or less!Can't wait to see his precious little face!!

When I was pregnant with Riley I had maternity photos taken, and I am so glad I did because my weekly self portrait in the mirror is not exactly the best way to capture the pregnancy.  This time around I wasn't sure if I was going to get photos taken or not, and I went back and forth, and even almost booked a photographer, and then decided against it.  But I still really wanted them done, just without the price tag, so I decided to get my butt in hear and take them myself.  Now, this required a bit of planning because (1) I wanted my husband and daughter in some (2) I needed my husband to help me take some of the photos while also keeping Riley entertained and (3) I felt like I only had one shot at this with a less than patient toddler and fairly busy husband.  So.  I thought about it and planned it in my head, and decided I wanted 2 types of photos, so I would do them separately.

The first (and easier) ones I wanted to be done at home.  These were ones of just me, so the plan was to do them while Riley was sleeping.  Well, Mark was less than enthusiastic about helping me, so I pulled out the trusty tripod and used my self timer for all of these... NOT as easy as it sounds, especially when space is a little tight and you are rushing to get your fairly pregnant self into position before the timer goes off.

So basically, these weren't exactly what I wanted, but they will do the job.  If the weather is nice I hope to do some outdoor ones where you might actually see my face more than one time.  :)  And maybe Mark and/or Riley will make an appearance in a few too.  Until then, here's what I've got:

Now normally I'm not into the bare belly thing, but I thought what the heck, why not?  So you get to see a few.  Lucky you. :)

These next pictures make me feel like baby is definitely pretty low... right?

Look, it's my face!!  Proof it is actually me you are seeing. :)

Yeah, so that's the best I got today.  I've got a lot of work to do on my self portrait skills!  Either that or to convince my husband to help me out next time, we'll see.

So this is the big 35/35 day, which totally doesn't apply to me anymore.  It means 35 weeks pregnant, with 35 days left to go. I only have about 21 days to go if I'm being induced at 38 weeks.  So anyway...

With Riley, I had maternity photos taken at 35 weeks, so my goal is to get some taken this weekend... although I'm doing it myself, so it could get a little tricky, but we'll see.  Therefore, no weekly photo quite yet!

How I'm feeling: TIRED.  I didn't remember feeling this tired with Riley, so I looked back at my little pregnancy journal I kept, and apparently I WAS feeling quite tired, but I was able to sleep in as late as I wanted on days I wasn't working, so that clearly helped quite a bit.  This time around?  Not so much.  Also at this point last time my carpal tunnel was going in full force, and it hasn't really been an issue yet.  Hooray!  Now heartburn... right at 34 weeks, heart burn was awful.  I had 3 or 4 days of just horrible night time heart burn.  I had to watch what I was eating, how much I was eating, and stop eating well before bed time in order to not be kept awake for hours and be forced to basically sleep sitting up.  And then?  It was gone.  Completely.  I was pretty sure that was a result of the baby dropping, as there had been a few other signs that he had dropped, but I wasn't sure.  Then at my midwife appointment yesterday, my midwife told me he was definitely very low (and head down still, yay!). Looking back at my notes from last time around, apparently something similar happened to me with Riley (got heartburn, then it went away around 36 weeks when she dropped).  Sooo we are definitely making progress towards labor!

Weight gain this week: 1 pound
Total weight gain: 27 pounds.  At this point with Riley I had only gained 21.5 pounds.  Eesh.  I'd really like to stay under 30 pounds gained, but at this point, whatever happens happens.

Best part of the week:  Completion of our new granite kitchen counters (pictures coming soon).  It was supposed to take 2 days and ended up taking twice as long, which meant we were without a kitchen for FOUR days. 
Worst part of the week:  Trying to feed a picky eater toddler without being able to cook in the kitchen for 4 days.

Cravings: Popsicles, smoothies, various fruit
Aversions: none

What baby is up to: weighing in at around 5.5 pounds and measuring around 18 inches long.  That's pretty much the important stuff!

I have mostly packed my hospital bag, so at least that's one thing checked off the massive to-do list!  Hoping to get a lot more accomplished this weekend!

...and getting bigger and bigger!

How I'm feeling:  This past week I've actually started to feel more and more pregnant.  As in, baby is getting quite squished in there, and I'm definitely feeling it.  This also means that I'm starting to get real heartburn, and I HATE heartburn.  I have to be careful about what and how much I eat or drink in the evenings, otherwise I can't sleep because my heartburn gets so bad!  I'm also quite tired during the day, keeping up with Riley is no easy task! 

New this week:  As I already mentioned, I had an OB appointment this week, which I was less than thrilled about.  I'll get to that in a second.  Also?  I got to see how Riley would react while I was holding someone else's 8 week old baby, and she was so sweet!  She was totally interested and kept saying "baby! baby!" over and over and wanting to be right up by him.

Weight gain this week: 1 pound
Total weight gain: 26 pounds

What baby is up to: He's probably about 5 pounds and almost 18 inches long by now.  Still packing on the pounds!

MORE ABOUT THE INDUCTION:
So as you may have read yesterday, the OB I saw yesterday wants to induce me at 38 weeks if baby has not already come.  Everything inside of me was telling me this was NOT a good idea.  Yes I know people are induced all the time, but there are a lot of downsides to induction.  First of all, if the baby was truly ready to be born at 38 weeks, then I would go into labor without an induction.  He may come out healthy when induced, but that doesn't mean he was READY.  Or, the induction could fail, or lead to a really long labor, or assisted delivery (forceps, vacuum) or even C-section.  All things I'm trying to avoid.  Just think, some women are pregnant for 42 weeks before going into labor naturally, if they were induced at 38 weeks that baby would be deprived a whole month of growing and developing that he clearly needed.

So I was all determined to avoid an induction, or delay it, or find some way around it, until I did a little more research.  Turns out, there actually is a reason to induce aside for just my own health- it's important for the safety of baby.  From what I understand, the age of the placenta is a concern for those with Factor V Leiden, and is the reason why stillbirth is a common problem with FVL.  As the placenta ages it becomes less efficient naturally but the FVL adds an aggravating factor.  Also, if you off blood thinners (or aren't on them to begin with), you can get clots in the umbilical cord which can deprive the baby of essential nutrients and oxygen, so going off the blood thinners entirely before labor can be dangerous.  Now, obviously I already had a full, healthy pregnancy without blood thinners, but now that I'm a little more informed, it's not worth the risk to me or baby.  I'm getting a few different opinions before any decisions are made, just to be sure I'm making the best decision.

So, we'll be scheduling the induction for around 38 weeks, and hoping to go into labor naturally before then!  That's less than 4 weeks away!!!!

I'm on time this week!  Hooray!  Even some belly pictures just for you...

How I'm feeling:  Still pretty good, actually.  The allergies are still killing me, but getting slightly better, and everything else is all good.  I only get occasional heartburn, and no other symptoms really.  I still feel pretty comfortable for the most part, still getting up a few times at night to pee, and that's it!  Honestly if not for the huge baby kicks(and large baby belly), I would probably forget I was pregnant!

New this week: More frequent hiccups felt, and bigger baby movements (like he's trying to push out of my belly!). Occasional cramping at night, but nothing too serious.  I had cramping for WEEKS leading up to Riley's birth.

Weight gain this week: 1 pound
Total weight gain: 25-ish pounds... I think. Different scale, and I've been pretty lazy about getting accurate weights, so we'll say about 25 pounds.  Looks like I might break the 30 pound mark, which would be unfortunate, since I'm going to have a LOT to lose post-baby.

Midwife appointment: Oh yeah, did I mention now that we're back in NZ that I'm back to my beloved midwife?  Well, sort of.  I have an OB appt. next week to see exactly what has to happen with me since I'm technically high risk, but I'm hoping to just consult with the OB and mostly see my midwife, and have my midwife deliver the baby.  Seeing my midwife (in my opinion) is such a better experience than going to the OB clinic at Stanford... there are tons of differences in prenatal care between the two countries, maybe I will post on that later.  But I definitely am glad to be having this baby in New Zealand.  Anyway, at my appointment, baby's heart rate was 145, still head down, and my blood pressure was all good.  I'm measuring a little small (31 weeks) which absolutely shocked me, but we'll go with it.  I'll see her again in 2 weeks!


What baby is up to:  I always have to google these things since I have no idea... This week baby's respiratory system is almost completely mature (yay!)  He can detect light and tell the difference between night and day.  Baby weighs about 4.5 pounds and is likely over 17" long.  He'll probably gain about half a pound a week from here on out.

What mama is up to:  Uhhhhh, my day today sort of looked like this:

Riley and I played on my bed for quite a while why I took funny pictures of her, and she emptied out all the clothespins and put them back in various bins while attempting to count.  It was cute.  And relaxing. And every once in a while she would stop, lift up my shirt, and say "baby," and then go back to playing.  I'm so excited for her to be a big sister!!

No belly pic this week, I'm feeling very... blah in front of the camera.  Sorry, no better word to describe it.  But here's baby:

Can't believe I haven't done an update in a few weeks!!!  It has been a crazy couple of weeks, to say the least, but things are finally starting to calm down, so this is like 3 days late, but oh well.

How I'm feeling: Well, pregnancy-wise, I'm feeling pretty good still.  No major aches and pains, a little heartburn but not too bad, and no carpal tunnel or swelling!  BUT, I am still recovering from being sick, and I have the worst allergies now that we're back in NZ and I can't really take any medicine, so I've been feeling pretty miserable in that respect.  But that's not related to being pregnant (aside from the inability to take meds).  Most days, to be honest, I'm so busy I forget I'm even pregnant (aside from the large belly and frequent baby kicks/rolls).  I just want to be able to not sneeze 1000 times a day and be able to see without my eyes constantly itching and burning!!!

Weight gain this week: no idea, haven't really been doing weekly weigh-ins lately!
Total weight gain: 23 pounds.  At this stage in my pregnancy with Riley I had only gained about 18 pounds!  And let me tell you, I'm feeling very large.

Cravings: Smoothies, apples, apricots.
Aversions: none really.

What baby is up to:  weighing in at about 3.75 pounds, and around 16-17" long, he's getting big!  Moving all the time with some serious kicks.  I forgot to mention I started feeling hiccups a few weeks ago, and now I feel them usually once a day, or at least every other day.  Baby is now gaining about half a pound a week, and will likely double his weight in the next 8-ish weeks!  It's crazy to think that Riley was born at 37 weeks, and that's less than 5 weeks away!!

Best part of the week: Seeing Riley interact with a newborn baby for the first time ever.  She was so fascinated by him, I think she's going to be an awesome big sister to her little brother. Not to say there won't be quite a few challenges, but I'm excited for her.
Worst part of the week: Allergies!!!  Making me so miserable!

About 2 weeks ago we had a 3d ultrasound, and it was definitely fun to see baby in 3d, he spent a good portion of the time trying to suck on his fingers and his toes.  Yup, both his feet were right up by his face, and we watched him sucking on his big toe!  We saw some yawns, what looked like a smile, and a lot of puckering of his lips.  He looked rather chubby, and we are thinking he's pretty darn bald.  At this ultrasound he was head down, with his head a little more on my left side, and his butt up by my right side ribs.  We brought Riley with us to the ultrasound, and at first she seemed scared and cried and wanted to be by my side, but then she calmed down and played with crayons the rest of the time, totally uninterested in what was up on the screen.

Okay, maybe there will be a belly picture next week... we'll see.  I'm thinking of trying to do some maternity photos sometime next week (you know, photos other than my self portraits in the bathroom), but we'll see how that works out. :)

I feel like I JUST wrote the 28 week post.  But, apparently not!  Here's what's new this week:

How I'm feeling:  Tired.  There has been a LOT to get done this week.  We move out of our apartment tomorrow, and Mark has been working like 18 hour days, which means he can't really help me too much.  Trying to keep Riley happy and get things done has been exhausting!  Lucky for me, she takes 2.5 hour naps every day, which means so do I (most days).  Other than that, I've been feeling pretty decent, although it's been a little harder to get comfortable sleeping, and getting up to pee 3-4x a night is no fun!  Also, one night I had pretty bad heartburn, combined with a headache, which meant not a lot of sleep for me! 

Weight gain this week: Unsure.
Total weight gain: 20 pounds.  My goal was to gain less than 30, so we'll see how that goes!

What baby is up to: Baby's brain can now control his breathing and body temp, and if he were born now, he'd have a 90% chance of survival.  He's busy packing on the pounds (or ounces) these days, and weighs about 3 pounds.  He's also approximately 15 inches long.  He has been kicking like CRAZY, and is getting a little cramped in there apparently, as I'm feeling body parts up in my ribs. :)

Cravings: Apple pie a la mode.  YUM.
Aversions: none.

Best part of the week:  Completing my Christmas shopping (I think).
Worst part:  Waiting foreverrrrr at the medical records office with a cranky toddler who just wanted milk (that I forgot at home), so I could get all my medical records to bring to NZ.  Yikes.

And in case you wanted to see me in all my glory, which I'm sure you do, here I am.  Full body shot.  Notice no mattress in the crib, since we apparently no longer use cribs in this household for the time being...

What I'm looking forward to:  Baby shower on Sunday!!

I'm always at least a day late in posting these, but hey at least I actually posted one this week!  Another week down, 12 to go!  Or, if this baby comes early like Riley did, then maybe only less than 10 weeks to go!!  I did get around to taking a picture this week, finally, so here you go.  And I was looking at this pic compared to about a month ago, and I feel like I have just gotten all around bigger.. eek.  As in, my belly maybe got a little bigger, but so did everything else.  Ohhhh well.

How I'm feeling: Still feeling pretty good.  We had a crazy busy week of getting lots of boxes packed and ready to ship out to New Zealand, which meant a lot of work for me, and probably more lifting than I should have done, so I'm thankful it's all done and I can get some rest!  It was definitely a tiring week. Other than that, no new symptoms- still no swelling or heartburn or cramps or any of that.  And the carpal tunnel has not yet made an appearance which I am SO thankful for!

Weight gain this week: no idea
Total weight gain:  Not sure, I'll weigh myself next week.

Best part of the week: Ultrasound!  Because I'm technically high risk, I had a growth scan on Wednesday, so we got to see our precious little baby boy again.  He's measuring perfectly (pretty much exactly 50th percentile, although he definitely has the Bartlett head, which appears to be more in the 80th percentile.) 

Worst part of the week: glucose test.  Ugh.  One of the downsides of being at an OB's office at Stanford hospital is they are on the cutting edge of research, which means here they no longer do the 1 hour glucose test followed up by the 3 hour if you fail... they only do a 2 hour fasting test.  This is different than last time, and more annoying!  I had to stop eating by 8pm, get to the office at 8am, drink the nasty glucola drink on an empty stomach, and then get blood drawn an hour and two hours later, not being allowed to eat or drink, or leave the waiting room!  It was not fun!

Cravings: Apple pie.  Salads.
Aversions: none really.

What baby is up to:  According to the ultrasound, a few days ago he weighed 2 pounds, 7 ounces.  These things can be really inaccurate, but we'll go with that for now. :)  He's moving around a ton, and he's head down now so that's good news (he was breech at the last ultrasound), but of course there is still plenty of time for things to change again, so let's just hope he stays head down.  His eyes are partially open now and he can blink.  He's about 15 inches long.  It's crazy to think in the next 10-12 weeks he will grow 4-5 more inches and add 5-6 more pounds!!  Grow baby grow (but not too much, I'm not exactly thrilled at the idea of birthing a 10 pound baby, thank you very much).

And just for fun... here's me now, and me at 29 weeks with Riley... not really sure what to think about these!