28 Weeks and Nesting

I'm not entirely sure if it really counts as nesting, but the need to cook and prepare for Dash's arrival has set in.

This need hasn't just set in for me, either. My husband, who has been even more afraid of losing his daughter than I have, is feeling it, too. In fact, on Sunday evening he announced her impending arrival on facebook, which was a big step for him!

Many of you know that Talia and I lost our stillborn son this past March, after several years of setbacks and discouragement in growing our family. While she has been relatively open about events in the months since, I have been much more circumspect. But things have been humming along and we are reaching "safe" ground, so it is with tremendous happiness and excitement that I acknowledge that we're about two months out from welcoming a baby girl.

 — feeling blessed.

He then included one of the 3D pictures of our daughter.

For him, this is a huge step in emotionally preparing for the birth of our daughter. When he posts just about anything, there's a reason for it. Generally, his posts are Civil War anniversary snip-its or links that he's sharing that he finds humorous or informative.  To share something as near and dear to his heart as my pregnancy let me know that he's as ready as he'll ever be.

But we still don't have a name!!

My sewing materials are almost completely relocated to the basement. There are just a few odds and ends left as well as my serger, which I'll move down as soon as I have the space for it. Anyone who has ever "moved" within their own home knows that sometimes you have to make a really big mess before everything comes together.  We're past the worst of the mess, but I have one more shelf to install and then I can move the last few fabric bins into position.

And the diaper sewing will begin once that is done!

I have 2 days to get this done. Why? Well, Saturday the weather is supposed to be decent, so we're going to the storage unit to get all the boxes and bins of Christmas stuff. In order to make room for that, the crib needs to be in the baby's room, rather than disassembled and taking up space under the stairs.

My husband insists that the Christmas things will stay in their boxes until after Thanksgiving, but if I just happen to find space to put the tree up . . .well . . . it might just make it's way out of the box a during naptime next week.

I've made some helpful changes in my routine over the last week and feeling the improvement. I purchased a larger yoga ball and inflated it fully.  It's just a little big, but as it deflates a little in the next week or two it will be perfect. I'm using the ball to do some of the exercises I do at the chiropractor each visit. One of them does a really good job of stretching my psoas muscles and the impact on the muscles in my abdomen is noticeable! Most evenings, the muscles are still tight, but not anywhere near as painful as they've been the last couple of months.  I'm doing the exercise every 4-5 hours during the day and sometimes just sitting on the ball when the tv is on, rocking in an X motion, stretching my back from side to side, or generally staying in movement.

Movement is getting more restricted, but I want to make sure that as many of my muscles are limber as possible so that I can achieve any position I want during labor and delivery. The most restrictive motion right now is bending over, which is understandable considering the size of my belly.  If you've ever tried to bend over and tie your shoes with a basketball or soccer ball in front of you, it's not easy! But with the new exercises, I'm finding that I can bend in other ways that compensate for my inability to fold myself in half. I had lost my ability to look fully over my shoulder when backing up my van but realized today as I left Home Depot that I could do it again and that it was quite comfortable, too.

It's amazing how such a simple thing can feel so good! I hate relying on cameras and mirrors when I back-up, so that ability to turn my torso put a big, dopey grin on my face that nobody saw but me!

I was fortunate enough to be given a bunch of maternity clothes, some to keep and some on loan.  They fit great, but since my daughters all carry out front, I have hit that point where most of my clothes no longer cover my belly and I'm left with a 2" section where the stretchy part of my pants shows. This striped shirt is one of just a few that stay completely down.  The black one below, which is what I was wearing earlier to day, is a prime example of what most of my wardrobe is now doing. It's too short!

 I could buy the next size up, but maternity clothes are expensive and it just doesn't seem worth it when I can layer things a little.

I don't even want to think about how badly these clothes would fit if I were carrying twins.

I don't remember having this problem with my other daughters, but I was due in July and summer shirts during those years had a longer, blousey cut to them and I wore a lot of summer dresses because they were more comfortable than capris.

If you look closely at the two pictures, you can see the difference in the shape of the top of my belly. The pictures were taken about 15 minutes apart and during that time, she switched from head up (in the black shirt) to head down (in the stripes). Head down is much more comfortable for me and gives me a lot more breathing room!

The only other "noteworthy" mention would be my contractions, which have absolutely picked up in the last 4 days. Oh My Word. I'm having over a dozen a day and some are enough to have me running some of my hypnobabies phrases through my head because I simply can't do anything else until it subsides. These are normal for me and should make my labor easier, or at least the induction portion.

So here's to a few more weeks, we hope!

Zipping Along at 27 Weeks and a Bit

Dash and I have made it safely to 27 weeks.  With each day, her chances of surviving an early birth and having little to no long term problems associated with that get better.

Preparations for her arrival are in full swing. The baby clothes we've been given are all washed and put away. It looks like we may only need to pick up a couple of fleece play outfits and some baby leggings and she'll be set for the first few months.

My daughters have 3 different uncles whose names start with B. Last Saturday night, one of them came over and installed a much-appreciated electrical outlet in the basement so that I can plug my sewing machines and a lamp in without running a power strip around the corner from the outlet in the finished portion of our basement.  The space is small, but it is going to work beautifully.  In the next two days, it should be set up sufficiently so that I can start sewing diapers and a couple of other postnatal supplies that I'd like to have.

The normal minor aches and pains of pregnancy are slowly starting to settle in. The one I have the hardest time dealing with is that my hips start hurting when I sleep. It's deep in the joint, which makes me think it's likely the ischiofemoral ligament.

Ligaments in pregnancy soften to prepare for birth, so this isn't at all unusual, but it is painful at times. I roll over roughly every 90 to 120 minutes all night long because that pain wakes me up. "Roll over" is probably not the correct word. It's more like sit up, go to the bathroom not only because I need to but because walking eases the pain, drink some water, get back in bed while rearranging the pillows, then readjusting my position a little, and falling asleep as soon as I feel the baby moving again.

I've joked in the past that I get more sleep after the baby is born but it really is true. My girls both slept for 2-3 hours at a time within a week of their births, and if you've ever experienced sleep on either schedule, the difference between 90 minutes and 150 minutes is huge! I can actually feel rested if I get 2-3 hour stretches but the 90 minute ones feel almost useless.

But we're not ready for her to come, not yet. I really do want her to stay put, safely, until after Christmas.

At the growth scan last Thursday, Dash measured in at 2lbs 3oz, give or take a little. That puts her in the 64th percentile for growth, very close to the 69th she measured two weeks before and still well within the 10% margin of error most doctors will mention if you ask how accurate the growth scans are.

At my OB visit yesterday, my fundal height also measured just above 28 weeks, which matches what the ultrasound showed.

I decided to order a larger yoga ball. Although most of the charts I've seen show that a person my height should have a 65cm ball, even when it's fully inflated my knees are just above my hips, rather than being 2-3 inches below as is recommended for birthing.  The 75cm beauty is now inflated and getting some use, knowing it will need more air over the first few weeks.

I spent the majority of my day making freezer meals and canning chicken stock.  We have four new meals in the freezer, 9 quarts of chicken stock, and 10 pints of chicken broth. Last week I'd read an article about letting the bones simmer twice, rather than just once, and decided to give it a try. Even though the second batch only simmered for 18 hours, I was really impressed with the richness of the color and flavor.  I mixed the batches together and canned the quarts at full strength then diluted the remaining for the pints.

The flavor is light but very tasty!

A lovely little chair and ottoman popped up on a yard sale site and I bought those, too. It isn't a rocking set, but for Dash's room, I don't need to rock. The ottoman top lifts up to make a second small chair, which will give my older daughters a place to sit when they want to spend time with me and the baby.  If I understood the seller correctly, the chair had belonged to her grandmother and the design definitely seems old fashioned.

I love it. And as long as it holds up, it will get a lot of use!  Once we have the chair in it's place, I'll take pictures and share them.  I expect to spend many memorable moments in that chair!