Post some, Amanda!!! I'm not having any taken, so I have to live vicariously through other preggo ladies' pictures!!!! :)

Contracts on the boy Racrane!!! How exciting!

Well the verdict is in....my next preggo appointment is in...

3 weeks.

I'll be at the very end of week 36 when I go back, and he says I'll go weekly starting at "full term," which is 37 weeks. At the next appointment we'll do my Group B Strep test.

He said he wanted to do another sonogram maybe next week. I've got to call and make an appointment to go back and get my ears flushed. Turns out there's so much of a wax buildup that he's surprised I can hear. He said we'd set up the sonogram then. So...no date on that yet.

We talked some about breastfeeding. He said there's no place around here to rent a good pump, so looks like we'll just be out a TON of money if it doesn't work out. Talked about epidurals and things. He said if I was to go into labor in the next 10-12 days they'd try to stop the contractions, but after that if they start, then she's coming.

Oh, and DH has started talking about wanting to have one more to try for a boy. I told him let's let Laney get here, then give it six months and see if we still feel the same. If so we want to start trying again around that time, so if all went well I'd have our second and final child at 32. Not too old there. :)

Mindi- did u get the ultrasound booked? Hopefully baby girl doesn't come too early!

Yay for boys Racrane :) they do tend to let it all hang out!

Party/shower went great AND our families surprisingly got along very well even though they are so different. Baby boy descended down all the way into the birth canal and hasn't been kicking as much so i think he's really getting ready. I'm getting a bit nervous.

Wow, keller!! Can't believe it's so close!!

No ultrasound booked yet. I've got to go back this week for an ear flushing, and we'll talk about it then. Hopefully this week sometime.

I went to the store and a couple of other places last night. At the store I ran into my sister-in-law. I haven't seen her in a couple of weeks and she can't believe how big I've gotten. At night the bump goes straight out in front of me. She said she agreed with her mom (my MIL), who apparently said that the fatigue and all have hit me so fast they don't think I'll make it anywhere close to May 21. They're guessing more like the first week of May.

Then a lady at the second store we went to asked when I was due. I told her May 21 and she just gave me a look and said, "If that's your due date, that baby must be reaaaallly long." Not sure what that meant....

Congrats Racrane on the boy :)

Mindi it is strange that your Dr. isn't at visits every 2 weeks. My midwives go to every 2 weeks starting at 28 wks even with no complications and then every week starting at 34 or 36 weeks.

The other night baby was kicking some big kicks and rolling and stretching and it was really hurting. Now tonight he/she is being lazy, had some nice big kicks earlier today and some squiggles and prods throughout the day but not much this evening. Also today on our drive home from my mom's after being in the car for 2.5 hrs I noticed my feet were getting puffy. My hands are ok and my face is fine but feet are puffy. I am feeling a bit stressed out about it but know that some swelling is normal and I figure it is because of sitting in the car for a long time and all the salty/sugary foods I ate over the weekend. I have an apt on Tues. morning with my midwife and will talk to her about it then but hopping it goes down soon.

Having some spotting this morning, and it's bright red. Not a ton of it, but it's there. So I'm calling the doctor here in a little bit to see what he wants to do. I'm sure it's nothing, but better safe than sorry I guess.

I hope its something minor Mindi!

Doctor appointment this afternoon after class. Hoping I get good news or I might strangle him.

Could barely get out of bed this morning because of the pain. I can tell its going to be a long day.

So far still waiting on a call back from the doctor's office...

Keep us informed MindiV, i hope everything is fine.

Butterflymama- My baby did the same thing yesterday. She stopped moving for almost 24 hours after a day of nonstop kicking and rolling around. DF thinks she just tried herself out and had a lazy day. I was pretty nervious about it because I was so used to her patterns. like she always moved when i ate, and she didn't twitch at all yesterday until an hour after dinner. today though she's back to moving enough to start hurting me.

Things are pretty silent over here. not much going on with me other than lack of sleep. The yeast infection seems to have went away (knock on wood) I hope it stays away. I've cut back my work hours from 5 days a week to 4 days a week. I'm still having issues sleeping, I just can't get comfortable.

Also i noticed the other day that I started walking a little different. i'm not sure if this is because the belly is getting bigger..If I'm getting bigger, or if she's started to drop. Around what week does the baby start to drop? is it an obvious change? or does it happen slowly over a week or two?

Sakai- I was told first babies can begin to drop anywhere as early as 28 weeks. I could just feel a bit more pressure but it's nothing like I have now. I can barely walk now without needing to pee because he's so low, and it's obvious when you look at me.

As for my appointment- They did the group B strep test and an iron test. Told me I was anemic, threw some iron pills at me and basically told me to go after checking his heartbeat- 151 bpm.

Forget strangling my doctor, i'm going to strangle the nurse. She can't count and put down that I'm only 34 weeks and some days rather than 36 weeks and some days. How do I have almost six weeks left if my due date is in like 26 days? Beats me! But because of it, he STILL won't do anything about the pain, won't talk about inducing anymore- and refused to check for dilation as well even though he said he could feel his head in the canal and that my water could break at any time. No matter how many times I told him I was 36 weeks he just kept blowing it off like I don't know my due date. Check your effin record if you don't believe me!!!! I got the whole "it's too early to have him right now" at this appointment when my last appointment was "lets see how you're doing in a couple weeks and talk about inducing" WTF? I'm beyond pissed and now have to wait til next Tuesday and hopefully have another nurse who doesn't have her head up her a$$ to even try and get my doctor to listen to me. :mad:

Wow Keller, your doctor....I mean like you said, check the records, doc!!

So the spotting was apparently for no reason. Had an ultrasound at 1 pm and it showed no reason for the bleeding, but when he was done with the exam I bled a little more for a few minutes. It finally went away though. My cervix measured at 2.8 this time, and was a 3 a couple of months back. So he said that's still ok. Didn't say if I was dilated at all. But her head is down, right by my cervix, and measured 35 weeks, 5 days. The doctor said the measurements, at this point, aren't really reliable though.

My sister in law and mother in law are betting I'll have her around the first week of May. So we'll see...

Mindi - glad everything was OK. It was likely just what my midwife called a "cervical nosebleed" - basically, a blood vessel on your cervix breaks and you get some bleeding.

Keller - I'm sorry you're so frustrated. There is a big body of research out there to indicate that babies do best after 37 weeks, so you're almost to term - hopefully they'll let you get moving after you reach that milestone.

Sakai - I am definitely walking different. Baby boy is head down FOR SURE. He's also starting to kick my ribs, and other organs that feel like they might be important.

Racrane - congrats on the boy!

Butterfly - I am a bit puffy, too. Don't want to take my rings off quite yet, but I can tell that we're getting close to not having a choice on that point!

I am EXHAUSTED. We had a wonderful shower, but it was after a week FULL of houseguests, lots of cleaning (it ended up being held at our house because our house has more space than either host's house), and I was on my feet a lot. Then immediately after the shower, Sarah got super sick, so I had to take care of her and do all the cleanup/setup.

On the good side, though, the house is now clean, and all the baby stuff is washed and put away. We have one more big order of Amazon stuff coming today and tomorrow, and our car seat has to get here (it's in transit right now), but we should be really ready to go in under a week. Of course, I know that being prepared early means he'll decide to come late...because he's stubborn!

Amanda, the doctor told me to take it easy on my workouts, which stinks. Mostly because I was already taking it as easy as I wanted to. My elliptical was set at zero resistance, and I wasn't pushing too hard, and my weights were down to below 30 pounds too. So I can't lessen that much more than I already have.

Gonna have to give up the elliptical in favor of walks at night I guess, which doesn't make me happy. The only time I have energy during the day is after a workout, and it's too dark to walk outside at 5 am. :(

Manda- at his office they have to schedule inductions 7 to 10 days ahead which would have made me days past the 37 week mark and had been our plan from around 26 weeks. But now that he thinks I'm two weeks off because of the nurse, I can't be induced until the beginning of 39 (and thats only if he figures out that ill be 37weeks3days at the next appointment)in which case I don't even see a point rather than waiting until the due date just days later. I'm just worried that if he's measuring two weeks ahead I'm gonna end up with a c section- which was also another reason for induction. I wouldn't want him to come too early- but at this point he's measuring the size of a bit bigger than a 38 week baby and he said his lungs were fully developed.

Moreso I think I'm just frustrated because he wouldn't check to make sure the nurse got the wrong date or check for dilation after saying he would. He just flat out ignored everything I said. He won't even talk about a birth plan or birth control.with me yet when realistically this baby could come at any point. My last pregnancy he didn't act like this at all so ill probably be getting a new doctor if i ever get pregnant again.

On the bright side- His room is now completely finished, organized and we bought the last things we need like diapers, wipes, soap, etc We even bought him about ten books so we can read to him everynight after he's born like our parents did us. I got my favorite "I'll love you forever" and he got his favorites too. Do any fo you ladies have "rituals" from when you were growing up that you plan on doing with the little ones?

I definitely want to read to her!! Growing up we didn't have a lot of things like that, and there are some I want to start with our little girl. Like baking cookies for Santa on Christmas Eve and stuff. But reading is a must.

I'm glad everything is ok, Mindi!

I am really surprised how active this baby is. I feel pokes and jabs constantly. The doctor said it's normal. Even when she tried to get his heartbeat he kept moving from one side to the other. I'm happy he's healthy, though. :)

Keller: As far as rituals, reading too! My dad read me his theology books (he's a professor) when I was an infant and he says that's the reason I started to read so early. :D But reading is a wonderful bonding time.

Well I am working out this morning...just for less time. We will see how it goes...

So apparently working out wasn't the problem. Did a light workout this morning before 6 am. Shorter time, no resistance on elliptical, and light weights. Didn't break a sweat and kept my heart rate lower. No issues at all. Fast forward about 6 hours, and I'm having some slight pink discharge. Not a ton, but it's there.

Guess it's a good thing I see the doctor in the morning (for another reason - ear cleaning. Fun). I'll bring it up then I guess.

Sarah reads to Spencer NOW, before we go to bed. Reading is very important to us, so we've done it from the point where we knew his ears could hear us.

I am really having a rough week. I'm sore and stiff, and that's to be expected, but Sarah is absolutely miserably sick with some kind of stomach virus that she's been down with since Sunday, so I have to take care of everything - keep the house picked up, visit my elderly grandparents, make sure she's getting fluids and that we have something to eat, etc. It isn't anyone's fault - no one feels worse about being laid up than she does - but man, all I have wanted to do since the craziness of last week was put my feet up, and I still can't,because there's so much to manage. Trying to do laundry and pick up in between work meetings. I cut my cardio back a bit, just because I'm so darned tired.

Manda- I hope you catch a break soon and get a chance to rest!!! And That Sarah gets well soon too.

Mindi- What did your doctor say at the appointment? Hope you got some answers.

We finally went on a tour of the hospital. I've been in the rooms before but not since they've done the updating to the unit. Man, it is nice! They have two rooms with large whirlpool tubs which go to mothers who want to do it natural or try for natural so if empty, theres a good chance I will get one of those rooms. You can't do a waterbirth in them as the hospital doesn't prvide the staff to do so and my doctor won't either but you can lay in them and relax and relieve contractions until you are 8-9cm I was told.

He didn't say much. I told him the second round of bleeding was very, very minor, and hasn't been back since. He said call if any more occurs, and so far today everything is fine, pregnancy-wise. My ears, though...MAN I didn't realize they were so stopped up. I feel like a new person with brand new ears!

Mindi: I'm glad that everything's okay.

Keller: I want to take a tour of my hospital! When can you do that? I kind of want to use the whirlpool tubs when I'm in labour. I always take a bath to relax me when I'm stressed and because it works for me, I think it'll help. Water is very healing. :)

Our hospital does tours twice a week. You can go at anytime throughout the pregnancy. Check with your local hospitals. Explore options too. We only have one other choice and while they won't turn you down they have a Catholic view and look down upon those who aren't married. So to avoid that stigma while I'm in labor I'm avoiding that hospitals. Birthing centers are great options for water births but we don't have any within two hours of here.

I'm feeling pretty down as of late. Lots of tears almost everyday.

I know it's getting worse as the birth is getting closer. Suddenly I realize that this little girl is leaving and I'm not gonna feel her moving around in there anymore. And for some reason this is very hard for me.

I'm afraid of what i'm going to do when I come home with no baby. Will i be okay, or a big mess?
Hormones don't help >.<

Hi everyone - sorry I'm like a ghost lately. I've been super busy lately - work is chaotic like usual. We've still not gotten a closing date for our house so I'm quite impatient over that, but trying not to be too crazed over it. I've been doing my best to clean the rental up bit by bit and pack the house up slowly. I kind of feel like I've got everything but the bare essentials packed. I'm hoping we close in the next two weeks. Not being able to settle into a house and set up a nursery is driving me wild. I'm trying to be patient and not pester my husband too much -- but I'm not that successful keeping myself in line.

Mindi -- I'm glad everything is A-ok with you. You're baby will be here in no time.

Keller -- You're almost to the end, hopefully your Dr. will be more attentive at your next appt.

I'm not quite ready to tour the hospital yet... but I have set up an appt to interview a pediatrician next Friday. I'm hoping I like her...

Sakai, hugs to you! I can't imagine how hard it will be. Have you thought about looking into support programs for moms of babies that were adopted? Even an online message board might help, kinda like 3FC :)

Oh, and the baby shower from **** is tomorrow. It's going to be a mess. One of the organizers is "too sick to make it" now. And I call BS on that. But anyway...

NONE of my family members are bothering to come. NONE of my so-called "good friends" are coming. I've had people dropping stuff off all week because they can't make it Saturday (which is good, but I really wish they'd come get some cake or punch or SOMETHING!). These are people who I just knew would make it, so I'm disappointed too. I'm just told that the two organizers in charge of decorations don't intend to decorate at all. They're not even using a sign-in book to have as a keepsake so I won't know who all was there unless I just remember. I cannot WAIT for tomorrow to be over...SO glad it's only a 1 1/2 hour long shower.

Sakai: A huge hug to you.

A storm with baseball size hail is coming our way and is in a city fifteen minutes away. Ligthening has also struck houses and trees there. And tornadoes have been spotted less than 3 hours from here. Joyful. I have my one year old niece as my sister is out of state for the weekend.

Praying this storm just swoops right past us.

Baby hasn't been to active but has dropped more. I'm hoping he comes soon.

Oh no, Keller!! Are you in Oklahoma or farther north? I know there was a tornado in Norman, OK last night. Hope you stay safe!!!

We're in the "slight chance" warning area, but having a TON of high winds that are going to get worse.

The shower went amazingly well. The only bad thing is that literally ALL I have eaten today is two pieces of toast with cream cheese, some delicious cake and fruit with fruit dip. :( Don't feel hungry at all, but I'm about to make myself eat something involving protein and veggies.

Nebraska towards the border of Kansas. 90% chance of tornado hitting just a couple cities over if it stays on the same path. OK has a good chance of getting hit again too as another has been sighted there.

Large Hail has yet to come but the wind and rain sounds like its gonna break my window. Theres little hail but not big enough to do nuch damage. We now also have flash flood warning on top of the thunderstorm and tornado ones.

Glad the shower went well Mindi! Did your family end up coming?

Nasty weather here too, never get tornados but the winds are crazy! so you take care keller and stay safe.
Mindi, also glad that the shower went well. Hope you grabed something good to eat.

Had lots of pain today, low in the back towards my left hip. It made work suck, as I couldn't bend over to pick stuff up and it slowed me down. After two hours i could hardly walk but it was lunch time so I popped two tylenol and had DF rub my back for a few minutes.
I'm not sure if it was because I was off my feet, the pain killers or what, but by the end of the lunch hour the pain was gone and I felt sooooo tired. saddly I still had the other half of my shift to finish. But at least I could work again.

Two friends said that it was pre-labor pains. my body's just getting ready and so on. not sure if that's true. The pains didn't come and go...it was just constant, but they also said back pain is always constant during labor.

I don't think the baby's dropped yet.

Good morning ladies-

Keller- Are you all safe? I hope so.

Mindi - Glad your baby shower went better than expected. I've still got a few more weeks until my shower- but I've been trying really hard not to even know a peep about it. I'm just going to show up and whatever it is -- it will be fine.

Sakai - I've been having some odds and ends pains like that, although mine usually come at the end of the day. My theory is just that my body gets tired after a long day, because once I've walked off the stiffness first thing in the morning I'm good to go until the next afternoon. I'm just telling myself that it' almost over now.

A tornado touched down right on our city limits, less than ten min from my house but then the path changed and it ended up going the other way. Thank goodness. From what I've heard it ripped up a couple barns and sheds but nothing major and no injuries.

Pure luck on that but we got golf ball sized hail and a bunch of unhappy neighbors about their cars but my fiance had ours at work in a parking garage. So another thing we missed

I've had a horrid backache and stomach cramps each time i move all night. I keep telling myself its my body prepping for labor but I can't t convince myself!

Maternity Pics are here...I don't love them all, but I am trying to embrace my giganticness instead of freaking out about it: http://abtphotography.shutterfly.com/1269

I am sore and tired and definitely overdid it Friday and Saturday - but the kitchen cabinets are cleaned out and we bought/washed a few more adorable baby outfits. Today I need to get my tomato plants in the ground...hopefully Sarah can help me with the parts that require bending.

Stay safe, folks in tornado areas! So scary!

I love your maternity photos, Mandalinn! I really like them.

It's been storming terribly here, too. My dog refuses to step out of the house, she's so scared. Stay safe everyone!

Mandalinn I love your photos they are very sweet and casual :)

Mindi I am glad your shower went well.

Keller that is scary about the tornado and hail glad no one got hurt.

Sakai I think it is a great suggestion to find a support group. I think that you should be prepared to be a mess for a bit, especially till your hormones settle. You may be ok but be easy on yourself if you are not. Sending you lots of hugs. Also sorry about the back pain, I had horrible back pain with my first pregnancy and it really sucks.

Racrane I hope the storm doesn't get too bad.

I am good. Puffiness went away by the time I had my midwife apt last Tuesday but I asked her about it. She said my BP was great and I have not protein in my urine and that a bit of puffiness is normal. The puffiness is back today but just slightly. Baby is doing well and enjoying punching me in the cervix. I go on Wednesday to consult with the OB and have another ultrasound. We will book a repeat c-section in case I don't go into labour on my own and they will look at the position of my placenta and do a bio physical profile on the baby. I am a bit anxious but also excited to see the baby again.

Dentist apointment in the morning. I'm so not looking forward to it. I'm certain I'll be dragging DF into the office with me until I get the numbing shot (if I get one, which I think I should, unless the cavity isn't large enough or close enough to a nerve to need it)

Think the dentist will think i'm a baby dragging my man back there with me to keep me calm? It may not be so bad at all but i could also bolt out of the building too LOL :o

not sure why I'm having such issues. a handful of years back I went in to get a cavity fixed, but it turned out to be a false alarm. But I was all gung-hoe about it and didn't care about a shot in the mouth (well i did but I was better able to deal with it.) Now I feel like a little kid being dragged kicking and crying into the dentist chair.

Those pictures are great Amanda!!

I bet the dentist won't think badly of you bringing some support with you at all, Sakai...

Had some period-like cramps this morning, but they went away when I got up out of bed thank goodness. Going to be a long week. :( 35 weeks today, appointment at the end of my 36th week NEXT Friday. Surely I'll go weekly then?

Amanda: you all look SO ADORABLE! I think you discussed this in an earlier post, but did you say if you had a second baby that your wife would carry? Think of all the times you get to say "and you thought I was just weird? I was serious!" while she is pregnant :D

Keller: Hope that you all are doing okay after the storms.

Sakai: I had some yucky bacterial stuff when I went to the dentist, I thought I was going to squirm out of my chair!!!! Thank goodness she used the numbing gel when I did my follow up appt, I never would have made it. (although the gel is pretty bad tasting) I think your pain tolerance goes haywire when you're preggo, and I'm sure they have people bring someone back with them for moral support all the time :) I'd just ask your dentist just in case they have a policy against having non-patients in the room.

OMG girls... I feel like I just found out I was pregnant and I'm already half way there! Thank goodness. Expecting some gorgeous baby pics from a few of you all in the coming weeks!!!!! (I'm looking at all of you 35+ week girls! ^^)

I am frustrated because I don't look or feel pregnant (to me). I haven't had any morning sickness, I haven't felt any baby dancing yet (I feel like it's because I weigh SO MUCH but I have 2 friends who were around my size while pregnant--one a size bigger and one a size smaller--and they felt baby movement way before 21 wks), and my shape is about the same as before I started losing weight SO to those who haven't seen me in over a year, I look the exact same. harrumph. I've had so many people come up to me and touch my belly (not where the baby is in my abdomen/belly button, where the chubby is in my ribcage) or ask me if I'm having twins. I just look at them and tell them that I was big before so I will probably not show for a little while longer.

Having one of those "damnit why isn't the baby here already" days. Lots of bad thoughts (depression thoughts) and job frustration and just general frustration. Trying to find a place to move to, but finances are really tight plus we'll more likely than not have to enlist movers bc I can't help move much. We'll probably have to give up the kitty for adoption to save on rent costs in the new place. :( AC is broken in the house, I got up at a normal time, moped around the house all day, and then slept most of the afternoon. DF and I cooked dinner for the roommates, the picky one didn't eat the meat (pork chops... bc he doesn't like pork chops and bc it had onions and he doesn't like them) but everyone else seemed to like it. Still frustrated me because after he cooked it, I looked at it and said "He either won't eat it at all or will eat a bite and then lie and try not to hurt my feelings."

I feel like I've been crying (or on the verge of crying) a lot too. There was an incident at an apt complex a week or so back, a mother shot her daughter and then herself and then the son came in and thought his mom was passed out but knew his sister was hurt. He called the paramedics but while on the phone with the dispatchers he started to cry and said "we don't have money for stitches"... I lost it... trying not to cry right now!!!!! I looked at my friend and I said 'they can stay with me' and tried not to cry more. The kids survived and are staying with family, the mother didn't survive. I've been crying a lot at church too, but that's really the only place that I feel like I can cry and people won't say "oh, it's just pregnancy hormones, you poor thing"... as if I can't cry while not pregnant!!!

Sorry for the ranty, lengthy post. I don't have very many friends who are plus sized and pregnant (or were plus sized and pregnant) so I feel like you all are the only ones who get what I'm saying.