Busy Bee (34w6d)

Yes, I have been a busy bee! I have missed blogging and am just now finding some time to sit down and type out a post.

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The baby shower was great! It was so exciting to see so many people come to help us celebrate our little miracle. We had the shower at our church and we had over 60 people come! We got tons of great stuff! the only thing we didn't get was our swing. We also got enough cash and gift cards to purchase a changing table and a glider! Here are a few pictures. To see all the pictures you can go to our babysite (link in sidebar):

Like I said, there are many more pictures on our babysite so feel free to go on over and check them out.

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Baby is doing fine. I had my second growth u/s at 33 weeks and he weighed 4 lbs 14 oz. The doctor told me he is exactly the average weight. So looks like our little monkey isn't going to be a porker after all! I did notice that his head and belly were measuring almost 36 weeks (I was 33 weeks) but his legs were only measuring 31 weeks. I hope he isn't going to be short like me! We could see his pudgy little cheeks and we even got to see that he has hair! Most importantly he is finally head down! We also had the tech confirm for a fifth time that he is a little boy. It still seems so surreal to me that there is an actual baby in there. And that God willing in a few weeks or so we will get to finally bring a baby home. Crazy! I'm finding myself more anxious that something will go wrong the closer it gets. I'm guessing these are normal feelings, especially after IF. I want him to be healthy so bad. I'm also terrified of becoming a mother. I know nothing about babies, the only thing I have ever "mothered" is our cats. But I guess it is something that you learn. I have had 5 NSTs so far and Noah has passed them with flying colors! I have failed all of them (see below for more on that.) I have also noticed that Noah is having the hiccups about 4 times a day. Poor little baby! He even has them during my NSTs sometimes. Too cute!

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I have been feeling pretty good up until about two weeks ago. I was just bragging about how great I feel. Over the past two weeks or so I am feeling totally exhausted again. I am also feeling a lot of pressure down low, especially when I walk or stand. I have also been having some contractions during my NSTs which causes them to keep me on the monitor for an hour each time (thought these things were only supposed to be 40 minutes?) I have only been having about 5 or 6 contractions an hour but they are not in a regular pattern. They have done an internal each time and I was not dilating until my last NST/internal on Friday. He told me I was dilated to 1 cm! I wasn't dilated just two days before so he sent me home from work on the off chance that the contractions I was having during the NST were causing me dilate. I had contractions all day Friday and was starting to worry when they finally let up in the evening. I rested all day on Saturday and the tried to resume my normal activities on Sunday and the contractions started again. It seems that when I walk of stand for even a little while they start up again. The thing is, I am confused about whether they are BH or the real thing. They are slightly painful but not bad at all, the tightening stops me in my tracks though. My hands are now starting to swell and I have begun to suffer from what I guess is carpal tunnel. My fingers on my right hand are numb and my wrist hurts. The swelling in both hands makes my knuckles hurt really bad and makes it hard to do much with my hands.

I feel like such a lazy bum! I am so busy at work that when I get home I am exhausted and do nothing but lay on the couch. Shawn has been so great! He is trying really hard to do what I ask, although I know I am picky and hard to deal with sometimes. I am so blessed to have him as a husband and I know he will be a great Dad!

All in all, I am blessed to be where I am and I will never ever forget it. I will also never forget all of you still in the trenches. I think about you often and keep you in my prayers. I know the holiday season can be hell on earth for someone going through IF. Remember, I was there for quite a few years. My advice, do what you have to do to get through it. Don't do anything that makes you miserable. Take this time to think about yourself first. This may not be what most would tell you but sometimes you have to be selfish.

Well, it's back to work for me. I have another Dr's appt and NST at 10:45 today so lets see if I can manage to NOT be sent home from work!