Week 39 - The Final Countdown!

Our group at the church chili competition - our chili was called Antlers, Wings, and Other Things!

(As I'm recollecting the past week, TODAY is my due date and I don't feel like he's going to come at all.  Maybe I'll do lots of walking around the block this evening...)

Talk about exhausting!  These past 2 weeks have taken its toll on my prego body.  Sunday I skipped church to sleep in but went to church that night for a chili competition.  Our group had a great table and great chili!  Our chili was mystery meat- moose, duck, deer, and pig fat.  If someone would have told me those things before I probably wouldn't have eaten it.  I did eat chili- everything is giving me heartburn at this point so I figured why not?  I took Tums later and the heartburn wasn't so bad.  Going to work Monday was tough... it's hard to describe how tired teaching makes me.  It's like I was exhausted but didn't know why, I just knew I needed to sit down or sleep!  I went to bed early on Monday and then went to work on Tuesday... same song, different verse.  I had talked to Tyler about taking my maternity leave early and his suggestion was to wait and see what the doctor said at our next appt.

We had to move my Thursday appointment to Tuesday because Dr. Lehnert isn't working Thursday-Sunday (prime time for me to have a baby!).  He said I was still dilated at 1cm and 70% effaced.  This made me a little disappointed but I hadn't felt anything going on so I wasn't surprised.  After he checked me we scheduled to have me induced on the 19th at 8pm to have him on the 20th.  I have to go in early so they can soften my cervix.  All of this talk freaked me out and I held it together as best as I could in the doctor's office but I really just wanted to cry.  It's so REAL with a concrete date!  Today is Thursday, Valentine's Day, and in a week I will be holding Mason in my arms.  Surreal.  After our appt I was very frustrated but I couldn't figure out why... I talked to my mom and thought I should go to work but really didn't want to.  My anxiety levels shoot through the roof when I'm there (Will my water break? Who will take me to the hospital? These kids are driving me nuts! I hope they don't stress me out and cause me to go into labor... What if I start having contractions in the middle of class?  Will my kids think I'm hurt?) Yeah.  I was a mess.  When I'm home I'm fine but at school it was a different story.

After talking to Tyler we decided that I needed to take maternity leave 3 days earlier than planned.  I didn't want to go from one stressful situation (school) to another (labor) and I needed to rest and gather up all the energy I could before the delivery.  To say I'm thankful for this decision is an understatement!  I feel so much better being at home.  I'm able to get a few things done but not a lot.  Yesterday the big accomplishment was getting all my thank you notes written from my baby shower, and mailed.  I also strolled around Walmart for 2 hours because I was feeling energetic and that REALLY wore me out.  After I got home from Walmart I went to the bathroom and saw I lost my mucus plug (gross).  Probably from all that walking!  Today I did the dishes and made muffins... then I have to sit down for awhile.  It's funny how little I'm getting done but they feel like big tasks!  Tonight I'm planning to make Valentine's dinner so I'll probably rest from now until then so I have enough energy.  I made a recipe from Pinterest, Black Bean Tacos... they turned out amazing!

On Friday Tyler got off work early and we ran a bunch of errands together.  I needed to go to Target, Babies R Us, and Staples but I didn't want to go by myself just in case something happened.  We returned a few duplicate baby shower things and then at Staples we printed off my free Pinterest printables for the nursery (pics to come soon!)  That night Tyler and I rented a movie and laid around relaxing, it was wonderful.  On Saturday we pretty much did the same thing, I tried another Pinterest recipe- Almond Crusted Chicken Strips.  Another success!  I sure do love Pinterest!  That night we went to church to watch a drama called "A Place for Grace", it was really great.  It also felt good to shower, get dressed, put makeup on and get out of the house for a change!

He is so low!

How far along? 39 weeks

Total weight gain? 24 pounds

Stretch marks? I don't think so.  My belly is very vein-y looking and purple around my belly button but I don't think those are stretch marks.  Guess I'll find out when he comes out!

Sleep? Starting this week I've had to wake up in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom, every 3 hours.  It was nice of my body to wait until week 39 to start all this typical pregnancy stuff.

Best moment this week? I took off work Wednesday-Friday and MAN did I need to!  It has been incredible.  I've been relaxing and doing little things here and there.  It's bad when doing the dishes wears you out. :) 

Miss anything? I miss my Kindergarten kids... I don't want to have to teach them, I just miss being around some of them because they are sweet/funny/interesting.  

Movement: Still very active.  His feet love to get under the right side of my ribs.

Food cravings: Lemon water... I love it!

Anything making you queasy or sick? No.

Showing? Big ol' belly!

Gender: Boy

Labor signs: Contractions here and there, I'll sit down/stand up to see if they'll go away and so far they have.  A few big contractions but again they go away after awhile.  I lost my mucus plug Wednesday night at 7pm. 

Belly button in or out: Out, barely.

Wedding rings on or off? I put my ring back on again and it fits fine so I'm just going to keep wearing it.

Happy or moody most of the time? Very irritable at the beginning of the week but since I've been home I've been extremely happy.  I needed to take time off!

Looking forward to: Our last doctor's appt is on Monday to see how much I've dilated.  Unless Mason decides to come before, they have scheduled to induce me on the 19th at 8pm to have him on the 20th.

Baby's size: Watermelon