Three Weeks and Counting

So we have only 21 days left before the arrival of Baby Eso...
My parents have (finally) purchased their tickets and will be here on Friday, July 20th. As my other post states, my largest complaint is the water retention. It is not just my ankles, but up into my calves, my hands, arms and face.
I have started to get a little heart burn at night, and have had a lot more backaches. Usually I am able to move my back around and get it to pop, relieving the pressure. Dapo has been wonderful about giving me backrubs and massage.
I am working again, so I don't know if it is the added activity during the day or just the impending birth but I have become a lot more tired. I would go to bed by 9 each night if I could be home and fed by then. Work is really good about letting me go home when I feel tired, but on Mondays and Wednesdays (church) and Thursdays (childbirth class) we have activities in town which keep me here even though I could go. And, it is too far to go there and back.
My belly button has not popped out yet, although it seems to be threatening to do so any day now.
I have given up trying to monitor my diet this week. I will meal plan this weekend and go grocery shopping for perhaps a better scale reading next Dr. visit.
Dapo and I bought a little CRV this week. It is used, a 1998 in fact. We traded in the Purple Truck, aka my 1995 Civic. We needed something I could drive which has A/C, and 4 doors for the baby. We called the same guy (Dwight) who sold us our Accord last year and he gave us a good deal on it. Dapo has been driving it this week, but it will be used by me in a limited role as I'll be working from home and will I just need something cool that I can get the baby into and out of.
I guess that is all for now. Stay tuned for another post coming up on Tuesday.

Sleeping

Oh, the irony. For whatever reason, Dapo has not been snoring as much lately (thank you, Jesus). I am just now starting to get good sleep, with about 3-4 hour blocks during the night. I have only had to wake up once or occassionally twice to use the restroom. I am still drinking the same amounts of fluid, so I wonder if the retained water is reducing my need to urinate during the night? Whatever the cause, I am glad to be back to sleep (I haven't slept through the night since February 2005), just in time for the baby to be born!

Water retention

This is just one for the records...I am retaining water, even though I am endeavoring to do all the "right" things like abstain from salt, drink water, etc. It occured to me that dear people who are trying to make me feel less horrible about gaining 12 lbs in 4 weeks (vs. the first 12 I gained in the first 32 weeks) are just not using good logic. They say it is because I am retaining water. Yes, I am, but do you know what 12 pounds of water looks like? It is the equivilant of 1.5 gallons of water.

So then they say, oh, well, the baby is growing. Yes, and if the baby just gained 12 pounds, I would like a special ribbon or award. Especially if I have a vaginal birth.

Again??

After having a poor weigh-in last week I dreamt that I gained 60 lbs the next visit, and I just got of the scale as if I had expected it to be so. At the last checkup my Doctor suggested my rapid gain was due to water retention, growth of the baby, etc. I suggested it was ice cream. I started being very cognizant about the types of food I was eating, refusing pickles, packaged foods, and even ice cream. Dr. Rushing even mentioned that it might flutctate to where I gain 6 and then lose a few with the water. SO imagine my surprise when I get to the Doctor today and have gained another 5.5 lbs. Ay yi yi. I gained 12 lbs the entire pregnancy up until the 12 lbs these last four weeks.

In other news, my blood pressure was up a little, coming in at 130/84. I saw another Doctor from the rotation today, who measured my uterus at 38 cm. I am 36 1/2 weeks along, so that is bigger than how far along I am. Although, I am pretty sure about the date of my last period, I cannot be certain about when the baby will be born. I do know that if I go all 40 wks I will be able to make it. The Dr. today suggested there is nothing to be concerned about unless I gain more like 10 lbs. I'm not worried, but I did call my mom and tell her to buy her plane tickets, though.

Six Pounds?!?!

I had my first bi-weekly checkup last Tuesday the 12th. When I stepped on the scale I had gained SIX pounds in two weeks. Quite an "accomplishment" since the largest of all of my other weigh-ins to date was 3 pounds. And that was in four weeks. I doubled the gain in half the time. That's .5 lbs a day...what on earth was I eating?? LEAD??

The good news is that everything else measured out fine. My blood pressure was good at 114/74. That was a relief since I had been seeing spots, someone mentioned my bp might be up. I am retaining a bit of water (sadly, I don't think six pounds' worth) and so Dr. Rushing advised me to go swimming. Evidently the water suctions the water out of your body. I went swimming and I still feel bloated, but not as bad.

Dreams - strange and vivid

I have had some of the strangest dreams in my last trimester. I had odd dreams in my first trimester, usually consisting of a food type. However, the dreams I have been having lately are just bizzare. I'm not sure if it's the ice cream or my hormones.

Recently I have dreamt that I was pulled over by a police officer who approached my car, gun drawn. So, to be fair, I drew my weapon as well, and pointed it at him. I guess I felt threatened? Anyhow, he told me to lower the gun so I did. When I rolled down my window he told me I was under arrest for an unregistered gun, and I was going to jail. Well, I obviously had a weapon, so I couldn't tell him I didn't. BUT, I knew for a fact it was registered and I spent the majority of the dream trying to prove it was so I didn't go to jail. I called Dapo and told him to go down to the registration office and look through the papers, because it was probably sitting on someone's desk. The dream ended before I ever made it to jail or proved I was right.

I have really been feeling the baby full force, kicking for his life it seems at times. Perhaps that is why I dreamt that his foot came out of my neck. It was so strange that everyone else was so nonchalant about the fact an infant's foot was sticking out and I was the only one befuddled by it.

The other night I had a dream that Tim Bales and my friend Angela from high school (who dated in high school and have long since been broken up) were visiting. Sometimes people in your dreams are representing someone, but it isn't really them. But, this really was how they both really look, except that Tim had gained weight in his face and Angela looked just the same but older. I haven't seen or spoken to either of them in over ten years. Where we were trying to get to was up a perpendicular highway. So they offered to drive me, but I chose instead to drive with a lady from church named Linda. When I got in the car I realized she was stoned, and wished I had gone with them. When we got to the point in the road that we needed to turn back she made the turn okay and then I was able to settle down. We got to a hotel where the elevators didn't quite work right. You would push a button and it would not go to that floor. Sometimes the door would open and I would see other people from church.

In a separate dream I rear-ended Opal (a lady from church)'s car. I think that her entrance into my dream was prompted by Pastor having her share her testimony on Wednesday night. After I rear-ended her I felt so bad, but there was no time to waste, because a tornado had come by and we had to help clean up. Pastor Mark was seen driving the mini van to a hotel to drop off his dry cleaning. Pastor Rhonda was going around smiling, Belinda was there facilitating the installation of the windows of the new church building which had been blown out by the tornado. Lots of cameos were made by other church members as well.

In general, I have dreamt a lot about hotels, elevators, tornadoes and people that I know from a LONG time ago (Shelly Sloop...when last did I see her? 1988?) as well as people I've just met (at least three dreams of late involving church members from AL) and any possible mix of inbetween (family, friends).

Childbirth Classes

Yesterday Dapo and I began our childbirth classes at Crestwood Memorial Hospital. However, we plan to have the baby at Huntsville Hospital, but their childbirth classes were full when we tried to register. The classes are a mixture of childbirth education as well as birthing techniques from Lamaze and Bradley. I really enjoyed learning the Bradley technique since it involved me on a pillow relaxing while Dapo massaged the small of my back. I kidded that we need to practice that one a lot.

Part of the class was introducing ourselves and listing a malady we have faced during our pregnancy. I really have been very fortunate in that I have six weeks to go (!) and my largest complaint to date is swollen ankles. I also had PPPPPs (pups) for about a week somewhere in the 26-28 week range when I started really growing. They are itchy bumps in your stretch marks. It was cured by hydrocortizone cream and cocoa butter. Looking back, I would have been using the cocoa butter every day had I known. As all the other women listed things like leg cramps, backaches, heartburn, indigestion, insomnia, constipation, painful joints, etc. I realize how fortunate I have been, and what a good baby I must have! God is so good to me.