4 days...and 5 hours!

So I might have just bitten into a strawberry that was slightly past its prime. Actually...I might have just devoured about 6 of them that were slightly past their prime. And that, my friend, is because they were covered in chocolate. Wow...let me be the first to admit that I might possibly need some serious help. I'm going to blame that on the baby.

Baby also gets blamed for the fact that, for some strange reason, my favorite smell right now is dirt. Fresh dirt. Not that dirty dirt smell, or like moldy or mildew dirt smell, but like actual dirt from the yard or garden outside. I'm not going to eat dirt, if you were suddenly concerned about that. I just like the way it smells. Weird.

After having contractions all day (Braxton Hicks) and having more than 9 in 1 hour, I called the doctor. He said that since I was having no pain or other accompanying symptom, I would be fine - or if I was really concerned, I could go to the hospital and get checked out. I wasn't really concerned, so I've been downing water like the supply is going to run out. I've had about 3 glasses in the past few hours, so my doctor should be happy. He says that a true contraction will be accompanied by pain also and it's something I'll "know". Hmm. I've had contractions where it feels like baby is suddenly kicking the crap out of my bladder and the sharp pains stop me in my tracks, but I haven't had anything that has lasted for more than a minute. So... I dunno. And that crap about if a contraction feels like my nose, it's BH, or if it feels like my forehead, it's a real contraction - I have no clue what that's all about, because I've had some contractions that felt hard as rocks with no pain attached. So again...I dunno.

I also have had sudden bursts of energy tonight! Have been doing laundry and cleaning type stuff for hours now. I still have soooo much stuff to do to get ready for baby. I don't think I'll ever be fully ready. And I'm not an organized person nor do I know how to organize things well, so this has been rather difficult for me.

P.S. The 4 days and 5 hours is the amount of time until my C-Section!

Charley Horse

So I am 31 weeks now! I can't believe I have been so blessed this far.
Yesterday I flew home from a mini-vacation in Boston. The first flight
was long (4hrs) and very turbulent - the "fasten seatbelt" sign was on
during the entire flight! I loved when I got up to use the restroom a
few times and the flight attendent said "The fasten seatbelt sign is
on!" Uh...ok, but that still doest change the fact that I REALLY have
to pee and have a baby sitting on my bladder!! The second flight was a
little over an hour and turbulent also. So...not great pregnancy
conditions.

I finally got snuggled up in bed at home in the wee hours of the
morning. At about 4am, I woke up with intense pain in my left calf -
hello, chalrey horse!! It felt like it lasted forever but it probably
actually only lasted a couple of minutes. I thought I was going to
die. Ugh. I think I know the unfortunate culprit though... Wearing
heels (albiet small ones) through the airport! Bad Bonnie. I sure paid
for that one.

On a side note, I've read that labor sometimes feels like a Charley
Horse - has anyone else experienced this?

Sweet Tooth, belly playing

I have to say that I have developed a serious sweet tooth. I had one when I was younger -- and that was probably because we weren't allowed to have sugar as kids, so when I grew into a teenager and could get it on my own, I sometimes went a little bonkers with it -- and baby has seemed to have drawn it back. I think about a dessert after every meal; although I don't actually get one, so that's probably good.

Right now I'm really into cobbler and biscuits!! I'm still an ice cream snob (very picky about my brands and won't do "off-brands"), but I could eat cobbler all day long. And Pillsbury biscuits (the big ones, not the small ones!) are just heavenly!!! I haven't really had any cravings like pickles and ice cream though...hmm...no, I take it back. When I was first pregnant I ate some green olives and ice cream, haha!

My favorite thing to do right now is to watch baby move on my belly. I could watch him all day long! I can poke at him and he'll poke me back, it's just too cute. Of course, sometimes when I poke or disturb his happy little home, he punches back with a vengeance...and, although it sometimes hurts, it always makes me a laugh a little. I could seriously do this all day long. Although lately, after he has moved around a lot, it has been making me a little nauseous - has anyone else experienced this?

I still can't believe I am where I am today! I am just completely in love with the little creature inside of me..he goes with me everywhere, keeps me company, plays with me, makes me laugh, I'll rub my little belly and talk to him or tell him goodnight...ahh there's really just no other experience like being pregnant. And after 3 years of heartache, I honestly never believed I would be in this position. Even with all of the nausea and uncomfortableness and physical misery he has cause me, words just cannot describe how thankful I am for my little blessing.

25 weeks

I can't believe I've made it this far! It seems like it could be possible to actually *have* a baby now. I really never thought I would make it this far. People keep asking me if I have all of my baby things and nursery together... and the answer is no. I don't have anything together! We don't really have a room for a nursery, and he'll be sleeping in our bedroom for at least the first few months anyway (then, of course, we'll have to figure out where he'll be sleeping after that, but that'll be in the future....lol). I have bought baby things before (from previous pregnancies) and it always ended in my own heartache (and bad memories from looking at the things I bought), so I learned a long time ago not to buy things in advance. I almost feel that, even now, it would be jumping the gun to buy things. I guess that's weird and I need to get over it.

Tonight I was noticing that he really likes to be pooched up on one side of my stomach. I guess that's the uterus he is in (the left one). It's very noticeable at times! I can't tell if that's where he's sleeping, or if that's where his back/butt are when he's just relaxing, or what, but it's rather humorous to look at my lopsided tummy.

21 weeks!

I 'm 21 weeks now, almost 22. I can't believe I've made it this far! I have some ultrasound pics from a few weeks ago that I need to scan in and post. Everything looks ok, as far as they know. I have another appointment with my high risk OB on Monday - he couldn't see everything in the baby's heart because of the position baby was in, so I'm going back in for another look. And if he can't see everything again, he's referring me to a pediatric cardiologist! That seems a little extreme to me, so hopefully baby will cooperate this time.

I'm still getting my weekly Progesterone shots. They don't hurt too much, but they do make me super tired. I've also been having a lot of cramps. They're like menstrual cramps, only not as severe as the ones I'm used to getting. Either way, they still hurt and I can't take anything for them (since I'm allergic to Tylenol). They come and go, but they're especially painful right after I wake up. Along with them comes lower back pain - yayyyy! That gets bad when I sit down for too long, so I have to get up and walk around a lot. But my doctor has said that everything is normal, especially since there is no spotting or bleeding - or maybe its just normal for me? Since the baby is growing in a half of a uterus and I'm fairly skinny, the uterus has to stretch and my muscles have to stretch out, thus cramping.

So...not much fun, but nothing I can do about it. On the plus side, I've been feeling baby move! I started feeling him move at about 17 1/2 weeks. He was probably moving before then, I just thought it was gas pains. I remember driving with hubby in the car, and I felt a little bump underneath the lap part of my seatbelt. I thought there was some bug crawling down there! So I looked down and put my hand down there to feel or see anything. I didn't see or feel anything, but a few seconds later, I felt it again. I knew that it wasn't gas pains and I knew I wasn't hungry - so when I felt it again a few seconds later, I knew it was baby! Hubby even got to feel him move one time, a couple of weeks after that. I still feel him, more everyday. It's pretty neat!