36 Weeks! 37 Weeks!

36 Weeks

How far along:  36

Symptoms:  Lots of swelling in my hands and feet/legs and I've also developed carpal tunnel in my arms which gets pretty painful at night and in the early morning. Still feeling a lot of lower abdomen/hip pressure. 

Maternity Clothes: Wearing them all the time and even some of the shirts aren't really fitting that great anymore. My belly is just getting super round! The yoga/stretchy pants, longer shirts and John's t-shirts are part of my attire too. It will be nice to get back to having a variety of clothes to wear after Charlie's arrival. 

Sleep: Hasn't been good at all. I'm waking up about every 3 hours to potty and in-between bathroom breaks I'm waking up to roll over because my arms have fallen asleep or my belly is in pain from being stretched after laying on my side for too long. 

Movement: A lot of very strong movements (kicks, punches, rolls) that are all over the place, but his favorite place is in my ribs!

Food cravings: Pepsi! I want pepsi just about every day. I don't necessarily want an entire can or glass, but just a drink or two. Johnny is very eager to point out that it's daddy's pepsi and not mommy's. 

Aversions: There was one day this past week that I went to the gym and when I walked into the locker room it smelled like a mixture of cooked sweet corn and sour milk. I literally thought I was going to lose my breakfast...I started gagging and coughing....it was horrible! 

Labor signs: Just a contraction here and there and lower pelvic pressure 

Best moment: There hasn't been anything that really stands out as a best moment the past two weeks. 

Emotions: Still going through a lot of nesting, I've definitely developed a shorter tolerance for patience,

What I miss: Normal sized ankles, legs, face and fingers and sleeping on my belly. 

What I'm looking forward to: Hearing Charlie's heartbeat every week until delivery at my weekly dr visits. 

What I'm most nervous about: Charlie's health, which I think will continue to be a consistent theme until delivery and probably for the rest of his life as well as labor and delivery. Being only 4 weeks away makes things very well...he could literally be here in a matter of a few weeks!! 

36 Week Dr. Appt: 

Weight Gain: +28 from initial visit

Dilated: 1.5

Effaced: ~70%

Blood Pressure: 151/98

Heartbeat: 160

Unfortunately this appointment didn't go as great as all my previous appointments. As with Mellany and Johnny, I've developed high blood pressure. In talking with Dr. Sinnott, it looks like I have another appointment next tuesday (the 6th) for a blood pressure check and if it is still high at that appointment he will induce on Wednesday the 7th. He did check for protein in my urine and nothing was present so he basically diagnosed me with gestational hypertension versus preeclampsia. At this appointment he also did the Strep B swab, looked at my huge amount of swelling, checked my reflexes and as a final precaution ordered some blood work that would help identify preeclampsia.

37 Week Dr. Appt/Blood Pressure Check 

Weight Gain: +30.5 from initial visit

Dilated: Didn't check

Effaced: Didn't check

Blood Pressure: 160/?? (I didn't hear the second number because I was so caught off guard by the 160!

Heartbeat: Didn't get an official number but it sounded really good!!

Walking into this appointment I fully expected to have maintained the high blood pressure over the weekend and was completely calm about the possibility of being induced on Wednesday the 7th. This was a good thing because my blood pressure was even higher than the previous week....quite a bit higher! Thankfully there was still no protein in my urine so I'm still only diagnosed with gestational hypertension. My test results from last week also came back all negative so that's good. The nurse scheduled me for a 7:00am induction at the hospital and after a discussion with Dr. Sinnott about induction being the best option at this point, I was heading out of the office on cloud 9! 

So....tomorrow, after 37 weeks, we will be welcoming Charlie into our crazy but amazing family!!!! I (and John) cannot wait to see him, touch him, snuggle him and his big brother and big sister are constantly talking about how he will be coming and they are so excited!!

Totally embarrassing for me to post this picture, but this is the swelling in my legs. This was right after church...I hadn't even really done anything at this point. This isn't the largest I've been swollen, this is about average for a typical day. 

After my first dr appointment with high blood pressure, John was pretty confident we would be delivering the following week (tomorrow). So, the nesting instinct kicked in for him and we have a completely revamped garage!! :) 

We CANNOT wait to meet you Baby Charlie!!! We already love you so much and are so excited to officially have you as part of the family!!