Cramps

First of all, if you do not want to hear about gross pregnancy stuff, stop reading now. This is not the blog for you.

The past two days I've been having cramps. They feel a little like the major gas pains I had toward the beginning of my pregnancy, where I had to lay down and have Nacho or Rob push on my stomach. The cramps are sharp pains right at the bottom of the baby bump near my pelvic bone. They don't last more than a few seconds and then are gone. So far, they've only happened when I'm standing up or walking around. I don't get them when I'm sitting down.

I decided yesterday to try to go to the bathroom and see if they would go away. Well, not much happened in the gas department, but I did have some pea-sized clumps of blood come out instead. Along with them, my toilet paper was streaked with blood when I wiped. This could possibly have been due to my straining to try to get any "gas" out.

The rest of the night, while Sherry and I were watching a movie, I was having Braxton-Hicks contractions. Very uncomfortable and annoying.

I called the advice line at Kaiser, and the nurse that called me back didn't seem too concerned about the blood clumps. She said that if I had heavy bleeding that soaked a pad to call back. I didn't have any more bleeding or spotting after the blood clumps came out, so I suppose I'm fine.

One of my facebook friends has been having cramps too, and her doctor said it was just her cervix softening. If it's the same thing with me, that's just fine. As long as my cervix doesn't soften enough for the baby to come out before August 1st. I'm determined to have an August baby. No NICU for him!

Irrational Fear of the Swimming Pool

I have never been a competitive swimmer, but I've never been afraid of swimming either. When we were growing up, we would go to Lake Erie and go swimming. It was really more like splashing around at that point, but I never had problems with the water. I was home schooled in seventh grade, and we took swimming lessons at the YMCA for our PE class. I didn't have any problems then. When my grandparents got a pool, I would spend hours swimming around, diving down for pool toys, etc. When I went to Phoenix for an E&Y project a few years ago, I would go running in the morning and then change into my bathing suit and swim some laps in the pool to cool off. When I took a girls trip to Hawaii, I was the "strong swimmer" of the group and took Sweta and Sherry out to go snorkeling nearly every day we were there.

And all of this time, I have never had a fear of the water. I don't like getting water in my eyes, so most of the times mentioned above, I was wearing goggles or a mask or something and a nose plug to help me breathe better. But I was never afraid.

Rob has been saying that I should utilize the pool at K-C because it's supposed to be good for pregnancy. So yesterday, I brought my suit with me and after work went to the pool. The pool we have is an Olympic length, five lane lap pool. It was 3:00, so no one was there except me. I put my goggles and nose plug on and got into the pool. I went under to get myself wet and get used to the slightly cooler water. Then I looked down the length of the pool and started freaking out. I was just standing there, head above water in the 3 foot section, freaking out. I didn't even push off to try to swim. After about a minute or so, I just got out and went back in the locker room to change.

I don't know what has gotten into me. It has been awhile since I've been in a pool (other than just sitting dangling my feet in or the very short time I was in the pool in Daytona), but there has been no event that would have triggered this ridiculous fear.

Maybe it was because I was the only one there, in a huge box of water that got as much as 7 feet deep. If something had happened, no one would be there to help.

Maybe it was because the water was slightly colder than I would have liked. But I'm sure I would have warmed up when I was swimming.

Maybe I do have some subconscious fear of drowning the baby, which is ridiculous because the baby is already floating in a big bag of water.

I don't know. It's actually quite frustrating, and completely irrational.

First Appointment in Two Weeks

We had our appointment with the midwife yesterday. It was the first appointment in two weeks, as we had last week off. After having an appointment with either Kaiser or the homebirth midwife every week for the past month, it was a little weird to have a week off.

What did we do with our week off? We visited three daycares and interviewed a pediatrician. I believe we have decided on a pediatrician. The one we interviewed last week was very nice, and does circumcisions. We will probably do our first office visit with him and have Baby Simon circumcised around the first week of life. After that, we will probably go with the other pediatrician we interviewed, simply because he is closer to home than this last one.

As far as daycares, WOW! They are expensive! The cheapest one we found is $1015/month for one newborn child, and they don't offer part time (3 days/week). The other two do offer part time for a little cheaper, but it really isn't much cheaper (about $200 or so) because they still have to hold the space. Each infant has their own crib that they don't share with anyone else for sanitation purposes. So even if they are only watching the baby three days a week, they still can't accept any other babies during the off days.

I found a couple of home daycares on craigslist, so we are going to look at one of them next week. One of our neighbors also mentioned possibly getting some people together and getting a shared nanny. We will probably look into that also.

Anyway, back to the appointment yesterday. It went very well. I'm measuring about a week behind at 34 cm for height. I weighed 148lbs, so based on my very first prenatal appointment, I've gained 26lbs so far. The baby is still in a good position - head down, anterior. And the heartrate was 122 bpm. My blood pressure was also very good at 122/65 - even through I drove to the appointment (Rob usually drives) and was a little stressed about making it on time. My pulse was also low 60s. Our next appointment with her will be our homevisit on August 4th at 37 weeks and 3 days.

My next Kaiser appointment is scheduled for next Tuesday. I should be getting the Group B Strep test done at that appointment. That will be the last major test I'll have done before labor.

Good Days and Bad Days

Saturday was a bad day, in the running department. We had a baby class to go to at Northside at 9am, so I didn't have time to go out to the trail. Instead, I decided to attempt 8 miles on the treadmill. I ran 1.5 miles and then had to stop for a bathroom break. I noticed a significant amount of spotting, so I decided to just walk the remaining time I had available. My full distance was still 6 miles, but it is frustrating that I couldn't even run more than 1.5 miles without the spotting.

The spotting stopped Saturday night. I didn't have any yesterday. Today I decided I would try running again and see if I bled again. I ran 1.5 miles as I had on Saturday before a bathroom break. This time - no spotting! Yay! So today was a good day. I finished my normal 3 mile weekday run without any incidents.

The midwife mentioned at our last appointment that my placenta is fairly low - only 2.3 cm above my cervix - which could be the cause for some of the spotting. If the baby moved or kicked at it too hard, I could easily spot. She also said that this will probably mean a lot of bleeding during delivery, but not enough to worry about. She's delivered others with similar situations in the past.

We have our next appointment with her today.

Sleepless Night and Sharp Pains

10:08, 11:44, 12:38, 2:03, 3:36, 4:00

Those are the times that I looked at the clock last night. I don't know if I slept at all or I just laid in bed all night. If I did sleep, it certainly wasn't for very long. When the alarm went off at 4am this morning, I was already awake. I just rolled over and turned the alarm off.

I went to the bathroom twice last night - the 11:44 time and the 3:36 time.

There was one point (the 2:03 time) where the baby seemed to be sitting on my ribs. I had to sit up in bed for a while. I thought this was odd because he has seemed to be situated so low in my abdomen. But somehow, however I was laying, he was either pushing up at my ribs with his feet or something.

I wonder how many times I will almost fall asleep at my computer today.

I've also been having sharp pains in my pelvis. Most of the time it is on the right side. I'm sure this is just my pelvis expanding and preparing for baby to come. Yesterday, I walked to my car after work and had a sharp pain directly in the middle down there. It was enough to cause me to gasp, reactively. They only last a few seconds and then it's back to normal.

I also had some spotting again yesterday. The baby has been moving, although it is not as often as he used to. He must be running out of room and sleeping longer these days.

Two and a half more weeks before he is considered "term" at 37 weeks. He needs to stay put until August 1. Then he can come whenever he wants!

First Stretch Mark

Yesterday I noticed my first stretch mark on my belly.

Stretch marks are either hereditary or not. You will either have them, or you will not. It doesn't matter how much lotion or stuff you buy at the store that claims to reduce or eliminate them. Science has proven those products all to be useless.

Stretch marks are pretty much inevitable for me. I already had them on my thighs when I lost a bunch of weight while training for my marathons. I knew I would get them eventually.

Well, eventually has come.

I first noticed it when I was running yesterday. During the week when I run on my treadmill at home, I only wear a sports bra and shorts. I looked down and saw a small line of pink skin going across the upper part of my belly on the right side. It's about an inch long right now and barely noticeable if you didn't know it was there. But I can certainly tell.

This is just the beginning, I'm sure. In six more weeks, if I go that long, they will be dancing all over my belly. Ugh, the joys of pregnancy.

Everything is slower when you're 8 months pregnant

Walking is slower. Getting out of bed is slower. Getting out of a chair is slower. Running a mile is slower. Time goes by slower. Pee comes out slower.

I feel like I am in slow motion.

I didn't sleep well last night. We went to bed probably around 9:30 or so. I woke up at midnight to go to the bathroom, and then couldn't get comfortable. I probably laid awake trying to figure out how to be comfortable for two hours or so. Then I decided to pee again. I finally fell back to sleep, but when I woke up, I felt like I had been hit by a bus. Why can I not sleep?

I had what I assume will be my last baby shower yesterday. We got a lot of great stuff, and I'm so thankful for my mother-in-law and sister-in-law who hosted and all the friends from church who came. I can't believe how expensive a baby is and how much stuff you have to have!

We still need to get some essential items: bottle warmer, diaper pail, diaper bag, and a bouncer (I find the bouncer to be essential because of my running - the doctor said the baby would prefer a bouncer over a swing because he is used to the bouncing movement of my running). There are also several things for the nursery that I would like to get but that are more nice-to-haves than essentials, like valances for the windows, a mobile for the crib, and a changing table tray.

Six more weeks until the due date.