DIY Maternity Photo Shoot. 36w3d

Sunday, we finally took some maternity photos.
Yes, "we."
Thankfully Barry and I are pretty skilled in the world of technology and photography and pulled off our own shoot. I couldn't have imaginied someone else there pointing their camera in my face all day, although as Barry put it, we probably did miss out some sweet candid photos. But we did manage to squeeze in a few by accident that we have saved on our computer. And with all of the renovations and everything, it was nice going in on a project together that was actually fun and at times, funny and we could laugh and cut up and be ourselves without the awkwardness of another being there with us. Especially because it was a busy day on the trails we were on, and we had enough noisy passerby's to deal with anyways.

Tribulations of the third trimester. 35w5d

Everyone who sees me these days asks how I'm feeling and for lack of energy to respond to each one I usually just reply with a simple and generic, "I'm well, thanks!"
I promised God that if he allowed IVF to work, I'd never once complain about being pregnant, and I think I've held up my end of the bargain so far.
So I start this by saying, in no way am I complaining in this post... I'm just updating my records for future Candace to look back on one day.

I'm 2 days shy of 36 weeks! I'm still feeling pretty good, considering...
I still don't have any stretch marks although I started getting some dark purple spiderey veins popping up on my upper thighs this week. My hair, skin and nails still look amazing. ESPECIALLY my skin. I haven't experienced this long of a streak in clear skin since before I turned 11 so for me , this has been one of my favorite parts of pregnancy. Hopefully it doesn't all come crashing down after the birth.

For the not so pleasant things: I can't sleep. EVER. I wake up every 2 hours on a good night, and every hour on the hour, the rest of the nights to get up and go pee. I have heartburn to some degree almost 24 hours a day which contributed to my sleeplessness. I have contractions throughout most of the day and night too. My feet hurt the instant I stand on them in the morning and don't stop hurting until I lay down at night. And when I lay down for bed, the bottoms of them become really itchy (I guess from the swelling) which again, contributes to the sleeplessness. But basically, if I am standing, I am hurting.
Yesterday and today I've been really crampy and I can feel pressure much lower than before however I don't think she's "dropped" yet because I still feel pressure under my top right rib and I become winded very easily still. I've read that when they drop, it becomes much easier to breathe and the rib pain ceases for the most part.
I'm not sure if it's Elle sucking the life out of me or the lack of sleep, but I've felt more tired than usual lately too. EXCEPT for the random bursts of energy last weekend in our race to finish the nursery where we worked until 12:30 at night and then about 12 hours the next day too. And every night when I get home, I make it a point to do at least one thing. Last night for instance, I put the stroller together and figured out how to use it and the infant carrier together. The night before I got the infant carrier out of the box and put the rock n' play together. As far as finishing the the house/nursery is concerned, we still need to get down to IKEA for a new rug, lamps for the den, shelves for Elle's room, and maybe a toy chest and some storage items for her room/closet. We also need to make a trip to babies r us to finish purchasing some things from the registry that we didn't received that we're still in need of. Maybe after those things we can rest a little. Although its really hard to rest when all you want to do is nest. Even though the house is mostly done and everything is almost put back where it belongs, everything still needs to be cleaned. LIKE majorly cleaned. LIKE, an entire weekend of nonstop cleaning. I don't think my floors have been mopped in a month!
Oh! And we have date guessed rolling in. I've said since the beginning that I think she's going to come either the day before of after my Dad's birthday. My Mom thinks the 20th, and I can't remember what my little sister said, I think the 22nd. Barry said the 18th because he had a dream about the number 18 and in his dream it ended up becoming the day Elle was born. When he mentioned he had dreamed it he impersonated MLK, "I have a dream." and my Mom went, "wait a minute... the 18th is MLK day." Of course no one believed her until google confirmed it and then upon this realization I think we all wanted to change our date  guesses to the 18th! It was  pretty hilarious! We all got quite the chuckle out of it. I just hope with all these early guesses, she doesn't come any later than the 4th. I know me, and that will drive me bonkers!!

Things people actually say to me: updated for the 9th and final month!

MONTH 9

person: my friend's sisters, cousin's niece......... just had a baby and that sucker weighed 8lbs4ozs!!!! That was a HUGE baby! Almost 9 pounds!!!! (uhhh..??)  how much did the doctor say your baby weighs right now?

me: roughly 5lbs

person: (looks wide-eyed at my belly) oh there's no way!! They're wrong! It's way heavier than that!! How long do you have left?

me: 4 weeks.

person (again, with the bulging eyes.) How my gosh! They gain about a pound a week in the end! Yours is going to be at least 10 pounds if not more. 

(actually.... They gain about 1/2 pound or a little less in the last 4 weeks.. So by the time she's born she should weigh about 7 pounds... not 10+. Also I'm not sure who told you 8 pounds is heavy for a baby but that's about what most of them weigh when born around the 40th week....)

MONTH 7 & 8

person:  "let me see your belly! Turn sideways." [GASP!!!] "OH MY WORD! When is your due date?"
Me: In about 6 more weeks
person: NO WAY!! you're not going to make it. You're belly looks like it's about to burst.
(yea.. nice of you to notice.)

person: "so how many weeks do you have left?"
me: "about 7."
person: "so wait, you're only seven months?! Are you even going to make it to month nine? Like, your belly and all?"
(well, gee.. lets hope so.. I didn't come all this way for nothing.)

person: Are you gaining weight? You look like you've put on a few pounds. (har.. har.. at least come up with something original.. please.. for entertainments sake..)

person:: You haven't had that baby yet? You look like you're about to pop! (yea, well at least I'm pregnant. What's your excuse?)

person:: you pick out a name yet? me: No. (when really, yes. I just don't care to listen your opinions of it)

person:: You look more fat today than pregnant. (yes.. someone seriously just said this to me.)

person:: Want some ice cream? (this one has been a running joke, to them, since finding out I'm pregnant. I really only found it semi-cute the first time though. And unfortunately, I have to hear it a couple times a week.

person:: *walks into my office* Got any food in here? You're always eatin something! (I'm not ALWAYS eating something. Let me throw some basic anatomy at you. While pregnant, a woman's ever-expanding uterus pushes her organs and stomach up higher and higher which means: A. she's more prone to heartburn and B. she have less and less room in her stomach to store food, so to help with these things, I eat smaller snacks throughout the day instead of three big meals a day. As per my doctors instruction.  And to answer your question: No. You can't have any of my food, f**k head. )

MONTH 6:
person::  What?! You're only 6 months? You still have 3 and half months left?! You're going to be huge!

(first of all... wtf kind of math is that? Second, men of all people, have no business commenting on a women's pregnant belly diameter.)

person::  how do you feel about episiotomies? 

(how is this an appropriate thing to ask someone?)

 person:: Oh!! you gettin' out there.

(well.... I am pregnant and all..)

  

person:: Your belly is so big! Like way bigger than 6 months should be!

(says the pregnancy/child expert whom, oh yea.. has no children...)

person:: sleep while you can because...... (oh yea... because sleep comes so easily for me already..)

 MONTH 4 and 5:

person:: Oh, I see you're getting some pregnancy acne.
(upon seeing the first lonely little zit on my face since starting IVF back in March.. Who the F says that?!)

person::  Did you get morning sickness real bad?
me::  Not real bad, just....
person interrupts:: Yea because you don't get it with your first babies, only with your second baby.
 (Oh! Please, do go on and enlightenment me with this backwoods, redneck, pregnancy philosophy of yours. Surely morning sickness has nothing to do with the sudden rise in Progesterone and Human Chorionic Gonadotropin levels.)

person::  Oh my gosh!!! You got like, waaay huge overnight! 
me::  Thanks??

Who wants some pictures?! No belly pictures though.

You'll have to wait until Thursday for a belly photo ;)

But I do have these.
Den and 3rd bedroom reno is done, minus a few touch ups here and there.. But otherwise it's done. It's still not done being put back together since as you'll notice in the photos we have a changing table in the den which obviously belongs in the nursery, but we are making progress :) Here is the 3rd (spare) bedroom. We are planning to take apart a few wooden pallets apart and nail the slats on the face of the soffit above the bed which is why is looks unfinished right now. Below those are photos of the [once]den, [now] office.

This is the nursery!! We put the first coat of grey on last night!

 Here is is what I made for breakfast on Christmas morning. Cinnabon French Toast Casserole. The easiest and [easily] most loved breakfast I've ever made! 'Barry tested and approved' ;)

This s what my sister got for Christmas!! A shiny new puppy!!!!!!!!

And just for fun:

 Me now:

Me 9 months ago:

When someone asks "how are you feeling?"

This is the number 1 question I get asked.
How are you feeling.

Every time I'm asked, I reply "great" or "good" and keep walking because lets be real, the list is getting pretty long these days.
But if you'd like a true and honest answer here it is.

My feet hurt. Always. The new Nikes Barry bought me are awesome and for the most part take away the discomfort but the instant I take them off and walk around barefoot or in a different pair of shoes, know that my feet are killing me.

My back hurts.

Sleep? What's that? This one I'm growing partial to only because I know it's preparing me for what's to come. Plus I find it pretty miraculous that the human body is capable of getting only a few solid hours of sleep a night and can still function relatively well given the current shape her body is in.

My "practice" contractions are steadily becoming more uncomfortable with each passing week. In fact, as I type this blog I'm using the app on my phone to keep track of them because they are actually lasting about a minute or two long in some cases but are still all over the place in both frequency and intensity. But because they are lasting so long, I thought it might be good to track them and make sure they don't develop a timeable pattern

Increased discharge.. we'll leave it at that.

Every time I laugh, sneeze, cough, or sometimes when I'm just standing there picking my nose, I pee my pants a little.  I have to wear a pantyliner now just because of everything on down there.

I read online that "loose stools could be a sign that labor is near, and it can occur right before labor or a couple of weeks before labor. If it is a couple of weeks before your due date, a premature birth should not be expected. If you are experiencing diarrhea during your third trimester, it does not mean your baby is coming right now, so you should not be alarmed.   This is just a way some women’s bodies prepare for the labor that is going to start at some point." Again, we'll just leave it at that.

Feeling the urge to nest and not only not having the energy to do so, but also not having the time because of renovations. This one began yesterday and sent me into a momentary crying fit on the bed.

The point of all of these being...


I don't know even remember now...

Lets talk symptoms and gross stuff, shall we? ;)

TMI disclosure. There will be bodily fluids mentioned in this post at some point.

So, let me just start by saying that I still find it unbelievable at times, that I went from googling "signs of ovulation," to "early signs of pregnancy," to "first [second, and third] trimester symptoms." And now I find myself googling signs of labor. I can't believe the time is nearing. I know I'm only 33 weeks and we will have a month before she's even full term, but I want to be prepared as possible. At least for this aspect of pregnancy. For week 33, my phone app tells me I should prepare a hospital bag. "Sure, okay. I can't wait!! But all of everything I would put in there is packed away in a tight corner of my dining room while we finish up the remaining details of the den and 3rd bedroom renovations." It's absolutely KILLING me!! I even went out and bought a cute, brown leather, overnight bag for the occasion. I got a hell of a steal on it too! It was a $60 bag from H&M and  snagged it for $25! boo-ya! So anyways.. I've been doing as much research as possible so I can at least be MENTALLY prepared since I don't feel that we're even remotely PHYSICALLY prepared for her arrival. One of the things I remember reading about a long time ago was loose stools/ diarrhea being a sign that labor will start within a few days or possibly weeks. So naturally, since I've have this little problem for the last 3 days, on top of what feels like a return of [mild] morning sickness, I went on a did some more digging and learned that both are pretty common complaints in the last trimester. For a lot women, the bowel complaint will even pick up and get worse right before labor begins as the body's way of cleaning itself out in preparation for whats to come. I'm sure, and I hope labor is still several weeks away, but I'm glad to see my body seems to be following the general guidelines of common symptoms felt by other women at 33 weeks.
Another  thing I read was that it's common for women to slowly loose their mucous plug versus loosing the whole in one fell swoop. If you're loosing it slowly (over the course of a few days/weeks) one should notice a loss of thicker white, pale green, or lite yellow mucous, possibly even red/pink-tinged. As long as it remains white/green/yellow, there is no need for immediate action, however if it's red or pink, one should call their OB to inform them so that they can be more closely watch for impending signs of labor. For the last few days I have noticed mine has gone from watery and clear, to thick and white. So maybe I'm beginning to loose
mine (?)  I suppose time will tell. It's also possible for it to re-seal on it's own if you're loosing it slowly enough, so even if  I was loosing some of it, it doesn't really mean the rest will follow. But it's definitely something I'll be watching out for more closely now.
Other than the signs-of-labor-type-symptoms, I've noticed increasing problems of swelling. I use to only get swollen at night after being on my feet for a long time and it would only occur in my ankles, and on occasion very mildly in my fingers. Now I wake up every morning will swollen fingers, feet (both bottoms and tops), ankles, and even some puffyness in my face and neck. Twice now, I've had to go to work without my wedding rings because I couldn't get them on and once, I could hardly get them off. I had to run my hand under cold water before finally coaxing it off of my finger! And if that's not bad enough, ALL of my shoes are too tight most of the time with the exception of the new Nikes that Barry just bought me in a whole size bigger than the rest of the shoes I own. My feet are so swollen on the bottoms now that it hurts to walk on them and most of the time, when I get up to pee in the middle of the night, (which by the way is about 4 times now), I have to walk waddle on the sides of my feet to and from the bathroom.
Another thing I had to recently go up a size in was my underwear. All my adult life, I've worn a size small. About 6 weeks ago, I had to go up to a medium, and just last weekend was forced to go up to a large because my mediums were so tight they were leaving indentations in my belly and the top part of my butt crack would peak over them! I can't even believe how big my ass is getting! HAHAHA!
Oh and the X-LARGE bras that I bought about 6 weeks ago as well...... already too tight. The doctor said I need to go up a side again because she noticed the deep indentations it was leaving on my chest at my last appointment. Holy Moly... I don't have money for all of this 'going up a size every quarter' thing!! LOL!
What in the world am I going to do with all of this maternity wear when it no longer fits me?! I will have invested so much by the end of this pregnancy! Such is life. :)

IS IT BAD?

Is it bad that some days I wish I could just hide in my room/office all day to escape the attention. Every single person that passes me in the hall says something EVERY SINGLE TIME they see me. Which is okay. Everyone is just excited. So am I. I guess when you hear things like, "it won't be long now" and "it's almost time" at least 5 times a day every day and you have to pretend like it's your first time hearing it ever, every time, it becomes a little exhausting. Especially from the European that tries to get little belly rubs in every chance she can even though I throw out pretty clear clues that it's NOT okay to touch me and then also refers to my child as "it."  "It's getting bigger."

I don't know
Maybe some days I can handle the extra attention better than others.


I'm really looking forward maternity leave.