Slowing Down...

I've finally come to terms with the fact that I just need to take it easy sometimes! Last weekend I didn't do much at all - did a lot of relaxing and hanging around with my feet up. That definitely improved the swelling in my feet and made me feel better. And this week I've been doing very little after work, and instead choosing to mostly veg out on the couch with my feet propped. I feel lazy, but I physically feel better.

Although my feet don't look or feel as bad now, they are still swollen. I'm officially out of several pairs of shoes now. I'm resorting mostly to slides. And my rings are about to have to come off too. I shoved my wedding/engagement ring on yesterday morning, only to not be able to take it back off. Luckily as the day went on, the swelling went down. I probably have just a few more days of safely wearing my rings. Then I think I'll have to go to a silver band or something. Maybe even John's! (he has small fingers - just 1 1/2 sizes bigger than mine).

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I had my doctor's appointment on Friday. Everything is still fine - no belly growth, but still on track. I did have a 5 pound weight gain in 2 weeks, but my doctor attributed that to the swelling. My BP was still fine and he wasn't too alarmed by my feet. I did get my final ultrasound scheduled, which I am excited about. Unfortunately they don't do them Fridays, so I'm not sure if John will make this one either. We'll see. And I was happy because my doctor said they typically don't let people go more than 1 week past their due date - that's good! I'd rather not be induced, but I also don't want to be pregnant for 42 weeks.

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Pea's nursery has made more progress. We got the other curtain up (we meaning my mom's husband) and also hung some other stuff on the walls. I put the bumper and the dust ruffle on the crib too, so it's really coming together. Now if I could just get that rocker and ottoman in, I'd be almost set (except for the little details).

Lost: Petite Feet; Found: Elephant Ankles

Last night the strangest thing happened. After everyone left my house after Bunko, I went upstairs to get ready for bed. My feet had felt a little tight all day, but that had been happening for about a week, so I didn't even think about it. Well, when I took off my knee-high's, I was greeted with someone else's huge, swollen feet and ankles! I lost my little feet! My feet are like one of my favorite features (yes, I'm weird) because they are small and petite. But all of a sudden, I have no ankles at all and they are all swollen. I don't even recognize them. It is the strangest thing! It kind of bummed me out. I knew swelling would probably happen along the way, but it was still hard to see.

I hoped after a night's rest that the morning would bring back my little ones, but no. Still swollen and big, just like last night. I'm not sure how my shoes are going to fit. I guess I'll be wearing slides and sandals for the next 8 weeks. This morning my ring even felt a little snug, so I think my hands are next. Needless to say, I am gulping down water this morning in an effort to curb this unwanted progress!

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This past weekend John and I went to our all-day Child Birth class. Ummm, it was kind of a bit of a waste for us I think. There was some good information, but not too much more than I had already read and heard about. And I strongly feel like they'll coach us pretty good when the time labor and delivery comes along. In a way I'm glad we went just to kind of mentally prepare us. But I could have used just an hour or two instead of all day (it actually let out 2 hours early - thank goodness!). We couldn't take it at our actual hospital branch because they didn't offer an all day Saturday class, so we skipped the tour. We'll be touring our branch in a couple of weeks. I think that will be worthwhile.

John's biggest problem with the class was the women in the videos. He didn't understand why they all had to be so darn unattractive! It's bad enough watching a naked lady groaning in the shower on top of a birthing ball, but when she looks like she's straight from the 80's and has no business AT ALL being naked, it's really bad. They all ended up topless at the end of the birth too - which I thought was very strange. I will definitely be keeping my top on if I can help it! John was pretty squeamish during the actual births. I hope he doesn't pass out during mine. He already told me he won't be standing on THAT end of the bed!

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We did a little bit of work in Pea's room this weekend. The changing table came in (undamaged this time) and then we hung up one of the window valance's. I'm actually surprised it got finished and John's drill didn't go flying through the window. He doesn't have very good tools and I think I had him hang it too close to the window and it was almost impossible to drill through. My mother's husband is going to come and do the other one. I'll get him to do some of the wall hangings too to save John the trouble! Once we get the other valance up and get the tools off the floor of the room, I will take a picture!

So Long Energy!

I think the hardest thing for me right now is the fact that I'm losing my energy. Ever since I got that cold a couple of weeks ago (which is finally gone now), I have become more tired and am having a much harder time getting up for work. It's very different for me - I'm one of those people who always has something going on and is constantly running around after work during the week. Now each night I go home and lay down on the couch and watch TV and try to get into bed before 9:30.

Until this point, I've actually had just as much energy as I usually do (when not pregnant). I maybe took a couple of naps on the weekends, but in general I hadn't lost any steam once getting pregnant. Ironically, my doctor mentioned that since I am anemic, I would have less energy that a normal pregnant woman. That definitely was not the case in the first two trimesters. I'm not complaining, it's just so strange for me to be in this position right now. I have a hard time keeping still. But I know I need to, and I know it's best for Pea to get a lot of rest.

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On an unrelated note, I meant to share something my mother told me that I never knew. I was complaining to her over the weekend about my MIL saying she wouldn't go to the shower. My mother did not understand this either, but she did say that she had problems with her MIL when her and my dad got married. She wasn't very interested in the kids either, especially since my dad had 3 older brothers, each with children already. She said that MIL definitely loved us and became a little more interested when we were born, but she acted similarly. But the thing I didn't know was, when my mom and dad announced they were getting married (after knowing each other only two months), my grandmother immediately said "Why, is she pregnant?" Ouch! So I guess it could be worse. Just for the record, my brother was born 10 months after they were married. My grandmother probably still counted it out though.

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I think the BH contractions are becoming a little more frequent too. I'm starting to feel a lot more tightness and such in my belly. It's definitely not something regular, just random twinges and pains. Nothing big at all, just little hints that I'm getting closer! I think my legs are starting to swell a bit too and I'm walking a little slower now - or I guess waddling a little slower. I had a hard time just going 6 blocks to lunch the other day. I guess the extra weight is starting to get to me now. Oh well, I expected all of this to happen anyway! It's just so strange when it actually does!

Are We There Yet?

Don't get me wrong - I'm not tired of being pregnant at all. I haven't had even close to half of the problems and symptoms that many women have, so I can't complain. I'm not feeling too tired or achy or anything. I guess I'm just ready for SOMETHING to happen. Maybe I'm tired of talking, talking, talking and just want to get the baby show on the road. Maybe I'm just tired of all the planning, and feeling like I haven't really done anything yet. Maybe it's just the gloomy weather and my frustrating morning at work talking. I guess I'm just a little down today.

I had my 30 week (plus 3 day) appointment on Friday. I gained a pound, blood pressure was normal, fundal height was 31 cm. The glucose test came back fine and my iron was bad again - still anemic. No surprise there. We're bumping my extra iron to every day now, but because of the Thalassemia, that may or may not help. But I should be fine.

My cold is still lingering a bit. The doctor said to give it a little more time and if it doesn't go away, we'll try antibiotics. I'm ok with waiting. And it does seem to be getting better. But since I can't breathe well (and probably because of the added weight), I am snoring very loudly at night and according to John, making lots of weird noises. He had to abandon our bed every night while he was home over the weekend and sleep in one of the spare bedrooms. I feel bad, but I can't help it and he's a very light sleeper. I know it's bad because I'm even waking myself up at times! I hope this goes away when the cold does.

This weekend was pretty good. I managed to get over to BRU on Saturday morning and pay for the balance on my furniture before the delivery company got there (tried to do it on the phone during the week - what a mess up!). It actually benefitted me by waiting and doing it in person, because on Friday in the mail I got a whole mailout with tons of BRU coupons. And on Saturday, they let me apply the furniture ones, even though I had already ordered it and paid 20%. So I got $75 off, which was a nice bonus. I also went ahead and bought the mattress and was able to leave it in the store for the delivery company to get.

So the furniture showed up at our house on Saturday afternoon. Right away, the cost was justified in getting a delivery. Had we picked it up ourselves, we would have brought the boxes upstairs and unpacked them. But the company unpacked the furniture in the driveway to inspect it. Sure enough, the first piece out - the changing table - had a corner completely bashed in. It was pretty damaged for a brand new piece of furniture that was boxed up so carefully. So the company just packed it up again, took it back to BRU, ordered me another, and will deliver it when it's in - no extra cost. But it saved us so much hassle rather than dealing with it on our own.

So we're short a changing table, but we did get the crib, armoire and mattress. And on Saturday night, John and I put the crib together. It wasn't too bad at all. Everything looks much bigger in the room than it did in the store. I wasn't expecting that. But it will all fit, so no worries. I'm very happy with the look of the furniture too. You can tell it's not top quality, but it's nice.

On Sunday, John went to his parents and got official word from his mother that she's not coming to my shower. She even gave him the gift his sister had left for the shower, so I know it's a definite. This still upsets me - I don't think I ever ended up blogging about it. I had already heard from his sister that MIL wasn't coming, but it still upset me. The main reason is because she doesn't know anyone who will be there (besides me and my mom) and she doesn't want to be uncomfortable. I think that should not really be an excuse and she could be there to support us. But I'm sure some of it is also due to her superstition. Oh well. In the end it is her loss. I just wish his parents could show some enthusiasm in seeing their first grandchild being born instead of just "waiting to make sure everything turns out ok first". It obviously upsets me.

John asked me to make an excuse for his mom when people ask and not tell them the real reason she isn't coming. Of course I had already told my close friends the real reasons before this, so they already know. I told him if he wants me to give a different excuse, then he needs to come up with it. I don't feel like covering for her. If the real reason isn't good enough, then maybe everyone (John and MIL) should take a step back and think about it why it's not a good excuse in the first place.

Oh well. I'm better about this than I sound. I guess it's just the weather. I just splashed salad dressing on my shirt (again), so I better go clean it up! So clumsy :)