36-38 weeks

Here's a little recap of my visits the last few weeks: At 36 weeks I started seeing Dr. Deprez weekly. At 36 & 37 weeks I was 1 cm dilated with no effacement. At 38 weeks I was 1.5cm with minimal effacement. I have been gaining 1-2 pounds a week. Urine testing has been normal and for the most part my BP has been stable too. At 37 weeks we are in a terrible heat wave with temps in the high 90's and high humidity. It was awful!! During that visit my BP was 126/86 which was a little higher than my norm but still ok.

The heat this summer and especially in the last few weeks has been killer but I am surviving. I've spent a lot of time in the pool which has been great. I've had much more swelling in my ankles and feet than I did with Maddie, no doubt because of the weather. Just prior to 38 weeks I started having a LOT of lower pelvic and groin pain and pressure. It is making it difficult (or at least painful) to even walk at times.

Everything is ready for baby Ella to join us. Bags are packed. House has had a thorough cleaning by Aunt Linda. Pedicure is done. The crib has finally arrived, after waiting 17 long weeks for it! The wall decal is up and the room looks great! We worried about moving the glider into the baby's room and also about Maddie's reaction to seeing Ella's crib and furniture. Just like just about everything else we worry about, Maddie surprised us. We decided to transition Maddie to the toddler bed around the time Ella's crib and room were coming together. We also let her pick out a new bean bag and somehow we made it seem like her idea to move the glider so the beanbag could fit- genius! Maddie is very excited about Ella's room. She loves to go play in there and of course gets into everything, headbands, stuffed animals, socks etc. She likes to show the room to everyone who comes over. This morning the first thing Maddie asked me when she woke up is "is baby Ella here yet?" Then she proceeded to ask if "Ella's mommy" would feed her baby milk from a bottle. Thankfully later in the evening when Grammy asked Maddie who Ella's mommy is Maddie pointed to me and said "mama!" Thank goodness.

As I type this (7/24/13), I am timing some contractions that feel more like Braxton Hicks than real contractions. At the very least, it seems things are moving along! We hope to meet baby Ella very soon!!