Spring Showers

It has been raining ALL day long, but the good news is that everything in our yard is in bloom-the trees, the bulbs, the bushes. Sunday was a different story though and here are a few photos from our park trip. I used our new camera, but had to stick with the auto setting until I learn my way around the dials.

(Seriously-could my belly be any lower in this shot?)

I had my last doctor's check-up today and a little progress was made-my cervix is soft and beginning to efface (sorry if that was TMI for you) and baby's head has dropped a little to -1 Station. After my appointment I met up with my sister and we tried to walk baby out at the mall, quite unsuccessfully. I did find P the cutest golf shirt in the world though and Patrick was able to play with his cousin Jack. Was this my last outing for a while? I hope so, because I am tipping the scales today at 204!

One Week to Go!

The end of the weekend is here, and as much as I was ready to to welcome this baby, not much is going on besides some serious nesting. I was scolded (and rightly so) by mt husband for some excessive housework, but our bedroom was DUSTY and needed a good cleaning. We took Patrick to the park as our one of our last single child family activities and then wrapped up Sunday with a dinner out-just the three of us. My back is feeling better and better, and I am feeling pretty well despite an enlarged right foot (much more swelling than my left which is not uncommon). I tried out our new camera at the park and my project tomorrow is to download the pictures and start learning more of the features. The priest at church today gave me a special delivery blessing, so we are all set! Tuesday is my next check-up. My friend Elizabeth passed her due date this weekend, so it might be wishful thinking, but would be fun to deliver on the same day.

4:31 AM

I can't sleep, for no particular reason. I'm not in any pain, I went to the bathroom, no contractions. I just don't FEEL tired. Very frustrating. Thank goodness for Sex and the City reruns because this has been going on since 2. I had a good day though thanks to barely any back pain. I don't even think I took Tylenol today. I left Patrick with my sister and even drove to Target for a while. Heaven. My darling sister Karen not only did my dishes in my absence, she also vacuumed and tidied up. She's the perfect kind of sister who shows up with the "Big Brother" t-shirt and baby's first Easter outfit. I think Aunt Karen will have no problem entertaining Baby Pohl when he arrives so P and I can hang out together. Big plans this weekend: Getting a pedicure Saturday morning!

Milestone!

Guess who took their first nap in a big boy bed at 22 months? That's right, Patrick slept for two hours, which will make my life a lot easier since I am still not picking him up due to my back issues. It took him an hour to fall asleep, but hopefully that gets better with time. Go P! I had to risk waking him up to get this shot...

My sleepyhead waking-

Update: Tom had to work late that same night, so I put Patrick to sleep for the night in the bed again and he slept through the night until his usual waking time. Could it be this easy? I am sure Baby's arrival is going to throw off some of this progress.

Progress

Happy to report that last night I had a decent night's sleep, even if I did have to wake to use the restroom 3 times. My back is feeling better to the point that I haven't taken a single dose of my Tylenol with codeine since yesterday just before my check-up. Regular extra strength Tylenol seems to being doing the trick. Now that I can more easily get up and down off the couch/toilet and bed, it is becoming harder to make myself just sit and rest my back all day, but I am behaving. My feet are still swollen like balloons, but luckily I have nowhere to go. If I go past my due date, my c-section has been scheduled for April 18th. Only 13 more days max before we meet baby! Today, I had a good friend drive from the other side of the city to entertain me and help with Patrick which made the day go by much more quickly. I am slowly starting to get a little anxious to meet this guy...

38 Week Check-up

Today I had another check-up and can report that absolutely nothing is going on with Baby-no dilation yet. This is completely different from my pregnancy with P-with him I was 3.5 cm dilated and 70% effaced at my 38 week check-up, but P was still not early. With this one, I suspect there will be little activity until he decides to pop out, and I suspect this guy might be a week early. I tipped the scale today at 200, but had great numbers for my BP. My back is slightly improved, but now my elephant ankles are making their end of pregnancy appearance. Sleeping sucks due to my back discomfort, and today I was also up at 4am with a terrible stomach ache that I credit to the narcotics. I would say I was ready to have this kid, but my camera hasn't shipped yet and I really want to have the new one with us at the hospital. Good reason, huh?

Lucky

Despite the pain of the last few days, I count myself lucky that Baby and I remain healthy for the most part. Thursday was my worst day- about 20 minutes before my physical therapy session my back started spasming which sent pain down my back and around my ribs. I managed to drive myself to therapy only to be told they could do nothing for me due to the late stage of my pregnancy. I cried in their office. I tried to endure the pain hoping it would go away, but after an excruciating night and morning, I called my doctor and am resting better thanks to some drugs. Still not sleeping great, but better. So until baby comes, no driving, no lifting Patrick, no housework (no tears shed over this one!), and lots of resting for the back. It is hard to sit still when every bone in my body wants to nest! My hope is that my back recovers enough where I feel I could labor, but also that baby comes a little early so I can get back to living our life. Tom is already so overwhelmed by work and taking care of a sick pregnant wife that I hate that housework is being dumped on him as well. Perhaps Baby Pohl will arrive a little early-despite what the books say, this kid has most definitely dropped and I am sure at my check-up on Monday the doctor will verify that. I started dilating a month before I had Patrick, so I am curious if I will follow the same path with this one. I am also annoyed by blogger-my paragraph breaks have decided to disappear and I have tried everything without success to fix the problem. I give up for now.