Week 37

I have officially made it to “full term” point in my pregnancy! I never imagined that at 37 weeks along, I’d still be doing everything I’m currently doing — working out daily at 5:30 am, keeping the house insanely cleaned and organized (hello, nesting), working full time, and somehow managing to stay calm despite the fact that in just a few weeks, we will have a newborn living with us.

As much as I’m ready to meet him and not be pregnant anymore, the truth is that a small part of me is actually going to miss this. I love feeling the kicks and rolls throughout the day, and even the attention I get for this big ol’ belly is kind of fun (sometimes). But I know that it won’t compare to actually having my little guy in my arms!

We’ve been seeing the doctor for weekly visits, and at this point, she says it could be any day now. The great news is that he is head-down, and in the past week, I’ve started to feel some contractions here and there…signs that my body is preparing for labor.

I’m hoping that he stays put for at least one more week, though; the longer baby bakes, the more prepared he will be to enter the world (not to mention that my doula is on vacation until June 7!).

Faking It

Surprise! We had a baby! Or…I got dressed up in a hospital gown, grabbed a doll, and pretended that we did :) Baby Rambach is still safe and sound in my belly, but we sure had fun going through a “dress rehearsal” of labor and delivery at the hospital last week.

I jumped at the chance to be models for a photo shoot at St. Johns Hospital — not only will the photos be used in future trainings, but it gave us the opportunity to have a dry run of what our hospital stay might really be like (wardrobe and all).

First came my admittance, by wheelchair of course. Not sure if I’ll actually be smiling this big when the real deal happens…

Here I am just after getting hooked up to the monitors. It was fun getting to hear the baby’s heartbeat, and now I have an idea about what I’ll be wearing as far as “accessories” during the labor process.

Fastest labor, delivery, and discharge ever! Just a couple hours later, here I am getting ready to take baby home! (That’s our wonderful doula, Janet, who also served as a model in the photos). People passing me in the hallway actually thought I was holding a real newborn, which I found hilarious since the doll was HUGE. I guess I just had that “new mom” glow!

Week 36

I officially have nine months of pregnancy under my belt, with only one to go. Four short weeks left of carrying around this 6-pound “watermelon” — after that, he’ll be in my arms!

We kicked off Week 36 by spending our entire Saturday at Lullaby University, where we learned all about newborn care and breastfeeding. I learned a LOT, but probably not as much as Zach did…I think he is beginning to realize what a HUGE job a baby is. Rewarding, for sure, but much more time-consuming than he originally thought. The class also made us even more excited about our little guy’s arrival.

On Sunday, I got a little taste of what it’s like to be very pregnant in the summertime, thanks to spending a couple hours walking around the art fair in the 85-degree heat. That experience made me really appreciate the fact that I’m due June 14 rather than August 14!

The rest of the week has been pretty uneventful, just busy with wrapping up work (only one more week to go!) and getting as much sleep as I can. Coming up: another doctor’s appointment on Friday, followed by a long holiday weekend :)

The Most Annoying Symptom of Pregnancy

Pregnancy

After 9 long months of pregnancy, I’ve discovered the most annoying symptom — and it’s not one of the usual suspects. Morning sickness, leg cramps, heartburn, interrupted sleep, and exhaustion have been no fun at all, but my least favorite of all is my hoarse voice.

For almost 3 weeks now, my voice has sounded like I just finished screaming and singing along at a Taylor Swift concert (and yes, I would totally do both of those things at a Taylor Swift concert). It’s been raspy, a little mannish, and any hope of hitting high notes is out the window. At first I thought maybe I was getting sick, but I had no sore throat, cough, or sneezing. Then I suspected allergies, but I’m not really one to suffer from those. And I hadn’t been using my voice any more than I usually do, so it wasn’t due to overuse.

It all started to make sense after I explained my condition to one of my client’s moms before a music therapy session. She told me that she thought a hoarse voice was a symptom of pregnancy, and after some quick Googling on her iPhone, we found that she was right.

At my doctor’s appointment the following week, the OB confirmed that pregnancy can cause the vocal cords to swell just like the rest of the body, so my hoarse voice is normal at this point. The downside is that it’s probably here to stay until I have the baby, so I can look forward to a little over 3 more weeks of raspiness.

By now I’ve adapted to my new voice, though it sure makes my job interesting! Luckily, there are only 9 more working days left before I’m officially on maternity leave for the summer. I have quite a few new songs I’d like to record, but they just might have to wait until after baby’s arrival if I actually want people to listen to them.

So far, no cankles in sight…just a man voice and a few other manageable symptoms. I suppose if that’s the worst it gets at 36 weeks, I don’t have much room to complain :)

Week 35 – Featuring Baby Shower #3!

Home stretch, baby! And it’s a good thing, because I am getting restless. On one hand, I want to get out of the house and do things, but on the other, I’m so exhausted that I can barely keep my eyes open half the time.

Despite the exhaustion, I managed to have a pretty eventful and productive week. It started with my third and final baby shower, hosted by my wonderful sister-in-laws Rebecca and Shannon. The theme was “nautical” (shocking, right!?) and everything about it — the decorations, games, gifts, guests — was delightful. Click here for more of the photos my father-in-law took.

Rebecca and Shannon went all out, not only with hosting the shower but also their awesome DIY gifts. The boat-shaped bookcase (pictured below) is something I’ve been on the hunt for since I came up with the nursery theme, so I was super excited to see it on display when I arrived!

Zach arrived at the end of the shower to help load up all the gifts and pose for a few photos.

Baby Rambach must have known he was the guest of honor, because he didn’t stop kicking and wriggling around until after the shower was over. He is quite active on a regular basis even though he’s starting to run out of room in there!

Speaking of the little guy, we had an appointment this week and found out that he’s growing right on track…actually, he’s in the 63rd percentile at 5 pounds, 11 ounces. My doctor was surprised, since my belly has been measuring smaller than it should at this point. He’s also head-down, which is awesome news for delivery. At this point, there’s less than a 5% chance that he will change positions.

In other baby news, we bought the rest of the stuff we need off our registry and are pretty much set as far as the nursery goes. Once we get the pictures hung and a few other finishing touches, I will post photos. Also coming soon are photos of our newly painted playroom. Yay for progress!