baby-boy bruno – Schatzi

My 40th week baby bump story

40 weeks

How far along: It’s my first due date 🙂 (my second according to the ultrasound in week 11 is March 23rd)
How much do I weigh: 62,4 kg (+ 13,6 kg / + 700 g this week / 30 pounds in total)
Belly size: Circumference 104 cm, Top to Bottom 44 cm, photo taken on Friday, at 39 weeks 6 days

Baby Bump Week 40 - 39w6d — Baby Bump Week 40 – 39w6d

Belly button in or out: Even / Out
Sleep: Getting up once (sometimes first at 5:30 in the morning), so, very good with all of the boppy pillows surrounding me.
Food (non) cravings: Nothing special, I can still eat lots, unfortunately no loss in appetite. I was really in the mood for chocolate on Tuesday. Lots of chocolate. So much chocolate!!!
Symptoms: The belly is getting so heavy, it’s hard to get up from the couch occasionally, especially after I was laying down on it 🙂
Labor Signs: Very less Braxton Hicks, nesting (which, I think, is not a labor sign seeing my due date can be any day), I’m a bit bitchy – the things my boyfriend does/says annoy me fast.
Maternity clothes: They are getting tiiiiight – it’s uncomfortable to sit and wear maternity panties and pants, I wish I could just go naked down there (but – another symptom – a lot of vaginal discharge)
Stretch marks: None
Miss anything: Nothing
Looking forward to: giving B I R T H. Let’s see, some of my “easy-to-remember” dates have already passed

~~03.03.2015 (I already have plans with a friend there though)~~
~~05.03.2015 (I have an appointment for a foot care there though)~~
~~15.03.2015~~
~~19.03.2015 – Two months after my birthday~~
~~21.03.2015 – Baby’s Due Date~~
23.03.2015 – Baby’s second Due Date, according to the ultrasound
25.03.2015
27.03.2015 – 5 months before my bubby’s birthday
30.03.2015

So there’ll be another zodiac sign with horns in our family. Our Baby-Boy might be determined, fiery, have executive skills, a born leader, impulsive, headstrong, opinionated, loyal, physical, driven, ambitious… Aries doesn’t match with Capricorn (me) or Virgo (the bubby) which I’m ok with, we’ll make it match. I have horns so it’s clear that the ram and the goat abut. But: Aries signs have excellent sense of humor, and they get along with almost everyone at the party (and they DO know how to party). Aries can be impatient, but we love them anyway because they are devoted friends, lovers and family members (aww) 🙂
Best happenings this week: On Monday I went to my fourth and last prenatal acupuncture. I got 12 needles – one in each hand, two in each of my knee areas, one in each ankle, one in each pinky right next to the nail (ouchie) and one on each foot. I walked into the delivery room at the hospital, the midwife looked at me and said “looks like the baby’s coming soon”.
She wanted to check me, I let her know that I’m having an OB appointment with my gyn that same evening, so she just checked how our baby-boy is laying, made a CTG and checked my urine. All good and I didn’t have contractions.
So, in the evening I had my second check for that day:

How far along: 39+2
CTG: all good
My Blood Pressure: 120/80
Cervix: 1cm dilated, soft
Baby’s weight: around 3100g (6 pounds 13 ounces)
Amniotic fluid: 11
Placenta: 95% intact
Baby’s head: around 34cm, not completely tight in my pelvis

My OB wanted me to get in touch with the OB who will be delivering our baby this same week, seeing she could still push baby’s head up a bit. Other than that she said the supply for baby-boy is all very good so there’s no need for inducing that soon. But that’s something the hospital and/or delivery OB will have to decide.

So I made the appointment with the baby-delivering-OB for Friday morning. I asked him to check me to see if baby’s head is tight so he first checked my cervix, 1cm and yes, Baby’s head is tight in my pelvis. Then he checked the Baby, he measured him around 3400g (7 pounds 8 ounces), the head around 34cm and he’s still got a lot of amniotic fluid, so he sees no reason for inducing (yay, I’m happy he sees it that way).
I have another appointment with him on Tuesday (40+3) where we’ll have the induction-talk and on Sunday (40+1), I’ll go and get checked by a midwife at the hospital where I will be delivering.

I try to find my peace with eventually getting induced which is hard. I try not to think about it and if I do think about it, I try to see it as ok, nothing bad, maybe even something good and helping my body to get ready. It just seems too planned and not natural. I don’t like that the doctors seem to be fixated on that one date, the estimated due date. For me, the estimated due date begins today and ends next Saturday, for me it’s an estimated due range of 7 days and not one day. I have an irregular cycle, my period doesn’t start from one day to another, my ovulation – no idea when that is. Setting an estimated time range for a baby to be born would take off a lot of pressure.

The OB also made a 3D color ultrasound of our Baby’s face, it was the best 3D I’ve seen, I could see our baby-boy and what he looks like! I even got a photo which might be the last in-uterus photo of our baby-boy 🙂

Ultrasound 39 weeks 6 days with his arm before his face

Movement: Still doing his regular gymnastics. He’s been really, really, really active on Thursday evening for a long time and all of the sudden I felt his kicks in my right side, so I assumed he turned his back from right to left. I asked the OB on Friday and yes, our Baby-Boy turned, at 39 weeks 5 days, from one side to the other. I’ve read a few weeks before that it’s not such a big problem for the Babies to turn but it’s very very unlikely that they will flip so that all of a sudden their head is not in the pelvis anymore. I hope he doesn’t get too excited to meet us and decides to make somersaults!
I think he turned back on Friday afternoon… I’m not sure now, I feel his kicks, it seems, everywhere.
Gender: Baby-Boy Bruno
Happy or moody most of the time: Happy and Bitchy
Sports: I’m lifting a lot of weight 🙂 Going for walks and did yoga once.

Baby-Bump Week 40 — Me giving kisses to a very photogenic baby 😉

Hospital Bag #3: bringing our baby home

I love those cute little clothes for our Baby-Boy Bruno, they are just too adorable:

As we assume our Baby-Boy will be born sometime in March and as we know the weather here can be either sunny and warm or snowy and cold, we need to prepare.

I packed a few body suits, two caps, tiny tiny socks and “shoes“, a blanket to wrap him in (if he wants), cuddly pants and a cuddly jacket. If it’s really cold (or if we are being told we need it) we’ll put him in the snow suit.

He’ll be wearing the cute little romper suit which says “Thank heaven for little boys”

My 39th week baby bump story

39 weeks

How far along: One week away from my due date, holy sh**!!
How much do I weigh: 61,7 kg (+ 12,9 kg / + 1 kg this week / 28 pounds in total)
Those last few weeks I’ve been gaining and gaining (well, quite constant, it’s just weird to see the scale showing higher numbers each week).
I wonder how long it will take me to get rid of my extra weight but I’m not that worried because up until now I’ve been quite disciplined when it comes to losing weight. Never tried to lose pregnancy weight though. And never thought I’d gain so much in the last 4-6 weeks. Yet, one morning I’ll weigh myself and the next morning I’ll weigh 1 pound or 1 kg more, then the next day I’ll weigh a pound less again. I’m pretty sure I’ll hit the 30 pounds, maybe even 15 kg?
Belly size: Circumference 102cm, Top to Bottom 43 cm

Baby Bump Week 39 - 38w6d — Baby Bump Week 39 – 38w6d

Belly button in or out: It’s even/out now 🙂
Sleep: Still not complaining! Getting up once. After my bubby gets up for work though (around 6 am) I couldn’t get back to sleep anymore two days this week, the rest of the days were just fine.
Food (non) cravings: Nothing special. I have a big appetite though, especially after I’ve been running around. So close to birth I’m thinking I better give my body what it wants so that it can store the glycogen I need for the big day. Just like athletes do before they run a triathlon… I eat a lot of fruits (bananas, apples, mangos, blueberries, blood oranges), cereal, yogurt, veggies, bread with vegetarian spread and cheese. I just can’t get enough of cereal with milk, but that’s been a craving of mine before pregnancy as well.
Symptoms: a lot of pelvis and popo pushing. It feels weird and I wonder if it’s possible that a baby breaks the water with its fingers and not the hormones 😉 *jk* Other than that, heartburn and a sore body when sitting or laying.
Labor Signs: Braxton Hicks contractions sometimes. Ok, since Friday, 38w6d I have them quite often, especially in the morning. So I guess my uterus is practicing for its big event.
Maternity clothes: Pants, for my last two weeks of pregnancy I bought a maternity t-shirt which I can wear the next few months as well. It’s getting too warm here.
Stretch marks: None
Miss anything: Nothing this week
Looking forward to: That moment when I know “I think I’m going into labor”. Still hoping our baby-boy will be born in the week from the 21st to 28th, but actually I’d love to have him here now already.
Also looking forward to the OB visit (it will be the last with my gynecologist), wondering what she’ll say about inducing and when I should see the gynecologist who will be delivering our baby.
Best happenings this week: My OB appointment on Monday (thanks Mom for coming with me)

How far along: 38+2
CTG: all fine. In the beginning he was sleeping so his heartbeat was a bit low, but then I had to drink water and the doctor’s assistant gently shook my belly and then he was more active and everything was fine
My Blood Pressure: 110 / 70
Cervix: wasn’t checked
Baby’s weight: around 3 kg (7 pounds). He’s getting chubby cheeks already 🙂

Our Baby-Boy rubbing his eye at 38 weeks 2 days

Amniotic fluid: he still has quite a good amount
Placenta: light calcification
Baby’s head: around 34cm

Other than that the weather was lovely and I even got a bit of tan.
I met with two of my colleagues for lunch on Tuesday and visited some other colleagues afterwards and went to a bazaar on Wednesday with my sisters and bought some tops for our baby-boy. 95% of the clothes for newborns / half year old babies were PINK! Only girl’s stuff! Afterwards I called the hospital to see if I could come by to get my third prenatal acupuncture, the midwife said yes so I drove there then.

Baby Clothes — Baby clothes I bought for 6 EURO

Tonight, Saturday, we’re going out for Running all-you-can-eat non-fish Sushi one last time, looking forward to that.
Movement: Still doing his gymnastics regularly

Gender: Baby-Boy Bruno
Happy or moody most of the time: Happy and excited that he can come any time. We are all sooooo nosy to know when he’ll come 😀 Actually I’m happy I didn’t go into labor on Friday the 13th. I don’t believe in that but still.
Sports: Just the regular getting things done in the city and stairs. On Thursday for example, I washed two loads of laundry and walked 454 stairs! The washer and dryer are in the basement, so down – up – down – up – down – up… Did Yoga on Friday.

I also did some gymnastic for pregnant women and now I have a sore back. Maybe I shouldn’t start with new exercises in my 40th week…

My 38th week baby bump story

38 weeks

How far along: 37 weeks 6 days – Gosh, 14 days to go. Unbelievable!! As of now, I’m in the -14 days time frame where babies are born. As of now, our baby-boy pretty much can decide he wants to meet the world any day. As of now, I probably should be carrying a towel in my purse? Gosh, this is all getting so real!!
How much do I weigh: 60,7 kg (+ 11,9 kg / + 200g this week / 26 pounds in total)
Belly size: The belly is getting harder and heavier and I can feel how the baby is just everywhere. Not much room for him left, room for maybe two more weeks 😉

baby bump week 38 — Baby Bump Week 38 – 37w6d

I normally stand straight for my weekly baby bump picture but this time I thought the photo looks just the same like last week, so I just let my belly hang, just like after eating a big meal.

38-weeks-belly — Just letting my belly hang vs. standing up straight

Belly button in or out: It’s kind of even and a bit of an Outie
Sleep: Pretty good most of the times. I get up once and I can normally fall back to sleep again good, sometimes not though where I just lay there and get up eventually, sit on the couch with my laptop and wait until my eyes get tired again. Seeing I have two boppy pillows (one from my sister and one from my co-worker) I now put one on each side of my body, so if I turn from left to right or right to left I’m all comfortable immediately.
Food (non) cravings: mint-chocolate-chip ice-cream. I drove around the whole town and even went to the biggest grocery store here but zero, zilch, zip, nada, nothing! This oh so extravagant kind of ice-cream is not available anywhere! Gah! So I improvised. I bought the only mint candy I know – After Eight – and put it in my Ben & Jerry’s. Next time I’ll buy cheap vanilla ice-cream and After Eight. On Friday eve we watched the movie “Gone Girl” and in one scene Ben went to the freezer to get out ice-cream and what did he get out? A gallon of mint-chocolate-chip!
Symptoms: PMS similar cramps, my lower back is hurting sometimes. I also feel like my boobs have gotten bigger and sometimes I look at my feet and fingers and think they’ve gotten bigger as well. And my face. I don’t think I have a lot of water but sometimes I feel like a water balloon.
Labor Signs: Hm, just the few PMS similar cramps. When I do Yoga I really feel him in my pelvis but that’s not really a labor sign. Did a hayflower steam bath again on Saturday. 20 minutes.
Maternity clothes: I still sometimes wear normal long sleeves at times but maternity pants all the time.
Stretch marks: None
Miss anything: I don’t miss it now but this week I told my bubby that I’m happy to be able to eat yummy Italian ice-cream in the spring again. I bought Ben & Jerry’s cookie-dough ice-cream, it’s good but it’s no Italian ice-cream and also no mint-chocolate-chip. I really want mint-chocolate-chip ice-cream!!
Looking forward to: So close to my due-date it’s either my next OB appointment or the big event itself.
Best happenings this week: Our baby dropped!
I had my OB appointment on Monday and all was good:

How far along: 37+2
CTG: all fine
My Blood Pressure: 120 / 80
Cervix: dilated 1cm and soft
Strep-B: negative
Baby’s weight: around 2,7 kg (5 pounds 15 ounces)
Amniotic fluid: he still has enough, my OB measured 15 (everything over 8 is good)
Placenta: light calcification on the side
Baby’s head: Tight in my pelvis! I’m so happy, if my water breaks, the umbilical cord should not be a problem.

I’m happy his head is tight. When I walked into the OB’s office she looked at my belly and thought it doesn’t look like it has dropped so she was surprised when she checked me. She said she’ll see me in a week but she’s not sure if she’ll see me for my two-week appointment. Well, you never know 🙂 I’m happy my body is getting ready, now we’re just waiting for our baby-boy to get ready. The later the better!
So if our baby-boy is born before the 21st he’ll be a Pisces: loving, sensitive, intuitive, spiritual, idealistic, victimised and moody and if he’s born after he’ll be an Aries: determined, fiery, executive skills, born leader, impulsive, headstrong, opinionated, loyal, physical, driven, ambitious … interesting 😉
Another best thing this week: we got our first baby delivered – our dryer we ordered about a month ago! It’s great and all the dried towels, panties etc. are so soft!
Movement: He’s making Aqua-Gymnastic lots. And he’s sleeping when I’m sleeping. What a good breeding he has haha.
Gender: Baby-Boy Bruno, 100%, got that confirmed by three different doctors and we have so many penis pictures!
Happy or moody most of the time: Happy! Happy that my body is ready and that he’s all the way down in my pelvis. Happy and relaxed and pretty much ready mentally.
Sports: I did Yoga twice this week. Other than that the regular 30 – 60 Minute walks (as long as my bladder will stay empty) and taking the 50 (59 when I’m coming from the basement) stairs to our apartment sometimes a few times daily.

My 37th week baby bump story

37 weeks – Full Term!! No preemie anymore!

How far along: 37 weeks! 21 days! 3 weeks to go!! Can’t believe it! And today is Sunday, March 1st! It’s Baby’s birth month!! So amazing!
How much do I weigh: 60,5 kg (+ 11,7 kg / + 25.8 pounds), same as last week
Belly size: Circumference 102cm, Top to Bottom 45 cm

Baby Bump Week 37 - 36w6d — Baby Bump Week 37 – 36w6d

Belly button in or out: Hard question. Even and a bit out on the top, so, an Outie I’d say.
Sleep: Good, I’m so happy! I get up once and that’s it. It takes a while for me turning from one side to the other but that’s not worth mentioning.
Food (non) cravings: Nothing special, I try to eat less sweets those last weeks. I don’t buy any sweets when going shopping, my sweet snack in the evening is a fruit yogurt. I spent a day in the city this week and walked passed Starbucks and I mean really, as a high pregnant woman you can’t just walk passed a Starbucks knowing they have so good yummy sweet stuff, so I went in and got a blueberry muffin. Yummy! The last time I visited Starbucks was in Paris 1,5 years ago, so come on!
Symptoms: Not that many actually. I get bruised when I lay on one side too long, it feels like my skin/meat just falls asleep. Breathing is still a bit difficult. My butt starts hurting when I sit too long. It’s amazing, if I figure out my current BMI I’m still normal weight. Yet normal things like sitting or laying on one side start to hurt after a while, I’m out of breath faster than normal. When I do yoga my knee-bones make scary sounds. My lower back starts hurting again, mainly after I get up from the couch.
I don’t feel so good after I eat at night. I already eat less but I feel like a ton afterwards, it’s very uncomfortable. When I eat too late I get a heartburn at night which I’ve done twice this week. I should know better by now 🙁 Maybe I should just skip the evening dinner?
When I come home from the cold outside I get very red cheeks and ears and I just feel very hot for a long time. That’s new.
Can’t believe I’m carrying +12 kg around with me every day. Wow.
Labor Signs: None. I started a hayflower steam bath the first day of my 38th week. It’s not as relaxing as it sounds like, I took 1 liter of boiling water and added three tablespoons of hayflowers. Seeing the pot was too small to put into the toilet and sit on it, I put it on the floor and kneed over it and just let the steam go “into me” (TMI, I know). This method should loosen your pelvic muscles.
I also still do a perineum massage daily or every other day for five minutes and drink two to three cups of red raspberry leave tea daily.
Maternity clothes: Yes please! Panties a size bigger without a rubber band are the best thing ever!
Stretch marks: None
Miss anything: Getting up from the couch with ease
Looking forward to: My next OB appointment tomorrow. As I assume our Baby-Boy will be born in March I made a list of cool, easy to remember March birth dates (although I hope he arrives in the week from the 21st to 28th of March):

03.03.2015 (I already have plans with a friend there though)
05.03.2015 (I have an appointment for a foot care there though)
15.03.2015
19.03.2015 – Two months after my birthday
21.03.2015 – Baby’s Due Date
25.03.2015
27.03.2015 – 5 months before my bubby’s birthday
30.03.2015

Let’s see if he decides to come on one of those.
Best happenings this week: On Monday I had my first prenatal acupuncture at the hospital where I’m planning on delivering our baby-boy.

Prenatal Acupuncture - 36 weeks — Prenatal Acupuncture – 36 weeks

You normally have four sessions. One each week until you hit 40 weeks. It’s the first acupuncture I’ve ever had.
Reasons I decide(d) to spend 20 EURO each session for something which isn’t scientific proven:

I believe in it (they say it may shorten labor)
I tend to do the things they say make giving birth easier
It gives me a chance to “meet” the hospital, driving there, knowing where to park, knowing where the delivery room is located
It gives me a chance to meet some of the midwifes

The first time I got three needles in each lower leg. One right by my ankle, two on the outside of my legs right under the knee. It takes 20 minutes. While I was there I’m pretty sure at least one woman was in labour. I heard her breathe the “aaaaaaaahhhh” with every contraction she had. Oh, and I also found a 10 EURO bill on the street! I never found so much money, I was all excited 😀 (although I was undecided at first if 10 EURO are worth bending all the way to the floor but yes, they were)
On Tuesday I had an appointment with an anesthetist who explained me everything about the epidural (PDA). I filled out a bunch of questions, so that’s one thing I don’t have to do when I’m in labour (I hope) and decide I want an epidural. I’m not planning on one but you never know. After the appointment I walked through the city a bit and treated myself to a blueberry muffin at Starbucks. Nom. I also bought some little stuff for our Baby-Boy’s room, like a heart-shaped picture frame and a little elephant magnetic-frame.
Other than that I had a pretty relaxing week, met with a friend and her daughter, met with my sister and her daughter, had a lovely dinner with my bubby, my parents and my sister and her family on Saturday eve with yummy Schnitzel and Dampfnudel 🙂
Movement: Still a lot and he still has the hiccups regularly. He pushes himself against my butt-hole a lot (or maybe those are his arms) and it feels like, well, I’ll keep the details to myself.
Gender: Baby-Boy Bruno
Happy or moody most of the time: Happy, relaxed, very excited. I have my off-days every now and again where I feel left alone and unable to cope and that people still expect everything from me, forgetting that, so close to birth, I might have other things on my mind, also if I don’t show. That’s always the problem of someone “strong”, people don’t think that there might be phases where you just can’t take things so easily, they will not ask you “how are you doing” or “what are your concerns” because they think that everything is always fine with you.
Sports: I started yoga for pregnant women. Wow, doing yoga with 10+ kg more on my ribs ain’t easy, just the regular things! Never thought so. The Sun Salutation – uff! It’s getting better/easier the more I do it though. I plan on doing yoga two times a week.

You nicely see the scar where I had my belly piercing over my belly button. And my crooked Linea nigra.