40+ weeks pregnant

Past my due date and now I am sitting, waiting, wishing…

How far along: 40+ weeks
How much do I weigh: around 61,8 kg (+12 kg)

weight gain pregnancy #2
weight gain pregnancy #2

Baby size: Who knows… big enough to enter this world for sure
Belly size: The circumference (2cm under the belly button) is 103 cm and from top to bottom it’s 46 cm
40 weeks pregnant
40 weeks pregnant

Belly button in or out: even/out
Sleep: Pretty good
Food (non) cravings: the usual
Symptoms: contractions every day since Monday April 9th, sometimes more, sometimes less, mainly in the evening, hoping they come more regularly and stay πŸ™‚ I had contractions in my last CTG on Friday but none two days before that.
heartbeat & contractions
heartbeat & contractions

  • Cervix is open a bit, one finger fits through
  • Cervix is very very soft, the gyn said I shouldn’t wait too long to get to the hospital as it will probably open quite quickly
  • I have contractions
  • my neck of the uterus is pretty much non existent anymore
  • Baby’s head is tight in my pelvis

My body is ready – when will the baby be?
Maternity clothes: Well, they are getting quite tight. I wear my leggings or shorts and wide tops
Stretch marks: None yet
Linea negra: above the belly
Miss anything: No, I’m feeling good and I really want to meet our little kiddo!
Looking forward to: Holding my second child
Best happenings this week: Seeing progress at the last GYN appointment.
Movement: Luckily still daily
Gender: I would say we’ll prolly know in a week or so? How exciting
Happy or moody most of the time: Happy
Sports: Nope

Ultrasound Baby at 40 weeks
Ultrasound Baby at 40 weeks

The weather for this coming week looks quite good so baby#2 might be born on a sunny day.
weather april 2018
weather april 2018

28 weeks pregnant

Welcome third trimester!

How far along: 28 weeks
How much do I weigh: 56,7 kg (+ 7kg)
Baby size: 1,2 kg
Belly size: The circumference (2cm under the belly button) is 97 cm and from top to bottom it’s 36 cm

28 weeks pregnant
28 weeks pregnant

Belly button in or out: even
Sleep: quite good. I haven’t had a full night of sleep since 3 years so, that’s how it is now too.
Food (non) cravings: nothing really
Symptoms: Feels like baby’s butt or head is always pushing its way down, pimples on my back, lower back pain (not so often)
Maternity clothes: always, everything. Panties, pants, bra, tops. Just my socks and boots are non-maternity πŸ™‚
Stretch marks: none, I think?
Linea negra: not yet
Miss anything: I miss not worrying about what I eat when. I’m lucky that I don’t have gestational diabetes yet the doctor said I should stop eating white flour completely.
Looking forward to: every free minute
Best happenings this week: Big ultrasound yesterday and I finally got a photo again. Baby is laying with its head down, everything is fine. It moved a lot and had a hiccups
Baby#2 - 28 weeks
Baby#2 – 28 weeks
Left: Uterus
Right: umbilical cord
Bottom: fingers

Movement: lots, I feel everything
Gender: hmm… yesterday in the ultrasound it really showed its gender so good and I hoped that the doctor would say “well look at this boy/girl”… but no. I was so close to saying we DO want to know the gender now but I didn’t. Still going to be a surprise.
Happy or moody most of the time: Depends on if I’m hungry, sleepy, if my son does what I ask him to do, if my bubby does what I ask him to do… depends on all those things
Sports: In the gym twice a week, treadmill for 30 minutes and lifting weights (chest, back & legs)

26 weeks pregnant

How far along: 26 weeks 2 days
How much do I weigh: 56,4 kg (+6,7 kg)
Baby size: Length: about 14 inches; weight: almost 2 pounds.
Belly size: The circumference (2cm under the belly button) is 97 cm and from top to bottom it’s 36 cm (have to measure tomorrow morning)

26 weeks pregnant
26 weeks pregnant –
I was told I have a flat belly…

Belly button in or out: in and out
Sleep: so so
Food (non) cravings: pickles
Symptoms: Can’t breathe so good, it feels like the head or popo of the baby are pushing its way down, heartburn
Maternity clothes: Day and night
Stretch marks: none
Miss anything: sweets
Looking forward to: always looking forward to the next gyn appointment. Right now I’m looking forward on going to the diabetology in a week to find out if I have gestational diabetes or not.
Best happenings this week: New Years and spending time with Oma and Opa, spending time with my boy every day
Movement: lots lots lots
Gender: I still think it’s a boy. My bubby has a brother. My bubby’s brother has two boys. My sister has two boys. My friends all have two kids of the same sex (only one has one of each), so… this is why I think we’re having another boy.
Two colleagues think it’s a girl, mainly because of my “flat” belly (how is this even possible?) and because my blood results during pregnancy were good.
My dad swung – a girl.
My bubby thinks it’s going to be a girl.
My sister dreamt it’s a girl.
My other sister thinks it’s a boy.
My mom thinks it’s a boy.
Happy or moody most of the time: Happy
Sports: None atm due to the Christmas vacation and not being home

Pregnancy #1 vs #2 so far

How far along are you?
P#1: 18 weeks, 10 hours and 2 minutes
P#2: Let me check my calendar

My expectant mother’s record of prenatal and natal care
P#1: Always with me
P#2: Where the h*** is it?!

Food
P#1: I ate very healthy, no sweets
P#2: I just had four cookies for breakfast

Not lifting heavy things
P#1: Honey, you have to carry this pound of bread, you know, I’m not allowed to lift heavy things
P#2: Carrying the shopping bag on on arm and my 13kg son on the other arm

So what’s going on with the baby this week?
P#1: My baby’s heart is dividing into four chambers, the teeth start to grow…
P#2: It’s growing

I’m hungry
P#1: Don’t eat too much, all the weight you put on you have to lose at the end of the pregnancy
P#2: Give me food, please! NOW!

Things just kinda change…

17 weeks pregnant

Now, let’s see if I’ll keep at it. With a toddler in the house I have other priorities than posting on my blog but often I think I really have to post the weekly baby bump because I wonder, how was it with Baby#1 compared to this pregnancy? So, here we go…

How far along: 17 weeks
How much do I weigh: 51,5 kg (with Baby#1 I weighed 1kg less)
Baby size: Size of the palm of my hand
Belly button in or out: After I eat the top of my belly-button sticks out a bit πŸ™‚
Sleep: It’s ok
Food (non) cravings: I’m in the mood for coffee again which I didn’t drink the first three months. Other than that no special cravings.
Symptoms: My belly hurts each morning but I’m not sure if it’s in my uterus or just my intestine or full bladder.
Maternity clothes: Pants and tops, daily
Stretch marks: None
Miss anything: A sip of beer, being able to take pain medicine
Looking forward to: Next sonography which is the big one
Best happenings this week: Visiting Oma and Opa and spending a few days there
Movement: Nope, as I have a front wall placenta let’s see when I will feel the baby
Gender: It’s going to be a surprise, I assume baby will be a boy
Happy or moody most of the time: Happy and bitchy (according to the bubby)
Sports: Due to lack of time I haven’t been going regularly. I have to start going twice or three times a week again!

Things I did and didn’t do during my first pregnancy

Sometimes I ask a mom “did you do that during pregnancy?” and she can’t remember, so I thought I’d make a list of things I did and didn’t do during my first pregnancy so that I know for my next pregnancy (if I want to).

baby-bump
baby-bump

  • I made the pregnancy test the day after I missed my period, and before that I drank alcohol daily (because I was on vacation)
  • I drank one, sometimes two cups of coffee with lots of milk every day, non decaf
  • I had my first OB appointment at 6 weeks 1 day pregnant – baby’s heart was beating
  • I didn’t drink one sip of alcohol during my pregnancy
  • I didn’t eat cake or sauces or candy which contained alcohol
  • When going out to eat I did eat the Bavarian “Schweinsbraten in Dunkelbiersauce” though
  • I ate sushi but none with raw fish or meat
  • I did eat feta cheese (rarely)
  • I ate parmesan cheese
  • I didn’t eat salami
  • I only bought and ate cooked ham
  • I didn’t eat sweets the first three months of my pregnancy
  • I ate my regular amount of sweet things the rest of my pregnancy
  • I stopped jogging completely
  • I tried to go to the gym regularly until week 31 (when my OB said I’m not allowed anymore)
  • Baby’s daddy and I hardly got romantic in the bedroom
  • We stopped making love at week 35 – it just felt too weird (this time for me too)
  • I tried to eat less / watch my weight until the day the OB said my urine shows a lack of Ketone and my weight is too low. I started eating more carbs then because I was scared the baby would come early due to my eating habits.
  • I took a prenatal class
  • Starting my 34th week, I made perineum massage daily or every other day – 5 minutes
  • I drank pregnancy tea in my third trimester
  • Starting my 34th week, I drank red raspberry leave tea to losen my pelvis
  • Starting my 37th week, I went to get a prenatal acupuncture weekly to shorten labor
  • Starting my 37th week, I started with pregnancy yoga twice a week
  • Starting my 38th week, I made a weekly hayflower-steam-bath for 20 minutes
  • I did grow a huge gross and ugly mutant-mole on my right breast
  • When the weather got warm and sunny I sat on the balcony for hours to tan. I covered my belly though. I let my belly tan the first day for about ten minutes and it got so red – the sun and the very thin skin on my huge bump were just too much.
  • I didn’t take a bath anymore a few weeks before my due date
  • I took 150mg of Magnesium and stopped one or two weeks before my due date (didn’t know I should have stopped earlier)
  • I drove the car until the end
  • After my due date passed I made yoga daily and took baths again

Getting induced at 40+9 or 40+6, +7, +8

The conflict with my brain:

For me, my earliest “might be” due-date was Monday, March 23rd 2015 (with a 27 day cycle and the first day of my last period being June 17th 2014) and for me, my real due-date was somewhere between Tuesday and Thursday, March 24th to 26st (with a 28 day cycle and the first day of my last period being June 19th 2014), that’s where the 40+6, +7, +8 comes from.

The early ultrasound in my 11th week spit out March 23rd as my due-date (that’s where the 40+9 comes from), my “might be” earliest due-date.

One thing I have very much learned in this pregnancy is:
next time I will give my OB the LP (last period) date, of which I know it was the first day, and not be influenced by what the doctor’s assistance tells me when my first day was. Especially because I’m such an organisation-nerd and keep an exact account of my period, I know my body and I know best.

I made the mistake of saying June 15th 2014 was my LP and my cycle is the average of 27 (There have been months where I’ve had a 30-day cycle). That gives us a calculated due-date of March 21st. And that calculated due-date now hunted me down, now that the induction talk comes up. Because, a doctor is always on the safe side and will want to induce at 40+7, latest at 40+10. And the only thing the doctor can rely on is that calculated due-date which was figured out 40 weeks ago. Unless the OB changed the date to what the early ultrasound figured out (which mine didn’t do because she said plus/minus a few days doesn’t matter). Well, it does matter if it comes to the induction talk.

Anyway, at first I thought it’s ok to get induced at ultrasound due-date +7 but the whole weekend before I didn’t feel comfortable at getting induced on March 30th. My inner conflict with my brain. Also because my mom carried most of her kids longer than 40 weeks (she got induced with my oldest sister at 40+10) and maybe we just carry a bit longer (who knows). My midwife came by on Sunday and we talked a long time and it made me feel a lot better.

So on March 30th my bubby and I drove to the hospital early in the morning and I told the doctor and midwives that I’d only like to get induced if it’s medically necessary (which, medically speaking, nothing was wrong this whole time). They checked me, checked the baby, called my attending OB who was on the way to the hospital already. All was good, enough amniotic fluid, the placenta still looks really good, the heartbeat on the CTG was good, the baby is moving lots, I feel good and have no symptoms like high blood pressure or water in my body.
So the only reason why they would have induced is because I was one week overtime and I asked if we could postpone it a few days. My attending OB wouldn’t let me go too long which I’m fine with, I don’t mind getting induced and I’m not a woman who absolutely wants that everything goes natural. The safety for my baby still is the most important.

My attending OB talked to me about the risks again but said everything looks very good, so he’ll give me two days, which is tomorrow, Wednesday, April 1st 2015. I felt a lot better and I just felt like I need to listen to my instinct and body and baby. Of course it can be that I’m getting induced tomorrow, it will take 30+ hours and I need a c-section but then I won’t have a crisis of conscience thinking “did my baby still need some time in my belly”. I hope. Who knows, maybe I’ll have a crisis thinking “should I have induced on Monday?!”.

I am happy I waited though and I’m totally ready for tomorrow (I’m nervous, that’s clear). I only slept four hours from Sunday to Monday (due to the time change here I really wasn’t tired) and hope (ha, we’ll see) that I can sleep better tonight because I’m ready and I want to get induced.

Fact is, going over your due date kind of sucks (when you don’t really know when your real due date is). You (well, I) worry about inducing too early, you worry about inducing too late, you just want to do everything right for your baby.

My 41st week baby bump story

How far along: 40 weeks + days
How much do I weigh: 62,2 kg, which means I gained around 13,5 kg (30 pounds) this pregnancy.

My weight gain during pregnancy curves
My weight gain during pregnancy curves
Belly size: Big, hard and heavy πŸ™‚ Circumference 104 cm, Top to Bottom 46 cm
Baby Bump Week 41 - 40w6d
Baby Bump Week 41 – 40w6d
Belly button in or out: Even
Sleep: Very good, most of the time. If I get up it’s only once. Lucky me! But sometimes after I got up I can’t go back to sleep for hours.
Food (non) cravings: Nothing special, not that hungry.
Symptoms: For being high pregnant and about to pop anytime I have very less symptoms, hardly any. A little heartburn, my knees sound terrible when I do yoga.
Labor Signs: Hardly any, some pelvis pressure, some cramps. Nothing worth mentioning I guess. On Tuesday my attending OB checked me and noticed some blood, which might be my mucus plug. It was very less though and probably doesn’t mean anything.

I’ve been taking a bath every day and making hayflower steam baths a few days. I still drink three cups of raspberry leave tea daily. I do yoga daily, sit on my exercise ball at the dining table, walk stairs, go for walks. I also took a few Caulophyllum thalictroides D 4 pills, what the midwives gave me. Those are homeopathic pills which might cause contractions. Who knows, but no contractions at 41 weeks. I’m not forcing my bubby on having sex with me (although I’m bossy like that and would like to give it a try) because my true believe is that you cannot force labor. If I don’t have contractions I just don’t have them, why should they come from taking a walk or a bath.
I do things that are comfortable but don’t take my strength.

Maternity clothes: Ready to say goodbye to too tight pants. Can’t wait to buy new summer clothes in a few months.
Stretch marks: None
Miss anything: Nothing
Looking forward to: Meeting our baby-boy!!
Best happenings this week: Seeing that our baby-boy is doing just fine. The CTG on Sunday in the hospital was good, had another OB appointment on Tuesday and Thursday (the first male OB to examine me btw) and all was looking good. He checked me and the baby

  • Cervix: one finger fits through and it’s very soft
  • Blood pressured: 120 / 80
  • Amniotic fluid: baby has enough (more than 7 for sure)
  • Placenta: looks very good
  • Baby’s head: around 9,7 cm and tight in my pelvis
  • CTG: all good, baby’s heart-rate is 130 – 150 and he’s quite active. No contractions

Ultrasound - Baby-Boy 40+ weeks
Ultrasound – Baby-Boy 40+ weeks

On Tuesday my attending OB said that the hospital is quite busy this week and that he therefore made an appointment for my induction on Thursday, March 26st.

That would be 40+5 from the calculated due-date and 40+3 from the ultrasound (and my) due-date. He explained why they prefer to induce latest one week after the due-date, which I understand, but I asked him if we could induce on Monday, March 30th, instead, seeing the calculated due-date (March 21st) was always wrong in my mind, due to my irregular cycle and seeing that, in my opinion, my period didn’t start on June 15th (like I told my OB) but the 17th or even more the 19th (which would come out with a calculated & ultrasound due-date of Monday, March 23rd to March 25th).

He understood, said that’s no problem (seeing he’s only my attending OB he doesn’t know the details about my “history”). He looked at the ultrasound image from my 11th week where they figured out the due-date and said ok, Monday is ok πŸ™‚ And seeing everything is fine with our baby, I’d like to give our baby-boy the chance to find his way into life by himself one more week.

My CTG on Saturday in the hospital was good, one contraction in 45 minutes – ha! The midwife also made another prenatal acupuncture for free πŸ˜€ I have two more nights where I can go into labor before getting induced. I’m quite nervous now…

And again, a big thank you to my Baby-Boy for this awesome pregnancy πŸ˜€ This time it’s final πŸ™‚

My dear Baby Boy, we'll meet you soon
My dear Baby Boy, we’ll meet you soon

Movement: So so much! I can feel him moving around like crazy. That’s such a weird thought – knowing to have a human baby in the belly who’s all “done”, it’s unbelievable. He’s turning his back from left to right to left to right since Thursday evening (over a week now). He’s never done that. You’d think he’s ready to leave the nest (or he’s just feeling way too comfortable now).
Gender: Baby-Boy Bruno
Happy or moody most of the time: Happy and very excited and nosy! I did have some thoughts about how the pain of inducing will kick in and how I will handle it. Will it go from 0 to 100, will it take hours or days, will it not kick in at all? It’s a fear of the uncertain, a totally new experience – how will the pain feel and will I be able to handle it?!
Sports: Walks, daily Yoga

40+ weeks baby bump
40+ weeks baby bump

My second due date

My due-date according to the ultrasound in week 11 is today, March 23rd 2015, two days after my calculated date πŸ™‚

Due-Date Fun
Due-Date Fun

I’m happy the swing didn’t break under my weight. You never know.
A very good thing about our baby might coming later is, the later he comes, the longer I have parental leave πŸ˜€ If he’s born tomorrow, the 24th, I first have to go back to work next year on March 29th because of all the easter holidays being in between.
Just random thoughts coming up after your baby is due…

Baby Baby Baby

baby-bump
baby-bump
I didn’t think my blog would turn into a mommy-blog so fast but, with being pregnant, the only things I can really think about are things concerning pregnancy and babies. Everything else seems to be so secondary now.

Baby’s Name

Well, a few days before our little boy should arrive we have still not agreed on a name for him. Well, we kinda have, but not really. My boyfriend knows I want my kids to have American names and not a typical German name. He’s still trying to get used to my favorite first name for our boy but still didn’t say “yes, that will be his name”. Our boy will have a second name too and I told my boyfriend he’s the one who’s allowed to chose that πŸ™‚ It’s been the same name for months but now, all of a sudden though, he’s thinking of a different one… argh. I told him that, when I’m two weeks before my due date, I want to write our baby-boys name on my birth plan so that it will be spelled correctly, which I did. I wrote down our Baby-Boys full name, asked my boyfriend if he’s ok with it and he said YES, so… let’s see if that’s really his name.

Pregnancy Brain

trash-bags Luckily, I didn’t really do a lot of silly things in my pregnancy, yet. I went to the hardware store a few weeks ago and saw this great deal on compost trash bags so I grabbed them. Why would I buy trash bags at a hardware store in the first place, but whatever. pregnancy-skirt A few evenings ago I hear my boyfriend in the kitchen saying “WTF…” and I asked what’s going on? He just said he’s dealing with a never-ending trash bag and seeing I didn’t know what he meant he showed me what I bought.
Instead of 25 liter I bought 240 liter – 10 times the size we need. They really are never-ending! Anybody need 240 liter compost trash-bags?

For the first time in, I think forever, I’m wearing skirts and leggings in winter. I love skirts in the summer but as soon as the weather gets colder I will not wear them. I’m a jeans girl, a flares jeans girl. breakfast And leggings? You’ll never see me in leggings when I’m not pregnant. Now, being high pregnant, of course they’re probably the most comfortable thing to wear but I’m not a fan of my legs in leggings. Not at all. So I put on the skirt to make those leggings look a bit cuter.

I tend to spill my drinks on our couch. The photo shows my typical daily breakfast (orange, half banana, half apple, yogurt, spelt flakes, cereal, applesauce) with my red raspberry leaf tea which I spilled. Oh well.

Maternity Leave

My maternity leave has been great. I didn’t miss getting up and going to work once. I normally try to do something each day, also if it’s something little like cleaning the oven. I honestly thought I’d miss my routine days at work, that I’ll be bored so much every day but nope πŸ˜€ I did so much the last few weeks that now, one week before my due date I have to slow down a bit (well, I want to slow down a bit).

Fear

I’m a lucky girl. I’m lucky because my nine months of pregnancy have been great, all the examinations of our baby have been great and I don’t have any reasons to worry or be scared. I’m lucky to have an attitude of “what will be will be” and so, a few days before my due date, I’m not scared about giving birth.
I’m not fixated on my “ideal birth plan” because, how could I be? I have no experience at all so I’m just going to let things roll how they’re going to roll.
Sure, no PDA would be nice, but if I can’t handle the pain anymore, why not?
Sure, a natural birth would be nice, but if the baby’s in danger I’m happy for our revolutionary medicine and c-sections.
Sure, it would be nice if no body parts of mine get injured, but if something rips – it’ll heal. I’m really happy I don’t freak out right now and that my attitude has helped me to keep calm during my pregnancy.