© 2014 sarahfortune.

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Mom to Iris. Wife to Todd. Our little family lives at the foothills of the Ozark Mountains in Fayetteville, Arkansas. We love it here and I love sharing little bits of our life.

© 2014 sarahfortune.
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Posts Tagged: pregnant

Baby Blog, Pregnancy Blog

Giveaway: What to Expect book series

Update: December 6, 2012
Contest Closed. Congrats to Kim and Danielle for being the winners selected from random.org!

* * * * *

As soon as I found out I was having a baby, I rushed to the bookstore and purchased what I’ve always heard is “the only pregnancy book you’ll need.” I picked up my copy of What to Expect When Expecting on my lunch hour and read the first chapter sitting in my car in the bookstore parking lot… all while inhaling Chick-fil-a (I was pregnant after all).

Throughout my pregnancy I not only read the book, but was addicted to the What to Expect iPhone app (okay, I was addicted to that and milkshakes). I tracked my pregnancy daily and the forums were – and still are – great for connecting with other new moms. Thanks to What to Expect, I actually feel like I know what I’m doing every once in a while and now I’m happy to be able to pass that along to two of my readers.

The nice folks at What To Expect have teamed up with me to host a giveaway featuring their must-have books for any momma or momma to be. They make excellent gifts too, so even if you’ve got no plans to wipe poo off butts any time soon, feel free to enter for a friend.

Two lucky winners will receive the following three books:

● What to Expect When Expecting
● What to Expect the First Year
● What to Expect the Second Year

How to enter:
Leave a comment telling me what part of pregnancy you have heard about or experienced that you did you not expect OR which book you are most excited about. Please make sure you include your email in the comment form.

Extra chances to win:
Mention the giveaway on Twitter up to three times per day (be sure to include @sarahfortune in your Tweet).

*Giveaway ends at 9:00 pm Central on Monday, December 5, 2011 and winners will be selected by Random.org*

I’ll leave you with this photo Todd snuck of me right after we found out the good news…

What to Expect

Pregnancy Blog, Words

Pregnancy Blog: 39 weeks

Pregnancy Blog: 39 weeks

Well, here I am.
Two days shy of my estimated due date of October 12.
And no signs of labor.

I’ve tried it all.
Yesterday I ate an entire pineapple for breakfast. About half a bottle of hot sauce on a burrito for lunch. And have been walking every day even though it hurts just to stand. But let’s back up a bit…

The 39th week started with my birthday, as well as my weekly appointment. I was more excited to find out what my doctor had to say than I was about any birthday celebration. The good news is that I have actually started to dilate, but only to one cm. The bad news is that I wasn’t nearly as effaced as she estimated the previous week (she guessed it to be maybe 20%, but noted that she didn’t even like to put a number on it when it was that low).

While the doctor did say that anything could happen and that I could go into labor over the weekend, she also made plans to see me in another week. She still gave us the option to induce labor at any time. In fact, we could have left there with an official date set. But with the way my body is progressing, there’s a good chance it would be a long, hard labor if we force it. So as tempting as it is to meet Iris soon, we have decided to wait till the next appointment to set an induction (with fingers crossed that she’ll come on her own anyway).

This Thursday is our next visit and, depending on how things have changed, we could very well end up with our original induction date of October 14. But except for the usual Braxton Hicks contractions and the occasional cramps, I don’t feel like too much is changing. Even if that’s the case, the latest my doctor will let me go is 41 weeks, which means that October 20th is the absolute latest that we would schedule anything.

As mentally and physically done I am with being pregnant, I just try to keep in mind that labor can happen at any moment and that a lot of times all of these checks of progress mean absolutely nothing. I’m trying to enjoy the last few days of No Baby Land, but it is hard when it’s all I think about and all I feel.

I did have a lovely birthday thanks to my friends & family. It started with a near two hour prenatal massage by a midwife. I was hoping that the pressure points might trigger labor, but no such luck. At least it made me feel a million times better! Another amazing gift was that my mom surprised me by cleaning our house from top to bottom while I was at work. Vacuuming is the last thing I feel like doing these days, so it was much appreciated.

Well, it looks like we could have a 40 week pregnancy blog (or at this rate a 67 week post), but only time will tell…

For now though, all you get is a silly photo of our other baby.

Pregnancy Blog: 39 weeks

Photos, Pregnancy Blog

Pregnancy Blog: 38 weeks

Pregnancy Blog: 38 weeks

Waiting. Wondering. Walking.

That’s what week 38 has been full of. I’m trying to wait patiently and savor these last few days before everything I’ve ever known completely changes. It’s tough though, because I spend most of my time wondering how things will go and what little Iris will be like. I’ve been trying to ‘get things going’ by walking whenever I can muster up some energy. Just putting on my sneakers is a task at this point. I’m hoping that I’ll get good news from the doctor this Thursday about how I’m progressing, but I wouldn’t be too surprised if things are exactly the same.

Last year during this time I was doing a different kind of counting down.
Counting down to my 30th birthday.

This year, instead of sitting in a bar…

30th Birthday!

or sitting in a… cow?

30th Birthday!

I could very well be sitting a hospital.
My oh my how things can change in a year!

 

Here’s how I’ve spent the rest of week 38 (in pictures).
Crossing off the last days of September.

See ya, September! October is (finally) almost here.

Snuggling with my Sadie Pup.

Sadie Pup recovering from her bath.

Freezing bunches of burritos for easy meals when baby is here.

Frozen Burritos for when baby is here

Watching the Razorbacks win.

Razorbacks!

Enjoying the fall weather.
(I can officially see my due date on the 10 day forecast.
And it looks right nice.)

I can officially see my due date on the 10 day weather forecast. And it looks right nice.

 

With my next appointment in a few days, I’ll try to keep this thing updated but of course it depends on how everything plays out. Like mentioned in last week’s post, Twitter is probably the best way to keep up with me as I’m sure updating my blog won’t be my top priority if anything actually does ‘get goin.’

Till then…

Pregnancy Blog: 38 weeks

Photos, Pregnancy Blog, Words

Pregnancy Blog: 36 weeks

Pregnancy Blog: 36 weeks

So tomorrow (Wednesday) my 36th week will be over and
do you know what that makes Iris?

A full term baby! That means she’ll be safe to come out and play,
but turns out… it might be a while.

This week was a busy one. Probably a bit too busy, but at least I had some fun. It was full of friends, football, family, and GL’s baby shower. It was also full of me complaining since I am still getting more uncomfortable by the day. I didn’t even think that was possible. Any time I was able to rest, I found myself counting strong Braxton Hicks contractions, sometimes as many as seven in an hour. So I thought SURELY I was making progress towards labor, but after my doctor’s visit this week, I found out otherwise.

The good news:
The doctor said that it looks like the baby has dropped and that she’s head down.

The bummer news:
I’m not dilated or effaced. (Nothing. Zero. Zilch.) Meaning, she’s most likely going to be cooking for a little while longer.

I know it’s still early (my due date is October 12), but I couldn’t help but feel a little discouraged. These last nine months have flown by, but imagining being this uncomfortable for another three weeks seems crazy. Anything can happen though, so at this point I’m just embracing it and relaxing as much as possible till the big day.

A few photos from the week…

Our nursery was featured on the Australian baby/kids blog, Baby Space
Pregnancy Blog: 36 weeks

Baby gifts keep arriving!
This sweet one is Flora & Henri
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Newborn cozies.

Yep. I’m pregnant.
I carry waffles & syrup in my purse these days.
photo.JPG

GL’s amazingly sweet baby shower.
photo.JPG

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Animals in the nursery
photo.JPG

One of Sadie Pup & me just for fun.
Pregnancy Blog: 36 weeks

Well… settle on in folks, it looks like we have at least a couple more weeks of blog posts. If there are any miraculous changes, I’ll be updating on Twitter, so feel free to follow me there.

Pregnancy Blog, Words

Pregnancy Blog: 35 weeks

Pregnancy Blog: 35 weeks

As I sit here on the last night of my 35th week, I just can’t believe that this pregnancy whirlwind is nearly over. Every morning I wake up, check my favorite pregnancy iPhone apps, and glance over my calendar about five times. Maybe it’s a bit much, but I’m just so ready to have her here.

This week of pregnancy was another uncomfortable one, but what else is new? I did have another doctor’s visit and, like usual, everything is going according to plan. My weekly visits start next week, where we’ll find out how things are (or aren’t) progressing. The doctor said that depending on what’s going on, we might have an idea if Iris will be a 38 – 39 week baby or more like a 39 – 40 week baby. Can I vote for the first option?

Of course I know that nothing is certain, so I’ll try not to go in with any expectations. I’m aware that she could very well be late too, but I’m not opposed to being induced around my due date and it seems like my doctor isn’t either.

At the visit, I once again expressed my concern about having a big baby, so she felt around on my stomach for a bit. She’s pretty sure Iris is still head down (yay!) and that she doesn’t seem big, but pretty average in size. In fact, she guessed that she might be about 7 pounds at 40 weeks. That was good to hear, but I still have my doubts.

Even though things are getting more uncomfortable by the day, at least the weather has started to drift into fall. The cooler temperatures are helping a lot, especially mentally. I’ve been longing for autumn all year, knowing that’s when Iris will arrive. Now, it’s here. And soon she will be too.