34 & 35 Weeks Update

All right. In the last two weeks I have started maternity leave, been to the hospital, been to my family's for Christmas, spent god only knows how many hours making diapers and Christmas gifts, and contracted food poisoning. 

During week 34, Emery dropped and scared us all to death with her decreased movements. Dropping has made my life hell. I was still fairly comfortable with my whaleness. The swelling was a bit annoying, but my back and hips weren't hurting too terribly. And then she dropped. I feel it now, let me tell you. I just want her out.

Jacob finally heard where he'd be student teaching, and it is very bad news. As you may or may not be aware, my place of employment does not offer paid maternity leave. You take what vacation, sick days, and holidays you have, and the rest is unpaid. The somewhat less crappy solution was to take winter furlough, where we will be living off of my greatly reduced salary of about $150 a week. That $150 a week will cover our house payment, and part of our insurance. It doesn't touch electricity, water, sewage, wifi, the rest of the car insurance, my car payment, cell phone bills, gas, or groceries. Jacob makes roughly $200 a week between his two jobs, which would bring our income up to about $100 more than the bills we have to pay.

We have saved up enough money to get us through this winter with that reduced salary. However, we had saved based on Jacob student teaching in Hollister or Branson. CofO, being the lovely people that they are, informed Jacob at 5:30 p.m. on the last day administration works before Christmas break that he will be in Alpena, AR. Alpena is 40 miles away. We did the math based on my car's gas mileage, and we're looking at $90-$100 a week on gas for him to student teach, and that's if gas drops back to what it was pre-Christmas.

Alpena is roughly a 50 minute drive. Jacob will be there from 8:00 a.m. until 3:30 p.m. Monday-Friday. Odds are he will be down there when I go into labor, which means that I, being stranded at the house with no ride, will have to wait on him for an hour before going to the hospital. That's terrifying to me. I know the first baby usually takes a while, but my aunt had her first one in four hours from stage one labor to delivery. A guy Jacob works with's fiance had their baby twelve minutes after she realized she was in labor, because her pain tolerance was so high she didn't notice the contractions for what they were.

This long drive means Jacob will have to quit one of his jobs, knocking our income by $100 a week. 

He mentioned all of this to his supervising teacher, and kindly pointed out that one of the other English Ed majors was assigned two teachers in Branson. She lives on campus, which means she has literally NO bills to pay. The school will even provide her meals through student teaching because she lives on campus. He requested that he be allowed one of those teachers, to avoid the strain this would be putting on us financially. The other option, he told her, was for him to take out a student loan to cover gas. CofO will not allow you to graduate until your student loans are paid off, because they're a "free" school where all students graduate debt free! She advised him to go to the financial department and ask about a gas allowance.

Their response? "We have a $300 book scholarship you can have. It can't be used for gas, though, only books." He doesn't need books this semester. I am so frustrated over this it makes me cry every time I think about it.

We went to my parent's house and stayed for a few days around Christmas. It was absolutely lovely. Emmy made out like a bandit with her Christmas gifts, as did I. Jacob and I received a Keurig and a Kitchenaid, as well as a good bit of cash that we're saving for this winter.

We got Emery's crib down and started to clean and repair it. The crib was made for my Mama when she was pregnant with me by her Grandpa, and now it will be mine. My parents will be bringing it, my rocking chair, and the rocking horse Grandad made me down sometime next week.

I had a doctor's appointment the day after Christmas, the first of my weekly appointments. I had some blood in my urine, and Dr. Allison seemed genuinely weirded out that I could have a UTI that severe and not be complaining of pain. But I've had no pain, so... 

I'm currently battling a nasty case of food poisoning, either from the Chinese buffet, or from the leftovers I had for supper last night. In either case, I was up all night throwing up, I've had a fever and headache all day, and the nausea and diarrhea are killer. I hate being sick so much,

How far along? 34 & 35 weeks

Total weight gain: I weighed in at 210 at 34 weeks and 219 at 35 weeks. Keep in mind my 35 weeks weigh in was the day after Christmas, right after eating at a Chinese buffet.
Maternity clothes? I wear them! All the time!
Have you started to show yet: You tell me!

34 Weeks

35 Weeks, after she dropped

Stretch marks? My old ones have started to darken and lengthen, and look generally horrifying. Like, seriously. Pardon the weird angle and the fact that the belly band of my maternity jeans is digging into my fat, but here's a picture of them:

Sleep: Rare and fitful
Best moment this week: Being with my family for Christmas
Miss Anything? Sleeping well, feeling well,my waist
Movement: After the scare she gave us, she's been moving non-stop
Food cravings: None
Anything making you queasy or sick: Food poisoning
Gender: GIRL!
Labor Signs: Definitely not.
Symptoms: Backaches, headaches, heartburn, swollen hands and feet, Braxton Hicks, not sleeping,
Belly Button in or out? It's very close to popping out
Wedding rings on or off? Off. My hands and feet are back to being so swollen they've been cracking
Happy or Moody most of the time: So, so moody.
Looking forward to: Meeting Emmy

Grounded for Life

Emery is officially grounded for life. She tried to scare her father and I to death, and then she had the audacity to make me look like an idiot to everyone at Cox.

I didn't sleep at all on Tuesday night, due to back pain and general discomfort. This is normal towards the end of your pregnancy, I hear. Wednesday at work I was very uncomfortable all day long, with my hands and feet swelling far more than they usually do. My feet actually swelled so much that they cracked and started bleeding at work. My blood pressure was elevated all day, complete with red face and dizziness. By the end of my shift it was obvious she had dropped. Emery moved every so often throughout the day, but her movements were weaker than normal, and they continued to get weaker as the day went on.

When I got home at about 6:00 I decided that with how weird I'd been feeling, and how little I'd felt her move, something wasn't right. I grabbed a Dr. Pepper, ate some sugary cereal, and went to lay down on my side and kick count. I had only kick counted once before and the first time I had reached ten kicks within fifteen minutes. I laid there and waited.... and waited... and waited. There was nothing between 6:00 and 7:00. So, I drank some more Dr. Pepper, munched on some ice, and went back to laying.

Nothing. At 8:00 I stopped and took a bath with my feet up, to try and at least relieve some swelling. By the time I got out at about 9:00 I still hadn't felt her move, and I was starting to get really freaked out. I texted Jacob at work and told him to call me as soon as he could, and that I would explain when he got there.

I hopped back on the couch and started doing everything that ordinarily provokes movement. I was pushing her, I was singing, I was playing music she normally likes, I was putting a cold washcloth on my tummy - everything. She didn't move. When Jacob hadn't answered me at 9:30 I texted him again "I don't want to freak you out or make you leave work earlier than you can, because either way what's done is done, but I think we've either lost Emmy or something is very wrong. Please call me." He got home at 9:50.

As soon as he got home, I started having a panic attack and trying to explain. He started talking to her and feeling, because she typically flips out when he talks to her, but she didn't move. So he called the after hours number for our doctor. Dr. Allison didn't get back to us until about 10:00, and when she did I finally felt a kick. It was tiny, and I'm not all too sure it wasn't just gas that my crazed brain mistook for a kick, but it was something. She told us to grab our bag and go to the hospital, because it sounded like she might have wrapped the cord around her neck when she dropped, and if that was the case and she was in distress they would be doing an emergency c section.

We hurriedly threw together a bag and got to the hospital. They took my blood pressure and hooked me up to a machine that monitored her heart rate and and movement. Her heartbeat was strong, and she reacted to everything she was supposed to, heart rate wise. They gave me some apple juice and ice, and within five minutes she was moving. The movements weren't very strong, but movements were movements.

The little brat just wanted attention, apparently. She's been moving like normal ever since.

33 Week Update

It's snowing again. I am so over winter.

Tomorrow I go to the hospital to preregister, and I am so nervous! The roads are still bad enough I've been hitching rides to work to avoid driving, but tomorrow I don't have a choice.

Work has been a bundle of chaos thanks to the weather. In case you haven't been around airports in the winter, there's about a million extra steps that go into getting planes out when there's ice and snow everywhere, and people tend to get EXTRA dumb. It doesn't help that we're so short staffed, as everyone is using the last of their vacation time before it disappears at the end of the month. The good news is I'm down to 12 days until maternity leave, and 49 days until Emmy's due date.

How far along? 33 weeks

Total weight gain: I have no idea, but I can tell you that Emery is HUGE
Maternity clothes? I wear them! All the time!
Have you started to show yet: You tell me!

Stretch marks? My old ones have started to darken and lengthen, and look generally horrifying. Like, seriously. Pardon the weird angle and the fact that the belly band of my maternity jeans is digging into my fat, but here's a picture of them:

Sleep: Rare and fitful
Best moment this week: Ehhhhh, I guess the bubble bath I'm about to take
Miss Anything? My grandpa, sleeping
Movement: She's moving non-stop again. I jinxed it by saying she was moving less. Hiccups every day!
Food cravings: None
Anything making you queasy or sick: Nope!
Gender: GIRL!
Labor Signs: Definitely not.
Symptoms: Backaches, headaches, heartburn, swollen hands and feet, Braxton Hicks, not sleeping,
Belly Button in or out? Still very much in. I don't think it will come out, but it is much shallower
Wedding rings on or off? On, for now.
Happy or Moody most of the time: So, so moody.
Looking forward to: A break from work!

31 & 32 Week Updates

This has been the passing of another two uneventful weeks in the life of Amanda Leach. I'm afraid my days consist of work, more work, and sleep. 

Jacob's parents were here from Haiti, which is one of many reasons why I didn't post at 31 weeks.

We went to my parent's house for Thanksgiving last week (which is why I didn't have a post at 31 weeks). It was wonderful to see my family, as it always is. I ate far more than I should, which is part of why I've been avoiding the scale lately. I also had a mishap while trimming my hair that involved a playful cat, and now I have bangs again. I have a love/hate relationship with bangs, so this had been particularly upsetting, however I had no choice.

The last two days I have been trapped in my house by snow and ice. Lots of it. I know we had a half inch of ice before it started snowing, and it appears as though we've gotten 8-10 inches of snow on top of that. The HOA has done NOTHING about the roads, which has pissed me off royally. I pay them $48 a month. That covers yard mowing during the summer (which they did only once a month) and road maintenance in the winter, as well as maintenance on the well (we still pay a water bill, though, so this makes no sense to me). 

This summer, as my grass would reach six to eight inches tall, I would say to myself, "It's not that big a deal. They at least keep the roads clear when it snows, which is more important." Yeah. We knew about this storm for a week in advance. MoDot put salt in the roads they maintain in preparation. The HOA did nothing. It sleeted and snowed all day Thursday. They did nothing. It snowed all day today. They still did nothing. I had three cars almost spin out into my yard today, and still the road stays covered by a half inch of ice and eight-ten inches of snow. Bah. Lord only knows how I'll get to work tomorrow.

On top of the already depressing weather yesterday, Southwest Airlines announced they'll be pulling out of the airport, which is a death knell for my place of employment. It means I can see with 100% certainty when my husband and I will no longer have a job. This is soul crushing in and of itself, but the worst part is that I found out from a local news station. No one at work saw fit to call me after the all hands meeting they held immediately after Southwest's announcement to warn me, "Hey, KY3 is about to run a story about Southwest pulling out of the airport, and all of your family will be calling you flipping out over this. Head's up!"

Perhaps the hormones are causing me to over-react to everything, but I'm ready for this week to be over.

How far along? 31-32 weeks

Total weight gain: I have no idea.
Maternity clothes? I wear them!
Have you started to show yet: You tell me!

31 Weeks, post Thanksgiving meal #2

32 Weeks

Stretch marks? My old ones have started to darken and lengthen, and look generally horrifying
Sleep: Still not able to sleep through the night. Between how bad my back hurts, Emery's hiccups, and charlie horses sleep is precious and rare.
Best moment this week: Seeing my family at Thanksgiving
Miss Anything? My grandpa, sleeping, wine
Movement: She's moving less, due to the fact that she's huge, but we had the first painful movement this week.
Food cravings: None
Anything making you queasy or sick: Nope!
Gender: GIRL!
Labor Signs: Definitely not.
Symptoms: Backaches, headaches, heartburn, swollen hands and feet, Braxton Hicks, not sleeping,back pain
Belly Button in or out? Still very much in. I don't think it will come out, but it is much shallower
Wedding rings on or off? On, for now.
Happy or Moody most of the time: So, so moody.
Looking forward to: A break from work!