40 Weeks

40 Weeks has come and Baby "C" is still nice and comfy. :)

Not too much to report. Everything is fine, blood pressure is great, baby's heart rate was a steady 150 beats per minute and then accelerated up to the 160's as she started kicking and moving, which made my midwife very happy (an nice acceleration means nothing is pressing on the cord when the baby moves around). I unexpectedly gained 3 pounds during the past week and a half; (yikes!) that makes for a total of 13 pounds gained since day one of pregnancy. Nell (our midwife) said not to worry about that; she assumes most of it is just fluid retention; although I still have no swelling (thank God!).

The sciatica and hip pain has been very severe the past few days. My mother has been staying with us for the past week to help me out and I honestly don't have enough words to explain how much of a help and blessing she has been. Not being able to pick up Sierra, walk around, get in and out of the car, etc. (many things we all take for granted); it has been a tremendous blessing to have her here with us. Thanks Mom!

I had not seen Nell in about 4-5 weeks (they try to rotate you through to see all 3 midwives) and as soon as she saw me barely walking around, she immediately recommended that I see a chiropractor. Now, I have never seen a chiropractor in my life; but when Nell showed concern that my hips might be out of alignment and the baby might have a hard time coming down the birth canal correctly, that is all she had to say to me to get me on the phone with some chiropractors. I am trying to do everything I can to help this baby come as smoothly as possible. With that said, the chiropractor is now my good friend. :) I went and had an adjustment just a few hours after seeing Nell and the rest of that evening I had contractions. I am hopeful that these adjustments will continue to help my body do what God intended for it to do. I am so grateful to Nell for that suggestion and I really wish I had gone sooner. My new recommendation for all pregnant women - see a chiropractor!!! :)

So, aside from all those details, Baby "C" is doing great and seems to want to stay put for a while longer. I am feeling great, aside from this back pain; now we are just trying to enjoy our last few moments together before life becomes "doubly blessed!"

Here I am on our due date - February 24, 2010 - Looking and feeling all of my 40 weeks of pregnancy! :)