Weeks 34 and 35

My apologies for not updating but I was on holidays!  Jeff and I attended a wedding on Saturday, July 13 just outside Wilkie, SK.  We then proceeded on to Waskesiu where we stayed two nights at the Hawood Inn, just the two of us, before meeting up with his family and a lot of friends (think there were 29 of us all told) at Kapasewin Bungalows.  We had quite a nice time doing not much of anything and visiting.  Jeff and I were able to eek out two and a half beach days but the weather was not too great for most of the week.  The mosquitoes were unlike anything I have ever experienced.  Unfortunately they kept us indoors most of the time.  I had hoped to enjoy the many beautiful trails around the area and go on nature walks.  We did one and nearly got eaten alive!  They would just swarm us - think Chris had around 30 on his back at one point.  After two attempted walks we decided this was not a good idea anymore.  We did get ice cream a few times - that was very enjoyable!  On holidays is really the only time I go for ice cream cones so it was a good treat.

Our trip was, however, tinged with lots of sadness as a couple of things happened that caused us to make the decision that we will have to give up our beloved dog Nina.  She is simply not good with children and we cannot take the risk of having her around our baby and other kids that will surely be around in the future.  It has been quite a hard thing to work through as she has been a part of our family since before we were married.  We got her as a puppy and it has been our little unit of three for six years.  We are now trying to find her a new home before the baby comes.  She is such a wonderful dog for adults.  I am hoping the perfect home is out there for her.  She will make someone a great companion.  We are facing the fact that these are our last days with her and getting in lots of cuddles and plays.  Makes these last weeks before the birth quite bittersweet in all honesty...

Since the last post I have had two appointments with Dr. Lett.  Baby is continuing to develop great.  I continue to pack on the pounds unfortunately.  I have now gained a whopping 36 lbs in total.  Oh well.  At this point it is not really on my list of things to worry about anymore.  There are too many other things keeping me up at night. 

Yesterday's appointment was a little unusual.  Dr. Lett did a swab for Group B Strep - I will attest that anal swabs are not really that fun.  She then asked if I wanted her to check my cervix and to all of our surprise she remarked that I must have been doing some good work because my cervix is already 3 cm dilated (we are going for 10 cm at the time of delivery), I am 75% effaced, and I am at station -1.  All this to say that my cervix is starting to dilate, it has thinned almost completely, and the baby's head is almost engaged into the pelvis - when the station is at 0 it will be engaged.   

Stations in the pelvis. Our baby's head is at -1.

The doctor thought it was unlikely that I will make it to my due date with all this progress but there certainly are people who go several weeks with 3 cm dilation so we'll see!

Had a bit of excitement yesterday when I was out for lunch with Jolene.  I got up to go to the bathroom and found quite a bit of mucousy blood as well as some fluid (sorry if this is TMI).  Wanting to be better safe than sorry Jolene came with me to the hospital where I checked in through Emergency who sent me up to Labour and Delivery.  Jeff came as soon as he could (thanks so much Jolene for staying with me!) and they hooked me up to monitor the baby's heart rate and movements.  All was fine.  I did a urine test which they checked for amniotic fluid and found negative.  They also did an internal exam and determined that all was ok.  The blood and fluid was likely caused by the internal exam Dr. Lett had done earlier in the day.  I still felt quite crampy and sore and so spent the rest of the afternoon and evening on the couch.

Week 34

Generally feeling ok.  Still not sleeping that great - very sore back and crampiness most of the time.  Very glad to be back in our own bed and having access to a tub again! 

Here are my bump pics from the last two weeks:

Week 35