Maternity Leave

I am officially done work for the foreseeable future.  I decided in my second trimester that I was going to take a few weeks before my due date off to prep for Christmas and to take it easy.  We all know the holidays can be a stressful time and I didn't want to wear myself out, in case I went into labour early or something.  It's my first official day of maternity leave today.  It feels weird not going to work.  I'm still trying to figure out what all I need to send in for EI mat leave (ROEs and such) but I'll figure that out this week.  My application is in, so I just need to contact them and find out what else I need to do.

Baby is moving really well.  She still enjoys flipping sides, but does it fewer times throughout the day.  She's gotten in the habit of sticking her feet under my ribs on the righthand side, which has less room than the left since my liver is also on that side, so it gets quite painful at times.  Almost every evening I have to use a hot water bottle and sooth the area.  It's the same side that I sprained my intercostal muscles, so her jabbing her feet around in there is preventing it from healing properly.  On the plus side, I'm finally well again!  No more coughing, and just a bit of breathlessness in the early mornings.  I am no longer on the steroid inhaler, and I only take the ventolin when I really need to, which is usually about once every other day.  I'm very relieved.

We had another prenatal appointment this morning and everything was just fine.  My BP was 134/78 (which seems high for me, personally, but they seemed very happy with it).  I guess it's gonna be higher with all that extra blood flowing through my system anyway.  I also haven't gained any more weight so I'm still at about 15lbs gained total. My next appointment is Dec 23rd, so we'll see how we're doing by then!  I feel like a beached whale, but I've avoided the pregnant waddle thus far.  Baby hasn't dropped yet either, so I can still move around fairly well.  I am just at the point that Jon has to start putting my socks on for me in the morning.  Haha!

I did start having Braxton-Hicks contractions this past week though.  I'm sure I've been having them for a while and just started noticing them now that baby is bigger.  For me, it happens if I walk too much.  It feels like my stomach gets harder/tenser and I feel more weight down in my hips/pelvic area.  According to the resident I spoke to today it's the very mild form of the contractions and they'll get stronger as my due date gets closer.

We inherited a pack and play from my employers and I have to say, it is fantastic!  Jon and I set it up last night just to see what it was like, and it is super cool.  You can totally use it as a crib/bassinet when your baby is small and it even comes with its own changing table attachment.  Super cool.  I love it.  I've also got the hospital bags packed and ready to go, and I'm going to clean the car this week and install the infant car seat so we don't have to worry about that either.  Feeling prepared.  Excited to meet this little girl!  Don't keep me waiting too long!