36 Weeks

Only 27 days left!

I had my first physical therapy appointment on Friday for my back. The PT was really nice. She did a lot of massaging which is what I was hoping would happen. She said that the muscles next to my backbone were very tense and spasming and that she could tell some of the vertebra were tight. So then she said that I could bring Tony in to learn some of the massage techniques for at home. Tony and I went in for another appt on Saturday and he got to mimic what the pt did. Now we've been doing that every night and it seems to be helping a little bit, if only temporarily, it's better than nothing. The PT had me try on a maternity support belt, which was helpful, so she recommended that I get one and I have since then. I wore the belt all last night and then all day today. I can tell that it puts my back into a more comfortable position without so much strain on the muscles and I'd recommend one for women who have a lot of back pain with pregnancy. I have an appt with the physical therapist every friday until I give birth. She only works with women who are pregnant, which is kind of disappointing since I actually like her and I won't be able to go to her after I give birth, but oh well.

Sunday was the day of the baby shower. It was GREAT! I spent a lot of Friday making the cake which was rather disasterous about halfway through because the actual cakes kept breaking and falling apart when we tried to move them...I was seriously about to give up, but of couse I could not do that because gosh darn it, I was going to make it work! Anyway, I finished it at 2 am on Saturday. Then after the physical therapy appt I started working on the pinata. I ended up only doing one layer of paper mache instead of 2 because it took way too long to dry and the cats really enjoyed licking it. Sauce even stepped into the bucket of paste for fun. Anyhow, after losing a spatula into the cavern of the baby's head/neck/stomach, it was all done at around 11:30 Sat night. So on Sunday morning we hung out with Tony's mom and Allison and Allison's friend Desiree until it was time to get ready. My mom came by a little early and we all got to the shower around 12:30. Here's my synopsis of the baby shower: It was soooo great! EVERYTHING was pink! The mayo, the ranch dressing, the punch, the water...everything! Everyone wore leis and couldn't say "baby" and I was the first one to get my lei taken away, no fair! First we ate and chatted. Next Janell had painted a bunch of wooden blocks with brown, pink, and green (the nursery colors) and got a ton of things to decorate them with and then we each got to decorate a building block for baby Embry. It was one of the best baby shower ideas I've ever seen! She took them home to seal them with hodge podge and then I get them back which will be fun cuz I didn't get to see all of them while I was making one of my own. Then we broke open the baby shaped pinata that I made (I think it's hilarious, but I guess it could be offensive to some, so sorry about that). Then we played the 'draw a baby with the paper on your head' game and I picked a winner and the 'matching baby animals to their adult counterparts' game. Then we cut the cake that I made and ate it while I opened presents where I received 4 diaper champs because even though the registry was scanned each time, it was never removed. I have since returned 3 of 4 diaper champs and instead got a baby bathtub, the gift set of 10 Dr Brown's baby bottles and the tiny love mobile. I've been trying to find that mobile but the closest store that has it is in phoenix, so I got it online. Oh and Sarah took belly shots from my blog and matted them on scrapbook paper and posted them on the wall behind the cake. It was such a good idea and I had a lot of fun! I got lots of neat presents for baby Embry and made some good memories. Thank you Sarah for hosting the shower and thanks to everyone who helped out to make it happen and be so special, it really meant a lot to me! Here is a pic of everyone at the shower (minus Kim and baby Haley). My two albums of pics are up on Facebook ... Here and Here.


The following paragraph is graphic, so use your own discretion when reading:
On Tuesday I had an OB appt. It was my first internal exam and she said I've made no progress...that was a bit disappointing since I really thought Embry had moved down a little bit. She did the swab to test for group beta strep and that was nothing to worry about, easier than having an annual done. The internal exam was basically 2 fingers up the who-ha and then the other hand pressing on the pubic bone from the outside. Well that doesn't sound extremely unpleasant (cuz that's what happens at a pap too) but oh my, I wasn't expecting it to be so uncomfortable! I kinda squirmed to begin with and mouthed the words "oh my gosh" and she looked up and said "oh my gosh is right!" Then I went, "geez woman!" and she said, "I'm sorry, I know it must feel like I'm way up in your tonsils, but your cervix is really high." So then she was done and told me that there was no progress and I was disappointed so I asked if Embry had dropped down even a little bit and she goes, "No! You felt that exam, she's way up there!" It was humorous, yet a tad on the depressing side. I've still got 4 weeks left to make progress, so now it's just a waiting game. Can't wait to see my little girl!!!

The OB ended the appt by saying, 'I think you'll be having a November baby.' Embry's heartrate was 156 and my bp was 122/72. I had been a little worried about my bp beforehand because my ankles have been a little swollen since Sat. I've been trying to keep them elevated, but that's hard to do. The OB said it was just normal ankle swelling that comes with the end of pregnancy and nothing to worry about. Now I have appts every week, so the next one is Tues at 2:20 and then we're going in for another ultrasound on Wed, Nov 5th at 1:30. According to the dr's office I've gained a total of 10 lbs since the start and according to my stats I've gained about 3-4 lbs so far. Apparently at this point in the pregnancy the amniotic fluid continues to get absorbed but is no longer produced, so as the baby continues gaining weight, my weight should stay about even until I deliver.

I'm confused about what to be for Halloween. The original idea was to wear a sports bra and pants and paint my midsection like a jack-o-latern, but I am pretty sure people would be offended by having to look at my bare midsection...sooo I might do that but in a modified way, or there is one other idea I'm tossing around, but it might be more complicated to make the outfits. Bah, decisions decisions!

About my other babies, the furbabies, we got all 3 kitties front declawed this week. I cried a number of times about that one, cuz I HATE declawing so much and they're like my kids, but we all got through it ok. The kittens came home the day after their surgery and they seemed to forgive me rather fast and are recovering like champs. Then Saki came home the same day he had is surgery (his was done by laser, apparently easier on older cats, and way more expensive) and he was not pleased. He had ace bandages all the way up to his elbows and he really didn't like those, so we got to take them off this morning. Whoever thought it was a good idea to put sticky stuff directly onto a cat's fur was an idiot. So we took the vet's advice and sprayed the whole bandaid with tons of Pam and it seemed to only pull out about half the fur then instead of all the fur. After a lot of growling, we got the bandaids off and Saki is much happier now, but his arms look like he stuck them in a tub of butter! End of story is, I love them into a million pieces and now they can play freely with their little baby sister Embry, so all is well!

Here are the 36 week belly pics for your enjoyment!