37 Week Update: Shingles Getting Better, GBS Positive, Snapping Noise, Stimulating Labor, and General Life Update.

Ok, so not exactly on time as I expected to be… but still a 37 week post is being made and it is not super late that I am combing it with other weeks. IMPROVEMENT!  Sad part is I wrote most of the post on Thursday and was hoping this would be posted on Thursday. Then it got late and I got tired and never got to it. And here I am being a week late again. Grr.

Anyway, let’s see… ( what really sucks about being late that around midweek I already forget what the heck happened last week… I feel like an old lady or something.)

I weighed myself in the beginning of the week and I was 175. But I have to say my weight has been jumping from day to day. Seriously, I weighed myself 5 days ago I was 175, Wednesday I was 177.6, Thursday morning I was 176, and later in the day I was 178.8. I have no idea… I guess it depends on what and how much I have eaten and drank before stepping on the scale… whether or not I pooped recently probably also plays a role. SORRY TMI AGAIN :)

Ok, so last week… wow… I really don’t remember anything. Okay, well we moved on Memorial Day, so our days have been basically filled with us unpacking things and trying to get our apartment looking like a home. I think one of my hubby’s biggest pet peeves is having boxes laying around, he is really anal about that. He needs to get everything done. And I think only thanks to him we probably have only one more box to go through for the bathroom, one for the kitchen and a bag of clothes to go through ( which mainly will be going to salvation army I am thinking.) So we are doing very well! I remember when I moved into my very first apartment from my small college dorm room, not having that much stuff- boxes were unpacked for months. There’s the difference between me and hubby I guess. But overall I am very happy with our apartment. It’s half a house with washer and dryer in the apartment- which is AMAZING. And we have no neighbors for now which I am loving as well. :)

It was also Zhenya’s birthday last week. 30 years old! It has really been getting to him that he is that old now… he feels like he is a grandpa now :) On the bright side, he definitely does not look 30, and even when I was under 21 and he would order drinks for me in restaurants people would always be shocked by his age. So, I am lucky to have such a hot young Russian looking husband ;)

We went to Applebee’s for his birthday, with our friend Arseniy. Then, when we got home… his gift from his father came in the mail, a new computer monitor… and as he opens it up and attempts to plug it in to try it out- BOOM the power goes out! We had a thunderstorm hit us, bringing down a big tree a few blocks down from us. Basically, we spent the rest of the day walking around our neighborhood, and then huddled over candles. Very romantic evening and of course the power didn’t come back on until 11 pm.

Anyway, kind of off topic, but reliving bits and pieces of last week is actually making me remember what I DID want to talk about in this post as far as pregnancy.

My shingles are better I am happy to say. I haven’t been taking the Percocets for several days already, which I am really glad about. And the days before I would take them ONLY before bed and when I would wake up in the morning, that’s it. Because the pain was still there and like clockwork I would wake up at 4 or 5 am with horrible pain- the pain meds being completely worn off. But luckily during the day I was able to handle it with just Tylenol. Rash is almost gone, it itches a little in that one spot it initially began, but other than that it’s better and pain is  very distant thing now, definitely not how it was, I am SO GLAD. I mean it tortured me for 3 weeks… but I am so glad it is getting better now. Someone recommended me to take B complex vitamins to help the nerves heal faster. I have been doing that so maybe that helped speed things up.

Also now that I am nearing the last weeks of pregnancy I started trying to prepare my body for labor… trying to stimulate labor basically in all natural ways and forms.

Well, since I have been doing this for a week already I guess I can really agree that all these natural methods won’t do crap unless your body is ready. So for all those people frowning upon me starting this at 37 weeks- I am not trying to bring preterm labor (and at this point being full term it won’t be preterm labor.)

But anyway… this is what I have been up to. I have been doing a lot of research on this, as well as discussed this many people who know their stuff as well. I started taking evening primrose oil at 35 weeks I believe, I don’t remember if I mentioned that or not. This is taken orally as well as inserted vaginally. They are small capsules that kinda look like fish oil capsules. Anyway, this is said to help soften and dilate your cervix. It also is said to help strengthen skin and nerves therefore can reduce your chances of tearing during labor. Either way- it is benefiting me if it’s not helping open up my cervix. 

I started drinking red raspberry leaf tea. That can start contractions. Pineapples have enzymes that can stimulate contractions as well. I ate 2 pineapples in 2 days… nothing, LOL. I have also tried nipple stimulation with my electric pump; also it was good for me to see how to use that thing. I read the best way is to do each breast separately for 15 minutes alternating for at least an hour. I have been walking, and going up and down the stairs and doing squats. Also intimacy is supposed to help soften the cervix and bring contractions. Acupressure points… the ones I have read about and tried are the ones on your lower back, inner & outer ankle and the webbed area between the thumb and index finger. I’ve been massaging those a lot too. I think that pretty much sums it up. There are other things that have been recommended to me like black and blue cohosh (still not sure what that is) and castor oil. But for now I am just going to stick with these, and see. Regardless if it doesn’t bring on labor before my due date maybe it will prepare my body at least and make sure I don’t go passed it. I can hope, right?

I’ve also been having I THINK some contractions here and there. The funniest thing is I’ve had them before I actively started doing any of this stuff aside from the evening primrose oil.

I actually had 3 really intense pains one right after  the day before we moved. And had  a few during that night that I remember waking up to but being able to fall asleep, as well as a couple more the morning we moved and the night at our first apartment.  Very weird.

I’ve also been feeling very crampy… as if I am getting my period. As well as a lot of pressure down there giving off into my lady parts, lower back and hips. My midwife said that is what labor should feel like? I mean at this point nothing regular is really going on… so I am not getting too excited… but starting to think maybe my body is slowly preparing and hopefully the day to have baby is drawing closer.

A couple things I forgot to mention from the previous weeks. Baby is moving alright… but he is also snapping. Call me crazy but other mamas  from a mommy group on facebook I posted on have heard this too- so I am NOT crazy :) Like with certain movements I legit hear a snapping/cracking noise within my belly. I’ve read up about this apparently it literally could be baby’s bones just cracking with his movements. That is SO bizarre. And has become such a usual thing now, so so weird!

Also, aside all my other issues the doctor’s have found me GBS positive (the strep B test.) So, yet another thing added to my list of health issues. I know they say it is no problem, they just give you antibiotics during labor… just sucks that everything seems to be going wrong, and yet another thing to worry about.

I think this pretty much sums it up, I won’t even try to promise myself or anyone else to try to be on time with my 38^th week since I am 38 weeks tomorrow but  I will try my best. You would think with me not really working much anymore (since I am in so much pain- to be discussed in my next update) I would have more time to be on top of things. Nope.

I also want to do a post with the baby room and share our recent ultrasound pictures too. My Youtube channel has been on hold because I had some technical difficulties but that is being worked on right now and hopefully I can start posting more videos on there too. Anyway, until next time! Hopefully it will be sooner than later!