Halloween

I think maybe it was the cardiac medication (that I was taking to stop contractions) that was making me sick to my stomach, because today, a day and a half after stopping it - I felt really good! No stomach symptoms at all, had decent energy (until after the halloween party, that is -- see main blog) and felt better than I have in WEEKS. Thank goodness!!! I felt like a real, living breathing, partiicpating human being for much of the day, and the thought actually crossed my mind that "this pregnancy thing's not so bad!" I had energy enough to keep up with the kids at work - did a little hopping, jumping, football throwing, up and down off the floor, the whole she-bang. Keeping up with my OWN children is a little more strenuous task, but... it'd be that way whether I was pregnant or not. So, just for the record, in case you are all as enthralled and absorbed with my pregnancy as much as I am - today was a GOOD DAY over all. It's nice to have one every now and again. Maybe we WILL make it for Grandma Betty's arrival.

Ultrasound

Had an ultrasound this morning. Heart rate: 124 bpm. Estimated weight: 5 pounds, 12 oz. Estimated gestational age: 35 weeks. ( Her head pulled that average up - little legs and abdomen at 34 weeks, but head at 37 weeks :). Maybe she'll be very brainy. ) Those ultrasound techs are pretty tight-lipped about what they're seeing, but from my perspective, everything looked just fine. Her head was so far down that we couldn't see her face, unfortunately, and she's so crammed in there that we could barely make out a distinct body part. So no real pictures to post, as there were none that were so cute we just had to take them. Oh well. We'll be seeing her live and in person soon!

Rob made it home by driving through the night last night. Arrived at 4 am. I was having a very rough night, and he thought that maybe it was "time". No baby today, just continued stomach flu, respiratory cold, and general uterine irritability. Rob asks me "how will we know it's time to go to the hospital?" That's been my question as well. I figure if the contractions get closer and stronger - it's worth the trip in at this point. Otherwise, I'll stay home and deal. They were steady at 4-5 minutes, but didn't progress beyond that all last night. Enough to keep me awake, but not enough for a trip to the hospital. And they quieted down by this morning. So no baby yet, but hubby is safe at home, and we're BOTH ready to be done with my pregnancy!!!!!

Weekly Prenatal Visit

The medicine is doing it's job and keeping things relatively quiet. Yeah! At my doctor's visit, all was well. She told me that I could stop the medication any time I choose (I choose after my husband comes home). I'm measuring small - at 33 weeks when I'm 36 weeks along, and I about fell off the table when the doctor told me what a "small belly" I have. SERIOUSLY???? I can barely fit behind the steering wheel of my car! I'm guessing that the baby has so much room from her big brothers stretching the "dwelling" during their stay in there, that she is able to lie flat and completely sideways instead of pooching out, and that explains everything. Anyways, it gets me another ultrasound - so, stay tuned for more pictures on Thursday! Down three pounds from last week, which confirms the "big wool sweater" theory of weight gain from last visit. Thank goodness. So, we're truckin' right along! Three weeks at the MOST to go!

36 weeks

Yeah! We made it to full-term! Little girl can now officially be born locally if she decides to come at any point between now and the 17th of November! WOOHOO. I'm still taking the medicine for an additional week, just to ensure that my husband is present for his daughter's birth (he's currently out of town on business), but otherwise it's all systems go! I spent alot of time on my feet yesterday trick-or-treating with the boys, and was having contractions throughout, but SUPRISINGLY they stopped once I got home! Of course, my sacroiliac joint was WAYYYY out of whack, causing a 2" leg length discrepancy and severe back pain - but it was nothing a few mobilizations from my well-trained husband couldn't at least partially fix (eventually). Today's new complaint - you knew I'd have one - is the stomach flu. YUCK. Luckily, Rob took the boys to church in the morning, and my in-laws are watching them this afternoon, leaving me to rest in peace and discomfort alone most of the day. I would absolutely hate to have two 4 year olds with the stomach flu in the house while 36 week pregnant and my husband out of town. I've been very careful not to breathe on them. I'm feeling somewhat better this afternoon, so hopefully it's just a 24 hour bug, and we can all resume normal life tomorrow. We need to get this family well before bringing a newborn into the house.

Renewed Hope

I have new hope. I took it basically easy all day long yesterday. Paid bills, folded laundry, played scrabble on-line, typed some things up, went through baby clothes, and crocheted a hat for little Reagan. Crock-pot for dinner, so over-all very little "up on feet" activity. And guess what? QUIET UTERUS! Most all day! That's the first full day without significant irritation in what... a week? Wow.... maybe this baby will hold out for Rob to get home next week. My husband said "see what happens when you're a good girl?" By gum, we might just make it!

Another Prenatal Visit

Saw the doctor again yesterday. I am gaining weight like NOBODY's business, prompting the doctor to ask if I am swelling or retaining water. Some, I think, but NOT 4 pounds worth! Then it occurred to me - I was wearing a heavy, very large (pregnancy sized) wool sweater. "It's the sweater! It's the sweater!" I told her. The weather is turning cold now.... I'd come to other visits in tee-shirts and shorts... now pants, turtlenecks and wool sweaters! She bought it, at least this time:). Baby, on the other hand, is measuring small (go figure - I feel enormous), so she scheduled another ultrasound for next week. I told her fine by me! I love getting a glimpse of my little girl! Makes her seem more real. The contractions are persistent and annoying, I am on the cardiac med around the clock now to slow them down. Last night from 1-4 am I thought "This is IT! They are 2 minutes apart and strong! It's the real thing!" Then I fell asleep, and when I woke at 6 am this morning, there wasn't a baby lying in my bed, so I'm assuming it WASN'T the real thing. I am pretty much useless at this point. If I try ANYTHING active, my uterus goes into spasm. I had a great morning yesterday, so went in to work, just for an open house, where I was only sitting. Came home, rested, went to the boys' preschool parent meeting (where I also sat the entire time), and by about 7:30 or so.... bammo. 1-4 minutes apart. It makes me nervous for when Rob is out of town next week. We've had MANY loooooonnnnggg discussions about how I do NOT want to be alone (or with anyone besides HIM) for this baby's birth. He promises me, if I go into labor, he will do all that is humanly possible to get home. The preschool, by some miracle, offers free respite care for special circumstances, and the boys' teacher put in a request for someone to come play with the boys after school until bedtime every day next week until Rob comes home, just to make sure I rest and keep the baby internal! WOW. She said they'd even cook the boys dinner. That is amazing to me. And a big relief. I've cut waaaayyyy back at work, and am an extremely unreliable employee at the moment. I feel guilty about that, but, what to do? After next week, if the baby wants to come, then fine. But until then, she's got to stay put, and it seems like that's getting to be a more and more challenging task. The doctor seemed highly skeptical that we'd make it that long. She said "Monica, one of these times, one of us on call is just going to say 'enough already' and do the C-section.' Yes. Let's just hope that happens when Rob's around. Oh, and the doctor's other official guess.... 5 pounds 4 ounces. We'll see how close she is when we have the ultrasound next week.

Short little Trip

Spent the afternoon at the hospital rather than at work. Contractions just would not stop, despite medication. The doctor doesn't seem all that concerned at this point, and says to stop the medication alogether after next week. The only reason, according to her, that we're even bothering to slow things down is that we live in a small town whose pediatricians like to work on babies 36 weeks and older, rather than 35 weeks. The contractions got as close as 30-60 seconds apart for about a half an hour or so, and spaced to about 3-5 minutes apart with a double dose of medication by the time she sent me home. My question is.... if ONE minute apart and really strong isn't real labor, HOW THE HECK AM I SUPPOSED TO KNOW WHEN IT'S THE REAL THING?????? If 3-5 minutes apart is "go ahead and go home", then I'm clueless as to when it's appropriate to go IN to the hospital. Especially since I'm supposed to have a C-section, and a "team" needs to be assembled before delivery -- I would just like to know how to tell when I need to go to the hospital, and when I should just stay home and "hack" these contractions that don't appear to be causing any dilation. My clue used to be "if they get stronger and closer together", but apparently, that doesn't seem to be it, either. So, really, I guess when the baby starts coming out on her own, I'll know it's the real thing, tell her politely to stop because the hospital doesn't allow her to be born by that route, and then procede to check myself in for surgery. Do I sound crabby? Yes. Crabby.

35 Weeks

Little girl is supposed to be well over 5 pounds now, and essentially fully developed organ-wise. From here on out, it's just a matter of getting bigger and fatter. I feel ready to explode, and can't imagine an additional month of growing at this rate. This is the first time I have been pregnant this long! Grocery shopping in Walmart was exhausting this morning. Coming up here, ostensibly to pick up the boys' room, exhausted me so that I am now "resting" at the computer, trying to get the energy to pick my carcas up again and do some housework. I am getting regular 6-12 minute contractions virtually every night, so my medication is becoming part of the evening routine, to calm things down before bed. Once she hits 36 weeks, and I can deliver locally instead of 2 hours away (where there's a NICU) -- I'm not taking the medicine anymore. If she wants to come at that point, then by gum... you just come, little girl! It would be nice to wait for Grandma Betty, but I'm not about to hold things off for another month just because of a visit:). I think I just cursed myself into this baby waiting until the very last second to come. At least she CAN'T be overdue, with a scheduled C-section in the works....

I am feeling more and more ready for her arrival, even though there's LOTS I'd like to get done first. Having the nursery at least basically ready is a huge relief. I need to bone up on my baby-rearing reading, as I think I've forgotten alot in the past four years. She'll train me quick, I'm sure. The boys were such EASY babies (not that they haven't made up for it since), that I'm a little nervous about this one. At church today there was a little 4 month old girl wearing the same outfit that my mom sent for Reagan. She smiled at Rob and I the entire service, and we both just said "WEIRD. We're going to have one of those soon!" Crazy crazy crazy.

When I am no longer pregnant, I am going to sleep on my stomach and JUMP and do somersaults, just because I CAN. I will lean over to pick things up off the floor with ease. I will stand up to put my pants on, and I will have a margarita. THIS IS MY PLAN.

We're getting ready for you, baby!!

Crib - check
Dresser - check
Mattress, Bumper, Quilt - check
7 pairs of shoes - check check check check check check check

One baby.... still missing :)

Surprise package from Grandma!

Grandma Betty sent a surprise package from her and Aunt Kelli today!!! Oh, the pink! Oh, the purple! Oh the adorable polka-dotted shoes!!!!! Hard to believe there will be a baby to fill those clothes soon!!!

34 Weeks

A little comparison.... Here's this baby at 34 weeks:

.... and here' s Quinn and Colby at 34 weeks.

The baby's supposed to be well over 4 3/4 pounds now (the weight of the average cantaloupe), and over 18 inches long. Fatigue is still the order of the day, and I have to seriously consider if walking over to the phone to answer it is worth the effort now. I keep trying to do "everything I'd normally do", but I seem to definitely pay for it afterwards.... I did have to take medicine to stop the contractions from coming 4 minutes apart last night. BUT --- there IS medicine that does the trick, so I am very fortunate. Hiking in the woods yesterday with four young children wasn't probably the smartest thing a person could do when 8 months pregnant (see entry under Essentially Aho), but DANG IT - it was a beautiful day, and I didn't want to miss it!!! I have far too vivid memories of 9 months of winter to sit inside. So for now, all is well but easily irritated, and I am TRYING to be good, but obviously not all that hard...

33 Weeks

Had another prenatal visit today, and the doctor guessed the baby was about 4 pounds. She is currently stretched out sideways, and today I can feel her literally resting on top of my pelvic bones, straight out from side to side. I feel the top of her head on my right pelvis, and her little feet poking out above my left pelvis. Weird. That was the big "change" of the week - I feel body parts now, not just miscellaneous squishiness in my belly. HUGE growth spurt for both of us -- 4 pounds since last visit!!! I feel every ounce of it. I knew that would be the result of stepping on the official scale. Gravity just seems to pull on me more and more lately :). My belly now requires two pillows at night instead of just one - making for a grand total of 5 pillows required per sleeping session - two under the belly, one between the legs, one behind the back, and - oh yeah - one under the head. It has been such a PRODUCTION positioning to go to sleep lately. And there's six more weeks to go! Oh no!

Contractions have been under control, thankfully, and I am still considered a "normal pregnancy" (my doctor showed me the billing code and said "SEE! Still a normal pregnancy!" YEAH!) All is well, just uncomfortable, large and... typical!

More Photos of our little girl

Her little baby face, hiding behind her arm


I suppose the bright side about going into pre-term labor is that it necessitates another ultrasound. It's been 12 weeks since we got to see her last, and I've been so curious about what she looks like! Not that these ultrasound pictures help all THAT much, but at least I feel like we get to catch a glimpse. The whole family was there for this ultrasound, and I have to say that - despite the hype and the anticipation - the boys were THOROUGHLY uninterested in seeing their sister. Maybe because she didn't look like much more than static to them. They kept wanting the ultrasound screen to play cartoons. Oh well. Colby did ask to see her heart repeatedly. Don't know why, but the ultrasound tech was more than happy to point it out to him. She will be real enough to all of us in the very near future!!! Now that she's so much bigger, it's hard to see more than one or two body parts at a time. And she had her arm in front of her face for most of the procedure. Maybe she's just camera shy.

Doing crunches in-utero: nose to knee!