Miracle in the Making

He Has Arrived!!

Due Date Doctors Appointment

So as I mentioned yesterday I was given two different due dates (9/14 and 9/15 – wow, big difference right) well today was/is due date #2 and my doctors office insisted I schedule an appointment on my due date for a nonstress test, ultrasound and weekly check up.

We arrive and get started with the ultrasound, it was just a quick, maybe 10 minute long, ultrasound to check the baby’s heart, kidneys, stomach, bladder and amniotic fluid level – everything checked out perfectly!

They didn’t print pictures of this ultrasound but Alex took one with his phone. It’s a little hard to make out because it’s so zoomed in on the ultrasound screen but it’s a picture of his head.

Next we moved on to the weekly vitals check.

- My weight: 167.6

- Blood pressure: 120/80
- Baby’s heart rate: 140 bpm
- Dilation: 2 cm

After that we went in for the NST (nonstress test). It was a tough test let me tell you! I had to lay there for 20 minutes AND drink a strawberry juice box! LOL!

NST photo and description

Finally we had our visit with the doctor (midwife this time). She went over all the test results and said everything looked perfect! She measured my belly and checked my cervix. She said I was dilated 2 centimeters (so pretty much no change in the past 2 weeks). Then she did a procedure called membrane sweeping. So far I have had no signs/symptoms/side affects that the membrane sweep worked/will work, I haven't even had any of the uncomfortable side affects she said I would probably have weather it worked or not, guess I'm lucky...or not, I'm not really sure. lol She did say that the tests I had done today were scheduled too early and that they don't normally do them ON your due date so I'm not sure why they had me schedule this appointment in the first place. She wants the tests re-done on Monday, IF I'm still pregnant, I told her I would be. lol So my next appointment is scheduled for 9/20, just one day shy of 41 weeks, we will see what the next 5 days holds for us.

Wordless Wednesday

A nonstress test is a simple, painless procedure in which a baby's heartbeat is continuously monitored for 20 minutes or more and the details are recorded for evaluation. The logic behind the test is, that like adults, a baby's heartbeat should accelerate when it is active i.e. moving and kicking.

40 Weeks

(All photos are clickable) (Above photos courtesy of http://www.babycenter.com/)

Baby:

- He has now reached his due date!! He can really come ANY time now!
- The average newborn weighs about 7 1/2 pounds (a small pumpkin) and is about 20 inches long.
- His skull bones are not yet fused, which allows them to overlap a bit if it's a snug fit through the birth canal during labor. This so-called "molding" is the reason your baby's noggin may look a little conehead-ish after birth. Rest assured — it's normal and temporary.

Mom:

- Yes, we are STILL waiting. After months of anticipation, our due date rolls around, and...I’m STILL pregnant.
- I was originally given two due dates (at two different times), the first date was 9/14 - today, (later confirmed by ultrasound) and the second date was 9/15. I didn’t really think much of it because they were just one day apart, no big deal. I had been considering Tuesday’s as the day my weeks “switch over” so today, Tuesday 9/14, is the original/official “due date”.
- I have an appointment tomorrow (9/15) for another check up, an ultrasound and a nonstress test to see how things are doing in there and weather I can/should continue being pregnant or if it’s better to be induced. My doctor’s office will let me go 10 days past my due date before inducing as long as everything is happy and healthy with mom and baby. So in theory I could still be pregnant up until September 25!! Ahhhh, that’s seems so crazy!!
- He’s still squirming around in there, as much as he can anyway.
- Still swollen but still no signs of preeclampsia.
- The skin on my stomach is sooo stretched out that it actually feels like my skin is ripping in order to accommodate his ever growing body, very painful!

 



39 Weeks

(All photos are clickable) (Above photos courtesy of http://www.babycenter.com/)

Baby:

- Baby measures about 20 inches and weighs a bit over 7 pounds, a mini watermelon. (Boys tend to be slightly heavier than girls.)
- He continues to build a layer of fat to help control his body temperature after birth.
- The outer layers of his skin are sloughing off as new skin forms underneath.

Mom:

- Not much has changed here…still waiting.
- He’s still trying to move up a storm in there although now he seems cramped up when trying to do his bigger movements.
- Still swollen but still no signs of preeclampsia.
- I’m officially finished working for the next 10 weeks!!
- My weight: 165lbs at my last doctor appointment on 9/10.
-Blood pressure: 121/82
- Baby’s heart rate: 145 bpm
- Dilation: No change, still between 1-2 cm
- Will we make it to our 40 week appointment???

38 Weeks

(All photos are clickable) (Above photos courtesy of http://www.babycenter.com/)

Baby:

- Baby weighs about 6.8 pounds and he's over 19 1/2 inches long (like a leek).
- He has really plumped up.
- He has a firm grasp, which we'll soon be able to test when we hold his hand for the first time.
- His organs have matured and are ready for life outside the womb.

Mom:

- We are playing the waiting game. Waiting, waiting, waiting…
- I still have a cold that’s making it difficult to breathe…and sleep!
- He’s still moving up a storm in there!
- The swelling in my feet/legs/arms/hands/face is still going on. The doctors assure us that it’s quite normal and there are no signs pointing to preeclampsia.
- This coming week is my last week at work! Woo Hoo!
- My weight: 164lbs at my last doctor appointment on 9/2.
-Blood pressure: 113/68
- Baby’s heart rate: 138 bpm
- Measuring 39 weeks
- Dilation: Between 1-2 cm – I was excited to hear this news until the doctor told us that people can stay at this stage for a month with no change. At least we know we won’t be waiting another month before the big arrival!

 For Fun: 

 

Wordless Wednesday

So it says I’m OBEASE instead!!!! LOL

37 Weeks

(All photos are clickable) (Above photos courtesy of http://www.babycenter.com/)

Baby:

- Baby is now considered "full term," even though my due date is still three weeks away.
- Baby weighs 6 1/3 pounds and measures a bit over 19 inches, head to heel (like a stalk of Swiss chard – eww, whatever that is).
- Many babies have a full head of hair at birth, with locks from 1/2 inch to 1 1/2 inches long.

Mom:

- They say the Braxton Hicks contractions should be coming more frequently now and may last longer and be more uncomfortable but mine seem to be back tracking. I had a day and a half where I had painful contractions all day but now they seem to be easing up. I still have them but they usually aren’t painful or as frequent as before. This may sound a little strange but I would rather have the contractions be painful/uncomfortable because I felt like they were doing something, making progress towards the big arrival or something. I do feel more “period” like cramping pains more often now though.
- It is harder than ever to get comfortable enough to sleep well (or at all) at night.
- I currently have a cold so that doesn’t help the sleeping situation. When I lay down I can’t breathe through my nose! No fun!!
- Lots of big belly rumbling movements going on in there!
- Apparently I’m looking “ready to pop any minute” because anytime we go somewhere it never fails that someone is going to ask when I’m due and seem a little surprised to hear I still have a few more weeks.
- The swelling in my feet is still pretty painful but I try not to let it stop me from doing things.
- So far there have been NO signs of preeclampsia! Woo Hoo!! – I had to be induced at 37 weeks last time due to preeclampsia.
- I recently saw the perfect facebook status to describe the end of pregnancy, it said, “I feel like a ticking time bomb” and it is so true!! The unknown of when it will happen is so strange! To think it could happen at any time no matter what is going on.
- Our current “normal” will soon be gone forever and we will be searching for our “new normal”.
- My weight: 160lbs at my last doctor appointment on 8/27.
-Blood pressure: 112/77
- Baby’s heart rate: 145 bpm
- Measuring 37 weeks

  

Other News:

- My work had a casual baby shower for me on Monday. Apparently this shower was canceled a few times before due to people unable to attend and then I was in the hospital so it finally happened this week. It was nice.

- We are pretty much ready for his big arrival! Clothes are washed and put away, bags are packed (almost – mine isn’t finished but its just stuff I use everyday that hasn’t been packed yet), the room is almost complete, the last few things don’t really need to be completed before his arrival because he isn’t even going to be sleeping (or spending much time) in there in the beginning. Now we are just waiting, waiting, waiting.

36 Weeks

(All photos are clickable) (Above photos courtesy of http://www.babycenter.com/)

Baby:

- We've reached the last month/block on our baby-gaga counter at the top!!
- Baby now weighs almost 6 pounds (like a crenshaw melon -whatever that is) and is more than 18 1/2 inches long.
- He is still packing on the pounds — at the rate of about an ounce a day.
- He's shedding most of the downy covering of hair that covered his body as well as the vernix caseosa, the waxy substance that covered and protected his skin during the nine-month amniotic bath.
- At the end of this week, he will be considered full-term. (Full-term is 37 to 42 weeks; babies born before 37 weeks are pre-term and those born after 42 are post-term.).

Mom:

- This week has been quiet eventful. I stopped taking the Procardia last weekend and what happens on Tuesday (the day I turned 36 weeks) TONS of contractions! Not just the painless Braxton hicks kind either, these were definitely different and painful!
- The painful contractions continued ALL DAY on Wednesday too. There was no real pattern to them so I didn’t do anything about them and just kept on working. Funny thing about the contractions is they seem to come when I’m sitting/resting and go away when I am more active. I always thought it was going to be the other way around.
- He is still moving around like crazy. Sometimes his movements are so strong they are actually a bit painful.
- I’m still not sleeping that well (or much at all) even though I’m not waking up every few hours to take the medication. It’s quite difficult to get comfortable and to switch sides and to try and stay off your back.
- The swelling in my feet is getting pretty painful now. It feels like the skin on my feet is stretching so much I can feel it tearing (graphically disgusting, I know) and I have little red, painful stretch mark spots on my feet. ewww
- My weight: 159lbs at my last doctor appointment on 8/19.
-Blood pressure: 118/76
- Baby’s heart rate: 148 bpm
- Measuring 37 weeks

35 Weeks

(All photos are clickable) (Above photos courtesy of http://www.babycenter.com/)

Baby:

- Baby is now about 18 inches long and tips the scales at 5 1/4 pounds (a honeydew melon).
- He doesn't have much room to maneuver now and because he’s so snug in there, he isn't likely to be doing somersaults anymore, but the number of times he kicks should remain about the same.
- His kidneys are fully developed now, and his liver can process some waste products.
- Most of his basic physical development is now complete — he'll spend the next few weeks putting on weight.

Mom:

- I had the Group B strep test done at my doctor appointment this week; we will get the results next week.
- His movements are pretty steady, he has periods where he is very active for what seems like forever then he just goes to sleep for a bit. When he’s being super active I wonder what he’s doing in there. lol
- The contractions are the same. Sometimes I will have a bunch within a short time then I’ll only have 3-4 the rest of the day. There is no rhyme or reason to them…yet.
- The doctor said I can start weaning off the Procardia so I’m totally off of it by 36 weeks (next Tuesday). Yay, no more waking up several times throughout the night to take it!!
- The swelling in my feet is pretty constant now, they don't go down by morning like they once did. The doctor said it's normal so I'm not worried about it.
- My weight: 155 lbs at my last doctor appointment on 8/12.
-Blood pressure: 117/78
- Baby’s heart rate: 155 bpm
- Measuring 36 1/2 weeks

Other News:

- I was surprised with TWO baby showers this week! Once I get the pictures from everyone I’ll put them up.
- Alex started reading The Bradley Method of Natural Childbirth - Husband Coached Childbirth book. From what he has told me so far it sounds like it is definitely worth a try!
- The jungle nursery is coming along. Only a few finishing touches left to do, not including finding a dresser (see below). Once it's finished I’ll do a nursery post with before, during and after pictures.
- We are still in search of a dresser/changing table. I finally decided on the style I want, I just don’t want to pay an arm and a leg for it. lol

Photo Notes:

- OMG, my face looks HUGE in this picture! This is the first time I've looked at this picture and OMG is all I can say!!
- Those bruises on my are are still there from almost 3 weeks ago when I was in the hospital.

36 Hour Hospital Stay

36 Hour Hospital Stay

(This is super long so I’ll break it up with pictures of our stay.)

(I'm also super late getting this up, it happened almost 3 weeks ago on 7/25.)

It started out as just another normal Sunday…we got up, went to church, went to Toys R’ Us to get a birthday present, came home, Alex left for work and I left for a birthday party said present was for.

I had a great time at the party; I talked with great people, ate great food, played with great kids, and watched everyone swim. At around 8pm I decided to leave because I had a 40 minute drive home, I had some laundry to do and I had to work in the morning.

As I’m walking out of the house and to my car Lisa (an awesome sister-in-law) mentions that it’s weird that I’m leaving alone and going home to be alone all night (Alex was working over night) and that it just had a weird feeling and it didn’t seem right. I assured her that I was used to it and that I would be fine. I proceed to leave and begin my drive home.

I am about 10-15 minutes from my house and I turn onto the last main road (we live in the middle of nowhere so a “main” road around here is usually pretty desolate with minimum traffic) that will take me to my neighborhood. There is a truck in front of me that stops to make a left hand turn and has to wait for some oncoming traffic to pass before making his turn so I’m stopped and waiting and talking to Alex on the phone. I look up into my rear view mirror and see a car barreling towards with no signs of stopping. At this point I know they are going to run right into the back of me but I had no where to go, there were cars driving on the left, a truck in front of me and a huge corn field on my right (told you we live in the middle of no where) leaving no where to go. Then BAM they ran into me! I was still on the phone with Alex at this point and I calmly said to him, “someone just ran into the back of me”. I pulled over to the side of the road and got out to check out my car, not too much damage, a scarred up bumper with some missing paint and some extra red paint on it (my car isn’t red). I looked back towards the other car (an older Volvo) and was painted with SPRAY PAINT, the entire car was spray painted (black, red, silver, you name it and it was probably there)!

There was a young guy, two girls and a little dog walking around picking up the pieces that had fallen off their car (well not the dog of course). Luckily my car was bigger than theirs so they had most of the damage, part of their bumper was on the ground, they had a broken and hanging out head light/blinker light, the front metal thing (official car part terminology) was also on the ground. The guy seemed nice enough and asked how I was and if there was any damage to my car. I wasn’t so happy about the whole situation so I said, “Yes, there’s scratches and red paint all over my bumper and obviously I don’t have a red car!” I was in no mood to make small talk; I was on my way home and had things to do, not to mention I was almost 33 weeks pregnant, not something you want to happen during pregnancy, or any other time for that matter!

I was still on the phone with Alex so I asked him what information I needed to gather and if I needed to call the police to file a report. He said I needed to check with my insurance company about the police report so I called them and they said I wouldn’t need a report. I began writing all the insurance and drivers license information down when Alex asked how my belly was doing and that’s when I noticed my belly was getting hard and staying hard for longer than it ever had before (longer than a normal Braxton Hicks contraction). So Alex promptly called his supervisor (who had just left his station) and she came back so he could leave and come to me. He got there and a police officer showed up also, maybe the other guy called or someone passing by, I’m not sure. I handed my information over to the police officer and I went back to sit in my car because of my hardening stomach. It was getting hard and staying hard for what seemed like a few minutes then it would soften back up only to get hard again. That’s when Alex thought it would be a good idea to go to the hospital to get checked out just to make sure everything was ok with the baby (also, if we didn’t we would think every little pain or strain was something wrong). So Alex went back to the police officer and collected the information I had given him and told him we were going to the hospital. I drove my car a few feet down the road and parked it in a gravel patch and got into Alex’s car.

Again, we live in the middle of nowhere so it was a 45 minute drive to the hospital. Once we got there I got checked in and we were taken back to a triage room where they asked a bunch of questions and assessed me and the baby. I had to give a urine sample, change into a lovely hospital gown and they hooked me up to the fetal heart/contraction monitor, which was cool because we got to listen to the baby’s heart beat the whole time! The first nurse I had came in and said I was dehydrated and needed IV fluids (uuuggghhhh) I hate IV’s, blood draws and anything that involves needles going into MY body!!!

The first nurse sent another nurse in to draw blood for some tests and start the IV. We were discussing my extreme dislike of this process so the nurse said she would only stick me once and draw the blood off the same stick. No one can guarantee they will only have to stick you ONCE and no one should ever make that promise! She goes for my right hand (first) and ends up getting it in and is able to draw the blood but then something went terribly wrong and she had to take it out and my hand began blowing up with a HUGE, painful hematoma! Ugh, she would have to do it AGAIN for the IV! She looked further up my arm for her next attempt but didn’t see anything she “liked” so she moved on to my left hand/arm. She ended up getting the IV in the wrist area of my left arm, which in the end that spot didn’t even bruise. They started the fluids and brought me some water to drink. All of this fluid going into me had me using the bathroom every hour, which wasn’t easy in a hospital gown, with an IV stand and two monitor cords to keep track of and not trip over (luckily Alex helped me each time)!

Shift change came shortly after we arrived so I only had the first nurse for a short time then I got a new nurse and she was nice too, they were all nice actually (only one was overbearing but she was the last one I had right before going home). So nurse number two comes in and catches up on everything. She tells us that I’m having 5-7 contractions every 10 minutes and asks if any of them are noticeable or painful. I was noticing some of them but not 5-7 every 10 minutes and they weren’t painful. An ultrasound lady came in too. Everything looked good on the ultrasound and we got another picture of the little monkey!

Finally, after shift change, I saw an actual doctor, he asked me if another doctor came in to see me (before shift change) and I told him no and that they kept saying she was coming in to check me but never did. He was nice though, we liked him. He said the blood work came back normal but he didn’t like the volume of contractions I was having and wanted them stopped completely before sending me home so they were going to give me an injection to try to stop them. Before the injection they had to pull more blood for more blood work, I guess they didn’t order enough tests or the right test the first time.

This time I had a different lady drawing the blood and let me just say I liked the first lady much better, even with her mishap!! This lady must have been digging for gold in my arm; it was SOOO painful and of course she didn’t get it on the first try either, she was in and out in and out in and out. She finally gave up on that spot and had to go in again in a different spot and again PAIN!!! I had tears streaming down my face from this lady! Alex had a tissue and was wiping my tears but couldn’t keep up with the streams. lol Finally she got what she needed, she felt really bad about the whole thing but really there was nothing anyone could do, the damage was done. I got up to go to the bathroom again and came back to her fixing my bed and bringing me another pillow, I guess that was her way of making up for the trauma she caused. lol

Then nurse number two came in to give me the injection. She said it would make my heart race and I would feel like I was running a marathon, and it did. The affects of this injection only lasted for 15 minutes; once it wore off I was freezing - teeth chattering, body shivering FREEZING! Alex began covering me up with blankets and nurse number two brought warmed blankets. Nurse number two checked the monitors and apparently the injection didn’t do what they wanted it to do because she said I was back to having a lot of contraction again and would talk to the doctor and see what he wanted to do next.

By this time the contractions were starting to get worse, I was noticing all of them and they began to get painful. They started feeling like mild period cramps then they progressed to moderate period cramps. In the grand scheme of labor I know that isn’t “painful” but since I wasn’t supposed to be in labor and didn’t want to have a baby at 33 weeks it was more than I wanted to be experiencing at that time.

Next they decided to start me on a medication called Procardia. They had me take one pill every hour for a few hours then they increased the dose to two pills every six hours then they increased it again to every four hours. Apparently that is the maximum dose given as close together as it can be given. The medication makes me feel weird. I get super dizzy, I get the sudden feeling of “I’m going to vomit” without warning then the feeling goes away just as quickly as it came on, it makes my skin get really red and feel like it’s radiating heat, almost like I have a sunburn but I don’t. And because I was on it every four hours my body would cycle through all the crazy side affects then it was time for the next dose already.

Nurse number two left us alone to try and get some sleep because by this time it was late night/early morning (however you want to look at the wee o’clock hours when no one is supposed to be awake). Needless to say we didn’t sleep; my bed cushions kept sliding apart and weren’t very cushiony (if that’s even a word) so we watched TV, played cards and cracked ourselves up as only we can do in the most random of situations.

At around 5am Monday morning nurse number two came in and said I was finally being admitted for 24 hour observation. What had they been doing the previous 7 hours I was there?? I guess after finally regulating the medication they wanted to monitor me for 24 hours.

Another nurse (number three) came to move us from triage to labor and delivery. OMG this bed was sooo much more comfortable than the triage bed!! She also gave me the next dose of medicine and said shift change was in two hours and I would be getting another nurse but to call her if we needed anything. Since the sun was already up we still didn’t sleep.

We spent the day listening to the baby’s heart beat, watching the contraction monitor, watching TV, playing cards, eating and making the most of the unexpected day off together in the hospital. Each time a nurse would come in they would seem all concerned about the frequency of contractions and each time a doctor would come in they would downplay the contractions so we didn’t really know what to make of it. I was only feeling them every once in a while and they weren’t painful or uncomfortable but the monitor was picking up more than I was feeling and I guess the nurse was concerned about the amount. Monday evening Alex’s Mom and two of his sisters came to visit as well as my aunt and uncle.

Around midnight the overnight nurse (number 5) came in to give me the next dose of medication and offer something to help me sleep since I hadn’t slept since Saturday night and it was now the middle of the night on Monday. By this time I was overly tired, having a hard time with everything that had happened and didn’t know what to do with myself so I reluctantly took what she had to offer (Ambien), they said it was safe to take but I still didn’t like the idea. I was able to get to sleep though and didn’t even wake up each time someone came into my room to check the monitors, I didn’t wake up until it was time for my next medication dose then I promptly went right back to sleep after taking it.

The Tuesday day nurse (number 6) woke me up to get acquainted with my situation, give me more medication and re-position the monitors. She was a little over bearing and I don’t think she liked the fact that Alex was helping me get to and from the bathroom. She seemed to have the attitude that she was the nurse and she should be helping her patient.

By this point we had completed our required 24 hour observation period and we wanted to know what the plan was. We kept requesting to see the doctor and the nurse kept saying she was very busy and would be in sometime between now (8am) and 7pm that evening. We were expecting to be discharged that morning and if everything was ok we didn’t want to end up staying until sometime that evening!

The doctor finally came in to see us and basically said they were sending me home on the Procardia “for my comfort”. Um, what? I never said I was uncomfortable even when the contractions were noticeable and period cramp like. She also said that medication to stop labor didn’t always work that well and that if it worked for me fine and if it didn’t that was fine too. She also implied that she was comfortable delivering a baby at 34 weeks (which I turned that day) and that babies born that early can do just fine and would just have to stay in the hospital for a little while. Excuse me!?! My baby is NOT staying in the hospital because YOU decided it wasn’t a big deal! After that encouraging conversation the doctor left and the nurse said she would be in with my discharge papers. A short time later the nurse returned with the papers, went over the side affects of the medication (which I had already been experiencing) and things to watch for once returning home. I signed all the papers, got my IV out (painfully!), got unhooked from the monitors, got changed, packed up our things and we were out of there!

HOME SWEET HOME!!

34 Weeks

(All photos are clickable) (Above photos courtesy of http://www.babycenter.com/)

Baby:

- Baby now weighs about 4 3/4 pounds (like your average cantaloupe) and is almost 18 inches long.
- His fat layers — which will help regulate his body temperature once he's born — are filling him out and making him rounder.
- His skin is also smoother than ever.
- His central nervous system is maturing and his lungs are continuing to mature as well. *Actually his lungs are already matured due to the steroid injections they gave me when I was in the hospital a few weeks ago.

Mom:

- They say by this week fatigue has probably set in again. I think my sleepiness is due to having to wake up every 5 hours around the clock to take the procardia (used to stop contractions) the doctors put me on while in the hospital.
- He is still very active in there which is a good thing! They say an active baby is a happy baby!
- Still having contractions (even on the medicine that is supposed to help stop them) but they aren’t bad.
- The doctor started my weekly appointments a week early due to being on the procardia so I went again this week.
- My weight: 155 lbs at my last doctor appointment on 8/4.
-Blood pressure: 118/80
- Baby’s heart rate: 148 bpm
- Still measuring 36 weeks
- No picture this week because I kept forgetting to have one taken. :(

33 Weeks

(All photos are clickable) (Above photos courtesy of http://www.babycenter.com/)

Baby:

- This week baby weighs a little over 4 pounds (heft a pineapple) and has passed the 17-inch mark.
- He's rapidly losing that wrinkled, alien look and his skeleton is hardening.
- The bones in his skull aren't fused together, which allows them to move and slightly overlap, thus making it easier for him to fit through the birth canal. These bones don't entirely fuse until early adulthood, so they can grow as his brain and other tissue expands during infancy and childhood.

Mom:

- Feeling some achiness and even numbness in my fingers, wrists, and hands. Like many other tissues in your body, those in your wrist can retain fluid, which can increase pressure in the carpal tunnel, a bony canal in your wrist. Nerves that run through this "tunnel" may end up pinched, creating numbness; tingling, shooting or burning pain; or a dull ache.
- He is still very active in there. Other people (other than Alex and Tim) have gotten to see and feel his movements and are fascinated by him.
- Still having back pain and nerve pinching back pain. I guess that’s going to be the new normal until the end, it’s not too bad most of the time.
- The Braxton Hicks contractions are still occurring, also a new normal until the end.
- My weight: 154 lbs at my last doctor appointment on 7/30.
-Blood pressure: 110/75
- Baby’s heart rate: 150 bpm
- Measuring 36 weeks pregnant, (3 weeks bigger!). They said if I measure 3 weeks bigger again they will schedule another ultrasound to see exactly how big he is.

- Post 36 hour hospital stay hence the appearance and burses on the arm.

Wordless Wednesday

Details coming soon…

32 Weeks

(All photos are clickable) (Above photos courtesy of http://www.babycenter.com/)

Baby:

- Baby weighs 3.75 pounds (a large jicama) and is about 16.7 inches long, taking up a lot of space in your uterus.
- I should be gaining about a pound a week and roughly half of that goes right to baby.
- He’ll gain a third to half of his birth weight during the next 7 weeks as he fattens up for survival outside the womb.
- He now has toenails, fingernails, and real hair (or at least respectable peach fuzz).
- His skin is becoming soft and smooth as he plumps up in preparation for birth.

Mom:

- My blood volume has increased 40 to 50 percent since getting pregnant.
- I think he's running out of room in there, when he moves he shakes my entire stomach! I don't know how he's going to find room in there over the next 8 weeks!
- Still having the foot/ankle swelling, it’s still worse on my left side, my entire leg/ankle/foot is bigger than the right one – they said it’s nothing to worry about though.
- Still having back pain along with a nerve pinching back pain every so often – that’s getting more frequent and consistent. It occurs more with increased activity.
- The Braxton Hicks contractions seem to be becoming a daily event and are beginning to push the limits of the doctor recommended “no more than 4 within an hour” rule.
- My weight: 153 lbs according to the wii.

Other News:

- The jungle is coming along nicely!
- We had our hospital tour this week. I enjoyed seeing the hospital setup and where we will be in just a few short weeks.
- One more childbirth class left to go!

31 Weeks

(All photos are clickable) (Above photos courtesy of http://www.babycenter.com/)

Baby:

- This week, baby measures over 16 inches long. He weighs about 3.3 pounds (try carrying four navel oranges) and is heading into a growth spurt.
- He can turn his head from side to side, and his arms, legs, and body are beginning to plump out as needed fat accumulates underneath his skin.
- He's probably moving a lot, too, so you may have trouble sleeping because his kicks and somersaults keep you up. All this moving is a sign that he is active and healthy.

Mom:

- Still having the foot/ankle swelling, it’s worse on my left side, my entire leg/ankle/foot is bigger than the right one – they said it’s nothing to worry about though.
- Still having back pain along with a nerve pinching back pain every so often – that’s getting more frequent and consistent.
- Started having Braxton Hicks contractions every once in a while a few weeks ago and now they are getting more frequent also, nothing really consistent or painful just noticeable.
- My weight: 153 lbs at my last appointment on 7/16.
- Blood pressure: 120/74 – the highest it’s been so far, I think.
- Baby’s heart rate: 160 bpm

Other News:

- The jungle is coming along nicely!
- Two more childbirth classes to go! Next week we go on the hospital tour.
- No picture this week. :(
- This post is super late because our house is super depressed and I haven’t felt like doing any of my normal things lately, nothing baby related, all will return to normal soon enough (but not soon enough for me).

30 Weeks

(All photos are clickable) (Above photos courtesy of http://www.babycenter.com/)

Baby:

- Baby is about 15.7 inches long now, and weighs almost 3 pounds (like a head of cabbage).
- A pint and a half of amniotic fluid surrounds him, but that volume will decrease as he gets bigger and takes up more space in there.
- His eyesight continues to develop, though it's not very keen; even after he's born, he'll keep his eyes closed for a good part of the day. When he does open them, he'll respond to changes in light but will have 20/400 vision — which means he can only make out objects a few inches from his face. (Normal adult vision is 20/20.).

Mom:

- Feeling tired most of the time but that could be because I’m up all night!
- Still having the foot/ankle swelling.
- Ligaments are more lax, so joints are looser; it feels like some screws need to be tightened. LOL
- Having normal pregnancy induced back pain along with a nerve pinching back pain every so often.
- I have to pee ALL the time now.
- My weight: 150 lbs according to the wii.

Other News:

- I’m getting kind of tired of hearing, “Are you sure there’s just one in there?”, “WOW, you look pregnant!!” or “WOW, you’re getting bigger!” um…I AM 30 weeks pregnant now, how am I supposed to look?!?!?! My interpretation of this statement = “OMG you have gotten HUGE!!”
- Our childbirth classes are moving right along.

29 Weeks

(All photos are clickable) (Above photos courtesy of http://www.babycenter.com/)

Baby:

- This week, baby now weighs about 2 1/2 pounds (like a butternut squash) and is a tad over 15 inches long from head to heel.
- His muscles and lungs are continuing to mature, and his head is growing bigger to make room for his developing brain.
- His bones are soaking up lots of calcium. This trimester, about 250 milligrams of calcium are deposited into baby's hardening skeleton each day.

Mom:

- He continues to be very active!
- The foot/ankle/leg swelling isn’t nearly as bad this week, I think most of that was due to my sunburn. My feet/ankles do swell by the end of the day but it’s much more manageable now, it isn’t painful to walk at least.
- I haven’t been sleeping the greatest lately. The night usually goes something like this:
    1. Start out on my left side, because that’s what they say to do, my arm falls a sleep.
    2. Flip over to my right side, my hip starts hurting and my leg falls a sleep.
    3. Get up to use the bathroom.
    4. Get back in bed and try the left side thing again, oh wait, my arm’s a sleep again.
    5. Try the right side thing again, oh yeah, my leg is tingling again.
    6. Last resort; try laying on my back with a pillow propping up my right hip so supine hypotensive syndrome doesn’t occur.
    7. Finally fall a sleep for a bit and wake up to my back hurting.
    8. Repeat steps 1-7 until alarm goes off declaring it’s time to “wake up”…it’s a vicious cycle of uncomfortable.
- My weight: 150 lbs at my appointment on 7/2.
- Blood pressure: 105/70
- Baby’s heart rate: 150 bpm

Other News:

- We are planning on painting the purple room green next weekend, I think I’ve finally settled on a color.
- My appointment went well except they said I gained 7 lbs in 2 weeks! Apparently that’s not a good thing…
- Our 2nd childbirth class went well also, not much to report there. She talked for most of the class, showed a video and talked some more.

28 Weeks

(All photos are clickable) (Above photos courtesy of http://www.babycenter.com/)

Baby:

- This week, baby weighs two and a quarter pounds (like a Chinese cabbage) and measures 14.8 inches from the top of his head to his heels.
- He can blink his eyes, which now sport lashes.
- With his eyesight developing, he may be able to see the light that filters in through the womb.
- He's also developing billions of neurons in his brain and adding more body fat in preparation for life in the outside world.

Mom:

- The third and final trimester starts this week!

- I now start the every 2 week doctor visits.

- Lots of foot/ankle/leg swelling this week (as you can see in last Wednesday’s post). The swelling has been so bad it hurts to walk or wiggle my toes. When my feet are flat on the floor my toes don't touch the floor anymore! I contribute most of that to the terrible sunburn I got from going to the beach last weekend for our 1st wedding anniversary.
- Around this time, some women feel an unpleasant "creepy-crawly" sensation in their lower legs and an irresistible urge to move them while trying to relax or sleep. If this sensation is at least temporarily relieved when you move, you may have what's known as restless legs syndrome (RLS). I have been experiencing this but I just contributed it to the healing sunburn, we will see if it sticks around once the sunburn is completely healed.
- Not much else to report, the headaches I once had on a regular basis have subsided. The back pain hasn’t been too bad this week and I have only had the nerve pinching pain a few times.
- Lots of crazy baby movement all the time!
- My weight: 146 lbs according to the wii.

Other News:

- I had the rhogam injection last Monday and it wasn’t too bad.
- All of last weeks blood work came back fine. I passed the glucose test!

- We started our childbirth class on Wednesday. It’s a 2 hour class that goes for 6 weeks. The 1st class went well; the instructor seems really nice and informative. She went over basic hospital information, how the body changes during pregnancy, the role of the support person, an over view of delivery, and we did some stretching excursuses. We also did an activity using a balloon and a ping pong ball to show how the uterus contracts to help push the baby out, which was interesting (and quite funny)! Lots of babies ping pong balls bouncing around the room. I wish I had pictures! We go back next Wednesday so that should be fun!