Afternoon Update

All is well, so far. As of this afternoon, the baby's heart rate had come down to an acceptable level, so that's good! They zoomed in on the heart during the ultrasound, and the doctor said that it looks perfectly healthy, no defects, etc. So that's great. The problem at this point is the extra amniotic fluid, they said it could either be just a fluke... They draw these lines of what "normal" is, and he said that there's always going to be people below and above that. He said it's likely I'm just one of the "above normal" people. The alternate cause he said are some genetic abnormalities in which the baby can't swallow effectively, but he doesn't think that's what it is. First of all, because I watched the baby take 3 gulps of fluid on ultrasound this morning, plus he said in the case of these abnormalities, there would be a large excess of fluid (because they're not drinking any), he said he would consider mine a mild excess.

So, he talked to my regular doctor, and he recommended I "be careful" for the next couple days and he wants to see me again on Thursday (and Monday!) and then go from there. I will go back to the perinatologist next Thursday for another Level II ultrasound, to check on the fluid levels, see if it has increased/decreased, etc.

So that's the update for now!

34 Week Update

I had my 34 Week appointment and an ultrasound this morning. First of all, the baby is SO cute!!! They got a good shot of his/her face for me... It took my breath away! It looked like.. a baby! haha. He/she is 5 pounds 3 oz, estimated to be 7.5 -8 pounds at birth (assuming 40 weeks). Great! I'll take it. I reminded the u/s tech that we don't know the sex, and don't want to know! But at some point during the u/s, she said "he is doing this" .... So hmm!! I'm sure it was totally a generic "he" but it's fun to speculate. She said the baby was doing a great job practicing breathing, she said he/she was going to town! She liked to see that. Baby is also swallowing well, we got to see Noah/Kate take a few drinks, and the stomach looks good.

So, for the bad news. The baby's heart is beating faster than they'd like to see. Baby was very active during the ultrasound, squirming and moving all over the place, and she couldn't get a steady read of the heartbeat with the baby at rest, but could tell it was faster than "normal." So they ran a fetal NST. The baby settled down during that, but the heart rate never went down, which is what concerned them a little bit. Also, they said I have a lot more amniotic fluid than normal. They said it's no wonder I can't breathe, I'm completely full of fluid! They also ran an FFN test on me (a test that can tell you if you're at risk for labor in the next week or so), and when he was doing that I told him that I'd been having a lot of BH, so he said it's a good thing they're going to run the FFN. We'll get the results tomorrow. So they're sending me this afternoon for a Level II ultrasound to check on the heart and excess fluid. Depending on what they find or don't find, my Dr thinks me might want me on bedrest. He said I'm at a higher risk for water breakage because my amniotic sac is so full.

Soo... That's where we're at. The ultrasound is at 1:30. Jeff left work at 11:30 to come be with me. I'll keep you updated! I have some u/s pics from this morning, but don't have time to get them scanned and uploaded right now... So hopefully later today!

From here on out I see the doctor every week!

4, 14, 24, 34

I am 34 Weeks today!! Feeling like it too. I have about a 10 minute comfort maximum, I have to shift positions every 10 minutes or it's just not a happy time! :) Baby's kicks are getting harder and more painful too, he/she's getting strong! I can't wait, only 6 more weeks!

Here's a fun progression of the pregnancy, at 4, 14, 24, and 34 weeks!

4 Weeks


14 Weeks


24 Weeks


34 Weeks

Completed Nursery Photos

The nursery is done and ready for a baby!












In other news, I stopped at Walgreens today, and the lady at the checkout counter said that my baby looks like it's ready to come any day now. That's a great thing to hear when you have 6 weeks to go....

Sister Belly Comparison

I check in on Andrea's belly pics from time to time, to compare size and the difference in how we're carrying. I was in for a shock today! Here is Andrea at 34 weeks, and me at 33.5 weeks:



No wonder I'm having breathing problems!!! Look how high this baby is compared to Micah! I officially can't wait for the baby to drop. :)

The other interesting comparison is knowing that Andrea is carrying a boy in the picture... So what does that say about mine??

33 Week Picture

Here I am at 33 weeks!



Each week I feel like it's a huge growth spurt! This baby seems to be making up for lost time. We had a good Easter weekend with the Blairs in Oklahoma. They bought a Pack n Play to keep at their house, which is awesome! One less thing we have to pack up and drag around! It's so surreal to think that the next time we go up there, we'll be bringing a baby with us! Crazy!

I was also thinking about it yesterday on our drive home, how while I do have a weekly picture of myself through the pregnancy, I don't have any pictures in regular clothes! So I might try to make an effort to get more pictures in some of my favorite maternity outfits. Besides, we don't have any full-length mirrors, so I only know what I look like from the waist-up! haha! I never know what my whole body looks like! You never know what could happen, if I'll be able to get pregnant again, so I'd like to have it well-documented! Plus, next time, I'll be chasing a kid around and I doubt I'll have the time or energy for this many pictures! :)

I finally got a message back from the cardiologist with the results from my heart monitor. They said everything looks good and normal for the most part. I have no fatal rhythms (ha! I hope not!) But I am having some early beats and late beats, but not severe enough to the point where I need treatment or anything.

So, I guess that's that, I just need to take it easy, breathe slowly through my episodes, and limit my straight up and down sitting, and walk around whenever I can!

Ouch

I've been reading in my pregnancy books for weeks that at any time I can expect a charlie horse in the middle of the night. Thankfully, I had escaped that misery. That is, until last night. Holy. Cow. Ouch. I can't remember the last time I'd had one, certainly not in my adult life, but I remember having one in Owatonna, MN one night. So we're looking at 10 years at least! This one was BAD, and it lasted over 5 minutes! I laid in bed trying to massage my calf, but to no avail! I woke Jeff up and asked him what I'm supposed to do! The whole calf muscle was just quivering. It was weird. He told me to get up and stretch it out. So I hobbled out of bed and hopped over to the wall and stretched until it went away. Geez! My poor calf is still sore today. I need to read up on it today, and see what dietary things I can be doing to keep these nasty things away!

On the heart front, I got the results of my echocariogram (heart ultrasound) yesterday. They said everything is structured and functioning correctly, so that's good. Still waiting on the results from the monitor.

And my OB called this morning, saying my GBS test came back negative, so that's good too. That's one shot either I or the baby won't need at delivery or something... So good news overall!

I've really tried to put a stop to buying maternity clothes. At this point, with roughly 7 weeks left, it just seems pointless to buy more. I have realized though, that I'm really going to need probably one more pair of pants, preferably black pants. I have a lot of work days left, and it's really not fun to be sitting at work uncomfortable in a pair of pants that are too tight. So that's my mission for my lunch break today, to hunt down a pair of pants.

And, as of last night, Jeff and I are apparently ready to be parents. We concluded our childbirth series with a class on infant safety and CPR. It's comforting to me to have those skills at least in the back of our minds, God forbid we ever need them. So we're done! It's weird to think that's all the preparation we're going to get before we have this baby!

Update

Not a whole lot to report today. It could take up to 3 days to get my 24 hour heart monitor results back. The good news is that I did catch a couple "episodes" on the monitor yesterday. During the ultrasound of my heart on Monday, I was relaxed and lying on my side while they were doing it, and I noticed my heart rate was between 70-80 bpm. During one of my "episodes" yesterday morning, I counted the number of heartbeats in a minute, and it was running about 112 bpm. So there's a definite spike there during one of them.

When I turned in the monitor, I asked them what will happen, and they said that if there is something wrong, the doctor will call me back, otherwise my results will be posted on their call-in line within three days. So, it'll be interesting to see what they say. I doubt anything is wrong, I bet the only thing they will tell me is to just keep getting up every 15-20 minutes to keep the blood circulating.

Cardiologist Update

I'm back from my appointment!

So far, so good. They said my EKG looked normal, heart sounded good, blood pressure looked great. Because my "episodes" are only happening when I'm sitting, he thinks it's just that my uterus is pressing down on my big primary return-blood veins in my legs, so my heart thinks it's not working hard enough, because it's not getting enough blood, so then it starts working overtime. And because it's already working hard just because I'm pg and the increased blood volume, it just goes on overload when I'm having an episode. So, they still did an ultrasound of my heart (dr hasn't seen it yet) and put me on a 24 hour monitor, fun stuff! They're hoping to catch an episode on the monitor to get a better look at just what my heart is doing during one. I'm pretty confident we'll be able to catch one at work tomorrow morning, it seems to happen every day. So he said to limit the amount of time I spend physically sitting. Either try to lay down, or get up every 15 minutes or so and walk around, to make sure blood is flowing smoothly. We're headed to Duncan this weekend to be with Jeff's parents for Easter, so I'll have to make sure my seat is nice and reclined for the trip up there! Maybe make an extra stop or two to get up and walk around.

So, there you have it! I'm gonna live, that we know of!

When I got home and changed out of my work clothes, Bailey wanted to sniff the probes attached to my chest. She sniffed them, sneezed, then rubbed her nose on the bed! haha!

32 Weeks & Picture

Over the weekend we had sort of a "fun" family moment... We were sitting on the couch Saturday night, and Jeff had the hiccups. His went away. A few minutes later, I noticed the baby had the hiccups! Jeff had never felt them before, so he came over and felt it for a minute. So cute! Then baby's went away. Sure enough, a few minutes later, I had them! So weird!

I had my 32 week appointment this morning... Overall it went well! I gained 6 pounds since my last appointment (oops...) but since I had no weight gain at that appointment, I'm telling myself it's a 6 pound gain over 4 weeks, not 2.

I asked my Dr if he could tell what position the baby is in, and he said he/she was head down... (but of course still too early to be a permanent position) and that the baby is VERY high, which is no surprise to any of us!

Here's my 32 week belly pic!


I get an ultrasound at my next appointment to check on the baby, see how he/she is doing, and check out the size! I'm so excited! I can't wait to see baby again! I bet he/she's going to look so big!

Last Thursday at work I had another one of my "oxygen hunger" episodes, except this one was worse than usual. I started to feel faint, and my hands got tingly. I asked my Dr at what point we need to be concerned about it, and he said that I described enough symptoms that we need to be concerned. He wants me to see a cardiologist. So, he got me an appointment at 1:00 today to get my heart checked out. He said they'd probably want to run a 24 hour monitor on my heart, and see what we can learn from that. So, that's all I know for now! I'll keep you updated!

Transition to Warmer Weather

I am loving the transition to Spring. Temperatures are supposed to be in the upper 80's today. Sadly, the main reason I'm looking forward to this change is... Dresses, skirts, and gauchos (ie very loose or no waistbands.) Oh how glorious that is. It feels great to have nothing constricting over the belly. I have three different-styled black jersey knit dresses. I better tell my co-workers to get used to them. They're just so comfortable, it feels like I'm wearing pajamas to work! I think having a May due date is the perfect time to be pregnant. You can wear big baggy clothes all winter when you're looking fat and not pregnant yet, but then when Spring rolls around, it doesn't get so hot that you're miserable. I like it. :)

Here in the last week or so I've been getting uncomfortable. There's nothing specific bothering me, just an overall inability to get comfortable. The only time I'm truly feeling comfortable is when I'm laying down. At least I only have 8 weeks to go! I can do it!

My itchiness has also made a resurgence. It had gotten down to a very manageable and even ignorable level, but in the last day or two it has just been miserable. Keeping me up for about an hour at night before I can fall asleep, etc. I'm still using my itch lotion every day - my body has probably built up a resistance to it! haha. 8 weeks to go. (See how I keep telling myself that??)

All in all, however, the third trimester, like the rest of the pregnancy, is just flying. Before I know it, it's another Friday. I'm still carrying the baby very high, hence my constant breathing problems! Lots of the girls at the baby shower guessed I'm carrying a boy because it's a perfect "basketball" out front, and not overall weight gain. I love the speculation! But then I hear that girls are carried high, boys low. So who knows. At 32 weeks (today) the baby weighs almost 4 pounds! He/she is getting so big!!! Grow little baby, grow! I'm supposed to be gaining a pound a week and I feel like it. I'm not looking forward to my doctor appointment on Monday, I think I'm going to have made up for lost time and my "0" weight gain at the last appointment.

Texas Baby Shower Pictures

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM!!!!!

Warning - Lots of pictures ahead!

My baby shower on Saturday was wonderful. I had so much fun, ate some great food, and got some wonderful, thoughtful presents!

When you first came in, they had a little table set up with some decorations:



And some adorable "Baby Blair" water bottles!



The hostesses were so creative and kept with my sage green, brown, and white nursery theme! The food table:



(I seriously could have eaten the entire plate of fruit pizza...)

Beautiful Hydrangeas (they STILL look great almost a week later!)



Yummy cupcakes:



Pretty napkins!



Everything was beautiful. A huge thank you to all the hostesses! You guys worked so hard and I loved every minute! You all made me feel very special.



We ate a bit, then started opening gifts. My friend Kristin gave me an "I love my Yorkie" bib. Too cute and too perfect!



Halfway through presents, we played the age-old "How huge is the mommy" game. My sister won - she guessed and cut her string within less than an inch of my correct size! Way to go! She won a Sonic gift card which didn't even last the rest of the day. We celebrated with a Cherry Limeade Creamslush later that night. Here is Courtney taking the official measurement. Look at the detail the hostesses went to - even down to buying sage green string!



And some people pictures!



My mom, sister Andrea, me, and Paula (Jeff's mom)


Andrea and me!


Mom and me!


Kristin (who graciously hosted the shower in her house!) and me


** A big thank you to Sarah Florence for taking lots of those beautiful, creative pictures!

We spent the rest of Saturday with our families, and went to dinner together at County Line BBQ on Lake Ray Hubbard. Lots of fun! Then the rest of the weekend was spent with my parents, Andrea, Steve, and Micah. It was so fun to get to spend time with them, Micah does so much growing in between visits! Although I must say I'm very lucky to have seen him 4 times now, considering he's only 5 months old! I can't wait until he has his little cousin to grow up with!

31 Week Picture

Here I am at 31 weeks!



The tank top is growing with me. The one in the first few pregnancy pics was a M. Then all this time I've been in an L. This week I moved up to XL, but since it's not a maternity tank, it obviously doesn't fit like one. I don't like the way it looks, I'm not sure I'll use it again! It's too baggy and doesn't show a whole lot of definition.

We had a GREAT weekend with family and the baby shower!! I'll be posting some baby shower pictures soon. It was fun having Micah around the house a little bit too, and using some of our baby's stuff! :) The best news is that Bailey *LOVES* Micah. Maybe a little too much! Lots of kisses. :) But she was very concerned about him, liked to keep an eye on him, etc. On Sunday morning while we were getting ready for church, Andrea and Steve were letting Micah sleep as late as he wanted. Bailey KNEW he was in the nursery, and just sat outside his door! She kept looking up at them like "Aren't you going to get the baby???" So cute! She's going to be a great big sister. :)

Thank God for Zantac!

I picked up some Zantac yesterday to give that a shot to see if it would help with my acid reflux at night. So, at dinnertime, I took my first dose. We spent the evening cleaning, during which I did a lot of bending over, and leaning down. That was one place it really used to flare up, but last night I felt nothing! Then came time to go to bed. Ahh what a dream. I didn't wake up ONCE with reflux, I had forgotten what it was like to sleep soundly (minus the baby rolling onto my bladder!) I didn't need to prop myself up with pillows, take a Gaviscon, sit up trying not to throw up, nothing! It was great. I'm hooked. I'll take one every night at dinnertime now!

Tonight is our "Newborn Baby Care" class, they're holding it at Babies R Us, which I thought was a little weird, but whatever, it's convenient. We need to pick up a shower gift for one of Jeff's co-workers, and our new dresser/changing table unit is ready for pick-up. The one we got originally was cracked in two places.

30 Week Picture and Appointment

Here is 30 weeks!



This morning was my 30 week doctor appointment. We always start off with a bang, stepping on the scale. I told the nurse I was so nervous this time... (Because of the weight gain at the last appt!) Well, I had NO weight gain for these last 2 weeks! I was SO excited. They told me I was doing a great job with the weight gain. WOOHOO! It sure doesn't feel like it, I feel like I'm PIGGING out like never before. Thanks baby!!

Then today they said they were going to check my iron. The nurse asked if I had been taking any iron supplements yet, and when I said no, then she said that I might need to start taking some. I explained to her that my Dr had told me not to take it, and in fact I had to stop taking my Prenatals because of the iron content making me itchy!! She was like "hmm, interesting. Well, let's hope for a good iron level, and if it's low then there are dietary things you can try for iron, such as liver, red meat, egg yolk, etc etc." She said the look on my face was priceless when she mentioned liver.

So she comes in a few minutes later while the Dr is in with me, and says "Well, you better keep pushing that liver, your iron is 41.5." I must have had a look of panic on my face as I said, "Is that low???" Because she and the Dr both started laughing. My Dr said, "No, that is perfect, even on the high side of normal." WHEW! I was nervous about that too, because it's been a good 6-8 weeks or so since I stopped taking my prenatals, and I was worried my iron would get low. But apparently not!

I asked him about what I can do for my acid reflux (it's been keeping me up 1-2 hours per night, about 2-3 times a week), and he told me to start taking Zantac. So I'm looking forward to some relief hopefully! A couple girls I know said that Zantac completely saved them in the last weeks of their pregnancy.

Next appointment in 2 weeks. We'll be doing the GBS test at that point. Yeeeehaw!

On my way to work after the appointment, I celebrated my lack of weight gain with a nice fattening bagel from Panera. :) They have a new "Banana Pecan" bagel - oh.my.gosh. It is heaven in a bagel. I think I'm going to have to stop there after every appointment from now on!

I think I'm having more braxton hicks contractions, or at least I'm more aware of when they happen now. It's amazing how ROCK hard my stomach gets! Then a few minutes later it's soft again.