36 Weeks

So I have amazingly made it to 36 weeks. I am having contractions all the time and am in major pain because of them. I feel huge. I think I was at the hospital 5 times for various things last week (picture from one of those trips). My doctor didn't think I would make it to my next appointment with her which is on Thursday, but we shall see. The false labor and waiting is driving me crazy.

35 Weeks

So I've made it to 35 weeks and I am so ready for the baby. I have been having constant contractions, but of course they never get intense enough to turn into real labor. So I just get to be really uncomfortable and really really sore.

I went in for another ultrasound today. I am still measuring large (37 weeks - they estimate the baby to be 7.5 pounds) and have lots of excess amniotic fluid. The doctor did notice an "echo" on one of the baby's kidneys. It could indicate a cyst, so they will need to perform an ultrasound on the baby after birth. As with everything that has happened this could be really bad or mean nothing at all. But of course it is one more thing to be concerned about.

At this point I am to just keep going as is. Everyone expects me to give birth soon - so much so that the doctor said not to bother making another appointment. He did joke and say it would be crazy after all this if I went another three weeks and they had to induce me. I couldn't even begin to imagine what the baby would weigh at that point...

Hospital Trip and Baby Shower

So I've had an eventful past couple of days. This morning I was just drifting off to sleep around 2:30 when I started have contractions. I also discovered that my mucus plug had fallen out. So I lay in bed for a couple of hours timing the contractions (every ten minutes) wondering what I should do. As the contractions became more frequent I woke Mike up around 4:30. I called the doctor and she said it was up to me if I wanted to go into labor and delivery. They wouldn't stop labor since I was past 34 weeks, so I might want to see if the contractions intensify. I waited another couple of hours and they got stronger and closer together. So we called Kelsey (sorry for the early morning wake up!) and she came out to watch Emma. At that point the contractions were 3 minutes apart and I could hardly breathe through them. It was a bit scary going in wondering if the baby was coming today. So I check in and get all hooked up to the monitors and of course the contractions slow down. They monitor me for a few hours, see that I'm not dilating, and then send me home. Of course I'm still having random painful contractions, so it's been a long day. I was told to expect to most likely be back in real labor within the week, so we shall see what happens.

In other news, our church family threw us a baby shower this past Sunday. Basically it was a diaper shower. We are trying to use mostly cloth diapers this time around. And while cloth diapers are cheaper than disposable over time, the initial investment can be overwhelming. So the group pooled resources and got us set up with a decent start of cloth diapers. It was really cool to be taken care of that way and we had a fun time at the party. The pictures are of a game to teach Mike and Luke how to use the old school style cloth diapers (not what I am using!) and Char's disturbing test of their proficiency. Thanks all for the shower!

Belly Pic

Me looking huge wearing the monitor thingy.

32 Week update

So I made it to 32 weeks which is a really good thing. Babies born at this point have a really good chance of survival without longterm complications. The big benchmark/goal is 34 weeks (Emma was born at 34 weeks to the day). The doctors say they won't do much to stop labor after that point.

Anyway I went in for another ultrasound today and that turned into a rather interesting experience. I go to the maternal/fetal specialists for my ultrasound so it's way more in depth each time than a typical one. But of course as I went in today, I was feeling out of breath and my heat was pounding - normal life these days. But while I was there I started feeling much worse. I got dizzy, nauseated, and my heart rate shot up. I could hardly breathe and had to interrupt the ultrasound a few times to stabilize myself. This of course worried the nurses and doctors. Then we saw through the ultrasound that the baby is measuring big - really big for 32 weeks. He weighs approximately 6 pounds already and looks closer to 35 weeks. (no wonder I feel huge and my maternity clothes are getting small). And there is a ton of extra amniotic fluid (which is kinda weird since I am not diabetic). This is good in a sense because of all the preterm labor issues, but bad in regard to how my body will be able to handle getting even bigger with all the heart issues I am having.

The doctor immediately checked me into a hospital room (ultrasound is right next to labor and delivery) to do a stress monitoring test on the baby. So I got hooked up to five different machines meant to monitor both my and the baby's vital signs. Everything looked okay, especially once my heart rate started going down. But my resting heart rate was still elevated, so the doctor is talking to my other doctors about getting me on drugs to reduce it (yes I have multiple doctors for all this, it's kinda crazy). He says the pregnancy (since the baby is a boy) needs to go at least 3 more weeks, but that he is not sure if my body can take that or be able to deliver safely. So I am waiting to hear if the doctors think I can handle the drugs and if that will actually help with anything. Exciting times. Oh and Mike and Emma were there the whole time. Emma was a tad confused by the whole thing, but enjoyed watching cartoons in the hospital room. And so the pregnancy adventure continues...

My Heart Stuff

So I mentioned before that my doctor sent me to see a cardiologist because of the weird racing heart/dizziness/difficulty breathing issues I was having. Those could all be just hormones and nutritional issues caused by pregnancy that will go away or they could be causing long term heart issues. So, I got to go get an EKG and an ultrasound of my heart - which both came back normal. But they still wondered why my heart was beating so fast and hard all the time. The solution was for me to wear a heart monitor for a month.

So yesterday I got the monitor and immediately started having issues. Basically I have electrodes attached to my chest that lead to an ipod sized monitor that I have to wear at all times for the next 30 days (no this is not a Morgan Spurlock episode). Whenever I have an incident I record it and then send it over the phone to the lab. If my heart reaches a certain rate it will autorecord the incident then beep at me incessantly until I call it in (I'm feeling scarily like Sawyer on Lost at this point). Fun times.

Well its all good until about an hour later when I'm at the grocery store and the thing starts autorecording. I'm not feeling anything, but apparently my heart level is elevated enough to record an incident. This is a tad disturbing since what I call incidents are much much worse. (now I'm thinking about the rabbit on Lost...). so I go to call it in only to discover that i can't use a cell phone to report things in. It has to be a landline. Um, we don't have a landline. We don't work anywhere that has a landline. So after many calls back and forth to the doctor's office and the lab about options and stupid technology... we are getting a landline. For a month.

Can I just take this moment to express my level of frustration with my health and this pregnancy... Why does it seem that everything has to be insanely way more complicated than it ever should be? Can't I just be pregnant without umpteen bazillion complications and hassles? (and yes I feel very guilty in a knock on wood sort of way for complaining about anything to do with the pregnancy, but still...)

okay rant over.

Belly Pic and Update

So the belly continues to grow - the pictures at 28 weeks. The baby is measuring 2 weeks ahead of schedule which is a good thing. I'm still having all sorts of issues though. Last week I had to go into the hospital to be monitored since I was having regular contractions. They did another ffn test which was negative and there were no other signs of labor - just the weirdness of contractions every 6 minutes. I'm still getting the hormone shots, which may be causing all the heart issues and dizziness. I went to the cardiologist and basically just got more tests scheduled. I'll have to wear a heart monitor to see what's up with all that. I'm hoping it's all just strange pregnancy/hormone related stuff. So I'm getting along. I still don't drive because of the vertigo and limit going out because I get so worn out (and dizzy, can't breathe...). I feel huge and am tired of not doing much of anything. Anyway, that's the status at the moment.