33 weeks

Due Date: April 5th. If I don't go on my own, we are inducing in one week - February 23rd (34 weeks, 1 day.)

Musings on the Weekly Photo: Is that a cantaloupe or a baby? I'm sure you can imagine that if I were to go full-term, it would look like I stuffed a beach ball up my shirt!

Marination Time: 33 weeks

Weight Gain: Net (+14) as of today (part of my vitals are daily weights.) At least I'm not losing anymore!

Belly Button Watch: Still an innie! Kind of. But definitely not an outie!

Maternity Clothes: Umm, yeah. I don't really get "dressed" each day. Yoga pants and tank tops it is!

Fruit of the Week: I do believe we are now a honeydew! Most honeydews I've seen are smaller than squash, but whatever.

Name: We officially have two names (both first and middle) for each sex. Hurrah! Yes, we're still keeping them a secret. No, I'm not telling you.

Gender: Team Green

Movement: Depends on the day and the time of day, but bebe is still super-duper active.

Cravings/Aversions: I definitely still crave fruit and I definitely am back to being turned off by poultry.

Annoyances: Hello, third trimester hormone surge! I can cry at the drop of a hat and have an irrational desire to throw temper-tantrums over non-consequential things. Example: Last night my nurses took WAY too long to refill my water pitchers (we're talking hours, not minutes - I wasn't being that ridiculous) and I almost threw my empty pitcher down the hallway. I was also tempted to stomp my preggo, bed-ridden butt down the hallway to get my own damned water. I was so incredibly pissed that as soon as Mike showed up, I burst into tears. I know a lot of my reaction is partly to blame on hormones and partly due to being sick of being in the hospital, but I just want to go back to doing things for myself! Oh, and don't forget the return of the morning sickness, now complete with vertigo. Blech.

Highlights of the Week: I don't want baby to be any earlier than necessary, but I really hope I go on my own before next Thursday... let's say, oh, Wednesday night! My doctor actually won't be in town, so I will have another doctor from her practice, but they've all been very understanding and supportive of the few desires I have left (being able to walk around during labor aka not being tied to the bed, trying to get labor kick-started without Pitocin, or with as little Pitocin as possible and turn it off as soon as I'm in active labor, etc.) But considering the way everything else has gone thus far, I'm thinking I may be SOL. We shall see!

Bake, baby, Bake! 32 week update

30 weeks

31 weeks

32 weeks

Oh hi there, Baby! Smoochie Smoochie face. Approximately 4lbs, 1oz.

Due Date: April 5th. If we can make it, likely induction around or after February 23rd.

Musings on the Weekly Photo: It's a belly! Doesn't seem to be growing much, but the size seems to be directly related to where baby is hanging out. Now that s/he is head down, his/her size is dispersed over a larger area = smaller-looking belly. I will say that in clothes, it looks huge. Lacee and Mike each swear it gets bigger every day!

Marination Time: 32 weeks

Weight Gain: Net (+13) as of today (part of my vitals are daily weights.) I have lost weight since being hospitalized, but the doctor says she's not worried as long as Baby is growing - which s/he is! A lot of the problem is loss of muscle mass due to inactivity, so we have increased my caloric intake to fatten bebe up.

Maternity Clothes: Maternity clothes? What are those? These days I live in a rotation of yoga pants and three tank tops. Sometimes Mike throws a maternity t-shirt into my clean laundry pile and I'll try that out. :) The few cute maternity clothes I own are geared toward going out and about, therefore not so conducive to sitting in a hospital bed all day. Bummer.

Fruit of the Week: It's our final week as a squash.

Name: We officially have two names (both first and middle) for each sex. Hurrah! Yes, we're still keeping them a secret. No, I'm not telling you.

Gender: Team Green

Movement: It's an aaaaaalien.

Cravings/Aversions: Salad and fruit. No aversions to speak of unless hospital mystery meat counts...

Annoyances: Boredom mostly. Feet in my ribs once in a while and my hips ache from inactivity. But in reality, I feel pretty awesome especially considering the situation.

Highlights of the Week: Every day we keep baby in is a highlight. Bake baby, bake!

Update...

Sorry for the long absence. As many of you know, last Saturday I was admitted for the second time in pre-term labor. This time I had dilated to 3cm and was 80% effaced! Eek. They were able to slow the contractions again with the magnesium sulfate, but then on Monday afternoon. baby went and tried to get rid of his/her swimming pool. Anxious baby! We made it through that initial 24 hours without having a baby, so now it's been day-by-day. Eighty-percent of women who experience PPROM (pre-term premature rupture of membranes aka my water broke) go into labor within one week and we are now at 8 days! So hurrah!


A little bit of clarification since this seems to be an ongoing misconception, but just because my water has broken doesn't mean I have to deliver immediately. Yes, most of the time water-breakage is a sign of imminent delivery, but in the case of PPROM, not necessarily. If I were to go into active labor, they will not stop it but if we can increase the latency (cooking time), the benefits of keeping baby in outweighs the risks. Since amniotic fluid is dynamic, as long as I stay well-hydrated, baby continually creates more fluid (drinks it in, pees it out. I know, very gross.) The biggest concern is infection, so I have been pumped full of antiobiotics for the past week and they are monitoring my vitals closely. On average, for each day baby stays put, s/he will spend two fewer days in the NICU. Every day counts!
As for what has been going on more recently, my daily NSTs have looked great (minimal crimping of the cord, good accelerations) and as mentioned, they're watching my vitals closely for any sign of infection. Blood pressure and temp have been holding steady. They did an AFI (amniotic fluid index) today and Baby has built up his/her swimming pool to normal despite the slow leak! Hurray! The nurses have all been calling Baby D "rockstar baby" because s/he has been very, very active and easy to monitor. Just today we have a discovered that s/he loves the Mumford & Sons Pandora station! I asked my Doctor a bunch of questions this morning and these were her responses: 1. AFI? As I mentioned, we had one today and it looked great. Fluid levels were at the high end of normal and baby had a full bladder! 2. I haven't gained any weight in almost three weeks, which concerns me (my net weight gain is around 13 pounds since I lost ~8 to 10 in the first tri). Since I'm on complete bed rest and muscle weighs more than fat, there is probably some nutrient conversion going on. Baby is taking my muscle to grow, which is okay but the lack of gain still worries me. They had the nutritionist come in and we're going to try and up my caloric intake with more fruits and veggies (most of the hospital food isn't exactly appetizing, especially their protein choices.) Mike has been great about bringing me fresh fruit and snacks, so I'll try and eat more of that too. But my doctor said as long as baby is growing, she's not worried with the lull. We'll do a follow-up ultrasound on Friday or Saturday to check his/her progress (last sono was 1/28 and Baby was about 3.5 lbs.) 3. How long is she going to let me go (she has been very vague on this point)? If I make it to 34 weeks, she will test my fluid to see if baby's lungs are developed. If they are, she will induce me at that time because the risk of infection is too high. If not, we'll try to keep me going to 35 weeks. I'll be 32 weeks tomorrow, so we might have a baby in two weeks. Isn't that nuts? Obviously if I show any sign of infection, they'll induce immediately. The good news is because my uterus is so irritable, doc and nurses think it won't take much and I'll be able to avoid pitocin - something I've been against having since the beginning. But watch my words, I'll probably end up eating them. Haha.

So that's what we've got! Sorry it's taken me so long to get this up. If you have any questions, I have no problem answering them. Send 'em on over!

Progression (29 weeks, 3 days)

29 weeks

Due Date: April 5th

Musings on the Weekly Photo: Where'd THAT come from?

Marination Time: 29 weeks

Weight Gain: Net (+11) as of doc appointment on 1/20. But if you add in the weight I lost and then re-gained, we're at +21. Ugh.

Maternity Clothes: All about the same, sweats or maternity pants. I definitely can't wear many of my old shirts without a tank top underneath to add length because the belly has finally popped out.

Fruit of the Week: Squash! We graduated!

Name: We officially have two names (both first and middle) for each sex. Hurrah!

Gender: Team Green

Movement: Par-tay. Baby is head down most of the time now, so it's pretty odd seeing a foot pop out up above my belly button. But that is much-preferred over transverse - Baby was running out of space and decided that s/he liked having his/her head in my right side and his/her butt sticking out by my belly button. Holy wow that was uncomfortable...

Cravings/Aversions: Vegetables. Salad. Sweets in moderation. I definitely crave dessert after lunch and dinner most days. The idea of meat grosses me out most of the time.

Annoyances: I don't like having my kidneys kicked. Other than that and occasional contractions, I feel pretty good!

Highlights of the Week: Got another peek at Baby D yesterday, s/he has a TON of hair and is weighing in at 3lb 2oz. Dr. Farias said at 34 weeks she won't stop labor if it starts, so as long as I make it that far, I get to back to "normal" in 4.5 weeks! Hurray! We're supposed to start our birthing class this week as well, but it's a six-week course so the Doctor recommended we try to switch into a weekend class that knocks it out in one day. She said six weeks was probably "really wishful thinking." Eek! We might have a baby in less than six weeks?! In other news, Sharon and Jerry visited last weekend and my parents and Grammie are here this week, so we've been able to get a lot of baby-shopping and cleaning done. Baby D now has a dresser, a place to sleep, some clothes and a carseat. I feel much more prepared now!

28 weeks

Due Date: April 5th

Musings on the Weekly Photo: Yes, those are the same clothes as last week. We might be a little bigger? I sure feel bigger...

Marination Time: 28 weeks

Weight Gain: Net (+8) as of doc appointment on 1/6. Yes, I lost a pound in a week; three days of hospital food will do that to a girl. Next appointment is Friday, 1/20.

Maternity Clothes: Same, although I did wear my regular jeans on principle. They were a little tight, but they buttoned! Haha. I'm enjoying wearing the maternity shirts that I got for Christmas, but I swear they have a backward sideview mirror effect... "Objects in shirt are smaller than they appear." I think maternity shirts create the illusion that pregnant women look bigger than they are...

Fruit of the Week: Eggplant

Name: We officially have two names (both first and middle) for each sex. Hurrah!

Gender: Team Green

Movement: Wowza. Side note: it's kind of creepy watching my belly dance.

Cravings/Aversions: I haven't really had many specific cravings this week, see "annoyances."

Annoyances: There is a definite difference in how I'm feeling depending on how Baby is lying (transverse v. head-down). I'm pretty sure when Baby is head-down, s/he likes to stick a foot in my stomach, which leads to intense reflux which thus leads to a diminished appetite. I'm now in snack-mode as I can't really handle full meals.

Highlights of the Week: Doc says I can attempt my prenatal yoga DVD as long as I make sure my heart rate doesn't increase. Still no cardio allowed, but she also said I can do resistance band exercises. Three cheers for some sort of exercise! Hurrah!

Baby D Update + Third Trimester!

So we had our 27-week appointment this morning, technically my "original" appointment before last week's debacle but now more of a follow-up from the hospitalization. In addition to my one-hour glucose screening, Dr. Farias went ahead and did an ultrasound to make sure Baby D still looks a-okay (S/he does! Everything measures on track and bebe weighs about 2lb 4oz.) She also wanted to check and make sure my cervix hasn't shortened anymore in the last week (Which it hasn't! Hurray!) Baby D was back to hanging out transverse today, a two-edged sword of sorts. Good because s/he isn't head down and pushing down on my cervix, causing it to further efface. Bad because if s/he remains that way or if something were to happen, our only option is a c-section. I will take transverse Baby D not shortening my cervix for $200, Alex! Obviously s/he has a ton of time to flip, which is very likely especially considering s/he is so active, but vanity aside, I am definitely not averse to a c-section if it keeps him/her in as long as possible.

So now we are officially in the third trimester. Man, how time flies! We weren't supposed to get any more peeks at the little bugger between now and delivery but because of our situation, doc wants to go ahead and do an ultrasound at each appointment to keep an eye on things. Darn, I guess I'll just have to look at that cute little baby face a few more times! As for said situation, I'm still on partial bedrest but have regained limited privileges to leave the house. Still no dog-walking, no heavy cleaning and no travel, but if I need milk I am allowed to drive to the store - as long as I "park close and don't go to Costco." Haha. Basically, the way she put it is that we can a) let me stay home and be comfortable, as long as I take it easy or b) throw me in the hospital for an indeterminate amount of time. She feels pretty confident that I'm in-tune enough with my body that having me at home is not a problem, so I'm going to try my best to be good so I can stay home! It's hard because I don't feel that bad, but of course, I didn't feel "that bad" last week when she admitted me. I guess I just have to listen to my body and not push it, then regret it!

Mike did ask about our soccer tickets to Phoenix and we got the "Ehhhhh let's see..." face. It doesn't help that there's really no way to drop me off close to the game - I'll have to walk at least a mile from the parking lot to the stadium, which is a definite no-no. She did say that if everything looks okay and I haven't progressed at all between now and the next appointment, it might be okay... if I can get dropped off. So my next appointment is in two weeks, which isn't anything out of the ordinary for a normal pregnancy, and we shall see if USA v. Venezuela is in my future. (Doubtful, considering the game is the day after my appointment - we'll need to find a taker for the ticket long before then.)

Keep those fingers crossed that Baby D stays put for a while! And I will promise to take it easy...

Cheers~
Mike, Di and Baby D