Appointment update (39 wks, 6 days)

A quick update:

The tests today went great. The baby is doing well (they're estimating maybe around 6 lbs 12 oz now) and fluid, bloodflow, etc was all great. No induction necessary this weekend!!!!

While some people may find that disappointing, we are SO happy. I really want to feel like we had every chance to do this naturally (as long as the baby is still fine). We were offered the choice to go in and induce tonight but said "no thanks!"

I have more tests scheduled for next Tues & Thurs, to check on everything and make sure it's all still fine. The latest that I could still be pregnant would be next Friday (May 30th)---then they would definitely induce. I'm really hoping to go into labor over the weekend, and avoid the extra appointments next week altogether :)

Now I'm totally exhausted and going to take a nap!

Appointment update

I had more tests yesterday--all went well. They didn't measure the baby's growth (that will happen again on Thurs). The baby got a perfect score on it's milestone assessment again (that's the one that checks the swallowing, breathing, grasping and movement). The non-stress test was also totally normal.

At the midwife appointment we confrimed that not much is going on with me. I'm slightly dilated, not having any contractions at all . . . which is the same as it's been for about 4 weeks now.

I get the feeling that the midwife is leaning towards inducing me soon. She would only let me go 7 days overdue before inducing anyway---and that would entail a long weekend, then two more perinatologist appointments, and two more midwife appointments. Maybe if I'm suddenly having contractions or am more dilated by Thursday's appointments then we'll wait, but otherwise I'm getting the vibe that Friday may be the day. I think that the baby would be content to stay inside forever.

I'm trying to be equally fine with whatever happens . . . going naturally, being induced soon, or being induced another week from now. We're just trying to be patient and wait and see. I still get nervous before each set of tests . . . Thursday is the next round.

(If you didn't see the updates from the weekend, there are new posts & pics below)

39wks, 2 days

For the record:

I feel fine.

No, I haven't had the baby yet.

No, I'm not "desperate to have it out", "ready for this all to be over", "feeling huge", or "miserable".

My first week of maternity leave is done . . . and, as it tends to happen every single time I have a break from work, I got really sick. I'm not sure how much is actual illness, and how much is allergies, but I started antibiotics just in case. I've spent most of my time off just sitting around, realizing how miserable I would have been on bedrest. The first 2 days of not working were relaxing, but after that it was mostly boring. The highlights of my day are naptime and milkshake time . . . I'm not sure which one is better.

Here are some other highlights from the week:

-Tuesday: I went to a store called "The Upper Breast Side". Seriously. (It's a breastfeeding/nursing supply boutique). There motto is something like "You bring the breast, we do the rest." I couldn't make this stuff up.

-Wednesday: Dave & I went to the midwife & perinatologist. After lonngggg appointments & tests the consensus is that the baby isn't drastically small, but it's abdomen is measuring little (in the 13th percentile). Everything else is perfect (it scored an 8 out of 8 on some development tests). So I have to go get the tests repeated on Monday and Thursday to make sure baby is continuing to grow properly. Here are pictures from one of the recent sonograms:

Profile (baby is looking up):
Baby looking straight at the camera:

-Thursday: My mom came to visit and help clean. She got an amazing amount done as I mostly sat in the chair and stared at her sleepily. I don't know if it's the pregnancy or the sickness, but I am totally exhausted this week. It was really helpful to have her here.

-Friday: Dave & I went to dinner with his mom. We're trying to squeeze in some more dinners out before the baby arrives.

-Saturday: We spent the day hoping that the baby wouldn't come so that we could just enjoy the day and get things done. We barely managed to get our errands started, however, as I became starving in the car. (I seem to quickly get so hungry that I'm nauseous, which also happened back in the 1st trimester.) So we went to a drive-thru and got french fries. I thought it was photo-worthy. (Neither one of us could remember the last time that we had been to a drive-thru. I think mine was probably when I lived in Baltimore, which was 5 years ago.)


Today we got some more stuff around the apartment done. I finally uploaded the camera to my computer too.---See the pictures in the post above!

Ultrasound/Non-stress Test Update

Quick update before I head out.

Our ultrasound & NST yesterday both went great. The technician was really nice and spent a good several minutes after she was done just mapping me out for Dave (the head is down here, this is where the knees are, etc etc). Dave was surprised how low the head is, and how thin the skin/muscle is between the outside and the baby (only 2.8 cm separate the outside of my skin from the baby's foot, which was pressed right against me, like it was trying to kick it's way out).

We could see the diaphragm & chest moving, which means that the baby's lungs should be healthy and ready to breathe whenever it's born. It has hair! We could see the hair kind of floating like a fuzzy circle around it's head. I think it will have thick hair like I did---the wive's tale is that hair causes heartburn, which I have a disgusting amount of :)

The fluid level was great, and the placenta & umbilical cord were working perfectly. Then I was hooked up to the monitor and we listened to the heartrate for around 15 mins. It varied from the low 140s all the way up to the low 160s when it was moving around, but all of that is normal. No contractions at all (still fine by me, I have a busy week to get through).

Everyone that we come across, from all the way back to the 12 week ultrasound, has told us "Wow, this is a really active baby!" I'm not sure if we'll be able to keep up with it :) It rolled totally over from one side to the other---the tech seemed amused watching it wiggle around so much.

They didn't check the baby's weight . . . they have to wait 14 days from the last measurement. So this coming Friday we go back to have it all done again, plus a weight calculation.

I'm off to work for a few hours. I can't believe that this is my last week. I'm feeling a little overwhelmed with how much stuff I'd like to get organized and in order before my departure.

I'll try to post something with pictures today or tomorrow!

36 weeks, 5 days

I had my midwife appointment today and not much has changed. Still not dilated, baby is still very low. I was actually relieved not to have any real progress since last week . . . after hearing that the baby is a little small, I want it to stay in for a bit and grow!

My belly went from measuring 33 cm last week to 34 cm this week, so it's great that it's growing at the appropriate rate. It's still little (should be almost 37 cm) but at least it's growing!

Our next ultrasound is Friday. They'll be checking the fluid to make sure that the right amount is still there, and checking the blood in the placenta to make sure it's still working perfectly. I'm not too worried--the baby is SO active that I feel like the placenta must be bringing it a lot of nutrients and oxygen. I keep trying to tell it to settle down, stop burning calories, and fatten up.
They'll also do a nonstress test . . . hooking me up to a monitor for 20 minutes to watch the baby's heartrate and activity level.

The baby is "smaller than normal"

Well, this came as a surprise, since we tend to have hefty babies in my family. But the ultrasound Friday showed that the baby is smaller than average(estimated to be about 5 lbs, 2 oz . . . in the 18th percentile). Everything was normal (movement, fluid levels, bloodflow, placenta) but the baby is just a little peanut.

We have to go for follow up ultrasounds for the next two Fridays, and this Friday will include a nonstress test (when they watch the baby's movement and heartrate for a while) and some other test that I've forgotten already.

Also, I'm going to have to cut back on work, for two reasons. The more active I am, the more calories I'm using and at this point I need to keep all of them to fatten up the baby. Also, if I'm on my feet less than it's less likely that I'll go into labor early, and we want the baby to stay on the inside for a bit longer.

So this is a little stressful bump in the road. I'm trying not to worry too much, and to eat a lot of ice cream :)

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Yesterday morning the baby was moving around so much that Dave & I watched my belly shift and move around. Earlier this week the baby must have flipped over for a day or two, because I didn't feel many kicks--and when I did, I felt like I was literally being kicked in the butt. I guess it's rolled back over now :)

I did a bunch of pregnancy-related shopping yesterday. I bought new sneakers and insoles (1/2 size bigger than I used to wear!) and a pair of Crocs. Professional or not (and attractive or not), I think that the sneakers and Crocs will soon both be worn at work---my feet are starting to have some issues. Last week one foot swelled up and was miserable---I actually thought I had a stress fracture or something. The midwife said not to wear the same shoes everyday (even my clogs) so I need to work these into a rotation or something.

Then I bought a tall director's chair for my classroom---sitting on my stool is great for my legs, but my back is starting to really hurt, so I needed something I could lean back on.

Oh, and everyday I grow out of another pair of pants. The baby hates elastic and will kick at the elastic on the pants if it's pressing in on my belly. Then I worry that the elastic is bothering it. What a pain.

I knew babies were expensive, but I didn't know that pregnancy would cost so much. Ugh.

Midwife Update

I have my next appointment on Wednesday (about 26 weeks). In addition to my regular appointment I have to go to the lab for my glucose test---I drink this scary sugary bottle of crap, then they draw blood 60 minutes later to make sure that I'm metabolizing sugar correctly and don't have gestational diabetes.

Baby Update

The baby now measures about 13 1/2 inches (holy moly! I can't believe that it's just going to keep getting bigger and bigger). It probably weighs somewhere between 1 lb 5 oz and a pound and a half —and now it's starting to stock up some baby fat.

My 24 week midwife appointment was on Thursday. My belly is measuring normal (shocking because it looks gigantic to me), weight gain is fine, heartbeat was good and strong. I also received a prize for attending the appointment: a scary looking glass bottle of "cola-flavored" (yum) sugary stuff. In 2 weeks I have my glucose test---which from my understanding means I have to drink this bottle of soda-flavored liquid sugar, sit in the lab for an hour, and then have blood drawn to see if I'm metabolizing sugar normally or if I might ahve gestational diabetes (everyone has to have the screening done). I'm really looking forward to it.

Waterset is more interactive now, and his/her attitude is definitely apparent. (S)he moves around all the time, especially if anything is pressing on my belly---if there is tight elastic on my pants (which there is, since I seem to grow out of a new pair everyday) the baby will kick right at the elastic (I picture it saying "Hey! Move over! Get out of here!").

Layla spent an hour curled around my stomach the other night while I was watching tv. When she started purring I guess the baby could hear it, because it woke up and started wiggling around. Here's a picture:

Last night Dave was talking to my stomach before bed and the baby was kicking back at him, and then rolling or wiggling or something (I don't know what it was doing, but it felt strange). That was the first time that I really felt like it was interactive.

The baby registry is a big project---we started it a few weeks ago and I keep slowly adding things online. We're just registering for everything under the sun---at least then all of the research is already done and things are selected. It's like having a giant shopping list of stuff we need to get---who knew babies end up needing so much stuff. Well, I guess they don't really need any of it--we just need it to make dealing with the baby more manageable :)

Oh, and our car is nearly dead. It needs a new transmission, which turns out not to be worth it if you're car is: 11 years old with over 120,000 miles, missing pieces (like hubcaps and the like), dented up and otherwise abused. Who knew? So now in addition to recently buying the apartment and getting all of the baby stuff, it's time to buy a car! Hooray! We're hoping to get it done over February break, and hoping that the car lasts until them without dying.

Baby Update

The baby is now a little over a pound and somewhere around 1 foot long. The big development this week is that now it's lungs are making surfactant, which helps the lungs inflate with air once it's born. So it's getting a lot closer to being able to being able to survive on the outside.