Week 39 Update

By the time you read this post, it's very possible Thumper will be here.  As you approach the end of a pregnancy things can move very quickly.  Let me recap for you the past week:

Last Wednesday, Week 38: My doctor recommended having an ultrasound to make sure about the baby's position, the baby's size, my amniotic fluid levels, and whatever else he needed to check.  He didn't want to wait until my next appointment (a week), so he scheduled my ultrasound for Monday.

Monday, Week 39: We had our second ultrasound of this pregnancy, and got to see a much larger Baby Thumper.  The ultrasound tech measured Thumper and estimated a weight of 7 pounds, 1 ounce already.  Also she showed us a significant amount of hair on the baby's head.  The most revealing thing about the ultrasound was the baby's position: sideways.  Yup.  Sideways.  This is a problem.

My doctor said that he would like to do a procedure called a 'version' that actually turns the baby into the correct 'head-down' position.  Then he will go ahead and induce labor.  Here is a video of what a 'version' will probably look like.  He said that I am a perfect candidate for this procedure: second child, no complications, plenty of fluid, small enough baby.  That's good news.

Tuesday, Week 39:  A random lady in the Walmart parking lot started talking to me like I'm her long-lost best friend.  During the course of our conversation, she recommended kneeling on all fours for some amount of time to give the baby a chance at moving without the doctor's intervention.  I tried it that evening - we'll see.

Wednesday, Week 39: Pat and I are all packed for tomorrow.  Car seat in the car.  Plans for Clara's care made.  My appointment is at 7 am, but I have to be at the hospital by 5:30 (which means we need to leave by 3:30).  Since Monday I've had two nights of restless sleep.  This morning I got up at 3:00 because I couldn't sleep anymore, so I'm not dreading the early morning.  Pat wakes up at that time most every morning, so it shouldn't be a big deal for him either.

The truth is, I'm really nervous about this labor - more the induction than the version, and more than I remember for Clara's, honestly.  I truly hope that the Thumper has turned him/herself and Pat and I can go back home, although I suspect things won't be that simple.  I think about how Clara went to 41 weeks and was then induced; I want to give this baby the same chance.  I don't want the baby to come too soon.  It's possible I'm so nervous because I don't feel ready.  I went from thinking I had at least another week to a couple days!  I'm still getting Clara's "Big Sister Room" ready!  So much for getting that done ahead of time.  The other thing that I've been hoping with this pregnancy, on a selfish note, is the experience of going into labor naturally instead of artificially (although I'm sure the frantic car ride to Birmingham would not be that fun).

So now you're up to speed.  It's very possible my next post will have a baby picture or two!  Keep us in your thoughts and prayers!

37 Weeks

I intended to post last week after my 36 week appointment, which I felt was one of the best appointments I've had in a while.  Why?  I learned that the baby was already head-down.  That was the most information I've gotten about Thumper in awhile. 

Me at 37 weeks

My appointment yesterday was fine - apparently I was negative for the Group B Strep test they did last week, because they didn't tell me that I was positive.  That's good.  Also, the baby is apparently still very comfortable in the womb and doesn't plan to make an appearance too early.  That's good, too; Clara's new room somehow still has a massive amount of books, workout equipment, and a king-size bed in it.  In other words, it's not ready for her to move out of the nursery.  (I am working on her bedroom now, and will post about it soon.)  Somehow the 8 months of preparation time that we've had so far as not been enough :-) 

34 Week Appointment

Just a brief post to say I had another doctor's appointment today, and I actually saw my official doctor this time - yay!  I can't say much happened other than the normal belly measure and heart beat listen (140 bpm), but I didn't feel slighted or rushed this time.  Everything seems to be checking out normally, and for that I'm thankful.

I did get my flu shot while I was at the doctor -- they recommended all pregos get one because the shot will actually help the baby's immunity too (if I understood the nurse correctly). 

Next time (in 2 weeks) I get swabbed for the Group B Stress test - and as un-fun as that sounds, it's less fun than that.  If you don't know what this test is, you can click here for an explanation.  Last time I tested negative, so I hope that is the case this time also.

30 Weeks

Here I am at 30 weeks.  Wow, this pregnancy is going so much faster than the last.  Last time I felt pregnant FOREVER.  This time I'm like: Whoa - only 10 more weeks!  How am I going to do everything I need to do before this bebe comes?  (The truth is: I probably won't.)

I had my doctor's appointment today also.  No updates.  Really.  The last few appointments they have measured my belly and listed to hear the baby's heartbeat.  That's it.  And my inner monologue says...

Are you kidding me?  Do you know I drive 2 hours each way to come here?  Then I wait 30 minutes to see you?  And you just measure my belly?  I could do that and phone it in!

I guess I should be grateful that I don't have any problems or complications and that everything is going so smoothly.  (And really, I am.)

In other news, I made a swaddling blanket for the new baby.  

It was super easy - flannel and a little time sewing around the edges on my sewing machine.  What's even better?  It matches the new car seat.  Totally coincidental (I guess the color scheme was in my sub-conscious)!  I've posted a complete tutorial on my handmade baby clothes website if you're interested in the how-to.

Now that I know the colors coordinate, I think I'm going to make a little "muff" that is sized better for an infant seat to cover Thumper's legs than this 44" square blanket above.  Just add it to my never-ending, never finished to-do list.

Milestone: Glucose Test

Just last week, I reached a pregnancy milestone: the glucose test.

Administered around 24 weeks, this is the "fun" test where you drink the syrup-y orange liquid, wait an hour, and then get your blood drawn.  It tests for gestational diabetes.  During the hour of waiting, you have your normal appointment with your doctor.  I wish I had gotten a picture of my styrofoam cup with the orange drink.  This picture below is the best I could find that captured the feeling of "drink this stuff."

(photo c/o Sheepy Hollow blog)

The test is not so bad.  I guess the part that I dread is drinking the orange drink, but sometimes having a sweet tooth comes in handy.  I'd say the drink isn't any sweeter than store-bought cake frosting.  So if you can handle that, you can handle this test no problem. 

Source: call-me-cupcake.blogspot.com via Erin on Pinterest

I didn't hear anything from the lab after my test, which means I passed.  If my glucose was elevated, I'd get to come back for a more extensive test and go on a very low sugar diet.    Mmm.  Cake.  Thank goodness I passed!

Doctor Visit: 18 weeks

This was the big visit - the first ultrasound; the ultrasound that can determine baby's gender.  I had to go to this visit alone, sadly, because Pat had an unmovable meeting that morning.  It was very good I didn't attempt to bring Clara with me either.  I don't think it would have worked at all, and I had to wait a WHILE to see the doctor.  However, the ultrasound was very fun, as you can see int he picture below:

It's so wonderful to hear (and see) the baby's heart beating regularly, the fingers and toes and little turned-up nose.  It's wonderful to hear the doctor say, "You're perfect on paper."  Really?  Sweet!

They confirmed my due date by measuring the baby's leg bone, belly, and head: November 15.  I remember with Clara they measured her "crown to rump," but I was told that's how they measure in the first trimester.  After that, the baby's too big to fit in one screen, so they take specific body part measurements.

So did we decide to find out?  Yes and No.  We had the ultrasound tech put pictures in an envelope that disclosed the baby's gender.  But I haven't looked in it.  Actually, Pat and I gave that envelope to my dad for Father's Day.  He's the only one who knows thus far.  He and my mom know the details.  I really wasn't ready to find out yet.  I thought I'd be itching to find out now that someone knows, but I'm not -- Weird.

Upon further reflection of all the very good, practical reasons to find out ahead of time, I figured out why I don't want to know.  I was honestly surprised when I found out Clara was a "she."  It was a wonderful, total-surprise-surprise that is hard to explain.  But I wanted to have that same feeling of surprise this time too.  (And I'm so glad that Pat is just fine with that, too!)

Updates

It's been about two weeks, but I had another doctor's appointment.  This time we got to hear the baby's heartbeat!  That is such a reassuring sound.  Since I found out I was pregnant, I had to just assume that everything was/is going okay.  That assumption isn't confirmed until you hear the baby's heart beat, and the doctor says, "That's a good sound!"  (Yes, it is!)  Next appointment will be the first ultrasound.  They will measure the baby's length and based on that measurement, they can determine the accuracy of the due date they've given me.  It's also the time where they can tell if the baby is a "he" or a "she."  I've been telling people that this time we are going to find out about the baby's gender.  Pat does not care if we find out or not.  Finding out would help all the name planning, the clothing planning, even the room planning.  But all of a sudden, as I'm coming within range of finding out, finding out feels like cheating!!

My recent Thumper preparations involve: making a baby sleep sack out of an old shirt I had.

I also knitted a baby kimono.

I thought that it would be more neutral looking, but I'm afraid it's kind of girly, despite the abundance of blue.  Thoughts?  There are more pictures and details about their construction on my other blog www.handmadebabyclothes.org, as well as other baby clothes projects I've done in case you are interested.

I've made a big push on finishing up my pool wall, and I'm really close!  We had almost a week of unseasonably cool weather, which was perfect for getting some stone stacking done!  Also I've finally planted my corsican mint in the cracks of the pool deck.  I had some help from Clara, and whether or not all of it will survive as a result is debatable.  I may have found a way to kill "unkillable mint."  Just add 1 year old baby.  (Hypothesis testing in progress.)  I still have a lot of area unplanted -- my little plugs only planted about 1/3 of the cracks that I needed to plant.  I'll include pictures next post for you!

Decisions and Surprises

Yesterday's results: the baby is in position, although my cervix has not changed much from last week. Due to our 2 hour distance from the hospital, my doctor is wanting me to seriously consider inducing shortly after the due date (if I haven't delivered before then). I suppose this is to reduce any panic we may have once "it's time." This is something that I haven't considered hardly at all -- my plan (and Pat's) was to have this child as naturally as possible -- with as little medication as necessary. I know my mom is pro-induction -- it helps her travel plans! Inducing would involve 2 drugs (minimum) -- one to prepare the cervix and the other to help with the contractions. Something just doesn't feel right about it to me. Perhaps planning it out just wasn't what I envisioned for when I went into labor -- in some ways it's too easy. But I also fear this process may make labor longer than if the baby was ready to come out on its own (and I would like labor to be as efficient as possible). On the other hand, my doctor has delivered a few more babies than I have (:-D) so I want to heed his advice. Oh, what to do?

On another note, Pat and I went for a car seat inspection yesterday to make sure our seat was properly installed. One big surprise was that the seat we got is probably going to be too large for the baby (a Britax Marathon) -- despite the fact that the seat supposedly holds babies from 5 to 65 pounds! I say 'probably' because unless the baby is 22" long (which is a long baby) this seat's shoulder straps will most likely be too high above the baby's shoulders, which apparently is not as safe as if the straps were at or below the baby's shoulders. The inspectors said it is a great seat, and we will need to get one eventually, but a carrier-type seat is what we need. Talk about making me unsettled! Ahh! Babies R Us, here I come, ASAP! Here I thought I was all set to go -- the overnight bag packed and in the car, the nursery all set up, baby clothes and blankets pre-washed -- and now my car seat isn't right?! I'm a little frustrated with Britax's advertising - talk about misleading!

My favorite things...

I suppose pregnancy is preparation for the trials of motherhood. At least it prepares you to do things that you don't want to do, but have to. My husband even made the comment, "Erin, I feel sorry for you!" as we were waiting to see the doctor last week. To illustrate, I'll walk you through a typical weekly doctor visit. First, I get weighed -- everyone's favorite activity, especially post Thanksgiving and Christmas. Then I get to pee in a cup (yes, EVERY time!). Such fun. Then there is the usual blood pressure and stomach measurement - that's not bad. And we listen to the baby's heartbeat - that's the best part (no sarcasm there). But really the "best" part is (as always) saved for last -- the weekly (yes, weekly) pelvic exams. I suppose that's no surprise that the doctors need to do that, but it doesn't make it any more fun.
As far as progress goes, my due date is less than a week away. Last week my cervix had softened and the doctor thought the baby had dropped some. I have my next "fun" appointment today -- we'll see if there are any more changes!

Heartbeats and Wiggle-worms

At my last doctor's visit, my OB/GYN, Dr. Gunnells, tried to let my husband and I hear the baby's heartbeat. How exciting! Only problem was, we couldn't hear it. I've read that the baby's heartbeat starts beating at the 6th week, but it's not easily heard until a few weeks later. The doctor told us that at 12 weeks the heartbeat was usually easier to hear, but if it was earlier than that, it wasn't as easy. Well, at 11 weeks along, I was going to have to wait another 4 weeks to hear my baby's heartbeat, all the while wondering if everything was okay. Although I don't believe I showed extreme disappointment in my face, fortunately Dr. Gunnells scheduled an ultrasound for me so he would be certain that the baby was as developed as predicted. Yes!! So, in a few minutes, with the vaseline-like goo on my tummy, there was my baby on the screen! Wow. Wow. Wow. It was amazing.

The lady preforming the ultrasound took measurements of the baby to determine how far along I was. Apparently the earlier the ultrasound, the more accurate they can determine how "old" the baby is. Most every baby develops at the same rate in the beginning stages, but as they get closer to maturity, the range of baby sizes increases dramatically. So, from "crown to rump" my baby was 4.7 cm long, which put him at 11 weeks and 2 days. My initial due date of Jan. 18th seemed to be right on schedule. The ultrasound showed us his little heart beating, which was calculated at a healthy 162 bpm. Thank goodness.

My baby is a wiggle-worm!! Does that mean its a boy? :-D I know it is still too early to tell, but it was amazing to see him moving constantly: lifting his arms up to his head, flipping from side to side, twisting and turning. I imagined that babies just lie there peacefully -- almost half-asleep, but this kid was already jazzercising!

Seriously, at 11 weeks, the baby's development is incredible despite his tiny size. You can see fingers and toes (arms and legs, too), the ribs and spine, the heart, and even eye sockets. It was shocking to hear that the baby's still so small. I'm not sure how soon the baby will start to really grow -- if it will be very gradual or if it will come more toward the end?

After not hearing the heartbeat, seeing the baby and confirming that everything was healthy really eased my mind. I've known people who have miscarried before and that concern had been lingering in the back of my mind. I suppose it's not impossible to miscarry at this point, but the chances for this little one making it all the way is over 90% after the first trimester.

The Miracle Worker

After 2 straight days of nausea, I decided to look up morning sickness remedies. While the reported remedies range from acupressure wrist bands to sucking on a lemon wedge, the remedy that I decided to try was ginger ale and saltines -- the trusty standby I remember from being sick as a child. Within minutes, I felt extremely better -- from a 3 out of 10 to a 9 out of 10 on the feel-good meter, and I've stayed feeling good since.

Yesterday my husband and I went for our first doctors appointment to the OB/GYN. As expected, they extracted various types of bodily fluids for testing from me. Everything seemed to be normal when talking with the doctor, which was encouraging. They gave me a due date: January 18, 2009, which they figure from the first day of your last period. This means I'm 7 weeks along in my pregnancy, further than I realized.