35 weeks and unexpected midwife visit

11/5/08

The baby doesn't have much room to maneuver now that he's over 18 inches long and tips the scales at 5 1/4 pounds (pick up a honeydew melon). Because it's so snug in the womb, he isn't likely to be doing somersaults anymore, but the number of times he kicks should remain about the same. His kidneys are fully developed now, and his liver can process some waste products. Most of his basic physical development is now complete — he'll spend the next few weeks putting on weight. I am sure our baby is now weighing more than 5.25lbs since a couple of weeks ago the baby was already 5lbs 1oz. I guess George and I just don't make average size babies, but instead make large ones.

Last night and this morning, the baby seemed to be moving around less than normal so I called my midwife. She wanted to see me in the office. Once I arrived, she hooked me up to the contraction monitor and the fetal heart rate monitor. She wanted me to push a button every time I felt movement. Well, on the way to the office I had eaten a piece of Halloween candy, and I think it was getting to the baby, because he/she decided it was party time. The baby moved almost constantly the entire 20 minutes I was connected to the monitor. She said that she was making sure the baby's heart rate was reactive and went up and down during the test. The heart rate averaged 150-160 throughout most of the test. She said the heart rate was very reactive, I was not having contractions, and the baby looked very good. I was also concerned that I may have leaked some amniotic fluid. She did a test of the fluid on some ph paper, and she said it was either normal discharge or urine. Great, I now may be peeing on myself! I guess this is common, and another problem with having babies so close together. While she was collecting the sample for the ph paper, she checked my cervix, and I was 1 cm dilated and 70% effaced. I really did not want to get checked, but she wanted to make sure that my bag of water was still intact. I did not get cervical checks my entire pregnancy with Owen. The doctors usually start doing them at your 36 week appointment, and then weekly until you deliver, but they serve absolutely no purpose, and could actually cause problems. Studies have shown that the checks can actually cause the water to break prematurely. Then you are basically on a stop watch with only a certain amount of time to deliver before they want to do a c-section. The doctor/midwife can check the baby's position externally, so their is no need for the exam. You can be 1 cm at an appointment, and deliver that same day, or you can be 4 cm at the appointment, and not deliver for several weeks. I think these checks could also start to play mind games with you. If you are not dilating you might start to wonder why, what is wrong, will I have to be induced, etc... Since they serve no purpose, I will not be getting anymore until I go to the hospital to push the baby out. I think so many people go to the office and get them done not knowing that their is actually a risk associated with them. I also don't think people ask, "why does this need to be done, or what purpose does this serve?" Okay, I will get off my soap box now. Sorry to bore you all. I go back to my midwife on Monday for my normal check up, and will then start going weekly. I am so glad everything turned out okay at my visit today. : )
I know Halloween is over, but this picture is just so cute I had to put it on here. What a precious little monkey!

10/31/08

Happy Halloween! Owen is going out trick or treating tonight in his cute little monkey costume. Remember, George said he had to be a monkey because he loves to climb all over the place. George commonly calls Owen his little spider monkey. I will post pictures later this week.

For the past few days my appetite has totally vanished. Obviously I am still eating, but I am really no longer hungry. This is a total change from about a month ago when I was so famished all the time, and I felt like I wanted to eat constantly. I guess this baby is just growing so big that I am running out of room. I remember with Owen, around this time my heartburn got really bad. I had heartburn almost everyday of my pregnancy with him from about 16 weeks on. This time around, still no heartburn! I can't believe how totally different these pregnancies have been. Another new phenomenon is my pelvis shifting all the time. I don't remember my pelvis feeling so unstable with Owen. Now, I feel like my pelvis is shifting all around and has become very loose. It is also constantly popping. When I stand on one leg, I fell like I am going to fall over due to instability. I guess everything is just loose with this pregnancy. My uterus feels like it is getting ready to fall out, my pelvis is shifty, and the ligaments in my feet are getting loose, causing my feet to grow. With Owen I felt like everything was all tight and put together in its proper spot. I guess this is just what happens when you have 2 babies in 17 months. : )

I worked at the hospital yesterday, and we didn't have very many patients. I guess no one wanted their child to have surgery the day before Halloween, and possibly miss out on all the festivities. Due to the lack of patients, us nurses had lots of time to talk. Everyone keeps asking me what I am having, and then they love to give me their opinions. Last pregnancy all the guesses were about 50% percent boy, and 50% girl, but this time almost everyone is saying girl! George still says he is so sure it is a little girl. I bought my first little girl outfit a couple of days ago. It is a cute little summer outfit that was on clearance at Babies R Us for only $2.90. I just couldn't pass it up. I will just say the receipt, because I don't think a little boy will look that cute in this lavender outfit. : ) I am going to buy a couple infant boy, and a couple infant girl outfits so that this baby has something cute to wear after delivery that is not just yellow or green. As the d-day (delivery day) grows closer and closer, the anticipation is really getting me so excited. We now only have about 5.5 weeks to go! I can't wait to find out what I have been nurturing, protecting, and loving for the past 8.5 months!

34 weeks

10/29/08

The baby's fat layers — which will help regulate her body temperature once she's born — are filling her out, making her rounder. Her skin is also smoother than ever. Her central nervous system is maturing and her lungs are continuing to mature as well. Babies born between 34 and 37 weeks who have no other health problems generally do fine, so I am passed the real danger zone. They may need a short stay in the neonatal nursery and may have a few short-term health issues, but in the long run, they usually do as well as full-term babies.

I had another midwife appointment on Monday, and again everything was well. My blood pressure, urine, and weight gain were all great. She found the heartbeat right away with the doppler, and she said it was around 145. My uterus was measuring 35 weeks. The medical assistant who calls me back and gets my vital signs every time said she was getting a girl vibe from me. Remember, my midwife's office has no idea what the sex of this baby is either. The only people that know are the staff at maternal fetal medicine where I have been getting all the ultrasounds. I make sure that when they fax over a report that it does not mention the sex of the baby. It would be too hard to keep it a secret at two offices. I need to go out this week and purchase a couple cute little boy outfits, and a couple cute little girl outfits so that I will have them when the baby is born. Most of Owen's clothes are not going to work out well. He was born in May, so all of his newborn clothes are short sleeves and shorts. I am pretty sure it is not going to be warm enough at the beginning of December to be wearing summer clothing. Owen and I are going shopping today to work on Christmas gifts so maybe we will find something for the baby too. I think I am also going to start purchasing newborn/size 1 diapers every time we buy diapers for Owen, that way we get a good supply built up. After Owen was born, we didn't have to buy diapers until he was around 4-5 months old. We had so many packs given to us at my many showers.

I will have George take my 34 week belly picture this evening when he gets home. I just looked back at some of the earlier blogs to look at my belly pictures, and the change is amazing! I can't believe how much your body transforms. I feel about the same size as I was with Owen....mostly all belly. I prefer to gain it that way than all over! : ) I think genes has a lot to do with it, so I can't take all the credit.

33 weeks

10/22/08

I have had a very uneventful pregnancy week. I am still having some swelling on my hands and feet by the end of the day, and one day this week I didn't wear my wedding rings. That was a first for me. I am pretty sure that is the first time they have been off for a whole day since I have had them. I think I am going to purchase a lia sophia ring that looks like an engagement ring so that I can wear that on my ring finger until after this baby is born. I don't want to have to cut my rings off! My wedding rings are size 3.75, and my size 5 lia sophia rings are fitting on that finger fairly well. They spin around a little but it is better than cutting off the circulation. I have still been craving sweets. My weakness right now is candy corn, and how horrible is that for me and this baby.

Owen is loving his speech therapy, and is totally ready to play as soon as his therapist gets here. He tries to open up her big bag of toys as soon as she puts it down. It is giving me some ideas for Christmas presents for him because I get to see what he likes. I asked the therapist how far behind he was, and she said he really wasn't. She said he would only be in therapy for about 3 months. He has already increased his vocabulary tremendously. I don't really think it has anything to do with the therapy. I think he just decided it was finally time to start talking. Some new words he is saying are: pretzel, choo-choo, doggie, key, glasses, tractor, look, and shoes. He now says about 20 words. He has discovered how to open the doors, and he is getting into everything. We bought covers for the doorknobs, but he was able to get them off the first day. I used to take the dogs out and leave him inside when it was yucky out, but know he opens the front door, looks at me, and then smiles real big, like look at what I just did. He gave me two big scares this week. First, I was blow drying my hair, and I always shut the bedroom door so that he is contained in either the bedroom or the bathroom with me. Well, I had only been blow drying a couple of minutes, and I hear a loud thud. I put the blow dryer down, and ran into the bedroom, only to find that Owen had climbed up into our bed, and then over onto George's nightstand, and was standing on it with his arms up it the arm. He started laughing when he saw me. The loud thud must have been the lamp landing on the floor from off of the night stand. What a monkey! The second scare happened a couple of days ago when I was cleaning up from lunch. He was in the living room playing, and then this time, I didn't hear anything (that is always a bad sign too). I started calling for him, and was then walking around the house looking for him. I had been in every room of the house, and still couldn't find him. I was then going back to some of the same rooms, and looking behind doors, under cribs, under beds, etc. I then went into my bathroom for the second time, and found Owen in the shower with the shower cleaner bottle up to his mouth. He had gotten the cleaner out from the bathroom cabinet, and then was hiding in the shower. He had cleaner all over his face, arms, hands, and shirt. I didn't know how much, if any, he had swallowed, so I called poison control. She said he would be fine, and to wipe his skin off so that it didn't burn, and give him some milk. This is what prompted us to go out and buy the door knob covers. They are not working, so I guess we will have to go out and look for a different model. How am I going to handle him and a newborn?!?! What is he going to be getting into when I am changing the baby's diaper, of feeding him/her? God only knows what else he will be doing in another 7 weeks time. Are all boys like this, or just some that are part monkey like Owen? By the way, can you guess what he is going to be for Halloween?

We only have 3 more childbirth classes to attend, and I feel like this last 7 weeks of pregnancy is going to fly by. We still need to purchase a pack n play with a bassinet to replace our bassinet that got recalled. I think that is going to be on the agenda this weekend along with starting the Christmas shopping.

32 weeks

10/16/08
I am supposed to be gaining about a pound a week, and roughly half of that goes right to the baby. The baby will gain a third to half of the birth weight during the next 7 weeks, and she fattens up to survive outside the womb. She now has toenails, fingernails, and hair.

On Monday, we went back to our midwife, and everything was great. She said that the heartbeat was around 145, and sounded strong. Again, my uterus measured 2 weeks ahead of how many weeks I really am. I asked her why I feel so much pressure down low, and movements much lower than I ever did with Owen. She said that since I had my babies so close together, my muscles didn't have a chance to get back to normal. She gave me the analogy that my uterus used to be held up with muscles like a sling, and now that sling is more like a loose bungee cord. I guess I should have been working out those muscles a little more! My blood pressure, and urine still looked good, and I gained 2 pounds over the past 2 weeks. I guess I am right on target to gain 30 pounds.

We had another ultrasound today to look at those kidneys. Everything looked picture perfect. The baby is already head down (whoohooo), and so we couldn't get a face shot. We actually got no ultrasound pictures to take home. : ( The head is down on the right hand side of my pelvis, and then the butt is up off to the right side of my belly button, and then then legs are pulled into the chest. So, it turns out it has been hands punching me in the bladder and not feet like I thought. This baby already weighs 5lbs 1 oz, and is in the 67th percentile. (So, maybe it will be another boy after all. Who knows?) My amniotic fluid level was great, and all the other anatomy looked wonderful as well. The heart rate ranged from 143-149 during the scan. Based upon the measurements of this ultrasound, they gave me an estimated due date of November 30th. That is 11 days before my due date. The head, arm bone, leg bone, abdomen ranged from the 55th percentile to the 90th percentile. As one of my friends once told me, "that is what happens when a Chihuahua mates with a Great Dane. Sometimes you end up with a Great Dane!" The size of this baby is what is making me think it is another boy, but I guess you can't go by size. George's cousin had a 10lb 10oz healthy baby girl. I am sure she had to be in the upper percentiles!! She came out looking like a 4 month old. : )

Nesting has already kicked it, and I have been trying to get some things organized. I went through all of Owen's old clothes and sorted out the unisex items from the blue stuff. My goal for this week is to go through Owen's closet and put up all the summer clothes, and get the rest of the winter stuff hung up. We are also trying to work on our Christmas lists so we can get them out to our families. We have got to start on our Christmas shopping! I am down to less than 60 days before this baby will be here. I can't wait to meet him or her!!!!

31 weeks

10/8/08

This week, our baby measures over 16 inches long. He weighs about 3.3 pounds (try carrying four navel oranges) and is heading into a growth spurt. He can turn his head from side to side, and his arms, legs, and body are beginning to plump out as needed fat accumulates underneath his skin. He's probably moving a lot, too, so you may have trouble sleeping because your baby's kicks and somersaults keep you up.

This has been another crazy week. Our refrigerator has gone out for good. It has been dying a slow death since the power outage. Several repairmen think it was caused by a power surge during all the storm activity. We currently have everything in a small dorm room fridge that George has had since college. We went out shopping tonight, finally decided on the one we wanted, went to checkout, and found out it would be 3 weeks for delivery. WHAT!?! We cannot live out of this dorm room fridge for 3 more weeks!!! We found another one we liked, but it only comes in black or stainless, and our other appliances are white. I wouldn't mind changing over to stainless, but hopefully it will be several more years before our other appliances bite the dust, and I am not sure I everything not matching. We are going out shopping again tonight. Originally we thought we would get another side by side like we had, but we have changed our mind to a french door style fridge on top, and pull out freezer on bottom. For us it makes more sense to have a bigger fridge, since we have a deep freeze as well.

As far as pregnancy goes, I have started to notice some slight swelling of my feet and fingers towards the end of the day. It seems to happen more if I work all day at the hospital, and then have a lia sophia show the same night. I guess it is from standing on my feet all day. I have gained a total of 23 pounds. I have 9 more weeks to go, so I should be close to 30 pounds in the end. That is right around what I gained with Owen, and lost all the pregnancy weight plus some with no problem. I hope it comes off just as easy this time. I am going to breastfeed for at least a year again, so I am sure that will help shed the pounds sooner. I am still having the pregnancy congestion issue, but it is getting worse. Sometimes it is now occurring when I am upright, and remains constant when I am lying down. My belly is really starting to get in the way when trying to do different things. I can't stand up from sitting on the floor as fast. It also gets in the way when trying to give Owen a bath. I can't believe I am down to just 2 more months. D-day (delivery day) is going to be here before we know it.

I had a horrible dream this week about my delivery. I was in labor, and at the hospital in the tub. George was working security at the movie theater, and he said he couldn't come to the delivery because he couldn't find someone to cover for him. So, here I am in the tub, in lots of pain, and Owen is running around the tub being crazy. I guess I also had no one to watch him. Not only is he running around the tub making tons of noise, but he has his plastic golf club, and he keeps hitting me in the head with the head of the club. I end up giving birth to a boy, and George finally shows up. When he comes in, he is carrying a baby girl. I ask him where that baby came from, and he tells me that it is our baby. I am holding the baby boy I just delivered. I was so confused. Owen was still running around (he was the same age he is currently), George was holding our baby girl who looked around 3-4 months old, and I had our newborn baby boy. Then, George was obsessed that the newborn baby's name was going to be Anderson. He didn't understand that we were not going to name the new baby Anderson, because that is Owen's middle name. He wouldn't budge, and we ended up naming him Anderson anyway. I know in reality that George would not miss the delivery of this baby for anything in the world, and Anderson as a first name has never even come up. Why is Owen beating me over the head while I am delivering? Why do I have a 3-4 month old, Owen, and a newborn? What does all this mean? It was all just really weird.

I go back to the midwife on Monday, and have another ultrasound on Thursday. I will keep you posted. I keep telling George we have got to finalize our baby boy name. Preston is still top on our list, but it is not set in stone yet.

30 weeks!

10/1/08

The baby should be about 15.7 inches long now, and weighs almost 3 pounds (like a head of cabbage). A pint and a half of amniotic fluid surrounds her, but that volume will decrease as she gets bigger and takes up more room in the uterus. Her eyesight continues to develop, though it's not very keen; even after she's born, she'll keep her eyes closed for a good part of the day. When she does open them, she'll respond to changes in light but will have 20/400 vision — which means she can only make out objects a few inches from her face.

I really am in the home stretch! I can't believe I am down to single digit weeks when I count down how many I have left!!! I saw the midwife again on Monday, and everything was great. I only gained 1 pound in the past two weeks, so that was better than the 6 pounds I had gained the two weeks before that. With Owen, I gained quite a bit of weight in the middle of the pregnancy, and then really tapered off gaining only a pound every couple of weeks towards the end. It looks like I may be doing the same thing with this baby. The baby's heartbeat sounded fast and strong again. The baby actually kicked the doppler at the same time she was trying to hear the heartbeat, as if saying, "leave me alone!"I measured 33 weeks instead of 30, but I think it had to do with the baby position. I have noticed that the baby is starting to move more vertical instead of being horizontal all the time. For the longest time, this baby loved to lay sideways, with it's feet on my right hip and it's head near my left hip. My blood pressure and urine were also fine. I asked the midwife it would be possible for George to "catch" the baby. She said of course, as long as everything is going well. She said I am small enough that I could even reach down and pull the baby out after the head is delivered. How awesome is that?? Instead of a stranger being the first one to hold our baby, it will be amazing for one of us to to have that initial contact. George will then be able to announce if we have a little girl or boy. I can't wait!!! I am so excited just thinking about that moment!

Our Bradley classes are going well, and I am so glad we decided to take a refresher course. I think it is going to help us by having all that info so fresh in our minds again. I am determined to have the natural birth we want this time around! NO INDUCTION!! I have positive pregnancy affirmations delivered to my email inbox everyday, and the one for today is "my body knows when to give birth." I am going to print this one, so that I can see it, and say it daily.

George and I are going to the theatre tonight to see Pride and Prejudice. He bought tickets the for my birthday present. Claudia, our nanny, is coming over to watch Owen for the night. I am sure they will have fun as well. The play is not supposed to get over until after 10:00pm, so I may have to take a power nap this afternoon so that I will be able to stay awake. That is still my only complaint for this pregnancy..... I can't sleep. If I get much past 90 degrees, I can't breathe out of my nose. I am also so hot that I have to have the ceiling fan on max. With breathing out of my mouth and the fan on max, my mouth gets so dry. I wake up, and have to get something to drink. Well, that creates another problem- I drink and then I wake up because I have to pee. So, between waking up to get something to drink and to pee, I don't get much sleep. It is all worth it, and I wouldn't change it for the world, so I guess I should just stop complaining. : )

I LOVE BEING PREGNANT!!!
MY BODY KNOWS WHEN TO GIVE BIRTH!!!