Ohhh no, a visit to the ER!

12/8/08

We had a wild weekend. On Saturday morning, Owen was still not acting himself, and we being very cranky. He had not had a fever since Wednesday, but I guess the lack of sleep, and his teeth still coming in was having an effect on him. I was cleaning up some things in one of the extra bedrooms, and George was in the living room when I heard a loud thud followed by screaming. Anyone will kiddo's can tell when their child is really hurt, or if they are doing a fake cry, well this one was for real. I got up from the floor as fast as I could (which is not that fast these days) and went in to see what was going on. George had already picked him up, and I asked what happened. George said Owen either fell off the kitchen table, or one of the chairs. By this time Owen was not crying anymore, but his face was extremely red, all except for his lips and nose which were white as could be. I took him from George and tried to get him to stand up so I could assess him. I wanted to check to see how well he was breathing, and to see if he had any broken bones, or bleeding. When I tried to stand him, he was like a limp noodle. His chin was now down to his chest. I lifted up his head, and it just flopped right back down to his chest. His lips and nose remained very white. He was still breathing, but very shallow. His eyes were closed, and he was not responding to anything I did to him. Finally after about 4 minutes of this, he finally became more responsive. My little monkey scared me! He was still not acting normal, so I told George we were taking him to the ER just to make sure everything was okay. By the time we got signed in, Owen was pretty much back to normal except for being a little pale. George took him for a walk in the waiting area. Owen got running, tripped over his shoes, and fell down, hitting his head AGAIN! This time he got a little knot and bruise immediately on his forehead. His lips and nose got pale again, but not near like they were after the initial injury. He was also way more responsive this time. What a day! He has fallen a hundred times, but these were the only times he had the crazy lack of color in this lips and nose. By the time we saw the doctor, Owen was completely back to himself, and the doctor didn't think we needed to do any further testing. Thank God everything was fine! Owen sure didn't learn his lesson, the very next day, he was back up on the kitchen chair trying to climb up onto the table. How is he (and George and I) ever going to make it through these toddler years?

Saturday night when I was laying in bed recapping the events of the week, I was really wondering if I was ever going to get back my sweet, little Owen. He had been cranky or sick for over a week now, and I just wanted it to be over! Thankfully I woke up on Sunday only to find that my precious little Owen had returned and left the cranky Owen behind. He finally woke up at his normal time, ate all his meals, had a great nap, laughed, played, and smiled! I really missed him, and was so glad to have him back!

I am now 39 weeks and 5 days pregnant! I wanted to post a couple of comparison pictures. It is hard to tell just how big I have gotten until I look back at some of the early pictures. The picture on the left was taken at 15 weeks and 5 days, and the picture on the right was taken at 39 weeks and 1 day. What a transformation!

38weeks 6 days

12/2/08

The baby's waiting to greet the world! He continues to build a layer of fat to help control his body temperature after birth, but it's likely he already measures about 20 inches and weighs a bit over 7 pounds, a mini watermelon. (Boys tend to be slightly heavier than girls.) The outer layers of his skin are sloughing off as new skin forms underneath.

I had another appointment with Beth, our midwife, yesterday. I forgot to ask last week if my Group B Strep test came back negative or positive, so I asked for sure this week, and thankfully it was negative. That means no antibiotics for me during labor!! My blood pressure was good 110/58, urine fine, and I gained 2 pounds. That is 34 pounds total. I am so ready to shed 15 pounds all in one day! Once again, I did not have an internal exam. The heartbeat sounded great, and my uterus was measuring right on target. We discussed the course of action should I not be in labor by next week. I was really all prepared to go 42 weeks again this time, but with my friend having a full term still born baby recently, it has made me really scared and nervous. I told Beth that I wanted to have an ultrasound of the baby, and a nonstress test. During the ultrasound, they will check the fluid level, check the baby's breathing, movement, and heartbeat. During the nonstress test, they will hook me up to a monitor that measures the baby's heartbeat, and my contractions. It monitors the baby's heartbeat over the course of 20 minutes. If the baby's heartbeat is fluctuating all around, this shows that the placenta is still functioning well, and giving the baby plenty of oxygen. This may all be overkill since I will just be 40 weeks, but I just want to make sure everything is still okay in there. My ultrasound is next Monday, followed by another appointment with Beth.


Owen has been running a temperature for the past couple of days. He also has a slight rash on his belly, arms, and legs, which he had at his 18 month check up last week, and his doctor asked if he had been sick recently. At the time he was not acting sick, but now he has just been whiny. He is also getting all four canine teeth in, so I am sure that is part of it. Yesterday his temperature only got to 100.3, but this morning it was 101.5. I am not so sure I should be taking care of him at this point. I don't want to be getting sick right before delivery. I gave him some Tylenol, and he really just wants to lay all over me, spreading his germs for sure.

I had my last lia sophia meeting last night, and I have no more hours at the hospital, so I am now officially on rest mode waiting for this baby to come. : )

I wonder, will these be my last big belly photos? I am going to miss my big pregnant belly once it is gone. Do you think it can really get any bigger????

38 weeks

11/26/08

The baby has really plumped up. She should now weigh about 6.8 pounds and be over 19 1/2 inches long (like a leek). She has a firm grasp, which you'll soon be able to test when you hold her hand for the first time! Her organs have matured and are ready for life outside the womb.

We saw our midwife, Beth, on Monday, and we have a great uneventful visit. My uterus was measuring right on track. My urine was fine, my blood pressure was 105/52, and I gained 1 pound. The heartbeat sounded great as well. I asked Beth how big she thought the baby was, and she guessed about 6.5lbs. She said she is guessing about 7-7.5lbs at my due date. I guess I just make 7 pounders! Owen was 7lbs 5oz, and that was a great weight, not too big, and not too small. We went over all the aspects of our birth plan, and she signed off on everything. She gave us the signed copy back so that we will have it when we arrive at the hospital. We go back to see her every Monday until we have the baby.

I have finally packed my labor bag, and will be working on my hospital bag tomorrow or Friday. In the labor bag we have two rice socks, some tennis balls (used for pressure and massage), chapstick, hair ties, massage oil and lotion, a couple of massage tools, calming sounds CD, small CD player, notepad (for George to take notes on), a pen, mints, birth plan, some snacks, and some other misc. items that I can't remember right now.

I am starting to get very uncomfortable. George was home today, so I was going to be able to sleep in, but I couldn't get comfortable, so I just got up. Only a couple more weeks, and I will be able to sleep on my belly. I remember after I had Owen, being able to sleep on my belly again was like heaven! I feel like I am now doing the pregnancy waddle. I feel like this baby is just about to fall out, and I have so much pressure that it makes it difficult to walk normal. The nerve pain in back in my left hip/butt, and it travels down my left leg. Beth suggested doing some pelvic rock exercises, which I have already been doing.

Owen had his 18 month check up today. I can't believe how fast the past year and a half has flown by. It seems like he was just a baby, and he is now a full grown toddler. Where has the time gone? He was in the 78% percentile for height, 65% for weight, and 45% for head circumference. He has had a slight rash all over his legs, upper arms, and belly for about a week. I was not concerned about it because it looks more like an allergy reaction or a sensitivity to something. This was confirmed by Dr. Wampler. He said we need to make sure we are using dye/fragrance free soap, detergent, and lotions. We already use dye/fragrance free detergent for everything we wash, but we need to get he some new skin cream. Dr. Wampler suggested cream instead of lotion to help his skin hold in the moisture better. I guess he is just going to have sensitive skin like his momma. He was meeting all of his developmental milestones, and most of the 2 year ones as well. I guess we have an over achiever! I can't wait to see how he is going to respond to a new little brother or sister. He loves all little kids and babies, but I just wonder how he will respond to loosing a little attention. We will find out soon! Only 2 weeks to go!!!!

New Polls

11/24/08

I have added a couple new polls just for fun. Maybe I should have also added a poll for how long you think my labor is going to last this time. I am sure many of you are hoping for a shorter time period this time, as am I! I see Beth, our midwife, this afternoon, and I will let you know how things go.

37 weeks

11/19/08

The baby is now considered full term! This means that if the baby arrives now, his lungs should be fully mature and ready to adjust to life outside the womb, even though your due date is still three weeks away.Your baby weighs 6 1/3 pounds and measures a bit over 19 inches, head to heel. I forgot to ask Beth, our midwife, about how big she thought the baby was at our last appointment. I guess I will have to ask her on Monday. We are now going every week, so I feel like we are in there all the time. Practitioners are better and guessing how big the baby is at this point than ultrasounds. Many of you may remember they told us that Owen was growth restricted, and was only going to weight 6lbs even. Well, turns out he was born 4 days later, and weighed in at 7lbs 5oz. I guess he really hit a growth spurt! : ) I am being sarcastic in case you couldn't tell! Everything is pretty much the same, still having the pelvic pressure, swelling, and difficultly sleeping. I worked my last day at the hospital today, and I have the last of my lia sophia shows on Sunday, and then I am officially on maternity leave!!! WHOOHOO! I am so ready!

We took a tour of Clark Memorial Hospital this week. Since we delivered Owen at Baptist East, we just wanted to check things out at Clark so we knew where things were located. I also wanted to find out about a few of their policies, and how lenient they really were on some of them. The nurse that gave the tour, told us that after the baby has been on the mom's chest for awhile, then the nursery nurse take the baby over to the warmer to put on a hat, and arm bands. I asked why that couldn't also be done on my chest, and she said as long as the baby is doing okay then that would also be fine. We just need to add that onto our birth plan. By the sounds of it, Clark is going to be much more up our "natural friendly" road than Baptist East. I am so excited about them having the labor tubs, and think they will help out a lot with the contraction pain.

I see that no one is voting on Emory. George hates that name too, so I guess that one is out as well. I put the poll on here before I even discussed the name with him. It looks like if this little one is a boy, his name will be Preston Grant Shultz. I know I say this every week, but the anticipation is really getting to me. Have I been carrying around a sweet little boy, or a precious little girl? We will all find out soon!

Name Poll

11/14/08

We are still trying to decide on a boy name. Boy names are so tough. We have had Adyline picked out for what seems like forever. I have added a new poll on the left hand side of the screen. Check it out, and vote for your favorite. We are getting down to the wire, with only 3 weeks left.

36 weeks, I am getting close!

11/12/08

Your baby is still packing on the pounds — at the rate of about an ounce a day. She now weighs almost 6 pounds (like a crenshaw melon) and is more than 18 1/2 inches long. She's shedding most of the downy covering of hair that covered her body as well as the vernix caseosa, the waxy substance that covered and protected her skin during her nine-month amniotic bath. Your baby swallows both of these substances, along with other secretions, resulting in a blackish mixture, called meconium, will form the contents of her first bowel movement. At the end of this week, your baby will be considered full-term. (Full-term is 37 to 42 weeks; babies born before 37 weeks are pre-term and those born after 42 are post-term.) Most likely she's in a head-down position. She has been head down for several weeks now, and it ready to go!!

George, Owen, and I went back to see the midwife, Beth, on Monday. This was our regularly scheduled appointment. My blood pressure, urine, and weight gain were all fine. I have now gained a total of 30 pounds. I think a lot of that is fluid. I am holding onto way more fluid this time around. The baby's heartbeat was strong, and around 150 beats per minute. Beth checked the position of the baby, which was head down.

We have completed our birth plan, and will give it to Beth at our next appointment for her to look over. For the most part, it is the same plan we had with Owen, with just a couple of additions. We added that we wanted George to catch the baby, and announce the gender. I am getting so excited for this part!!!! We also added that I wanted to have a labor tub available, since that is an option at Clark Memorial that we didn't have at Baptist East. We want to delay the baby's bath so that he/she can stay with us longer in the room. When they give the baby a bath, the baby's temperature almost always drops, and then they won't let the baby leave the nursery until the temperature has gone back up. George and I were discussing when they did the bath last time, and neither of us can even remember. George said he remembers following Owen to the nursery, and showing him of to all our family members that were in the waiting area, and then he can't remember what happened next. After being in that labor and delivery room for 4 days and 3 nights we were both so exhausted a lot of the delivery and right after is a blur. I hope to get lots more pictures this time, and feel like I am actually present, and not just in a daze. Is this baby a boy or a girl? The suspense is really getting intense!

Well, Owen has finally done it! George and I were wondering when this day would come, and it happened yesterday. I put Owen down for a nap, and as soon as he fell asleep, I was planning on taking a nap myself. I was listening to the monitor, and had the video part turned off, when I heard his door open. At first I thought, I didn't get the door latched all the way, and one of the dogs pushed the door open. I was thinking, "I am going to kill that dog because they are going to wake him up!" Well Owen was already fully awake, and came walking around the corner saying "mama, mama". Yes, that's right he climbed out of his crib, opened up his door and came out to get me. Once George got home, I put Owen down for a nap (since he still had not had one all day), and we watched him on the monitor, hike his leg up over the top of the side rail (about 15 seconds after we shut the door to his room). He had his hands on the top of the front rail, and with his leg over the side rail, he pulled up the rest of his body. He was then sitting on the top of the rail with one leg in the crib, and the other leg out. George then went running in the catch him. Well, he didn't need to be caught, he just lowered himself into the glider rocker beside the crib, and then climbed down to the floor. This whole process took less than one minute. Now that he knows he can do this, he is going to do it every time we put him in there. The mattress is already on the lowest setting. His crib does convert into a toddler bed, but I know that he is not going to stay in there to sleep. He will just continue to climb out of it over and over. What are we going to do with our little monkey?!?!