Partial Bedrest...Not Too Fun!

I went to the doctor yesterday for my 34 week appointment.  Apparently, in 11 days I had managed to gain 8 pounds!  Wow!  (Normal is about a pound a week at this point).  I was shocked, mainly because I had not eaten any more these past 11 days than I usually do.  The nurse saw my shock and quickly helped me understand that it really didn't have anything to do with what or how much I had been eating.  It was all water weight AKA swelling.  That didn't surprise me because I have been noticing lately how swollen my hands and face have been getting!  So on to the blood pressure part of the check-up...my blood pressure was high, but not terrible. 140/70 -- it has been worse at other appointments.  But I guess the combination of the high blood pressure and the swelling/water weight gain didn't sit well with the doctors.  

The doctor comes in and asks if I want to be on bedrest.  I laugh and say, "No, who DOES wanna be on bedrest?"  She laughed and then said for now I just need to work a few hours a day, which I usually do anyway, but other than that, be at home on the couch or in bed with my feet propped up and drinking lots of water.  Next week I have to do a 24-hour urine test (that's right -- no leaving the house for 24 hours while I collect my urine and keep it in a refrigerated container --EW) and lots and lots of blood work.  These tests are testing my kidney and liver functions as well as some other things...the results of these tests will tell the doctor if I have preeclampsia and need more bedrest or not (I don't think less is an option).   Preeclampsia can cause liver/kidney/other damage to the mother and even affect the baby's circulation if it gets too bad.  But like I told Derek and my mom, the doctors aren't going to let it get to that point.  If the test results aren't great, then they will probably put me on full bedrest.  The doctor did say that I probably won't make it to my due date -- they would induce me at 37-38 weeks if this problem doesn't go away.  The only cure for preeclampsia is delivery of the baby.

But other than all that junk, I am feeling okay.  I can definitely feel the effects of the higher blood pressure (my face is red a lot, headaches, etc.) and the swelling is not fun either.  But I am not feeling absolutely terrible or anything.  The doctor says Natalie herself is doing great.  She is kind of lying sideways/diagonal at this point, with her head more down than up, but she is not straight up and down.  Her feet are under my right rib cage.  

We had an AWESOME time with Susan and Zach these past few days...and I can't wait for mom to be here on Friday to help me wash Natalie's clothes and bottles and pack our bags for the hospital!

33 weeks and counting...

Well, I am now 33 weeks and 1 day...getting closer!  I had a doctor's appointment last week and the doctor seems to think that Natalie might have flipped around!  He wasn't completely sure and didn't seem too concerned with it until my 36 week appointment, but just by feeling around, he thought the head was down.  I'm pretty sure he is right because a couple of nights ago Natalie had a big case of the hiccups and I felt them way down low!  I should know a little more at my next doctor's appointment which is in about a week.  

Derek and I have both been having lots of strange baby dreams.  He dreamed that we lost Natalie once we brought her home (like in the covers or something) but no one besides himself was concerned.  Last night I had a dream really similar -- I couldn't find Natalie to feed her and no one thought it was a big deal.  Haha.  I guess these just show that we are starting to get nervous!

Susan and Zach are coming on Saturday to visit for a few days and I am so excited!!  I miss my friends and family a lot and this trip will help so much!  And then my mom is coming a week after Susan and Zach get here, which will be so great too.  I know she is excited to see me and I am excited to see her.  I think she's gonna help me wash all of Natalie's clothes, blankets, etc., get the bottles all ready to go, and even help us pack our bags for the hospital.

It's very strange to think that 4 weeks from now, Natalie won't be considered premature anymore!  Very weird!!!

32 weeks!

Today makes 32 weeks! Only 8 more to go (unless I have a scheduled C-section, and then only 7 more to go!). I can't believe it is getting this close...it still feels so far away! Derek and I are just about finished with all of our childbirth classes...we only have a couple to go! Tonite is C-section night at our Lamaze class, so that should be interesting! I hear videos are involved...

Last week we did Baby Care Basics, Breastfeeding, and Save-A-Baby, which were all pretty good! Derek did great changing our plastic baby's diaper and swaddling her. We DID end up with the black plastic baby in both classes, which was weird, cause no one else had a black baby (even the black couples). Of course Derek found some humor in that and made some funny jokes!

I have a doctor's appointment on Thursday -- just to check the normal stuff (weight, blood pressure, baby position, etc.) . Maybe Natalie decided to flip since the last appointment, but if she did, I didn't notice!

I don't know if any other pregnant women experience this, but the belly can be misleading! Here's what I mean...the size of my belly plus the pressure it creates on my stomach makes me feel like I'm full all of the time! Therefore, I never really feel that hungry anymore. This caught up with me yesterday when I almost passed out (literally) around 2 pm because I hadn't eaten anything all day. I never once even thought about eating (and if you know me, you know that just doesn't happen). So now I am trying to be more concious about eating at least a little something every few hours so my blood sugar doesn't get low and I get all woozy again...

That's about it!

Accessories and Belly Pictures

Here are some pictures of the carseat/carrier (which are currently in our garage....guess I need to move the carseat to my car at some point...) and a couple of the belly at 31 weeks!

Natalie's Room So Far!

Here are some pictures of Natalie's room....the crib isn't set up due the fact we are moving in July....I figured she could easily survive in the bassinet/pack n play for the first 6 weeks or so.  I am quite excited about the super comfortable glider and ottoman -- I've already started sitting in it every day and rocking for a little while!  Sorry the room is so boring, but, since we are trying to sell the house, we didn't want to paint the walls or even really hang up anything yet.  Just the basics are in there now!

Is it okay that I think my doctor is hot?

So sue me. He's attractive. Right? Good thing there are 6 doctors in my practice, so he doesn't necessarily have to be the one to deliver me. I'm not sure I could handle that! Haha!


On another note, I began scrapbooking yesterday! Mom got me a bunch of stuff for Christmas to start it up. I finished 3 of the 20 pages I'm gonna do for my "pregnancy" scrapbook. Hopefully it will look good enough for me to do Natalie's baby book scrapbook style. It was really fun! Derek even joined in by offering opinions about what pictures to put on each page.

Tomorrow is 30 weeks! Yay!

Still Breech!

Well, our 2nd and final attempt at a 4D ultrasound didn't prove to be any more successful than the 1st attempt.  She is still in the exact same position....butt first with her feet and hands up in front of her face.  Oh well!  But other than that, she is doing great!  I will be 30 weeks on Tuesday, which is so exciting.  I talked to the doctor and he said that if she is still breech at 36 weeks, they will either try and manually turn her around (called a version procedure) or just schedule me for a C-section.  Derek and I really don't want to try and manually move her -- low success rate, lots of risks involved, very painful, etc. -- so we'll probably just go ahead and schedule the C-section at that point.  The doctor said he would like to do the C-section when I'm 39 weeks, which is around June 4th.  We'll see!  Maybe she'll flip, but I just don't think she will.  She's pretty stubborn.  I guess the advantage in having a scheduled C-section is that maybe my parents and Derek's parents will be able to be there!

I also got my Rho-gam shot at the doctor's office a couple of days ago (because of my negative blood type), but the nurse gave it to me in my hip, so I didn't really feel it much due to the hip cushioning I've got goin on!  I will get another shot right after Natalie is born, unless she also has a negative blood type, and then I don't need it.  

Next doctor's appointment is not for another 3 weeks -- I'll be 32 weeks and counting then!

We have Natalie's room as set up as possible for now.  We built the swing, changing table, and pack n play/bassinet a few days ago and all are ready to go!  When my mom comes to visit the first weekend in May, I'll finalize everything (wash Natalie's clothes, etc.).

More updates to come later!

4D Ultrasound PIcs

My hand and foot up by my face
My umbilical cord up around my eyes like a blindfold.  But you can see my nose and a little of my mouth

Uncooperative Natalie

So yesterday was a crazy day!  We waited over an hour and a half for our 4D ultrasound due to some emergencies in the doctor's office, which was no big deal to me actually.  But when we got in there, Natalie just wouldn't show her face.  Apparently she LOVES to play with her feet right in front of her face.  So, instead of seeing her head/face, we saw 2 feet, a hand, and actually her umbilical cord which she was playing with right in front of her eyes.  Needless to say, the ultrasound tech tried to move her around and reposition her to get her to move her feet and hands, but no luck.  We got a couple of pictures that show half a nose here and there, but nothing worth even posting!  We are going back hopefully Friday morning to try again, but I'm not too confidant.  Even her early ultrasound pictures showed that her feet were up by her face.  I just think she likes to keep them there.  The ultrasound tech was amazed that she was crunched into such a little ball when she has plenty of room in there to spread out.  Oh well.  Only my child.

Last night was also the first night of Lamaze class.  I actually enjoyed it a lot more than I thought.  There were 6 or 7 couples, all first timers, so it was fun talking to people in the same position as us.  Most of the couples are due in early-middle June,  so we're all in about the same time frame.  Derek even enjoyed himself, but mostly because he was a bit of a class clown and cracked lots of jokes, but I wouldn't expect it any other way.  Hehe.  In one of the weeks, we have to watch a couple of videos, one of a vaginal delivery and the other of a C-section.  Derek is not too excited about that, but who can blame him.  

I'll try and post a couple of the pictures from yesterday's ultrasound, but they are not too great!  Hopefully we'll get better ones soon.  Oh yeah!  I passed my glucose/gestational diabetes test from last week, so that is one less thing to worry about!

Here come the childbirth classes!

Tomorrow is our first Lamaze class....it's a six week series that meets every Tuesday night for a couple of hours.  Also tomorrow is our 4-D Ultrasound!  I'm way more excited about that!  I survived all of the poking and prodding at the doctor's office last week and hopefully will get my test results in soon for the glucose test.  The doctor said now he wants to see me every 2 weeks instead of every month, which makes me feel like I'm getting closer to the end!  At my next doctor's appointment next week, I have to get the Rho-gham shot because of my blood type.  Ugh.  Oh well, maybe they'll give it to me in my butt, so I won't feel it as much (with all of the excess cushioning!)  I can't believe tomorrow is 28 weeks!  I read on the internet that a baby born at 28 weeks has over a 90% chance of survival, which amazed me!  I still can't believe there is a little person in there that, even at this point, looks like a recognizable baby.  Natalie did learn a new trick this weekend!  Now when I feel her kick/move around, if I lay down and lift up my shirt, I can see my belly move and ripple as she moves.  It's really neat, but definitely weirds me out a little!  Derek thinks it's really funny and loves watching her move.  Apparently before too long, I'll start seeing knees and elbows and feet.  Wow!  

Hopefully tomorrow I'll be able to post pictures from the 4-D Ultrasound!