6lbs 14 oz!

We went to the doctor (again) yesterday. It is funny because I have to go so often they usually don't have any appointment times open for me, so I get to "pick" a time, then sit and wait (usually an hour) before I actually get in. I have been on biweekly appointments, until last week when we started going weekly. Yesterday was one of the most exciting appointments though. She scared us at first by saying that I was 2cm and 75% effaced, but wasn't sure if what she was feeling was Peanut's head. She also concluded that with the side effects that I was having from the Terbutaline and the fact that I was continuing to dilate, I could stop that medicine. So of course, I start crying, thinking that Peanut will be born with a low birth weight and health problems. Our doctor decided to do an ultra sound to see the positioning of the baby and to check his weight. He is head down (off to the side a little) and weighs 6 lbs 14oz! A lot of people think my date was off, but all along his measurements have shown his due date of Feb 13. It just seems that he has really put the pedal to the metal on growing this last month! Everything else looks good too, the placenta and the amniotic fluid look good. I know Jason will kill me for this, but I have been worried about it ever since Jason told me about an article he read on how drinking bottled water leads to undescended testicles in babies (I used to drink a lot of bottled water). The doctor confirmed that his family jewels are in place! Jason, you should have never told me about that article!

So, what does this mean? It means that she would still like me to carry him as long as possible (read: continue bedrest) but that we are taking it a day at a time. My contractions continue - every 7 minutes or so, but no other signs of labor right now. It could be a week, it could be tomorrow.

My doctor has this great way of scaring me in a different way at each appointment. This time, she wants to make sure that I really count his movements and get to the hospital if it slows down at all. So, last night, in the middle of a very restless night, Faith wakes me up by nudging me, then she goes and lays down. At first I think nothing of it, then, as I am laying there in hip searing pain, I start to time my contractions. While they were coming fast, they weren't painful or regular. So, I, always thinking that Faith and I are telepathically linked, start thinking "the baby isn't moving, maybe Faith could sense something is wrong and is saving the day." I get up, move around, eat a yogurt, lay in his favorite position (on the couch!) and he starts moving as usual. It is 3 am and Jason comes out to the living room, "Faith was whining, does she have to go out?" So I tell him my theory, which has just been disproven by movement. He doesn't reply to that and goes back to bed. I let Faith out, and of course, that is what she was really trying to tell me, "let me out." Moral of the story, I give Faith too much credit!

Bedrest

Just to keep everyone updated, I have been put on bedrest again. Last Friday, we had a normal appointment, which I expected to be very routine. I have been having contractions since 26 weeks, but they were getting more painful, but still not regular. I probably have 4-6 contractions an hour, with only a handful that take my breath away a day. I have been dilated 1cm since 30 weeks, and still continue to be only 1 cm dilated. At my appointment, while my doctor was measuring me, I had what was a typical, non painful, contraction. However, apparently that contraction was pretty strong, so she sent me in for observation.

They hooked me up on a heart monitor for the baby and a contraction monitor. I was having contractions about every 10 minutes, so they started giving me shots of Terbutaline. Terbutaline helps slow the uterus from contracting, but it also makes my heart rate increase. My doctor's plan was to get my contractions to slow, give me two doses of steriods, then send me home on bedrest and oral Terbutaline. The steriods were a really painful shot administered 24 hours apart. They are meant to help Peanut's lungs mature, in case he does want to make an early appareance.

All of this was preventative. It is hard to know what is normal for me and what is really going to happen. So, I got to meet a lot of the labor and delivery nurses, stay in a labor and delivery room, stay overnight in the hospital (for the first time ever), and really get know how things are going to go on D day! As stressful as the hospitalization was, getting poked every 3 hours, feeling like I was on speed, and poor Jason being horribly uncomfortable, it turned out ok. I was released at 5:30 on Saturday and have been laying on the couch or in bed ever since.

The plan is for me to continue on the oral Terbutaline until Jan 16. At that time, I will be 36 weeks and my doctor feels that that would be a safe time for me to go into labor, if that is what Peanut has planned. I will also get to come off of all my restrictions then (get to go back to work, shopping, etc). I suppose we will see what the next few weeks will bring! Peanut is loving the bedrest - it means more time for him to practice his karate!

33 Weeks

Picture of my 33 week belly! It is getting huge! I have given up on wearing shoes that tie!



Hopefully this video works, it is just a short clip of Hooch cuddling on the couch while Jason is sleeping! I think this was on Christmas Day night!


Christmas just wasn't the same this year. Although my parents and sister came out for Christmas, both Jason and I think that our best present is yet to come! Peanut is moving a ton, and actually on the video, I was trying to capture him moving. We have his carseat in the car and we practice with the dogs. We also just borrowed a doll from a friend and practice with that. I am sure the dogs just think that I am crazy! Faith finally doesn't sleep on the bed anymore, which has been a huge adjustment to me, since she was always my baby. The bassinet is set up in our room and our bags are packed, since at any doctor's appointment I could told that I am not going to be able to go home. It is hard to stay patient during these last few weeks, but we are trying to enjoy our last few moments of peacefulness. Oh, but the contractions continue...

Baby Shower

These are a couple pictures from the loot that I got from Peanut's shower.

I am thankful to Trinity (my sister) and my good friend Kate who planned the shower for me. It was held at Kate's house and her husband, Jeffrey, did most of the cooking for it. We had a great time. The dogs did great visiting with Kate and Jeffrey, on Saturday the dogs got to go visit their favorite kennel in New Richmond. Both my mom and Jason's mom were able to make the long trek to MN for the shower, which we were also so happy for. Jason's mom brought out the baby's crib (which my mom and Jason put together the day we got back to Aberdeen!) and my mom outfitted us with the baby's carseat and stroller. I figured that we had the basics covered and thank goodness the shower was when it was, because since then I haven't been allowed to travel. During the shower, the boys went out to eat. After the shower some more of our friends stopped by and we had a great time visiting and playing Guitar Hero late into the night! A huge thanks to Kate and Jeffrey for hosting, my mom, my sister, and Jason's mom for helping out! It was really great too, to visit with all of our friends. We can't wait for Peanut to be big enough to make the trip back to MN to meet everybody.

Recent trip to the Hospital

These are some bittersweet pictures of our little Peanut...After a great weekend with friends and family, on November 10th, I started having regular Braxton-Hicks contractions. Since I work with a lot of nurses, they encouraged me to call my doctor. As innocent as that phone call was, it landed me in the hospital hooked up to monitors. What those monitors showed was that I was having regular contractions. I was given some medication to stop them, and that worked. However, when my doctor did an ultrasound of my cervix she saw something that she doesn't normally see in first time pregnancies. While the length of my cervix was good (it hadn't shortened yet), there was some funneling (or an opening) on the babies end. She said that she usually sees this in women who have had surgery or had children before. Since I had neither, she was concerned.

So, I was put on bed rest for 3 (LONG) days. Thank goodness my mom was still in Minnesota, so she came back out to help with the dogs and the house (thanks Mom!). Jason was great and very supportive - although HE finally got tired of wiping the dogs paws too! When we went back to the doctor 3 days later, the funneling had shortened, but was still there. They also did a test called a fetal fibronecten, which would tell us (with 90% accuracy) if I was going to give birth within the next 2 weeks. Thank goodness that came back negative! It was the longest 3 days ever - and Peanut's very first test that he absolutely had to pass. Of course, me being the pessimist- I had to research every possibility there was to this situation, but thankfully, the outcome was the best it could be.

Now the plan... nothing that could induce labor, including no exercise, no traveling, no sex, reduced physical lifting/exercertion. From now on I go back every two weeks to check to see how things are doing- and hopefully stay off of bed rest. For those of you whom we didn't call right away...we apologize. It was a very private moment for Jason and I and we needed to know the facts before we went around telling people. Our time in the hospital did not amount to much and we didn't get too much information before Thursday Nov. 13th. Overall, this could be completely normal for my body - they just don't know. I do have to say that already we love this little guy more than we could ever imagine and we will do everything to give him the healthiest start in the world.

Peanut is now weighing in around 2 lbs 3oz!

Growing Belly

Not much to say - other than the belly keeps growing! And we are loving every minute of it! Peanut first moved in early September, and for the most part - he has been busy ever since! He is settling into a routine (usually busy at 6 am, 10am, and usually around 9pm). He also is busy through out the day too! It is interesting to see the progression of my belly. I will try to keep the pictures coming.

The Move

Hooch - apparently exhausted from the move. He did have it the hardest.
Our new bedroom - notice the important things, the dog beds.

The moving guys - I am SO thankful that we didn't have put that table together!




The dogs (at the old house) during the move.
This is our old bedroom, all packed up. In the haste, I forgot to pack our bedding into our cars, so at the new house we only had the air mattress, a couple of sheets, and the dogs to keep us warm!
This is how the kitchen looked in the old house, the night before we moved.



The move... I should have posted this some time ago, but getting the computer hooked up, then the internet problems we had, then all the traveling in Sept and Oct, time just slipped away. I think it is important though, to talk about the move. Right before I left, a colleague of mine had made the comment about us moving so frequently, "well, that makes for a strong marriage..." and she was right. This move was much more emotional, intense, and more complicated than the last move. Jason was right too, we had acquired so much more stuff than we had before. And while it is fun to move into a new house, this one is so different than the last house. I have lost my craft room and our finished basement (but gained a wonderful master bedroom in the process). So finding a spot for everything in the new house was a challenge.

The second challenge that we faced, and still face, it the yard. The dogs had a rough transition. Some digestion problems (we had to do an emergency switch of food, after I had done the gradual switch over 2 months) and adjustment problems (no longer having the dog door and 2 acres to run on), but I can now say that they have adjusted. Our "yard" was just a mass of weeds, so for most of September we were getting the sprinkler system and seed installed. We now have some growth, a good amount of growth, but by no means will the dogs be running on the grass until summer. On the plus side - Faith has decided that it was very nice of us to choose a house that has a pond just for her. Good thing she doesn't mind staying in the garage after she has decided to go swimming (which was at least 3-4 times per week in Sept). Overall, they are getting used to the routine, I usually get to come home for lunch and let them out. And overall we are home a lot more, go on walks a lot more, and they get to go to the store a lot more.

And lastly, while I still have a basement that has a lot of boxes left in it, mostly everything is put away. Our good friends Kate and Jeffrey came out the weekend we moved and helped us organize the garage and put all the big stuff away. Jason's parents were the first to visit us, with my dad and brother visiting on Halloween, my mom visiting in November after the baby shower, and some more friends visiting us after the baby shower. We are all set for visitors - let us know when you are coming and we will have your bed ready for you!