37 Weeks- L&D again

Our 37 week appt was last Wednesday. We had the NST and the baby's heart rate was lower than past appts. It was coming and going in spikes. And my contractions were measuring rather close together. I mentioned the nausea and the doc said that it is normal to come and go at the end of the pregnancy. Regardless, I got sent to L&D again. They wanted to get me in for a quick U/S to check the AF again. So we head off, thinking it would be in and out, just like some of the other ones.

No such luck this time. We got to L&D and they hook me up to the monitors again since the wait for the U/S was going to be about 2 hours. While on the monitors, I start having very long contractions every 3 minutes. Nurse and doc came in, and immediately hook me up to an IV, saying they want to see if hydrating is going to solve the prob.

I mentioned I had been sick and that I was likely dehydrated. They don't really care and kept me on the monitors. They pushed out my ultrasound further, b/c they wanted to see my contractions lessen. I've had TERRIBLE back pain and the doc said it's definitely back labor- so that made the contractions much worse.

Anyhoo- the contractions spaced out to 4.5 minutes so they ended up taking me to the ultrasound. It appears if your contractions can be affected by hydration, it means it's not "true labor"- even though they are so close together. My amniotic fluid dropped to 8.17. The baby looks healthy but is measuring a due date now of 12/5 (last week it was measuring a due date of 12/10). It is also measuring quite large (I'm terrified of this b/c Dave was such a huge baby). Oh, and the baby is sunny side up (not breech- she's head down- but flipped face up). They said that this "sunny side up position" was causing my back pain b/c the biggest part of the head is on my spine.

They took me back to L&D where the doc says he's just not happy with my AF levels. They keep dropping. They hooked me back up to the montiors, and my contractions eventually spaced to 8 minutes apart. After a little more monitoring, he said that at this point, I'm not dilated/effaced enough and he doesn't want to induce. My AF is at the bare minimum- and if it stays there, it's ok. He wants to wait a few more days and see what happens. If it goes any lower, they will induce.

Next Steps: I have to watch for any fluid leaks, and promise to monitor my contractions and fetal movement like a hawk. I also promised to hydrate like crazy. I had to go back in to L&D on Saturday morning at 6:30am for more monitoring for a few hours. If they let me go Saturday, I have to do another ultrasound (u/s) on Tues with the Maternal Fetal Medicine folks before every weekly appt (called an AFI- to measure the Amniotic Fluid). But, if my contractions are still close, and my fluid is low, he told us they will induce the labor. So he mentioned to come with our car seat installed and a packed bag.

The good news is that they kept saying the baby looks great. So that was good to hear.
Sooooo- Saturday came and went well!! My contractions are now farther apart (9.5 minutes) but weren't being delayed by dehydration. I'm not any more dilated, but I have some spotting. So now we just wait.

They want our AFI on Monday now, instead of Tuesday. So I'll have that Mon, the NST and appt Wed, then back again next Friday. I get monitored every other day till she comes now. So I'm glad to have this extra time to finish getting ready and to rest up. What a week!

Below are some belly photos from 36 weeks (I forgot to post some last week) and 37 weeks!
36 weeks: Family photos with Rylee :)



37 weels:

Maternity Photos to share

A few weeks back Dave and I had our friend Rachael take some Maternity Photos. We just wanted something to "journal" our pregnancy, and thought photos were a great way we would both enjoy.

Thought I'd post a few of our favorites, along with a few cute photos she caught of Rylee too :)

I'd highly recommend Rachael (Click here for her website) for wedding, baby or maternity photos! She's the best!

36 Weeks- Milestone!

YAY! We've finally hit 36 weeks. It's such a great milestone. The baby is now considered "full term" by the docs. So if anything should happen now it would be much safer to take the baby.

We had a few appts this week- and as of Friday- things are looking good. My fluid levels are steady (not higher, but more importantly- not lower) so they are continuing to monitor and check. I'm still dilated, and my contractions are MUCH more frequent, regular and strong- but not close enough together yet. But OUCH! They hurt. I hope I don't have to have these for the next 4 weeks- it wears me out. They are about every 50 minutes...b/t 25-40 seconds in length. The doc said this is still normal- but once they get closer to call in.

She joked with Dave and I a lot about how they think the little one is going to be here early. I just laugh- cuz you know when you expect it early- that's when they arrive about 1 week late. And the thought of going 4 weeks AND THEN another week is just too crazy. So I'm not thinking about it at all right now :) The dilation and contractions are just teasers in my mind! She told me that women can walk around at 3 cm dilated for weeks and still not have the baby right away!

Anyhoo- we are finally done with all of our "classes" for breastfeeding, birthing, CPR and baby care. It was a busy 2 weeks- but feels good to have those all done. We've gotten most of the baby's stuff ready in case she does come early. We still have a few things left and we're going to try to get those done this week since we'll have some time. Then it's just resting up. I'm so exhausted. I feel bad that we keep making our friends "come to us" instead of going out- but we both appreciate it! My energy level is so low, mixed with the contractions- it's not fun!!

Thanks to everyone for the fun and wonderful emails, messages and notes. You've all been terrific. I've been printing and saving what I can- so I can add it to the lil football's baby book one day- so she can see everyone's loving notes!!!

Catching up-- 35 week appt

I know I've been truant with the updates, so I'll post a few I've had in que. First- last week's 35 week appointment:

Thursday they did an ultrasound and the Amniotic Fluid levels were up. We were so grateful- and relieved!

So I went in on Friday for the doctor appointment, but they couldn't find my file with the u/s results. So they took another u/s and -go figure- my Amniotic fluid was back down again :( I give up!! They have me getting monitored every few days now. I'm still above the "induction" level- so that's good news! I'm having more frequent contractions and they caught two of them on the monitors this morning. About 38 seconds long - ouch! Doc said that could mean going into labor soon- or- it could mean nothing. We'll not know until it happens. Regardless- I'm close enough to the 36 week mark and that's a huge milestone. Just a few more days.

We had more u/s pictures printed for us- not as clear as last time so they didn't scan well enough to post. But, I am posting both my 34 and 35 week belly photos are below, since I never even got around to posting 34 week photos!


You can see that I have "expanded" from week 34-35.
And when I post the 36 weeks, you'll be able to see my belly has dropped more.

In loving memory....

Dave's grandfather, "Pa", passed away Thursday. If you can all keep Bink and the rest of Dave's family in your prayers and thoughts, we'd appreciate it.

We have such wonderful happy memories of Pa. Though BabyWags will not get to meet him, we know that he's her special angel looking down on her right now.

With much love to our dear Pa....we'll miss you.

And it continues....34 weeks

So, it seems the little football is just eager to make her appearance. Last week was no different.

I've been noticing less and less fetal movement, and at Friday's 34 week appt they started out with a NST (non-stress test). Her heart-rate was beautiful, but has dropped quite a bit. She was routinely at 150-155 at past appts, but on Friday dropped to about 120-125. So they made me eat and drink, and monitored her until she moved more. It was taking awhile for her to move, but she WAS moving. I just wasn't feeling it. So they wanted to monitor me for a few hours to make sure her activity kicked up- they wanted her moving more. So I had further monitoring.

Eventually they were pleased with her movement enough to stop the monitoring. But they wanted follow up tests. They wanted to check the amniotic sac fluid, to ensure all is still ok- especially with my risen BP/L&D trip last week (which, is back to normal btw). So they made us an appt for Friday night, to go check into the hospital, sit on monitors again and then get an ultrasound done to see if the Amniotic Fluid is measuring ok. The doc felt that it should be, but is doing this as precautionary measure.

So Friday night, we headed to CDH. We checked into the hospital and spent a long evening there.

Her movement: She was moving a ton on the ultrasounds. They had to take these "video clips" of her moving, to show the Radiologist and Docs that she was moving. I felt none of it. So it was a little consoling to know she IS moving, and I'm just not feeling it for some reason. They were pleased with her movements.

The amniotic fluid: This one I'm still trying to understand. They had to do a few ultrasounds b/c they have concerns. Anything below "8" (I forget the measurement) is bad for amniotic fluid levels. On the last ultrasound I was barely a 10. For where I'm at in my pregnancy, they said I should be much higher. One of the ultrasounds showed me at a 9. Since I'm still in the "ok" range, they let me go, but they want me back in a few days to have another ultrasound to check the level again. They said if it drops any lower, they will have to take action: ie induce labor. My next appt is Friday morning, so I'm to get an ultrasound on Thurs or before my appt Friday. I'm just hoping that there is no need to induce yet. It's still earlier than we'd like to have our little football. So any well wishes and thoughts are appreciated!

We did get to see/learn some "fun" things about our football:
-Her rate went up again, and they were pleased to see that. She was at 147 all night.
-The ultrasound can't be 100% accurate on overall weight/measurement b/c you can only see parts of the baby at a time (Cuz she's so big).
-But, her 'estimated' weight right now based on the measurements is 5lb 8oz.
-Her projected due date based on all of the measurements they took (head, arms, body, legs, heart, stomach, liver, etc- you get the idea) is 12/10.
-Her legs measured so long, they said her "gestation age" on just her legs was 38w2d Everything else measured less, so it all evens out. But looks like she'll have long legs!
-Position: Her head was down!
-We saw her playing peak-a-boo with us, and what looked like her 'sucking her thumb'. She also moved her lips a TON. So she might be a talker like I am, lol.
-I think the most unusual thing we saw was her eyes. You can see her eyes open. Fascinating.

Here are two photos from the ultrasound.
1. Baby's head (kinda smushed) with hand below her chin.
2. Baby's head, with hand by her mouth.


I want to say thank you for all of the texts, calls, emails, and messages the past two weeks. From the L&D visit the week before, Kayla's passing, to last Friday's huge scare- it has been scary and very hard. We've really found some true friends who have been there for us, and it's wonderful to have such a support network. It's always hard to go through times like these, but when you have good friends and family to support you- it makes it easier. Thank you.

And, on a lighter note...I figured I'd end this week's update with some photos of Ry from Halloween. She was just the laughter we needed this week- and she was hilarious!