My last Doctor's Appointment and NST

After a little "scare" (and by scare I mean excitement that I might be going into labor) I am still here with Max in my tummy. Yesterday around three I started having contractions, which is something that has been pretty normal for the past month or so. This time seemed different, though, because they started out rather painful- so I decided to start timing them right away. They started out every fifteen minutes and after about 4 hours went to every ten minutes. From there they plateaued and didnt get any stronger or closer together so we waited it out at home until they eventually went away. It was very frustrating because no real progress was made. We were excited at first, and toward the end I was just annoyed because I wanted them to either get better or worse. BUT nothing happened and so we were able to make it to my appointment today.

Today was a rather boring day of appointments, which made me feel kind of bad for Jeremy since this was his first time to meet my doctor. We had to wait about 30 mins to get into my NST, which I think might have made Max a little upset because he refused to move again. We tried ice water, wiggling, and poking, but the only thing to get him to move was the little buzzer. I did have a real nice sized contraction during the process...they seem to creep up every now and then.

Then we met with the doctor to get everything squared away for the csection. We really didnt learn anything new here, just that I am not to eat or drink anything after midnight the night before. I also found out that I will be getting staples again, which I was told at St. V's after I had Brody that most doctors to the glue stuff (I had staples with Brody, too, because of something with my tissue and being on bedrest so long). We are to get to the hospital at 8am, and Max will be delivered around 10 am August 5. We are SO excited and ready to meet this little guy in 9 days! Expect one more blog before I deliver next Thursday with all the details of visitation and whatnot :) If anything happens before then, I will definitely keep people updated through texts and phone calls.

36 weeks- 13 days left :)

With just under two weeks to go in my pregnancy, I went in for my second-to-last ob appointment and NST. Up to this point I have asked many questions- trying to keep up on my weight, blood pressure and whatnot...today I sat back and just enjoyed being there. My NST went really well- Max had NO trouble showing that he was perfectly able to move this time. Maybe the little buzzer scared him last time because he did not stop moving from the second I got in there. I had no contractions or any cramping, all went really well. I was able to have a really good talk with the nurse while I was in there being monitored, we eventually landed on the subject of blood clotting disorders and their link with so many miscarriages. One thing I learned is that my doctor doesnt check just anyone for MTHFR, just people with reoccurring miscarriages or losses. I also learned that up until about 6 years ago, they had no idea there was a correlation between blood clotting disorders and miscarriage. I am SO happy I was tested for this and I never had to go through another loss to figure out I had it. I am also very fortunate to live in these times, if I was older I might have never thought I could carry a baby.

My appointment with my ob was quick and easy. I found out that I will NOT be getting cervix checks at all- apparently there is no point to check me when we know I'm having a c-section. I know they aren't a walk in the park, so this made me rather happy. I am starting to realize there are some advantages to having a c-section I guess! We are just meeting once more next Tuesday to go over everything in complete detail. Hopefully Jeremy will be able to make it to this appointment and be able to meet my doctor.

Since it is a bit of a drive to get to Toledo, I like to save all my errands for one trip. Unfortunately, today was 98 degrees outside with a heat index of over 100! Thankfully people can be extremely sympathetic to a 9 month pregnant woman on days like today. One of my trips was to babies r us to get a baby book for Max. I have really enjoyed looking back at mine over the years and want to keep up on one for him (not like a boy is going to be that interested- but its good to have!) I opened it and started looking through the pages and immediately started crying in the store. I think it REALLY hit me then how close this is and just how much I am ready to love, nurture, and care for this baby. Yes I complain, feel huge, uncomfortable, and ready to be done- but that does NOT mean in any way that I don't appreciate this baby and pregnancy more than anything in the world. I am so fortunate that in less than two weeks I will be holding my very own crying, breathing, blinking, wiggling baby in my arms (that will probably look like exactly like his daddy, lol). It has been one hell of a journey to get here, but soon it will all pay off :)

Sorry, a little late!

So when I said I would update Thursday after my ultrasound, I really meant "Saturday night after a day in the pool" oops! This ultrasound was probably my most uneventful ultrasound because Max was head down, face down just like he should be- which made it extremely difficult to see his face. My mom was able to go with me and we saw a glimpse but nothing too exciting. We did get to see the hair on his head and found out that he weighs 6 pounds 3 ounces! This means all of my pregnancy goals have been met: I knew I had to make it past 24 weeks, and I knew I wanted him over 5 pounds. And obviously I want him healthy. So far so good!! I absolutely cannot wait to hold this baby in my arms :)

35 weeks/NST

Since I have an ultrasound and will be updating again on Thursday I will make this pretty short. I went in today for another weekly Non Stress Test and OB appointment. Last week they told me to eat right before to increase fetal movement, so I took that as an opportunity to enjoy my all time favorite breakfast: a cinnamon crunch bagel with raspberry cream cheese from Panara Bread- yummm! The entire trip there Max was wiggling all around, and then I ate and I think he fell asleep because he did not want to move for anything. The first 15 mins of my NST Max moved one time, and since they like to see at least two movements with accelerated heart rates, they had to make Max move. The nurse did this by putting a little buzzer on my tummy, and WOW did Max jump! It was so funny and cute to see my whole tummy move, and it made him even that more real. There was one point when he wiggled away from the monitor and the nurse had to gently put her hand on it to pick up his heartbeat- just like Brody made the nurses at St V's do...it put a smile on my face to hear her talk about how he was ornery and wanted special attention, it brought back a lot of memories of my "Dennis the Menace" 20 months ago.
I then had my tummy check and all looked well. I did lose 5 pounds since last week...I think a lot of my swelling has gone down which helped attribute to this weight loss. My doctor says "just because hes scheduled for August 5th doesnt mean he knows that, he might want to come sooner." Lets just hope he waits till Jeremy gets home!

NST/ Change in Birthday

Going in to today's appointment I was very curious as to where I stood with my pregnancy. Within the last week, my feet and legs have swollen significantly, which can either be normal- or a sign of preeclampsia (this is one thing that annoys me about pregnancy- "normal" signs and bad signs are pretty much the same thing). My blood pressure was consistent today with what it has been this entire pregnancy, so it wasn't too much to worry about. I did end up gaining 10 pounds in the last week from becoming so swollen (one night last week I woke up and couldn't even bend my fingers they were so swollen). This is just something I am going to have to deal with, though, and as long as my blood pressure doesn't rise, Max and I are in good shape!

Today I also had my first weekly non stress test. Here they monitor the correlation between fetal movement and heart rate as well as contractions. First they establish a baseline fetal heart rate (Max's fell between 145-150 bpm) and then each time he moves his heart rate should increase about 15-20 bpm for at least 10-15 seconds. This shows that he is getting enough oxygen through the placenta. The nurse that monitored everything was so wonderful at explaining everything, but also told me she only shares the good information (because this is a NON stress test, not a stress causing test). She did say that everything looked good with Max, that everything looked exactly like it should. I was having consistent cramps (these look like mini contractions) that appeared on the monitor every few minutes and one contraction (this was in a 20 minute period). I couldn't feel the cramps, but could definitely feel the contraction. These have been coming approximately every 3 hours the past few days (but again this can be normal, I am in my last month).

While I was getting my NST, I was explained my due dates a little better. My initial due date was August 16 (according to my last period), my first ultrasound measured at August 18th, the next few ultrasound measured at August 15th, and the last few have measured at August 12th.
With my history and different factors in my pregnancy, my doctor advised that we move my c section up to the 5th of August. This means that Max's birthday will not be 8-9-10 like I had hoped it would be. I was pretty disappointed at first, but then my doctor said "once you have that baby in your arms, the date isn't even going to matter at that point." And I think this helped me put this all into perspective again. I have complete and utter faith that my doctor has my best interest and Max's best interest in mind when making decisions like this. With my most recent due date, I would have been delivering only 3 days before my due date, and with a history of placental abruption- my chances of having one again are 1 in 8. This is something I do NOT want to risk going through again, and moving up my c section might help prevent that. And while it would be cool to have a birthday of 8-9-10, I would much rather be holding a happy, healthy baby in my arms :) There is still the possibility that this date will change again depending on my ultrasound next Thursday or if I develop preeclampsia. Ultimately I am overjoyed that I will get to meet my son in a month or less!