33 Weeks

Made it to 33 weeks! 

I am really starting to feel the excitement of this new little soul that will be joining our family soon. My friend at the office, B, just had her baby on Thursday. B had a little boy as well and holding him was so amazing. Just knowing that I'm next, it was all too surreal - but it also made me get a few things into place for our little arrival.

I went to see my Dr. for my 33 week checkup, but she was in an emergency C-section. So I was only able to talk to the nurse. My next appt was scheduled 2 weeks out, but the Dr. called me later that afternoon and said for me to come in 1 week, not 2. I'm glad too, because I want to know if my cervix is still dilating. 

This week brought on different contractions. In addition to the BH contractions, I have also been feeling sharper pains during contractions and intense waves of lower & upper back pain. Those are not as frequent as the BH ones, but it is nice to be able to distinguish the two. I am also experiencing a "shooting" pain down the front of my legs, starting at my hip and rushing down mid-thigh. It is so painful. It's not my sciatic nerve either, I discussed this with my nurse and she said sciatic pain runs down the back of your leg, not the front. So I don't know if this new pain is do to the exceptional amount of sedentary activity I'm experiencing on bed rest, or if the baby is just pushing on another type of nerve. 

Taylor and I have been working on getting the baby's room set up. Thanks to his mom, we have a beautiful crib and changing table, and thanks to Uncie Park for helping us set up the crib! I had my first baby shower at work on Friday, and it was wonderful. We received a lot of diapers and wipes and tons of clothes and blankets for the little guy - which is good because I didn't have anything to put in his hospital bag at the time! 

We miss our little doggie Penny terribly, but we are able to go to my parent's house every 2 weeks to visit her. I can't wait to get her back. At least she's happy with her cousin Pepper and I'm grateful my parents are willing to watch her for a little while. I don't think she'll want to leave! She's getting exercised and she gets to run around and play all day long. 

Time for the fun stuff!

Weight Gain: 26 lbs - it's really starting to come on! I'm still "on track" but I am supposed to be gaining about 1 lb per week until the end, and that's exactly what's happening. My friends and family have also commented on my still growing belly. When I think it's not possible to stretch or get any bigger, I seem to keep growing. 

Belly Button: Still an Innie.... I'm surprised it hasn't "popped" out yet. Maybe it will remain flat. 

New Favorite thing: Maternity Shorts. Especially the maternity sweat shorts I can lounge around in and wear to bed....so comfortable. 

31 Weeks!

Alright! 31 weeks!

Each week is a milestone and I'm sooooo ready for this baby to come. I'm sure this is a common complaint in all pregnant women at 31 weeks....tick tock....tick tock...

I know that millions of women have babies every year and millions of women have been on bed rest... but no one ever complains about it. I have to say, I am NOT one of those women. Bed rest is not fun, nor is it easy. I finally had to take a few steps back (mentally) and say, if being on bed rest for 6 weeks or so will help this little baby to be healthy and eliminate long-term health problems, so be it! I can handle 6 weeks of bed rest. Some women go their whole pregnancies on bed rest, and to you ladies, I salute you. Especially my mom and my sister. I have new found appreciation and respect for both of you.

Braxton Hicks contractions are a daily occurrence at this point... they usually happen while getting up from a chair or after lying in bed for a while. They aren't too frequent - I have about 10-12 a day, and they don't last too long, usually under 1 minute each.

I saw my OBGYN today and she checked my cervix and it hasn't changed, which is good, I'm still at .5 cm and about 70-80% effaced. I am still dilated to 1.5, so that is good that I haven't dilated any further! I told her about my daily schedule, how I've been working in the morning and coming home in the afternoon when my body tells me to. She said to keep doing what I'm doing because it's working. That was wonderful news! She also let me know that there are new research studies out there that show that too much bed rest can actually do more harm than good. I have read similar studies and feel I've found a happy medium. My Dr. also told me that the next 3 weeks are crucial to the fetus, he will put on a few more lbs (he weighs a little over 3.5 lbs now), and when I get to 34 weeks I can rest easy. Wonderful news!

My first week on bed rest I watched seasons 1 & 2 of Scandal. I love it! I can't wait to watch season 3, but it doesn't come out until this fall...which is when I'll have a new born and probably won't have time to watch it anyway!
Since Scandal is over, I moved on to LOST. I have heard about the ending so many times, but I didn't care, so I forgot...so I am watching it for the first time and I'm really enjoying it!

The hardest thing about being horizontal most of the day (besides the obvious) is that I kind of want to stuff my face. I don't know if it's normal to want to stuff my face at 31 weeks, but now all of the sudden I want all of the bad stuff that I never wanted earlier in my pregnancy. And I can't eat it (more like I Shouldn't eat it...) because I have no way to burn it off. I can't go to the gym anymore and I can't take walks... it's really starting to stress me out a little bit. Taylor has been saving me by buying strawberries and mangoes and healthy stuff, so I can satisfy my cravings.

This week was a big week for growth of the baby, and I can see it in the scale as well. I would like to thank the baby, and also my bed rest for contributing to the growing number on the scale. I'm still right on track for how much weight I should have gained by this point, but I know if I keep going at this rate, I will reach my goal and surpass it before delivery. Not a good thing.

Weight Gain: 24 lbs.

Cravings: Orange juice, Junk food and veggie trays...what? I should also add "random candy bars" because yesterday I picked up a whatchamacallit for no reason. It wasn't even that good.

Belly Button: Still an "innie" but it's almost flat now and ready to "pop" out any day now....

Cool things: I wore my size 4 pants twice in the last week. Of course I had a rubber band holding the button together when I'd wear them while sitting down, but I can button them up. I also love maternity shirts.

Things I miss: Massages - real massages, not the prenatal ones - sweating really hard at the gym, feeling included, and sleeping on my stomach.

30 Weeks

So I made it to 30 weeks and so far, so good. Being on bed rest is really hard! I want to clean, I want to organize our storage shed, rearrange furniture, scrub every surface in the house... I have this incredible urge to get things ready for baby (all my parenting books call this "nesting"), and I'm not allowed to do any of it!

The effects of the betamethasone shots I received in the hospital finally wore off after my first week of bed rest.
I am still on the progesterone and the headaches I was initially having for the first few nights have gone away. I found out headaches were just some of the side effects of progesterone, including drowsiness, exhaustion and nausea. Luckily I haven't had nausea, but I still experience drowsiness and exhaustion.

I have modified my bed rest a little, because I had about 4 different doctors who had 4 different ideas of what bed rest meant. So I have been going to work in the mornings - that is when I feel the best - and I usually only last until about 1 or 2pm. Then I come home, waddle up 3 flights of stairs, make the most dramatic entrance into my house, crash on the couch for the rest of the night with lots of water, my lap top to check in with work, and I only get up to use the bathroom and to eat.

My next appt with my OBGYN is this Friday. She will check my cervix and also to see if I'm dilated any more. I will also discuss with her my bed rest routine and see if she thinks I should be more strict or if I can do more active things.

NST (Non-Stress Test) testing is still happening 2 days a week and each time the baby does well, is super active, and I don't have any contractions. Of course that's how it goes, I just have them every time I'm NOT hooked up to a machine to detect them. I had my most recent NST on Friday and only had 1 contraction during the session, but it was different from all of the other BH contractions I'd been having. It felt like menstrual cramps on my lower left side.

Yesterday I was feeling energized and wanted to take advantage of feeling well, so Taylor and I went to our pool for 1 hour. We both burned. I rested up and we went to dinner with 2 of our really good friends, and then we went to a movie. I figured I would be fine since we would be sitting the entire time. I was wrong, my lower back killed the entire movie and no position was comfortable. Maybe there's a certain point in pregnancy where you stop going to the movie theater.

Last night I woke up with the most powerful cramps, I was sure I was going into labor. My lower back was killing me and I could not believe that I was doubled over in pain from the cramping. They felt like really bad menstrual cramps, but they were only in my lower left abdomen area. I must have been making a lot of noise because I woke Taylor up.

My pre-term labor warnings all say that if I am having contractions, I should lie down on my left side and drink water. I was lying on my left side when the contractions were happening!
I tried emptying my bladder, but the cramps kept getting stronger and stronger, I thought for sure they were contractions. (Warning - TMI ahead) Then, all of the sudden I felt a strong urge to try to have a bowel movement. A lot of cramping, 2 hours and 3 bowel movements later - what I thought were contractions turned out to be what I affectionately call "poop pains"that went away and I was able to finally sleep. I have throw out that I have the best husband ever. He got dressed twice during the night and all but packed a bag for the hospital while I was doubled over in pain. He ended up sleeping in his jeans and his jacket just so he could be ready to go incase my "poop pains" were actually contractions and I really was in labor.

All is well now, and I feel a lot better, but we decided that we can't do dinner & a movie anymore - a little too much excitement.

My biggest fear (besides baby being born too early, obviously), now that I'm not allowed to be active,  is going way over my target weight gain. As of right now, I am still right on track, and that is with 2 weeks of bed rest behind me. If I can still keep on the track of only gaining 1 lb per week the rest of the term, I will be good to go!

I have also decided that when the baby is born I want to try placenta preservation. I have read so many good things about it and I feel it couldn't hurt. I want to have it put into pill forms, so it's not like I'm going to be frying it up in a pan and inviting the neighbors over. If you want more information about this and the effects, check out Placenta Wise.

Weight Gain: 20 lbs.

Cravings: Nothing too crazy, I'm trying to retrain my brain to crave veggies and fruits, but I did have a terrible case of "get me nacho cheese Doritos & a waffle cone frosty right now or I'm going to FREAK OUT!!" Friday night.

New Experiences: fetal hiccups! During one of my NST tests, the nurse pointed out that the baby had hiccups. I didn't notice them before, they were so slight, just a series of little twitches that were rhythmic. Nothing like the powerful jabs and punches and full body spasms I have been feeling. I have noticed them a few more times since then and Taylor has also gotten to witness them as well.

My favorite new thing: a recliner chair that is also a glider. I didn't know I could be so happy and so comfortable. It takes the pressure off my lower back and I get to put my feet up. Taylor used the power of Grey-Skull to somehow carry the thing up 3 flights of stairs all by himself. I've never been more impressed or attracted to him :)