Full term!

Woohoo! I can't believe that I am 37 weeks! I am now officially full term! I can't believe that 3 weeks from now my little boy will be here. It is just a surreal feeling!

Hope everyone has a great Friday and a great weekend!

Look how pretty I am!

Taken today at 36w2d!

Ok, ok. I am not trying to sound conceited but I would like to hear something other than, "Wow, look how BIG you are! You are about to give birth anytime now!" I know that I am huge. Thanks for pointing that out.

Our nursery is a disaster area. Michael's parents are coming over later on today to start working on painting the nursery. I can't wait for it to be finished! I can't believe that Caleb is almost here! He can be here as early as next week if my blood pressure becomes an issue again.

I love being pregnant. Even though I have been having issues since 32 weeks, I wouldn't change it. There is a part of me that can't wait for him to be here so I can go off bed rest, but the other part wants him to stay in as long as possible. I can't wait to hold him in my arms but I know I will miss feeling him move inside me. I can't wait to start this new journey but I am scared out of my mind. I wonder, "Will I be a good mom?" I know I will be, but being responsible for someone else's life is a daunting task.

I am now off to get my hospital bag ready. Fun fun.

Well this day just keeps getting better and better.

It all started yesterday. I went in for my usual Thursday NST. The nurse took my blood pressure and it was 160/90. That has been my highest but I wasn't too concerned about it. After my NST they re-took my pressure. It was 154/94. Yikes! My Dr. of course did not like those readings so he decided to send me to the hospital to have labs drawn and to do a 24 hr urine. That meant that I would have to stay in the hospital overnight. No problem. He also told me that he wanted another growth u/s to make sure Caleb is not being affected by this. No biggie. I get to see my baby again. He wanted to check my cervix to see if I was dilated just in case I had to be induced. Of course i was 0 cm dilated. I thought as much because I have not had any contractions yet. After the exam he sent me on my merry way to L&D.

I get there and they draw my blood and I start the urine collection. After waiting 2 hours, I was told that my blood work was normal but I still needed to stay to finish the rest of the tests the dr. ordered. I knew that going in so I wasn't concerned.

I get to my room and get settled. I finally start to realize how real this is. I am starting to get a little nervous. Michael was there to help me but I knew that he would have to leave soon to tend to our puppy and to get rest for work the next day. I realize that I will be here alone. That is a scary thing for me.

Michael left and I was in my room alone. I didn't sleep at all. They were waxing the floor outside my room and the smell was nauseating.
The sun rises and I am excited that I get to go home today. I just wanted my ultrasound and leave.
After waiting all day, they finally pick me up at 3 pm for my ultrasound and NST. I get there and they hook me up to a fetal monitor. Everything is looking good. The nurse takes me off the monitor and tells me they are going to take me back to my room. Um, I am suppose to get an ultrasound. I tell the nurse that the doctor wanted a growth ultrasound today. She checks the orders and tells me that the doctor wrote to have the ultrasound done on the 20th (which is tomorrow). She said that the dr. probably wrote the date wrong but they had no one else to do the ultrasound. She set me up for an ultrasound on Monday. I was really upset but it was not her fault. I knew that it was one of those things that I couldn't control. It was a mistake but I was wondering why the nurses did not catch it sooner. They knew the dr. wanted to send me home today!

I get back to my room and wait for the results of my 24 hr urine collection. The nurse comes in and tells me that they are going to keep me another night. When I asked why, she said it was because my urine protein, creatine, were high and they wanted to recheck them tomorrow. What!! I am in shock. I have no symptoms and my blood pressure have been normal the whole time I have been here. I am now scared that I am not leaving this hospital until the baby comes. We will see tomorrow.

Wow, it has been a while.

It has been a while since I have been on here. I don't know why it has taken me so long to blog. I thought since I was on bed rest, I would be a better blogger. I guess I failed at that attempt. So I guess I am trying to redeem myself.

I am still on bed rest. My doctors said that it will stay that way until I deliver. They still want to induce me between 37-39 weeks. I go to each appointment thinking "Is today the day I get to meet my baby?" It totally depends on each appointment. Everything has been going great so far. My NSTs/AFIs are looking good. My blood pressure was 130/80 yesterday so that is great! I hate laying around though. I feel fine and totally capable of washing dishes or sweeping the floor.

Michael and I had a great Valentine's Day. We don't really celebrate it but we did get each other cards. He made me breakfast in bed. It was wonderful. We went to church then we came home. We laid around all day and watched movies. It was great to just hang out.

That's my update. Michael is planning on painting the nursery this week. We had our last baby shower on Saturday so now we need to get the last minute items.

Hope everyone has a great week!

Bed rest.. Day 2

So, today is my second full day of modified bed rest. The doctor said that I am allowed to stand up to shower and to be on my feet for a limited amount of time. He told me to be very lazy.

I am still getting used to the idea of bed rest. I feel fine! I feel like I can do the dishes, laundry and clean the house but for me and the baby, I can't. I feel totally useless. I also feel bad for Michael. He told me if he works an extra 16 hours per pay period, it will make up for my lost wages. He works hard enough and now he is doing more. I hate putting extra burden on him. He says that he will take care of all the house cleaning but I feel like I can do those things. I hate just laying here while there is so much to be done before Caleb comes.

I did do some things today. I paid bills and I finally started on my thank-you notes for my baby shower that was in November. I can't believe that it took me this long to start them but I guess its better late then never.

That's about it. I have a breast feeding class today (Dr. gave me the ok to go) and my baby shower is on Saturday! Can't wait!

Have a great week everyone!

Went to L&D last night...

First thing, Caleb and I are doing fine. I am now on bedrest for an undetermined amount of time.

This kinda all started last Wednesday for my 32 week appointment. My blood pressure was 140/82 so the doctor sent me to the lab to get blood drawn and to do a 24 hour urine collection (to see how much protein I am spilling in my urine. If I have a lot of protein, then it is a sign of pre-eclampsia.) She also wanted me to come in twice a week for NSTs (non-stress test. I am hooked up to a fetal heart monitor to see how Caleb is doing) and a weekly AFI (it is an ultrasound that checks the amount of amniotic fluid around the baby).

So, yesterday ,I went in for my first NST with AFI. My blood pressure was 152/84. I wasn't feeling well at all so I knew it was going to be high. The nurse hooked me up the monitor but she was having difficult keeping his heart rate on the monitor. He kept moving around too much. So, she told me to hold the probe and to move it if he moved. He was still moving around like crazy. About 30 minutes later, the nurse took me off the monitor and had me get of the bed to get ready for my ultrasound.

The doctor came in to look at my NST strip and she was having a hard time reading it. She couldn't tell if his baseline heart rate was 120 and it would accelerate to 150 or if his baseline was 150 and his heart was decreasing to 120. She was worried that he was stressed in there.

She did the ultrasound and he has a lot of amniotic fluid around him (which is good), he is breech (which isn't great but he still has time to turn around). We now know for sure he is a boy because he was flashing his goods at us. She went to look at his diaphragm to see if is was spasming. If it was then that means he is practicing fetal breathing (which is good). She looked for about a minute and she didn't see any spasming of the diaphragm. She called in another doctor (which is my boss) to get a second opinion. He didn't like the strip either so they both agreed to send me to L&D for a further work-up.

I called Michael and Mom and left for L&D. When I got in, they checked me in and took me to get another NST and AFI. I got hooked up to the monitor. I was there for a while and I talked to the perinatalogist. She said that my strip looked excellent and she wanted me to get some blood work done. After we talked for a while she sent me for my ultrasound. The nurse said he looked perfect. She got us some good shots of his face. He was sucking on this thumb the entire time. We could actually see his lips around the thumb and sucking on it. It was amazing. I will try to get the photos uploaded for you. Apparently he has my nose and chubby cheeks. She said everything looked great so she sent me back to L&D.

I went back to L&D and I gave them a urine sample. Once they drew my blood I got hooked up to a fetal monitor. They took about 5-6 blood pressures during my stay and they were all normal. Then the nurse came in with a big needle. She told me that the doctor wants to give me a shot of steroids so Caleb's lungs will mature. My doctors are not going to let me get to my due date so they want to make sure he will be fine when/if I deliver early. So, they gave me a shot in my butt. It hurt a little bit but not too bad. I have to go back tonight for my second shot.

After about 2 hours, my labs came back normal and I was sent home. So, I am now on bed rest until furthur notice. I don't know my bed rest restrictions. I called the office this morning and I am waiting to hear back.

So that is about it. I go back on Thursday for another NST. I hope everything is better than the last

32 week appointment = FAIL

Let's just say my appointment was anything but routine. Everything was great until the nurse took my blood pressure. My blood pressure has been on the rise lately and now it was 140/70 (the highest it has been). The doctor said that they don't get worried about PIH unless the blood pressure is 140/90 but "to be on the safe side", she wants to draw my blood and do 24 hr urine collection. I don't have any signs of PIH or pre-e except for the high bp. I understand she is being cautious but I am scared out of my mind, which is probably not good for my bp. She says that since this is my first pregnancy and I work in health care, I am the perfect candidate to develop pre-e. Great.