Monday, June 15, 2009

37 Weeks and a little progress...

This has been a good, but very busy week for Brad and I, and for Emma too. Brad took a class last week that was for art teachers in Dekalb. He was pretty much gone during his normal "work hours" so I was on my own. It was a little nice, truth be told. I was able to get a lot of stuff around the house done, get to my doctor's appointment, and even meet a few friends for lunch in my spare time - all things I'll have little time for in a few weeks or less!

On Thursday I went with my mom to Thomson (about 2 hours away) to visit my Grandpa. My doctor wasn't too keen on the idea, but I had a pretty good feeling that not much would happen in terms of labor before we could get back to Atlanta. Following the doctor's orders we stopped every 45 minutes to stretch in order to prevent blood clots from forming. It was a really nice trip - nice to spend some time with Mom and nice to see Grandpa for the first time in several months. He shocked me though. He was asleep when we got there. He woke right up, looked right at me and said "Hey Susie!" (he's the ONLY one, aside from my Grandma, who has ever been allowed to call me that!!!) and looked right at my belly. I haven't seen him since January or so, so it was a great visit.

We're really feeling very prepared for a baby these days. Someone asked me this week what else we needed to get done. I had to stop and think.....nothing! Everything's washed, packed, prepared, planned, and ready to go. All we need is a baby! According to my ticker I have 18 more days. That's pretty mind blowing.

Here's a picture of something cool that I bought this week. It's called a "Woombie." It's made for swaddling babies, which is recommended for up to 4 or 5 months. You could use a blanket, but according to the woombie website, it can inhibit normal motor development if used too much. With the woombie, she can move and stretch a little, but not enough to startle herself awake. It's also supposed to help prevent SIDS. MY biggest reason for wanting one? Middle of the night diaper changes are MUCH easier. You just unzip, change the diaper, and zip it back up. Cool, huh?

I've not really felt my best this week. I've reached that point where everything hurts. I hurt getting out of bed, getting out of the car, sitting up, standing, walking, etc. I've even got pregnancy-induced carpal tunnel. You get the picture. I got a little excited yesterday - beware, you're about to hear something that may be TMI. I lost my mucous plug yesterday. According to the doctor, she could come at any moment from now, to 3 weeks from now. It doesn't mean much, but a lot of moms swear that they delivered a few days from losing their MPs. My fingers are crossed now that we're full term!

I had a doctor's appointment today and another ultrasound. The ultrasound didn't actually measure the baby, just the amount of amniotic fluid surrounding her. It was pretty hard to differentiate anything in the ultrasound. Her head is so low that you can barely see her face and she's using "all of her space" with her other parts. Apparently, it's only accurate to measure the baby's size every 4 weeks. The doctor wanted to be sure that I wasn't measuring so large because of too much fluid. Good news - her fluid levels checked out perfectly. Next week I will have another ultrasound to check fluid levels, and the following week (should I make it that far) I will have an ultrasound to check her size.

The doctor didn't have much in terms of news, but was pretty informative on our course of action from here. I told her that I was concerned that if Emma was so big, that she may not fit and we'd have to do an emergency c-section. She explained that induction wasn't a good option at all. Apparently, when a mother goes into labor naturally, the baby has several ways of letting the doctor know whether she will or will not fit through the birth canal. That way, if she's showing signs that it may not work out, we can go ahead with the c-section. When you induce, you take away all chances that the baby had to let the doctor know of issues and things could get dicey.

She DID say that they would wait until a week or so before my due date before deciding anything and if she was looking REALLY big, they would schedule a c-section. I'm pretty comfortable with this. As a teacher who works with a lot of kids that have had their brain function compromised by a lack of oxygen, the LAST thing that I want is for us to try to deliver naturally and have her get stuck, cutting off her oxygen. The doctor also mentioned that the stabbing pains in my sides and pubic bone that I've been getting lately are completely normal at this point.

I'm not really sure how or when things will go down from this point, but I'm ready! For all I know, I could go into labor tonight. Then again, I could also be overdue. I have complete confidence in my doctors - they've been SO diligent and on top of my medical needs so far. I was looking at a copy of my medical records over the weekend. I've had 9 ultrasounds with this pregnancy alone - and that doesn't include the perinatal specialist's ultrasound, or the ones that I will have after this week. I'd say that they're very cautious and are keeping my and Emma's best interest in mind when they decide where to go from here. I'm just anxious because of the unknown. On the plus side, in 18 days or less it won't be unknown anymore!

I thought it would be fun to post a "before" and "after" picture of the belly today. The "before" was taken at 14 weeks. The "after" was taken today, after spending most of the afternoon in the pool. It's amazing how good it feels to float in the pool. The only down side is that gravity takes over HARD when you get out! Ouch.






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