34 Weeks

I had my first NST on Monday. They start with an u/s every time to check the fluid levels. That was a nice bonus. (So far she is still a girl. Whew!) I guess she didn't like being prodded with the u/s wand because as soon as they hooked me up to the monitors she started going crazy. She doesn't like any pressure on her and was punching at the contraction monitor. One of the nurses accused me (jokingly) of having caffeine. So the whole thing was over in 30 minutes versus the hour they scheduled. I hope she performs that well tomorrow.

I sat next to another girl who was having twin boys and was 31 weeks along. We got to chat a little while when the nurses were out of the room. She was pretty young and young acting. While the thought of her having IF treatments crossed my mind, I'm fairly certain she did not. She was just a little too carefree about her pregnancy. Maybe some woman after IF treatments are. I know I, most certainly, am not.

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Project nursery is almost complete! DH has been working so hard. We found these inexpensive wooden letters at Kohl's and we got every letter we needed to spell her name except the "y". We are on a hunt. I call every week after they get a shipment and see if it has arrived. My friend has a Kohl's in Alaska and is checking for me too. I also need to find some things to hang on the walls. It's in the "finishing touches" stage. I will post some pictures as soon as it is all done.

We also need to pack a hospital bag and get some still needed items off our registry. (I just realized the other day, I don't have a diaper bag.) Tomorrow I am going to the mall to find a homecoming outfit for her. We have gotten so many clothes and they're all so cute, but none of them seems to be "the one." Plus, I selfishly wanted to be the one to pick it out and buy it. All little girl clothes are adorable. You really can't go wrong. But, the clothes I love the most are ones that look like a miniature adult clothes. Like an outfit I'd wear if I were that small. Those are pretty easy to find for toddlers over one, but almost impossible to find for a newborn infant. I am determined. I am going to check out "Janie and Jack". Do any of you have that clothing store around? Very expensive, but very cute!

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Here is a 34 week belly pic. This one was shot at night instead of the morning. I think that is why I seem about to burst in it. Although it really is getting quite big.

The next picture was taken in the nursery with my precious little dog wrapped around my belly. I admit, it is a bit cheesy, but I like it.

A Date With Dr. Delightful (and Wemberly of Course)

On Tuesday I had my 33 week appt with Dr. Delightful. DH came with me and got to meet him for the first time. He wasn't running late so that was nice and he willingly wrote the doctor's note I needed for my maternity leave. He is just the best at answering all my questions with thoughtful, complete answers. You can tell he is very knowledgeable and loves what he does. He teaches at the local UC hospital and he enjoys educating people about medicine. He even said that if I see something on the Internet that I should print it out and bring it with me so we can discuss it together. How awesome is that! DH said I like him so much because he thinks just like me.

I knew I needed a non-stress test at 34 weeks due to being a high risk pregnancy (I take meds for chronic high blood pressure). I was under the assumption (thanks to Dr. H and her short, curt explanations) that it was only one that I would have. Wrong. It will be two every week until delivery. I like the sound of that. I'm all for more monitoring and care. I'm grateful not to be working with all those appointments. I was also not aware that I would get another high resolution u/s at 36 weeks to check the growth. Yay!

Then came the best part of the appt- the time to examine the baby. Instead of getting out the doppler, he motioned to DH and said because he was here (and by now I'm sure he could figure out I'm a bit high maintenance and a worrier) that he would do an u/s instead. I said, "Today?"

It is a whole different experience seeing her on the u/s when she is this big. It is bits and pieces of her body that we made out as he moved around my belly. The resolution was poor and I could not make out much more than her heart and spine (even though he was narrating the whole time). Then we got to her head. It was like one of those pictures you have to stare at in order to see two profiles instead of a vase. When I finally made sense of what was on the screen. I shouted "I see it!" It was the cutest thing. You could make out her forehead, shadows for eyes and a cute little button nose. She had her arm covering her mouth. Dr. D. kept trying to get her to move it by pushing on my belly. He said he wanted DH to see a good picture because he doesn't get to feel her move like I do and he wanted him to feel a part of it all. DH enjoyed this male perspective and felt like he was paid attention to at the appt, instead of ignored by Dr. H. I finally had to stop all the pressure because it started to hurt. I swear the two of them were in their own world and my polite grunts and cries of being uncomfortable were going unnoticed until I said, "It's starting to hurt." Then the surprise u/s was over.

Another added bonus, she was head down. Let's hope she stays that way.

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So it seems a pattern with me that every piece of good news and relief I find with this pregnancy is followed closely by a new worry.

What is it this time you ask? (perhaps with rolling eyes)

Well, yesterday I went to a friend's house for lunch and swimming. She was aware that I could not eat processed deli meats, so she went to a deli that hand carves their turkey meat so it comes out looking like what you'd have on your Thanksgiving plate. I thought, "Oh good. I can eat that." I should have heated it up just to be on the safe side, but my preggo brain was getting the best of me. I felt guilty after I ate it, like I did something wrong. I immediately went home and googled (damn) all I could about listeria and cross contamination in delis and all kinds of horrible things. I felt very stupid for even taking such a "risk." The worst part is the incubation period can range anywhere from 3-70 days. There is no rest for the worriers. I'm sure I'll be less crazy with time.

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Tomorrow I will be 34 weeks along. Only three weeks until I'm considered full term and only six weeks until my due date. Sooo close. Sooo far away. What a great time to eat a turkey sandwich. . . :)

33 weeks

Why do I do these things?

Dr. Google is a bad, bad man.

Let me start at the beginning. . .

I've been feeling pretty good lately. It has been so nice to have the time off to rest whenever I want. I think I have been relaxing too much because in the mornings I have been feeling very groggy and "out of it." Without work my blood pressure has been pretty low. It normally is anyway with the meds I'm on (even before pregnancy), but lately I don't think I've been able to tolerate it. On Wednesday morning I was trying to get my thank you cards done at the kitchen table when I felt very lightheaded and a wave on nausea came over me. This has happened on occasion due to a dip in blood pressure. I took a reading and it was 97/56. Not unheard of for me, but too low for the moment. I laid down for 5 minutes and felt better. I went to finish my cards and it happened again. I decided to call the nurses in charge of watching my BP and they told me that it is probably time I should lower my dose of meds and to make an appt with my doctor.

So that is what I did. I got to meet Dr. D. as in Dr. Delightful. I loved him! He was so much better than Dr. H. Granted he was an hour late as he was also the on call doctor and three of the other docs (including my own) are out on maternity leave. So it was very busy there. Let me tell you, he was worth the wait. He actually answered my questions with more than one word. He cared about my IF journey to get here. He listened and took notes. We decided to cut my meds in half. I was very happy I was there for low and not high blood pressure. Let's hope it stays that way.

While I was there I got a well baby check too- an added bonus! Her heart rate was 150s-160s and she is still measuring a week ahead. During the exam I asked if he could tell what position she was in. He started feeling around and thought she was slightly transverse (sideways). He didn't seemed concerned and said they can still shift, move and settle until about 36 weeks. And even then we could talk about having them try to turn her (not sure how I feel about that).

So off I went all happy to have gotten an extra exam and that I didn't have to wait a month in between appts and excited about my new doctor.

Then yesterday I did something stupid. . .

I decided to google "transverse lies"

Not a good idea.

Apparently it is rare after 20-30 weeks and even more rare at term (1 in 300). Most babies settle breech or head down. I started to read scary things about reasons why babies stay transverse (fetal abnormalities) or what could happen if you are that way in labor (cord prolapse- where the cord comes down into the vagina and gets pinched). Stupid! Stupid! Stupid!

I had to call my good friend who is a labor and delivery nurse and ask her about this. She said it is fine if she is that way right now. The only time it is dangerous is if your water breaks and you are dilated enough for the cord to hang down. She also said she has plenty of time to turn and asked how the doctor determined her position. When I told her it was through a manual exam not an u/s, she said he was probably wrong anyway. As far as the fetal abnormalities she has never heard of that. One of them was "water on the brain." She said they would have seen that in the u/s. She wasn't concerned, neither was Dr. Delightful, so why am I? Faithful followers, I'm sure you know why. . .

I am working hard on chalking it up to another thing about this pregnancy I can't control and I'll add it to the list of a million other things that can still go wrong. I will try to enjoy the rest of my pregnancy and focus on the positive, like how strong I can feel her movements now. The way if feels to see an entire body part move across my belly and how I can't wait to meet her.

We are making some progress on the nursery. We finally got all of DH's stuff out of the extra room and now he needs to paint this weekend and then we can get the furniture set up and things put away. Hopefully in a couple weeks we will be all done.

I'll leave you with some belly pics and "before" nursery pics.

31 Weeks

32 Weeks

DH getting ready to move the computer to the other room. (Don't you love the Coors Light box doubling as an extra trash can? Classy!)

Testing paint colors

The one cute thing I had to put together and see how it looked.

And finally, my poor doggy. He's not happy with all the changes going on in our house. He likes things the same.

He doesn't know what he is in for. . .