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Monday, January 16, 2012

36 Week (!!!) Update

Howdy, y'all!  I hope everyone had a wonderful MLK day.  Lots to cover in this post, including today's doctor visit, so I'll cut to the chase with the 36 week stats (can you believe I am already 36 weeks?!):

Size of Geronimina:  One e-mail is still saying honeydew, but another says a crenshaw melon (does anyone even know what that is?), so I'll go with it:

She is gaining about an ounce a day.  My e-mail says she weighs almost 6 pounds, but according to today's ultrasound she is already 7 lbs 11 ounces (EEK!).  BUT, her head is now in the 88th percentile (as opposed to last time when they said 96th).  My lady parts and I will not cry if that percentile continues to decrease.  :-)  One thing to remember about ultrasounds, though, is that they can be up to 20% off.  If so, let's hope they are 20% high on weight instead of low.  We do not need a 20-pounder - ouch!  As for this week's developments, her liver and kidneys are working, and her circulation and immune system are good to go.  Her lungs are the only organs that still need some extra development before maturity, but we saw today on the monitor that she's stretching them out a ton and practicing breathing, which the ultrasound tech said is excellent.

Weight Gain So Far:  Still holding strong at +28 as of the doctor's scale today.  AND it wasn't even this morning, it was right after lunch.  Woot!  Not the +25 total that I was hoping for, but at this point, as long as she's healthy I will be fine!  I am frankly surprised that after 3 weeks of bed rest and literally doing nothing it isn't up to +50.

Cravings:  Does "everything that isn't bed rest" count here?  I know, I know, I should stop complaining because it's good for baby and me, but LORD I am going nuts here.  Could still eat pizza every day of the week if allowed, and still have a sweet tooth, but that's about it!

Aversions:  Do I need to say bed rest?  Are you sensing a theme?  :-)

Symptoms:  Same old: exhaustion, headaches, heartburn, swelling, and urination is out of control frequent.  I read that it would get worse towards the end but I didn't believe it because I was already going so much.  Trust, it is possible.  One sip of water, have to pee.  Pretty sure she's camped out on my bladder.  I am getting to that stage where I am just pretty uncomfortable in general, which I'm sure is at least partially due to the fact that I do nothing all day.  Minor aches and pains, but no stretch marks to report (fingers crossed it stays this way!), which I'm happy about.  Also a new one this week, I have been getting this weird heartburn that isn't really heartburn because it's in my upper abdomen.  I didn't think it was anything important, but today when I told the doctor about it she scolded me for a good 10 minutes for not calling to report it.  She said that is definitely a sign that the preeclampsia could be progressing, and they want to know about it so that they can monitor even more closely (great), especially if it gets worse.

Movement:  Still tons.  Even the ultrasound tech today was surprised that she's still moving so much, because she said baby girl literally is taking up every inch of room in there and doesn't have any to spare for a ton of movement. 

What I Miss:  I never thought I would say the gym!  All in good time, as I feel sure immediately after baby I will begin to loathe it again.  Ha!

Things I Am Thankful For:  Probably repeats from here on out, sorry!  WONDERFUL friends and family, and a wonderful church family.  We had two baby showers over the weekend and were so overwhelmed at the outpouring of love and generosity.  My sweet, sweet husband, who brings me flowers and cooks me surprise lunches (Like today when he cooked me a surprise gourmet lunch on his day off, I asked him if he was trying to fatten me up before my weigh-in and he told me he just wanted to make sure I wasn't hungry in case they induced me today since you can't eat when in labor.  I die!).  My Mom, for coming to visit for a few days to keep me company, help me do laundry and continue to get the nursery organized, etc.  Books, my new kindle, and the DVR.

What I'm Looking Forward To:  Meeting Baby B!  And hopefully making a little more progress in the nursery this week.  Also we both have work showers this week, which I'm excited about.  We are so blessed, and this baby is so rotten already.

Signs of a Bump:  Oh yeah.  I can really tell she's started to "drop," and everyone who saw me over the weekend confirmed it.  The ultrasound tech today even said, "My gosh she is REALLY low in there."  Why yes, my nether regions feel her in the form of a LOT of pressure and random limbs in the birth canal, often.


Next Doctor Appointment:  Wednesday morning, 9:30 a.m.   I told Dan he is off the hook for the next one, because I am getting so bored with them so I know he is, too.  Today I got a good report, which I am thankful for, but also don't know whether to be excited or disappointed.  No protein in my urine, and my BP was more normal for once - 132/80.  Camped out on the FHM for a good hour and baby is absolutely fine.  Still contracting, but not consistently.  Fluid levels are fine, baby is measuring big but fine, and all of her organs appear to be functioning perfectly.  They also did the Strep B test, so we are just waiting on the results.  So everything seems to be a-ok in there for now.  Here are some ghetto photos of the ultrasound pictures we got that I took with my iPhone, because I can't figure out how our scanner works:
The above pictures are looking at her face straight on - sweet little chunky cheeks!  She was blinking at us the whole time and we could see it on the screen. It was pretty incredible.

Over the past few weeks, the doctors have been telling me that they were trying to get me to 37 weeks, but that they likely wouldn't let me go much longer, and to expect to be induced early, so I asked about that today.  She said that at this point, it's just a waiting game, and she couldn't really say (this is the part I'm not sure whether to be excited or disappointed about).  She said they want me to continue to come in twice/week, and was very concerned about the upper abdominal discomfort/heartburn feeling.  I am thankful that we will likely be able to make it to full-term, and that Geronimina is happy and healthy in there.  However, on the other hand, I had mentally prepared myself to have a baby soon and adjusted all of my expectations, because that's what they've been telling me, so when she didn't really give me a definitive answer today it was slightly disappointing.  I know they are doing what's best for us, but the not knowing is killing me - as is the bed rest!  Guess we'll see what happens on Wednesday!

I will leave you with a sneak peak of some shower goodies from the two that were given for us in Charlotte this weekend (because who doesn't like pictures?!):
All of the goodies we got.  Such overwhelming generosity!
Take 2/close-up.
CUTEST WREATH EVER, made by Aunt Niecey.  Waiting to be hung on our front door!
So, that's where we are, friends!  I will try to post about both showers this week, as well as other awesomely interesting topics which I'm sure you are waiting with baited breath to read about.  :-)

Love!

Sarah

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