38 Weeks!

It's about time for baby! I am 38 weeks and baby girl is hanging in there. Go figure! My contractions have become almost constant throughout the day, but only annoyingly intense in the evenings. We've had a few "false alarms" where I was in a lot of pain with contractions about 5 minutes apart, but then they just go away. I am exhausted. My cervix was unchanged yesterday at my 38 week appointment, so we decided to do a dose of prostin to ripen my cervix even more before we start the pitocin induction. So I am going in Wednesday night now instead of Thursday morning. Hopefully she will be here by Thursday afternoon, though I am still praying she decides to come on her own before then. I was so disappointed yesterday after he checked me and told me I was still 1cm dilated after being in so much pain all week. It is frustrating to know that I was off work and on bed rest for SO long and now my body just doesn't want to go into labor despite the constant contractions. I was definitely not this impatient with Calvin, but I just feel like I have been in early labor for weeks and my body is tired! We spent the day today finishing her room, doing laundry, organizing the house, and even putting up the Christmas tree. It's crazy to think that this time next week I won't be pregnant and we will have a little girl in our house. Calvin is excited and talks about baby sister a lot. My mom is coming home Wednesday and we are excited to spend a few days with her after baby gets here.

On another note, Calvin has been doing much better with potty training this past week. He is FINALLY pooping on the potty and we didn't have one accident today. I am still not brave enough to let him sleep in his underwear, so we will tackle that after we get settled with baby girl at home.

I will post pictures as soon as possible and Korey will try to keep everyone updated during the induction if things move slowly. 5 days and counting!

36 weeks

 

Holy cankles batman... Called my doctor last week because my feet swelled up pretty suddenly last week. They had me come in on Friday for a blood pressure check. Everything was normal and there was no protein in my urine (which would be an indicator of pre-eclampsia). Then at my appointment on Tuesday, my blood pressure was 140/86 which is pretty high for me. My doctor sent me over to the unit for serial blood pressures and put me on the monitor for about an hour. Everything was a-okay, so we went home. I am SO swollen, even in the mornings when I wake up after having my feet up all night. I never swelled up with Cal so this is new for me and it's no fun. Glad it's not wintertime because all I can wear are flip flops. : ) Baby girl is still doing great, I was still dilated 1cm on Tuesday, so no change there. I weighed 176 on Tuesday (I have gained 9 pounds in 4 weeks... yikes!). Induction date is 3 weeks from today. We have been working on the nursery/Cal's room and I have been organizing and cleaning like crazy to get ready for the soon-to-be chaos. Tonight I even packed my hospital bag just in case. She seems pretty comfy in there for now. She is sitting so low that she isn't in my ribs at all like Calvin was (I rotated ice packs with him the last few weeks, my ribs were BRUISED from his strong kicks!). Here is the latest belly pic. I know it looks small, but I assure you the weight has been distributed EVERYWHERE else...

35 Weeks!

Time for an overdue update! After being taken off bedrest at 29 weeks, my next appointment did not go so well. My cervix had shortened back down to 1.1cm and I had funneling, which means that it was opening from the inside when I had contractions (signs of a weak/incompetant cervix... reason I've been on bed rest). Dr. Wagner checked my cervix for dilation (1cm/50% effaced, change from last time when I was barely a fingertip) and sent me to the unit for monitoring and after 4 hours I was able to go home. I was put on strict bed rest until I could come back Monday for a fetal fibronectin test and another ultrasound (this was on a Friday). So I spent the weekend in bed/on the couch behaving. Everything on Monday looked unchanged and the fetal fibronectin came back negative (99% chance I would not go into labor for 2 weeks). So back home again on modified bed rest until my next weekly ultrasound. 3 ultrasounds later (cervical lengths ranging from 1.1cm -2.1cm but no funneling), I am now 35 weeks pregnant and off of bed rest! At our last ultrasound, she was sucking her thumb and opening and closing her eyes. They got a profile picture of her and it looked like she had really big pouty lips (watch out Dad!) and LOTS of hair. Her last weight estimate was 4 lbs 15 ounces and that at my 33 week appointment. At my appointment last week, Dr. Wagner said we will stop the Procardia around 36-37 weeks and no more ultrasounds, just manual cervical checks. Basically I'm back to "normal" appointments and just waiting for her to get here. We did schedule an induction date, November 15th, but I am not sure if we will use it. I will be 39 weeks and if she isn't here yet I will probably let her decide when she wants to arrive. If I am dilated a lot more by then, I will consider it more seriously. Dr. Wagner has told me numerous times that my labor will probably be quick since it is my second baby, she is head down and very low, and my cervix is so thin. Which makes me a little nervous! But we will see... She hasn't done anything else by the rules so far so who knows, this labor could be longer than the last one!

I am feeling much more miserable this time than I felt with Cal. Nauseous all the time, crampy, swollen, horrible heartburn and indigestion... All that fun third trimester stuff. Still contracting on and off throughout the day. My biggest complaint at this point is the pubic/pelvic pain I have, especially at night. I have to wake up Korey to help me roll over and get out of bed to go to the bathroom because my pelvis feels like it is about to split apart. I had that a little with Cal, but not this bad. It actually gets better during the day, it's when I'm laying down or sitting for too long and then try to get up that it hurts. It doesn't help that she is so low and putting so much pressure on everything down there. Just taking it one day at a time until she gets here.

Calvin is excited, he asks almost every day if baby sister is done growing yet. Every once in awhile he asks to see my belly and he will talk to her. We are getting their room ready. Calvin has a new toddler bed and we turned his old one back into a crib for her (which he insisted on sleeping in that night). His favorite book is a Berenstein Bears book that we read every day called "The New Baby." It is about the bear getting a new bed because he outgrows his old one. I hear him in his room climbing into his new toddler bed and saying "there's no aches in my legs or pains in my knees!" Ha. And he has started calling Korey "Poppa" because that's what the little bear calls his dad in the book. He cracks us up. His teachers at the Y say he is so funny. The other day he told me that I was pretty and handsome (I don't remember what he wanted) and I told him he was smart and funny. He responded with "that's because I'm the TOTAL PACKAGE!" I started cracking up and asked him where he learned that and he of course said his daddy told him that. He has been telling people every since that he is the total package... Goodness...

I will post some belly pictures in another post. Definitely getting bigger (along with everything else but that's another story!) Next appointment is next Tuesday, will try to be better about updating before she gets here!

Pics from Summer 2012

 

Found him asleep in bed like this... not staged!

Hope he took notes!

 

 

Posing for Mommy

 

Handsome little stinker

 



 

Walking with Daddy to Freudenfest

 

Finger painting with Mommy (he actually hated it,

he does not like getting his hands messy)

 



 

Fourth of July fun - my little water baby



29 weeks - Off bed rest!

 

Well exactly one month after I was admitted to the hospital, I am officially off of bed rest. I had another good ultrasound yesterday (cervical length was 3.4, same as last week). That is a normal measurement and since it seems like the Procardia is working so well, my doctor took me off of bed rest and decided to keep a close eye on things with weekly ultrasounds and cervical checks. Baby girl weighs about 3 lbs 2 oz and is already growing some fuzzy hair. We got a great picture of her little foot and almost got a 3D picture of her face but she was hiding it with her hands. I am excited to be off bed rest, but still trying to take it easy. I am still having a lot of contractions and a LOT of uncomfortable pressure. I can try to go back to work when I am ready, so I have to figure out all of my FMLA/short term disability that I am in the middle of right now. (Oh so many phone calls and letters and paper work!) Since I'm still contracting, we feel more comfortable seeing how the next couple weeks go off bed rest before jumping back into work. Belly is growing and I can tell she has had a growth spurt this past week (which is probably not helping the aches and pains I'm having). Calvin likes to talk about his "baby sister" and asks me questions sometimes about her. The other day we were talking about how I'm going to feed the baby when she gets here. After a long discussion, he said, "that baby not going to eat MY boobies all gone!" Haha. He has been talking about my boobs ever since. Got to love his curiosity about EVERYTHING right now!

28 Weeks - Hello Third Trimester!

I am officially in my third trimester! I had an appointment yesterday and my cervix is almost back to normal length. Dr. Wagner told me to write a paper on how to grow cervixes because he's never seen such a big change. The problem is that we know how short it has been, and I could get back to that length pretty quickly if I don't keep doing what I'm doing. He did lift my bed rest restrictions a little bit (I can be on my feet for longer periods of time, cook light meals, etc.), but since I'm still contracting and feeling a lot of pressure he wants me to "listen to my body" and stop when I start to feel crampy or start to contract. I am still taking my Procardia every 4 hours right now. She is measuring fine and looked great on the ultrasound as usual. I've gained 2 pounds since I was put on bed rest and a total of 13 pounds so far with this pregnancy. Pretty similar to what I gained with Calvin. I was curious to see what I've gained just laying in bed all day for the last 4 weeks, but I guess my appetite hasn't been great so it's not as much as I thought it would be. I am looking forward to another "normal" ultrasound and hopefully I will be taken off bed rest and can ease back into a normal routine. Work is iffy right now, I think if I sat at a desk all day that he would let me go back to work, but he knows that my shifts consist mostly of being on my feet and running around for 12 hours. But if things stay stable then maybe I can pick up some shifts as I get closer to my due date. Next ultrasound is Friday - may be the last one for a little while if things still look good!

26 week belly

I will be 28 weeks on Thursday an my belly has definitely gotten bigger in the last 2 weeks, but this is the most recent belly pic I have for now. : )

Home! And Calvin turns THREE!

After 18 days in the hospital, I was released and am finally at home! My cervical length on Saturday was 2.4cm and my uterus was behaving so they let me go home. I have been doing well at home, I can tell when my Procardia starts to wear off but I am resting and following the rules. I am nervous for my ultrasound on Friday, readmission is always lingering over my head and I do not want to go back until I am full term and ready to have a baby... Of course bed rest at home has brought on new struggles and obstacles, like having to rely on Korey for everything instead of nurses, and having to watch him take care of Calvin on his own since I cannot help, but being here and getting to wake up with them everyday is so much better than laying in a hospital bed. We have been telling Calvin that I was in the hospital because the doctor was keeping me safe, so when we got home and I laid down he said, "Me and my daddy are keeping you safe now?" : )

Saturday was Calvin's birthday and we had a party for him that night with my family. My sister decorated the house and made food while I laid on the couch and told her what to do. : ) It was hard but we had a great time. Then on Sunday, Korey's family came over and we had another little party for him. Calvin had a great time and kept saying that he wanted "another birthday."

Updates on THREE year old Calvin:
-His new favorite cartoons are Looney Tunes and Tom and Jerry, which he says are "Papaw Carder's favorites."
-He tells a knock knock joke that goes like this: "Knock knock. Who's there? Don't cry, it's just a JOKE!" (The way he tells it is so funny).
-He is still working on potty training, and wears big boy underwear and pull ups during the day. He will pee on the potty (when he feels like it or we remind him, but not consistently) but will not poop on the potty.
-He is starting at the YMCA this week. We are nervous how he will do because this will be his first time in a daycare situation, but I think he will love it and it will make things a lot easier on us while I am on bedrest.
-Bedtime is a struggle nowadays, he does not want to go to sleep in his bed and it takes at least an hour of him sneaking in and out of his room before he finally gives up and goes to bed... We are working on it!
-He tells us everyday that we are his "best friend"
-He loves to build "birdie houses" right now because of an episode he saw on Mickey Mouse, and he also loves to turn anything that resembles a stick into a "sword" so he can slay dragons. He has a great imagination.
-He hates clothes and will take them within 10 minutes of walking into the house. He will not sleep with pajamas on and we have to fight to get him dressed most mornings.



 

"Reading" his birthday card



 

"It says it's my birthday, and I need to put my clothes on,

and I done eating, and we need to open these presents."

27 weeks and good news!

I had an ultrasound yesterday and after looking at a (healthy and perfect) baby, they measured my cervical length. It went up to 2.4cm (it was 2.2 when I got admitted!) and no funneling when they did fundal pressure. The cervix is dynamic and can change in size but usually not by THAT much. Everyone was pretty surprised! And I was so happy to finally get good news after laying in bed for 2 weeks. The doctor came in afterwards and said that if I stay stable (no more contractions) and my cervical length is still good on Saturday that they will let me go home. I was so surprised and so excited. The procardia seems to be working now that I'm taking it every 4 hours, though I get crampy after about 3. But since they are no longer changing my cervix the doctor thinks I can do strict bedrest at home and come in every week for cervical lengths.

Cal turns 3 tomorrow and I want so so badly to be at home as a family on his birthday. I am praying everything looks good tomorrow. The thought of another week (or more) in here is kind of unbearable at this point... Fingers crossed!!

Day #14

I've officially been in the hospital for 2 weeks. It is dragging by but I'm glad to still be pregnant. Ultrasound last Friday showed that cervix is now 1.05 (down from 1.5). They did "fundal pressure" during the ultrasound' which means they pushed on my belly to simulate a contraction, and my cervix showed funneling (opening from the inside) down to 0.7cm. So not the greatest news. But baby girl still looks great. Her biophysical profile was 6 out of 8, which is expected for a 27 weeker. They measure fluid, movement, "breathing" or practicing using her lungs, and heart rate. The only thing she didn't get points for was practicing breathing, which is expected at this point. We saw her do it a few times but not for the 30 seconds required to get "points" for. They did not do a weight estimate this week. Still continuing the same plan of care for now. I still contract every night around 7 or 8. Tonight they were a little more uncomfortable than usual but they gave me my Procardia early and they stopped.

I got to see Calvin twice this weekend and again yesterday. He likes to visit me in the "hops-ital." He has been telling everyone about his Mickey Mouse birthday and I am allowed to throw him a party here on Saturday in the atrium. I am so excited to spend his birthday with him. I can't believe he's going to be 3 years old... He always cracks the nurses up when he visits, he is such a little entertainer. He loves that he can order food to the room. I got him some sausage yesterday and when it was gone he kept asking for more and I told him that it was all gone. He said "I will press those buttons on that phone and I will ask for more sausage." :)

26 weeks!

I am 26 weeks pregnant today! I have been in the hospital for 10 days now. Last night was another Nubain/Phenergen night. I had contractions every 2-3 minutes for 2 hours straight and the Procardia didn't slow them down so I had the option of taking the Nubain and Phenergen or restarting Mag. I do not want to be on Mag again and luckily the Nubain and Phenergen stopped them (and again knocked me out for the rest of the night). I have had a headache for the last two days but it's just a side effect of the Procardia, and it's the least of my worries I only had a few contractions today. Dr. Wagner decided to take me off of the TOCO (contraction monitor) continuously, so now I am on it for an hour, 3 times a day. We are also listening to baby for 15 minutes, 3 times a day. I can put myself on the contraction monitor at anytime that I think I'm having them as well. It makes me nervous at night though because I sleep through them sometimes. We will see what the ultrasound shows tomorrow, those orders may change after that. I am happy to have had a couple breaks from hospital food the last two days. I had Panera and Noodles and Co for lunch. I am so sick of hospital food and I haven't had much of an appetite (which is a big change for me, this little girl has had me eating nonstop since the beginning of my second trimester!)

Calvin came and visited me today. He had a doctor's appointment because he has impetigo again. He was so energetic and funny. He talks nonstop and loves making everyone laugh. When he left, he put a sticker on my nose and kissed me and said "I love you sticker nose!" We all cracked up so when he was walking out he turned around and said "See you later sticker nose!" Silly little boy... I miss him so much. Taking it one day at a time though.

I will update everyone after the ultrasound tomorrow! Praying for good news.

Is today Tuesday?

My days are all running together. I can't believe I've been here a week. Today was another quiet day. I was happy to have to have my cousin Kristen visit with her kids and they brought me some stuff to keep me busy. I taught myself to crochet today... It's not too pretty but it actually makes the hours pass pretty quickly. I watch a lot of Food Network, which is torture because I am SO sick of hospital food. Baby is craving scrambled eggs ths week and I've eaten them every day since Saturday. I haven't left the room in a couple days, but hopefully Korey can take me on a wheel chair ride when he comes up here on Thursday. I slept well last night.... I needed another shot of Nubain/Phenergen (I've officially had 6 injections, 3 blood draws, and an IV started in the last week. Ouch.) I tend to get more crampy at night and contract a lot so Dr. Wagner suggested today that we increase my Procardia dose to 20mg before bedtime. Hopefully no more Nubain. I stopped taking my oral antibiotic today (a day early) because I developed a severe sensitivity to it. I've been taking it for 6 days but the last couple doses have given me horrible heartburn, chest pain, and burning in my ears. Weird... One less pill I have to be woken up for at night though! Those are my updates for the day, hopefully headed to bed soon. Pray for a quiet night!

Day #7

Day #7 .... They have increased my Procardia to every 5 hours instead of every 6 because I start to contract after about 4.5-5 hours of taking the medication. Last night around 2am they woke me up because I was sleeping through a bunch of contractions/ irritability (every 2-3 minutes). They called the doctor and she wanted to give me a shot of a combination of medications called Nubain and Phenergen. It knocked the contractions (and me) completely out for the rest of the night. Hopefully we won't need to do that again. The doctor thinks that once the Procardia gets into my system more, my contractions will slow down. I am counting the days until my ultrasound on Friday. I am anxious to hear if all these contractions are making my cervix even shorter or if the bedrest is helping. I am allowed to shower once a day and I'm allowed to leave the room for a wheelchair ride for 30 minutes every day. I've only left the room twice since Tuesday, and I start to contract every time I do, so I am trying to stay put. They listen to her heartbeat three times a day and she always sounds great. She moves around CONSTANTLY and gets the hiccups all the time. I got to see my family and Calvin yesterday which was the highlight of my week. Thanks to my amazing coworkers, I never get lonely, but it was so nice to spend a couple hours with family. Calvin did pretty well and even laid with me in bed for awhile. He kept asking why I'm in the hospital and why I have to stay, but when he left he just waved and said "see you later!" He told at least 3 random strangers that he is going to have a Mickey Mouse birthday. I've been promising him a Mickey Mouse party and his birthday is in a couple weeks so one way or another he is getting a Mickey party. May just have to cram everyone into my hospital room if I'm still here. Hopefully I will be at home by then....

Day #5

Today has been a quiet day, which I am thankful for. I haven't needed to take any Procardia since last night, and I haven't been contracting. I spent the day watching movies and playing on the iPad and I'm looking forward to Korey visiting tonight. I found a great website with information about preterm labor and short cervix that I thought I would share with everyone...

http://www.keepemcookin.com/prevention.aspx/

25 weeks

Day #4 in the hospital... Was hoping to go home tomorrow but it looks like we will be hanging out here for at least another week. Ultrasound today showed that my cervix measured 1.5cm, which is obviously a change from Tuesday. Dr. Wagner decided to keep me admitted, but turned the Magnesium off. He does not feel that delivery is imminent at this time and the steroid shots have had 48 hours to help develop her lungs, so at this point Magnesium is unnecessary and just making me miserable (oh so miserable). I did end up starting Procardia after a lot if cramping and irritability this afternoon, and so far it is helping. I was finally able to shower today (first time since Monday!) and I felt like a new person afterwards.

The doctors are very optimistic that baby will not be making an appearance any time soon, but they also want to keep me off my feet and do everything they can to ensure that she keeps cooking for as long as possible. She looked healthy today on the ultrasound and they estimated her weight to be 1 pound 12 ounces (57% percentile). Hopefully we will get some good news next week after reevaluating my cervical length and maybe I will get to go home. Until then I'll be keeping busy with tv, reading, and some craft projects to help pass the time.... 

I talked to Calvin today and he seemed to be enjoying a "vacation" with Grandma and Grandpa. Having so much love and support has made this whole process a lot more bearable. Korey has of course been amazing and has been taking such good care of me. I know this is just as hard on him as it is on me and he has been a rock through it all. I'm thankful and blessed!

24 weeks

It has been an eventful week for momma and baby girl, who seems to be a little too excited to meet us. I went to the doctor last Monday for some spotting and they did an ultrasound which showed that my cervical length was 3.1cm (down from 4.2 a couple weeks prior). Since anything over 2.5 is considered stable, and my cervix was not dilated, I was told to go home and just take it easy.

Monday night I headed to work and started noticing some tightening in my belly so I snuck away and hooked myself up to a monitor. I was contracting every 5-10 minutes but they weren't painful so I stuck it out through the night (I had a very easy assignment and was off my feet most of the night). I kept feeling them intermittently through my shift so after giving report in the morning I stopped into my OB office (which is right down the hallway) and talked to the OB nurse about what was going on. They got me in for another cervical ultrasound and I got some not so great news. My cervix had shortened to 2.2cm (anything under 2.5 increases risk if preterm labor by 20%). Baby girl looked great though, and her heartbeat was strong. I was hooked up to a monitor where they confirmed that I was contracting every 3-5 minutes. I saw the doctor who decided to admit me to L&D for the night. 

Once I was admitted, I was given terbutaline to stop my contractions and a steroid shot to help speed up development of baby's lungs. The terb helped stop the contractions and I was finally able to get some rest after lunchtime. I started contracting again when the terb wore off, and ended up getting another dose around 10pm. That was unsuccessful so they gave me some Procardia (another contraction-stopping drug). When I started contracting again around 4am, they decided to start me on Magnesium Sulfate, an IV medication that relaxes the uterus and central nervous system. It's a drug with a lot of nasty side effects for momma, but it's a last resort and usually effective in stopping preterm labor. It's been working, though I've had a few contractions here and there. I am experiencing the not so fun side effects. I am burning up and thirsty, I have a  headache, and my muscles are so tired I don't even want to get out of bed. But the bright side is that the medicine is working and she is safe and happy in there, so I will take happily deal with the side effects.

The plan is to keep me on the Mag for 48 hours, then switch me to the Procardia, which I could take at home. I will have an ultrasound with a specialist Friday and if my cervix is unchanged (and the Procardia is keeping me from contracting), I will go home Saturday on bedrest. 

I will keep everyone updated. I have been in EXCELLENT hands and can't speak more highly of my coworkers who have been taking such good care of me. I am so proud to say that I work on the unit I'm currently a patient on, though it is very strange to be on the other end of things. Korey has been spoiling me rotten and our families have been so helpful with Cal while we are both stuck here. Thank you to everyone for the thoughts and prayers! 

Family Pictures

I wanted to share some family pictures taken by Kerri Kinker, a girl I went to high school with who is studying photography at Franklin. She is incredibly talented and we loved the way they turned out.

20 week update

We had our 20 week ultrasound/appointment on Friday and everything looked great. Baby was modest and kept her legs crossed through most of the ultrasound, and after hearing that everything else looked healthy and normal, we were eager to confirm that it was indeed a girl in there. After a transvaginal ultrasound to check my cervix (3.4cm - good), she was finally able to get a peek and confirm that we are having a girl. My placenta is anterior like it was with Calvin, which is why I haven't been feeling her kick and move around as much and as strongly as I'd like to at this point. But I get reassuring bumps every once in awhile and I know I'll feel more as she gets bigger and stronger. I have gained 8 pounds so far, but it feels like a lot more than that. This little girl has been a lot less friendly to my body than Calvin was. I feel like I've gained weight everywhere besides my belly, which does not yet look obviously "pregnant." I also discovered some lovely varicose veins in my legs this week. Woo hoo. I'm ready to start showing more so people stop telling me that I don't even look pregnant... Not what you want to hear when you feel huge and none of your clothes fit you anymore! Overall, I am loving being pregnant and I am so happy that we are having a healthy baby in November.

Myrtle Beach 2012

Every year my dad rents a big ole van, packs up the whole family, and we road trip to the beach. He loves having us all in one place where he can entertain/annoy us for 12 hours, so the drive is his favorite part. (We love him). This year we went to Myrtle Beach and had a blast. Aiden and Calvin LOVE the water and couldn't get enough of the beach and the pool while we were there.