C-Section Scheduled.

So last week I had my 36 week ultrasound to check her growth, well she had defiantly grown, her estimated weight was 8lb 1oz and her head size and abdominal size were in the greater than 99th percentile for her age.  Even with the 15% margin of error on the estimated weight this is a big baby with 3 weeks left to grow. The margin of error on head size is very low and that is the part that concerned them. Based on all of this the high risk doctor recommended a csection at 39 weeks. I had my appointment with my OB the next day and she agreed about the csection but said we could wait until 40 weeks. So my csection is scheduled for the day after my due date 11/17.  It is not what we planned but it is what is best for the baby and that is all I really care about.

I had my 37 week checkup yesterday. 1cm dilated, 50% effaced and my cervix is soft, so a little progress but not much.  Doctor said baby hasn't moved down at all. She did say that my pelvic bones, the little bony bits that stick out inside that are the smallest part the baby has to pass through are tight and this reinforces her decision about the csection.   I was feeling bad all day yesterday, backache, headache, upset stomach.  We had our last labor/child class last night and I went to bed as soon as we got home but started cramping almost as soon as I laid down and cramped all night long, maybe from the cervical check, who knows, still cramping some today but its not regular.

Baby is still moving around a lot, she still makes pretty big movements but they feel slower and more like pushes than jabs for the most part anyway. She does love to kick my stomach after I've eaten, I think my eating expands my stomach and takes up her room and she does not like that.

I stayed home from work today because I was exhausted and needed to keep my feet up, they resemble the stay-puft man these day.  Here is last week vs this week, everyone says I'm getting bigger by the day, hard for me to say, I don't know how much bigger I can possibly get but then we have 19 days left to go before the c-section.

I also asked a bunch of questions about the csection answers are:

• no can't do delayed clamping
• yes, can do cord blood donation
• no, can't do immediate skin-to-skin but Matthew can
• I can breastfeed as soon as I'm in recovery
• no, I can't watch the c-section
• I get to eat the same day as long as I'm not vomiting
• I will get to sit up in chair the same day and be up walking the next day
• I can't drive for 2 weeks after
• I have to limit stairs to once daily for 2 weeks
• Lift nothing heavier than the baby for 4 weeks

I think that's about it, here is a bonus picture of my feet!!! (lucky you)

way to go cervix!!

This is the last week of the second trimester and my cervix is holding strong with good measurements! yay!

Baby girl is also doing well, she is measuring right on track size wise but weight wise she is in 75th percentile! Chubby baby. Last estimated weight at the ultrasound last week was 1 pound 14 ounces which is exactly double her weight from 4 weeks previous.  Heart rate was a little high at 179 but tech said it goes up and down.

After all the measurements were done I fished a little and the ultrasound tech (nicest one EVER) turned on 4d for us! We got to see her in 3d but LIVE, it was SOOO freaking cool!  She kept putting her hands up in front of her face but we got a few good pics.

If everything continues to be good I won't have to go back to the Maternal Fetal Care center anymore, I have another appointment with the MFM in September so technically I'm still high risk but all the docs are pleased with how everything is going. 

Pain wise, well that comes and goes, I have days where I feel almost normal then I have days where walking is almost impossible. I have found that I can't be on my feet for more than 20-30 minutes at a time and I can't bend from the waist, both of those things trigger pain.  I have Yoga tonight, I'll have to tell teacher I can't bend from the waist but I think the yoga actually helps so I want to keep going.  I need to start walking on the days I feel good but I'm kind of concerned with getting very far from home and having a bad pain episode with no where to sit down. 

Other symptoms, my hands have started to swell a little, blood pressure is holding steady and I drink tons of water so must just be pregnancy.  Its not bad, just enough to make my rings tight once in awhile.

I do seem to be on an upward trend for my weight, I have days where I am starving! Last night 2 hours after dinner I ate a bagel with cream cheese, a pickle, some grapes and a handful of nuts and then was hungry again before bed but didn't eat again. Guess little girl doubling her weigh every month will do that!

How far along?  26 weeks!  

Total weight gain: -7.6lbs!   

Baby is the size of: bowling pin

Maternity clothes:  bought a few new shirts last week

Stretch marks: None that I didn't already have

Sleep: what's sleep? I toss and turn a lot from back pain

Best moment this week: I was sitting in a meeting with my hands crossed across my stomach and she was kicking so hard she was moving my hands

Miss anything? Beer

Movement: She's quiet when I'm up moving but if I sit down and get quiet she starts dancing

Food cravings: green grapes

Anything making you queasy or sick? Not really

Labor signs: Nope.

Symptoms: Back pain, gas, heartburn, pelvic pain 

Belly button in or out? In.

Wedding rings on or off? On.

Happy or moody most of the time: Happy

Looking forward to: Getting the stuff cleaned out of the nursery room

Oh and here is a quick reference on the months/weeks thing

22 weeks

Not much new to report other than back pain.  Every morning I wake up with my lower back in extreme pain. I did something I never thought I'd do, I made an appointment with a chiropractor. I know this pain is only going to get worse and I have to do something. I found a Chiro who is familiar with EDS and is willing to work with me.  My appointment with him is Thursday, I'll report back.  I also signed up for a prenatal Yoga class that starts next week, hoping that will help as well.

My only other complaint is the heat. A full on St. Louis summer plus being pregnant do not mix. I get overheated at the drop of a hat, I can't be outdoors for more than 5 minutes without getting sick.  It was 106 when I got in my car yesterday after work.  My remote start is broken so I can't even cool it down before I get in (yeah, first world problem, I know). I have an appointment on Friday to get that fixed.

I've started the process to find a daycare and WOW is that a process! Apparently 7+ months out from needing care is too late to start looking.  So far I've contacted 4 of the 6 centers that take infants and would not be a complete pain in the ass to drop/off pickup at.  I've visited 2 of the 4 so far. One has no availability until April, the other has an opening in mid-February.  I'm going to see what comes from these 4 visits then contact the other 2 if I need to.  I spent an hour and a half at KinderCare yesterday, the babies are so cute!

Weight wise, I gained a couple of pounds last week and figured that was the start of the upward trend, but then I lost it again this week, so still holding steady pretty much.  Here is the 22 week bump.  I still have days where I just look fat and not pregnant, actually most days.

I've had a couple dizzy spells, I'm going to have to be more diligent about my fluids as my BP has dropped again.  3 quarts is not enough, has to be a gallon apparently. Good to know, I can handle that. 

Her movements are getting stronger, not able to really feel from the outside yet but I am hoping soon so hubs can feel her.  

I thought I didn't have much to say this morning but I ended up rambling like usual, that's about it for now though. 

Here is a progression pic for the past month

Halfway There!

20 weeks! Halway there! According to my app the baby is supposedly the size of a cantaloupe, I just can't see that!

My weight is staying steady, I've been within 2 pounds of the same weight for 2 months now. I guess I'm losing at roughly the same rate baby weight is gaining, its kind of odd.  Today I am 1.2lbs above where I was a month ago but 1.4lbs BELOW what I was 2 months ago, so yeah, right about the same.  This graph starts at 4/1 when I was just around 7 weeks along, through this morning.

Blood pressure has been down again but the dizzy spells have not gotten bad so maybe my body is adjusting.  Here is a snapshot of my BP readings over the past week or so (I don't update my weight in this app, its just in there from when I set it up).

I think the actual food cravings have started, this week it was pierogies, I finally found some at the grocery store yesterday and plan on having those for dinner.  Unfortunately the horrible taste in my mouth and occasional nausea has also returned. 

Sleeping has become and issues as I can no longer sleep on my back, it makes it hard to breath so I turn from side to side all night long. 

My Ehlers-Danlos (EDS) has escalated significantly over the past couple weeks. I'm having to tape the knuckles on the first two fingers of my left hand to try to keep them in place.  The Relaxin hormone on top of the EDS makes me a very Gumby girl right now. 

The only other new symptom I guess is the pretty much constant gas!!!

Updates!

Okay, I won't make you wait this time since I've been bad about posting updates. Here is the ultrasound from June 9th.  Little girl is doing good and measuring on track. She weighed in at approximately 6 ounces that day.

My cervical length was good (4.8 cm) and all of her organs look good so far, they will do more checking when they do the next scan on the 8th of July.

I went in for an appointment with my MFM specialist today. I'd had an echocardiogram a couple weeks ago to check for heart abnormalities due to my Ehlers-Danlos and that looks good.

I also talked to him about my dizzy spells, they have gotten SO much worse, they are happening now even when I am sitting down, its disconcerting. He said there is nothing they can do about them, its common in pregnancy especially when then woman has low blood pressure to begin with. He said it should peak by 20-24 weeks (to which my reaction was "OMG its going to get WORSE???) then start to get better.   I'm starting to be concerned about driving, we'll see how it goes I guess.

We've gotten two cute baby gifts so far, people are great.

Some progress has been made on cleaning out the room for the nursery but not much, gotta work on that this weekend, the dizziness makes that slow work.

All of my brain power is being taken by the fetus.  Getting dressed this morning, pulled a cardigan out of the closet then decided I wanted a different one. Placed the first one back on the hanger and went get the other one but instead took the first one out. Repeat 2 MORE times before I gave up.  I finally got the right cardigan when I started to walk out the door and realized I was chilly.

I think she's been sitting on my colon the past few days, had a bit of an IBS flare up and oh boy does THAT hurt!

Had my first pregnancy related confrontation yesterday, We were in the airport, not much time before our flight and dining choices limited. Decided to grab subway for hubs and I. Ask for Italian for myself and ask them to throw the meat in the microwave and heat it up before putting it on the sandwich. Girl, maybe the manager? Asks me why! First of all none of your business, anyway tell her I'm pregnant and it needs to be heated. She then tells me that is an old wives tale and she knows because she had 4 kids. My response, " you do what you want with you and your kids but this is me and my kid and I want the meat heated" Ugh. THEN I got back to my gate to eat and it was STILL cold! Double ugh!!

Regardless of your views on listeria and eating lunch meat while pregnant it's MY prerogative what I want to eat! I was so annoyed.

Oh, and I have the most awesome husband. We'd been away on a fishing trip for a few days and kept passing by a Dairy Queen, however whenever I decided I wanted it they were already closed. After we got home yesterday he went out and got me dairy queen!

So far weight has stayed about the same for a month. Still down 14lbs from pre-pregnancy. Maternity pants feel more comfortable every day though!