Week 30

It is so exciting to write week 30, I can't believe I have been pregnant for 30 weeks and we have 10 more to go!  I still remember the day I found out I was pregnant and the first time we heard her heartbeat.  Now to where we are today.
I had my first appointment since our "episode" last week.  I was nervous because I was hoping the OB would say I could go off the contraction-stopping meds and that my cervix had closed.  It went ok overall, I am pretty much the same, cervix still "funneling" but not dilated and have to stay on the meds.  I also found out last week our little bp was breached but this week she had her head down!  That was a relief to hear but I do not want our little bp to think she needs to start getting ready for her arrival, I want her to stay put for at least 6 more weeks!
I also was told no more long walks for me, only 3 times a week and no longer than 20 minutes at the most.  This was a little hard for me to hear, because as many of you know I am a runner and not being able to run has been hard enough and now to take away my walks is another kind of blow.  I know the reason is valid, but it is still hard.  I really enjoyed my walks and the feel of my body still working in a way I was used to.  I also have to watch how many times I go up/down the stairs in our house and just overall scale everything back.  I know that this is all for the best and to keep her in as long as possible, so I will do all they ask.  I knew this was a possibility with pregnancy I just had hoped it would not happen to me.  You hear all the stories of women running until the day they give birth and I really wanted to be one of those.  I never thought I would be at 30 weeks and have had an ER visit because I was going into preterm labor.  I now have to embrace that the possibility is very high now and to take measures to keep our little bp to stay put for as long as possible.
As you can imagine this past week has been the opposite of last week, with me taking it easy and with as little stress as possible.  I again am reminded of how many amazing friends I have and a huge thank you to them who offered their assistance :-)
Having also a close call last week kind of kicked my butt in gear for getting more things done.  For instance, we signed up for baptism classes and got some other important stuff out of the way.  Now to settle on a name.  It has been a struggle for us but I feel as long as we narrow it down between three names I will be content.  I have a feeling we won't know for sure until we meet our little bp!

How Far Along? - 30 weeks  

Size of our BP - just around 3 lbs - the size of an eggplant

Maternity clothes - found a cute dress at target recently!  

Gender - baby girl 

Sleep - overall good just having a consistency of waking at 3am to go to the bathroom has not been fun!     

Food cravings - chocolate (but gives me heartburn)

What I miss - a glass of wine sounded real good this past week

Symptoms - no new symptoms just the usual.  However I am happy to report that my hair is starting to feel normal again and let me say that makes me so happy!!  It feels so strong right now and rich, I am hoping this lasts!    

Belly Button - still an innie but pretty sure that will change in the next couple of weeks!

Best Moment This Week - leaning on my husband who has been amazing.  He is so good at being with me in this, I never feel alone.  I am constantly thanking him for all his love and support.  I can imagine how frustrating it must be for him at times, but he never burdens me with that.  Instead he takes on my burdens and pains, for which just brings me comfort.  He amazes me every day and it also reminds me there are women out there who do this all alone.  I pray for those women, because it must take a ton of strength and faith.  

Week 29

This past week was a whirlwind.  I was having my first baby shower hosted by my best friend from college and it was held at my house.  I forgot all the hard work that goes into preparing your house for a lot of people. But all the hard work was worth it, the shower was amazing and who would ever turn down a room full of amazing women?  It was great to have all my close friends and moms-to- be there.  They all are so unique and I love hearing their advice and stories they shared with me about being a mom!
It was a great weekend and I am truly felt loved.
I did however have a bit of scare this week.  Just a couple of days ago, I woke up to some pretty intense cramp-like feelings.  I thought it was just cramps or my bladder being full.  I went to the restroom and thought ok that should work, but the pains did not stop!  So after about an hour of trying to figure out what they were I called my OB's office.  Since my OB was out of town I knew I would have to get in to see another OB, and luckily they were willing to fit me in that morning.  So I woke up my husband and made our way to office.  Once we got there they were pretty fast to say I was experiencing contractions.  I had my cervix checked and thankfully I was not dilated but when they did the ultrasound they saw some "funneling" on my cervix.  This was not a good sign and decided to do a fetal fibronectin test (see link at end of blog for more info on this).  I was sent home to rest and put on a medication (nifedipine) to help stop the contractions and to await the results of the fetal fibronection test.  Once I got home I ate lunch and waited for the medication to kick in.  I did notice the contractions were not as painful but they did start coming closer together.  We had been warned if I had more than 6 in an hour that I would have to come back and be admitted to Labor & Delivery.  Sure enough they started coming more often and soon enough my husband was rushing me to Labor & Delivery.  I got admitted and they started me on an IV of fluids while we waited for the results of the FF test.  They kept me for observation and the only thing that kept me sane was being able to hear our little bp's heartbeat and feel her move, which she was doing a lot and was a very good sign.  Finally right around dinner we got the results that the FF test came back negative however that the likely hood of this happening again was pretty high.  We were given some pretty strict instructions and have an appointment with the OB again set for Monday.  I am just glad they were able to stop the contractions.  I know when it actually comes to deliver they will be stronger, but there were some moments where those contractions brought tears to my eyes.  I thought before Monday I would be able to hold off on the epidural but experiencing a whole 12 hours of contractions was not easy.
We definitely had a big scare and now we are praying that our little bp has more time to stay in and cook a little longer!  We want her to have the best fighting chance she can get.  We know our OB had told us her survival rate is quite high now that she has hit the 29 week mark, but we want her to be as healthy as she can be!  Please keep us in your prayers.

How Far Along? - 29 weeks  

Size of our BP - about 2 3/4 lbs  

Maternity clothes - enjoying the comfy dress I found.  

Gender - baby girl 

Sleep - had a lot on my mind this week so sleep was more difficult     

Food cravings - fruit and pizza

What I miss - fitting in my old clothes

Symptoms - my feet and ankles definitely got swollen this weekend :/     

Belly Button - still an innie but pretty sure that will change in the next couple of weeks!

Best Moment This Week - being showered by all my close friends and family.  A huge thank you to Sara for hosting such a beautiful shower and to all the friends who made it extra special :-)  

LINKS:

http://www.babycenter.com/0_preterm-labor-test-fetal-fibronectin_1511.bc

Week 28

This was a very challenging week.  Apparently having a low immune system is not fun at all and my body decided to try and tackle a cold.  I did not win.  For three whole days I battled a cold.  What makes it even worse is being pregnant means not a lot of options for medicine.  It was not easy taking it because of course you are wondering how this will affect the little human you are growing.
In the end with the encouragement from my OB and my husband I gave in and took some medications for two of the days.  After that I went cold turkey determined I could fight off the rest by myself.  I am finally feeling like my old self.  I will say sleep and lots of liquids did help in the end.  I had not slept like that in quite a while.  I feel like every time I laid my head down I slept.
On the other front baby penguin is growing.  I can definitely feel her more, and by that I mean she is more of this big mass and I can tell where she is and what she is doing.  I am pretty sure I felt my first hiccup from her!  She also seems to like it when I am talking to her dad.  She will let us know she is there when we are talking!  I love that because it makes me feel like she wants to be included in the conversation.  She also seems to like it when I sing to her so I try to do that often.
I again am counting by days now and she can make her appearance in 78 days!!!  I cannot wait to meet this little girl and watch her grow!
Here a picture of my pup Ariel Marie, she would not leave my side while I was sick!  Love this little dog!

How Far Along? - 28 weeks  

Size of our BP - about 2 1/2 pounds  

Maternity clothes - trouble finding dresses I like and feel pretty in.  

Gender - baby girl 

Sleep - have been a lot of sleeping going on     

Food cravings - grapes and bananas 

What I miss - having a strong immune system!

Symptoms - I think I am swelling a bit more.   

Belly Button - still an innie but not sure for how much longer :/  

Best Moment This Week - counting my blessings with all the great friends I have!  Especially two friends who offered to help while I was sick, you know who you are and thank you from the bottom of my heart for the kindness you showed me :-)  Also I got to meet another awesome baby this weekend, baby Zephyr who may be our little girl's future boyfriend ;-)  

Week 27

I officially have entered the 3rd trimester & could not be happier!!  It seemed at first that it was going to be a long wait but I can't believe we are in the final months.  In fact we can start counting by days now  and today means 85 days til my due date!  Crazy when I think about it like that.
This week was a little emotional for me, so please bear with me as I talk openly about my family.  I am going to use this platform to vent in this blog but here is my disclaimer: I love my parents with all my heart and I know deep down they come from a place of love as well.
Ok with that said I have been hurt by them a lot lately.  As soon as I found out that I was pregnant I had a sit down conversation with my mom to explain to her that I was going to need her more than ever.  I made sure to be very clear with my needs. For example, she is not very good about keeping her cell phone with her all the time, so I told her to please be better about it because if something happened I wanted to be able to contact her asap instead of having to track her down like I normally do.  I thought we had arrived on the same page and that she understood where I was coming from.  I guess I was wrong.
 Lately it seems that I have to keep reminding her and we have had some big arguments because I feel like she just does not realize how much I need her.  And what makes it even harder is when I am hurt by her or my father I want them even more.  Recently I had asked them to come visit because it had been a while since they came to our house.  I wanted them to see all the new things we have for the baby and just to have them near me.  Well my mom is not getting any younger and she does tend to get sick a lot more these days so she got pretty sick a couple of weeks ago and did not want to give it to me.  So we decided it was best she stay home.  Well that same weekend (her birthday weekend) she told me some family friends were coming in town for a convention and they were going to go!  I could not believe it but I let it go since it was her birthday weekend and wanted her to enjoy herself.  No matter that she was contagious and her doctor told her to stay home!  Then this past weekend came (Labor Day Weekend) and my husband had to work so I knew I was going to have to be on my own.  I thought this weekend would have been great for my parents to visit but knew my mom was still not 100%.  Then she calls me Saturday evening and when I get in touch with them later in the evening I find out from my dad that they are going to San Angelo to visit the same family friends who just visited them!  I was so hurt.  It is still hard to talk about this because it feels like this huge open wound.  I could not believe they would go visit someone else when I have been asking them to come visit us!  Needless to say this caused a big argument between us.  My mom tried to reason with me saying that I told them not come but when I found out she was going to go to a baby shower and be around another pregnant woman, where is the reason in that?  If she was contagious why would she go to a baby shower?  It is hard to put into words how much I need my mom right now.  I am experiencing so many emotions at the moment and the one person who has always been so good at consoling me is not around as much as I would like her to be for that comfort.  I always remember growing up all the times I was sick or sad and just how good she was to make me feel better.  Whether it was bringing me breakfast in bed, or just hugging me she was always there.  I am having such a hard time with this.  i can't even write this without crying, because I yearn for my mom who has always been my rock for comfort.  I don't understand what happened this weekend.  I don't understand how much more clear I could have been with her.  I know we will overcome this but right at this moment my heart hurts.
I know I should turn to God for the comfort I am seeking and I am trying.  It is something I am trying to change in me and I pray that God brings me the peace and comfort I seek.

How Far Along? - 27 weeks  

Size of our BP - she could be as long as 14 inches and weight should be around 2 lbs!  

Maternity clothes - have to wear it

Gender - baby girl 

Sleep - better now that we turn the air down a little more in the evenings :)    

Food cravings - chicken noodle broth, banana walnut bread, & pizza 

What I miss - fitting in my old clothes.  walking into my closet is hard sometimes.

Symptoms - nothing new from last week.  

Belly Button - still an innie but not sure for how much longer :/  

Best Moment This Week - meeting baby Gabrielle.  My friend just had her on 08.08 and it was nice to be around a newborn again.  It made me think of what is to come for us and to hold the precious little one just melted my heart.  I cannot wait to meet our tiny human and see what she looks like!