What a week it has been! Seriously, crazy. And despite the fact that I'm on bed rest, we never took a picture.... but I thought it was more important to update you on my health than how big my belly is getting.
So, on Friday at my doctor's appointment, we got some more information about what's going on.
First of all, I am on bedrest, but it is okay if I go out every once in a while. And by go out, that means I can go somewhere where I will be sitting. So, still no grocery shopping, cleaning, cooking, etc, but I can go to a hair appointment, to a restaurant, or to my mom's house. And I can go to church! Only one hour though. This is half his rule, half mine. This weekend I went to my brother's eagle scout project where I sat the whole time and sanitized books, but by the end I was pooped. Today, I barely lasted through church. Those church pews just aren't what you would call comfortable. So, already my body has adjusted to bed rest and can only handle an hour or two of activity. Kind of sad and pathetic, but I'm glad to know.
Next, he told me that as long as my blood pressure doesn't go any higher, I will probably make it to full term! I have mixed feelings about that. It means that the baby gets more growing time (yay!) but it also means instead of 3 weeks of bed rest, I have a potential of 6 weeks.... so perhaps I will get everything done on my to do list! Oh and he also said that after 34 weeks, steroids to help the baby's lungs grow don't really have much affect, so I won't have to take those.
Last, I will be going to the doctor at least 3 times a week. Every Monday we will do a non-stress test with the baby and measure the amniotic fluid. Every Thursday we will do a non-stress test. THEN starting at 36 weeks I will have my regular doctor's appointment every week. So, this week I don't have a doctor's appointment, but I do have to go in to get the supplies for another 24 hours urine sample. I will be doing these about every week as well. Whew! The receptionists already recognize me, but but the end of this pregnancy they will for sure all know my name.
So, obviously Monday was yesterday so I had my first NST and amniotic fluid test. They took me to a room with a SUPER comfy recliner. It was sweet. First they tested the amniotic fluid. It was basically an ultrasound. She "divided" my belly into four quadrants and looked at how much fluid was there. Somehow she came up with a number, 9.6 (units? Ounces? I don't know), which is on the low end of normal, but still normal. Yay! Then we did the NST (non stress test) where I just sat there with the fetal heart monitor and the monitor to check for contractions on. We were going to sit there until the baby's heart rate elevated 3 times. I didn't realize this, but the heart rate elevates every time he moves around! On that Sunday we went into the hospital, I was on the fetal heart monitor, and Jed and I kept getting a little concerned that the baby's heart rate kept getting super fast, then slowing down. Little did we know, that's exactly what is supposed to happen! So, that was my appointment. Oh and they took my blood pressure. Still high, but not too high.
So, there you have it. The thing I've been complaining about the most to Jed this week is my swollen hands/toes. I shouldn't complain, because seriously, it's not that bad. I still don't like it though. I think I have officially outgrown all my flats. It is just too darn uncomfortable. So, it's either slippers or sneakers from now on.
Tuesday, February 28, 2012
Friday, February 24, 2012
How to Survive Bed Rest
I think everyone reading my blog either knows me well enough or has been able to figure out that I am a planner. I don't always follow through with my plans, but I love planning! So as I anticipate being home for the next 2+ months (at least 3 weeks bed rest, probably a couple of weeks after the baby is born before I leave the house....), I think I need a plan.
First of all, I have to say that I am both looking forward to/not looking forward to bed rest. Pros: I get to sleep in and take naps, I will never be forced to cook or clean, I have an opportunity to do some crafts/projects, I can watch all the movies I've been wanting to and read all the books I've been wanting to. Cons: I can't cook or clean and yet I'm stuck in the house so I have a HUGE desire to clean up the dishes and vacuum and such; I'll get bored; I may plan to do things, but actually starting them is really hard to do; I miss seeing people; I can't go shopping and maybe even can't go to church (I'm asking my doctor about that TODAY!); sitting and laying down gets really old really fast..... I'm sure you can think up all of these things.
So here's the plan:
1) Get up at a good hour every day. I hope to get up whenever Jed leaves for the day.
2) Get semi-ready for the day. I think that make-up and certain clothes will rarely see the light of day in these next few weeks, but I know that if I stay in pjs all day and never shower, I will feel extra crappy.
3) Have a plan for the day. I am going to have a To Do list for each day, even if the only item on it is "Watch 2 episodes of Downton Abbey." I will have a purpose every day!
4) Use all this time to do some AMAZING scripture study. Jed and I are doing really great at being consistent with scripture study, but I use the excuse that I don't have time to get myself really into some great study. I no longer have that excuse..... at least for the next 3 or so weeks! So I hope that I can get myself to do that.
5) I'm not on strict bed rest, but they did say that I should generally only get up to go to the bathroom and shower. So, on days I'm not all sweaty, I generally shower every other day. So on the days I don't shower, I have that extra 20 minutes where I would normally be standing in the shower/getting ready to actually do something like put dishes in the dishwasher? Eh? Gosh this bed rest thing can be so hard! I want to do what is best for the baby, so if laying down all day is the key, I will do it. But it's so hard when I don't feel sick AT ALL and when I feel like, what's a little 10 minutes of standing going to do? Well, I think it could potentially do a lot (I've got to ask my doctor). So I may cheat once in a while (because I can't stand those dishes any longer), but I am going to try to practice some will power and not do anything! The nurse did give me the okay to sit like normal, like I don't have to be laying down all the time, so I may take advantage of that and attempt to do some dishes or some cooking while sitting in a chair. My fish tank needs to be cleaned and I'm seriously thinking about doing it in the bath (I will not be in the bath, just for clarification; I will just clean it by sitting next to the bath.). Ha ha that will be interesting.
So wanna see my list of what I hope to do? If you don't, well skip on over these bullets:
How about some fun things?
Okay, so now I need to go eat something. I turned on the stove to cook me up some breakfast sausages, but for some reason the smell of the hot pan mixed with the popcorn smell left over from the popcorn I had last night..... the last thing I want to do right now is eat. That brings me to another important part of my plan for being on bed rest: don't snack all the time! I have a feeling I will be gaining a lot of weight in the next month or so...... Anyways, any suggestions for bed rest are appreciated, as already all the suggestions I've gotten have been awesome! Thanks friends!
First of all, I have to say that I am both looking forward to/not looking forward to bed rest. Pros: I get to sleep in and take naps, I will never be forced to cook or clean, I have an opportunity to do some crafts/projects, I can watch all the movies I've been wanting to and read all the books I've been wanting to. Cons: I can't cook or clean and yet I'm stuck in the house so I have a HUGE desire to clean up the dishes and vacuum and such; I'll get bored; I may plan to do things, but actually starting them is really hard to do; I miss seeing people; I can't go shopping and maybe even can't go to church (I'm asking my doctor about that TODAY!); sitting and laying down gets really old really fast..... I'm sure you can think up all of these things.
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| This woman looks much too happy to be on bed rest... Besides, people already go crazy when on bed rest. To be on bed rest in a completely white room? Looks like a mental hospital to me....) |
So here's the plan:
1) Get up at a good hour every day. I hope to get up whenever Jed leaves for the day.
2) Get semi-ready for the day. I think that make-up and certain clothes will rarely see the light of day in these next few weeks, but I know that if I stay in pjs all day and never shower, I will feel extra crappy.
3) Have a plan for the day. I am going to have a To Do list for each day, even if the only item on it is "Watch 2 episodes of Downton Abbey." I will have a purpose every day!
4) Use all this time to do some AMAZING scripture study. Jed and I are doing really great at being consistent with scripture study, but I use the excuse that I don't have time to get myself really into some great study. I no longer have that excuse..... at least for the next 3 or so weeks! So I hope that I can get myself to do that.
5) I'm not on strict bed rest, but they did say that I should generally only get up to go to the bathroom and shower. So, on days I'm not all sweaty, I generally shower every other day. So on the days I don't shower, I have that extra 20 minutes where I would normally be standing in the shower/getting ready to actually do something like put dishes in the dishwasher? Eh? Gosh this bed rest thing can be so hard! I want to do what is best for the baby, so if laying down all day is the key, I will do it. But it's so hard when I don't feel sick AT ALL and when I feel like, what's a little 10 minutes of standing going to do? Well, I think it could potentially do a lot (I've got to ask my doctor). So I may cheat once in a while (because I can't stand those dishes any longer), but I am going to try to practice some will power and not do anything! The nurse did give me the okay to sit like normal, like I don't have to be laying down all the time, so I may take advantage of that and attempt to do some dishes or some cooking while sitting in a chair. My fish tank needs to be cleaned and I'm seriously thinking about doing it in the bath (I will not be in the bath, just for clarification; I will just clean it by sitting next to the bath.). Ha ha that will be interesting.
So wanna see my list of what I hope to do? If you don't, well skip on over these bullets:
- Work on my portfolio for my internship (because I WILL graduate, dang it)
- Meal Plan. This is rather important, because I have to be very creative with my planning... I basically have 3 types of recipes to look for: freezer meals (which my dear mother will be helping me put together), incredibly easy meals Jed can put together, and last but not least, not necessarily easy meals, but meals I can cook while sitting down and that involve minimal standing up and moving around. I think I will planning a lot of crock pot things.
- Catch up in my 10 year journal. Thank goodness I have the most important things I'd want to write about all on my calendar. (P.S. Have you ever used a 10 year journal? I love it to pieces. You should get one!)
- Commission Jed to get me some butcher paper and supplies so I can decorate the baby's room (low priority.... but maybe I'll do it)
- Clean out the folders on my email! Isn't this something you would love to do, but you know it will take hours and hours???
- Cross stitch! I have a project I've been working on since 2009. It's going to look awesome, but I think it's been over a year since I've touched it. Sad, sad day
- Go through all of our papers. This is a project that will take several days, I'm thinking, and that I will need lots of help with from my dear mommy. I have way too many papers, ranging from important things like contracts/birth certificates/car things/insurance, to old school papers that I'm not sure if I want to keep or not, to handouts from church and girls camp. So, the plan is to have my mom help me know which important papers are actually important, file those all beautifully, and then SCAN all my other papers that I would love to keep because they have cute sayings or they have potential importance (school papers), but scanning them will get rid of the clutter and get rid of the stupid things I don't really need to store! I'm so excited! This is really the number one thing I want to do during bed rest. The number one thing I don't want to do is my portfolio, but I cannot wait to have these papers organized! Life will be so wonderful.
How about some fun things?
- Pedicure/manicure/facial (all done by myself, of course). I do have a wonderful gift certificate for a pedicure, so if the doctor says I can go to church or things where I won't have to walk far and can sit the whole time, I will be getting a pedicure!
- Indexing! My sister-in-law was so smart and suggested this. How long has is been since I've done this??? Way too long. But now I feel pretty obligated to spend some time doing this. I want to make it part of my routine every day.
- Visiting! People, come visit me! I love to chat and I love to hear about your lives.
- Watch HGTV. I've already spent the last two days watching way too much of this, but I am seriously going to have this be part of my daily schedule. I love it, and I am learning a lot of little things to look for when buying a house or what to do when you want to sell your house. So I will justify this TV watching by saying I am educating myself in something I don't know very much about, but will need to know lots about!
- Exercise? I hope I can do some little things. I actually want to ask my doctor if a half hour of stretches would be against bed rest.... because I will be relaxing like crazy when I do that! And isn't the goal of bed rest to keep my blood pressure down? We'll see. There's always the kegal exercises, too, which will help in anticipation for labor and pushing.
Okay, so now I need to go eat something. I turned on the stove to cook me up some breakfast sausages, but for some reason the smell of the hot pan mixed with the popcorn smell left over from the popcorn I had last night..... the last thing I want to do right now is eat. That brings me to another important part of my plan for being on bed rest: don't snack all the time! I have a feeling I will be gaining a lot of weight in the next month or so...... Anyways, any suggestions for bed rest are appreciated, as already all the suggestions I've gotten have been awesome! Thanks friends!
Thursday, February 23, 2012
Bed Rest
Hello there, friends.
So if you have been reading my weekly pregnancy posts, you probably read last week's about my going to the hospital over the weekend. Well there have been some new developments.
Tuesday near the end of the school day I had strange vision problems again. I called my doctor, and they had me come in to take my blood pressure. It was high, not too high, but high. So they ordered some blood work to be done, a 24 hour urine sample, and bed rest. I had a moment (or several moments) but stress because I couldn't help but wonder what would be done with my job??? I am the main teacher of 11 cute little kindergarteners who need a lot of care and specialization. I was smart and prepared the lessons for the rest of the week (most of it was already done, thankfully), and then I was on bed rest.
Wednesday was boring, and spent in anticipation. The nurse told me that by 4 I should have the results of the test. False! That afternoon another nurse told me there was no way they would have the test results before the office closed. Lame. So, another day of bed rest was in order. The nurse did tell me, though that she would leave a note to the nurse who would be there in the morning to get my test results ASAP and call me ASAP, so that made me feel better. Slightly. That night I honestly felt like a kids before Christmas. I have a hard time waiting sometimes....
Today I waited as patiently as possible until my doctor's office opened and I left two messages, one with the lab work people and one with the nurse's station. And so I waited.... and waited..... and so 50 minutes later, I called again and stayed on hold for a good 6 minutes until they answered and said, "Oh yes you left us two messages this morning." .....yes I did. I felt bad, but hey, they told me they would know first thing in the morning! So then they told me they were just waiting to talk to the doctor and then they would call me.
So, about a half hour later, they called. The test results came back totally fine! That confused me because I definitely had some major signs of pre-eclampsia. So the nurse continued on, telling me that while the tests were good (and that was great news), I did have the symptoms of pre-eclampsia, so they said that basically I had a mild form of it. In order to make sure it doesn't turn into a severe form, they told me I had to be on bed rest, plus they'll be seeing me every week where they will monitor my blood pressure closely and also make sure they do a non-stress test each time on the baby. They said I will probably have to do a few more 24 hour urine tests as well.
So that's the verdict! I have pre-eclampsia, and I will be on bed rest until I deliver the baby. They said that most women in my situation make it to 37 weeks as long as they stay on bedrest, so that's good news. I did not want to have a preemie baby if I could help it! So from what I gather (and I will be confirming this with my doctor tomorrow), I will probably have this baby early. I don't remember what I put in the last post and you may already know this, but the only way to get rid of pre-eclampsia is to have the baby, because it has to do with the placenta. So until that placenta is out of my body, I will have pre-eclampsia. So, from what they've said, they just want me to make it to 37 weeks and then this baby is outta here! That means that my new "due date" is probably March 15th. And Ides of March baby?
I'm feeling pretty good right now. I'm glad that my baby and I are healthy enough that we don't have to worry right now, but I'm also glad that they know they want me on bedrest. My biggest fear when they told me the tests were fine was that I would go back to normal life, only to be rushed to the hospital because I worked myself too hard or something changed. So, while I am unhappy to be on bed rest (and slightly stressed about missing work), I'm glad that I will be able to at least do something (by not doing anything) to help the baby stay in longer and to keep us both doing okay.
That brings me to a question. Anyone been on bed rest? Anyone have suggestions for what to do? My instinct when I am home is to cook, clean, and organize. Luckily, I can still do some organizing in bed or just reclining/sitting for a while, but I can't do those other things I would like to do. One thing is for sure: if anyone has a desire to visit me, please come! I have a feeling I will be bored to tears one of these days (and I will literally cry, knowing how I've been this whole pregnancy), so if you so desire, I would love visitors.
Last but not least, thanks to those who knew what was going on and prayed for us! We know those prayers were answered.
So if you have been reading my weekly pregnancy posts, you probably read last week's about my going to the hospital over the weekend. Well there have been some new developments.
Tuesday near the end of the school day I had strange vision problems again. I called my doctor, and they had me come in to take my blood pressure. It was high, not too high, but high. So they ordered some blood work to be done, a 24 hour urine sample, and bed rest. I had a moment (or several moments) but stress because I couldn't help but wonder what would be done with my job??? I am the main teacher of 11 cute little kindergarteners who need a lot of care and specialization. I was smart and prepared the lessons for the rest of the week (most of it was already done, thankfully), and then I was on bed rest.
Wednesday was boring, and spent in anticipation. The nurse told me that by 4 I should have the results of the test. False! That afternoon another nurse told me there was no way they would have the test results before the office closed. Lame. So, another day of bed rest was in order. The nurse did tell me, though that she would leave a note to the nurse who would be there in the morning to get my test results ASAP and call me ASAP, so that made me feel better. Slightly. That night I honestly felt like a kids before Christmas. I have a hard time waiting sometimes....
Today I waited as patiently as possible until my doctor's office opened and I left two messages, one with the lab work people and one with the nurse's station. And so I waited.... and waited..... and so 50 minutes later, I called again and stayed on hold for a good 6 minutes until they answered and said, "Oh yes you left us two messages this morning." .....yes I did. I felt bad, but hey, they told me they would know first thing in the morning! So then they told me they were just waiting to talk to the doctor and then they would call me.
So, about a half hour later, they called. The test results came back totally fine! That confused me because I definitely had some major signs of pre-eclampsia. So the nurse continued on, telling me that while the tests were good (and that was great news), I did have the symptoms of pre-eclampsia, so they said that basically I had a mild form of it. In order to make sure it doesn't turn into a severe form, they told me I had to be on bed rest, plus they'll be seeing me every week where they will monitor my blood pressure closely and also make sure they do a non-stress test each time on the baby. They said I will probably have to do a few more 24 hour urine tests as well.
So that's the verdict! I have pre-eclampsia, and I will be on bed rest until I deliver the baby. They said that most women in my situation make it to 37 weeks as long as they stay on bedrest, so that's good news. I did not want to have a preemie baby if I could help it! So from what I gather (and I will be confirming this with my doctor tomorrow), I will probably have this baby early. I don't remember what I put in the last post and you may already know this, but the only way to get rid of pre-eclampsia is to have the baby, because it has to do with the placenta. So until that placenta is out of my body, I will have pre-eclampsia. So, from what they've said, they just want me to make it to 37 weeks and then this baby is outta here! That means that my new "due date" is probably March 15th. And Ides of March baby?
I'm feeling pretty good right now. I'm glad that my baby and I are healthy enough that we don't have to worry right now, but I'm also glad that they know they want me on bedrest. My biggest fear when they told me the tests were fine was that I would go back to normal life, only to be rushed to the hospital because I worked myself too hard or something changed. So, while I am unhappy to be on bed rest (and slightly stressed about missing work), I'm glad that I will be able to at least do something (by not doing anything) to help the baby stay in longer and to keep us both doing okay.
That brings me to a question. Anyone been on bed rest? Anyone have suggestions for what to do? My instinct when I am home is to cook, clean, and organize. Luckily, I can still do some organizing in bed or just reclining/sitting for a while, but I can't do those other things I would like to do. One thing is for sure: if anyone has a desire to visit me, please come! I have a feeling I will be bored to tears one of these days (and I will literally cry, knowing how I've been this whole pregnancy), so if you so desire, I would love visitors.
Last but not least, thanks to those who knew what was going on and prayed for us! We know those prayers were answered.
Sunday, February 19, 2012
Tracking the Baby Bump: Week 33
Hello, again!
So, I'm sorry I missed last week. I have had a lovely cold for the last two weeks, and last weekend it was getting to its worst. So, I decided to skip my post.
Baby Stats: (I'm wondering when I should stop this... because who knows how big my baby will be? A friend of mine had a baby that was 18 inches.... and the book is telling me my baby is 18 inches.....)
Height: 18 inches
Weight: 3 1/2 lbs
If he were a fruit, he would be a: pineapple
What has happened these last two weeks? A lot! (So you are warned this will be long... But interesting, I think!) Even what happened TODAY was a lot. Yes, I have a story to tell!
I'll start with the story. The background to the story is that at my last appointment, my blood pressure was a little high. I was sick, so they said they weren't too worried. I also gained 9 pounds which was 3x what I have been gaining every month.
Fast forward to last night. I was having some strange vision problems. You know how it looks when you get your picture taken and you have spots in your vision? Well I had a long line of spots where I couldn't see. It seemed pretty bad.... so we went to bed in hopes my vision would be normal in the morning.
This morning, I still have spots on my vision, but thankfully not that huge line. I've done enough reading in my pregnancy books that I knew high blood pressure, vision problems, rapid weight gain, swelling (which I had just developed), and protein in your urine (which I seem to have every once in a while) are all signs or preeclampsia. I would just google what that is, but it's basically severe high blood pressure, which left untreated can develop into eclampsia, which means you will have a lot of seizures. So, we thought we should get this checked out. Being Sunday and my OBGYN's office closed, we thought it smart to go over to Walgreens and get my blood pressure checked for free. This we did, and my blood pressure was 153/97. Woah! So we waited a few minutes and did it again. 163/98. So needless to say, my blood pressure was high. So we called the on call doctor for my OB office and he told us that from what I was saying, it would be best to have some tests done at the hospital.
So, we went to the hospital! It was kind of like a practice run through for when I go into labor. We went up to labor and delivery, we registered with the hospital, then they took me to a labor/delivery room exactly like one I will be in when I deliver the baby! They had me change into a gown and they put on a fetal heart monitor. Over the next couple of hours, I had my blood pressure taken numerous times, gave a urine sample, and got my blood taken for testing.
Here's my bracelet from the hospital:
By the end of the two hours, my blood pressure was normal and all the tests they took were normal. We were all relieved and the doctor told me he was really glad I was paying attention to my body, because women have come in with the exact same symptoms as me and they had severe preeclampsia. For some reason I was spared that trial (for now), so we are very happy! It was a kind of scary few hours, but I've always been the type of person that is very calm in emergencies (like when I filleted my finger on the table saw in woodshop.... I had to tell Chelsea it would be okay, not the other way around). So all is well!
The doctor told me to take it easy this week if possible. He asked me if I didn't work or if at work I could just sit and relax. Ha! I told him about my job and he told me that if anything gets worse, they may ask me to take it easy and could even say I shouldn't go to work, so here's hoping that it doesn't get to that point! It would stress me out way too much! Plus, who wants to be on bed rest?
Now, onto less serious things!
Prego Symptoms:
- Swelling.... major swelling! Okay, not too major. I don't have kankles, thank goodness, but my wedding ring is definitely off for the rest of the pregnancy, all my flats hurt my feet, and in the past few days, bending my toes and fingers, I can feel the excess swelling. It reminds me of going on Trek. I walked with my hands by my side for 10 hours a day, and by the end of the day, my fingers were huge! So huge I couldn't bend them very far. It's not that bad, but I can feel the pressure when I bend my fingers.
- A bazillion stretch marks. Dislike.
- Carpal Tunnel Syndrome? Did you know that a lot (and according to my What to Expect book, a majority) of pregnant women get some carpal tunnel syndrome? Well, for the last week or so, my arm has been hurting during the night. And when I say hurting, I mean, I wake up, need to pick up one of my 4 pillows I tend to use, or just want to turn over, and so I move my arm to pick it up or to help me move, and I get this sharp pain in my forearm. I really couldn't figure out the problem. There was no bruising, I hadn't remembered hurting my arm, I wasn't sleeping any differently, there was no change to my body that should have brought on such pain! So, in all my research online, and I know I shouldn't self-diagnose, but I think this is my problem. Apparently, when you sleep on your arm (which I tend to do) or when you don't move it for a long time, that can bring on these symptoms. So, my lovely mother gave me a wrist brace, which I used all yesterday and used last night as I slept, and I had no pain when I woke up! Yay! It's so nice being able to come up with a solution to the pain.
- Continuing difficulty bending over, rolling over, and in general just getting up. Especially when sitting down, it just takes such effort to bend to get something off the ground! And moving when I'm lying down, I feel like a walrus or seal because I have to make such a great effort for such little movement ha ha. Jed is so kind and will get out of bed (not in the morning, just if we're lying in bed on our computers or something) or he will come into the living room to help me up. I hardly even have to ask anymore; if he sees that I have to get up, he will often just come over and put out his hand to help. I love that he is so thoughtful :)
- My belly button has never been so small. Circumference-wise and depth, it is for sure smaller. I am still an innie, but with seven more weeks of growing, I think I could make it to a flat belly button. How strange!
- Weight gain.... I went to my 32 week check up last week.... and I had gained 9 pounds! Ah! I was consistently gaining 3 pounds at each check up, so that was a little scary to have gained 3x the normal amount. I wonder if it has to do with the retaining water. At my check up, my blood pressure was not where it should be, either, so I wonder if we should be worried... However, it was just the beginning of my cold, so the nurse said it maybe had to do with being sick. The interesting thing is, just like how my sleeping habits haven't changed, my eating habits haven't either! I have exercised/eaten just about the same throughout this entire pregnancy, meaning I hardly exercise and I snack quite a bit. I'm getting the the point in the pregnancy, though, where I will go in to the doctor at 34 and 36 weeks, and then every single week after that. It's so weird! I actually made doctor's appointments all the way until my 39 week appointment, because we won't know until that point if I will need on at 40 weeks or not! It is getting so close!
- My belly is huge. How can it get any bigger? I have 7 more weeks of growing.... about a 1/2 a pound of baby a week. How in the world can I get any bigger and rounder! I'm a little worried for the coming month and a half.... I'm still excited, but a little worried for how hard it will be to get around. I actually ran yesterday, because one of our students forgot her backpack, so I ran after the bus. I did not catch it, because it was too far by the time I got outside, but I ran down the hall. I doubt it was fast, but I still can run, despite this huge belly!
- Heartburn still plagues me. It's pretty consistent, too, with what I eat. Pizza is still a huge love of my life, but I know for a fact I will have severe heartburn afterwards. Thank goodness for medicine.
- My gums still bleed when I brush my teeth. I am dilligent in my teeth brushing and semi-dilligent in the flossing, but my gums always bleed. The interesting thing is they don't bleed very often when I floss.... I don't understand, but that's the truth.
- I'm consistently hot. I sleep with the fan on and only a small blanket the majority of every night.
- For the past week, I have woken up almost exactly 12 minutes before my alarm goes off every morning. Not every morning have I woken up at the same time, and yet somehow my body knows when my alarm will be going off and I wake up before it.
- I've tried to figure out when the baby always moves, and I have pinpointed the one consistent time (partially because it's one where I am always sitting or lying down): 10:00 (PM). Just before or just after, that is when the baby is at his most active. The other night Jed actually got to feel him move for almost a whole 15 minutes. There were some pretty big movements, too. It's so fun to share that with Jed, because he doesn't get to feel him move much. Our baby seems to sense whenever I put Jed's hand on my belly. One interesting fact from the nurse who taught our prenatal class: with her babies, whenever they were active in her womb, for the first while after they were born, they were active then. So I guess I can already plan for a 10:00 feeding for the baby!
Those are the pregnancy symptoms..... So I mentioned that I was sick, and still am. My voice is rather funny and I use a ridiculous amount of tissues.
There are a couple of fun things that happened in the last two weeks that I will not write about in this post, but in their own posts. These two things are my amazing baby shower and our prenatal class! Oh they were both so great.
I will end with the fact that I am only 7 weeks away from having this baby. That is so insane to me (and Jed). I had a dream last week that I had the baby, and it made me wish the baby was here so much! I am in love with our little guy already. I am anticipating a lot of crying when our baby is born. I think just looking at him, realizing that he was growing inside me since July, that I've fed and nurtured him while he's in there, and now I get to hold him and love him and take care of him, gosh, I will be overwhelmed with emotions. I've been wanting to be a mom probably since I was 4 and played with my little dolls. I've loved babysitting. I've loved holding any baby I can get my hands on. Now it's getting so close that I will have my own little one to care for! I know it will be so hard, but I can't wait.
So, I'm sorry I missed last week. I have had a lovely cold for the last two weeks, and last weekend it was getting to its worst. So, I decided to skip my post.
Baby Stats: (I'm wondering when I should stop this... because who knows how big my baby will be? A friend of mine had a baby that was 18 inches.... and the book is telling me my baby is 18 inches.....)
Height: 18 inches
Weight: 3 1/2 lbs
If he were a fruit, he would be a: pineapple
What has happened these last two weeks? A lot! (So you are warned this will be long... But interesting, I think!) Even what happened TODAY was a lot. Yes, I have a story to tell!
I'll start with the story. The background to the story is that at my last appointment, my blood pressure was a little high. I was sick, so they said they weren't too worried. I also gained 9 pounds which was 3x what I have been gaining every month.
Fast forward to last night. I was having some strange vision problems. You know how it looks when you get your picture taken and you have spots in your vision? Well I had a long line of spots where I couldn't see. It seemed pretty bad.... so we went to bed in hopes my vision would be normal in the morning.
This morning, I still have spots on my vision, but thankfully not that huge line. I've done enough reading in my pregnancy books that I knew high blood pressure, vision problems, rapid weight gain, swelling (which I had just developed), and protein in your urine (which I seem to have every once in a while) are all signs or preeclampsia. I would just google what that is, but it's basically severe high blood pressure, which left untreated can develop into eclampsia, which means you will have a lot of seizures. So, we thought we should get this checked out. Being Sunday and my OBGYN's office closed, we thought it smart to go over to Walgreens and get my blood pressure checked for free. This we did, and my blood pressure was 153/97. Woah! So we waited a few minutes and did it again. 163/98. So needless to say, my blood pressure was high. So we called the on call doctor for my OB office and he told us that from what I was saying, it would be best to have some tests done at the hospital.
So, we went to the hospital! It was kind of like a practice run through for when I go into labor. We went up to labor and delivery, we registered with the hospital, then they took me to a labor/delivery room exactly like one I will be in when I deliver the baby! They had me change into a gown and they put on a fetal heart monitor. Over the next couple of hours, I had my blood pressure taken numerous times, gave a urine sample, and got my blood taken for testing.
Here's my bracelet from the hospital:
By the end of the two hours, my blood pressure was normal and all the tests they took were normal. We were all relieved and the doctor told me he was really glad I was paying attention to my body, because women have come in with the exact same symptoms as me and they had severe preeclampsia. For some reason I was spared that trial (for now), so we are very happy! It was a kind of scary few hours, but I've always been the type of person that is very calm in emergencies (like when I filleted my finger on the table saw in woodshop.... I had to tell Chelsea it would be okay, not the other way around). So all is well!
The doctor told me to take it easy this week if possible. He asked me if I didn't work or if at work I could just sit and relax. Ha! I told him about my job and he told me that if anything gets worse, they may ask me to take it easy and could even say I shouldn't go to work, so here's hoping that it doesn't get to that point! It would stress me out way too much! Plus, who wants to be on bed rest?
Now, onto less serious things!
Prego Symptoms:
- Swelling.... major swelling! Okay, not too major. I don't have kankles, thank goodness, but my wedding ring is definitely off for the rest of the pregnancy, all my flats hurt my feet, and in the past few days, bending my toes and fingers, I can feel the excess swelling. It reminds me of going on Trek. I walked with my hands by my side for 10 hours a day, and by the end of the day, my fingers were huge! So huge I couldn't bend them very far. It's not that bad, but I can feel the pressure when I bend my fingers.
- A bazillion stretch marks. Dislike.
- Carpal Tunnel Syndrome? Did you know that a lot (and according to my What to Expect book, a majority) of pregnant women get some carpal tunnel syndrome? Well, for the last week or so, my arm has been hurting during the night. And when I say hurting, I mean, I wake up, need to pick up one of my 4 pillows I tend to use, or just want to turn over, and so I move my arm to pick it up or to help me move, and I get this sharp pain in my forearm. I really couldn't figure out the problem. There was no bruising, I hadn't remembered hurting my arm, I wasn't sleeping any differently, there was no change to my body that should have brought on such pain! So, in all my research online, and I know I shouldn't self-diagnose, but I think this is my problem. Apparently, when you sleep on your arm (which I tend to do) or when you don't move it for a long time, that can bring on these symptoms. So, my lovely mother gave me a wrist brace, which I used all yesterday and used last night as I slept, and I had no pain when I woke up! Yay! It's so nice being able to come up with a solution to the pain.
- Continuing difficulty bending over, rolling over, and in general just getting up. Especially when sitting down, it just takes such effort to bend to get something off the ground! And moving when I'm lying down, I feel like a walrus or seal because I have to make such a great effort for such little movement ha ha. Jed is so kind and will get out of bed (not in the morning, just if we're lying in bed on our computers or something) or he will come into the living room to help me up. I hardly even have to ask anymore; if he sees that I have to get up, he will often just come over and put out his hand to help. I love that he is so thoughtful :)
- My belly button has never been so small. Circumference-wise and depth, it is for sure smaller. I am still an innie, but with seven more weeks of growing, I think I could make it to a flat belly button. How strange!
- Weight gain.... I went to my 32 week check up last week.... and I had gained 9 pounds! Ah! I was consistently gaining 3 pounds at each check up, so that was a little scary to have gained 3x the normal amount. I wonder if it has to do with the retaining water. At my check up, my blood pressure was not where it should be, either, so I wonder if we should be worried... However, it was just the beginning of my cold, so the nurse said it maybe had to do with being sick. The interesting thing is, just like how my sleeping habits haven't changed, my eating habits haven't either! I have exercised/eaten just about the same throughout this entire pregnancy, meaning I hardly exercise and I snack quite a bit. I'm getting the the point in the pregnancy, though, where I will go in to the doctor at 34 and 36 weeks, and then every single week after that. It's so weird! I actually made doctor's appointments all the way until my 39 week appointment, because we won't know until that point if I will need on at 40 weeks or not! It is getting so close!
- My belly is huge. How can it get any bigger? I have 7 more weeks of growing.... about a 1/2 a pound of baby a week. How in the world can I get any bigger and rounder! I'm a little worried for the coming month and a half.... I'm still excited, but a little worried for how hard it will be to get around. I actually ran yesterday, because one of our students forgot her backpack, so I ran after the bus. I did not catch it, because it was too far by the time I got outside, but I ran down the hall. I doubt it was fast, but I still can run, despite this huge belly!
- Heartburn still plagues me. It's pretty consistent, too, with what I eat. Pizza is still a huge love of my life, but I know for a fact I will have severe heartburn afterwards. Thank goodness for medicine.
- My gums still bleed when I brush my teeth. I am dilligent in my teeth brushing and semi-dilligent in the flossing, but my gums always bleed. The interesting thing is they don't bleed very often when I floss.... I don't understand, but that's the truth.
- I'm consistently hot. I sleep with the fan on and only a small blanket the majority of every night.
- For the past week, I have woken up almost exactly 12 minutes before my alarm goes off every morning. Not every morning have I woken up at the same time, and yet somehow my body knows when my alarm will be going off and I wake up before it.
- I've tried to figure out when the baby always moves, and I have pinpointed the one consistent time (partially because it's one where I am always sitting or lying down): 10:00 (PM). Just before or just after, that is when the baby is at his most active. The other night Jed actually got to feel him move for almost a whole 15 minutes. There were some pretty big movements, too. It's so fun to share that with Jed, because he doesn't get to feel him move much. Our baby seems to sense whenever I put Jed's hand on my belly. One interesting fact from the nurse who taught our prenatal class: with her babies, whenever they were active in her womb, for the first while after they were born, they were active then. So I guess I can already plan for a 10:00 feeding for the baby!
Those are the pregnancy symptoms..... So I mentioned that I was sick, and still am. My voice is rather funny and I use a ridiculous amount of tissues.
There are a couple of fun things that happened in the last two weeks that I will not write about in this post, but in their own posts. These two things are my amazing baby shower and our prenatal class! Oh they were both so great.
I will end with the fact that I am only 7 weeks away from having this baby. That is so insane to me (and Jed). I had a dream last week that I had the baby, and it made me wish the baby was here so much! I am in love with our little guy already. I am anticipating a lot of crying when our baby is born. I think just looking at him, realizing that he was growing inside me since July, that I've fed and nurtured him while he's in there, and now I get to hold him and love him and take care of him, gosh, I will be overwhelmed with emotions. I've been wanting to be a mom probably since I was 4 and played with my little dolls. I've loved babysitting. I've loved holding any baby I can get my hands on. Now it's getting so close that I will have my own little one to care for! I know it will be so hard, but I can't wait.
Saturday, February 18, 2012
Our Awesome Prenatal Class
I hope that all of you are planning on taking a prenatal class. It was invaluable! We did the two week one at Provo's Intermountain Hospital. The lame thing was that the class was 3 hours long, but it was nice only having it for two weeks. A great plus to it, too, is that you get to go to a breastfeeding class for free when you take this class. That one will be in March for me :)
So, what did we learn? The first night was quite a bit of stuff I already knew. She went over terms and definitions of things. Then she went over other stuff I think I knew..... What I did learn from the first night were these things:
1) When to go to the hospital - mainly for unusual things. (Go when your water breaks, if you are having contractions and it's before you should be giving birth, if you have bleeding--especially with pains, etc.)
2) Signs of labor. This was great because I just can't imagine what contractions must feel like! So basically, if you have any uncomfortable feeling at regular intervals, and the intervals keep getting shorter and the pain keeps getting worse and lasts for longer periods of time, you are having contractions! If they are irregular at all, you are probably fine.
3) Stages/Phases of Labor. There are 3 Stages, and 2 Phases of Stage 1. Stage 1 is basically contractions. Phase 1, 2, and 3 are basically your contractions getting worse and worse. She said that Phase 3, in her opinion and from her experience, is the worst. It is called the Transition Phase. Stage 1 is so bad because it's basically your cirvix dilating and effacing (or moving farther apart and getting thinner). Phase 2 is when you get to push! She said this is better than Stage 1 Phase 3 because you actually get to feel like you are doing something, not just dealing with pain. Stage 3 is basically giving birth to the Placenta.
4) She showed us lots of pieces of equipment. The scariest by far: forceps. They do not look what I imagined them to.
Scary, right? It doesn't help that these don't exactly look clean....
The second night was Jed's favorite/worst. I just loved it all. Here's what we talked about:
1) Postpartum care. We got days/weeks of how long things will take to heal, how long there will be bleeding, how long till your milk comes, etc. Very interesting, and made me feel better, knowing what to expect. She also showed us what sort of things we will be wearing after the birth and what sort of things we will be able to do/take to help with the pain....
2) Newborn care. This was informative, but also repetitive for me. I've been reading my three books I have over and over in an effort to know what to expect, so a lot of what she went over was a review. It's always nice to hear it from someone who knows, though, because they add in the personal opinions and things like, for one child this worked, and for another it didn't. Jed especially loved them going over the proper way to put a carseat in your car and the baby in the car seat. You would think it would be common sense, but there are some things you want to watch out for, and who knows if we would have made some of those mistakes. Interesting fact: The county health department will do free car seat checks if you make an appointment, so you can have an expert tell you if you have it in your car correctly and if your baby is in it correctly! Very nice.
3) Birth video! We watched one made at the hospital, which was cool. There were four births. First was pretty basic, and it included an epidural and an episiotomy. Jed just about passed out at the end, I actually got choked up! The relief from the mom and the excitement of the baby being there made me so excited for that! The next birth was of a c-section. That was a little on the gross side..... Third was a VBAC and they used forceps.... Again, forceps are scary! I did not like watching that one. The woman in it was very funny, though. And last was a natural birth, which really was unfair to watch, because literally, she pushed 3 times and the baby came out. The nurse measured her, said she was dilated to about 9 1/2 cm, so she went to get the doctor, and when he came in, the baby's head was literally halfway out. By the time he had gloves one, the whole head was out and these little hands and arms were squirming their way out. If only I could be so lucky!
4) Tour of the Hospital. This was all done with pictures, but it was nice to see. Now I know exactly where to go (5th floor) when I'm in labor and I know what the room will look like, where I will go after delivery (4th floor), and all that jazz. This was something Jed and I both really wanted to know, so we were really glad we got to see this.
So, there you have it, that is what you can learn in a prenatal class! We are very glad we went, and it only makes us more excited for the real deal!
So, what did we learn? The first night was quite a bit of stuff I already knew. She went over terms and definitions of things. Then she went over other stuff I think I knew..... What I did learn from the first night were these things:
1) When to go to the hospital - mainly for unusual things. (Go when your water breaks, if you are having contractions and it's before you should be giving birth, if you have bleeding--especially with pains, etc.)
2) Signs of labor. This was great because I just can't imagine what contractions must feel like! So basically, if you have any uncomfortable feeling at regular intervals, and the intervals keep getting shorter and the pain keeps getting worse and lasts for longer periods of time, you are having contractions! If they are irregular at all, you are probably fine.
3) Stages/Phases of Labor. There are 3 Stages, and 2 Phases of Stage 1. Stage 1 is basically contractions. Phase 1, 2, and 3 are basically your contractions getting worse and worse. She said that Phase 3, in her opinion and from her experience, is the worst. It is called the Transition Phase. Stage 1 is so bad because it's basically your cirvix dilating and effacing (or moving farther apart and getting thinner). Phase 2 is when you get to push! She said this is better than Stage 1 Phase 3 because you actually get to feel like you are doing something, not just dealing with pain. Stage 3 is basically giving birth to the Placenta.
4) She showed us lots of pieces of equipment. The scariest by far: forceps. They do not look what I imagined them to.
Scary, right? It doesn't help that these don't exactly look clean....
The second night was Jed's favorite/worst. I just loved it all. Here's what we talked about:
1) Postpartum care. We got days/weeks of how long things will take to heal, how long there will be bleeding, how long till your milk comes, etc. Very interesting, and made me feel better, knowing what to expect. She also showed us what sort of things we will be wearing after the birth and what sort of things we will be able to do/take to help with the pain....
2) Newborn care. This was informative, but also repetitive for me. I've been reading my three books I have over and over in an effort to know what to expect, so a lot of what she went over was a review. It's always nice to hear it from someone who knows, though, because they add in the personal opinions and things like, for one child this worked, and for another it didn't. Jed especially loved them going over the proper way to put a carseat in your car and the baby in the car seat. You would think it would be common sense, but there are some things you want to watch out for, and who knows if we would have made some of those mistakes. Interesting fact: The county health department will do free car seat checks if you make an appointment, so you can have an expert tell you if you have it in your car correctly and if your baby is in it correctly! Very nice.
3) Birth video! We watched one made at the hospital, which was cool. There were four births. First was pretty basic, and it included an epidural and an episiotomy. Jed just about passed out at the end, I actually got choked up! The relief from the mom and the excitement of the baby being there made me so excited for that! The next birth was of a c-section. That was a little on the gross side..... Third was a VBAC and they used forceps.... Again, forceps are scary! I did not like watching that one. The woman in it was very funny, though. And last was a natural birth, which really was unfair to watch, because literally, she pushed 3 times and the baby came out. The nurse measured her, said she was dilated to about 9 1/2 cm, so she went to get the doctor, and when he came in, the baby's head was literally halfway out. By the time he had gloves one, the whole head was out and these little hands and arms were squirming their way out. If only I could be so lucky!
4) Tour of the Hospital. This was all done with pictures, but it was nice to see. Now I know exactly where to go (5th floor) when I'm in labor and I know what the room will look like, where I will go after delivery (4th floor), and all that jazz. This was something Jed and I both really wanted to know, so we were really glad we got to see this.
So, there you have it, that is what you can learn in a prenatal class! We are very glad we went, and it only makes us more excited for the real deal!
Monday, February 6, 2012
Tracking the Baby Bump: 31 Weeks
Here's the picture for this week!
Baby Stats:
Length: 18 ish inches
Weight: 3 1/2 ish pounds
If he were a fruit, he would be: 4 naval oranges
So, the word of the week is... fatigue! I have felt so lazy this week. In the evenings, over the weekend, I just felt so tired. I think a big factor in this is how big I'm starting to get. I just get into a great position on the couch, and then after a while I start to get sore, so I have to move, and it takes so much effort just to shift my weight to move! Getting up from the couch is harder, so I'm very thankful for dear Jed to help me up all the time. I really am getting so big, though. I've had a lot of strangers ask me about when I am due. I think I've finally gotten to the stage where there is almost no mistaking that I am pregnant. People can really tell, even when I have my big coat on. I'm sure it's due to the way I walk, as well. I realized I don't walk with my hips going up and down anymore, they go front to back. Plus, I think I lean back a bit.
Just to show you how big I really am, here is a close up of my stomach. I'm holding back the shirt so you can see just how round this belly is getting!
Crazy, right?
Another blessed fact of the week: I'm officially retaining water. My wedding ring has been retired for the next several months. All last week I struggled to put it on and take it off, which I was hoping was due to the fact that whenever I woke or was going to sleep, I was rather hot. But, I tested it one time when I was cold and I knew my fingers should be smaller, and my ring was still nice and tight. So, Saturday was the day that I had to put my ring into my jewelry box and get out a cheap one I got from Claire's long ago. It's rather sad... My flats are no fun to wear anymore, either. My feet are definitely a bit swollen. Not so much that I can tell, but enough that when I take off my shoes, I have a lovely red line where my shoes were.
I'm sure I had more to say, but I honestly can't think of it! Exciting things are happening this week, though. My birthday is on Wednesday, our first Prenatal Class at the hospital is on Thursday, my 32 week appointment is on Friday, and my baby shower is on Saturday! It's going to be a great week.
Baby Stats:
Length: 18 ish inches
Weight: 3 1/2 ish pounds
If he were a fruit, he would be: 4 naval oranges
So, the word of the week is... fatigue! I have felt so lazy this week. In the evenings, over the weekend, I just felt so tired. I think a big factor in this is how big I'm starting to get. I just get into a great position on the couch, and then after a while I start to get sore, so I have to move, and it takes so much effort just to shift my weight to move! Getting up from the couch is harder, so I'm very thankful for dear Jed to help me up all the time. I really am getting so big, though. I've had a lot of strangers ask me about when I am due. I think I've finally gotten to the stage where there is almost no mistaking that I am pregnant. People can really tell, even when I have my big coat on. I'm sure it's due to the way I walk, as well. I realized I don't walk with my hips going up and down anymore, they go front to back. Plus, I think I lean back a bit.
Just to show you how big I really am, here is a close up of my stomach. I'm holding back the shirt so you can see just how round this belly is getting!
Crazy, right?
Another blessed fact of the week: I'm officially retaining water. My wedding ring has been retired for the next several months. All last week I struggled to put it on and take it off, which I was hoping was due to the fact that whenever I woke or was going to sleep, I was rather hot. But, I tested it one time when I was cold and I knew my fingers should be smaller, and my ring was still nice and tight. So, Saturday was the day that I had to put my ring into my jewelry box and get out a cheap one I got from Claire's long ago. It's rather sad... My flats are no fun to wear anymore, either. My feet are definitely a bit swollen. Not so much that I can tell, but enough that when I take off my shoes, I have a lovely red line where my shoes were.
I'm sure I had more to say, but I honestly can't think of it! Exciting things are happening this week, though. My birthday is on Wednesday, our first Prenatal Class at the hospital is on Thursday, my 32 week appointment is on Friday, and my baby shower is on Saturday! It's going to be a great week.
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