35 Weeks!

We are officially in the home stretch. Alexa should be over 5lbs and 18 inches in length. Her kidneys should be fully developed & the liver should be processing waste products. She still needs to gain a little more weight to help her stay warm & her lungs will need a little more time to mature. I am fully confident that we can give her the time she needs.

This last week was an unexpected challenge for Justin & I. Not only was Justin in the middle of graduating from one class & starting another, but he also had to take care of all of my needs as well as the house. He has been doing a great job. He has been cooking, cleaning & running errands. I am not sure if he is ready for 5 more weeks of it.

The doctor this morning had me do a non stress test. This monitored Alexa's heart rate as well as my contractions. Alexa did great during the entire test. She got the hiccups & even started kicking the contraction monitor. My contractions were timing 5-7 minutes a part and lasting around 45 seconds. Since there was no significant change, the doctor counts this as passing. He wants to me continue on the procardia until early next week. At that point he feels we would have made it past the crucial period & it would be safer for her to arrive early then to continue the medication. I am also to continue being on bed rest. This made me sad because it means I will miss my baby shower on Sunday. We go back to the doctor's next Wednesday for another NST.

My goal this week is to stay in bed & keep this little girl cooking. I will also be sending Justin with a list of last minute items needed for Alexa's arrival. Thank you for all the support!

8/21 1:30pm

My cervix was checked and I am now 2 centimeters & very soft. The doctor told us he felt he had 2 options. The first would be to keep me on the procardia for the 2 weeks or take a more aggressive approach with the magnesium. He felt the procardia was the better way to go.

He discharged me from the hospital under strict bed rest orders. On Monday morning he wants to check my cervix & decide where we go from there.

Alexa needs to stay in for at least 2 weeks & 5 days!

8/21 6am

The doctor informed us that my contractions are just as frequent as they were yesterday. If the fetal fibronectin test comes back negative & there is no change in my cervix then I can go home today.

8/20 4pm

The doctor decided to up my dosage of procardia to ever 4 hours. I had a few hours where the contractions appeared to be slowing down, but they picked back up since. Both the urine & blood tests came back clear. I will be staying at the hospital again tonight & tomorrow morning the fetal fibronectin test will be given.

8/20 11:30 Update

The doctor informed us that my contractions are coming every 5 minutes and lasting 45-75 seconds a piece. Until the contractions are less than 2 an hour, I will be staying in the hospital. He is running blood and urine work to make sure there is no under lying cause for the contractions. He is keeping me on the procardia every 6 hours. He said I may be on this medicine for a total for 2 weeks. At that point I would be 36 weeks and he would keep me on bedrest but no medicine. Tomorrow morning he is going to run a fetal fibronectin test. This test will tell him rather or not I am currently preterm labor. This was negative on Tuesday, but can change anytime.

34 Weeks & Growing

Last weekend Justin and I took our last trip to the coast. We went to our favorite breakfast restaurant & spent sometime in the ocean. We ended up watching some dolphins (which I thought were sharks) and then driving home in our soaking wet clothes. The beach will be something we both really miss next summer.

Wednesday morning I had my 34 week check up. I put on the usual 2lbs & had a good blood pressure. While the doctor was measuring my fundal height (33 inches) he noticed I was having a contraction. After discussing the frequency of these, he decided to put me on the monitor to get a better idea of what I was experiencing. 30 minutes later the doctor felt as though the contractions were strong enough and close enough that he wanted me to be observed at the hospital. Over the first few hours I was put on procardia. The contractions subsided for about an hour and then came back. I was then put on a single dosage of magnesium. This medicine has many symptoms. I felt very disoriented, weak and over all exhaustion. Like the procardia, the magnesium had temporary success. Since the contractions were increasing in frequency, the doctor felt he needed to take a strong approach.

I was moved to an observation room (right across the hall) and put on a continuous drip of magnesium for 15 hours. Again, I had the disorientation, weakness & exhaustion feelings. Unfortunately, it did not help me sleep. Justin stayed with me the entire time & sleep on a mini pull out couch. Around midnight they moved us (again) to an inpatient room in the high risk OB unit. We slept about 45 minutes at a time, woke up for routine checks and bathroom breaks.

On Thursday morning my doctor came in to see me. I was still only dilated 1 centimeter and he felt confident that the contractions were slowing down. He spent a few minutes reassuring us that hitting the 34 week marker was big. In the worst case scenario, Alexa would be born early but should only have a few temporary complications, if any. He decided to switch me back to the procardia to see if the contractions would stay low. Over the next 12 hours I started to regain my energy & positive outlook.

Thursday night was made up of fewer bathroom visits and only 4 nurse visits. We sleep 2-3 hours at time and it felt great. Around 2:30am I was put on my left side because the contractions were returning. At 3:30am the doctor was called. My contractions picked up to ever 3-4 minutes. Fortunately I was able to sleep through most of them because they are not painful. The doctor had my procardia administered 30 minutes early, which did not help the contractions. The doctor does not want to put me back on the magnesium, but will also not send me home while the contractions continue at this rate.

33 Weeks

On Saturday we had our 2nd 4D ultrasound. Alexa looked adorable. The ultrasound tech called her a "chunky monkey." She has very full cheeks, her Daddy's nose & my chin. She was constantly holding her left hand up next to her face. The cord made it challenging for a decent picture, but we were able to get a few. Her head, belly & leg give the tech an estimated weight of 3lbs 14ounces. Of course this can be very inaccurate, but it at least means she is growing at the correct rate.

Monday was our last birthing class. I believe it was the most informative class in the series, at least for me. The instructor went over postpartum care, Alexa's first few weeks & then answered all of our last minute questions. I guess we are ready for our hospital stay.

Alexa will continue on her last growth spurt this week. She should already be almost to her birth length, so most of the change will be in her weight. Her head will increase about 1/4 of an inch in size to make room for her growing brain. Lastly, her skin will start taking on more of a pink color.

We have been working on the final touches in the nursery. Justin finished putting up Alexa's shelves & some Winnie the Pooh photos. The only thing it is missing is the baby & a few minor details. I have been feeling pretty good for 7 1/2 months. My feet & hands have experienced an increase in the swelling and my back is constantly sore. I have tried to up my water intake & elevate my feet as much as possible. There isn't much else I can do until the temperature goes down and this baby is born.

32 Weeks

This past week has been a good one. Justin & I attended a breastfeeding course. We both learned A LOT & feel more prepared for it. We also had another birthing class. We learned about pain management & birthing plans. They are not pushing for us to have a birth plan, instead they are wanting us to be prepared for possible outcomes. Our last class is on Monday!

Alexa has been moving like crazy. She does not seem to be doing much sleeping. I can tell she is getting lower, but she can still kick my ribs. She should be around 3.75lbs and 17inches in length. All 5 of her senses should be fully working & she may even have hair.

We had our 32 weeks appointment yesterday. I put on 1.2lbs (114.4 or a total of 22lbs). My blood pressure was 123/95 & fundal height was 31centimeters. Alexa's heart beat was 134BPM and strong. I was also given a prescriptions for a yeast infection. It should be an easy fix.

I also expressed my concern to the doctor regarding the possibility of needing a C-Section because of my size. He said it was more about the size of the baby. He thinks a baby 7 1/2lbs or smaller should not be a problem. Basically saying it would be easier for me to deliver at 37 weeks over 39-40 weeks. So I should come off modified activity at 37 weeks (assuming Alexa is doing great) and hopefully will be able to successfully have a vaginal birth in the weeks following. I am still hoping to keep her in there as long as she needs, but not over my due date. He also said he will not let me go more than 1 weeks over my due date. So there is an end in sight... Alexa will be here by October 7th!

Saturday we have our follow up 4D ultrasound. This was a package deal we started in April when we found out her gender. This visit should give us more vivid shots of her face & allow us to watch her movements. We are both very excited to see her. I am also planning on heading to Cincinnati to meet my nephew Matthew. I am still comfortable traveling, but will need to be back before August 18th (my next appointment)... so hopefully he will arrive soon.