Bakin' up my baby bumble Bee!

We had our 36 week appointment today (at 36+2). Weight is up 16 pounds total (normal weight gain for pregnancy is 25-30 pounds), belly measures perfect at 36 cm, BP is good my normal 102 over 70, and his little heart beat sounds good. My cervix is holding strong at 2-3cm (has been that since at least 31+3), however it's a bit softer at about 80% effaced. I had my last progesterone injection 14 days ago now. My OB said that recent studies show babies born at 37 weeks do much better than those born at 36. (well yeah, hehe) So I am to continue the procardia as needed for contractions until next Tuesday (haven't needed it since Dec. 23rd). Then at that point Bee is free to come!!!! DR thinks Bee will be born much sooner than the 31st, but I'm thinking he might be wrong. I am more comfortable (contraction wise) now than I have been in months! Wahooo... now I'm starting to trust in my amazing cervix.

Some pregnancy complaints include hip pain and needing to use the bathroom often. These are things that I can deal with. I'm soooo glad the heartburn hasn't been as bad as it was with Ari. My belly is getting huge and none of my shirts fit. :( I have started to pack a hospital bag! Whoa haha I'll totally over pack I bet. :P 

33 weeks and 2 days

Wahoo!!! We got past 32 weeks and Baby Bee is still snuggled up inside my belly where he should be! :P Things are going good and I am starting to feel REALLY pregnant. No real complaints though. I've had a bit of heart burn, but not nearly as bad as it was with Ari. (I guess that means Bee is going to be bald.) At my Drs appointment last week he said that bed rest was not necessary and that I should just take it a bit easy. No long walks or working out for the next few weeks. I've got 2 more progesterone injections to go. (One tonight and one next Thursday.) I wonder if anything will change once the medicine is out of my system.

In family news everyone seems to have the stomach flu. :( Fingers crossed that I can avoid it.

Less than 7 weeks to go!!!!

31 weeks 3 days *trip to the hospital*

Friday (12/2) evening at work I suddenly got dizzy and had spotted vision. I sat down as soon as I could to drink water and relax. When I stood up 10 minutes later my left foot, arm and cheek went numb. So I quickly called the Dr and Nate. 45 minutes later we were at the hospital. When we arrived my heartrate was a bit elevated and I had a slight headache. They think I had an atypical migraine. They sent me for an mri and blood work to rule out stroke and other brain issues. They said my brain looks beautiful. As of now neurologically everything looks fine.

However they hooked me up to fetal and contraction monitors and it turns out I'm sporadically contracting. With an exam they determined I'm about 2.5 cm dilated. Which isn't super concerning in itself. With my Ari having been born at 32 weeks baby bee is at risk of coming early. They gave me an injection of steroids to help with lung maturity in the event the contractions get worse and I go into labor. We spent that night and Saturday on the maternity floor for further monitoring.

It is now 7:30 Saturday evening and I'm still here in labor room 11. We are waiting on the second round of steroid shots that should come in about 2 hours. Today has been pretty uneventful, which is good when you find out that you are dilated and contracting at 31.5 weeks pregnant. The OB will come in tomorrow and we will talk about options for the rest of the pregnancy. There has been lots of talk about bedrest. However if anything picks up tonight it looks like we will be here until the baby is born.

28 weeks and 6 days

Pregnancy wise things are going great. My tummy is getting huge and the weeks are just ticking away. Baby Bee is super strong, kicking, stretching and rolling all the time! :) My 30 week appointment is a week from Monday.
...11 weeks and 1 day to go...


As far as other things go last week was a stressful one...
For those that don't know I'll give you the shortened recap of the week. Friday the 4th Ari went to get his 12 month vaccines. He got four shots, theses shots typically make kids a bit tired and sometimes they run a little fever. Ari was a bit tired on Friday then spiked a high fever on Saturday afternoon that caused him to have a Febrile seizure. It lasted 6-7 minutes, and those have been the scariest minutes thus far in my life. He was rushed to Children's Hospital via ambulance with Nate & I in tow. Once there they run tests and decided that it was likely just a one time thing due to the spike in fever from the vaccines. They warned us that he would be tired for a few days and really not himself. Boy where they right. Our normally rambunctious 13 month old slept and slept and cuddled and played for a couple minutes than would cry and want to be held, for a number of days. Monday we took him to check in with the DR after the ER visit, things seemed to be on the mend even though he was still running a pretty decent fever. Tuesday he had a cough and a rash developed, so back to the DR and back to the hospital for more tests. It turned out that on top of the vaccines, fever and seizure that he also caught enterovirus. Enterovirous is a bacterial infection that children get because their bodies haven't learned to fight it off yet. So he was prescribed an antibiotic to clear it up. By Friday he was back up on his feet trying to run and play, yet still a little held back by discomfort. I would say that today is the first day back at 100%!!! Our bright eyed boy went through a lot in the past few days but was amazing during it all. It is so great to have him laughing and talking again, even if it's at 3 in the morning. :P

26 week appointment

Today marks 26 weeks and 2 days. Baby Bee seems to be growing like a weed. My tummy seems as big as it was when I delivered Ari!!! However at my appointment today nurse Cathy assured me that it was growing right on track and it measured 26 cm. Speaking of nurse Cathy she is my favorite in the practice, I wish she was an OB and could deliver Bee. I told her about the uncomfortable feeling I get in my belly almost every night. She explained that it is likely my uterus just being tired from the day. She gave me some tips to try to ease it, but also spoke to the fact that it can be concerning. I'm to relax if my belly feels hard and if there is any pattern to the discomfort to call or go in to the hospital right away. This makes me feel a lot better than having a doctor just say oh you're fine, just pregnant. My worries are real and she understands how to calm them. :)

The 26 week appointment consisted of weight check in, I'm up about 12-13 pounds now, which is pretty average. A doppler listen to Bee's heartbeat, which sounds like music. ;) And the wonderful glucose test, to check for gestational diabetes. They also took blood to check my iron levels again. Most of the staff at the office is really awesome. There is one nurse that knows Ari by name and calls him her favorite chunk. :P Next appointment is at 30 weeks, which is right around Thanksgiving and our wedding!

We are continuing the P17 shots weekly until 35-36 weeks. Nate is giving them to me at home and they are going just fine. Some weeks I get scared that it's going to hurt really bad. It never does, just gets itchy.


In Ari news, he is walking all over the place! All the sudden last week he wanted nothing to do with crawling any more. Last night he was making laps around the house exploring and trying to distract me so he could get into stuff he isn't supposed to (ie the stairs, the cat food, trash cans). He also seems to pick up a new word every few days now. Yet still no mama. PHOOY! His favorite word right now is duck. So I am making him a duck costume for Halloween. I'll post pictures later tonight or tomorrow when I finish it.

25 - viability

Today we are 25 weeks along. 24 weeks marks the point of viability in a developing fetus. This is the point at which a baby can survive outside the womb! While Bee needs to stay put for 15 more weeks, I am very excited to be at this point in the pregnancy! :) P17 shots are going just fine (8 down, 10 to go). At this point I am up about 9 pounds from pre pregnancy weight, which is close, yet a bit under were I was at this point with Ari. However my belly feels HUGE! I can't find a work shirt that fits and apparently they don't make solid color collared maternity shits! Go figure. My energy level has been pretty good the past few weeks considering all that's going on. (For those that don't know I've opened and am managing my own Toys R Us for the holidays, Nate & I are getting married at the end of November, Ari turned 1 and is now walking & talking. So needless to say not much spare time to kick back and relax.) I have been eating eating eating! Geez this little boy in my belly seems to love meat and chocolate (two things I typically don't ever eat.)! I've been sleeping better lately, as my nightmares seem to be at a minimum these days. However I'm having the typical 2 am - 4 am pregnant runs to the restroom and pretty bad calf pains at night. Ari still wakes up once or twice a night, so I'm getting on average 5-7 hours of sleep. humm I think that is about it for this update. I'll come back this week with some pictures from Ari's birthday celebrations.

HALFWAY!

Today we hit the 20 week mark! That means 20 more weeks to go! :) Things are going well. I get the 17 P shots every Thursday. They aren't as annoying or painful as I had anticipated, which is fantastic. I got the second one in my left side and it was sore for a couple days, but that's about it.

I've only had minimal nausea the past few weeks so that is fantastic. Because of that I've been able to gain a few pounds, so I'm finally back to pre-pregnancy weight!
Sometimes I'll wake up in the middle of the night with a really bad pain in my calf. This happened when I was pregnant with Ari too and I don't remember asking the DR about it. So I'll ask on Thursday at my 20 week appointment.
Also lately in the evening my stomach feels so bloated. It's like I can feel it growing. My skin feels firm to the touch, I'm wondering if this is the start of Braxton Hicks contractions. Yet another thing I'll ask the OB about on Thursday.

In other news Mister Ari will be turning 1 in a matter of days!! I just can't believe how quickly this year has gone!