man, it's been awhile...

I haven't updated forever...too much going on I guess.

Well, let's go back...

Starting with 10/16/04:

This was the day of my PartyLite party. By time I gathered everything up at my mom's, hauled it back in the house and then jumped in cleaning my own house (since everyone else was camped out on the couches either playing video games or talking on the phone) oh I'd say by 5:00 pm I knew something was starting with the baby. I took it easy the rest of the day but from 9:00 - 9:30 pm I was having contractions every 2 minutes. Those subsided but I was still feeling pressure. Still not sure if it was serious enough to go to the hospital but knowing that my ob was upset with me that I hadn't gone in other times, I waited 'til 10:30 - 11:00 pm before I went.

They hooked me up to the monitor and not long after that I started having cramps/contractions - whatever they were. They said nothing was showing up on the monitors but they still gave me a shot to stop the contractions. Why they'd would do that if nothing was showing up I don't know but I suppose it was based on what I was telling them I was experiencing. They sent me home just over 2 hours after I had gotten there.

I rested the rest of the weekend and didn't have any more contractions for days.

So then on 10/21/04:

I had my regularly scheduled ob appt. I told her about my trip to L&D. She talked about repeating the Fetal Fibronectin test but it was too soon. It was to be at least 2 weeks. We talked about the connection of these bouts coming on on the weekends when I've been on my feet more and doing more than I do during the week so she said to stay off my feet as much as possible.

She said every week now that I make it she is just happy as can be with because we just didn't know what would happen with my cervix. It's still closed. She also said that if I go into labor anytime after 34 weeks (2 1/2 weeks from now) they'll just let me go. That's mid-November so I'm kind of resigning myself that we may very likely have a November baby. And actually as long as it's healthy, I'd be TOTALLY ok with that.

So, then I was going good until 10/27/04:

I didn't get a lot of sleep the night before. I swear there was an alien space ship hovering over our house the entire night. There was this loud buzzing noise over our house and eventually it started pounding inside my head. I was awake from that before the alarm went off but was just laying there not wanting to get up either. All of all sudden I felt like I was going to throw up. I turned on my side and soon started having cramps. After a little while I went ahead and got up and the rest of the morning I just didn't feel right. When I would walk my stomach felt different, later it was hard as a rock. Around 9:00 am I started having the pressure and pinching. Right then I told Leslie and Carla (the girl who is filling in for me) that I would probably be going home. I stuck around long enough to get Carla to a point where she'd have something work on the rest of the day. My plan then was to go home and go through the routine for pre-term labor...which is empty your bladder, drink 4 glasses of water and lay on your left side for an hour. If you have 4 or more contractions in an hour - head to the hospital. First Ken & I grabbed a bite to eat then I laid down. Within 10 minutes of my head hitting the pillow I was OUT.

An hour later I woke up though again having the pressure and pinching/cramping. I started my water again and waited. It was like that for about an hour and a half but not real intense or painful so again I didn't go to the hospital. The rest of the night I stayed off my feet and felt better just slow moving.

The next day I felt fine and happen to have an ob appt already scheduled that day - 10/28/04:

I told her how I had felt the day before and she re-did the Fetal Fibronectin test. I won't get the results 'til Monday. She checked my cervix, said it feels the same and that the baby still feels high (hasn't dropped).

So, the advice was basically the same. Stay off my feet as much as possible and go to the hospital if anything happens. I haven't had anything since.

Last night was funny though. When the winds picked up so much around 8:30 or so, he (or she) was moving like crazy. Have you ever heard that women can go into labor when there is a storm - it's the change in the barametric or air pressure?! That was really the first time I was seeing my stomach move around like there was an alien in there. No one else was home so it was just me laying there watching it all.

Hey, did anyone notice that I said he (or she) just then? I've been having thougths sometimes that when we go in for the c-section the baby actually comes out a girl. Maybe I'm just holding on to that a little. BUT a couple weeks ago Ken called out the word "GIRL" in his sleep. It was almost an exclamation, like "GIRL??". HAHA. Also the baby's heartbeat was back up to 152 at my appt Thursday. The last 4 or 5 appts it's been 140 every time. Plus I've got other girl "signs"...carrying high and all in front. I KNOW, I KNOW those are just old wives tales and I know of people who had those signs a certain way and it turned out to be the other but it's fun to toss the ideas around.

So it's day by day. Like I said, I've sort of resigned myself to a November baby so we'll see.

more contractions...

Well, I went back to my ob for an unscheduled visit after having contractions every 3 minutes for a little over an hour through the night Sunday night - from about 12:10 am to 1:30 am. I had gone to bed around 10:00 pm and was awoken suddenly at 12:10 am with these pains. Anyway, I was already laying down but after going to the bathroom, I got a glass of water and laid back down to wait it out. It wasn't 'til I looked up pre-term labor online at work the next morning and saw that any contractions over 4 or 5 in an hour you should call your doctor or be seen. I was still just going to wait and see if contractions started back up on Monday before I did anything until I read that so I went ahead and called my ob. They had me come in.

She checked my cervix and said it still feels closed and tight. The also did this test called Fetal Fibronectin where they take a swab from inside and depending on the results it's an indicator of whether I am likely to deliver early. I found this online at http://www.adeza.com/html/ffn_faq.htm. Fetal fibronectin is a protein that acts as a “glue” to hold the baby in place during the critical time of the baby’s development. Towards the end of pregnancy, fFN leaks (the “glue” begins to break down) into the vagina, which is a sign that delivery may be near. A negative fFN test result means that you are at lower risk of delivering prematurely. So negative is the desired result. Now my doctor said that a positive result wouldn't really tell them anything one way or another but this website says a positive fFN test result means that you have an increased risk of delivering prematurely. And it goes on to say, how you are treated for a positive fFN test is dependent on a number of other factors that you may be experiencing in your pregnancy.

Yesterday she sent me home for the rest of the day to rest. I still felt pressure and pinching throughout the day but nothing anymore intense or consistent. I sleep fine and so far today feel ok. I haven't been up walking around much but I think I am starting to feel some twenges of pressure. It's totally a wait and see thing. I am now suppose to go to the hospital if I have more than 4 contractions in an hour. If my doctor had told me that last week when we decided I was starting to have contractions, I probably would have gone in Sunday night. Otherwise, my thoughts were if it got to be a couple hours or I couldn't go back to sleep then I would go in. Since they subsided and I was able to sleep the rest of the night I thought I was ok. She talked about cutting me back to 1/2 days if necessary but nothing else will be decided either until I have another round of contractions or depending on the test results. She had told me to call back in yesterday afternoon for the results but when I called at the end of the day they didn't have them yet. I'll have to call again this morning.

I've been joking all along about having a Thanksgiving baby instead of a Christmas baby but I never thought Halloween would play into it. HA. But no, that's not going to happen, we are going to keep this baby in as long as possible. My mom asked me last night if I was far enough along for the baby to survive if it were born now or soon. I told her survive, yes, but it would probably be in the hospital for a while. The main thing with preemies is that their lungs aren't fully developed. I would think if the contractions continue or I end up on bedrest they may start the steriod injections that are available to help develop the baby's lungs. Otherwise, the estimates or averages of the baby's size at 28 weeks (which I will be 29 weeks tomorrow) is 14 inches from head to toe and roughly 3 lbs. Our last ultrasound estimated the baby at 1 lb, 12 oz but that was a month ago so 3 lbs or more even seems right.

I'll be updating here as we go.

latest check-up...

Had another ob check yesterday - like I said, I go every 2 weeks now. Everything is still fine (well sort of - you'll see why when you keep reading). Gained 4 1/2 lbs in the last 2 weeks. WHOA!! I'm not going to let that bother me. I made it to 26 weeks only gaining 5 lbs and I'm only at 9 1/2 overall. The average at this point is 17 - 24 lbs so I'm still hanging in there below average. While the baby has always measured a little above average. It's all baby. In fact she said she always has me measuring bigger than I should be but my ultrasound dates are right on.

I am starting to have contractions though. Those are her words too - she didn't say Braxton Hicks - she said it sounded like I was starting to have contractions. I had told her about these pains I had low in my pelvis for about 2 hours Friday night. They beared down like a cramp but at the height of it there would be a sharp pain or pinch. Pretty much what I had when I went into premature labor with Brendon. I told her that I laid down, went to bed and if I hadn't been able to sleep through the night or woke up with them Saturday morning then I was going to the hospital. She said that is exactly what I should do. (DUH?!) I had those pains again for about 10 minutes on Tuesday night too.

The weird thing is that after telling her that she didn't check my cervix. I would think if you have a patient who is at risk of premature delivery due to incompetent cervix and they tell you they are starting to have contractions - wouldn't you think you should check to see if they dilated at all from those contractions. I don't know - call me crazy but it seems to me that would be a given. I don't know why she didn't check my cervix either way. I'm pretty sure she has on every visit 'cept when I've had an ultrasound that visit also because they measure it on ultrasound so no need to physically check.

I had my gestational diabetes test on this visit. I'm soooo glad they have that orange flavor drink now. I remember with the boys the brown, cola like stuff. I didn't really have a problem getting it down taste wise. It was the drinking it in 5 minutes that was kinda hard. She said if I didn't hear from he by 5:00 pm then everything was fine with my test and I didn't hear anything. They also tested my iron and that was good at 12.2 - 12 is average.

So, other than we are hitting these heavier more uncomfortable months (I mean do I ever have a waddle when I walk) - we are still hanging in there. I don't know if we'll have any more ultrasounds before that next Level 2 ultrasound on 12/08. If these contractions keep up, we might not even make it to that one. I've said all along, this baby could have a mind of it's own and we end up with a Thanksgiving baby instead of a Christmas baby. We'll see. As long as he is healthy!!!