36 week pregnancy update!

Finally done bed rest and there is no chance of returning!! Wednesday Oct 3rd, I was officially released from hospital bed rest. Friday of the same week, I was able to stop all the contraction medications.

How far along: 36weeks 3days

Weight gain: 21 lbs total

Movement: Eliana will randomly push at my stomach with her foot, knee, hand or elbow. It's interesting to feel a tiny little bump pushing out. Completely freaks out Nolan though. I've also been feeling her practice breathing. That is really awesome to feel.







Symptoms: A little bit of indigestion/heartburn, up all night to pee and just general pregnancy aches and pains.

Labor: I'm currently contracting every 3-5 minutes, regularly. This has been happening since I stopped taking the Procardia. The contractions aren't doing anything to change my cervix, but they are painful. Since they aren't changing my cervix there is nothing I can do but grin and bear it.


I'm currently 3cm dilated, 75% effaced, and baby is at a -2 station.


Sleep: I'm up all the time peeing. It hurts to switch from side to side and trying to sleep through contractions isn't easy.

Best Moment this Week: We made it to 36 weeks! What a milestone that is for us.

Belly Button in or out: In, and I'm pretty sure it's staying that way.

Feet Swelling: When I'm up and around too much I notice my feet starting to swell.



Wedding rings on or off: I keep them off for the most part. I usually wear three rings on a regular basis. One completely doesn't fit. My actual wedding ring does fit, but after a bit starts leaving marks in my finger. The third ring, my engagement ring, fits good, but it seems out of place without the other two. I just put them on my necklace when I want to wear them.

What I am looking forward to:  At this point the only thing to look forward to is holding our little girl soon!

Next appointment: October 10th for a growth ultrasound. 

31 week pregnancy update!

I actually missed posting a 30 week update so I decided to do the update this week. It has been pretty crazy since I posted my last update at 28 weeks. We celebrated Parker's 2nd birthday this past weekend and I will be getting a post up with all the party details. Aside from that I've been struggling with bouts of preterm labor craziness! In the past 10 days I've been to L&D 3 times for preterm issues. After the last visit on Labor Day, I've been put on bed rest, not quite strict bed rest, but I need to tone down my activity levels....even more.  If I can't seem to stay down and relax my OB has threatened hospital bed rest...eek! I'm not the type to sit around, it's tough, but right now I'm doing my best and I know it's what our little one needs.



My husband is finally off overtime so it's been nice to have him home earlier in the evening and on the weekends. My mom also did a last minute family/maternity session for us this weekend. It's a good thing we did it when we did, because it wouldn't be possible any longer.



How far along: 31weeks 5days

Weight gain: 16 lbs total

Movement: She has graduated to the rolling movements. It's funny to watch my belly when she is super active.

Symptoms: Other than when I have the bouts of preterm labor contractions, I'm feeling pretty good! When I was up and around too much I would have a lot of pelvic pressure/pain. Now with the rest that has become much better.

Labor: As long as I'm on my procardia regiment, I don't have any contractions. Right now I'm 1+ centimeters dilated, 70% effaced and Eliana is at a -3 station. In the past 10 days I haven't had too much change just slight.


I realize that the ultrasound photo is upside down, but when we tried to flip the photo, the pocket covered up too much of baby. I LOVE it anyhow!





Sleep: Sleep is so-so at the moment. Right before bedtime, I get these crazy "itchy" episodes all over. Not sure why, but it is so frustrating and uncomfortable. I'm getting up to pee 3/4 times a night as well.

Best Moment this Week: We made it through another week and also Parker's birthday party! I also pulled out the hospital bag and started packing it. I feel so unorganized this time around.

What I am looking forward to: Another week under our belt is all I ask for. Also, that we can finish up all the small details in the Parker and Eliana's room.

Next appointment: September 12th





I'm adding a few more "tidbits" now that I'm in the home stretch.

Belly Button in or out: In,  it never went out when I was pregnant with Vanessa or Parker. 

Feet Swelling: Not really, but my OB ordered me a pair of circulation socks to wear since I will be laying down most of the day.

Wedding rings on or off: I can still wear them, but after a while they start getting uncomfortable. When I'm home they are usually off.








Another sneak peek of the Parker and Eliana's room:

26 week pregnancy update!

How far along: 26 weeks :D 


Weight gain: No changes in weight, so still at a total weight gain of 8lbs. I feel like I'm carrying A LOT more than that.

Gender: Girl


Maternity clothes: Mainly I'm still wearing maternity jeans/shorts. I have picked up a couple dresses, but I don't quite fill out the belly area and I feel like I look so much bigger when I wear them because of that.





Sleep: Still relatively good. I've been tossing and turning a bit more trying to get comfortable at first, but once I'm asleep I do okay.

Movement: I can tell that she is starting to run out of room by the way she is moving and can now feel when she has the hiccups.

Food Cravings: Peaches and plums! The funny thing is that I was looking back on my posts of my pregnancy with Parker and around the same time I had also craved peaches.

Symptoms: I honestly feel pretty great! My contractions are next to none. I only have heartburn on a few occasions and  my nausea had subsided once again. I think my only issue is quite a bit of pressure "down there" when I walk.  I've been doing my best to take it easy since my OB did put me on modified bed rest. She wants me to be resting 75% of the time and doing what I can to not be lifting Parker too much throughout the day.






It will be a little bit before she wears these, but a couple outfits I made for Eliana.

Best Moment(s) this Week or since last update: If you read my last post you saw that we started the re-decorating for the room Parker will be sharing with Eliana. We picked up the carseat today, which is something I wanted to make sure I had sooner rather than later. Lastly, I have 11 of the 12 newborn diapers finished. I still have to sew all the inserts, but the hardest part is done.

What I am looking forward to: Next ultrasound on Aug 14th!

24 week pregnancy update!

 
How far along: 24 weeks exactly and a big Yay, for viability. It's another milestone that I like to get to. I haven't posted about it, but I was in the OB triage a few weeks back having contractions. It's sad when the Dr. tells you that they can't do too much at this point if the baby decides to come. I know it's the truth, but it's not something that I wanted to hear. I wasn't too thrilled about the whole visit and when I relayed all the information I was told to my OB, she was quite upset.  

Weight gain: I had gained another 2 pounds last week for a total of about 8 pounds.  

Gender: Girl!  

Maternity clothes: Found these AWESOME maternity pants made by Noppies. I could seriously live in these pants. No other changes, with the heat here I pretty much wear pants and a tank top all the time .

Sleep:Sleeping good still, but I have noticed it's taking me longer to relax to get to sleep.  

Movement: She a busy little lady in the late evenings. This is probably why getting to sleep is a struggle, she is rolling all around when I'm trying to get to sleep.  

Food Cravings: No major cravings  

Symptoms: Nausea in the evenings has also returned. I've also been noticing some numbness in my hands and feet. Something I will be bringing up to the nurse that comes by weekly.
Best Moment(s) this Week:Nothing that really stands out, it's been a fairly uneventful week.  

What I am looking forward to: Getting the room started! I hope to get the chevron stripes on the one wall at least drawn out and taped this weekend. I have picked up some frames and some wall letters and did paint those.

22 week pregnancy update!

I'm can't believe that I'm already 22 weeks along! The pregnancy is sure going by much faster this time around. I'm staying fairly busy and I'm guessing that has a lot to do with it. I didn't take any 22 week belly photos, but here are some I took while in Idaho last week. 





I didn't get a chance to link up with this tutorial last as I was out of town the past weekend, but I loved how this turned out and decided to go ahead and share it anyhow. If you are interested in learning how to edit a photo to drawing, the tutorial can be found if you click here. 











The Friday before we left we had our fetal echo cardiogram, basically an in depth ultrasound of baby's heart. Here is a quick clip of the tech catching a glimpse of baby yawning and some of the other ultrasound photos of baby. It's so sweet! The tech also confirmed once again that she is still a girl.






Baby's Size: At the ultrasound 2 weeks ago, baby was weighing in at around 12oz. She was measuring in the 50% and exactly measuring to her due date. 

Weight gain: I know that I have gained some more weight. I have an appointment next week, but I'm guessing based off the scale that I've gained a total of 5-7lbs.

Gender: Confirmed again that she is still a girl.






Maternity clothes?: I'm wearing maternity shorts/pants, but sticking to my regular tops. I feel too frumpy in maternity tops.

Sleep: I'm still sleeping great! Crazy dreams, but I wake up feeling wonderful every morning.

Movement: Miss E moves all the time now. This is my favorite time in pregnancy. 






Food Cravings: Potstickers!?! Is that weird or what, lol.

Symptoms: Heartburn comes and goes. Started feeling a lot of braxton hicks contractions a couple of weeks ago. 







Best Moment(s) this Week: When my hubby and I are sitting together on the couch and he puts his hand on my belly and feels baby moving. I'm not sure what he is feeling, but I love these moments.






What I am looking forward to: We aren't having a baby shower, but I'm going to take my daughter with me to register anyhow. I think it will be some good bonding time for us girls!

27 Weeks!

Although it seems that this pregnancy has been long going. It's amazing to think that I'm in the last stretch of the pregnancy. I remember just the other day getting the positive pregnancy test. I was so nervous when I saw that second line, I took the test earlier than planned but I just couldn't help it. I remember getting up that Sunday morning and just saying, "What the heck, I will just take it and whatever happens, happens."

Sure enough the faintest pink link shows up. My hubby was still asleep and I just kept looking at this test. I'd say a good 30 minutes looking at the test at as many angles as I could turn it. Maybe I'm just seeing things. How can a test be positive only 9 days after I ovulated?!? I jumped into the bed and woke up hubby and told him that I think this is it. He rolled over and looked at the test and sure enough he could see it. I tried not to get too excited, we went through a positive test let down the cycle before.

I haven't really posted too much about what you go through emotionally when you receive two positive pregnancy tests just to start bleeding a few days later and be told by an nurse practitioner that you were never pregnant in the first place. Looking back, I know I was, especially when these pregnancy tests only give you a positive when you are producing the hormone over a certain amount. It was just not the right time in God's eyes, although I will always be sad for the little one that passed before we met.


This week has been crazy, tiring, frustrating, and stressful. I had been feeling and I still feel very off. On Wednesday I had this weird heart flutter thing happen. When it happened I couldn't breathe, talk, I felt faint and dizzy and probably would have fallen if I hadn't been sitting down. I just wanted to hit myself to get my heart to work right. It was really scary and odd. I called my OB not really thinking it was horrible but I was a little concerned and wanted to see if it was something to worry about. Well, she had me go see a cardiologist the next day. They said that it is probably SVT and could be caused by my thyroid but would have to run some more tests. These tests included me wearing a heart monitor for 48hours. Of course I felt palpitations, dizziness, faint, and short of breath during the whole 48 hours but not one flutter like I felt while working. So we will probably never get to the bottom of it, and I have this horrible itchy rash from the nodes they placed all over.

Onto Friday morning, I wake up at 3am and I'm having contractions. Not painful but pretty uncomfortable. So here is the pregnancy brain kicking in, I think that I'm possibly a little hungry. I get up and get some fruit and a glass of water. I'm watching TV and eating and thinking, wow these are really uncomfortable braxton hicks contractions. I start to feel cramping along with them, and my whole body is just aching. I try to lay back down in bed to no avail. So I wake up hubby and tell him what's going on. He calls L&D and they want me to come to the hospital to get checked out. Sure enough I was having contractions, they weren't strong and I wasn't dilating but was having quite a few. They gave me a shot to stop the contractions and within minutes the contractions stop. I go home and I'm told to rest for the next few days.

Do I get to rest the next few days? Not really, but I'm not complaining everyone, especially my OB, wants to figure out what is going on with me. My OB and cardiologist think maybe my thyroid is getting worse. Appointments get scheduled for endocrinologists and blood draws, echo cardiograms and ultrasounds. Not much rest is being had by me.
That has been my week, now I have to find a way to get a hold of my work who are closed through Monday and take more days off to rest and get to my appointments, and possibly not work anymore. Who knows?!? I'm just frustrated by it all, I want Parker to be healthy and so worried about him being born early. I'm also worried that something more serious is going on. What's worse is I'm still having more than usual contractions and I feel no better today than when this all started.