35 Weeks

You don't know how much I love writing "35" up in that Title bar right now!! For some strange reason, 35 seems like WAY more than 34, and not quite so far away from "37" which is considered "full-term" ;-) So I've been, of course, unnecessarily trying to determine exactly when Tyler is going to make his appearance (yes, I realize that doing this is about as productive as trying to determine the exact #s that will be drawn for the lottery), and decided that if he is anything like his Momma, he will definitely show up at 37 weeks ready to go (or somewhere between that and 39 weeks because anything more than that would be cutting it too close lol). On the other hand, if he is anything like his dearest Daddy, he'll probably show up at like 40 weeks 2 days... late enough to annoy me, but close enough to 40 weeks to claim he was "on-time" haha. Obviously I think way too much.

This week I've been pretty miserable physically... I didn't know I could get quite so big! I find myself knocking things with my belly, which may sound quite entertaining to ya'll, but when I'm trying to reach for a cup in the cupboard and knock the oven with my belly, it is not so funny. Plus my weight has all conveniently located itself right smack in front of my body, and while it's comforting to know "you can't even tell you're pregnant from behind!" it means I KNOW I'm pregnant no matter what position I'm in because I hurt!! I've been studying like a mad woman for this ACSM certification exam I'm taking next week, and have to get up and walk around every 30 minutes because it hurts my hips so bad to sit. And I still have to pee all the time. I wake up in the middle of the night freaking out because my belly is tight and I think "Oh my gosh, I'm in labor", and then I realize "Oh, I just have to pee again." Ah, the joys of the 3rd trimester. Most of all, I'm just so anxious to meet Tyler. I can't wait to hold him, change his diapers (yes, seriously), bathe him, feed him, rock him to sleep, dress him, etc. I don't want to wait 5 more weeks! But, as long as he is healthy, I suppose I will just have to be patient and know he's got his own timing.

Jordon and I had our 3rd of 4 birthing classes on Monday, and I think I'm feeling pretty prepared for this experience. I realized that I think labor is going to be like an intense run for me (haha, okay I sound crazy, but go with me for a second)... I have always been an intense exerciser, and when I go for my runs, no matter how hot it is, no matter how steep the hill is (and for all those who are familiar with Harrisonburg, think Port Republic Rd) I keep running and refuse to let myself walk because I just KNOW I can do it, get to the end of the run, and then feel so amazingly accomplished for what I did. I think labor may be something like that. If I can keep that mindset, I think I can accomplish a pain-med free birth. That is, if Tyler cooperates and turns his head at an ideal angle so that it will actually fit through my pelvis haha.

Friday we went back to UVA for a follow-up visit to our last, just checking in on how Tyler's brain is. His ventricles were measuring pretty much the same (just decimal points higher), so it looks like nothing has really progressed thankfully. And everything seemed to be looking good as far as him growing... they estimated he is about 6lbs 1oz. right now (which is pretty much right at average for babies his age). His head also seems to slightly have decreased in growing rate, as it is now measuring at the 88th percentile as opposed to the 95th as it was last time. The doctor said "Yes, he has a very big head, but it's not like it's the biggest in the class" haha. She is going to talk with the midwives at my OB office and see what they think about delivery... so there is still a slight chance we'll be recommended to delivery at UVA (just on the off-chance that Tyler's big ventricles will pose any problems), but I'm hopeful they'll decide it's okay for me to stick with RMH. We also have to go back to UVA on July 15th (granted he doesn't come before then!) to check up and make sure everything is still in check. I'm not looking forward to having to travel across the mountain back to Charlottesville for a THIRD time, but I'm glad they are keeping an eye on my little boy.

In the past couple weeks, I've gotten a lot of unexpected comments from unexpected people along the lines of "Oh yeah, I saw that in your blog," or "Yeah, I read your blog and..." and it made me realized that people (other than my mom and my MIL) actually read this!! It was really exciting to know that people are actually interested in what is going on in the life of my baby bump. Obviously, this is comforting to know when I've gone through so much tough stuff with this pregnancy, but even when things are looking up, it's nice to know people care and are thinking about us :-) So thanks to everyone who reads... you're the best!

Btw, I got back all my pregnancy photos from Erin Mahoney Photography!! They are just wonderful, so take a look!!

http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.1891257280867.2090335.1224540042&l=465689ccf8

34 Weeks

Yay! 6 (or less... or I guess maybe more) more weeks to go in this crazy adventure. Does time fly or what?? I think I am officially ready to have this baby. I'm not sure if it is the childbirth classes, my extended stay at the hotel RMH, or the fact that I've had 2 baby showers and pretty much have most of the essential baby stuff one needs for a newborn, but this week I decided I am officially ready for Tyler to come. I want him here so bad! Ideally, he'd wait 3 weeks and pop out at 37 weeks, which is considered "full-term" and would be nice and healthy, yet spare me 3+ more weeks of the brutal part of this pregnancy.

Recently, I've had to pee like a racehorse. Sorry if that's TMI, but if there has been one things that is annoying me, it is that! I went camping with the family this weekend, and it was just awful to wake up 4+ times a night and have to waddle to the bathroom in the dark via flashlight. I have to pee at LEAST every hour, and that is when I'm not drinking a lot. I've been trying to drink lots of water, and that is making it even worse. I think the baby had dropped a bit which is causing this wonderful symptom, but it has also taken some pressure off my stomach and I am finally able to eat decent size meals rather than getting full after 5 bites! In fact, on Friday I ate 2 and a half peanut butter sandwiches in a 3 hour time period. Impressed?

Jordon and I had an OB appointment on Wednesday, which went well. Both Jordon and the midwife were ecstatic that I gained 3 lbs since the last time I'd been in, making my grand weight gain total 15 lbs. My belly was measuring good, and his heart beat was strong as usual, so everything looked good. We saw the midwife who had been on-call two of the nights that we were at RMH, so she was happy to see I was feeling better. Jordon and I decided she was officially our favorite midwife at the practice and we hope she's the one to delivery baby! We also were able to get a quick peek of Tyler on the ultrasound, because the tech who had done our 3D scan told us we could come in and see if he was in a better position to see his face, since he was a little uncooperative last time. Well, he still had a little umbilical cord in the way, but he moved a ton, so in the 4D video we were able to catch some really good shots of his face!! The pictures we got weren't too much better, but I loved the glimpses I was able to see live while we were at the office! He is SO cute. And it was crazy how much fuller his face looked compared to the ultrasound we had 3 weeks ago!! My little boy is already growing up, and he isn't even officially here yet!

This upcoming Friday, we're heading back to UVA for a follow-up appointment to our level 2 ultrasound last month. They want to make sure Tyler's ventricles are still under the cutoff for ventriculomegaly, and if they have progressed any they will probably have us delivery at UVA. I have a very good feeling things are going to be fine, but in any case, please be praying for his continued health. God has given me such peace about this pregnancy, despite all of its ups and downs, so I'm optimistic things will be fine from here on out.

I've also felt SO blessed this week because of all the baby gifts/cards we've received!! First of all, my parents are just amazing and have been supporting both Jordon and I so much through this summer-of-adjustment, as well as preparation for baby! They got us a wonderful pack and play and gave us the money to get the crib and changing table we want. Lots of essentials for baby? Check! Jordon's mother threw me a wonderful baby shower, and is getting us a rocking chair for when baby comes, which again, is definitely an essential ;-) My friends from school all went in on a super nice Eddie Bauer stroller and car seat... again an essential, which was wonderful to receive, and Jordon and I's family and friends have been so generous with giving us gifts/cards/clothes. I've felt so fortunate because there are so many of my friends that I have seen or even talked to in years who have sent us gifts or well-wishes! We are so lucky to have such great people in our lives. It feels great to finally feel prepared for this little guy to come!

I'm so excited that this week by week countdown is getting slim, and so excited for Tyler to come. Please continue to keep us in your prayers, and as always, we'll keep you updated :-)

33 Weeks

Ah and another wild week. I knew I wouldn't be able to keep up my boring blogs for long, but I'll get to this week's craziness later.

Well some good things that happened this week were my maternity photo shoot with the talented Erin Mahoney and the beginning of Jordon and I's childbirth classes! Saturday, Erin and I (and Jordon... and Tyler) took many a photo highlighting the crazy expansion of my belly... it was definitely fun! Just have to wait until Erin makes some edits to see the final product, but from what I could tell from previewing them, they are awesome!

Monday, Jordon and I had our first childbirth class. We learned all about the anatomy and physiology of labor (yikes!) and some relaxation techniques, and of course all those crazy breathing methods. Next week's class is on natural methods of pain relief, which I am very excited for.

So then on Tuesday, things went downhill for the week. Jordon and I had been watching Taylor that day, and took her to Winchester to run errands, and on the way home (about 5pm) I started to have some Braxton Hicks contractions. So while Jordon went out to play football with some friends, I decided to stay home and rest. Well the contractions didn't get much better, and I started to get some excruciating back pain. When Jordon got home I was on the floor because I couldn't find any comfortable position and was in so much pain. I ate a little bit and decided to try to sleep, but around 11pm decided I was in way too much pain, and was so nauseated at this point, that I could not take it. Jordon called the doctor who told him to bring me into labor and delivery.

On the way to the hospital I just starting feeling worse and worse and threw up a ton. When we were admitted, they decided to get an IV going to give me fluids and nausea medication, but apparently I have the worse veins in the world because it took them 3 times to finally get a vein. They ended up giving me an injection of anti-nausea medicine because I threw up again while they were trying to put the IV in! Once I finally had the IV in, fluids in me and more medication, I was feeling much better, but according to the monitors I was on, I was having pretty consistent contractions. The midwife came in and checked my cervix which had dilated 1 cm, and she also decided to do a test called a fetal fibronectin, which tells you if you're at risk for having the baby within the nest week or two. Thankfully, that came back negative. I was still having consistent contractions though, so they gave me some medicine to stop those.

The next morning, I was feeling much better, my contractions had slowed down a ton, and I was able to keep some toast down, so after much pleading on my part, they let us go home. I was put on bed rest until the following Monday to make sure my contractions wouldn't start back up again. They also sent me home with some Zofran for the nausea. I went home and slept most of the day, until around 6pm when I started to feel sick again! I hadn't eaten or drank anything since I'd been to the hospital, but was still feeling so nauseous. I threw up a ton and then tried to rest some more, but started feeling sick again around 8:30. I took more nausea medication, but then a half hour later threw up again. Jordon and I decided to call the doctor, who told me to come check back into the hotel Rockingham Memorial Hospital.

Back at the hospital, I had to get another IV, and because I was so severely dehydrated, it took 3 different nurses and 7 sticks to finally get the IV in. Not fun. They ended up having one of the baby nurses come in and do it with a smallest needle ever, but it still took her 3 tries to get it. They gave me fluids and more nausea medication, but I still felt so incredibly sick and threw up again. I had some bad stomach cramps, so they decided to give me some intense pain medication, and finally I started to feel better and feel asleep.

I had to have the pain medication every 2 or 3 hours because the pain kept coming back, so they started to suspect gallstones. They decided to do a full abdominal ultrasound to check for those, as well as anything else that could be going on in my other organs. It was crazy because all of my organs are now pushed up under my ribcage, so they had to do all sorts of fancy maneuvering to get images of everything. Fortunately, everything came back clear, which was good news because the midwife told me if it was gallstones, we couldn't do anything about it until after the baby was born, so I'd just have to manage pain/nausea with medication until he was born, then wait 4-6 weeks to have surgery to have them removed.

So all day Thursday I spent on IV pain medication at the hospital, but by 3pm or so I was able to keep down a liquid meal and then I switched to some oral pain medicine, which I'd be able to take at home. I was able to then keep down a "bland" dinner, so they went ahead and discharged me around 9:30 that night (with all sorts of meds to take home). They basically think I just had some sort of bug that caused the contractions and that the acid in my stomach and the vomiting caused the intense pain I was having. I feel a lot better today, but am still slowly catching up on all the sleep I couldn't get because I felt so bad!

I seriously hope labor isn't anything like what I just went through, because I do not think I could manage it pain-med free haha! The good part of all of this was that Tyler did perfect throughout the whole thing... it was like he had no idea anything unusual was going on because his heart rate was steady they whole time, he still moved around as usual, and he showed absolutely no signs of distress. Hopefully he'll behave accordingly when I go into labor!

Me and Jordon always joke about how hard this pregnancy has been for me, and I told him if our next pregnancy is as hard as this one, I'm definitely adopting the rest of our kids!! I guess I am just going to have a ton of crazy stories for my little guy when he gets older, and maybe it will help him appreciate his momma a little extra :-)

Tomorrow I'm having another baby shower with family and am SO excited! I am very thankful I'm feeling better and won't have to post-pone this fun event :-)

And lastly, Jordon and I have some very exciting news. Jordon was offered the position of Head Men's and Women's Tennis Coach at Ferrum College early this week, and officially accepted the job yesterday! I am SO proud that he has worked his way from high school coach to HEAD collegiate coach in just 3 years!! He is just incredible and talented and I think this will be an awesome opportunity for him. We are going to have a crazy summer because we have to plan a move right after our baby comes, but I think this will be the best decision for our family, and I'm so excited to take on this new path God has set out for our lives.

As always, thanks for reading and thanks for praying for us. You all are wonderful :-)

32 Weeks

Although I'm sure it's not as exciting for ya'll to read, I am happy to report that I am finally back to my boring old update blogs rather than anything out of the ordinary like the previous two weeks. Heck, I'll take a boring pregnancy any day over the craziness Jordon and I went through the past couple weeks!

Anyways, I'm officially 32 weeks pregnant, and definitely feeling it! First of all, I'm hot ALL the time. My darling husband was kind enough to go on a 5-store search for the perfect (cheap) inflatable baby pool so I could have a way to cool off on these unbearably hot days we've been having. I almost got an awesome blue whale pool that connects to a hose and sprays water (because it was the cheapest one we'd seen), but after a quick trip to Wal-Mart we were able to successfully purchase a bright green baby pool for $10 that is just big enough that I can lay down all the way in it. Best investment ever. I've also been in all sorts of pain recently. My back just kills all the time, no matter the position I'm in and my legs and joints have been aching a ton too. Despite the fact that I haven't gained much weight, I guess it is all located in the perfect position to stress my body out haha.

I had my biweekly check-up yesterday at the OB office, which was incredibly uneventful. The only curve ball was that I had lost a pound, so now I've officially only gained 12 lbs. I don't know what is wrong with me!! They measured my belly though and it was measuring exactly at 32 weeks, so obviously baby is just trucking along and packing on the pounds. We go back in two more weeks so we'll see if I gain anything by then!

Jordon and I are getting more and more nervous for Tyler to make his big debut... it is literally 8 or less weeks away!! We're still incredibly unprepared, but we're having baby showers the next two weekends, so hopefully we will get what we need then, or at least have an idea of what we need to go out and buy ourselves. I can't believe how quickly this time has gone by, but at the same time it seems like I've been pregnant forever! Judging by the amount that my dear son kicks, I think he is trying to make an escape route, and I have a feeling he may come early... but I guess we'll just have to wait and see!

31 Weeks

So incredibly happy that I have some good news to report from this week! Since last Wednesday, Jordon and I had been so worried about our little baby boy, but had been trying to put our faith and trust in God that everything would be okay. Well on this past Wednesday, we went into our OB's office for our 3d ultrasound which we had scheduled way in the past. We weren't sure if we even really wanted to have it done considering the circumstances, but the window for getting a good picture of the baby's face before he got too crowded in the womb was closing in, so we figured we just do it and try to enjoy it!

The sonographer was SO nice and worked with us a bunch to get a good picture of Tyler. Unfortunately, he is already stubborn and had a hand in front of this face, along with his umbilical cord, so it was difficult to get a good face shot. I tried drinking soda, drinking cold water, moving around, using the bathroom, and nothing seemed to work. In fact, at one point he had both hands, and a foot in front of his face haha. We managed to get some OK shots, but nothing too great. But what made the experience worth the $ we paid for it was a little reassurance we got. We weren't sure whether to let the know sonographer about the ventriculomegaly (it was a different tech from the one who found it the week before), but we ended up letting her know. She went ahead and scanned his head and from her measurements, his ventricles were only 9.4mm, while measurements of greater than 10mm are needed to diagnose ventriculomegaly. She said she would be surprised if they told us anything was wrong when we went to UVA on Friday. I was pretty relieved, but still nervous that there could be an underlying syndrome which caused whatever the other tech had seen the previous week.

On Friday, we woke up at 5am (although I'll be honest, I don't think I really even slept that night) and took off for UVA. I had been praying long and hard that the appointment would go well and we'd have peace about the situation, and until Thursday night I really had been feeling okay about the situation, but Friday morning I was a wreck. I literally felt nauseous because I was so nervous, but Jordon was amazing helping me through it all.

When we got to our appointment, the sonographer started by looking at Tyler's ventricles. She measured them between 9 and 10 mm and told us she'd seen "normal" ventricles up to 12 mm and some physicians even considered up to 12mm normal. That was definitely reassuring. Then she did all sort of other measurements, especially the size of his head, abdomen, arms and legs.

She had the doctor come in, who went ahead and did another quick ultrasound. She measured his ventricles even smaller, once even at 7mm and at most 9.4mm (the measurements are dependent on the angle of the probe and location of the head so they can definitely vary), so she told us she really wasn't too concerned. Plus she measured some of the other ventricles other than the main 2, and all those weren't even close to being enlarged. She wants us to come in a month from now to make sure they don't progress and swell up, but as far as she was concerned, Tyler probably just has a little larger ventricles. If they do progress any, she said we could think about delivering at UVA in case he needs a shunt put in to drain the fluid after he's born, but again she wasn't too concerned. I asked her about the chance that a syndrome was causing it, and she said she wasn't really concerned about it, but if we wanted we could meet with a genetic counselor we could. We actually had already made the appointment for after our ultrasound, but it was good to hear the doctor didn't even think it was necessary!

We then met with the genetic counselor which made me even more reassured Tyler was healthy. We discussed any possible causes of the swelling, specifically infection, and she said if I had one of the infections that causes this, I would have known. As far as she was concerned it was probably just error in the original measurements at our office and he just had slightly big ventricles, as some boys do. I asked about the possibility of down syndrome, because I had scared myself so much with information about it's association with ventriculomegaly on google, but again she wasn't concerned. She said Tyler was looking perfect other than the slightly bigger ventricles, and with DS you'd seen other things like more skin on the back of the neck, a small stomach, or short arms and legs. She said ventriculomegaly on its own is actually not a strong indicator of DS. She also said if it would be anything genetic, it'd probably be some genetic disorder that only boys get that causes some developmental delay, but because his ventricles are still in the normal range, our case wasn't presenting at all like the syndrome. She said if we really wanted we could do an amniocentesis, but she wouldn't even recommend it at this point. Jordon and I had decided before the appointment that we wouldn't even bother if they recommended it, because we obviously would never terminate if anything was wrong and because we wanted to trust God up to the birth that Tyler was exactly as he was supposed to be, but it was still good to hear even a genetic counselor didn't think it was necessary.

Tyler's head is definitely still big (measuring at the 95th percentile) which makes me a little nervous that I may need a c-section, but I've realized now I'd much rather have a healthy c-section baby than have a baby with any health problems naturally. This whole experience has made me so incredibly grateful for my little man, despite my ever increasing back pain, fatigue, heat intolerance, and peeing haha. I thank God so much for listening and answering our prayers, and I thank everyone who prayed SO MUCH for helping us. It is amazing to know you have people behind you on things like this, and it really helped me to have peace that God was hearing our pleas and looking over Tyler. Jordon and I know that everything will be okay with Tyler, but will continue to be praying for his health, and hope you will too!

Mark 11:22-24
"'Have faith in God,' Jesus answered. 'I tell you the truth, if anyone says to this mountain, "Go, throw yourself into the sea," and does not doubt in his heart but believes that what he says will happen, it will be done for him. Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours."

30 Weeks

Yesterday Jordon and I had our 30 week appointment, and it was by far one of the hardest things we've encountered on this journey. I had to have an ultrasound done because I haven't gained much weight during the pregnancy and they wanted to check that Tyler was still growing alright despite that. Well, he was definitely a big boy. He was measuring far ahead of his due date (they dated him as being due the 12th instead of the 28th of July) and was estimated to weigh 3 lb 14oz.

Unfortunately, his head size was measuring >95th percentile for his gestational age. One issue with that is the possibility that he'll have a big head and I'll need a c-section (which this pro-natural birth mom-to-be would like to avoid), however there were other indications. The ventricles of his brain were measuring large as well, something called ventriculomegaly. Apparently they need to be less than 10 mm and Tyler's were measuring somewhere between 10-15mm (I'm not really sure the number but it classified his case as "moderate"). So this bought us a trip to UVA for a level 2 ultrasound.

The midwife explained what this all meant a little bit, but either she wasn't very familiar with it (it is rare, occurring in only 1 of 1000 babies) or she really just didn't know enough from the ultrasound we had at the office to say anything about our case because she didn't give us much to go on. Long story short we know that there is some swelling, but we don't know a definite on the degree until we get to the next ultrasound. They have no clue what is causing it until we get to UVA, but it COULD be an infection that I fought off but the baby couldn't fight, a virus, a genetic/chromosomal disease, or something that has no known origin. We won't know until we get to UVA where it is going, but it could either resolve on it's own, resolve to a lower classification (so mild ventriculomegaly), or it could progress. Progression (from what I've read on the internet... I know, bad idea) could mean the baby could get hydrocephalus (increased pressure in the brain from increasing fluid), or could have neurological problems. Even if it doesn't progress, there is the chance that he will have developmental delays because of the increase in pressure going on right now, we just don't know if that is something our baby is at risk for.

So it is just awful having all of these uncertainties hanging over our head. Part of me is just sure everything has to be okay because this is my perfect little boy and he's been just fine until now (And with that cute little foot up there, how could something be wrong with him)! The other part of me fears the worse and I'm not sure if I need to start preparing myself for the possibility that Tyler will have something wrong with him when he's born, or for his entire life. The worst part is that we finally had our appointment scheduled, and they couldn't get us in until next Friday (the 27th)! That is 8 long days of worrying. I am trying SO hard to just pray about it and have faith that everything will be just fine. The Bible says, "Faith is being sure of what we hope for..." so I am going to try my hardest to be sure that Tyler is okay!! And whatever comes of the situation, I will be stronger for it and be able to handle it.

Jordon has been the best husband ever through all of this... poor guy has to deal with my crying all the time and still manages to stay positive throughout it all. Even though most my prayers are aimed for Tyler, I still make sure to thank God for really hitting the jackpot when he gave me Jordon as a husband :-)

So if you all could keep our little man in your prayers, we would truly appreciate it. Please pray number 1, that he is okay, and whatever going on in his head resolves without any major complications. Also pray that whatever God's will be with this situation, Jordon and I will be able to handle it and will be stronger for it. Thanks for reading and we will keep you updated!

29 Weeks

This week has been thankfully much more uneventful than the last. Baby has been growing and growing, and as he grows his kicks and punches are getting stronger and stronger. Jordon and I are still amazed whenever we can see his foot clearly move under my skin... talk about crazy!

As I read what is happening inside my belly each week, I am amazed at the process of the growth of a human being. This week, Tyler is getting closer to being 3 lbs, and about the length of a loaf of bread! I can't believe I have that inside me! His brain has developed to the point where he can control his own breathing and body temperature. They say babies "practice" breathing in the womb by breathing in amniotic fluid (um... ew) and can get hiccups from swallowing all that fluid. I know my man must be getting plenty of practice because he gets hiccups all the time! I had always heard stories of babies getting hiccups in the womb, and always wondered what it would feel like, and the other day I felt little movements which I thought were tiny kicks, until they started happening every 2 seconds for a few minutes. I KNEW they had to be hiccups! And he gets them every few days now haha.

And hiccups aren't the only movement I've been feeling. He is still moving around like crazy. I feel kicks, punches, squirms, rolls, tosses and turns all the time in there. Sometimes I swear he is trying to do the worm because I'll feel a rolling/squirming that make my entire belly visibly move. I've read your should start doing "kick counts" twice a day, and count the # of times your little one moves in an hour... if you count less than 10 movements in an hours, there may be some sort of issue in there. Well, I've started to do them, but they only last about 10 minutes or less because he moves SO much and SO often. Jordon and I are a little frightened of how crazy this boy will be when he comes out and learns to walk haha.

Next Wednesday we have an appointment at the OB and an ultrasound to make sure Tyler is growing despite my lack of packing on the pounds. Jordon and I are excited that we get to SEE our little one again! And the next week we're doing a 3D/4D ultrasound, so we'll get to say hello again! We are lucky, lucky parents!