Thursday, July 19, 2012
Tuesday, July 10, 2012
Baby Girl Gunning
It seemed appropriate to post a new entry today (after a 9 month absence) since I now find myself with time on my hands and a computer in my lap. So I shall recap what has been a very exciting and trying 7 months being pregnant with our third (and last) baby, who just so happens to be a little girl!
I know exactly when I got pregnant, not that it is necessary to go into details, but it was early January after MONTHS of trying to convince Paul to have "just one more". I think he finally grew tired of listening to me state my case and gave in. First month, first try. Something about the water out here in Haymarket. Though I never take for granted, and do feel truly blessed, that it has been easy for us to have babies. The positive pregnancy test came on January 23rd. I came running down the stairs, pee stick in hand, and presented it to Paul and the boys. There was no keeping it from them. Paul looked at me with this face like "oh great, here we go!" and both Jake and Josh were over the moon that they were going to have a baby. I must point out that at this point in time and for the remainder of the pregnancy, the boys have insisted that the baby was a girl and that they were going to have a little sister. Neither one of them ever, for even a second, thought they'd have a little brother. So funny how those instincts can prove to be true.
The first 8 weeks or so were pretty easy. I really didn't feel any different and kept thinking to myself how wonderful it would be to skip the typical first trimester sickness and exhaustion. I could only be so lucky. The morning sickness kicked in shortly thereafter and persisted for a longer period of time than it had with the boys -- til about 18 weeks or so. I had to take Unisom and B6 every night just so I could make it through the day without vomiting. I had no interest in eating and actually lost/ didn't gain any weight until about 5 1/2 months into the pregnancy. The exhaustion was unreal and I think took a toll on me mentally. It was the worst feeling in the world to get home from work and be able to do absolutely nothing to help out around the house or play with the boys. Same went the weekends. Naps were my friend. (Not that I still wouldn't take a nap now if the opportunity presented itself!) In the midst of this, my upper gastrointestinal issues that I had been battling since the previous summer kicked into high gear and that really put a damper on being able to eat anything. By about 4pm every day, I felt miserable and literally couldn't even eat a bite of food for dinner. Fortunately that has subsided as the pregnancy has progressed and with the wonder drug Protonix that my doctor prescribed (like Prilosec but stronger). That about recaps Phase I...
Then came the start of the progesterone shots. Since I had one premature birth and a history of preterm labor, the doctor recommended doing 17p progesterone shots for this pregnancy. With Josh, I had a cerclage placed which stitches shut your cervix. Never had preterm labor and delivered to full term with him. From what I have gathered (and read), the progesterone shots are a safer alternative to a cerclage because a cerclage comes with risks of rupturing the membranes (water) and potentially causing a miscarriage. The ideal time to put in a cerclage is from about 15-22 weeks and during that time period, my cervix was nice and long and they weren't worried about it. Thus the progesterone shots started at 16 weeks and they will continue to 36 weeks. This fabulous nurse, Tammy, comes to my house every Friday afternoon at 3pm to give me a shot in my rear. She also takes my blood pressure and pulse along with listens to the baby's heartbeat. It's nice to hear the reassuring sounds of the heartbeat once a week. The shots themselves are painless. I had read and been warned about the potential side effects of soreness at the injection site and headaches. I ended up with the latter rather than the former. The first two weeks were fine but after the third shot, I ended up with the worst migraine headache I have ever experienced. It landed me in the doctor's office, having my blood pressure checked, and getting a prescription for some semi-strong pain meds. I continued getting pretty bad headaches each week but they were manageable with rest and/or tylenol. They have subsided for the most part but I'll still get one from time to time (like today, ugh).
In the midst of the craziness, came the moment we had all been waiting for (and I really mean everyone) when we discovered the sex of the baby. It was early and not quite so routine so Paul wasn't there with me the first time we took a glimpse. Because I'm a high risk pregnancy, I started going to the doctor's every two weeks for a sonogram check (look at length of cervix and check the baby) and an OB check-up. At my 16 week check, I asked (because I HAD to), "can you tell the sex of the baby this early?" Of course I knew from reading about it that determining the gender that early was usually feasible. The sono tech is such a sweetheart (I see the same woman every two weeks) and she offered to definitely look and see what she could determine. I told her that I had this strong feeling all along that it was a girl and that the boys thought the same. She told me "well, I think you're instincts are right!" but she made me promise not to go buy anything pink until we checked again at the next ultrasound. I went home and happily told Paul the good news but he refused to believe it. (Honestly, I think he and I both thought we were destined to have all boys and there was no way we were capable of producing a girl.) He figured that they just couldn't see the "boy parts" yet and didn't put much stock into it. I made him come with me to the 18 week check-up to look for himself. It was there that we got a good close up shot of the "GIRL parts" and confirmed that we did indeed have a baby girl on the way!
Just in case you want to see what a "it's a girl" sonogram looks like :-) I am certain that my daughter will fully appreciate me posting this online for everyone to see!
![]()
Next part of the journey can be summed up in THREE trips to the hospital.
1. May 23: some cramping, pelvic pressure, other TMI symptoms - called my doctor's office and they told me to go to L&D at Fair Oaks Hospital for monitoring due to my history and being a high risk pregnancy, etc. Turns out I had a urinary tract infection. Got antibiotics and all good to go.
2. June 2: had just not been feeling well for a couple of days - exhausted, terrible headache, shortness of breath, chest pain, coughing, just icky. Paul and fam made me go to the ER to get checked out so once again, a trip to Fair Oaks Hospital just this time to the ER. Boy were they swift and efficient. They had me hooked up to a machine and doing an EKG in about 10 minutes of walking in the door. Apparently they don't mess around with pregnant women who have shortness of breath. After signing my life away to do a CT Scan to check for blood clots, results came back that I had pneumonia. Which is so random to me because I have only had pneumonia twice in my entire life and the two episodes were about 15 months apart. Hope it doesn't turn into a yearly occurrence. Again, got antibiotics and was on my way to recovery.
3. July 7: hadn't felt the baby move very much at all in about 2 1/2 days and even after doing everything recommended (laying down on side and counting for two hours, drinking something cold, eating, etc.), I couldn't get her to respond. My doctor's office advised me to go to L&D at Fair Oaks Hospital (again) to be monitored. Also a quick visit and turns out I was dehydrated. My blood pressure was really low, the baby's heartrate was high, and my body temperature was elevated. After drinking a ton of water for a couple days, all is back to normal on that front and she is kicking like a champ again.
That about summarizes bringing us to today -- exactly 28 weeks on the dot. I had my routine 28 week check today along with the gestational diabetes screening (the yummy orange glucola, oh yeah!). My ultrasound was pretty non-eventful. The tech did the usual - checked the placenta, checked my cervix ("cervix looks good she said"... mmhmm, right), did measurements (baby's head, stomach, and femur are exactly on point with 28 weeks) and told me that the baby weights 2 1/2 pounds now. That's about average/ slightly higher than average for 28 weeks. She has put on a really good amount of weight in the last month though so we were happy to see that. Up until about a month ago, I had only gained 2-3 pounds with the pregnancy and as of today, I have gained 10 so it looks like my weight gain is certainly helping her out. (I don't know how it couldn't; I am hungry 24 hours a day.)
The baby's heartrate was normal, my blood pressure was normal, all was good in baby land. I was sitting in one of the rooms waiting for the lab tech to come in and draw my blood for the gestational diabetes test and the doctor walks in and this surreal moment happened. I say it was surreal because it was at the EXACT same check up with Jake (28 weeks and the gestational diabetes screening) that the doctor told me I was in preterm labor and had to go on bed rest. This time, the doctor comes in and tells me that my cervix has shortened quite a bit to 2.5cm and its at that point that they get concerned about premature delivery. (A short cervix is considered 2.5cm or less and is the top risk factor/ indicator for premature birth.) He says, "it's time to go on bed rest. No working, no errands, have to stay off your feet". I probably should have been more prepared for the moment to occur but instead my response was something along the lines of "oh, really, okay". I couldn't process it all that quickly. I think I had convinced myself that I wasn't going to have to go on bed rest this time and that the preterm labor and premature delivery with Jake was just a fluke since I delivered at full term with Josh. Apparently something really is dysfunctional with my uterus and it just can't hold a baby to full term on its own.
I asked the doctor a couple questions about when they would schedule the c-section and I filled him in about my delivery with Josh where the delivering doc told me that my uterus was so thin that it was about to rupture and that I needed to make sure that if I had another baby (and that I could only have one more) to make sure my doctor knew about it because they'd want to deliver a little earlier (like 38 weeks). The gist that I walked away with is we want to at least get to 36 weeks and if I go into labor at 36 weeks or beyond, they won't try to stop it. We'll just have to keep things closely monitored and see what happens. Of course now that I have had all day to think about it, I have about a thousand questions to ask him so I'm planning to call into the office this week and leave them a list :-)
What I am worried about is the contractions that I have been having for the last two weeks. They seem to be "productive" contractions in that they are causing my cervix to shorten. I have to work really hard to keep them under control too -- lots of water, constant trips to empty the bladder, laying on my left side, etc. If I am having more than 4 an hour, I'm sure I will end up back at the hospital and potentially diagnosed with preterm labor. I know the chances of the baby being okay at this point are good but boy would she spend a long time in the NICU (like three months). I'd much rather get through 8 weeks of bed rest than three months with a baby in the hospital.
I'm so fortunate for Paul being so supportive (driving out of his way to bring me dinner and make sure I have everything I need) and for having family and friends close by who are always so willing to help and entertain the boys since their mommy is going to be super boring for the next two months. It's truly a blessing.
Closing shot of the pregnant belly at 27 weeks!
![]()
I know exactly when I got pregnant, not that it is necessary to go into details, but it was early January after MONTHS of trying to convince Paul to have "just one more". I think he finally grew tired of listening to me state my case and gave in. First month, first try. Something about the water out here in Haymarket. Though I never take for granted, and do feel truly blessed, that it has been easy for us to have babies. The positive pregnancy test came on January 23rd. I came running down the stairs, pee stick in hand, and presented it to Paul and the boys. There was no keeping it from them. Paul looked at me with this face like "oh great, here we go!" and both Jake and Josh were over the moon that they were going to have a baby. I must point out that at this point in time and for the remainder of the pregnancy, the boys have insisted that the baby was a girl and that they were going to have a little sister. Neither one of them ever, for even a second, thought they'd have a little brother. So funny how those instincts can prove to be true.
The first 8 weeks or so were pretty easy. I really didn't feel any different and kept thinking to myself how wonderful it would be to skip the typical first trimester sickness and exhaustion. I could only be so lucky. The morning sickness kicked in shortly thereafter and persisted for a longer period of time than it had with the boys -- til about 18 weeks or so. I had to take Unisom and B6 every night just so I could make it through the day without vomiting. I had no interest in eating and actually lost/ didn't gain any weight until about 5 1/2 months into the pregnancy. The exhaustion was unreal and I think took a toll on me mentally. It was the worst feeling in the world to get home from work and be able to do absolutely nothing to help out around the house or play with the boys. Same went the weekends. Naps were my friend. (Not that I still wouldn't take a nap now if the opportunity presented itself!) In the midst of this, my upper gastrointestinal issues that I had been battling since the previous summer kicked into high gear and that really put a damper on being able to eat anything. By about 4pm every day, I felt miserable and literally couldn't even eat a bite of food for dinner. Fortunately that has subsided as the pregnancy has progressed and with the wonder drug Protonix that my doctor prescribed (like Prilosec but stronger). That about recaps Phase I...
Then came the start of the progesterone shots. Since I had one premature birth and a history of preterm labor, the doctor recommended doing 17p progesterone shots for this pregnancy. With Josh, I had a cerclage placed which stitches shut your cervix. Never had preterm labor and delivered to full term with him. From what I have gathered (and read), the progesterone shots are a safer alternative to a cerclage because a cerclage comes with risks of rupturing the membranes (water) and potentially causing a miscarriage. The ideal time to put in a cerclage is from about 15-22 weeks and during that time period, my cervix was nice and long and they weren't worried about it. Thus the progesterone shots started at 16 weeks and they will continue to 36 weeks. This fabulous nurse, Tammy, comes to my house every Friday afternoon at 3pm to give me a shot in my rear. She also takes my blood pressure and pulse along with listens to the baby's heartbeat. It's nice to hear the reassuring sounds of the heartbeat once a week. The shots themselves are painless. I had read and been warned about the potential side effects of soreness at the injection site and headaches. I ended up with the latter rather than the former. The first two weeks were fine but after the third shot, I ended up with the worst migraine headache I have ever experienced. It landed me in the doctor's office, having my blood pressure checked, and getting a prescription for some semi-strong pain meds. I continued getting pretty bad headaches each week but they were manageable with rest and/or tylenol. They have subsided for the most part but I'll still get one from time to time (like today, ugh).
In the midst of the craziness, came the moment we had all been waiting for (and I really mean everyone) when we discovered the sex of the baby. It was early and not quite so routine so Paul wasn't there with me the first time we took a glimpse. Because I'm a high risk pregnancy, I started going to the doctor's every two weeks for a sonogram check (look at length of cervix and check the baby) and an OB check-up. At my 16 week check, I asked (because I HAD to), "can you tell the sex of the baby this early?" Of course I knew from reading about it that determining the gender that early was usually feasible. The sono tech is such a sweetheart (I see the same woman every two weeks) and she offered to definitely look and see what she could determine. I told her that I had this strong feeling all along that it was a girl and that the boys thought the same. She told me "well, I think you're instincts are right!" but she made me promise not to go buy anything pink until we checked again at the next ultrasound. I went home and happily told Paul the good news but he refused to believe it. (Honestly, I think he and I both thought we were destined to have all boys and there was no way we were capable of producing a girl.) He figured that they just couldn't see the "boy parts" yet and didn't put much stock into it. I made him come with me to the 18 week check-up to look for himself. It was there that we got a good close up shot of the "GIRL parts" and confirmed that we did indeed have a baby girl on the way!
Just in case you want to see what a "it's a girl" sonogram looks like :-) I am certain that my daughter will fully appreciate me posting this online for everyone to see!
Next part of the journey can be summed up in THREE trips to the hospital.
1. May 23: some cramping, pelvic pressure, other TMI symptoms - called my doctor's office and they told me to go to L&D at Fair Oaks Hospital for monitoring due to my history and being a high risk pregnancy, etc. Turns out I had a urinary tract infection. Got antibiotics and all good to go.
2. June 2: had just not been feeling well for a couple of days - exhausted, terrible headache, shortness of breath, chest pain, coughing, just icky. Paul and fam made me go to the ER to get checked out so once again, a trip to Fair Oaks Hospital just this time to the ER. Boy were they swift and efficient. They had me hooked up to a machine and doing an EKG in about 10 minutes of walking in the door. Apparently they don't mess around with pregnant women who have shortness of breath. After signing my life away to do a CT Scan to check for blood clots, results came back that I had pneumonia. Which is so random to me because I have only had pneumonia twice in my entire life and the two episodes were about 15 months apart. Hope it doesn't turn into a yearly occurrence. Again, got antibiotics and was on my way to recovery.
3. July 7: hadn't felt the baby move very much at all in about 2 1/2 days and even after doing everything recommended (laying down on side and counting for two hours, drinking something cold, eating, etc.), I couldn't get her to respond. My doctor's office advised me to go to L&D at Fair Oaks Hospital (again) to be monitored. Also a quick visit and turns out I was dehydrated. My blood pressure was really low, the baby's heartrate was high, and my body temperature was elevated. After drinking a ton of water for a couple days, all is back to normal on that front and she is kicking like a champ again.
That about summarizes bringing us to today -- exactly 28 weeks on the dot. I had my routine 28 week check today along with the gestational diabetes screening (the yummy orange glucola, oh yeah!). My ultrasound was pretty non-eventful. The tech did the usual - checked the placenta, checked my cervix ("cervix looks good she said"... mmhmm, right), did measurements (baby's head, stomach, and femur are exactly on point with 28 weeks) and told me that the baby weights 2 1/2 pounds now. That's about average/ slightly higher than average for 28 weeks. She has put on a really good amount of weight in the last month though so we were happy to see that. Up until about a month ago, I had only gained 2-3 pounds with the pregnancy and as of today, I have gained 10 so it looks like my weight gain is certainly helping her out. (I don't know how it couldn't; I am hungry 24 hours a day.)
The baby's heartrate was normal, my blood pressure was normal, all was good in baby land. I was sitting in one of the rooms waiting for the lab tech to come in and draw my blood for the gestational diabetes test and the doctor walks in and this surreal moment happened. I say it was surreal because it was at the EXACT same check up with Jake (28 weeks and the gestational diabetes screening) that the doctor told me I was in preterm labor and had to go on bed rest. This time, the doctor comes in and tells me that my cervix has shortened quite a bit to 2.5cm and its at that point that they get concerned about premature delivery. (A short cervix is considered 2.5cm or less and is the top risk factor/ indicator for premature birth.) He says, "it's time to go on bed rest. No working, no errands, have to stay off your feet". I probably should have been more prepared for the moment to occur but instead my response was something along the lines of "oh, really, okay". I couldn't process it all that quickly. I think I had convinced myself that I wasn't going to have to go on bed rest this time and that the preterm labor and premature delivery with Jake was just a fluke since I delivered at full term with Josh. Apparently something really is dysfunctional with my uterus and it just can't hold a baby to full term on its own.
I asked the doctor a couple questions about when they would schedule the c-section and I filled him in about my delivery with Josh where the delivering doc told me that my uterus was so thin that it was about to rupture and that I needed to make sure that if I had another baby (and that I could only have one more) to make sure my doctor knew about it because they'd want to deliver a little earlier (like 38 weeks). The gist that I walked away with is we want to at least get to 36 weeks and if I go into labor at 36 weeks or beyond, they won't try to stop it. We'll just have to keep things closely monitored and see what happens. Of course now that I have had all day to think about it, I have about a thousand questions to ask him so I'm planning to call into the office this week and leave them a list :-)
What I am worried about is the contractions that I have been having for the last two weeks. They seem to be "productive" contractions in that they are causing my cervix to shorten. I have to work really hard to keep them under control too -- lots of water, constant trips to empty the bladder, laying on my left side, etc. If I am having more than 4 an hour, I'm sure I will end up back at the hospital and potentially diagnosed with preterm labor. I know the chances of the baby being okay at this point are good but boy would she spend a long time in the NICU (like three months). I'd much rather get through 8 weeks of bed rest than three months with a baby in the hospital.
I'm so fortunate for Paul being so supportive (driving out of his way to bring me dinner and make sure I have everything I need) and for having family and friends close by who are always so willing to help and entertain the boys since their mommy is going to be super boring for the next two months. It's truly a blessing.
Closing shot of the pregnant belly at 27 weeks!
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