38 Weeks

Two days left! I can't believe this is all happening. I can't believe I've made it this far. I can't believe I'll be meeting my baby so soon! I can't wait to get to the end of this journey so I can start the next one. I can't wait to hold him! I can't wait to bring him home. I can't wait to be a family of four! I can't wait to travel again! I can't wait to sleep on my stomach!

My appointment went fine today. Still no signs of preeclampsia which is amazing! Only problem is that I'm only 1cm dilated and hardly effaced...I'm nowhere near labor. My doctor is so pessimistic about this induction. She said if nothing happens after they give me the cervical gel, they'll send me home. She said maybe I'll surprise them and respond well to it. I'm really hoping that's the case. I really don't want to be sent home. I will be arriving on Thursday morning with all of my bags packed. I plan on settling in for a while!

I'll have my computer with me in the hospital so I'll put updates out here on my progress.
Thank you for all of your support and encouragement!

37 Weeks

We have a date!

We are scheduled to meet our baby boy on April 2 or April 3!!!

I'm really really ready. More ready than I am sad it will all be over. I will miss him kicking me the most, I just LOVE that part of being pregnant. Overall I'm ready and besides, I'll be able to kiss those kicking feet!

My appointment went well. Everything is fine. I gained three pounds in a week. Water weight my doctor guesses because she couldn't get over how puffy I look. I'm not dilated one bit and the baby is still high. She really warned me that this could be an extremely long induction and possibly even fail. She said they may even have to send me home for a couple of days if it doesn't work. Eek! She also warned me that I have a higher chance for cesarean. She's preparing me for the worst case scenario so I'm just trying to stay optimistic and believe that all will be fine and he will come out like a good little boy. :)

With a scheduled induction, it sure has taken the worries out of what we'll do with Magnolia. My parents will come the night to take care of her. I hope she's good for them. She's never out of our sight and I worry that this will be traumatic for her. We are talking a lot about it to prepare her. She loves her Nana & Papa so I'm hoping she'll be fine.

We went out to dinner at a nice restaurant after our appointment yesterday to celebrate. Magnolia is such a peach to take out to dinner, she's so good and always eats so well. We know these days are numbered with just the three of us and it will be a while before we can all go out to eat like that again. Too bad we were all exhausted, I think we were emotionally drained after the long appointment! Not to mention that it was a tiny Italian restaurant and I felt extremely huge walking through the tables! :)

I don't really know what to do with myself these last 9 days. Rest I guess. I have been avoiding going out in public because I'm getting a lot of sympathy looks and people telling me how huge and miserable I look. I'm am not the kind of person who likes attention so I really don't enjoy getting it now. I think the worst part for me has been the unbelievably rude and thoughtless comments about how I adopted and now look, I'm finally pregnant. If they only knew! It makes me mad people feel like they can assume so much not to mention saying this in front of Magnolia! You wouldn't believe how many people actually say this to me!

As I'm nearing the end of this long journey I'm amazed at how far I've come and what a blessing this has been for me. (This is one of my first entries after learning I was pregnant) I certainly was forced to face my greatest fear of carrying and possibly losing another child. When he arrives I know I'll feel like I'm top of the world.

I have been thinking a lot about labor and trying to prepare mentally for it. I'm bringing the first photograph we ever saw of Magnolia. I think she's around 5 months in the picture and it will always be so special to me as I fell in love with her the minute I saw her. I have been thinking a lot about her birth and her birth mother. I realize that she was probably not born in a hospital and I think of the strength her birth mother had for delivering her, likely alone and then making the most heartbreaking decision of all of giving her up just a day after she was born. That alone will feed me all the strength I need. Oh how I love this little face!

I have one final appointment next Tuesday before my induction on Thursday a.m. I will be sure to update then. Have a good week everyone!

36 Weeks

Wow, 36 weeks and feeling every bit of it! The warmer weather has made me very hot and my feet and hands are starting to swell. I'm big and uncomfortable but I really can't complain about anything else except just feeling anxious to have this baby and finally hold him in my arms.

I saw my perinatologist today. He took all of 6 minutes in the ultrasound. He mentioned the size of the baby's head once again but he only gained 3 oz. in two weeks so he's measuring at 6lbs.7oz. right now, putting him in the 56th percentile. Quite a drop from the 80th and 90th percentiles where he was. He said my placenta was starting to calcify (get old) but wasn't too concerned about it. Amniotic fluid was normal and the baby scored an 8/8 of the biophysical exam. He said all looked good and that he won't see me again. I told him I was nervous about getting pre-eclampsia again. He looked at my charts and saw some of my higher blood pressure numbers and then looked at me and told me I was looking puffy (great). He advised me being induced earlier than 39 weeks. He advised 38 weeks! I saw my ob right after and she didn't have a chance to chat with the perinatologist to see why he suggests 38 weeks but she did say he has final say, that we'll do what he suggests. My blood pressure was a little high but we know I just get nervous about these visits. I had no protein in my urine so really there's no sign of pre-eclampsia. She had me do another blood lab to compare my previous labs to see if anything was brewing. She did a cervical exam and I'm nowhere near labor. She said I'm going to have a very long induction at 38 weeks. That really stinks but I don't expect labor to be easy.

On Saturday we put Magnolia's apron on so she could paint my belly.
We got some really funny shots but since I'm not comfortable baring my huge stomach, this is the only one I was willing to post. She had so much fun and really got a kick out of doing this!
The carseat is in. We are soon to be a family of four! George detailed my car inside and out. It was so shiny and clean and we were excited to test drive it with two carseats. We took Magnolia's beloved raccoon for a ride. Magnolia loved that although we warned her that her little brother probably won't be as quiet.

I'll be sure to update if something should happen. If not, I'll see you again next week!

Update

My appointment went well today. Baby did well on the Non Stress Test. No signs of preeclampsia. Only 30% effaced and 0 dilation. I have a feeling I won't be having this baby until 39 weeks. I told my ob that I'm scared the longer I go the higher chances I have of preeclampsia. She said she won't induce any earlier than 39 weeks and I'll just have to wait it out. Not what I wanted to hear but I realize there is a chance I won't even get preeclampsia this time. It's all out of my control and I just have to hope week by week I stay pre-e free.
So far so good! :)

(I'll be back to post some pics and results of my appt. with my perinatologist on Tuesday)

35 Weeks

Happy to report another uneventful week. My next appt. is on Friday where I'll have my first cervical exam! We've been watching our birthing videos at home and getting nervous and excited at the same time. It can happen any day now although I'm sure I'll have to be induced. If so, that means I only have 4 weeks left!

I've started to watch Baby Story on TLC. Not sure it's a good idea. Sometimes it makes me anxious but mostly it makes me very weepy. I've gotten so tired mid day that I either watch it or take a nap. I NEVER nap but they aren't kidding you when they say the exhaustion you feel in your 1st trimester comes back in the third!

We bought a new stroller this weekend. It's a Joovy. I hope we like it!

I'm done with the nursery and closed the door until the baby comes. I was so tired of going in there and cleaning it after Magnolia would make a mess of it. My bag is packed and so is the baby's...they are sitting in the crib.

My food obsession this week has been granola and yogurt. I've been eating Greek yogurt with a little sweetened condensed milk and fresh squeezed o.j. mixed in topped with orange segments. I've made granola twice and I've made granola bars. But my favorite recipe I tried this week was homemade frozen yogurt topped with crunchy granola...YUM!

So, like I said it's been pretty uneventful week, just a whole lot of waiting around.
I'll update on Friday. Have a great week everyone!

Update

My ultrasound and check-up went really well today! I'm so relieved and so happy! They think he weighs around 6lbs.4oz and is in the 86th percentile. Everything looked great, he performed 8 out of the 8 criteria for the bio physical exam during the ultrasound. As soon as she started we saw him do his practice breathing which she said was great and a very good indicator that his lungs are pretty strong. It was the cutest thing I ever saw seeing his little chest move up and down! He's also head down now and lying sort of sideways, that's why I'm getting his fist right at my belly button. Sometimes I feel like I could grab onto it. It was such a nice visit with my ob, for the first time we chatted about non pregnant things. I think we are both very relaxed at this point. She told me once I reach 35 weeks they won't stop labor if it starts and that my baby is looking very good. I'm getting so excited and so ready to meet him. I'd love to post his ultrasound pic but I don't want to take the computer down the basement and hook it up to the scanner, I'm way too lazy & tired! Trust me, he's cute! :)
My friend, Christine, is continuing to hang on and I've been to visit her two more times since last Sunday. We joke that we may be in there at the same time to deliver! That would be fun! It's been so helpful to keep going to the birthing center to visit her...making it less of a big deal for me now. We are both looking forward to spring and walking again with our brand new babies. So much to look forward to!

34 Weeks

I'm happy to report that I have nothing to report! All is well here and I'm just chugging along...amazing to me how far I've gotten. My appointment went well last week. The nonstress test was reactive so that was good. It took some time to get him to calm down. He went wild when I lied down on my back so they switched me to my side and he calmed down. She said my uterus looked irritated in spots and wondered if I felt any of it. I told her I didn't. She didn't seem concerned about it. I go back on Friday for another ultrasound and check-up. I can't wait to see him again and see how big he's gotten. I think he's dropped too. I can't wait to find out if he has or not.

The hospital tour was fine. On my way there I realized that George should be coming with me but it never occurred to me. I have some serious pregnancy brain. I even tried to mail a letter the other day putting the stamp on the wrong side of the envelope. I also found a half used jar of mayonnaise in the pantry, ugh! Anyway, I was the only one there without a husband but it was fine, I told him all about it when I got home. It wasn't as bad as I thought. I just tried to act like I had never been there before and besides it's been renovated so it looks really different. I also realized that it may be harder for George to be there since he was all over the floor while I went into my room and stayed there the whole time. He'll be pleased with how updated it is now.

Since it was too difficult to find a way to take a Lamaze class, we started watching the Lamaze dvd at home. It's exciting as we are getting so close!

Magnolia and I have been talking about feeding and burping the baby for a while now but today we talked about giving him a nukki and using the boppy pillow. She LOVES the boppy and sits with it on her lap with her babies. Last night she came up to my stomach and very quietly asked the baby if he was hungry, then she went running to her kitchen to prepare him a pizza. I'm sure he loved it. She also did the sign for milk to my stomach asking him if he wanted some. That made me realize how nice it will be to have her teach him sign language too!

I realized that I have never mentioned this before but I have been pregnant along with my good friend and neighbor. She is two weeks behind me so it's been a lot of fun going through this pregnancy with her and we both have the same doctor. About 2 weeks ago she went into pre-term labor and after some time on reduced activity they put her on complete bedrest in the hospital. I went to visit her on Sunday and she seems to be in good spirits considering all she's been through and missing her two boys at home. Please keep her in your thoughts and prayers as she's trying to hang in there and get further along before she delivers her baby.

I will post again on Friday with my check-up and ultrasound results. Hopefully all will be well.