Baby Girl At 32+ Weeks

We just got back from our sonogram and everything is fabulous. What a relief! For as crappy as I feel most days, at least I know I'm baking a good little bun. She weighs 3 lbs., 15 oz. at this moment. That is small, but still within normal range. Considering how she might be coming out, I'm perfectly fine with small. We got to see her heartbeat and they even saw her practicing breathing. That is a good sign and if she is born early she should be in good shape. I didn't really suspect anything was wrong given the way she's been carrying on in there, but it feels so good to see and hear that she is fine. Now we just have to get her out safely when the time is right and we'll be a family of three!

What Would I Do Without Friends and Family?

It's been a whirlwind since my last post. Time is flying by so quickly that we're down to just about 6 weeks! My wonderful friends threw me the best baby shower! I really can't say in words how thankful I am for everything and everyone. I got to see so many people from college and other friends/family I hadn't seen in a while. I wish I could have spent more time with everyone, but it went by so fast! I can't thank Willow enough for throwing the shower at her house and everyone else for everything they put into it. Not to mention the over-generous gifts. Having a baby is one of those times in life when the outpouring of kindness is too overwhelming. Thanks to the generosity, baby girls' room is pretty much complete. Yesterday I was able to put away all the clothes (her dresser is completely full already thanks to gifts and donations from friends), and put some personal finishing touches on. Here are some pics:

The Bambi wall hanging was cross-stitched by my Godmother for me when I was born. I'm so happy to have it to now hang in my girls room.

I've been holding onto these for years wondering what I would do with them. Yesterday inspiration struck. I think Chris and I were both about 5 years old when we did these. Now we just need to add the baby's.




Everything else is coming along. I think we have pretty much everything we need, except her. I'll post tomorrow after we have our sonogram. I'm so excited to see her again since I didn't think we would get to. They just want to double check her size due to my thyroid issues. They have no concerns, it's just precautionary. If her kicks and punches are any indication, she's just fine!

Oh, More Fun!

For the last two weeks I have occasionally been getting a pain in my thigh. It almost felt like a pulled muscle. It would be really painful when I first woke up, but would eventually stop hurting. Last week this reddish, painful to the touch line appeared, but I just thought I had bruised it by rubbing. At my monthly OB appointment yesterday I mentioned it to the doctor. Right away she thought I had a superficial blood clot. Great! I went for an ultrasound, and yes, I have a superficial blood clot. It's not completely occluding the vein and they didn't see anything in the deeper veins, so that is good. The concern is that the clot could break off and travel to the deep vein and into to my lungs, I'm more susceptible to other clots because I'm pregnant and I'm pretty far along. This is all not good. My OB consulted with another OB in the practice and they agreed to treat me with anti-coagulants. She said some would argue against it, but they think it is best for me and baby. After I found out what treatment entailed I would have liked to argue against it, but I have to think about my baby girl. For the next 6 weeks I get to inject myself twice a day in the stomach. Yeah! After that they will switch me to another also inject-able medicine (Heparin) that wears off faster and can be counteracted better should I go into labor. If I haven't delivered naturally by 39 weeks they will induce. Then after deliver I will have another 6 weeks of treatment, but hopefully only once a day. I guess by then I'll be a professional and be too tired to really care that I'm sticking myself in the stomach with a needle.

If you look on the bright side, there is the fact that I now only have 9ish weeks left instead of 10 or even more. If I make it to that point I also won't have to worry about my water breaking in some embarrassing situation or a lot of contractions before I get an epidural. The cons of course are that I'm now on blood thinners. Luckily I will be delivering at a hospital with a level 3b NICU (3c is the highest, and Hopkins doesn't even have that) so I feel confident everything will be just fine. I can't say I'm not even more scared now about this whole birth process since as I write this I'm not holding back any tears, but she's got to come out so I don't really have a choice.

On another positive note I get to have another ultrasound of the baby because of my thyroid issues. There is nothing suspect, they just want to check her growth because thyroid level problems can cause growth issues with the baby. I've been very closely monitored throughout the pregnancy so I'm just looking at this as a happy (insurance paid) excuse to see her again. It won't be for another 2 weeks or so, but I'll be sure to post pictures.

Well, that's my story for now. The last 6 months have definitely been an adventure. Now we just have to get through the next 2 months so the real fun can begin!

30 Weeks....I'm Still Going to Get Bigger?

Well, it's probably just me, but I feel like I'm growing by the minute. I was very excited when people would comment how small I was, but that is no longer the case. I can officially no longer bend over or see my feet. Of course I keep forgetting I can no longer bend over and doing it anyway with great regret. There's usually a swift kick to remind me not to do it again. Not much else has happened in the last two weeks. I did get to hang out with my besties at the Shrader Family Crab Smash. It was so good to see them along with a lot of people I haven't seen for years. Here's a few photos....

Hot Mamas!


The big kids enjoying the glider


Avery enjoying some juice


Avery's new baby brother Jack


Happy Matthew


And an equally happy Danny


Man, there are a lot of kids! We'll have to make sure to start doing more group photos.