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Went to the doc today and was met at the door by his nurse. He was on call this morning and ended up being called over to L&D for a single ready to push and twins sitting at 8cm! She was going to reschedule us until I told her that we were 39+2 so she fit us in with another doctor. Turned out to be an excellent call as the other doctor was very sympathetic to how I was feeling and went ahead and scheduled our induction for Wednesday morning at 5:30 am! So, Looks like Bella will be here ON her due date! Sucks that I’ll be in the hospital for Thanksgiving but awesome that I get to get out of making the turkey this year.

On a geeky note: Bella will share her birthday with Ricardo Montalban! BEEEEEELLLLLLLLAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!

7 days left. Nothing new to report. Same old, same old. See doc on Friday. Happy, Mom? :p

Apologies for not updating for a while but there’s not been anything going on. all of my OB appointments have been the same old stuff… things are fine. Keep going like we’re going. That is, until this past week. Last Monday (26 Oct) I started having a tiny bit of bleeding and cramping so we called the OB and he said to go ahead and pop into L&D for a check over. While at the hospital, I started going into preterm labour. The bleeding wasn’t bad… probably just a popped blood vessel. The baby was still sitting transverse, I wasn’t dilated at all and I was only 50% effaced so they decided to go ahead and stop the labour. They gave me a shot of terbutaline and the contractions stopped within a few minutes. After a few more minutes of monitoring they sent me home and told me to take it easy. Things were fine until Friday night.

Friday, we were supposed to host a Dumb Supper (link) out at the Knoll. It was a wonderful 5 course meal that I had planned out and been working on for 3 days. Will had helped me tremendously with much of it. Well, it’s down to the time to start the Supper and I head out to the tent (it was raining and we were holding it outside) with the appetizer (veg dip and cucumbers) when I slipped in the mud, did the splits and fell on my belly. My foot exploded into a world of hurt and blinding pain. I had a breakdown in the rain and mud. Just sat there and bawled. I finally gathered myself and got up with some help. We hobbled me into the house and I had a look at my foot. It was swollen to 3x it’s normal size so we decided to go get checked out.

We get to the ER and I realize that I hadn’t felt the baby move since the fall (it had been about an hour). They x-ray my foot and thought that it MIGHT be broken but weren’t sure because of the old breaks so they slapped on a splint, wrapped me up and sent me up to L&D to monitor the baby. Turns out the baby is OK but tired and hungry so they fed me (nothing near the wondrous feast we had made but it was food, nonetheless. :p) and continued to monitor. I started having contractions again but they weren’t consistent enough to be considered labour so I didn’t require another shot of terbutaline (thanks goodness). The nurse checked me and the baby was turned slightly head down but not all the way and I still wasn’t dilated and still only 50% effaced. She said that if I do go into labour, I’m far enough along that they won’t stop it again so I should keep an eye on things and come in if I need to.

After a few days rest, my foot feels better. It’s still very tender but I’ve removed the splint. I’m pretty sure I’ve developed a case of SPD (link) that wasn’t so bad at first but after the fall, I think the splits caused my pelvis to separate more. I know I’m in a TON of pain. Rolling over in bed or getting in and out of a vehicle puts me in tears. I’m taking the Tylenol 3 I was given for my foot to try to numb the pelvic pain. It doesn’t really help but it makes me sleep so I’m not constantly trying to get in and out of bed. The codeine is also calming contractions so I’m not going into labour. I also started losing my mucus plug today. This is great because it means that I’m probably actually starting to dilate, now! Of course, that doesn’t mean much. I could still go until Thanksgiving and not give birth. :p

That’s pretty much it for now. We see Dr. Mac again on Friday afternoon and I’ll discuss the SPD with him to see what my birthing options are. It looks like it’s a bad idea for women with severe SPD to give birth in the traditional position because of the strain it puts on the pelvis… if done wrong (like forced with an epidural) it can do permanent, severe damage to the hips and pelvis that requires surgery for correction. Some resources say C-Sections are best and others say C-Sections should be avoided all together… we’ll talk to the doc and see.

Till next week!

So, it’s been a few weeks… my apologies again. A little rundown:

2 weeks ago, we had a little concern over some cramps so I went in to L&D to make sure I wasn’t going in to preterm labour. I wasn’t bleeding or contracting nor had I lost my plug but I was cramping pretty good and pretty regularly along with some back pain and pelvic pressure. We got in, hooked up and monitored things for a bit and everything was fine. Just cramping and nothing more. Got in to see the doc a week later and he said everything was fine, nothing to worry about unless the pains get to where they take my breath away.

Fast forward to today: Mom decided that we needed a 4D scan at the 4DPeek center.

IT. WAS. AWESOME!

Thanks SO much, Mom! That was, by far, one of the most amazing experiences of my life. Will and I picked out a few pics to share and uploaded them to the new Gallery that I’ve installed. [Click here!]

We now know 100% without a doubt that we are having a little girl and she’s perfect! She has Mom’s nose and the Barnett forehead. :p

Mom is also throwing us a baby shower on Oct. 16th. That’s very much awesome, as well.

In other news, we got some of our BTrendy winnings today. We didn’t get one of the crib sets but it may have been an oversight so they’ll be sending it out ASAP. Once we get it all together, we’ll post pics.

Other than that, nothing new going on. We have another OB appointment next Thursday (15th) so I’ll update then!

So, I didn’t update after the last entry. My apologies. The breakdown: I went and took the 1 hr GD screening and failed it. All of the rest of my blood tests came back normal (no anemia, no syphilis). So the following week, I had to go back for my 3 hour Glucose Tolerance Test. Oh. My. Gosh! It about killed me! (Not really.) The drink made me nauseous, every vein she drew blood from blew. Into the 2nd hour, I was hit with a wave of dizziness and had to be taken to the back to lie down for the rest of the test. The main concern was to keep me from throwing up so I wouldn’t have to repeat the test. I managed to make it through and the nurse was able to get all the necessary blood draws. The last one (from my right hand) didn’t just blow, it ASPLODED! (That’s “exploded” for you non-geeky types. ) As soon as she pulled the needle out, my hand swelled to twice it’s normal size. There was so much swelling that it actually scared me a bit. I’ve never seen my veins blow that bad. the cool thing is over the following week, the bruising set in on my knuckles and up my fingers. It looked like I’d gotten into a fight and broken my hand.

The good news, after all of that, is that I passed the GTT. I don’t have gestational diabetes.  Segue into my 30 week check up…

WOW! 30 weeks already! We have less than 10 weeks left! As of this writing, that’s 68 days! Let the panic set in! Had a nice chat with the doc (as usual). I swear, I have the BEST OB on the face of the planet. If you ever have the pleasure of being pregnant in Clarksville, TN, make sure you go see Dr. William McIntosh at Gateway’s Medical One bilding. The man is PHENOMINAL!

He informed me that even though I passed my GTT, I’ve still placed myself into the “at-risk” group for failing the screening. So, I have to keep an eye on my sugar intake for the rest of the pregnancy. I’ve also put on a little bit of weight this past 3 weeks. A bit more than he’d like to see (5 lbs!). This puts me at 19 lbs gained so far. Honestly, I saw it coming. I’ve not exactly been eating the best this last few weeks. So, it’s no more fast food and back to cooking at home! Everything else checks out fine! Blood pressure was 120/86. Fundal height measured 31cm and baby’s heart rate was 136. We went over my birth plan and he didn’t see anything really wrong with it. Everything seemed reasonable. There were a few adjustments that needed to be made because of hospital non-negotiables or practices that he just doesn’t do (for instance, for the most part, he nor anyone in his practice group routinely does episiotomies. If one is needed, it’s a medical necessity thing and can’t be avoided). He gave me a refill of Phenergan because I’m about out and am still fighting nausea. And that’s about it. Everything is fine and we’re moving along right on schedule (aside from my extra couple of lbs this week).

OH! And for the first time since 1995 (that’s 14 YEARS!) I got a flu shot. And I will more than likely get the H1N1 jab when it’s available. It’s more to protect the baby than me. Even though I haven’t had a flu shot in years, I also haven’t had the flu in the same amount of time but we want to protect the baby.

In other news:

I landed in the ER on Sunday with yet another gallbladder attack. Of course, nothing was inflamed, it was just acting up. They gave me a tiny dose of morphine, a touch of Zophran and a couple Tylenol. Then my urine came back as positive for a UTI. YAY! So, he put me on Keflex for a few days. Me and Keflex don’t really agree. It’s really messed my stomach up but I’m dealing with it and only have a couple more days of it left.

My general pregnancy fun stuff is taking it’s toll on me. I’m waking up a few times a night to use the bathroom, my hips kill me if I lie down too long and my back kills me if I stand for too long. I’m still exhausted most of the time and do well just to make dinner. I usually have to half prepare it, take a rest then finish preparations and cooking. Will has been absolutely awesome through everything. He keeps the house straight and does the laundry. I feel bad that I can’t do more to help him out. Someone was definitely smiling on me when they sent Will to me.

On a much happier note, we’ve won a CRAPLOAD of stuff lately! We enter a bunch of different giveaways every day and in the last couple of weeks have won some high-dollar prizes including a $575 designer purse, a $660 Shaw Floors rug and a baby gift pack worth nearly $1000! The pack includes a onsie hand-studded with Swarovski crystals, a Cloud B Twilight Turtle, a HALO sleep blanket, a Kushies Zolo Fuzzi Shag toy, a natural baby care kit that includes diaper cream, shampoo, baby wash and an organic washcloth, a Caden Lane hooded towel, a Litto Kids crib set, a “Stay-Put” bowl and cutlery set, a Caden Lane crib set, a media case and diaper bag from Room It Up and a Cloud B Lullawrap blanket! It’s been a fantastic couple of months on the giveaways and we’re truly blessed.

So we had our 27 week check-up yesterday. There’s really nothing to report. Things are progressing perfect. I’ve gained 14 lbs since the beginning of the pregnancy so my weight is right on track. My blood pressure, heartrate, fetal heartrate and fundal height are all exactly as they should be. I took my gestational diabetes test as well as some other week 28 blood tests and should get the results next week. Dr. McIntosh is absolutely happy with how things are progressing and sees no problems so far.

My check-ups are moved forward by a week, now. So I’ll see the doc every 3 weeks instead of 4. And really, that’s all! I’ll update next week when we get the blood results.

It was a brief appointment. Midway through, Dr. Mac was paged to L&D for a delivery. But he still had a few moments to answer a couple of my questions. None of them are seriously pressing and I understand his need to run over to the hospital so I kept it brief.

Basic breakdown:
Weight: I’ve gained 5 lbs. this month. That puts me at a total of 10 lbs. during the whole pregnancy… a little more than I’m comfortable with but nothing serious, yet. The doc and nurses certainly don’t think it’s unhealthy.

Blood pressure: Still absolutely perfect. 126/72 No problems there.

Ultrasound results: Everything looks great! There were no anomalies and everything is measuring right on schedule. We’re sticking with a due date of Nov. 25th. The radiologist actually measured me at Dec. 2nd but Dr. Mac says with the range of error, it’s close enough to the original due date that we’re not going to change it. That means, as of today, I’m 23 weeks 2 days. Next Wednesday, the baby will be considered “viable”.

Birth Plan: This was one thing we didn’t get to spend a lot of time on due to Dr. Mac’s page. Basically, I’ve accepted that my doctor will work with me on whatever birth plan I come up with and I don’t have to be afraid of being bullied into something I don’t want, at all. This comforts me.

RLS: Unfortunately, there is ABSOLUTELY NOTHING that I can take to lessen the RLS. I’m just stuck with it. I’ve tried all the home remedies and nothing works so I’ve just got to go without sleep until I give birth. Dear Pharmaceutical community: Please come up with a drug that treats RLS without risking the baby. <3 forever, Bam.

The rest of the conversations will have to wait till next month. Dr. Mac also informed me that we will be doing my gestational diabetes test next month and this is the last time I schedule an appointment a month out. Starting next month, appointments will be scheduled 3 weeks apart. We'll probably do that for a couple of visits then move to every two weeks. The last month will be weekly visits and then visits every couple days till Bella joins us!

In the mean time, We'll hopefully be getting a doppler from eBay next week. We found one for $45 and can hook it to the computer to record the heartbeats. Once we do that, I'll get it up here so you all can hear it!

I think that's it! Overall, a good day other than my lack of sleep. >.<

For those that may be tracking it, I’ve updated the registries page with what we have received and taken down said received items from the various registries. Thanks to the awesomeness that is Freecycle, craigslist and family, we have gotten all the “big” items that we need! I think all we’re lacking is a new mattress, which we hope to have soon. We found a decent one at Walmart for $40. Other than that, it’s all little stuff! There’s also a fetal monitor at Walmart that I think we’re going to get later this week or next so family and friends can hear the baby’s heartbeat. When we get it, I may try to record it on the laptop and upload to the site so STAY TUNED!

We’ve started buying diapers when we can so we’re stocked a bit when baby arrives. We’re trying to get a variety of sizes and styles since there’s no way to know for sure what size she’ll need till she’s here.

In other news, the magnesium seems to be helping my RLS a bit. I’m still having rough nights but it’s not AS bad as it was. We go to the Dr on Friday and will be chatting about my birth plan as well as when I need to sign us up for a hospital tour and childbirthing classes. FUN!

Mom and Will have both gotten to feel the baby move. They were much excited about that. Will now feels for her all the time. She’s kicked him in the head a few times during his nightly “baby time”.

I can’t believe that we’re a month away from the 3rd trimester!

Final thought: What is with the RAIN!?!

I seriously can not handle this anymore. My restless legs have kept me up for 4 nights in a row, now. I’ve tried everything possible. From a bar of soap under the sheet to massage to soaking in a tub, exercise, stretching, punching my legs until they’re bruised… I thought I had found the answer today when we bought some magnesium supplements. I took 2 (for 500mg) and almost immediately felt my legs calm down (since my legs are twitchy literally all day). I thought “Great! I’ll be able to sleep tonight!” But no. Fecking legs are STILL kicking. I’ve been trying to go to sleep for over 2 hours now and JUST when I doze off, there goes a kick. It’s so bad I’m up crying now because I JUST WANT TO SLEEP! And I KNOW this lack of sleep can’t be good for the baby. I have to be up in 6 hours to help teach a Reiki class. I can’t function like this!

I seriously, really, really can’t handle it anymore. Someone cut off my legs. Paralyze me. SOMETHING!

So we went in for “The Big Ultrasound” and it was quite interesting… baby’s heart rate was 143bpm. Everything looked normal to my eyes. No sign of cleft lip or spinal problems (the most common birth defects in relation to Lamictal during pregnancy).

The child was SUPER squirrely. It would not sit still! Kept waving and moving and practicing facial movements. Quite the sight to see. It took a few tries to get good profile shots and bone shots (though, we did eventually get them and all looks well formed and solid).

I guess what you’re all wondering now is “What is it?”

Like I said, there was a lot of movement and it turns out the little one is modest but we did get ONE shot that makes us about 75% sure of what we’re having.

It's a girl!

Say “Hello!” to Bella. Annabelle Mae will be her name but she has already informed us that she will go by Bella. Stubborn as her mommy already. :p

I will soon be adding the rest of the ultrasound pictures to the picture page. They include a few profile shots (mostly with her hand in her face). They should be up within a Few minutes after I finish this posting.