Possibly the last dr visit????

We went back yesterday afternoon for what was our last real visit to the office. Dana did the ultrasound and the amniotic fluid is still around 26, which is fine. She did all of her measurements and the baby now weighs 10 pounds exactly. We'll see how close that is to real life measurements when she gets here. I got to get on the scales yesterday and found out that I have lost another 2 pounds. It is really looking like I won't see the dreaded number this pregnancy... yeah!!!! I have now only gained 20 pounds for the whole pregnancy. The NST was a little bumpy. The baby's heart rate was fine. Holly, the nurse, said we were just going to call my uterus irritable. After Dr. Venus saw the strip, he said he didn't want to see and sent me home to put my feet up. I did just that. We still have our fingers crossed for Monday at the earliest. I will have my feet up for the entire weekend if that is what is takes to hold this baby off. Steve's mom got here just in time for dinner last night and we are just trying to wait patiently and make it through the weekend. It will be just our luck that with all the preparations that we have made that the baby will be stubborn and not come until June 5. However, that is NATIONAL doughnut day and I think it would be great for her to be born that day too.

Getting closer....

We went back to the doctor on Tuesday for our NST and saw Dr. Venus. The NST went great. We went in to see Dr. Venus. My fundal measurement was back done to 40. Dr. Venus said this was probably due to how she was laying last week. I am actually very close to where I should be measuring, between 35 and 39. Not bad!! Dr. Venus got ready to check and see how much I had dialated and casually mentioned to Steve that if I was at a 4 that we would be having a baby that day. Steve's face got all white and he broke out in a sweat. He was a little surprised. Thankfully we are still at a 2. We go back today for another NST, fluid check and doctor visit. I am really hoping that we can get through the doctor check without being a 4. I would love for this baby to come sometime after Sunday. Steve and I have already planned that if I go into labor on Sunday night that we will sit in the parking lot until we can be assured that she will come at 12:01 or after. She just has to listen to our plans.... yeah right!! Steve's mom is coming down today, which makes us feel better...no middle of the night commutes from Virginia. We feel like with all the preparations we have made for the baby coming early that she will probably wait until June to make her appearance.... we hope!!!

37 Week Update

We went back to the doctor on Friday for our regular NST, ultrasound and doctor visit. The NST was pretty normal. The ultrasound was actually very good. My fluid numbers are down from 30 to 26 which is a good thing. Dana measured and calculated the weight at 9 pounds and 11 ounces, which is only a 10 ounce gain from last Friday, another good thing. As I went in to the examining room, they weighed me and I am actually down 1 1/2 pounds, another good thing. I may not see that most hated number on the scale!!! My fundal measurement (over my belly) is up to 42. I was 2 cm dilated on Friday and Dr. Venus is only giving us a 1 in 5 chance of making it to June 1. I was supposed to have an appointment for today (Monday) but realized the office would be closed and I rescheduled for Tuesday. I asked Dr. Venus if he wanted me to reschedule the Thursday appointment to Friday because they normally do a Mon-Thurs and Tues-Fri rotation. He said it really didn't matter becuase he didn't think I would make to to Thursday. We just left the next appointment for Thursday afternoon. I spent the weekend on the couch with my feet propped trying to keep this baby from coming early. We need everyone to think good thoughts about delaying this baby until June. I have to give End of Grade tests this week. We REALLY need her to be patient and wait until June 1. Cross your fingers!!!!

36+week update

Today was supposed to be a late afternoon NST monitoring visit and a follow-up with Dr. Venus from our appointment in Charlotte. It turned into a morning appointment when I started having some contractions after I woke up. The office was able to fit me in early and I got to spend an hour on the monitor. There were quite a few contractions that registered on the machine. Dr. Venus checked me and then sent me home. No further excitement, but he did say that we might not make a June birthday. I don't really care about June 5 but I would love it if we could make it to June 1.

I went home and put my feet up for the rest of the afternoon. I had realized while sitting at the house before I went to the appointment that Steve and I haven't packed anything or washed any of the new baby things that we have gotten. Needless to say, we spent last night doing baby laundry. I forgot how much I love the smell of Dreft detergent. The whole basement smelled so good. I had fun folding up all the little things.

Doctor visit in Charlotte

We went for our Level 2 ultrasound in Charlotte on Friday. Everything was fine. They calculated her as weighing 9 pounds and 1 ounce, which is only up 2 ounces from the previous Friday. They said that as far as they could tell everything looked fine. The doctor also said that unless she gets so big that I have trouble catching my breath that we should be able to hold out until the June5 date. YEAH!!! It would make things so much easier if we could make it that far. Steve kept all the nurses and office staff in stitches on Friday. He had them convinced that I was allergic to housework. One of the office staff put on my form that I was allergic to Steve. When the doctor came in and we introduced ourselves, he asked if this was the Steve that I was allergic to. I told him that everytime this Steve was near, my belly got all swollen. He laughed. We were able to get a 7 minute video while the ultrasound technician was working. It is neat to watch.

35+ week update

I went back to the doctor yesterday afternoon. The NST monitoring was pretty uneventful. I did have one contraction, but nothing to worry about. Dana, the ultrasound lady, did the amniotic fluid check. We are up to 30 from 28. I met with Dr.Venus after that. When he saw my belly, he said it looked a little smaller. I told him he needed to get his eyes checked, that the word "smaller" did not belong in a sentence with my belly. He did my fundal measurement across my belly. Remember it is supposed to be +/- 2 from the number of weeks pregnant I am. I am 35 weeks and the measurement was 40. Because of the high amniotic fluid level, Dr. Venus is referring me to get a Level 2 ultrasound on Friday in Charlotte just to reassure all of us that everything is great. Steve's school is out early on Friday, so we are going to go down and have the ultrasound done that afternoon. They will be able to give us the results as they do it. Hopefully everything will turn out fine.

34+ week update

Well, to say that we are having a big girl is beginning to be an understatement. I went back to the doctor on Friday for my NST, Amniotic fluid check and regular doctor visit. Dr. Venus was at the hospital in the middle of a delivery with two more deliveries on the way in, so we knew we wouldn't be able to see him. They did my NST monitoring with no excitement. She did exactly what she was supposed to do. We went over to the ultrasound room to do the amniotic fluid check. We are back up to 28 from 25 last week. Things got exciting when Dana started doing the measurements for this week. As of Friday, our "little" girl weighs 8 pounds and 15 ounces. WOW!!! Some of her actual measurements are measuring 41+ weeks. Dana called the nurse in and they decided that Dr. Venus needed a call. After talking with him, they have decide to push my appointment with him for this Friday to Tuesday (tomorrow). They are going to redo everything they did on Friday and then see what he has to say. I am still crossing my fingers for a June 5th delivery, but an earlier date might become a reality. Stay tuned for more updates!!!!

Last Baby Class

Steve and I attended our last baby class last week as well. We got to watch a c-section on the big screen. Steve came through like a trooper. I was proud of him. There was a question and answer session afterwards about specifics like about how long everything would take and things like that. It doesn't seem like it will be all that bad. Steve will be down with me in delivery and will come back upstairs with the baby while I spend just a little while in recovery. He will have the first bath done by the time I am back in the room. Hopefully, everything will go smoothly. We are just crossing our fingers that she stays put until June 5.

Baby Shower

My friend, Traci, and her mother-in-law threw a baby shower for me on Sunday afternoon. There were lots of people there. Steve's mom and sister came down from Virginia. My mom, dad and Aunt Jo came up from Winston-Salem. My Aunt Betsy and her husband were there. Our friend, Mary Catherine, came up from Charlotte and my friend, Dawn came by as well. We got all kinds of neat things. I want to thank everyone for coming. It was great to see peole that I hadn't seen in a while.

I am glad that the shower went off without a hitch. The last baby shower that Traci tried to give me was March 26, 2000. The reason I am so sure of the date is because that was the day that Sarryn was born. We had to put up a note cancelling the shower on the door of the condo. Looking back it is pretty funny, but on that day it seemed pretty stressful.

33+ weeks update

Last week, I had two appointments. The first, on Tuesday, was just an NST visit. I basically sit in a big comfy recliner and they strap me up to monitors to record/listen to her heartbeat. It was rather relaxing. Nothing exciting.

The second appointment, on Friday, was a little more involved. I had to repeat the NST, get an ultrasound with Dana and then meet with Dr. Venus. The NST was once again pretty routine. The nurse thought the baby was sleeping because the machine wasn't getting all the required movement that it needed so she decided to "wake her up" a little. That involved shaking my belly to get her moving. It worked. We then went to Dana and measured amniotic fluid. We are down to 25 from 28. Our goal is 20. Hopefully that will come this week. We will also remeasure her size this week to see how big this "toddler" is getting. The last stop was with Dr. Venus. He listen to her heartbeat, measured my belly and checked my blood sugars from the last week. He said everything looked great. The medicine they put me on must be working becuase my blood sugars have come down and the level of amniotic fluid has reduced. All good things.