39 Weeks & Update on Baby's Progression

 

Well, can you believe Baby Owen decided to stay inside this long? I'm shocked, but am so so happy! So basically, that whole irritable uterus thing meant NOTHING, and all it did was cause lots of worry and concern.  But that's what women who have had an irritable uterus have said-that it's the most nerve-wracking thing ever b/c you have no idea whether you're going to go into preterm labor or if your baby will hang on for the long haul.  I'm so so thankful that I was able to carry Owen full term. God is so good!

And as for some exciting news, it looks like we MAY be meeting baby Owen within the next few days.  I say maybe with a grain of salt b/c you can NEVER really predict when your body is going to go into labor.  But I had a midwife appointment today and I was 3.5-4 cm/80% effaced, and she said that my water sac was bulging and she could feel Owen's head.  She asked if I wanted her to strip my membranes, which would speed up the onset of labor, but I was in so much pain from her checking me that I declined.  She also gave me a cocktail recipe that would make me go into labor if I wanted it to happen right now: a glass of champagne + 4 Tbsp. almond butter + 4 Tbsp. castor oil.  I won't be trying that either.  My body seems very well prepared to go into labor on its own time, which will probably be soon.  My midwife said she would be shocked if I didn't go into labor within the next 48 hours.  While I'm very excited about that possibility, again I'm not letting my mind go there completely, b/c like I said, nobody can predict exactly when your body will go into labor, and I don't want to get too excited for nothing.  Owen could stay inside another week for all we know, but I'm so glad that I'm progressing so much!  Hopefully this means that my labor will go a little quicker since all of this has already happened.  And we all know that my uterus sure does know how to contract! haha  Maybe all this irritable uterus stuff happened in the past so that my labor and delivery would go smoother?  I sure hope so! :)  The average length of labor for first time moms is 12-18 hours-really hoping mine isn't THAT long, but if it is, it will be okay b/c I'll get to meet my son at the end! Wow, that sounds crazy..."my son." I love it!  Well, right now I'm having contractions approximately 8-10 minutes apart, but they're not painful or intense or anything like that.  I had contractions all day this past Saturday that were 8 minutes apart, but they never turned into anything.  I've been told that I will KNOW when I'm in labor-the contractions will get more and more intense to the point where I'll have a hard time doing anything but breath through them.  Oh boy!  So there's the update on Baby Owen's progress.  Looks like I could be holding my baby boy this week! We will just have to wait and see!

37 Weeks & Nursery Pics

So thankful!

How far along: 37 weeks (Full Term :)
Size of baby: Watermelon

Movement: Loving my active baby boy. I can tell he's getting stronger b/c his bottom pushes out farther and his little feet kick a lot harder. Oh, how I love his movements!

Sleep: Thursday and Friday night I barely slept at all, but since I turned 37 weeks on Saturday and preterm labor is not a scare anymore, Eric and I went for a walk yesterday, which I think helped me to sleep better last night. SO GRATEFUL for decent sleep. Of course I still took multiple bathroom trips in the middle of the night, but at least I didn't struggle with insomnia last night.

Cravings: Nothing unusual.

Queasy or sick:  None.

Symptoms: Lots of Braxton Hicks (BH) and pelvic pressure if I'm up walking a lot but no labor yet. Lost the plug on Tuesday morning, so just waiting for Owen's big debut. Some ppl say they go into labor within 24 hours after losing the plug and for some women, it can be weeks. Obviously, there is no way in telling when he will come, but I have a feeling it will be within the next week. We'll see!

Maternity Clothes:  Yes, but the shirt in the picture above isn't maternity.  

Belly Button In or Out? Outie.

Wedding Ring On or Off? Off, because my fingers are swollen when I wake up in the morning, but luckily go down by the end of the day. My face is a little swollen in the mornings as well. 

Miss Anything? Walking without waddling? :)

High of the week: Owen and I made it to full term, and I am so so thankful! Praising God that Owen stayed in this long. I honestly feel so free now. Before, I felt like I was always trying to stay down on the couch anytime I wasn't at work, so he would stay inside, and I was always on edge about Owen being premature. Now that I'm full term, I feel this huge sense of relief! I walk around as much as I want now, and it doesn't matter if I'm on my feet too much, etc. SUCH A GREAT FEELING!

Low of the week: Last Sunday night & Tuesday night, I thought I was in labor b/c I was having very strong contractions, and lots of pain, but after multiple hot baths, I got them to calm down. I wasn't ready for him to come then b/c I was still 36 weeks.

Gender: BOY!

Looking Forward to: Meeting our precious baby boy anytime now!! I have another appointment on Tuesday, so unless Owen comes before, then I'll know if I've made more progress or not. I'm starting to get so excited!

Owen's Nursery Pictures

There will be a verse on the wall over the changing table

And So It Begins...

Well, Sunday night I was up all night with very painful contractions and cramps.  From 3am on, I could not go back to sleep because I was so uncomfortable. I truly thought I was probably in labor. At 6am, I called the on call midwife to see if I could come in right when they opened at 8am rather than my 11:40am appointment that I already had.  I took 3 hot baths from 10pm Sunday night to 7am Monday morning to try and stop the contractions. Finally, they slowed down some and the pain went away, so I decided to go to work as usual Monday morning and wait for my 11:40 appointment.  Mom drove down to go to the appointment with me where we found out that I was dilated to 2cm and 50% effaced.  Of course, we learned that I could go into labor soon or it could still be several weeks. However, with all the painful contractions from the previous night, my mom didn't seem to think I would last past this weekend. They did the group B strep test at my appointment yesterday and we won't get the results back for 3 days after the test. My midwife informed me that I would have to have IV antibiotics during labor if I went into labor before the test results were back just in case they happened to be positive. I really don't want to have antibiotics during labor, and I really want baby Owen to stay inside and grow a little while longer, so we're just praying that he waits a few more days. I'll be 37 weeks on saturday, which is considered "full-term." Of course, the longer he stays inside the better, but I'm just hoping & praying for nothing to happen until at least Saturday.

Then this morning I lost my "plug." Again, I know that some women lose it and still go a few days to weeks before labor begins; however, because of all the contractions I've been having, I'm not so sure it will be a few weeks. I honestly doubt it. Some people say that you go like your mom did, and my mom went into labor within 24 hours after she lost hers. Praying that's not the case for me! I've been on the couch all day today to try and prevent labor as much as possible. I know that I'm not the one in control, that ultimately it's up to the Lord when He decides to let this baby come into the world. As much as I want to try to control the situation, I'm trying my hardest to "Let Go & Let God." I spent some time praying today and was just reminded that everything is going to be okay. God loves this baby more than I do. Of course I think it's too early to have this baby since I'm only 36 weeks (3.5 weeks from my due date), but I'm choosing to trust the Lord with all of this. I honestly have to continually give the situation back to the Lord over and over again as I find myself wanting to take it back into my own hands. 

Precious Owen has just been kicking away inside my womb, and I cannot get enough of his movements. I love putting my hand on my stomach and feeling his little feet through my stomach. I can't wait to grab those feet and kiss them after he comes out. I'm in love with this baby boy, and I am so looking forward to meeting him when that time comes.

I would definitely appreciate all of your prayers for baby Owen.

Love to you all!
xoxoxo
Kristen

36 weeks

How far along: 36 weeks
Size of baby: Coconut

Movement: Everything I read said that the farther along I got, the less I would feel my baby move, but I find that the opposite is happening. He is getting more and more active, and I LOVE it. Yes, some jabs hurt, and sometimes he sticks his bottom out so far, I feel like my stomach is going to tear, but I am so thankful for every one of his painful movements. :)  Baby boy has flipped to the breech position a few times in the past week or two (all started with a prenatal yoga position that flipped him.) :(  I've been doing these inversion positions that I found online (and talked to my midwife about) that said would help to flip him back head down.  They've been very successful, but I still feel like he could be in an oblique position (head towards one of my hips) rather than straight head down.  I have a midwife appointment tomorrow and while they probably won't do an ultrasound, they'll be able to feel the baby through my uterus to find out what position he is in. I pray that he is head down in the right birthing position.

Sleep: Sleep? What sleep? Okay, I do get SOME sleep at night, but not much at all.  Part of it is due to how uncomfortable I am tossing and turning from my left side to my right side about 20 times a night. Part of it is just due to pregnancy insomnia. For some reason, I just can't stay asleep. I even try to come home and take naps after work, and I can't fall asleep for a nap either. Everyone tells pregnant women to sleep now b/c you won't get any when the baby comes-if only it were that easy. :) BUT, I'm not complaining, because baby Owen will be oh so worth the lack of sleep!

Cravings: More carbs unfortunately. And definitely ice cream this past week.

Queasy or sick:  The past 2 weeks, I've all of a sudden become nauseous at random times. One morning I woke up and the room was spinning and I just felt so nauseous for no reason. Other times it was after I had a large meal, so I've learned to eat smaller, more frequent meals for that reason. The nausea rarely happens though, so I feel good most of the time!

Symptoms:  Mild pain in my pelvic region from time to time. I'll still have a spell of contractions about 2-3 minutes apart about once a week. Otherwise, I feel pretty good.

Maternity Clothes:  Yes, but thankful that I still fit in some regular tops as well or else I wouldn't have much to wear.  

Belly Button In or Out? Outie but not far out.

Wedding Ring On or Off? My fingers just started swelling this past week, so I took my wedding ring off in fear that I wouldn't be able to get it off later. My fingers are only swollen when I wake up in the morning and then go down by the end of the day.

Miss Anything? Walking without waddling? :)

High of the week: I had my work baby shower this week which was a diaper and wipes shower, so we got lots of diapers for Owen! SO THANKFUL for these as I know babies go through diapers FAST! 

Also, every week I am just so thankful that I've made it another week. With all the previous scares of preterm labor, I'm praising Jesus that Owen is still growing inside of me!

Low of the week: Just being exhausted all the time, but I can handle that. 

Gender: BOY!

Looking Forward to:  I'll be considered full term in ONE week! (37 weeks) PRAISE THE LORD! I'm looking forward to meeting our precious baby boy, whether that's in 1 week or 4 weeks! I'm starting to get really excited to have him in my arms.  


Tomorrow (Feb. 27) is my next midwife appointment (I haven't had one in a month), so I'm really excited to find out if I'm dilated or not and any other information for labor and delivery. I also have my Group B strep test, which I'm not looking forward to as much. I won't have another appointment until 40 weeks (if I make it that far-kind of doubt it). Can't believe this is most likely my last midwife appointment. The end of this pregnancy has flown by!

34 Weeks

First of all, I have to say that I am so so thankful that I've made it this far!  With all the scares we've had, I'm so glad that we've made it to 34 weeks!  This is a huge milestone for babies as their lungs are developed now.  Thanks to everyone who has been praying!!

How far along: 34 weeks

Size of baby: Honeydew

Movement: Owen is one active little guy.  The other day Eric and I couldn't believe the shape of my stomach as my left side was flatter and my right side was protruding out. My stomach looked so deformed. We realized that Owen had moved his entire body all to the right.  He's keeping us entertained that's for sure!

Sleep: Not good.  Waking up a lot to pee & I've also been dealing with pregnancy insomnia.  I've been taking some B vitamins before bed to help me sleep better the past few nights, and they've definitely helped some.  Unfortunately, I find myself tired all day long though.  I know if I was working out that I would sleep better and have more energy during the day, but with my irritable uterus, working out is just out of the question at the moment. If I make it to 38 weeks (I hope I do), then I'll start walking then.

Cravings: Carbs unfortunately. :(  Eric and I enjoyed some gfree pancakes before church this morning, and they were amazing! I would rarely eat pancakes & waffles for breakfast before pregnancy (tried to stick w/higher protein options), but I've been enjoying them a lot lately!

Queasy or sick:  Nope.

Symptoms:  LOTS of pressure down low and lots of random sharp pains in my pelvic region.  The past few days I have had a ton of contractions and menstrual-like pain ever since my chiropractic adjustment on wednesday. (I had no idea that the adjustment would irritate my uterus-lesson learned.)  Today is Sunday, and I'm JUST now feeling like they are starting to calm down since the adjustment.  Hoping that I'm still not dilated yet. 

Maternity Clothes:  Yes, I feel like I wear the same few favorite maternity shirts on a regular basis.  Not too much longer!

Belly Button In or Out? Outie but not far out.

Wedding Ring On or Off? On-thankful for no swelling yet.

Miss Anything? Sleep, energy, being able to walk without pain. I feel like I have to hold my belly up when I walk b/c it just seems so heavy for my body.  The doctors/midwives/nurses all think that's why my uterus is so irritable-b/c my small framed body is having a hard time carrying the weight of my growing uterus.  I don't know-sounds like I must just be sensitive to things.

High of the week: Being at home with my hubby all weekend. We're realizing there's not much time left for just the 2 of us, so trying to savor these times as things are about to change. (for the better of course :)

Low of the week: Taxes-we were planning to use the refund to pay for some of the hospital's delivery bills, but unfortunately we found out that we'll be paying a lot of money to the IRS instead. Sad, sad day.

Gender: BOY!

Looking Forward to: Hanging up the wall art I got for Owen's nursery and hopefully getting the nursery done over the next 3 weeks.  I'm also praying that baby Owen stays inside for at least 3 more weeks (til I'm 37 weeks pregnant).  37 weeks is considered full term and safe to deliver, so I would like him to wait until then before he comes.  Please join me in praying that I make it to full term.  Thanks so much!

I realized that I hadn't posted the past few weeks baby bump pictures on here, so here are the few that I had left out:

33 Weeks

30 Weeks in this picture at my Illinois Baby Shower

Wow, I haven't posted in awhile on here.  Well as most of you probably know, it's been a rough month.  2 hospital visits this past month, and I'm praying that I won't have any more scares until baby Owen is born at full-term. :)  I could definitely use some calm before motherhood officially begins.

So, as you know I was hospitalized at 29 weeks with preterm contractions.  Praise the Lord that the contractions weren't doing anything to my cervix.  It's normal to have contractions during the third trimester, but doctors urge you to call them if you have more than 4-6 in an hour.  I was having about 50-60 an hour (not normal at all), so they definitely wanted me to come in to get checked and to monitor me.  I found out I have an irritable uterus.  All the doctors and nurses told me that an irritable uterus (IU) is more common in smaller framed women b/c our bodies have a hard time carrying the weight of the growing uterus.  Over the past month I've learned that if I overdo it, my contractions will get set off or if I have any caffeine (even that in dark chocolate..I know, sad right?), they will also start up again about 1 minute apart. So, I've been taking it easy so I don't start having 1 minute apart contractions again.  I'm still working, but as soon as I get off work, I come home and lay down on the couch.  Thankfully, I have a job where I'm not on my feet too much. 

Some of you may or may not know that I was in a car accident last week (January 25).  It was raining, and my car hydroplaned into another car, which deployed my air bag.  I was fine minus a burn on my hand from the airbag, but I was extremely concerned about Owen.  Eric came and picked me up from the site of the wreck and took me to the hospital.  We thought we would only be there for 4 hours of monitoring, but my contractions were absolutely crazy, and they did blood work that came back a little abnormal so they were concerned about placental abruption from the accident.  When I heard this, I about lost it (okay I really did lose it).  I haven't even had this baby yet, but the love I have for him is so great already, and the concern that something could be wrong was extremely scary.  At that point, Eric and I were told that we then needed to stay for 24 hours for more monitoring of the baby.  My sweet mom drove down from southern IL and the waiting began.  They wanted to make sure that my body didn't show any signs of the placenta separating from the uterus (bleeding, baby in distress, etc).  It was a long night in the hospital as you don't get any sleep with the nurses coming in multiple times.  Little Owen HATED all the monitors on my belly and he would constantly kick the monitor so hard that the nurse would have to come in and fix it so that his heart beat would register.  I didn't mind his hard kicks one bit; the constant reminder that he was doing well and moving around made me extremely thankful.  Eric was a trooper in the middle of the night, helping me with my IV pole every time I had to get up to go to the restroom.  We both got a little taste of what life would be like in the hospital when Owen really does come.  We called it our practice round.  We know we need to bring more pillows, a soft egg crate to make Eric's bed more comfortable, and definitely some chapstick.  :)  The next afternoon, the doctors finally released us to go home.  Baby Owen did GREAT throughout the night.  He never showed signs of distress.  His name means "Young Warrior," and he truly is such a little fighter.  Nothing seems to be phasing him.  The past month makes me appreciate this baby boy so much more.  When it's actually time for him to come into this world, I know I'll look back at the past month, and it'll all be worth it.  I can't get over how much I love him already.  It's such an amazing feeling.  I'll sing songs to him when I'm driving in the car, and he'll start moving around like crazy.  (I hope that means he likes my singing :)

Well, there is the past month in a nutshell.  I also had my baby showers all this past month too.  I'll write another post including some pictures from that.  Owen is a lucky guy to have so many people who love him.

And I wanted to thank all of you who have been praying for us during all of this.  You have no idea how much your prayers mean to me.  As we all know, prayer is so so powerful, and I ask that you continue to pray that baby Owen stays inside til full-term.  Some of the nurses and I laugh and say, watch him go past 40 weeks since we've been so concerned with him coming early.  Oh well, better late than early, but hopefully he'll come right on time. 

Love you all!
Kristen

29 Weeks-WHAT A WEEK!

We got popsicles while in the hospital :)

**Since this week has been pretty stressful, this hospital pic will have to work for my 29 week picture. No bump pic this week!**

For those of you following my facebook statuses, you know it's been a stressful week.  It started last Wednesday when I had my 1 hour glucose test to screen for gestational diabetes.  Well, Thursday I found out that I didn't pass the first test, but that I would need to take the 3 hour glucose test to find out if I had gestational diabetes or not.  I started sobbing when I found this out.  The nurse reassured me over and over again that this didn't mean that I had it because the 3 hour test was the accurate test, not the 1 hour one. I was still really upset.  That night I started having very frequent contractions and got a little concerned because everything I read online said that you shouldn't have more than 4 an hour. I was having them every 2-3 minutes.  I called the on-call midwife at Vanderbilt and they told me to take a hot bath, drink tons of water, and lay down. I did all that, but they didn't improve at all.  I didn't know whether to go to the hospital or not because I didn't want to make a big deal about it if it was nothing, but I was obviously contracting way too much.  I ended up just going to bed.  I woke up Friday morning, still having contractions but they were better. I went in for my 3 hour blood glucose test at 8 am, and I was there for almost 4 hours.  I had to drink a 100 g carbohydrate drink and have my blood taken 4 times while I was there. The drink didn't taste so bad, but the way it made me feel was absolutely horrible.  I really needed to throw up but refused to let myself because I didn't want to repeat the test. I felt so sick and nauseous from all that sugar on an empty stomach (I had to go in fasting).  I told myself that I will never do the 3 hour test again.  I honestly don't think it's good to put that much sugar all at once in your body on an empty stomach. And who drinks that much sugar in one sitting without eating something or walking around or anything? Nobody. They wouldn't let me walk around because they said that could mess up the test.  I was so thankful to grab a salad as soon as the test was over. I was starving!  I found out later that afternoon that I passed my glucose test, which meant I didn't have gestational diabetes. Praise the Lord!

Then, the next day (Saturday), my contractions started again around 11 am. I took a hot bath and rested for awhile, but then Eric and I had some errands to run.  I tried not to walk around much when we were out driving around but then when we stopped at the Cheesecake Factory for dinner, I started having stronger contractions.  While Eric and I were waiting for a table, I started having a ton of pressure down low. I knew in my gut we needed to get to the hospital. I had already talked to the on-call midwife that day and she said to keep counting my contractions and how close together they were.  They were VERY close at this point.  So Eric drives me to Vanderbilt Medical Center and I told him to just park the car outside while I waited for the on-call midwife to call me back. I didn't want to go in unless she thought it was really necessary. As I was laying in the back seat of our car outside of the hospital, I started having painful contractions, and things just didn't feel right. I followed my gut and went upstairs to L&D.  To make a long story short, my contractions were WAY too close together, so they wanted me to stay awhile so they could monitor me. They gave me 2 bags of IV fluids, and the midwife checked me.  Thankfully, my cervix was still closed. Good news! They did the fetal fibronectin test on me to see if it was likely that I would go into preterm labor within the next 2 weeks or not.  The test came back negative, so everyone was very reassured that I wouldn't go into labor for at least a few weeks. They said the test is 99.8 % accurate.  Finally, late saturday night, my contractions got further apart, and they let Eric and I go home.  They said I had just been having bad preterm contractions but they were reassured that I wasn't in preterm labor.  Unfortunately, as soon as I got up and changed and out the door, the contractions started up pretty close together again. We went home so I could lay down, but the contractions didn't stop all night or all day Sunday. I stayed on the couch 24/7 from Saturday night until right now (Monday night) except for trips to the bathroom and one trip to go in to get checked at my midwife's office.  My mom came down Sunday morning so she could take care of me while I was glued to the couch.  She's been a HUGE blessing while I haven't been able to do anything.  She's grocery shopped, cooked, cleaned, and ran errands for me.  Moms really do just make everything better! 

At my appointment this morning, my contractions were about 1-1.5 minutes apart, so they almost sent me to the hospital, but then they slowed down, thankfully. She checked me and my cervix was still closed (praise God), so she let me go home and told me to rest and take it easy.  I've only been on the couch for 2 days, but I can already tell you I do not like it one bit.  It's very uncomfortable to lay down all day, and it gets pretty boring.  I feel sorry for those who have had to be on bedrest for months. Thankfully, I'm not on bedrest; I'm just supposed to rest as much as possible and take it easy. Obviously, if I start having too frequent contractions, I'm supposed to stay lying down and monitor them to see if I need to go in again.  I'm praying that this doesn't happen and that my contractions stay far apart; better yet, that they stop all together would be nice! I can't wait to meet this precious baby boy, but not quite yet. He needs to keep growing inside of me for at least 8 more weeks. And I have baby showers to go to! Excited about my 1st one this weekend in Illinois. I can't wait to see everyone!

Lastly, I want to say THANK YOU from the bottom of my heart for all of your prayers and kind words.  I truly believe that prayer is SO SO powerful, and I know that my contractions have gotten better because of everyone's prayers. Though it's been an extremely stressful past few days, I know that God has never left my side, and He loves this baby more than I do.  Keep the prayers coming that these contractions stay far apart and that baby Owen stays inside for at least another 8 weeks. I really appreciate them! Love to you all! xoxo