baby-watch 2015 update.

friday morning, june 12.

so yesterday afternoon my doc called with report that the labwork i had drawn was normal (yay!) and asked me to recheck my blood pressure while on the phone with her. it was 143/89, still above normal.  she said to rest, hydrate, and come in for >150/90.  so borderline!!  this is all really frustrating and confusing, and i didn't feel any better after getting off the phone with her. mike decided to give up his work shift he was scheduled for (he had found back up coverage for all of his early june shifts knowing this baby could come anytime) and it helped my anxiety tremendously to know that i wouldn't be sitting at home by myself all evening trying to decide what to do.  we tested my bp a few more times through the late afternoon & it stayed in this same range but no higher.  i was having contractions every 6 minutes or so for a good hour but then they settled down after dinner.  i took a hot bath before bed and was asleep by 10pm.  

HOWEVER, through the night i proceeded to have my worst night of sleep in a long time - constant low back pain, contractions, pelvic pressure, just could not get comfortable. woke up at 1am with a headache and dizziness laying in bed (felt like the room was spinning) so i took a blood pressure again, and it was in the 140s still. so crazy...mine is usually in the 110s!  i laid back down and fell asleep again fitfully.  finally got up for the day at 5:30am, just frustrated by how uncomfortable i was.  i cannot believe how crazy this early labor has been the last week. so inconsistent, so vague, so confusing.  i literally don't know why my body is starting and stopping so often.  i feel really stressed by mike's impending leave on sunday, so maybe that's why.  guess i thought little miss would be here already.  i'm trying to be patient but i'm so frustrated, and just tired.  how do i know when it's time to go into the hospital? when will she come? will it become obvious?  will mike be here for her birth?  will i have to be on pitocin or will my body do what i know it can do? ahhh.

so that's the update. not much to say really, and kind of negative attitude-wise, but i'm all about recording the honesty of this situation. it's not been a walk in the park.  i know once she is here it will all be worth it, and this will be such a small part of the big story of her life.  i'm just ready to get out of this chapter & onto the next one.  i'm ready to see mike holding her, and smell her sweet head, and know how this all turns out. praying things become really obvious soon, and that i can find some peace in the waiting.

OB appt update.

had an OB appointment this morning. 37 weeks, 6 days today.

within five seconds of being in the office i started crying when the nurse asked how i was feeling. emotional, a little?! my blood pressure read high, 142 systolic - and i explained my anxiety about mike's pending trip to texas & the baby not being here yet. the doc came in quickly & rechecked my blood pressure - 144 the second time. she asked a few questions about baby's movement, which was okay today but less than normal yesterday. and when she measured my uterus, it measured 34 weeks when a week ago it measured 36 weeks. so i bought myself an ultrasound to look at fluid level & baby growth.  baby is estimated to be 7 pounds 12 ounces! and the fluid level looked good.  i had some bloodwork drawn to check for pre-eclampsia and got to come home with the tools in the photo above for collecting a 24 hour urine sample (checking for protein - another pre-eclamsia test).

the plan for now is a blood pressure check this afternoon at 4:30ish and if it's still high, i go into the hospital to be checked and possibly induced.  oh! and i'm dilated to 4.5cm, from 3cm last week! crazy. something is happening regardless. i wish little miss would decide to come on her own and avoid the whole induction thing - although guaranteeing that mike gets to be here to see her birth would be a blessing also.  so much unknown.  we'll see how our day unfolds today!

belly pillow.

post-gym snuggles with mama, brady, and the baby.

not very comfortable for 2 out of 3 of us, but bradykins doesn't seem to mind the belly pillow.

a quiet evening to myself. while WAITING.

tonight i had a sitter for a few hours just for a mama break (mike is working evenings all week).  i went out for a pedi, some spicy thai food + magazine reading, and errand running. it was nice & quiet and i'm trying to remember that even though i want little girl here SOONER rather than later, these moments i'll have to myself are fleeting. trying to be grateful in this time of stress & not just focused on all the "whens" and "what if's".  not easily done, but i'm working on it mentally.

fitting this am.

in the mornings, i read a devotional book "Jesus calling" & this morning's was particularly fitting after a few days of anxiety related to when this baby is coming and mike leaving for two weeks. please come soon, little one!

tucked in.

soaking up the last few days of having only one little tucked under my arm.

waiting. sort of patiently.

37 weeks, 3 days.

feeling pretty good besides just wanting baby OUT anytime now. daddy leaves on sunday for two whole weeks in texas (military training- mandatory, of course) and we are all feeling the pressure of "what if" baby doesn't come before he leaves.  i'm starting to feel anxious with each day that passes, one less day that if she did come, he would have at home with us.  it's not that i won't have help, we just want daddy to be part of this integral transition for our family.  he wants it badly.  and yet there's nothing we can do (that we haven't already tried) to make her come on our time schedule.  it's testing my patience & my anxiety in a whole new way.

a week ago, i was dilated to 3cm & 50% effaced, so i guess i expected her over the weekend. then our false alarm trip to the hospital friday. since then, i've been back to feeling pretty normal. however, i have noticed - she must have grown over the last few days because WHOA my belly is straight out front more than usual all of a sudden!! i'm feeling BIG! thankful to not have any swelling really though in my hands or feet like i did with brady by this point (actually at this point, i'd already birthed him...not helping with my patience level this pregnancy).

when are you coming, little one? maybe once we figure out your name??? :)

false alarm.

well. little miss has a flair for the dramatic already i guess.  heads up that this may be a bit TMI, but it's mine to record!

about 3:30pm yesterday (after my mani/pedi, where i said "okay, i can have a baby now! fresh toes!") i headed to target to pick up a few groceries & last minute toiletries for my hospital bag.  i was almost done with my shopping and OF COURSE at the very back corner of the store when i felt a rush of fluid all of a sudden, like my water was starting to break. it wasn't the big heavy gush i had with brady, but it was definitely not normal & i thought maybe my water was breaking slowly.  either way, i immediately started pushing my massive cart as quickly as i could towards the bathrooms. while doing the waddle trying to hold my legs together. and while being VERY thankful to be wearing black yoga pants that are forgiving to fluid leaking!!  i grabbed a package of massive pads, ripped it open, and threw one in my purse while running into the bathroom (giant full cart left haphazard outside the bathroom - hope they caught all that on target surveillance video haha).  i was having a ton of discharge, more than usual, and couldn't exactly tell if my water had broken. i wasn't soaked like with B, but my underwear was definitely wet.  told you, TMI.  i hightailed it out of there, checked out & headed home.  i had booked my sitter for another couple hours so i asked her to stay while i laid down for a little while and tried to figure out if my contractions were steady.  they were definitely painful, and my braxton hicks usually aren't even though i have a lot of them.  i timed them and they ranged from 4-12 minutes apart, so very inconsistent but i was having more than usual.  mike was playing golf so i texted him the heads up and told him to keep playing until i knew for sure.  we had joked a bunch this week that baby would interrupt/cancel his golf tournament just like brady did (mike was leaving for a tourney in denver the morning i had brady, haha!).  i'm sure he was like "are you kidding me?!" when i sent him the first text:)

he got home about 7pm and we decided it was probably better to go get checked out in case my water HAD broken, even though i wasn't really having a ton of fluid.  just a little leaking, it felt like.  my contractions stayed inconsistent but painful.  they would be consistently every 5-6 minutes for an hour & then die down again.  so confusing!!  with brady it was so obvious & intense.  anyway, i took a shower & we settled brady in with rob & suz, and headed towards MCR.  we made a quick stop by taco bell on the way for some dinner because both of us were hungry at that point!

headed in under a stormy sky (it unleashed 30 min later!)...

baby and i had some monitoring & she looked great.  i had some strong contractions while there and she responded with good accelerations in her heart rate which was good to see.  i was dilated up to 3.5cm and still 50% effaced.  the doc on call (because OF COURSE my doc is out of town friday & saturday night this weekend, seriously!!) suggested i walk the halls for an hour to see if anything changed with my dilation, so off we went.  at that point it was almost 10pm and i was just ready to go home to bed if this wasn't the real deal.

at 10:15pm i was checked again, unchanged, so we were discharged home and told to hydrate plenty, rest & come back of course if the contractions got worse/closer together or if my water obviously broke.  we sent the doyles home, crawled into bed by 11, and besides a few strong ones through the night i slept well and woke up this morning kind of wondering what last night was all about haha!  i guess baby girl isn't ready yet...probably because she knows we don't have her name picked out! :)  

time will tell when she arrives, but i will not be going back in unless i am spewing amniotic fluid, i'm just saying.  mike finishes up his final round of the golf tourney at noon today and is off the rest of the weekend so i'm really hoping she comes in the next 24 hours.  he leaves a week from tomorrow for two weeks & i really want us four to have a few days together...please baby!

bestie bumps.

suz & i got mani/pedis today.  hopefully my last before baby comes:)  we took a belly shot selfie afterwards just to compare what 37 weeks & 25 weeks looks like.  i'm taking a pic like this every time i see her since any day now, my bump will be replaced by a sweet little babe!

pool day. and ready for babe!

we joined our neighborhood pool this year & i'm sooooo glad we did! had our first day at the pool yesterday & it was quite the hit with little man. helps that there is a zero depth entry side where he can play endlessly in shallow water.  and the water is heated.  we laughed lots & had a great time.

big mama, almost 37 weeks!!

i had an OB appointment this morning & am dilated to 3cm and 50% effaced. baby girl may arrive any day!!! we seriously need to name her. otherwise, i feel like we are pretty ready for her otherwise. all the baby stuff is out & ready, and we'll install her carseat once the fam all heads home later this week if she hasn't made her appearance by then.  i feel mostly excited & somewhat nervous about our family transition in the next few days/weeks.  overall though, i just really can't wait to see her sweet face & snuggle her soft cheeks.

every single morning.

i eat this for breakfast every.single.morning.  haven't gotten sick of it yet.

ate multiple bagels with cream cheese every day my entire first trimester & haven't had a bagel since, hahaha!  hoping the almond butter/strawberry jelly faze doesn't end soon though because it's soooo good:)

working out.

so thankful i've been able to be super active this pregnancy!  i find myself at the gym doing barre classes or working out on the elliptical 4-5 days a week still (before wedding week...it all came to a halt for the festivities).  while julie was in town we even snuck in a workout!  i love being able to work out and feel like it's contributed to much less weight gain & water retention this pregnancy.