Let the Countdown Begin!

Today we got confirmation that our doctor will induce me on Tuesday, October 5! Our doctor would normally not induce until I reached the 41 week mark, but because Peanut is already weighing over 8lbs, she thinks it is best to get this baby out! I am a little nervous about the actual induction, but I trust my doctor's judgement.

And honestly, Trinity is driving me a little crazy! We are both impatient by nature, but he is going bonkers waiting on this kid to arrive. Of the two of us, I really thought I'd be the worst, since I'm carrying the baby and all, but nope. He is beside himself with stress and impatience. It's a little funny... when I'm not feeling tired and enormous. Speaking of, here is a picture of my HUGE belly today.

Can it get any bigger?!?

Week 39

Today's doctor appointment was not promising. I have made little to no progress since last week. Unfortunately, the doctor was out at a delivery, so we ended up seeing one of the nurse practitioners. After doing her check-up, she dropped a bomb shell on us... she doesn't think the baby has even dropped yet. I was in shock! I have felt a lot more pressure on my bladder and felt that the baby was lower, but maybe it's just because Peanut is continuing to grow. I guess that explains why I haven't had many contractions since my false alarm last week! The nurse suggested that I walk 5-6 times per day for about 10 minutes and rock in a rocking chair/glider to try to help manuver the baby down. So, tomorrow begins my new routine of several short walks instead of one long walk in the evenings with Trinity and the dogs.

The nurse did not guesstimate Peanut's size this week, but I can only imagine that he/she continues to grow each day. Some days I feel like there is no way I can get any bigger! Thankfully my feet, ankles, and hands still only have minor swelling. Since I've been at home this week, I've noticed that what swelling I did have has gone down some. Thankfully I can keep my feet up and my shoes off during the day.

Since the doctor was out this afternoon, we didn't get to schedule an induction date. We are expecting a call from her office tomorrow to determine a date. Right now, it sounds like it will most likely be early next week. We'll definitely keep everyone posted once we have a firm date set. I'm still hoping that Peanut will decide to come into this world on his/her own before the need to be induced. At least scheduling next week gives me another few days for things to work naturally.

False Alarm

For about two hours yesterday, I really thought I was going into labor. I was sitting at my desk all morning thinking, "My lower back really hurts." Every once-in-a-while I'd get a small Braxton Hicks contraction that would tighten my abdomen, but they didn't really hurt. Then all of a sudden I started feeling much stronger contractions with much worse abdominal and lower back pain.

I started timing the contractions and time in between contractions. They were about 45-60 second contractions coming between 7-10 minutes, mostly around the 7 minute range. From all the pregnancy books and classes, I knew that it wasn't anywhere close to the 5-1-1 (60 second contracts, 5 minutes apart, for 1 hour) rule to call the doctor and head to the hospital, but I decided that I should probably drive home in case they quickly picked up speed.

I also called Trinity and told him that I didn't know if I was going into labor or not, but that I was having pretty consistent contractions and they felt different. I wouldn't have called at all had he been working at home, but he's been working from the office all week due to some web trainings he's attending (so that he didn't have to go to the trainings live in Houston).

I made it home around 3:30 and just started walking around the house. Again, a trick I picked up from the books and classes. Apparently walking often increases real labor contractions, while it usually decreases Braxton Hicks contractions. After about 20 minutes of walking, my contractions slowed to every 15-20 minutes, and then down to basically nothing. I'm not going to lie...it was disappointing.

Thankfully I did not get too excited, nervous, or anxious at any point during the experience. I just remained calm and thought, "Please let this be Peanut's birthday. We're ready." Hopefully when I do go into labor, I'll be able to remain that calm.

So, we're still playing the waiting game and hoping that Peanut makes his/her grand entrance in the next week. As an update from my last post, we went to the doctor on Tuesday, but I hadn't made any progress. The baby has definitely dropped, which is causing me to waddle more every day. Our doctor is still talking induction in the next week or so due to the baby's size. Our next appointment is on Tuesday, at which time we'll make the decision for when to induce if I do not go into labor naturally first. Hopefully we end up with a September baby!

Dear Peanut

I'm ready. I can't say for sure what changed in the last week but as your mother and I lay in bed, my hand on her belly feeling you kick at me, I just knew. I want you out here so I can hold you. There was an excitement that built up inside of me and now I have to wait. Please don't make it too much longer.

We saw you on the ultrasound and glimpsed your face. You have my nose and I am so very sorry for that. Your left hand was in front of your eyes and I could only imagine how annoyed you must have been to have us prodding your home but we got to see you and you look almost real.

You are big. Does that mean you are strong enough to face what is about to happen? Are you ready to come out and face the world? Can you conquer it? You don't have to worry though, your mom and I will be here to protect you. I can't wait to watch you do all those first that you will one day do. The wait is going to be worth it for us. So how about you come on out of there and we can start this adventure, huh?

Love,

Your Father

37 Weeks

Today we got to see Peanut again at our sonogram. The doctor had ordered the sonogram to check the baby's size, as she thought he/she might be big based on our 35 week appointment two weeks ago. And...she was right. Peanut is weighing in around 8 lbs, 2 oz.

Our sonographer seemed pretty confident in the estimate, even though there is a +/- 1 lb variance. She said that Peanut's position allowed for pretty easy measuring (head down and facing the right side of my body). After she took all the necessary measurements, she let us see some pictures of Peanut, including some 4D images. Pretty cool stuff. We got to see the face, feet, spine, heartbeat, and Peanut grabbing a foot/toes with his/her hand. Because we warned the sonographer that we didn't know the sex of the baby, she stayed away from the middle regions where the surprise might be ruined!

Later this afternoon we went back to see the doctor. Her face told it all...we are in for a BIG baby! She made her own guess of the baby's weight using the old fashioned method (feeling my stomach with her hands) and said she would guess between 7.5 and 8 lbs. At 37 weeks and 0.5 lb growth each week, we're in for a 8.5 to 9.5 lb baby boy or girl. She also checked my cervix, which is dilated 2cm and has started to efface (thin out) in preparation for birth. She said these were good signs, especially considering this is our first baby. Of course she can't guess when I'll go into labor, but she seemed pleased with my progression so far. And she confirmed that the baby was pretty low. I'd thought the baby might have dropped in the last week, due to my increased need to run to the bathroom lately!

We are now to our weekly doctor appointments, so we have our next appointment scheduled for Monday. I'm hoping there has been more progress that might mean Peanut will arrive before my due date! Because of the size issue, our doctor doesn't want to let me go past my due date. She suggested a possible induction at 39 weeks, so we're going to see how I check out next week to make the decision. I would, of course, prefer to wait until my body goes into labor naturally, but if we're going to end up with an induction either way, I think I prefer to be induced at 39 weeks. Then Peanut is smaller, and we get to meet him/her a week earlier!

I think the fact that we may have our precious baby in our arms in two weeks has started to sink in. I packed my hospital bag this weekend, and we're finishing the last load of baby laundry tonight. Trinity plans to install the car seat this weekend, and then we'll be as prepared as we can be!

Full Term

On Sunday I'll be 37 weeks and considered full term, which basically means Peanut is fully developed and will mainly be adding on the pounds for the next few weeks. I thought I'd share some recent photos of my growing belly.

35 Weeks

This Tuesday Trinity and I had our 35 week doctor appointment. We didn't think we were going to get to see the doctor because she was delivering a baby, but thankfully she arrived back to the office by the time it was our turn. We had several questions that I wanted to discuss with her, including talking about my "birth plan." After getting our questions out of the way, the doctor did her normal procedures:

-Check the heartbeat: going strong at around 135. This is somewhat slower than it has been the past few weeks, but the doctor said that is relatively normal as you get closer to your due date.

-Check the position of the baby: the baby is still head down, which was a relief to me. If the baby is breech (head up), then that means a scheduled c-section. For some reason, a c-section is ten times scarier than a natural childbirth to me. I mean, it is a major surgery!

-Measure my uterus: Yikes! I'm measuring at 38 weeks, three weeks ahead! Up until this week, I've been measuring exactly on schedule...1 cm for every week. But my weight gain is normal at 1 pound per week, which is a good thing.

-Estimate the weight of the baby: 6 pounds! At 35 weeks, the average baby weight is 5.25 pounds, so again bigger than expected! At this point, a baby gains around a half pound every week, so that's around 8.0 to 9.5 pounds, depending on when I go into labor.

At this point I really started to get nervous. I do NOT want to have a ten pound baby! Of course, Trinity thinks that I should have been expecting this all along, as he and his dad were both ten pounds. But as even our doctor has told us, parents' birth weights are not always the norm for a baby's birth weight. So I've been hoping that Peanut is much smaller than dad and grandpa!

Because it is still early and only an estimate, our doctor did not seem too concerned. She said that it could just be a growth spurt or the position of the baby. But she did schedule a sonogram for our next appointment at 37 weeks. At that point we'll get a better estimate of the true size of Peanut. So, the silver lining is that we get to see Peanut again before he/she arrives!

Two days later I am still a little nervous about this most recent news, but I'm starting to calm down. I realize that there is nothing I can do other than eat well, exercise, and pray that Peanut gets back on schedule!