Slight change in plans....

Had my last appointment today! :)
All looked well. Insa w a different Dr since mine is out of town. She checked my cervix and the damn thing is still high and closed. So rather then go in Monday morning, I get Togo in Sunday night to help get the cervix going. Hopefully this is not the never ending induction.

It's The Final Countdown!!!

Yesterday was my last appointment with MFM in Springs. Baby did grow some. She now is an estimated 4lbs 2oz.

It is so nice knowing I don't have to drive to Springs every Tuesday. For the past 13 weeks I have had to make the trip for weekly ultrasounds. 

In the last 13 weeks I have had:

13 ultrasounds in Springs

10 ultrasounds in Pueblo

12 NST's in Pueblo

11 appointments with Dr Growney

Saw MFM Dr's a handful of times 

It is so crazy to think tomorrow is my last appointment before Baby "E" comes. Hopefully it is an uneventful appointment and next few days. Induction is still set for July 3rd at 38w2d.

My girls still don't understand what is going on. But they do come up and pat my belly and say "mommy you are eating too much, you need to exercise". Every now and again they say there is a baby in there.

36w3d (I think)

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Monitoring continues in the final stretch

This week of course I drove to Springs on Tuesday for the Doppler. Everything looked perfect and normal.

Thursday I had to go to the hospital for my BPP since Dr. Growney is office was booked. Of course they were running behind comma so I sat around forever. Luckily the baby was fully cooperative this week and passed with flying colors. Went across the street to my doctor's appointment, was hooked up to the NST and again she passed that quickly. Met with Dr. Growney and discussed the induction on the 3rd. Everything is still set comma he did check my cervix and it is still closed :-(

Baby just needs to stay put until next week when Dr. Growney is back in town. But I wouldn't mind if the cervix would make progress before the induction so it isn't the world's longest labor.

Some exciting news is we learned the baby's name this week. So it has been nice to not call her "Baby" or "Fetus"

Q&A plan on coming to town around the 1st, along with his parents.

Hello contractions!

On Monday night we picked up the girls from daycare and we're going to take them to go eat dinner. I felt perfectly fine and a few minutes into the drive noticed some lower belly cramping that radiated up into a tightening belly. I didn't think anything of it but did make note that this felt different than the Braxton Hicks contractions I have been feeling I continue driving and a few minutes later got the same feeling. Again just ignored it not thinking anything of it, and a few minutes later the same thing. At that time I took note of the clock period 3 to 4 minutes later this feeling came back again, and three to four minutes after that again, and again, and again period I told rich I thought I was having contractions but I didn't know for sure since I have never really felt contractions period we went into the restaurant ordered our food and I was continuing to have contractions. I told rich I was going to go lay in the car with the air conditioner on and I continue to monitor. After an hour they were still there with me drinking a lot of water and resting. I called Labor and Delivery and they told me if it continued to head on in. We got home and I took a nice warm bath and they continued.

I notified Q&A as to what was going on. I got to labor and delivery and they hooked me up to the monitor. 15 minutes later the nurse came in and said she wasn't seeing anything, I told her I was still having that feeling and she readjusted the monitor. About 20 minutes later she came in and said she was seeing some activity that was coming and going. I let her know that the same feeling was happening, but it wasn't as frequent. At that point she checked my cervix and it was closed. I stayed on the monitor while she discussed with the doctor. Since I was supposed to get steroids this week anyway the doctor decided to go ahead and do the first dose that night. The nurse came in gave me the shot told me she would watch me for 15 minutes and send me home. During that 15 minutes I was laying there and again started noticing the cramping and tightening coming and going every 3 to 4 minutes. The nurse came in and asked how I was feeling, and I told her that I was having what I thought we're contractions again. She said in the last 10 minutes she had recorded 3 contractions every 3 to 4 minutes. She said they would continue to monitor and assess after that. The doctor was in a C-section at that time so the nurse was going to wait until she finished. The nurse came in several times to check on me comma and said the monitor wasn't picking anything up but I assured her that I was continuing to have contractions. She continued to adjust the Monitor and was picking up bits and pieces of the contractions. Once she discussed with the doctor what was going on the nurse came back in and rechecked my cervix and it remained closed, which is a great thing. A few minutes later the nurse came in and said they were going to give me a shot of terbutaline to try and stop the contractions. All I can say is Holy Smokes that was not a pleasant shot. After the shot naturally I got really jittery, experience they come from where contractions and then they stopped. Once they had stopped I was able to come home.
It was definitely an eventful evening, I was in labor and delivery for almost 5 hours. It definitely open my eyes at this baby can come at any time period I was taken aback that the contractions started out of nowhere and we're so close together. From now I guess I will take it more easy and keep my fingers and legs crossed that this baby will make it until July 3rd so that her parents will be here for the delivery.

It's a date!

Yesterday baby did good at the appointments. And the induction date was set! JULY 3rd is the day!!!

It will be nice to have baby and give her back to her parents! And see the joy it brings them. This will make all the sacrifices my family has had over the last several months worth it, when we see Q&A with their healthy baby girl.

It will also be nice to get back to normal life!

My family has sacrificed so much! Rich has picked up all the slack around the house. My girls haven't gotten to go out and do all the things we usually do (zoo,park, swimming, ect) since I've been on modified bedrest. I haven't worked in weeks, and miss it most days. I miss my friends, and my adult interaction.

I know some people have their opinions as to why we did this, but in reality no amount of money can replace the sacrifices that me, my children, and husband have had to endure. Even with the induction being scheduled, that means my girls will miss out on the things we would normally do for the 4th of July. the Pueblo West Water parade with their parents, fireworks with their mommy, and a fun day at the lake with their parents.

Hopefully baby stays put, and blood pressure behaves. And it is a quick and easy delivery!

34 week growth scan

Today was the growth scan. Baby is still growing at her own pace. She is up to 3lbs9oz. (One pound bigger than 3 weeks ago) she is still measuring <2nd percentile. She is constantly moving. She has been passing her BPP and NST weekly. Today mFM said we should be able to deliver at 38 weeks rather than 37 weeks (which his great tonhear since my Dr will be on vacation that week). I will still need to get steroids next week just in case the dopplers decide to change. So for right now the plan is to be induced the first week of July, unless this baby decides to come before that on her own. It is crazy to believe how fast this pregnancy has gone, and that we will soon see this baby's face in person versus black and white on the screen.

Ultrasounds galor

With 2 ultrasounds a week we sure do get to see this baby A lot. She sure does look like she has big lips and chubby cheeks! Here are some pictures