Just Shoot Me

Seriously, someone should put me out of my misery. "W" and I have been sick with colds since a week ago Friday, which include double ear infections for the both of us and a ruptured eardrum for me, can't hear a thing. I have never had an ear infection in my life, has anyone seen my immune system? It seems to be MIA. And what century do we live in anyway? Isn't it about time that someone invents a cough suppressant or decongestant that you can take while your pregnant or give to an infant?
Just to top it all off, I fell down the stairs yesterday, holding "W". "W" is fine, of course, save the baby, kill yourself. The kid doesn't really need a mother. Yesterday was a lot worse, but it is unbearable to bend over, walk up stairs, or stand from sitting.
Now PBTB will see just what kind of a mess "W" puts the house in everyday because I can't bend over to pick any of it up.
BTW, NST and Dopler US went good today, as usual. And I guess we're affirmative on ET only having one artery in his umbilical cord. So, hopefully my placenta is fine and delivery will be normal. Still scheduled for April 6th. One week, hello? I never thought I would wish for the last uncomfortable months of pregnancy, but it just doesn't seem right without it. It seems so unnatural.

First Things First

Although I would not have chosen for ET to have IUGR, I am grateful that I have time to prepare for his early arrival. If I hadn't known, I am certain this would not have been done in time. This is my own rendition, combining things I liked from 2 separate DROPS patterns on Ravelry. It's shaped kind of funny because the cables make it shrink up, but I am quite certain that it will look better on him.

Speaking of ET. We had an appointment with my Dr. this afternoon and our usual NST. The NST was uneventful, besides the fact that I had "W" with me and no one to watch him, that was a bit interesting, but better than I thought it would be. (Think of being strapped down in a room with only a curtain for a door for 20 minutes with your toddler, surprisingly, he didn't try to escape.) I have no idea if I had any weight gain, the digital scale didn't even stop flashing numbers before the nurse told me to get off. My belly measurement was negative, back to 29 weeks and I'm at 36 weeks. All my Dr. said about that was, "Well, it's definitely time for him to come out." Meaning, still being induced on the 6th. Oh yeah, and I am now dilated 2 cm and am 60% effaced.

Late for an Important Date

We wanted to spend some quality time together and do something fun for "W" last Friday because PBTB has been working 70 or more hours a week. Discovery Gateway was all the fun we needed. We liked it so much we bought a pass. So, I can get 2 more people in for free, besides "W" and I, anytime someone wants a play date with us.



These waterworks were "W"s favorite.

Randomness From March

A few things that I may or may not have blogged about this past month, had I been able to upload photos.

This was the first time it snowed after it had been so warm. "W" couldn't figure out why we couldn't just go outside all the time like before.

In between snow storms, playin' with Daddy. (Grandma has a good stock of cool toys around.)

"W" and Princess Sue being silly after church. ("W"s sweater compliments of the Yarn Queen.)

My favorite scarf patter (3rd one I've knit, called Dayflower on Ravelry), knit for a friend.

An overdue haircut, as in I haven't had one in 9 months.

"W" 18 Months

"W" turned 18 months on Feb. 24th. With the move and baby complications, I haven't had a chance to download my photos until now. I wanted to get "W"s photos taken, but when I found out ET was making an early arrival, I decided to wait and do them together. These are just pics I took of him. My attempt was next to a failure. He was ready for a nap, refused to look at me, and was further away from cooperation than he normally is. He was also having the only "bad hair day" that he has ever had and it was super windy, just my luck. All that and I was smart enough to attempt to figure out how to operate my Mom's camera in manual in harsh light (I ended up with it on auto). Better luck next time, I guess.




I finally broke down, went home and got my own camera. Which turned out these photos, but "W" was way past his prime at this point, so PBTB was assisting.

What's Up Doc?

I hope you can all endure my endless stream of redundancy about Dr. visits and such. Today won't be any different. Today ET had his long anticipated growth US. ET now weighs 4 lb. 8 oz., which is in the 13th percentile, which is better than the less than 10th percentile that he was 3 weeks ago. His head measures 1 week behind, his abdomen measures 4 weeks behind, and his femur measures 3 weeks behind. This may seem strange, but this is what happens when the growth restriction happens later in the pregnancy, it is asymmetrical, meaning the head is larger than the body. The Dr. also noticed that he might be missing an umbilical artery, something that they missed before. His heart is fine, but the umbilical blood flow should have 2 arteries and 1 vein. He may only have one. She said that 1-2% of babies are missing one and that sometimes it restricts their growth and sometimes it doesn't, she also said that it may not be related to the growth restriction at all. Helpful information, eh?
The NST is always an adventure. Today, he was snoozing, so the nurse says to him, "you better wake up or you're gonna get zapped" ET immediately starts in with his accelerations like a good little baby. Except he gets a little carried away and when the nurse came back to check on us, she said he was a little too excited and told us that we couldn't leave until his heartrate dropped back down to normal. So, he calmed down and we were done. So obedient, already.

Navel Gazing

I had another Dr.appointmet on Wednesday. My belly grew 1/2 cm and I gained 2 1/2 lbs, how do ya like them apples? The "big" ultrasound appointment is on Monday, when they will officially measure ET. All signs (unofficial measurements, belly growth) indicate that ET has grown since the first US. Which means, they probably won't induce on Monday. I will continue with the heavy monitoring and if their are no red flags, they will wait to induce until I am 37 weeks. I turn 37 weeks on April 3rd, but that's a Friday and she doesn't do scheduled inductions on Friday. So, she scheduled me to be induced on Monday, April 6th. Yay, I get a couple extra days, maybe :)

Routine Maintenance

"W" has our hospital routine down pat.  He knows how to get to where we're going and where all the entertainment (fish tank) is.  Today was another doppler ultrasound and the usual NST.  The doppler went really well, the Dr. said the blood flow through the umbilical cord looked really good.  Then she said it looked a lot better than last week and didn't spend nearly the same amount of time checking it.  They said it looked good last week, too.  I don't know why they aren't 100% honest with me.  Anyway, it looked good today, that's all that matters.  She said she would "sneak" in an unofficial measurement of ET, she wasn't supposed to measure him until next week.  She didn't mention what she was measuring, it looked like the head, but I think the abdomen is what's measuring small.  She said he was measuring 4 weeks small.  She also said that he had measured 5 weeks too small last week.  (She must have "snuck" in a measurement last week too, but didn't tell me.)  She called the difference from last week to this week "consistent", but I consider it good, a week's a week, right?  The Dr. said that she loved how active he is, this is a very good sign.  The NST was pretty much a joke.  ET was not having any of it.  The minute the nurse got the monitor to pick up his heart rate, he would kick it off. She managed to catch a few "accelerations", enough for him to pass, but we were there a lot longer than 20 minutes.  My next appointment is on Wednesday, to see if I've had any more belly growth.

Difference a Day Makes

Today I saw my Dr. and am so excited to report that I had some belly growth, 2.5 cms, which puts me at 30 and I am 34 weeks along (no weight gain). This doesn't change anything really as far as early induction goes, but it sure does makes me feel better. My diagnosis is still IUGR as a result of the placenta, which after Monday I was beginning to wonder about. They kept telling me that everything looked good and the placenta was functioning properly, which led me to believe their must be something wrong with ET. When I asked my Dr. about that today, she informed me that they meant is was functioning well enough for them not to induce yet, I seriously could have kissed her. The NST also went well, which has been pretty typical. I am so lucky to have such an active little fella, it makes all the medical professionals happy. Except for the few times he kicked the monitor off :) I even got to see his cute little face in the middle of a lengthy yawn, which after the last few days of worry brought tears to my eyes.

Quickie

I got a couple of phone calls about not posting about my Dr. appointment yesterday. Sorry, but it's a little disheartening to go to so many appointments and not really find out anything new. I did have a doplar ultrasound yesterday and another non-stress test. ET was sleepy and they had to zap him during the NST, but he did pass. Blood flow through the umbilical cord looks good, too. My next appointments are on Thursday.

Flying Colors

ET passed his second non-stress test this afternoon and my second steroid shot was not nearly as painful as the first one. The shots take 48 hours to take effect and will make ET's lung and bowel development accelerate so that it will be safer for him to be born early. I will feel better when we pass that point. The best part, we made it back from the hospital without needing to be induced, yay! My next appointments will be on Monday and they will do another non-stress test and an ultrasound. I am hoping then they will be able to check on the IUGR (intrauterine growth restriction, the technical term for what I am experiencing)
Emotionally, I am completely and hopelessly distracted. I was certain that my 10:30 am Dr. appointment was at 2:40 pm. I, of course, missed it and was grateful that they could fit me in later. Then, we went on a search for preemie clothes. I am afraid to say I have been forced into doing 2 things I despise, shopping at Wal-Mart and buying baby clothes with stupid little animals on them. The lady at Target said that Wal-Mart was the only place that carries them. Does anyone know anything different about that?

The Down Lo

No belly growth again today. (I did want to mention, that I gained 3 1/2 lbs. I was proud of that, but evidently it doesn't really matter.) The Dr. now seems pretty certain that it is the placenta failing. She informed me that she would not allow me to go past 37 weeks, which is April 3rd, my oldest brother's bd. However, I have to monitor baby's movements once a day for an hour. If I don't get 6 kicks in the hour, I go directly to the hospital, do not pass go, do not collect $200. And, I have to take a packed bag to each of my appointments, in case they decide to induce after any of them. Isn't this sort of thing supposed to happen to other people? Not that I would wish it on anyone, it's just hard to wrap my head around. (PS, I believe that a nurse should warn you if a shot in the hip is going to hurt that bad, betamethasone, not fun! and I have to do it again tomorrow.)

Not Wasting Any Time

In this family, we don't waste any time, when we get past one hurdle we move on to the next. And sometimes we throw 2 or more hurdles in, just to make life interesting. Last Thursday, I went from having a "business as usual" pregnancy to a "closely monitored" pregnancy....translation 4 Dr. appointmets a week. Don't get me wrong, I'm not complaining, I am grateful that they decided not to induce me.
As some of you have commented, I am not very big. From the beginning, I have been concerned that I wasn't as big as I had been with my first pregnancy. Up until last week, I had been measuring normally. I am now 32 1/2 weeks, but am measuring 5 weeks behind and hadn't grown since my last appointment, red flag apparently. My Dr. gave me a couple of likely scenarios from non-serious to serious and ordered an ultrasound ASAP. They weren't able to fit me in until yesterday.
With the ultrasound they were able to determine that my amniotic fluid was sufficient, but that ET was quite small (2 lbs. 13 oz.) This could mean that my placenta is not providing him with enough nutrition. (PS, I am not undereating, just wanted to throw that in there after a few people suggested that I eat more. Eating more does not increase the effectiveness of the placenta.) They decided not to induce because he seemed happy and was moving around a lot. They will monitor him very closely with non-stress tests and ultrasounds over the next three weeks. If his growth does not improve, they will induce me then.
My Dr. assured me that he may just be a small baby. We are praying that this is the case.
I don't think the news has completely sunk in, not feeling sad or really even very worried, just a little overwhelmed with unpacking, taking care of "W", and making it to 4 Dr. appointments a week. Oh yeah, and the Dr. suggested I stay off my feet......that's hilarious.

On a lighter not, "W" turned 18 months last Monday and I turned 29 last Saturday. Neither were very eventful. We are officially completely out of our house and nestling into Grandma's basement for now. I will post some new pics when our computer set-up is back to normal.