37 Weeks

I am 37 weeks pregnant and FULL TERM! HOORAY! I couldn't' think of much to say this week, so I thought I would follow suit with Diva bud and use Cactus Bud's update template.

How far along: 37 Weeks

Total weight change: up 22 lbs from my pre pregnancy weight plus I gained back the 4 or 5 I lost in the first trimester.

Maternity clothes: All the time. 

Stretch Marks: Not yet, but keeping my figures crossed. 


Movement: Baby was no longer posterior at Fridays visit, but after all the movement I was feeling in the middle of the night on Monday, I am not sure that is still the case. 

Sleep: Not very good. Feeling uncomfortable and waking often to eat or pee. Wishing that the boys did not wake up at 6:15 a.m. most days. 

Best Moment This Past Week: Most Difficult Moment This Past Week: My best moments are reaching the full term point and having my baby shower, and the most difficult was getting a 24 hour flu bug today. I haven't even been able to keep down anything including water, but luckily Mr L. Bud stayed home with the kids while I rested. 

Belly Button In or Out: In, but pretty even with the rest of my belly at this point

Cravings/Aversions: Craving sweets, trying to fill that craving with strawberries and other fruits instead of junk food as much as possible. I still can't eat a bunch of things without throwing up, including eggs. Today the guacamole on my burrito almost made me lose it. 

Symptoms: Heart burn and feeling exhausted most of the time. 

Oops! It's been awhile...

I've tried to be really good about posting weekly to the blog but the end of this pregnancy has me going crazy! There is so much to do to prepare for baby how can I possibly blog?

Today I am 36 weeks 3 days (I think). I had my 36 week appointment on Tuesday and got some fun news! They did the GBS swab (yuck) and since they were down there anyway I asked to be checked. Guess what? 2 centimeters dilated and 50-60% effaced, yahoo! I know it *technically* doesn't mean anything BUT ask any pregnant woman and I bet she will say she was excited about any progress she had made. I figure those are 2 less centimeters I have to be in labor for.

My midwife also gave me the go-ahead to start taking Evening Primrose Oil three times a day. This will help soften my cervix. She also told me baby is facing posterior (sunny side up) which is usually the cause for some painful back labor. Great! So she gave me a sheet with ways to sit to help baby turn to the right side. I've been living in those positions since Tuesday. Back labor? No thank you!

I think I have gained between 20 and 25 pounds. I feel like a whale. I sure hope I can lose all this weight after baby is born.

Mr. BB is getting pretty excited about baby, he is always asking me whether I think baby is a boy or a girl (no idea) but will never share what he thinks (not fair)!

We can't wait to meet Baby BB. The kids are so excited! The car seat is installed, the cosleeper is set up, diapers are prepped, and the clothes are all washed. I have been nesting badly lately so hopefully I can clean/organize the whole house before this LO arrives since I know I won't be doing much cleaning with a newborn.

The nursery is not finished and I doubt it will be before Baby BB arrives. Oh well, what can you do? He/she will be sleeping in our room anyway. I am hoping we get it finished soon after LO is here though. The dry way is (FINALLY) going up this weekend. Then it will need mudding/sanding before we can paint and tile. I am actually heading over to pick out some tile right now.

Our last Bradley class is Tuesday, woo hoo! I'll also be full term then too. My Bradley instructor thinks I'll go into labor in the next two weeks, exciting!

I *will* *(at least try) to update Tuesday.

-Buttercup Bud

Early Arrival

As it turns out, two of us here on Bloomin' Babies delivered on the same day. (HUGE congrats to Teacher Bud)

This is going to be long as its been an adventure the last two weeks, but I wanted to fill you all in on why I've been 'missing'.

On September 27th I went in for my weekly appointment. I was about 37.5 weeks. They did my vitals upon arrival. Blood pressure was up 10 points (140ish/80ish) range. Weight had jumped up 4 pounds in a week. Then my urine came back that I was spilling more protein. I was being watched prior to that appointment for signs of Pre-Eclampsia and it seems I was crossing over into officially having it. Since I was full term, my doctor decided it was go time to get the baby out of there. I had to call my husband from the doctors office (he was at work) and the doctor arranged for a non-emergency transport from her office to the hospital...a grand total of a half mile distance.

A few hours later I'm told that my cervix was starting to dilate on its own (went from 1 to 2.5 in that time period) and that Pitocin was the best option to start up labor. This is when I realized that things may not go as I'd hoped for this delivery. I'd hoped for as intervention-free as possible. With pitocin the baby has to be on monitors constantly, meaning I'd be pretty much restricted to however far the monitors could reach. Add to that the blood pressure cuff...and yeah, I was having to ring a nurse if I needed to use the restroom.

I continued to labor overnight with pitocin. Not much progress was made. I think I got to about a 3cm by 6am that morning. They gave me a little break from the pitocin, let me eat something for the first time since noon the day before (crackers and Jello have never tasted so good) and then we went back at it.

A prime example of my labor not going according to my birth plan. Taken at the end of labor, that's pitocin, magnesium, saline & antibiotics on the IV pole.

Sometime that afternoon (time is becoming a blur at this point), I get the "We need to either break your water and hope that jump starts labor or we need to proceed with a c-section" talk. I opted to have them break my water. Not the most comfortable thing for the record. Once the water was broken the relatively mild pitocin contractions I'd been having kicked into high gear. I went from being able to talk through the to scaring some poor student with the amount of pain I was in who was coming in to ask for permission ti study the placenta to help further understand Pre-E.

Not long after this point I was pretty much begging for an epidural. The pitocin induced contractions were one on top of the other and were really intense. Plus the nurses were having trouble getting my contractions on the monitors (to which I assured them I was having them as i writhed in pain) and getting an epidural would allow them to monitor them internally and start the dreaded magnesium drip. The epidural was wonderful and provided some much needed relief. Amid an occasional wave of nausea (thank you magnesium drip), I labored on. At this point I could feel the pressure as my cervix was dilated and occasionally I could feel break through pain of the contractions.

Sometime after 3pm the doctors started talking about checking me around 4pm to see how I was doing for progression. At this point I was starting to get the first signs of a fever courtesy of having my water broken. I remember chiming in that they might want to check me before then. I could feel him down really low. No urge to push, but I knew he was further than they seemed to think he was. I was right. I was at a 10 and it was go time.

The pushing stage is kind of a blur to me. I'd been laboring for 24+ hours at that point and was spiking a fever. I felt incredibly weak and remember telling them that I didn't know if I had the strength left in me to get him out. They must've believed me, because they called the vacuum guy in to take a look. He didn't end up helping out (I hadn't progressed far enough).

After that I started to get the hang of pushing. I was pretty much a train wreck...in addition to all the fun down below associated with delivery, I also puked for the first time in my entire pregnancy during the pushing phase. I'd like to blame the magnesium as a known side effect of it is nausea, but the truth is that sometimes women puke during labor. Kind of frustrating to make it to about 20 minutes before I'm no longer pregnant before tossing my cookies though...but it is what it is...

Dylan James joined our family on September 28, 2011 at 4:21PM. He weighed 6lb 2oz and was 19.39 inches long. He came out kind of bluish pink, the doctors say courtesy of the magnesium I had to be on (Apgars of 6 & 9) and had to be worked on a bit to get his lungs cleared. He also got a 4 hour stint in the NICU and 2 days of antibiotics courtesy of the infection I developed during delivery. Him being taken to NICU was so hard as I was stuck in L&D getting myself fixed up (2nd degree tear) in the meantime and couldn't leave. My husband went with him, but it was so hard to not be there...

We ended up with an extended 5 day stay in the hospital courtesy of my Pre-Eclampsia. My labs weren't coming back how they were supposed to and my blood pressure wouldn't drop. In fact, it wasn't until just yesterday after I'd been put on blood pressure meds that my BP has gotten back to normal. The extended stay in the hospital in some ways was a blessing as we had some breastfeeding issues to overcome. Due to the babies slightly early arrival, he didn't have the stamina to put much effort into feeding until my milk came in on Day 4. We actually had to supplement with formula some in the hospital for blood sugar reasons (fed by tube, not bottle), but we've since weaned off of that and are 100% breastfeeding now.

We're now at home and doing well aside from myself and the baby having a head cold.

Without further adieu, here are some pictures of our little man

Riding home from the hospital.

Posing for the camera yesterday.

Full Term!

(Image credit: http://tinyurl.com/3vzykty )

We made it to full term! 37 weeks!

Totally unbelievable to me that baby is now supposedly the size of a watermelon.

No progress on his escape to report on as of yet, just some pressure downstairs periodically. As of today though, he's allowed to start the ball rolling in that direction.

Here at 37 weeks, I'm like the post office....

... delivering the post in the rain, sleet, snow and now even in the face of a completely dysfunctional laptop.

My mother used my laptop the other day. She was waiting for the crib delivery for me while I had an appointment. I thought I was being nice by leaving it all internet ready for her. Ugh. That night it was all over. Thankfully, Mr DB is an IT manager and got right on trying to figure out what was wrong. Initially, my virus scanner found two cookie trackers and a virus, which it scrubbed... but later, a more advanced scanner found traces of a "rootkit", which apparently has some positive connotations, but not in this case.

So, i've now been without my laptop for 2 days. Hopefully I'll have it back by tomorrow morning, because I really need to do some school work.

Anyway, so here's me - on my husbands MacBook. I have no idea how to use this thing, so bear with me!

I know I said I'm like the post office - but in this case, the only thing I'm delivering at this time IS this post. As of my weekly appointment yesterday, my cervix is still closed, but softening. I am taking evening primrose oil twice a day to help that process, but like many of the "wives tales", they're not going to work until your body is ready for them too. And I'm only 37 weeks 1 day. I'm not in a big hurry. Smudge will come when s/he's ready. I've been taking my vitamin C though, to help make sure that my membranes don't rupture before i go into labor. The last thing I want to do is be watching a clock, and be given a limit on how long they'll let my labor go. As long as they stay intact, i'm good to go. Smudge is dropping though. The head is closer to my cervix than last week, so that's a bonus.

Last week was a really disappointing moment for me, when for the first time in my pregnancy, I had an uncontrollable weight gain. In 2 weeks I had gained 4 pounds, which I was horrified about. Until that point, I had been doing REALLY well. I'm blaming it on a number of things.

1. I had finally given in to some cravings, which I hadn't before at all. Oh bread - how I missed thee.
2. I wasn't as good about my water intake.
3. I was drinking a LOT of orange juice.
4. I was eating a bit too much salt.

All of those things combined did not do me any favors on the scale. But I'm THRILLED to report that although I didn't lose weight this week, I also didn't gain anything. So, i'm at 21 pounds for 37 weeks. Not horrible, I don't think. Yes, it's over my initial goal of 20 pounds for the pregnancy, but I think at this point, if I don't go over 25 i've done a really good job.

37 weeks and counting!

Meanwhile, we've been busy trying to get everything ready for the baby in the house.

The nursery is just about done. Auntie DB is coming by on sunday to help me get everything ready while Mr DB finishes a couple of projects that I would like done before the baby comes. But this is where we are right now! I still have a couple of diapers to prep, but I'm going to wait another week. A VERY generous online friend is sending me some diapers, and I'm just going to wait to wash them all together. Check out our nursery so far... we're almost done!!

Story Corner

places to hang out in the living room

diaper central

oodles of prepped diapers

our crib

So, i know this isn't a very exciting update. 37 weeks pregnant. Nothing exciting to report. Taking the EPO to try to help things along. Drinking my Red Raspberry Leaf tea to strengthen my uterus for labor. And waiting.

Waiting.

Waiting.

Waiting.

I'll leave you with this. It made my day yesterday when we got home from the doctor. In the middle of November, when everything else around it is dead and dying.... the morning after a horrid thunderstorm with damaging winds... this little guy refuses to give up and go. Sticking it out, knowing only the strongest will survive.

Stubborn Dandelion

There's a full moon this sunday.... i'm not saying anything, and I certainly won't be surprised to be just a little more pregnant on monday than I am today. But i'm a big believer in the full moon. So, I guess we'll see!

time is seriously flying!

Today marks 37 weeks for Little Baby MB! Meaning, I'm full term and he is safe to come whenever he'd like!

It's been a while since I posted, but not much has been happening. Since I've been on modified bed rest I've just been trying to take it easy. We got a lot of our home renovations completed a few weeks ago in preparation for baby. The nursery is coming along nicely, too. It's sooooo close to being done! This is the Art wall! I'll post more about it once things are more finished in there.

My Dr appointments have been going well. Baby MB is passing his NSTs with flying colors each week. Last week we had our growth ultrasound, he looks just like his daddy. It's incredible. He's got the chubbiest cheeks!

We've got a *possible* induction date set for 11/22 if for some reason my blood pressure goes back up (Doc just wanted to book it in case this happens)... but I'm hoping he comes on his own here soon!

Sending lots of baby dust to everyone out there! Thank you for joining me on our journey :)

37w3d and uncomfortable!

Since my last post, Baby Hopeful Bud has had another up close photo shoot to follow up on the fluid on her kidney. While there was still fluid on her left kidney, the kidney had not changed shapes or location, so the doctor said that it looked "normal". As normal as her mother is 10.5 sized feet. So I have big feet, Baby HB just has a bigger kidney. Her amniotic fluid was perfect, so really there is no reason to be worried that she won't be a perfectly healthy baby bud! That was absolutely wonderful news to hear. At this appointment last week, she was measuring about a week a head, but the doctor still put her in the 21 percentile because of her body weight. She is going to be long and lean just like her mom and grandpa. The great news about her being tall now, as opposed to when I grew up is that now they make long kids clothes. I think I went all the way through grade school waiting for a flood that never came.

This week at our regular OB appt., we discussed how long past my due date they would let me go. He said that they do not like their patients to go over a week past the due date. I want to do everything I can to avoid induction, so I've been drinking Raspberry Tea and am about ready to go to Wal-Mart to get a yoga ball to help her drop. When my doctor checked my cervix for dilation and effacement, I had made no progress. Baby HB is very happy being up under my ribs. My doctors exact words were "If I was a betting man, I would say that your little one is not going to make an early appearance. She will more then likely stay put until much closer to her due date." While I am excited for whenever she comes, I welcome a couple more weeks. Mr. HB is still putting blinds up in the nursery. We still have to put together all the fun equipment like the Pack N'Play, swing and stroller.

We do have our bags packed and everything ready should she decide to make an appearance. I just hope it's after this weekend. The weather is supposed to be absolutely perfect, so Mr. Hopeful Bud and I are going to a baseball game this Saturday, and then spending the night down in the city and a fancy hotel. It's not much of a babymoon, but I'm so excited about it. Mr. HB and I really need some quality time together.

So here I sit in our office at 37 weeks and 3 days. For the most part I feel okay, but I am really starting to get uncomfortable. I don't think she has dropped yet, but I am feeling way more pressure on my cervix then I normally do. I was really hoping to get into the chiropractor today or tomorrow, because my hips have been hurting too, but she is all booked up. I see a pedicure in my future!

I'll keep you ladies posted.

Take care and stay hopeful!

37... I mean 38 Weeks!

Wow... I've been horrible blogger.

I just realized that I never blogged about my 37 week appointment… it.was.horrible. Dr. C was out of town so I saw Dr. W. I've seen her once before and didn't really get a good vibe from her but after this appointment I REALLY don't like her.

• She kept talking about "the second time around" insinuating this is my second kid. I corrected her... twice.
• When she measured my belly she said "oh right on target for being 36 weeks..." um... I corrected her again telling her I'm actually 37 weeks. I know the measurement is still normal either way but still irritating.
• She couldn't find Baby GB’s heartbeat - even after I showed her exactly where they always find it... after she finally found it she had to pull out her iphone to time it cause she "forgot her watch today." WTF?
• When asked about taking a birthing class, I got a lecture cause I said we haven't and that we didn't plan to?! Seriously lady??? Seriously?
• Dr. C told me that if I wanted she'd do an internal which I actually really wanted just to see if anything's going on yet… but after that I didn't want her to touch me.
• She gave me the great news that I tested positive for that Group B Strep crap! I know it's nothing serious and that I just have to get treated while in the hospital for delivery but just the fact that SHE delivered the news makes it that much more irritating!
• To boot - all of this lasted a total of about 5 minutes... Dr. C usually takes at least 15-20 min sometimes longer if we get to talking... thanks doc for the pointless appointment?

I just kept thinking after that appointment that PLEASE Baby GB PLEASE don’t come this week since Dr. C is out of town… we don’t want Dr. W to deliver us!!!!! Well, he obviously didn’t come cause I'm now 38 weeks 5 days knocked up.

I've been having 3 appointments a week; two non-stress tests to make sure Baby GB is moving around and that his heart rate is raising when he does, an ultrasound to measure his amniotic fluid levels and my regular appointment with Dr. C - who told me on Wednesday that there's nothin' going on down there... thanks Baby GB... let’s get this party started!!!

Anyway, my next appointment with Dr. C is on Monday - Monday the 22nd - we are REALLY hoping he makes his appearance on this day (even though technically it would be 1 week early). There are already a handful of 22^nd birthdays in my family so it would just be neat to add another one. Stay tuned....

Here's a picture of Baby GB from this week’s ultrasound... it’s adorable cause he looks exactly like daddy!!! We can’t WAIT to meet him!!!

"I Carried A Watermelon?"

Every time I think of watermelons I think of that quote from Dirty Dancing... "I carried a watermelon?" LOL - RIP Patrick Swayze!

Anyway, today marks 37 weeks!!!! I love how thebump.com compares weeks 37-40+ to watermelons?! That's scary.

Here's some info from their website:

Baby's now the size of a watermelon!

Your full-term (yay!) baby is gaining about 1/2 ounce a day and getting his first sticky poop (called meconium) ready. He's also brushing up on skills for the outside world: blinking, sucking, inhaling, exhaling, and gripping (it's getting strong!).


Your Pregnancy: Week 37

"Today brings two beautiful words: full-term. Now, whenever baby's born, he's likely to thrive. Also thriving? Your nesting instincts, which are behind those sudden urges to bake, clean, or embroider a onesie. (Feminists, take your issue up with nature, not with us.)"

This.is.true... this last Saturday marked day one of SERIOUS nesting!

I thought I'd been nesting before - cleaning up the house, getting Baby GB's room ready, organizing the closets - but today had nothing on the last 8 months. I woke up at 6:30am, which by the way felt like sleeping in since I've been getting up at 5am every since I switched my work schedule?! Mr. GB left for the day and I went to work on the house. I started by actually cleaning my vacuum?! Who cleans their vacuum? Anyway, then I moved on to the baseboards (they are actually white! Who knew?), then I dusted... everything... from the ceiling fan to the walls, shelves, knickknacks, behind the couch, seriously everything. At one point I started on the bathroom - sprayed the shower down along with the sink and toilet to soak. All the while I had the laundry going.

Around 10am I realized I needed to get my butt in the shower cause I had another friend's baby shower to go to at noon. The house was a complete mess still and I hadn't even touched our bedroom or the kitchen?! But it was really nice to get out and take a break.

After the shower I came back home and did some more laundry, finished vacuuming, mopped the kitchen & the bathroom, cleaned out ALL the cabinet drawers in the kitchen and wiped them down. What else... oh put our bedding back together since I washed all that.

Phew! I woke up on Sunday and was SO SORE. I overdid it a little I think?! So I did nothing except organize and put away all Baby GB's newborn - 3 month old clothing.

Today, I had my 37 week appointment - however Dr. C is out of town so I saw Dr. W. I've seen her once before and didn't really get a good vibe from her but after today I REALLY don't like her.

* She kept talking about "the second time around" insinuating this is my second kid. I corrected her... twice.
* When she measured my belly she said "oh right on target for being 36 weeks..." um... I corrected her again telling her I'm actually 37 weeks. I know the measurement is still normal either way but still irritating.
* She couldn't find his heartbeat - even after I showed her exactly where they always find it... after she finally found it she had to pull out her iphone to time it cause she "forgot her watch today." WTF?
* When asked about taking a birthing class, I got a lecture cause I said we haven't and that we didn't plan to?! Seriously lady??? Seriously?
* Dr. C told me that if I wanted she'd do an internal which I actually really wanted just to see if anything's going on yet.. but after that I didn't want her to touch me.
* She gave me the great news that I tested positive for that Group B Strep crap! I know it's nothing serious and that I just have to get treated while in the hospital for delivery but just the fact that SHE delivered the news makes it that much more irritating!
* To boot - all of this lasted a total of about 5 minutes... Dr. C usually takes at least 15-20 min sometimes longer if we get to talking... thanks doc for the pointless appointment?!

Wow - sorry this post was REALLY long... I got kind of carried away with the appointment recap today?! As ready as I am for Baby GB to make an appearance I've got my fingers crossed that he waits until next week for Dr. C to get back... here's hoping!!!