UNcomfortable!

I'm still pluggin' along.....  becoming more and more uncomfortable as the days go by!  This is what we want, though, and Mr. Bossy has been amazing throughout it all.  He does so much for me without complaining- I really have no room to complain. :)

Baby Bossy's nursery is almost finished.  Waiting on a couple more finishing touches, and I will post pictures.  I had my friends & family shower last weekend, and it was a lot of fun.  The theme was "Little Man" and my friends & mom did an amazing job.  I received lots of gifts for Baby Bossy.  We are most definitely blessed.

At my last sonogram appointment, my doctor mentioned that Baby Bossy was already almost 4 pounds (putting him in the 80th percentile).  She said that he gets too big, I'll need to have a cesarean.  That didn't make me very happy, but I'll do whatever needs to be done to ensure the safety/health of my child and myself.  We're scheduling another sonogram at 36 weeks (3 more weeks).  Hopefully, he'll have slowed down with his weight gain, but I'm not holding my breath!

Bossy Bud

Ups and Downs

Things are going pretty well over here in SB Land. I had my weekly doctor's appointment (went from twice a week to once a week). My blood pressure was 118/62 and there was trace levels of protein in my urine. No swelling, no weird vision. I fully understand that this can take a turn at any time, but I am hoping with two good doctor's appointments under my belt, this is more of an indication that I can make it to 37 weeks. Dr. B even suggested that I can take my appointments to twice a month now. I declined simply because of the fact that I am a spaz.

Speaking of being a spaz......

I had my second growth ultrasound two Saturdays ago. Since the diagnosis, they want to make sure the baby is still growing and getting everything he needs. So I go about once every 4 weeks to go and get him checked out now. Dude, our baby is getting what he needs and plenty more of it where that came from. HE IS BIG! In the 81st percentile for his growth and at 31 weeks he was weighing in at about 4.5 lbs. No surprise really. Mr. SB was an 8 pounder and I was a 9 pounder so to think our baby was going to small was pretty much a figment of our imaginations.

Well, during this appointment, I noticed the tech taking extra pictures of the baby's head (which by the way is measuring 4 weeks ahead!!!!) and measuring it. This let me into hysterics because I was convinced she was doing all of these measurements because the baby is brain damaged. Rational and logic aside (umm, her job is to measure - that's pretty much what we went in for), I was prepared to take in the bad news at my doctor's appointment. Needless to say, everything was fine and I will just add that instance to the list of why I will be the craziest mother on earth (If you are a hypochondriac, just wait until you get knocked up - then you have two people to obsess about).

However, pre e has not come without a few bumps in the road. I was in the ER twice in past week.

The first time was for high blood pressure that would not go down. Mr. SB and I went out for lunch and I don't know how to explain it but I just felt...off. We were going to go and finish up some baby shopping after, but I asked him to take me home - I didn't feel well. Once I got home, I took my blood pressure. It was sky effin' high. So I put my feet up, drank some water, and tested again - still high. Repeated this one more time and then called my doctor's office. They told me to come in.

Once in triage, my blood pressure went down to safe levels and all of my blood work came back normal. I was sent home with another 24 hour urine test to do (I'm such a pro at this now). My levels came back slightly elevated from last time, but nothing to be concerned about.

The second trip was because I am a little crazy and thought my water broke. I'm going to go all TMI on you guys here and tell you that holy mother of cats do I have a ton of discharge in my third trimester. Needless to say, my water is still in tact, but that didn't stop them from keeping me in triage for FOUR HOURS because my blood pressure was high (umm no shit - I thought my water broke). But I guess it is best to be monitored, and after a few blood tests and other blood pressure readings, I was sent home again.

Tomorrow I will officially be 33 weeks (which marks 6 weeks since my diagnosis of pre e). One week away from our first goal of 34 weeks and I must admit, it feels pretty good to have made it this far. Let's just hope that my body can endure this for 4 more weeks. Every day I am considering a blessing.

I'm going to leave this post on a positive note and say that I also had my baby shower this month. It was so cute! My cousin did a baby bird theme for me. Here are some pics:

Glad we had a "not medically necessary" sonogram

Last week Mr. Hopeful bud and I showed up at our doctors office for a 3D/4D sonogram. I had to sign a waiver that said this procedure was "not medically necessary" and would not be turned into insurance. Mr. HB was excited to see our little girl again, but didn't really care if we had this sonogram or not. However, me being the over protective mother already, wanted to take every opportunity offered to see Baby Hopeful Bud before she arrived. When I first laid down, Baby HB decided it would be funny to have her umbilical cord all around her face, so we couldn't get a clear picture of her at all. So the ultrasound tech told me to walk around, drink some cold water and Mr. HB told me to do some jumping jacks. All of which I did in hopes that she would move around and we could get a clearer pictures. Well her umbilical cord moved out of the way, but it was replaced by her hands directly in front of her face. Mr. HB said she was being "stubborn like her mom." I said she is just being shy. We got a couple good pictures, even with her hands up by her face. We counted 10 fingers and 10 toes. She has the most adorable little button nose and mouth. The tech thought that it looked like she had some hair on her head. She weighed approximately 3 pounds and 1 ounce and all of her measurements were proportional. She had a heartrate of 148. All signs were pointing to the fact that she is perfect. We left with huge smiles on our faces and some adorable photos of her.

The next morning one of the nurses from the doctor's office called and said that one of the doctors reviewed Baby HB's sonogram and found fluid on her kidney so they were referring us to a Perinatal specialist for a Level 2 sonogram. My heart sank as tears swelled in my eyes. The nurse kept saying that I shouldn't be worried, that it was just a little bit of fluid, but I couldn't really comprehend what she was saying. She had already called the specialist's office and set up an appointment for us on April 15th. I thanked her and again she told me not to worry. Unfortunately instead of not worrying, I turned to Google. Big mistake!! Needless to say I was reading worst case scenarios and started having alot of questions and concerns. I called the nurse back and she called another specialist office and got our appointment moved up to April 7th (tomorrow). I have been very calm and confident this whole week and weekend leading up to tomorrow, until this evening. Now I'm getting a bit weepy. Here are a couple of the options that could be the reason for the fluid in Baby HB's kidney: 1) Best case scenario is that is is nothing and that she just forgot to pee that morning, 2) her urinary tract has not developed properly, or 3) there was a kink in her urinary tract caused by the way she was positioned that caused the fluid build up. In her past sonograms the tech has mentioned that she has a good level of amniotic fluid around her, so that is a good sign.

Our appointment is at 1:30 pm tomorrow, so many prayers will be said between now and then. Hopefully it is just a precaution and it's nothing. If the sonogram shows more fluid and the cause of it, then we will be more prepared on what to anticipate come delivery day. Either way, we get to see precious Baby HB for the fourth time tomorrow and for that I am excited and very blessed. Again, hopefully this will be the last time until she graces us with her presence in June.

I'll keep you posted on the outcome.

Stay hopeful!

:) Hopeful bud

Update on Baby Hopeful Bud

First off, I apologize for being a bad blogger. I really have no good reason, I've kept up on following the blog and all the other Buds, but didn't feel as though I had much to contribute. I've been in the third trimester for a couple weeks now, so we are just preparing for Baby Hopeful Buds arrival in early June.

The last time I blogged, I was educating myself on what a low-lying placenta was, and the chances of it moving out of the way of my cervix on its own so that we wouldn't have to have a scheduled C-Section. We had our follow-up sonogram last week and am thrilled to report that "the placenta has left the cervix!" The ultrasound tech said that they like the placenta to be at least 2 cm away from the cervix and mine was well beyond that. Woo hoo!!! Here are a couple pictures of Baby HB. She looks absolutely perfect. Next week we are getting one of those fancy 3D/4D sonograms, so I'll post more pics then.

Mr. Hopeful Bud and I also took our Birthing Class last weekend. Mr. HB was very nervous about going. When he would tell his friends that are fathers what we were doing they would all just smile and give an evil laugh, so he was a bit anxious to learn what they were smirking about. We both loved the class. The ladies that taught the class are actual labor and delivery nurses and they were so sweet and comforting. We learned a lot and saw a lot! I had no idea that when you get an epidural a catheter stays in your back. I just thought is was a single shot and you were good to go. So learning that once you get an epidural you are confined to a bed was a bit eye opening. I was impressed with the philosophy of the Birthing Center that we will be going to. They stressed the importance of not staying in bed and instead walking around, using the birthing ball, squatting bar or spa room. The birthing suites were incredible as well. Very comfortable and relaxing. I left the class feeling so much more calm and confident about the whole birthing process. The only part of the day that really got to Mr. HB and made his breathing increase a bit was when they were showing a video animation of a C-Section. Mr. HB started breathing really heavy when they were showing two hands go inside the incision and pull the muscles apart. Other then that he was a great support and coach.

Also at my 29 week appointment last week, I had the glucose test to test for Gestational Diabetes. The fruit punch drink that I was given wasn't too bad. It was very sweet and made me make a couple funny faces as I drank it, but it wasn't terrible. The doctor said they would call if I failed and I haven't received a call, so I guess I passed!! Another Woo hoo!!

Baby HB is very active these days. It feels as though she is doing full somersaults because my whole stomach moves. I can't wait to meet her. Now I just need to get Mr. HB motivated to work on her nursery. We have the crib, bedding and paint, but the paint isn't on the walls yet.

I think that's about it. I'll post more pics next week after our sonogram.

Take care and stay hopeful!

:) Hopeful Bud