Just another problem

My doctor's appointment went ok today. I didn't dilate any last week so I'm still at 1cm but I do have a new problem. I have polyhydramnios, which means I have an excess amount of amniotic fluid. This problem can cause premature rupture of membranes (premature breaking of water) and abruption (something I'm all too familiar with). My stomach measured at 40 cm today and it should only measure 36. With all of this plus the fact that I'm completely over it, we're going to try stripping my membranes on Monday. What that means is that she's going to separate the bag of water from my cervix. There's a chance that she might break my water in the process but the goal is to just irritate my uterus enough to start labor. Usually you go into labor within 2 days of having your membranes stripped. So thats the plan for Monday. We'll see if it actually works. Good news that came out of today....I'm off bedrest!!! I can't go to work but I can go out in public now. Although I'm still not up for a lot of activity yet, its nice to know I can go to the store if I want to.

Its starting!!!

After not getting more than 2 hours of sleep last night because of waves of backaches and contractions, not to mention John snoring, today started out very uncomfortable. We had our US today. Emmy looked good again and she weighs in at a whopping 5lbs, 12oz. I was so excited to hear that since last month she was 4lbs, 14oz. She's dropped from 77th percentile to 60th percentile. So I think I might get a petite little girl!!! NST didn't look fantastic. Emmy tried to be reactive but it didn't work all that well. I had a bunch of contractions, about 12 minutes apart. They never got any closer. When I had my visit with Dr Young, after hearing about my lovely weekend and failed "sleep test" (if I fall asleep during my contractions and don't wake up, its false labor. Last night I kept waking up), she agreed to check me and I'm dilated 1 cm. So we're making some progress. I got the official "when to go to the hospital" speech....if my water breaks or if my contractions get to be 3-5 minutes apart and I'm having trouble tolerating them. She also told us that a baby born at 35 weeks (where we are right now) should have no complications. That was a HUGE relief. So we're looking no NICU stay, unless something arises during labor.

With that being said, I'm going to try to start walking. I'm taking myself off of bedrest (well off as much as I can tolerate) to see if we can get things started. Walking is pretty rough but I'm trying.

Only complication that has come up since leaving the doctors office was a random bleed this afternoon. They always tell me that I might have some spotting after being checked. About 4 hours after being checked, I had a pretty good bleed...more than the original abruption bleed. I called the doctors and they said if I didn't stop bleeding in an hour to call back and I'd probably have a trip to the hospital. Well its stopped, thank goodness, but I'm nervous about another bleed. I'm not sure if this was related to being checked and being dilated since it was so long after the doctors appointment but who knows. We'll just have to wait and see. Keep your fingers crossed that there are no more bleeds and we go to the hospital because my water breaks.

Off to try to fall asleep tonight. I think my body is totally prepared for no sleep by the number of sleepless nights I've had over the past 3 weeks.

The random things I find

Update on me.....still cramping/contracting with horrible pain but not in labor yet.

Since I've have had a little time on my hands, google has been my friend. I google everything....signs of labor, ways to stop backache, ways to survive bedrest. Yahoo discussion boards have the funniest conversations. I love when they pop up in my search results. However, last night I came across something disturbing. There are multiple websites that teach women how to check themselves for cervical dilation. I couldn't believe this. And the best part is women commented on their experiences. Who does something like that???

Anyways...thats it. Keep your fingers crossed that Emmy either decides she wants to stay inside for a little while longer (so the contractions will stop) or that she decides to just get it over with and make her entrance. I can't take her being stubborn right now

False Alarm again

So after 3 hours of contractions (which never got into a good pattern) and horrible abdominal pain, I was able to get some sleep...bad sleep but sleep all the same. So not true labor yet. Who knows what's going on. I think Emmy is getting cold feet. She wants to come out then decides not to. Stubborn little girl!

Same old, Same old

Well I'm sitting here at 34 weeks, 6 days pregnant. Today we had our first reactive NST within 20 minutes. I was off the monitor and in the car driving away 30 minutes after I got hooked up. It was a first and the doctor and nurses were all just as excited as Mom and I were. Dr Young signed off on my strip. She came in to see me and said "look at you still hanging in there." The way she said it made it very clear that she didn't think I'd still be pregnant. So we're surpassing everyone's expectations.

So what does that mean for us? Plan is to induce at 39 weeks. So we're looking at an induction around August 21st, unless I go into labor before then. We're adding growth to our ultrasound on Monday. I found out it doesn't really matter how big Emmy is on US right now. The only way they react to "large for gestational" age babies is if the baby weighs 11lbs or more at 39 weeks. Then they schedule a C-Section and forget vaginal labor altogether. I'm still on bedrest but I talked them into letting me walk a little more around the house. I've been tryiing to do some more walking but I've realized how weak I am and how hard this has been on my body.

Today I am completely uncomfortable. My back hurts and I'm having right sided abdominal pain. Whenever I'm standing, it feels like the baby is going to fall out. Not sure if this is a good sign or a bad one. All I know is that the abdominal pain is starting to feel like it did when I was pregnant with Noah and had to be admitted overnight. I had a lot of uterine activity on my end of the NST but I wasn't in a pattern and I think they aren't going to be concerned with it since I'm 34 weeks now. I'm sure if I was looking like I was going to get into a rhythm, I would have been sent to the hospital. So we'll see how the weekend goes. Fingers crossed Emmy wants to stay in for about a week or two more.

The big day!!!

We've made it to 34 weeks! So now if I go into labor, they won't stop me. Emmy's lungs should be mature enough to avoid any major respiratory complications. So how am I feeling now that I'm 34 weeks? I thought I was going into labor Wednesday night. I had 1-2 hours of horrible contractions and I was really nervous about them. But I was able to fall asleep so I guess it was a false alarm. I've been very "active" since then. My NST strip on Friday had an increase in uterine activity but not enough to send me to the hospital. I don't feel too good, I'm not sleeping, and I'm going stir crazy. Oh yeah....I'm uncontrollably itchy. It gets worse as the day goes on. Don't really know what that's from. Maybe Dr Fosnot will have an idea on Monday. Other than that, thats it.

A few more angels

God gained a few more angels this week. 2 of our patients lost their battles with cancer this week. Please keep these grieving families in your prayers and pray for all the children and families who are fighting the fight against cancer every day. Thai and Jhanelle, you are so missed already but God is so lucky to have you next to Him.


Just a quick update on us. I'm losing my mind and going stir crazy. I am so restless and I don't know how much longer I can take this.