Wow...Today I'm 35 weeks pregnant and there are 35 days left until Will's due date. How crazy is that?! Very exciting too :) Will's lungs are almost completely developed and if he were to be born this week, he'd have a 99% chance of surviving with no disabilities or setbacks. He'd probably have to stay in the NICU to help his lungs finish developing, but ultimately he'd be alright! He likely weighs more than 5 1/2 pounds - probably pushing about 6 pounds this week. He should be in his birthing position by now...we'll see next week when I go in for my appointment! Hopefully he is head down - my doctor doesn't attempt to deliver breech babies naturally. She says it's too risky and will opt to do a c-section. I'd much rather him cooperate and be a good baby!
I'm feeling much better today, although I'm still coughing and have almost no voice. I went back to school and got (mostly) good reports from my sub, so I'm glad about that too! Hopefully I can keep myself rested and healthy until I go on my maternity leave...I'm running out of sick days quickly!
My baby shower is this weekend and I'm getting soo excited! :) It will be so much fun to get to hang out with good friends and family. Then, the week after that I'll have my baby shower at school. I totally wasn't expecting this since I just started working there, but I'm excited nonetheless! Greg and I are also going to look at some cars this weekend. We've listed the truck for sale and we're hoping to get that sold and an SUV bought before Will gets here. Time is ticking by quickly!
No belly picture this week...I still look sick and am definitely not in the mood to get my picture taken ;)
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
Saturday, February 21, 2009
So Sick :(
I started coughing on Tuesday and barely managed to make it through the day on Wednesday. I kept telling myself I just had to make it through the day because I had already taken Wednesday off for a doctor's appointment. I woke up in the middle of the night on Wednesday shaking uncontrollably and had a fever of 101.8. I took some Tylenol and managed to go back to sleep for a little bit. Thankfully the doctor's appointment was already scheduled and the doctor I saw was able to treat me.
After listening to my lungs and my horrible cough, she said she thought I had bronchitis. She also said that this was a pretty good explanation for my racing heart on Tuesday. I probably am still slightly anemic, but not bad enough to cause the really fast heart beat. She gave me a prescription for Amoxicillin, a cough syrup with codeine, and an inhaler. Will is still doing well though, thank goodness! His heart rate was in the 130s, which she said was awesome for me having a fever. After the appointment I stopped by Wal-Mart and filled the prescriptions before coming home and planting myself on the couch for the rest of the day.
I had to call in sick on Friday and the jury is still out on whether or not I'm going to be able to go in on Monday or not. I haven't really had a fever today, but it was bad yesterday. I am so sore from coughing though! My chest feels so achy and my ribs/abs hurt so bad every time I cough. I've had no appetite at all and have had to force myself to eat so I can take the antibiotics. They seem to be working, though, because I am feeling slightly better today than I did yesterday.
I was telling Greg that I don't think I've been this sick since I was in high school...It's not fun! Especially when you're pregnant. Thank goodness the little boy is being nice and moving around a lot, which is reassuring when you're running a fairly high fever. Hopefully I'll get feeling better soon!
After listening to my lungs and my horrible cough, she said she thought I had bronchitis. She also said that this was a pretty good explanation for my racing heart on Tuesday. I probably am still slightly anemic, but not bad enough to cause the really fast heart beat. She gave me a prescription for Amoxicillin, a cough syrup with codeine, and an inhaler. Will is still doing well though, thank goodness! His heart rate was in the 130s, which she said was awesome for me having a fever. After the appointment I stopped by Wal-Mart and filled the prescriptions before coming home and planting myself on the couch for the rest of the day.
I had to call in sick on Friday and the jury is still out on whether or not I'm going to be able to go in on Monday or not. I haven't really had a fever today, but it was bad yesterday. I am so sore from coughing though! My chest feels so achy and my ribs/abs hurt so bad every time I cough. I've had no appetite at all and have had to force myself to eat so I can take the antibiotics. They seem to be working, though, because I am feeling slightly better today than I did yesterday.
I was telling Greg that I don't think I've been this sick since I was in high school...It's not fun! Especially when you're pregnant. Thank goodness the little boy is being nice and moving around a lot, which is reassuring when you're running a fairly high fever. Hopefully I'll get feeling better soon!
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
34 Weeks
Yesterday marked 34 weeks in my pregnancy...6 left to go before my due date and only 3 until he's considered full term...a little bit scary!!
I "celebrated" being 34 weeks along by heading into Labor and Delivery because baby Will decided that he wanted to scare his mommy by not being very active all day. I have to do these things called "Kick Counts" each day to make sure he's doing okay in there. Basically I pick anytime and count the movements I feel. I should be able to feel 10 in an hour. If I don't, I'm supposed to drink some caffeine, eat some sugar, and then try again for another hour. If I still haven't felt 10 by then, I'm supposed to call the nurse's line to see what to do. Well, I woke up at 3:30am (after being to the bathroom a grand total of FOUR times during the night!) and realized that I really hadn't felt him move at all during the night (which is pretty unusual). So of course I started paying attention to it (and worrying a little bit!) and was up until my alarm went off poking my belly and trying to get him to move. He did move a bit...but not as much as normal!
So I decided not to panic and got ready for school. He continued his not-really-moving thing all day, so at 2:00 on my planning period I called the nurse's line. They wanted me to come in to Labor and Delivery immediately, so I got someone to cover my class for the last 10 minutes of the day and drove over to Scott and White. They hooked me up to the monitors and Will's heart rate looked great...mine on the other hand was not so great! It was in the 140s and my blood pressure was a little bit high. They waited and took it again - same story. They kept me on the monitors for 30 minutes and my heart rate never really went down...at points, MY heart rate was faster than his! The on-call doctor came in and said that they were going to draw some blood to test me for anemia. Apparently anemia can cause your heart rate to go up because you have less hemoglobin in your blood. Hemoglobin attaches to your the oxygen, so your heart has to work twice as hard to get your blood oxygenated - hence the high heart rate. The tests came back showing that I am anemic so it's something we're going to have to watch.
I picked up some bug at the hospital though (or possibly at school - who knows!) and I feel totally yucky. I think there should be a law that you shouldn't have to be pregnant and sick at the same time because it's not fun!! I have a horrible cough and have felt feverish all day (although I haven't actually registered a fever). I'm going to the doctor tomorrow though, and I'm going to talk with her about it and see if there's anything I can do for the awful cough. I'm looking forward to resting at home tomorrow since I took the whole day off, though!
Will weighs around 5 1/2 pounds this week and is continuing to grow and develop. His lungs are maturing and will continue to do so over the next few weeks. His hiccuping is a result of learning to breathe by taking in amniotic fluid. I'd say he's getting in lots of practicing since he's doing lots and lots of hiccuping! :)
Here's my 34 week belly picture. I was wearing the same outfit as my 28 week picture, so I decided to do a little comparison. In the words of my mom, I'm huge ;) Will has done quite a bit of growing in the past 6 weeks!
I "celebrated" being 34 weeks along by heading into Labor and Delivery because baby Will decided that he wanted to scare his mommy by not being very active all day. I have to do these things called "Kick Counts" each day to make sure he's doing okay in there. Basically I pick anytime and count the movements I feel. I should be able to feel 10 in an hour. If I don't, I'm supposed to drink some caffeine, eat some sugar, and then try again for another hour. If I still haven't felt 10 by then, I'm supposed to call the nurse's line to see what to do. Well, I woke up at 3:30am (after being to the bathroom a grand total of FOUR times during the night!) and realized that I really hadn't felt him move at all during the night (which is pretty unusual). So of course I started paying attention to it (and worrying a little bit!) and was up until my alarm went off poking my belly and trying to get him to move. He did move a bit...but not as much as normal!
So I decided not to panic and got ready for school. He continued his not-really-moving thing all day, so at 2:00 on my planning period I called the nurse's line. They wanted me to come in to Labor and Delivery immediately, so I got someone to cover my class for the last 10 minutes of the day and drove over to Scott and White. They hooked me up to the monitors and Will's heart rate looked great...mine on the other hand was not so great! It was in the 140s and my blood pressure was a little bit high. They waited and took it again - same story. They kept me on the monitors for 30 minutes and my heart rate never really went down...at points, MY heart rate was faster than his! The on-call doctor came in and said that they were going to draw some blood to test me for anemia. Apparently anemia can cause your heart rate to go up because you have less hemoglobin in your blood. Hemoglobin attaches to your the oxygen, so your heart has to work twice as hard to get your blood oxygenated - hence the high heart rate. The tests came back showing that I am anemic so it's something we're going to have to watch.
I picked up some bug at the hospital though (or possibly at school - who knows!) and I feel totally yucky. I think there should be a law that you shouldn't have to be pregnant and sick at the same time because it's not fun!! I have a horrible cough and have felt feverish all day (although I haven't actually registered a fever). I'm going to the doctor tomorrow though, and I'm going to talk with her about it and see if there's anything I can do for the awful cough. I'm looking forward to resting at home tomorrow since I took the whole day off, though!
Will weighs around 5 1/2 pounds this week and is continuing to grow and develop. His lungs are maturing and will continue to do so over the next few weeks. His hiccuping is a result of learning to breathe by taking in amniotic fluid. I'd say he's getting in lots of practicing since he's doing lots and lots of hiccuping! :)
Here's my 34 week belly picture. I was wearing the same outfit as my 28 week picture, so I decided to do a little comparison. In the words of my mom, I'm huge ;) Will has done quite a bit of growing in the past 6 weeks!
Friday, February 13, 2009
Hiccups
Will has the hiccups right now...for the third time today! He gets the hiccups every.single.day - sometimes more than once! They usually don't bother me, unless I'm trying to sleep. Then the constant "popping" in my belly is a little annoying ;)
The other day I heard a story about a family that was expecting a little girl (and had the nursery all decorated and everything!) and instead were surprised with a little boy. It made me realize how much I've grown used to the fact that Will is a boy. If he surprised us at delivery by having girl parts instead of boy parts, I'm not sure how I'd react! I'm sure eventually it would be wonderful and a blessing, but it would definitely be a shock. We have all these dreams for him as a little boy - playing sports, rough-housing with Greg, learning about cars from Matt, etc...it would be so strange to have to change all those ideas of what the future will be like! We're 99% sure he's a boy though - the ultrasound technicians confirmed it at the last ultrasound we had too :) So hopefully, there will be no surprises here!
I'm headed to bed right now...Greg and I are going to have fun hanging out on our last Valentine's Day as a family of two! And I've got to be rested ;) We've been trying to see a movie for the past few weeks, but I get so tired so early that it's been impossible! So we decided to go to a matinee and THEN do dinner. Hopefully I can make it through one of those movies!
Happy Valentine's Day!
The other day I heard a story about a family that was expecting a little girl (and had the nursery all decorated and everything!) and instead were surprised with a little boy. It made me realize how much I've grown used to the fact that Will is a boy. If he surprised us at delivery by having girl parts instead of boy parts, I'm not sure how I'd react! I'm sure eventually it would be wonderful and a blessing, but it would definitely be a shock. We have all these dreams for him as a little boy - playing sports, rough-housing with Greg, learning about cars from Matt, etc...it would be so strange to have to change all those ideas of what the future will be like! We're 99% sure he's a boy though - the ultrasound technicians confirmed it at the last ultrasound we had too :) So hopefully, there will be no surprises here!
I'm headed to bed right now...Greg and I are going to have fun hanging out on our last Valentine's Day as a family of two! And I've got to be rested ;) We've been trying to see a movie for the past few weeks, but I get so tired so early that it's been impossible! So we decided to go to a matinee and THEN do dinner. Hopefully I can make it through one of those movies!
Happy Valentine's Day!
Wednesday, February 11, 2009
33 weeks
Will is still growing away in there! There isn't a whole lot of new things happening this week - mainly just the usual maturing the lungs and gaining baby fat. He should weigh about 4 1/2 pounds this week and his lungs are almost completely mature. Yay! One thing I thought was very interesting is that his pupils will dilate/constrict in response to light. I didn't know enough light would make it in there for this to happen, but I think it's pretty neat! The experts say that by now, he should be getting in his birth position (aka head down)...I'm pretty sure he's flipped back by now because I feel something shoved up under my ribs. Here's to hoping that he is!
I'm still having a lot of contractions and a lot of cramping. It scares me a little bit that he might be coming early...but I'm going to stay on the positive side and say that it's just my body preparing for labor! Sitting down and putting my feet up really helps those go away, though. So I've been coming home and planting myself on the couch with a pillow under my feet :) Greg has been wonderful at taking care of me, helping to make dinner, cleaning up, etc. He's also incredibly understanding as my bedtime inches closer and closer to 8:00...hey growing a baby is exhausting, not to mention teaching some incredibly difficult 5th graders!
No belly picture this week...I'll get one this weekend for next week!
I'm still having a lot of contractions and a lot of cramping. It scares me a little bit that he might be coming early...but I'm going to stay on the positive side and say that it's just my body preparing for labor! Sitting down and putting my feet up really helps those go away, though. So I've been coming home and planting myself on the couch with a pillow under my feet :) Greg has been wonderful at taking care of me, helping to make dinner, cleaning up, etc. He's also incredibly understanding as my bedtime inches closer and closer to 8:00...hey growing a baby is exhausting, not to mention teaching some incredibly difficult 5th graders!
No belly picture this week...I'll get one this weekend for next week!
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
Dear Will,
Hi sweet little boy. I wanted to write just to you today because your time to snuggle up inside me is quickly coming to a close. I can't believe that in just 7 short weeks, you'll be here to snuggle in my arms. The past 8 months since your daddy and I found out about you have gone by so quickly!
You have a personality all your own and I cannot wait to see that personality in your smiles, giggles, surprise, wonder, and laughter. You love to wiggle when I get still and you love it when I lay down at night. You kick and squirm and I imagine that you're settling in and getting comfy for a goodnight sleep. You are very responsive to your mommy and daddy's touches. Today, I was walking down the hall and you started poking on my tummy from the inside. I put my hand over where you were poking and you got very still for a moment. Then you started an all out punching war on the place where my hand was. It made me smile - it was almost as if you were saying hi!
I look at your pictures from our ultrasounds almost every day and I can't wait to see what you look like. Your little nose looks like it is perfect for kisses and in your last pictures, we could see you getting some chubby little cheeks! I wonder what color your hair and eyes will be, if you'll have my chin or your daddy's wavy hair. Whatever you have, it will be perfect. When we were choosing your name, we looked closely at the meaning of it. Your first name means "protector." Your middle name, though, means "gift from God." And a gift you truly are. He picked you out especially for us and it makes me smile to think of you hanging out in Heaven with Jesus waiting to come into our lives.
You are very special to us and you are very, very loved. We'll see you in 7 weeks!
Love,
Mommy
You have a personality all your own and I cannot wait to see that personality in your smiles, giggles, surprise, wonder, and laughter. You love to wiggle when I get still and you love it when I lay down at night. You kick and squirm and I imagine that you're settling in and getting comfy for a goodnight sleep. You are very responsive to your mommy and daddy's touches. Today, I was walking down the hall and you started poking on my tummy from the inside. I put my hand over where you were poking and you got very still for a moment. Then you started an all out punching war on the place where my hand was. It made me smile - it was almost as if you were saying hi!
I look at your pictures from our ultrasounds almost every day and I can't wait to see what you look like. Your little nose looks like it is perfect for kisses and in your last pictures, we could see you getting some chubby little cheeks! I wonder what color your hair and eyes will be, if you'll have my chin or your daddy's wavy hair. Whatever you have, it will be perfect. When we were choosing your name, we looked closely at the meaning of it. Your first name means "protector." Your middle name, though, means "gift from God." And a gift you truly are. He picked you out especially for us and it makes me smile to think of you hanging out in Heaven with Jesus waiting to come into our lives.
You are very special to us and you are very, very loved. We'll see you in 7 weeks!
Love,
Mommy
Tuesday, February 3, 2009
32 weeks
I know I say this all the time, but time is flying by so fast. I'm sure it's because I'm working and days at school go by so fast because I'm so busy. And then by the time I get home, I'm exhausted and totally ready to go to bed. But I still can't believe that I'm 32 weeks along (or that it's nearly Wednesday!)
Not too much different happening in there this week. Will is still gaining weight (they say he should weigh about 3.75 pounds right now) and his lungs are still maturing. He's got fingernails, toenails, and hair (possibly!). He's a very active baby too! Yesterday at school, I was feeling a lot of pressure on the left side of my stomach...I looked down and the left side was sticking out a good 4 inches further than the right side. I nearly started laughing out loud! He was head down at the last ultrasound appointment, but I have a feeling that all that moving and flipping and pushing yesterday had to do with him flipping into a breech position. My suspicion comes from the fact that I can breathe again and it doesn't feel like I have feet in my ribs any longer. Oh well - he still has a few more weeks to flip back over before he gets too big.
Here is my 32 week tummy picture. I feel huge, but I still get comments on how "tiny" I look and how people can't believe I'm 8 months pregnant. My bellybutton still hasn't completely popped out yet...I'm hoping it stays that way!
Not too much different happening in there this week. Will is still gaining weight (they say he should weigh about 3.75 pounds right now) and his lungs are still maturing. He's got fingernails, toenails, and hair (possibly!). He's a very active baby too! Yesterday at school, I was feeling a lot of pressure on the left side of my stomach...I looked down and the left side was sticking out a good 4 inches further than the right side. I nearly started laughing out loud! He was head down at the last ultrasound appointment, but I have a feeling that all that moving and flipping and pushing yesterday had to do with him flipping into a breech position. My suspicion comes from the fact that I can breathe again and it doesn't feel like I have feet in my ribs any longer. Oh well - he still has a few more weeks to flip back over before he gets too big.
Here is my 32 week tummy picture. I feel huge, but I still get comments on how "tiny" I look and how people can't believe I'm 8 months pregnant. My bellybutton still hasn't completely popped out yet...I'm hoping it stays that way!
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