The view from up here

After gettting the accidental belly shot from yesterday, someone said that I should take some pictures from the same viewpoint.

Oh Boy - my belly is big. And, I really can't see my feet, I really had to tilt the camera to get that shot. Not sure why my feet look like they belong to a barbie doll lol.

And yes, I can not believe I am showing my bare belly. I had to delete all the pics that were total roadmaps (AKA lots and lots of visable stretchmarks).

It is safe to say that bikini will never be in my vocabulary.

I think the one with Lil J peeking up at me is super cute :) It does remind me of a cartoon pic that I have seen. A cartoon of something with a big nose hanging over a wall, or something. Anyone know??

Baby Crafts

I plan on doing my own Newborn pictures. I just can't afford to get professional ones done. So, I have been looking for ideas here and there and already have lots of ideas in my head of what I want to do.

I thought it would be really cute to have the baby's name spelled out on the bottom of a picture and possibly use that for birth announcements.

It was really simple, just bought basic wooden letters (they were already white), and just traced the letters onto scrapbook paper. I got lucky with this paper, as it was kinda a set - so all the colors coordinated. One I had the letters traced, I just cut them out and glued them on to each letter. I did use Mod Podge, just because I had it in the house. If I did not, I would have used Elmer's Glue.

I know I can "display" the letters in the room after the pictures are taken, but I really just wanted them for the pictures, so I really did not care if they were perfect.

And before anyone asks.....no, we do not know the sex of the baby. I am making one of these for our boy's name (Frank, after my husband), and one for our girl's name (undecided as of right now). I plan to do the pictures within 1-2 weeks of birth, so it will be one less thing that I have to worry about.

I think they came out pretty cute, but I do know now for the girl's name, to use paper with more of a full print. I think the swirls and dots are harder to see.

As soon as we can decide on a girl's name, I will go back to the store. It is killing me that we have not decided on a name. We have a list now of about 5-6 names. I would be fine with any of them. I just have to get Frank to agree on just ONE!!!!

I already told him, once we agree, that is it - especially if I make a craft with the name. Don't want to do it twice lol.

Oh - and there is something VERY funny in this picture - what is it????

35/35

Today is 35/35. I am 35 weeks pregnant and have 35 days left.

But - I am really not 35/35 because I have LESS than 35 days left YAY!!!! So, other than it is cool to see it written like that - it really does not mean anything.

I will be induced no later than 39 weeks; which means I would only have 28 days max left. I have another scan on the 9th. This scan will determine if I am induced at 38(ish) or 39 weeks. I really want to avoid a non-medically necessary c-section, which is why we would do an induction.

I am glad that my doc is ok with me wanting an induction, especially since the baby is probably on the big side. And, yes, I am well aware of the fact that not all inductions lead to vaginal deliveries. I will have a c-sec if medically necessary.

But, all things aside - for some reason I have a date in my head. And of course it happens to be a date that my parents, 2 of my sisters, my mother-in-law, and my very good friend will all be away. So, it is almost like I am destined to have the baby on that day lol.

This date is about 37.5 weeks. OMG that is only 2.5 weeks away. The date has no significance, it is just that I do not think I will make it to any induction date :)

Some Pics of the Kids' Room

Before we got Lil J, we just kinda pieced his room together. I was totally fine with nothing matching. I really did not care. Plus I figured that Lil J would not care and neither would the new baby.

So, I left it as nothing matching.

Well, my sister bought me all coordinating stuff for the room for my shower. The curtains, the crib blanket, match twin quilt, decals, etc, etc, etc. Lil J even put the decals over his bed mostly by himself - so they went where HE wanted. Made him feel more involved in the process.

I love the way it looks. Even though the furniture still does not match, it really does make the room look more put together.

Plus, it is not babyish at all and could totally grow with any child. I am sure the Mickey sheets will make their way back into the room, and I am sure things will change here and there. But, for now, I LOVE IT!!!!!

Here are some pics - yes - that is LIl J's real face lol!

Colin is a Brother....

No - I have NOT given birth.

Colin's father's wife just gave birth to a baby girl yesterday. I must say, it is weird to say that Colin has a sister - one that I did not give birth to.

I wish I could say that they will be close. But, seeing that he only sees his father 1-2 times a year, I can't see that they will be close. It is a shame.

WOWZA - big giant baby....

Wowza! We have had a few growth scans because of my marginal insertion of the cord.

The last scan was at 29 weeks and the baby was almost 4 pounds. So, I KNEW that today the baby was gonna be on the big side.

Well, I will be 34 weeks tomorrow and the baby is estimated at 6 pounds!! Colin was only 6.5 weeks at birth (38 weeks). That is a big difference in weights.

According to the weight alone, I am measuring about 2 weeks ahead. We spoke about "options". She said that I can choose an elective c/s at 39 weeks. Or, can choose an induction at the same time. But, I have a repeat scan at 37 weeks, so they said that they may move up any induction date based on that scan.

I would rather not have a c/s by choice....so I guess we will have to just wait and see.

My fluid is still on the high side, but that is because of the size of the baby.

To be honest, the size of the baby makes me measure ahead, and the extra fluid probably makes my uterus larger as well - so I don't think I will make it to any induction date. I think I will deliver around 37-38 weeks anyway.

So, holy moly - big baby here

Been Trying to Update for days now

I have been trying to update my blog for days now. Everytime I update, I can not post it as I get an error.

I have written several blogs that are poof - gone. So, I am just going to recap.

ONE
I am fine, baby is fine. The swab came back negative. On the monitor I was having contractions every 10 minutes, but nothing to worry about. Still at 1cm. Growth scan next Wed.

TWO
Met with GI, totally thinks that the pain was from my gallbladder. He explained the function of the gallbladder and what my issues are. We are just going with a wait and see method for right now. He told me to stay away from high fat/highly fried foods. This should help. If I have another attack, go to the ER. Might go away after pregnancy. If not, I have to go back to him and he will refer me to a general surgeon.

THREE
Still have not decided on a name for a girl. A boy will be named after my husband, so that is easy - no thought in that. We don't want a super popular name, but don't want something totally out there. I have about 6 weeks to go and at this point, if a girl, the name will be Jane Doe N. And what is even worse, we really don't have anything on a list. We are in trouble.

FOUR
I hate that Lil J's mother smokes in front of him. And not just smoke in front of him, but basically blow smoke in his face. Sorry if you are a smoker, but I think it is gross. But, especially gross if you don't have enough respect for others not to blow smoke in their face. Although we have stopped the "face-to-face" interaction, the past two visits were face to face due to circumstance (at the park, etc). As long as she does not say mean things to me, I am fine with that.

SHOWER
My shower was great. Got lots of great gifts - my family and friends are so generous. Trying to get everything organized. I will actually make a separate post on this, as I want to share some pics.

Follow-Up with the OB Today

I had my follow-up with the OB today. They put me on the monitors and they saw that I had 2 contractions while hooked up. I have been having these type of small contractions for about 12 weeks now, so to me they were no different.

Well, since they showed up on the monitor, she did a check. I am already a little over 1cm dialted. Granted, I know that I can be at 1cm for weeks and weeks. But, I have to go back tomorrow to have a fFN done (some kind of vaginal swab done to check for pre-term labor). She could not do it today because it is a vaginal swab and she just did the vaginal exam - which then disturbs everything in there.

And I know that the dialation is new, I was checked a few weeks ago and there was no dialation.
If it is pre-term labor, I will probably be given steroid shots to help improve lung maturity, and then might be put on bedrest. Yeah, lucky me.

I also see the GI doc tomorrow. Fun times, fun times.

Spent the night and most of the day in the ER.....

Short story - Baby is FINE. I will be FINE

Long Story -
Last night my husband and I went to bed around 11pm. I could not sleep, I was just feeling off -- can't really explain it, but just did not feel well.

At around 12:30, I decided to go downstairs to maybe watch some TV and sleep down there. Never fell asleep, and was still feeling kinda off.

Well around 1:50, I started getting these intense pains. The pains started in my back and went around my side to my chest. At one point, it felt like I was pinned under a semi-truck. My chest hurt really bad. I tried to walk it off, rock (which helped). But the pain was getting worse and worse.

At the point that I woke my husband up at around 3 am, I was in severe pain and was very short of breath. The only thing that kinda helped was being on my hands and knees and rocking. But, even in that position, the pain was bad.

We called the doc, who asked to speak to me. He determined that because I could barely breathe, and the fact the hospital is about 1/2 hour away, that I needed to call 911 ASAP. We call, and they start o2 on me start taking vitals, etc. Again the pain was INTENSE.

I get taken to the hospital via ambulance and Frank follows behind with Lil J (trust me, we TRIED everything we could to NOT take him). It seems to be the longest ride ever.
In the ambulance, my pressures were all over the place. But they were able to at least start an IV (not a good job, but whatever)

When we get to the hospital, they thought at first that it was a blood clot in my lung. The combination of the area of pain and the fact that I had so many miscarriages last year, I guess that is what they thought.

They took blood when I first got there and there was "something" in the blood that was a "very high positive" that indicates the likihood of a blood clot in the lungs. Becasue of that - I had to have a lung scan. But had to wait for the tech to get to the hospital (live in a rural area).

Before we did the test, I threw up 3 times, they wanted to give me morphine for the pain, but had to give me Zofran first. Once the determined that I might not throw up, they gave the morphine. They had to give 3 shots before the pain was manageable.

Since it was a radiation dye test, they had to have me sign a waiver, but did us the lowest amount possible. It is pretty scary to think about the effects of any amount of radiation to the baby. But, when you are told that you might have a pulmonary embolism - you take that chance.

Then because of the radiation, the OB wanted a cath put in - yeah, so comfortable. I did not understand the actual reasoning behind it - but who am I to argue. The cath did not go in until after I used the bathroom several times.

After what seemed like forever, it was determined that the lung scan was normal, and no clots were found.

Since it was not the lung, they wanted to check out the gallbladder. According to bloodwork, my liver enzymes were high and off to u/s I went. The only thing they found was "sludge" in my gallbladder (according to u/s). Sludge is such a medical term lol.

They could not see any stones in the gallbladder - But can not say for sure that I did NOT pass a stone before the U/S. Plus, at that point, the cath had been in for a while, but like I said - I used the bathroom several times before the cath went in. There were no visible stones in the cath bag.

At this point, I had been monitored by L&D several different times. Each time the baby looked good and no contractions. They had a hard time getting a good position on the monitors because of the extra fluid that I have and the fact that the baby was so active. But, in the end, great heartrate. They even checked out the baby when I had the u/s for the gallbladder. Baby looked good.

At the point of that I was given the results of the gallbladder scan, it was determined that I could be discharged. Even though they did not know for SURE that it was my gallbladder, I guess they thought it was probable enough. I do have to follow-up with a GI and of course with my OB. I never even made it to L&D, only the ER.

What sucked the most is the fact that our "please call me in the middle of the night if you go into labor" person never answered her phone. So, my husband had to wake up Lil J and follow us to the hospital. He was kinda scared of all the wires and tubes, etc.

We called my mother around 7ish and my husband drove him home and my mom watched him.
I am still in a little bit of pain, but it is now bearable.

I know this turned out really long - anyone have gallbladder issues while pergnant?

Baby Shower Tomorrow!

Wow - I just can't believe it - my baby shower is tomorrow. I know my sisters and my mother have been working so hard on it. There have been several "secret" meetings. LOL

The only thing I know is that it is tomorrow and what time it is. My friend is picking me up and my husband will drive down later in the day with Lil J.

It will be great to have Lil J there, most of my extended family have not met Lil J. My cousins have met him (big cousins BBQ in June), but the aunts, and my grandmother have not.

Plus my husband will drive the van down and we can load it up with all the goodies ;)

It works out well that my friend is driving me down, this way I would not have to have two cars back up to my house. It is an hour drive, so that would be annoying.

I just can't believe that I get to have a baby shower. It is finally starting to feel real. I really have to make a list of all the things I have to do from now until the baby comes. Some are more important than others (pick a name = important, clear a space for bottles = less important). There are a lot of things on the list because I am a big slacker :) and I guess I STILL don't think it is actually real. I am 32 weeks already, and I guess I should get on making the list.

I will try to take some pictures tomorrow - and I will post anything I take.

Yipee!!!!

Lighter Blonder Hair

I have not gone to the salon since January. Yeah, I know that is bad - but at almost $250 to get my hair cut and colored, it is just way too much to do every 2-3 months. Plus, I always seem to run out of time.

And, now that Lil J is here, I have to arrange a sitter or wait until the weekend to get to the salon.

But, being that my shower is next weekend (YIPEE!!!!!!!!) I figured now was the time. I decided to go a little lighter than the last time and I love the color. It is actually much lighter in person. And, since I have not gotten a cut since Jan as well, I got it cut. I did not want to lose much of the length, but I cut the "bangs" back. I like it. I really do not like how she blows out my hair, so I did try to fix it a bit.

Here you go, some self portraits of my new hair :)