Progress!

Well I'm dilated to a 3, 75% effaced, and baby is a -3 station. Her weight estimate today was 7lb 13 oz. My bet is that I'll go in for my appointment next week with "advanced dilation" and be sent up to L&D to get this show on the road. Honestly, I'm OK with that if my body has already progressed far enough and we're at least 37 weeks, as her weight is definitely making me nervous. I realize that the weight estimates are likely off, but I will say she is really starting to feel heavy too.

Besides her weight, my other concern is having a "sticky" placenta again. If the placenta doesn't deliver on it's own, my doc will have to retrieve it and possibly do another D&C to remove it. This could cause increased blood loss as well. My wonderful husband donated blood for me this morning though, so at least I know whose blood I'll be getting if I happen to need it. Some may think I'm overly paranoid, but I prefer to think I'm just playing it safe. :)

Wow. So this will actually be happening soon! I can do this.

Check out how cute her kissy lips are! Isn't she precious?!

Thirteen years of incubation experience...and I still obsess

Thirteen years ago today, I kept wondering if I was in labor. I had occasional pains. I was nesting like crazy. But I refused to go back to the hospital, only to be sent home yet again. My water did break about 11:30 pm that night and my beautiful first born was born at 1:32 am on March 30th. Thirteen years to the day later, I'm 5 days further into this pregnancy than I was with that one. While I don't expect Addison to come anytime today or tomorrow, I admit labor is constantly on my mind. Every little twinge, ache, and trip to the bathroom makes me wonder when it's going to happen. I officially feel like a ticking time bomb. I try not to dwell or obsess about it, but I know I need to be prepared since Addison calls the shots here. It's a constant worry if my water may break in public or if labor will begin and I won't realize it until delivery is near. Hopefully neither will be the case, but this pregnancy has been so easy *knock on wood* that I almost expect a dramatic (but safe) delivery. We are now 36 weeks and have another appointment tomorrow! I'm hoping not much has changed, as Addie really needs at least one more week in the womb. But next week, all bets are off and Miss Addie can come whenever she's ready. She sure has a lot of people waiting to meet her!

It's a girl thing...drama, drama, drama...

We hit 35 weeks yesterday, but the past few days have not been much fun. My feet and legs have been swelling like crazy, as you can see. I'm sure it's mostly caused by me being on my feet at work too much. Then, yesterday, I wasn't feeling great. I went to CVS and checked my blood pressure. It was 126/64, which is great for most people; however, it's a bit elevated for me. I went in to get checked out at the OB's office. By the time I got there, it was back down to 112/60. I had a few keytones in my urine, but it wasn't enough for concern. Since I was there though, we went ahead and did my appointment that was orginally scheduled for this morning. My uterus measures 36 weeks, Addie is estimated to be around 6 lbs, 9 oz (WOWZA!), and I'm dilated to a 2. Since this is baby #7, they're not worried about me being a 2 already. She's still high up and that's a good thing.

Then, today, I've been kinda crampy. I'll spare the details, but there was another reason I decided to call Andrea and get her opinion on if I should go in or not. We decided I would, just to ease minds if nothing else. They put me on the monitors in L&D. I was actually having mild and irregular contractions every 8-10 minutes. Luckily, they weren't progressing dilation and I was sent back home.

I am so frustrated right now. With my first baby, I went to L&D a lot to get checked and was always told it was "nothing." She ended up being born at 35 weeks, 3 days (which would be the day after tomorrow for Addie) after my water broke prematurely. Then, with the twins, I waited to go in because I just thought it was the pressure from carrying 2 babies. When we got there, I was already dilated to a 5 and I wasn't even sure labor had started! Labor did stall at a 6 with them, but all my other labors (with singletons) have been fairly fast. You would think after this many kids, I'd know what is going on with my body. *sigh* I have a feeling these last few weeks are not going to fly by like the previous weeks have.

I absolutely refuse to deliver Miss Addison prior to 37 weeks though. She must stay put until April 5th at least! I honestly think she'll be born after that point. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if she ends up being "evicted." But, for now, it's anyone's guess...

34 week OB appointment

So I'm thinking I'm pregnant with a toddler...lol. The ultrasound today showed even MORE hair on Addison's head! Plus her estimated weight is currently at 5 lbs, 11 oz. Needless to say, I'm a little nervous. I knew she was getting big though, as it's obvious when she moves that she's running out of room. Dr. F said she won't let Addie go over 4000 grams (8 lbs, 13 oz) though. I'm not a fan of inducing, but I would prefer that over a c-section!

Everything looks great though! My blood pressure was 110/66. Addie looks perfect and has her head down on my cervix, but I have not started to dilate yet. (This is good!) We start going weekly for the OB checks now.

This is where I start getting nervous. It doesn't matter how many times you've given birth, it's still a little scary because every delivery is different and there's always fear of the "unknown." I'm sure all will go fine though. (Hey...we will have 2 awesome docs there!) Seeing Steve and Andrea meet Addison finally will make it all worth it!

6 weeks to go!!!!

WOW! We're 34 weeks today! There's not much to report. I'm feeling pretty good overall. Swelling, heartburn, constant urination, and being tired are still in my list of complaints...but hey, it can't all be fun and games, right? ;) We have an OB appointment tomorrow and I'm anxious to get a weight estimate on her.

Right now, I crave dreamsicle snowcones. I literally want one daily and usually give in to it. Addie tends to get really active afterwards. :)

I'm getting excited and I know Steve and Andrea are too! We don't have long to go now!!!!

She's not mine!!!! :)

We hit 33 weeks yesterday! Hard to believe this little girl will be here in 7 weeks or so! I received a copy of the pre-birth order in the mail today! I was getting nervous, as it seemed to be taking awhile. But all is well and Steve and Andrea can legally go on their daughter's birth certificate now! This also releases David and me from any parental responsibility. Seems so silly that so much has to be done to get the biological parents on their own child's birth certificate. Hopefully, someday, a simple DNA test will do all this without all the legal legwork prior to birth. But this is how it is for now and we are ready! The only thing we're waiting for now is for this little girl to be considered full term (4 more weeks) and then she's welcome to come anytime!

Overall, I'm feeling pretty well. My feet still swell and I'm always so thirsty, which in turn makes me go potty a lot (including all hours of the night)...but that's about the worst of my complaints at the moment. I'm still enjoying my time with her and I'm kinda sad it will end so soon. It seems this pregnancy has flown by! But I know that her birth will not be the end. In fact, it will be a beautiful beginning of a new life. Her mom and dad will finally have their baby in their arms and it will indeed be a joyous day. :)

Guess I should start thinking about packing a hospital bag here soon, huh?

Perfect OB appointment!

As Steve posted, we had our 32 week appointment this morning and all is well! I just thought I'd post a few more details, more for my records than anything. :) My blood pressure was 102/66. I measure right at 32 weeks and everything looks perfect. I've gained a total of 9 pounds for the pregnancy, although it's gone up and then back down slightly. I have had tons of Braxton Hicks with some pressure though. With this being my 6th pregnancy and with the last being twins, we went ahead and checked my cervix. It's soft, but high and closed. Whew! Anyway, Addison is definitely a cutie and I still can't believe there's another little human in there! :) Can't wait to meet her next month!

32-week Check-up

We are getting check-ups every two weeks now so Addie is getting plenty of attention. Today Dr. Fletcher took a close look and doppler reading of the cord to ensure it's not getting twisted around too much; everything is fine. Femur is still measuring long but we're pretty tall so that's expected. Heart rate is 143bpm and the girl has an amazing amount of hair! Fletcher says it's the most hair she has ever seen at this stage. The ultrasound follows - look for the cursor pointing out all that hair!

32 weeks!

Wow, there's only 8 weeks left until our due date! We can officially say, "She's due next month!" as of today too!

I am feeling better this week. I have had almost a week off from work though and go back Thursday, but hopefully it won't be too bad. I've had more pressure down low and I'm sure it's just because she's getting bigger and taking up more room now. It seems my weight has leveled off again, thankfully. Tomorrow is another OB appointment, but hopefully there won't be much to update on just yet. All the super exciting posts will be in the next 5-10 weeks, I'm sure!