And Then There Were Three: September 2012

Friday, September 28, 2012

34 Weeks

6 weeks (or less) left!!! Yay! It's official - I'm carrying something the size of a melon in my middle-section, which explains why my back has been hurting so badly! Baby is almost 5lbs by the end of this week (woah!) and 19-20inches in length. All of the muscles in Baby's body are maturing and he/she is practicing using them by all of the wonderful jabs, kicks, and stretches that have been going on constantly :) Not a whole lot of "change" per se, mostly just fattening up in preparation for the big day. We had our 34 week appointment on Wednesday - Baby's heart rate is 155 and he/she is definitely head down still, which is perfect! The midwife predicts that Baby will be 6.5lbs (at the smallest) to 7.5lbs or so (at the largest) on D-day...hooray! Sounds like a perfect size to me :)

I'm finding it harder and harder to sleep lately - so much movement going on inside, lots of weight to carry outside, and just generalized discomfort all around. I keep telling myself - 6 weeks, maybe 5 weeks even!, and I'll get to hold Baby...I can do this! Our changing table/dresser arrived yesterday (yay!) and our mattress and changing pad should be arriving by tomorrow! Slowly but surely getting everything together; now all that's left is putting the final touches on the nursery :) Our condo is completely painted!! It looks great; Tyler did a great job :) His list of projects is almost gone, which is nice to see (at least on this end...he may start looking for others soon!). We've also hired a doula (thank you for all of the prayers for wisdom)! We found this lady through our child birth educator and she seems like a really good fit for us; plus, she has her training in midwifery (she'll be taking her boards in February) and this allows her to labor at home with us until we're ready to go into the hospital. We are very thankful for her and think she will help make this natural birth a wonderful experience for us :) We've also finished our child birth classes as of Wednesday; we are now officially certified to birth our child...good to know! Haha, in all seriousness, we did learn a lot and feel like class has prepared us a little more for D-day...can't come soon enough!\

Baby born at 34 weeks

Thanks for all of the prayers - please continue to pray that God will provide someone to temporarily watch our child from mid-January through the end of February while we wait for our spot at the childcare center to open. He has been faithful in providing for us thus far and we trust that He will continue to do so :) Please also continue to pray for our preparations overall as we get closer and closer to having our little one, and also for a healthy end of the pregnancy/safe delivery for both Baby and mom. Thank you all, again, for your love and support - we couldn't do this without you! Have a great weekend!!

Monday, September 17, 2012

33 Weeks

7 weeks to go - could they please go by faster?! We are SO anxious to meet our little one! Our "little one" is growing rapidly - we're over 4lbs (about the weight of a pineapple) and over 17inches long from head to heel! So that's why my belly feels bigger - and more painful :/ Other than growing, Baby's had a few developments this week. His/her skin is no longer a red color but has turned the more "normal" newborn color of pink. This is because the liver is now storing Baby's iron; apparently prior to this all of the extra iron in the blood was making Baby look like a little red tomato :) Baby's skeleton continues to harden, with the exception of his/her head - these bones won't fuse completely until early adulthood - which allows for easier passage through the birth canal (and also a funny shaped head, temporarily)! Baby continues to be active - no need to count fetal movements with this one! He/she never stops moving! Ok...that's a little dramatic, but it really does feel like Baby's moving more often than not which is exciting, reassuring, and sometimes annoying/painful (like when I'm trying to sleep!). We've discovered that our child is stubborn and likes to stick feet and elbows into unpleasant places; when we try to gently reposition, he/she promptly puts it right back where it was...sigh. Determined little child!! :) It's fun to play these games with our child - gah, I can't wait to hold him/her in my arms!!!

As this picture demonstrates, the space is rapidly decreasing in the uterus. Because of this, the amniotic fluid amount has slowly started decreasing which is apparently why I'm able to feel so many movements - not as much cushion!

As for me, I'm still tired - all the time, it seems! Tonight is my 3rd night shift in a row and I am definitely feeling it! After tonight I get to go back to day shift for about 3 weeks - yippee! A more normal life schedule! My back pain has been much better this week, very thankful for that! Tyler had a busy weekend - he painted the kitchen all by himself (extremely time-consuming and tiring, I'm sure) and put everything back together and in its place; as if that wasn't enough, he also made 2 delicious dinners for us - he's amazing, what can I say?! Other good news - we've moved up quite a few spots on the daycare waiting list...we've moved from 11th to 3rd!! This means that, at the latest, we should have a spot by the end of February - praise God!! Thank you for all of your prayers in this area - please continue to pray that a spot will open sooner, or that we will find someone willing to watch our baby temporarily between mid-January and February.

Cute little baby born at 33 weeks. No, he's not suntanning with some super sweet shades - he's under phototherapy to help with jaundice and those goggles protect his little eyes. Jaundice is definitely not uncommon in newborns, especially premature babies.

That's about it for this week - not a whole lot of updating going on, this week has been a pretty quiet one :) Thanks, again, for all of your prayers. Please continue to keep our little growing family of 3 in your prayers this week, that God would just continue to provide for us as we prepare for Baby's arrival and that we would be blessed with a healthy, full-term baby :) Have a great week!

Thursday, September 13, 2012

32 Weeks

Countdown continues...8 weeks to go! Baby has reached a hefty weight of about 4lbs (same as a sack of red potatoes) and is approximately 17 inches from head to heel. As far as we know, Baby's still on track to gain about 1/2lb per week and double his/her weight in the next 8 weeks - yikes! Not a whole lot is changing with Baby now, just simply growing and adding on the pounds. Still lots and lots of movement going on in there, which is becoming more and more noticeable (and painful!) as those elbows and feet are very quickly running out of room to stretch before they come into contact with my bladder, ribs, or sides :) It's still very exciting to feel Baby move so much (definitely an extremely active baby - what am I in for when he/she comes out?!) and to watch my belly change shape on a regular basis!

Just a little cramped, I'd say :)

As for me, I have to admit - I'm definitely getting tired. Ready for this baby to come out (not that I want a preemie, but I'm ready to have the baby here already)!! All in all, it's going very well and I really don't have much to complain about. Definitely gained more weight than I expected to (duh!), so I've started trying eat more protein-packed, smaller meals (not that I was eating unhealthy before, but trying to slow the weight-gain down just a tad!) and need to get a little better about exercising :)...but who wants to do that when a nap sounds oh so much better?! Sleep has been more challenging in the past few nights as Baby seems to be very VERY (uh-oh) active at night and his/her weight gain (and my increasing belly size) makes it harder and harder to find comfortable positions to sleep in for an extended period of time. I guess God is just getting me ready to wake up several times during the night once Baby gets here :) Have to give Tyler a shout-out again - he's been really great with giving me back massages and reminding me to take it easy or sit down when he knows I've over-worked my back throughout the day...so thankful to have such a wonderful husband! Our birthing classes are almost over - yippee!! - and last night we had the pleasure of watching a video on birth (boy, was that an experience!). Not that any of this is new to me, but it was definitely a good visual reminder of what is to come in the not-so-distant future. And, I realize I probably sound crazy and naiive, seeing the birth didn't scare me - it actually excited me more than anything! I know, I know, it's going to hurt a lot and be a long, enduring process that I will more than likely be miserable at the end of...but I'm so excited! All of that hard work and pain will result in the sweetest little miracle we've been waiting on for so long! Side note - please pray that I maintain my optimism :)

Another side note - we officially bought our plane tickets to come home at Christmas time!! YAY!! And...we're flying into Fort Wayne! Double yay! Our "tour" with Baby begins December 21 and will end December 31; we plan on splitting the stay with Tyler's parents and my mom and Sam (most hospitable housing environment for my allergy-stricken hubby), and are really looking forward to spending 10 days at home with our little one! Definitely want to try and see a lot of people, but we also are very aware that we are not going to be able (nor want to) travelling all over the city/state to show off our little cutie. That being said, we will definitely try to arrange times to get together with people in groups or in individual visits at the places we're staying. We'll keep you posted as the time gets closer :)

Please continue to pray for Baby's growth - that it stays on track and that he/she puts on the appropriate amount of weight when the time comes to grace us with his/her presence. Prayers for my comfort as Baby increases in size are also greatly appreciated :) We think we may have found a decently-priced doula for the birth (requirement for delivering at the Midwifery Center), but we'd love prayers of wisdom as we make our final decision on who that person will be. Lastly, just continued prayers for Tyler and my peace of mind as we get closer and closer to becoming a three-some; our world is going to change more than we ever imagined (and we're so excited!)!

Thank you all for your love, support, and prayers! Have a wonderful rest of the week :)

Tuesday, September 4, 2012

31 Weeks

Woohoo! We're in the single digits (weekly countdown, that is)...only 9 weeks/2mos to go! Baby's weighing in at approximately 3.3lbs, the equivalent of 4 navel oranges - that's a lot of weight! - and is measuring approximately 16 inches from head to heel. Not a lot of space left to stretch! The scary thing is this - Baby is going to be more than doubling his/her weight in the next 9 weeks - eek!! Get ready for some serious growth! One website put it this way - Baby will gain approximately 0.5lbs per week from here on out; grow, Baby, grow! Exciting news on the development front - all of Baby's systems/organs are mature except for the lungs - so crazy to think about! This means that Baby would have a very good chance of survival outside the womb, but would definitely still need some respiratory help. Also, all of Baby's senses are mature now so he/she can taste (yummy amniotic fluid!), smell (what does it smell like in there? Probably not pleasant...anyways...), see (eyes are open most of the time and able to visualize things that are close to his/her face), touch (pulling on that umbilical cord and playing with his/her face!), and hear (all of those lovely sounds inside Mommy, along with mine and Daddy's voices, and who can forget Samson and Delilah?!). Baby's skin is almost completely smooth now as more fat has settled into place around the body. Lastly, because Baby is running out of room (and rather quickly, I might add), his/her arms and legs are tucked in close to the body (or in the fetal position - of course!) and will more than likely stay that way until birth. That's not to say that I'm not feeling Baby move as much - he/she's moving more than ever! We definitely have a very active little one :)

If you haven't seen our Facebook album of Baby's pictures, check it out! We had the awesome experience of having a 3D/4D ultrasound done last Saturday - so cool!! Got a sneek-peak of what Baby will look like (facial features, hands, feet, etc) when he/she graces us with their presence in a few months; I think Baby definitely has my lips/mouth, nose could be mine or Tyler's...we'll see! Unfortunately, like last ultrasound, Baby was feeling a bit camera shy and didn't want to move around much (could be due to the fact that he/she was up all night long with Mommy at work the night before), but it allowed us to get some pretty awesome close-ups of the face (and I mean REALLY close up - face was smashed up against the side of my uterus! Is there some cuddling in our future?!). I'll try to remember to post the pictures on here when I get home from work tomorrow :)

As for me, I'm growing too :) I've found the first (evil!) stretch marks on my legs - sigh, just a sign of things to come I assume. Still feeling pretty good, overall. The heartburn has increased and is becoming unbearable at times - may need to look into some Zantac or something a little longer-lasting than the Tums I've been popping like candy. I find it's worse on night shift, possibly because Baby is moving so much then and pushing those sweet little legs/feet up into my guts and lungs :) Backaches have also gotten a bit more unpleasant - that uterus needs to stretch with Baby's growth, and I have a feeling it's attached to my back close to my sciatic nerve which means lots and lots of pain in my bottom and legs - not fun! Thankfully a good night's rest and staying off of my feet for a while gives it time to relax and feel better. I keep reading about Braxton-Hicks contractions (practice contractions for actual labor - not harmful or painful at this point, just the uterus stretching and getting ready for the big day), but I don't feel like I've noticed any at this point. Guess we'll see :)

Cute little baby born at 31 weeks :)

Tomorrow marks the half-way point through our child birth class - there are six or seven other couples in the class with us, and the teacher seems to do a good job of keeping us entertained and providing good information. Not really learning a whole heck of a lot (on my end), but it's all been a good reminder and helping us focus on the things that are to come (signs of impending doom, ahem I mean labor :), when to come into the hospital, stages of labor, etc). Although it's not what we'd call "fun" and how we like to spend our Wednesday nights, it has been enjoyable enough.

Tyler has officially finished the mantle/built-in bookshelves and it looks great! I will, again, try to remember to post some pictures on here tomorrow so you can see it - I love to brag about him :) Also have gotten rid of some furniture from the past (tear) and have started to re-arrange, getting our house more settled and ready for Baby. Finally broke down and bought some really cute Holiday outfits for our little own (gender neutral, of course) - I couldn't help it! Carter's was having a huge sale, plus I had a coupon and I just had to ;) Our Baby is gonna be looking stylish for his/her tour around the Fort come Christmas time :)

I like to add these pictures - it's so much more real when you see an actual baby the size of ours! So cute :) And as much as I want to meet our little one, I do not want it to spend the first several weeks of it's life in the hospital - so stay in, little one!

I think that's all for now - I realize I've typed a lot...can you tell I'm a little bored at work tonight?! Thanks again for all of your prayers - please continue to pray for Baby/mom's health through the end of the pregnancy, preparation on our end for Baby's arrival (finances, supplies, childcare, timing of relatives visiting, etc), and that we would be making the most of our time together (just the two of us) as it won't be that way for very much longer :) We love and appreciate all of you, thanks so much for all of your support and love. Have a fantastic week!

Update - 9/5/12 - Pictures, as promised!