Weeks 29-32

The weeks 29-32 of pregnancy have been a blur and now that I sit here at 34 weeks writing this, I honestly can't remember much of what happened.

I  guess that's a good thing since that means status quo and continuing on with things being A-Okay.  I continued to have weekly ultrasounds to check fluid levels, and the baby's ductus valve in the heart.  Since I was on Motrin every six hours to control contractions, they wanted to monitor the baby.

I have grown to love those weekly ultra sounds as they provided me with mental comfort and reassurance every Wednesday morning with Marybeth. Some weeks we got some cute pictures and other weeks, baby wasn't too interested in sharing pictures of their face. Either way for me seeing that heart rate image was always present and something I am always thankful for.  

Here are some photos from week 29-32

My belly is continuing to grow as well.  The baby seemed to be pretty active each night between 9-10 pm.  Usually I try to be in bed by that time so I can feel he or she move, roll and kick.  I cherish these moments as I know in a few weeks I will hopefully have the baby in my arms and having a child grow inside of me is a chapter of my life complete.  As much as being pregnant has his challenges and is not a walk in the park, I feel so fortunate to have experienced it, to have known what it feels like to feel a life grow inside.  I'm sure I will miss it, so I am very purposeful in soaking up each moment I get to feel. 

Starting at week 28 Dr. Alperin shared that it was time for me to start keeping track of kick counts.  As reassuring as it is to feel the kicks inside, knowing I needed to start keeping track of the kicks made me become hyper aware of when I didn't feel normal kicks.  Perhaps it is because the baby was begging to run out of room, or that as each week goes by my contractions seem to become more frequent and stronger and baby doesn't like them much either.  What ever the reason several days into week 28 I had noticed that day that the baby didn't seem to be moving as much.  That night I laid low, drank a lot of water and went to bed early.  I tried to reassure my very worried mind that things were okay and yet with each passing minute the fear and worry grew.  After several hours of worrying, I woke up Jarrett and he ask he always says, "Just go in, it's better to be safe." 

So I did.

Thankfully everything turned out okay and for the days following I've been diligent in monitoring baby's movement.

Here I am at week 29 feeling actually really good and thankful the Motrin had been taking care of the contractions, as long as I was very diligent in limiting my activity levels and resting as much as possible.

Another thing we decided to do this time around was a maternity family photo session.  I never really did anything like that in previous pregnancies, and since this is our last one, I wanted photos that captured the miracle of getting to create a human in my body.  For so many years I longed to be pregnant and have never taken for granted what a gift it is.  

I wanted to soak up every minute of this pregnancy as I will close this chapter in my life and I want to commit the feelings, the emotions, the journey in cement in my mind.  For I know how lucky and special it is that I was given this chance.  

After we took our family pictures the entire family went out for ice cream.  It happened to be a busy nice at the ice cream shop and everyone in the store watched as we walked in.  Some asked us if we had come from a graduation, others asked us if all those children were ours and others just starred.  It's a common occurrence that happens when we go out now, especially when its just the kids and me.  So many people look at me and while I've received my fair share of disgust looks, I try to always look past them.  This IS exactly what we hoped, prayed for and wanted.  

Here are a few more ultrasound photos from weeks 30 and 31.  Starting with the one I pray to see each week... the rise and fall of that heart beat. 

Look at that cute foot and those toes!  I'm so excited to kiss them!

A side profile, see that placenta right in front of their face?  They love that soft pillow!

I've felt pretty good on some occasions and tried to venture out when I could to see a few friends, including Miss Melanie, my dear friend I met all because of Noah.  This was my first time sharing the news with her.  She was surprised too, and as normal very loving and supportive! 

Going into week 32 I was lucky enough to get to see some great shots of baby H.  We got some super cute facial profile pictures.  See below..

Love those cheeks getting bigger.  Doesn't he or she look so comfy curled up next to the placenta pillow?  Man I am so excited to meet them in person. 

Yep belly is getting bigger too!

It's fun to see their facial profile and their fingers together!

The girls and I cuddled up.  It makes me wonder if it's a girl, I'll get to be a momma to three girls who will hopefully be close in age and the best of friends.

And if it's a boy, I feel hopeful that he can look up to his older brothers and find them to be a great source of inspiration and support.

So here we are at week 32 and giving thanks that we've made it this far. 

That I'm lucky enough to get this big and that we hopefully will get a few more with he or she inside.

As we hit 32 weeks I stop the Motrin and now begin taking Nifedipine.  While I'm definitely not a fan of this medication and it makes me feel pretty crappy, it is supposed to help with the contractions and to keep me pregnant a few more weeks, so I will take it and deal with the side effects as long as it helps.  I will take this medication until week 36 and at that point I'll be off all restrictions and Dr. Alperin said we'd be okay welcoming the baby any point after that.  

The last time I was in to see him, Dr. Alperin got to see what my contraction are like.  He agreed that they were pretty strong contractions and that without medication to control them, he didn't think I'd be able to go to 40 weeks.  He said he was hopeful to get to 37 weeks, so we shall see!  That's coming so soon!  He also said he would let me go into labor naturally and attempt to deliver without a C-section.  If however baby decides not to come before 39 weeks than we will probably schedule a C-section.  That being said he said if I'd like to elect for a C-section give my past with Madelyn he would be supportive of that too.  So many to wait and see what happens.

With 32 weeks down and a few more left we've started to get the house ready, we pulled out all the baby supplies, washed up all the clothes (both girls and the very few boys clothes we have) and I think we are prepared.  I've started packing my hospital bag and I think we are checking off our list.

Perhaps the biggest item on our list is to figure out a name.  We have not been able to figure out a name for a boy and while we've got a short list of girls names, we haven't finalized anything.  I guess we better get on that.

So grateful to be here and finally allowing ourselves to get excited about what the future may hold.  While we are not promised anything, we are filled with hope at what might come, and that feels good.

Until next time,

Angie