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

Weeks 25-28

I wrote it then, but cherish it even more now....

As I sit here today and reflect on weeks 25-28, I have to say looking back they went by so quickly.  However in the moment, I don't think I would have thought to.  As in my past pregnancies, the weeks of 20-27 are some of the most scary, filled with worry and uncertainty.  This time is no different but yet as I think back, the one thing that helped me with each passing day, was to not get ahead of myself, to stay in the moment of the present day and to ask myself, "How are things at this moment?"  It was something Laurie Beth had always guided me on with Madelyn.  At this moment, at this time, I would ask myself that question and then often follow it up with, "Is there any reason to be concerned at this moment?"  99.9% of the time the answer was always no.  That is how I got through the weeks of 25-28.

Look at those long legs!

  That and the fact that my class was in the final weeks, with the majority of the points available at the end, and I knew I needed to stay focused on that goal.  That often kept my mind very busy which is a good thing.  And I always reminded myself we had made it past the 24 mark, something I know that is not the same with each pregnancy but still a trigger for me.  I come to see them now as such... triggers, of post-traumatic stress I still have from our experience with Noah.  

In the last 4 weeks we've seen the baby continue to grow and start now to fill out!  It is so much fun and I feel like I can see similarities between the baby and Madelyn.  Here are a few (or many) of our recent photo shoots with baby H.

The legs that are gaining strength and kicking me with more force each and everyday!  I LOVE it!

I love how they have their feet crossed in this picture.  Reminds me something both Jarrett and I do.  

The baby seems to love the umbilical cord and the placenta because if they don't have their face shoved in the placenta they are holding the cord and playing with it.  

That's the cord in front of the face. 

And we love our hands too.  

 Isn't this one cute, the baby is making a heart shape with their hands.  :-)

More fun playing with our hands.

And as much as the baby is growing on the inside, my belly on the outside is growing just as much too.  I think I definitely have muscle memory because I'm feeling quite large.  Thankfully Jarrett reminds me this is exactly what we want!

The girls are pretty excited about what is in there, although as you see from Isabelle's face, she has a better idea of what this means than Madelyn.  Our current "baby" has no idea what's coming.  Just last night I was talking to her about sleeping in her bed instead of our bed and that when the baby comes she'd going to have to sleep in her bed all night because she will be the big sister.  Then as soon as Jarrett came into the bedroom I said, "Dad, Madelyn and I were just talking about where she's going to sleep when the baby comes."  Dad responded by asking Madelyn where she was going to sleep then.  She sat up in bed (our bed I might add) and said, "I'm sleeping in your bed, its my bed too."  LOL.

Week 27 happen to fall on Easter Sunday and we finally shared the news with our family.  Prior to this we had really kept the news close to our hearts and just between our immediate family.  Part of this was because of the fear and worry we carry with each pregnancy but also part of it was for selfish reasons in that this being our last experience in growing our family, we wanted to soak up as much of every moment we could as our family of 6 growing into a party of 7.  I officially think you become "party size" when you become a family of 7.  I can't wait for this status.  Most would not describe me as a party animal so for once I might actually fit in with this description.   

 The boys have been very supportive and interested in this pregnancy.  Mainly they are concerned about what contractions feel like, how much pain is associated with labor and how anyone can survive something so "horrible" (their words).  I almost wish I could get one of those labor contraction simulators that you see on the internet every once in a while.  I think it would be funny to let the guys in our family try it out.  I wonder how much they could stand.... I have a feeling Gabriel would think he'd be so tough and would probably waive the white flag right from the start.  

Speaking of him, the other night I put my pj's on and obviously my t-shirts are getting too small.  When I walked out to the kitchen Gabe made some comment about my belly hanging out and I responded, "Wait, isn't this the new fashion trend I see all the girls at your school sporting.  Maybe I should just show up with my crop top and see what everyone thinks."  He looked at me with a moment of great fear unsure if I was serious and then he responded, " PLEASE NO, I would seriously die."  Glad to know he thinks I look so great. :-)
But at least now I have another thing I can tease him about. 

As the weeks have gone on, we've been able to see the baby fill out and grow.  It makes me happy to see and to know that with each passing day, we are getting to a better point.  Look at those feet!

This picture makes me laugh, I'm not sure if the baby was moving but it looks like they just have one bone with a boot on and their hand looks huge!

Some of these 3D ones are my favorite.  It seems with each week the baby prefers to keep their facial features a surprise.  Look at these moves to keep their face hidden?

Here's one sneak peak where it almost looks like the baby is smiling.

and soon enough back to shoving their face in the placenta.

At our most recent ultrasound we finally got a great shot of the baby's face and I keep thinking I'm looking at Madelyn when she was in the womb.  I can't wait to meet this baby in person.  Well I can wait, but I'm so excited to see what they really are like when they get here. 

Sometimes it seems surreal that we'll hopefully get to parent 5 kiddos.  In some ways it scares me I think 5, wow that seems like so many, but when I think about it, I truly pray that 5 here on earth to guide and raise is what we are blessed to do.

I look forward to having moments like this photo below to share.  

While I love getting to see pictures of the baby each week as he or she grows, there is one picture or image on the screen that I long for each and every time.  It is this image... the heart rate.  Each week that I see that rise and fall of the heartbeat trace across the screen, I breath a sigh of relief and give great thanks that life is growing and thriving inside of me.  The significance of that gift will never be taken for granted.  

In this picture if you look at the jaw line you can see the tiny teeth buds in the jaw.  Isn't it incredible how amazing our bodies are to create this? 

At 28 weeks I was supposed to start monitoring the movements of the baby and last Saturday night, after a very minimal day of all movements, followed by an evening where I felt nothing and after lying down, eating, drinking and still not getting baby to move, I decided to go into the triage L & D to make sure everything was okay. 

Thankfully they got me right in as you can imagine with each passing moment, the anxiety and fear doubled in my mind.  I tried to reassure myself no matter what happened it was going to be okay.  But honestly I was really scared.  Jarrett stayed home with the kids so I was there by myself, which in a way was the way I wanted and yet knew if it wasn't what we hoped he would have wanted to be by my side.

They hooked me up to the monitor and thankfully right away the nurse found a heartbeat.  The sound I always think of galloping horses.  I love that sound and oh so grateful to hear it.

After a while of monitoring the nurses and the doctor were reassured that things were okay and so was I.  Ever grateful to be able to climb out of that bed and know baby was okay, and safe inside for a few more weeks we pray.

So here we are approaching 29 weeks, and I sometimes think it has gone so fast and other times it seems like we've been counting down the weeks forever.  

So here's to 28 weeks going on 29 and hoping we get a future of ice cream nights as a family of 7.

until next time,
Angie