We had an eventful week as you may have read in the previous blog post. But before all that drama happened we were having a great week!
We had our "baby shower" at the hospital. This was an event put on for all the mom and dads to be. We got a tour of the birthing center at the hospital, met the staff in the birthing unit: OB's, doctors, nurses, midwives, etc., and they had little stations set up on things like installing the car seat to breast feeding to swaddling and more. It was a nice event.
I was very happy with the birthing center. We saw the c-section rooms as well as the natural birth rooms. The room that you check into is the room that you will remain in for your entire stay otherwise known as Labor-Delivery-Recovery-Postpartum Rooms. The natural birth rooms have the jet baths aka optional hydrotherapy tubs to help as a natural epidural, but they do not do water births, and a nice pull out couch for dad to sleep on. Baby will stay with us in the room at all times to. The rooms have special sinks for baby's first bath. We also got to view the NICU, which is referred to as the Special
Care Nursery. There are only 4 rooms equipped as a NICU room. The downside to that is if something were to go wrong and all four were filled, baby boy would be transferred to the main campus in Detroit, while I would not. The rooms had a pull out bed for mom and dad to stay with baby as well. Hopefully we will not have to see this room again!
We did get to meet with the lactation consultant that our midwife referred us to. She has worked with many moms and down syndrome babies with the canal heart defect baby boy has. That was comforting to hear. She explained the different techniques we would try, but most babies with this heart defect have a very hard time latching on so pumping will be essential until his surgery. The hospital just had a few pumps donated and she said she will make sure there is one reserved with my name on it just in case my insurance company approval process is delayed. That is a relief to know in case we do end up delivering early! She said after the surgery she has no doubt that he will be able to latch on :) So glad we got a chance to talk to her!
Little did I know that I would be visiting that birthing unit so soon! As you may have read in the previous blog post we have run into a few issues with the pregnancy. Im so thankful that my doctors are so attentive and catching things as early as they can! My blood pressure keeps remaining in the borderline range. Im sure that this is from anxiety from the pregnancy. Every appointment it feels like we get more unfortunate news, so my stress may be high going into appointments. It does always seem to come down by the end of the appointment, so that is a plus. But every time they are really worried about preeclampsia.
It also appears that my amniotic fluid is consistently low. And the cord blood is absent from the baby to the placenta. My doctors have me on close monitoring for both of these and have said that baby is doing well on the monitors, so it doesnt seem to be affecting him just yet. If the cord blood does reverse than they will have me admitted and watch me on a daily basis to determine if the baby is in distress and if we need to deliver. But right now I am going in twice a week for non stress tests to keep an eye on babys movement/breathing and heart rate. And an ultrasound once a week to see if the fluid is steadily decreasing or fluctuating, as well as if the cord blood is remaining absent or reversing. My doctor said that she doesnt necessarily think we have issues with the placenta just yet, that these things may be a result of the extra chromosome. She is very happy with how well baby is doing on the NST's. So we will continue to monitor him for now.
With the increased appointments, she did take me off work. She said that I don't necessarily have to be on bedrest, but I do need to be resting most of the time. And absolutely no strenuous activity. She even said no walking as exercise. :( She wanted to relieve any stressors, and have me available for the increased appointments. We want to carry baby boy to as full term as possible! Not my ideal situation, but we will make it work. Emerson is the number one priority right now!
So how is baby boy growth this week, well according to babycenter.com:
Baby boy should have about a pint and a half of amniotic fluid surrounding him (although think Im outside the norm on this one!), but that volume will shrink as he gets bigger and takes up more room in my uterus. His eyesight continues to develop, though its not very keen. Even after he's born, he will keep his eyes closed for a
good part of the day. When he does open them, he will respond to changes in light but will have 20/400 vision, which means he can only make out objects a few inches from his face.
Baby boy's lungs and digestive tract are almost fully developed. He also has eyebrows and can bat his eyelashes. Bat his eyelashes, to freaking adorable!
How far along: 30 Weeks
Baby Size: Cabbage! Awe, cabbage patch kid...so stinkin cute!
Total Weight Loss: Holding 35lbs
Maternity Clothes: Yep, and even some of those are starting to feel uncomfortable! LOL
Stretch Marks?: Havent checked all week - and my Palmers Lotion has been packed so some stretch marks might have crept up on me!
Sleep: Sleep is definitely uncomfortable these days. After my visit to the hospital I did find a way to prop the pillow under me that makes sleeping more comfortable. And my body pillow is a saint these days, providing support under my knees. Im usually only waking up once to pee in the middle of the night. But cant seem to sleep in either. Like up at 7:30am! If you know me, you know that is SO not me. :p
Best Moment this week: My Baby Shower!!! My family did such a beautiful job hosting my shower. So much TLC put into an amazing event. It had me a little emotional! It was so great to have my family and friends all together to celebrate this amazing little boy that is coming into all our lives. Hes is surrounded with so much love! I had a photographer at my shower, so once I get the pictures from her I will post a blog all about it. So keep an eye out for that!
Miss Anything? You know there isnt anything I can think of this week that I truly miss. :)
Movement: Movement...something I wish I felt more of. Especially with all the heightened concern. But when I do lay down and try to do fetal movement counts, I am feeling Emerson. Not a ton but am feeling what I need to feel to stay out of the hospital. Now when I was in the hospital, felt him move like crazy! But what else was I going to focus on? LOL I do still feel a flutter here and there to. With my anterior placenta and his small size, I think its just really hard to feel him. At least I hope. :( But with the increased NST's, I definitely hear him moving like crazy! So that is the positive to having all the NST's done.
Food Cravings: The only thing I seem to want on a daily basis is Twix Peanut Butter Bars. Not to unusual for me though. Love me peanut butter and chocolate!
Labor Signs: Well I thought I had no labor signs, until I was in the hospital triage getting a steroid shot to prepare baby boy for possible delivery! Ha! But no physical signs so far.
Belly Button In or Out? Belly button is flat and starting to pop out! Grant and I were both fascinated by this the other day staring at it for a little while. LOL
Wedding Rings on or off? Still off...wondering if I can squeeze it on for our maternity photos coming up...
Happy or Moody (most of the time): Well I wouldnt say moody. And happy does come in spurts. How about overwhelmed with emotions. I feel a rainbow of emotions on a daily basis. Still working through them as each one hits ;)
Symptoms: Still swollen feet and hands. My left hand fingertips are numb to, which is weird to feel. Other than that Im feeling pretty lucky on the symptoms side!
Looking forward to: Moving, believe it or not! Have been looking forward to that for 10 years now! Ha! Other than that, just looking forward to my weekly appointments confirming baby is doing ok! Hearing is heartbeat never gets old!
We had our "baby shower" at the hospital. This was an event put on for all the mom and dads to be. We got a tour of the birthing center at the hospital, met the staff in the birthing unit: OB's, doctors, nurses, midwives, etc., and they had little stations set up on things like installing the car seat to breast feeding to swaddling and more. It was a nice event.
I was very happy with the birthing center. We saw the c-section rooms as well as the natural birth rooms. The room that you check into is the room that you will remain in for your entire stay otherwise known as Labor-Delivery-Recovery-Postpartum Rooms. The natural birth rooms have the jet baths aka optional hydrotherapy tubs to help as a natural epidural, but they do not do water births, and a nice pull out couch for dad to sleep on. Baby will stay with us in the room at all times to. The rooms have special sinks for baby's first bath. We also got to view the NICU, which is referred to as the Special
Care Nursery. There are only 4 rooms equipped as a NICU room. The downside to that is if something were to go wrong and all four were filled, baby boy would be transferred to the main campus in Detroit, while I would not. The rooms had a pull out bed for mom and dad to stay with baby as well. Hopefully we will not have to see this room again!
We did get to meet with the lactation consultant that our midwife referred us to. She has worked with many moms and down syndrome babies with the canal heart defect baby boy has. That was comforting to hear. She explained the different techniques we would try, but most babies with this heart defect have a very hard time latching on so pumping will be essential until his surgery. The hospital just had a few pumps donated and she said she will make sure there is one reserved with my name on it just in case my insurance company approval process is delayed. That is a relief to know in case we do end up delivering early! She said after the surgery she has no doubt that he will be able to latch on :) So glad we got a chance to talk to her!
Little did I know that I would be visiting that birthing unit so soon! As you may have read in the previous blog post we have run into a few issues with the pregnancy. Im so thankful that my doctors are so attentive and catching things as early as they can! My blood pressure keeps remaining in the borderline range. Im sure that this is from anxiety from the pregnancy. Every appointment it feels like we get more unfortunate news, so my stress may be high going into appointments. It does always seem to come down by the end of the appointment, so that is a plus. But every time they are really worried about preeclampsia.
It also appears that my amniotic fluid is consistently low. And the cord blood is absent from the baby to the placenta. My doctors have me on close monitoring for both of these and have said that baby is doing well on the monitors, so it doesnt seem to be affecting him just yet. If the cord blood does reverse than they will have me admitted and watch me on a daily basis to determine if the baby is in distress and if we need to deliver. But right now I am going in twice a week for non stress tests to keep an eye on babys movement/breathing and heart rate. And an ultrasound once a week to see if the fluid is steadily decreasing or fluctuating, as well as if the cord blood is remaining absent or reversing. My doctor said that she doesnt necessarily think we have issues with the placenta just yet, that these things may be a result of the extra chromosome. She is very happy with how well baby is doing on the NST's. So we will continue to monitor him for now.
With the increased appointments, she did take me off work. She said that I don't necessarily have to be on bedrest, but I do need to be resting most of the time. And absolutely no strenuous activity. She even said no walking as exercise. :( She wanted to relieve any stressors, and have me available for the increased appointments. We want to carry baby boy to as full term as possible! Not my ideal situation, but we will make it work. Emerson is the number one priority right now!
So how is baby boy growth this week, well according to babycenter.com:
Baby boy should have about a pint and a half of amniotic fluid surrounding him (although think Im outside the norm on this one!), but that volume will shrink as he gets bigger and takes up more room in my uterus. His eyesight continues to develop, though its not very keen. Even after he's born, he will keep his eyes closed for a
good part of the day. When he does open them, he will respond to changes in light but will have 20/400 vision, which means he can only make out objects a few inches from his face.
Baby boy's lungs and digestive tract are almost fully developed. He also has eyebrows and can bat his eyelashes. Bat his eyelashes, to freaking adorable!
How far along: 30 Weeks
Baby Size: Cabbage! Awe, cabbage patch kid...so stinkin cute!
Total Weight Loss: Holding 35lbs
Maternity Clothes: Yep, and even some of those are starting to feel uncomfortable! LOL
Stretch Marks?: Havent checked all week - and my Palmers Lotion has been packed so some stretch marks might have crept up on me!
Sleep: Sleep is definitely uncomfortable these days. After my visit to the hospital I did find a way to prop the pillow under me that makes sleeping more comfortable. And my body pillow is a saint these days, providing support under my knees. Im usually only waking up once to pee in the middle of the night. But cant seem to sleep in either. Like up at 7:30am! If you know me, you know that is SO not me. :p
Best Moment this week: My Baby Shower!!! My family did such a beautiful job hosting my shower. So much TLC put into an amazing event. It had me a little emotional! It was so great to have my family and friends all together to celebrate this amazing little boy that is coming into all our lives. Hes is surrounded with so much love! I had a photographer at my shower, so once I get the pictures from her I will post a blog all about it. So keep an eye out for that!
Miss Anything? You know there isnt anything I can think of this week that I truly miss. :)
Movement: Movement...something I wish I felt more of. Especially with all the heightened concern. But when I do lay down and try to do fetal movement counts, I am feeling Emerson. Not a ton but am feeling what I need to feel to stay out of the hospital. Now when I was in the hospital, felt him move like crazy! But what else was I going to focus on? LOL I do still feel a flutter here and there to. With my anterior placenta and his small size, I think its just really hard to feel him. At least I hope. :( But with the increased NST's, I definitely hear him moving like crazy! So that is the positive to having all the NST's done.
Food Cravings: The only thing I seem to want on a daily basis is Twix Peanut Butter Bars. Not to unusual for me though. Love me peanut butter and chocolate!
Labor Signs: Well I thought I had no labor signs, until I was in the hospital triage getting a steroid shot to prepare baby boy for possible delivery! Ha! But no physical signs so far.
Belly Button In or Out? Belly button is flat and starting to pop out! Grant and I were both fascinated by this the other day staring at it for a little while. LOL
Wedding Rings on or off? Still off...wondering if I can squeeze it on for our maternity photos coming up...
Happy or Moody (most of the time): Well I wouldnt say moody. And happy does come in spurts. How about overwhelmed with emotions. I feel a rainbow of emotions on a daily basis. Still working through them as each one hits ;)
Symptoms: Still swollen feet and hands. My left hand fingertips are numb to, which is weird to feel. Other than that Im feeling pretty lucky on the symptoms side!
Looking forward to: Moving, believe it or not! Have been looking forward to that for 10 years now! Ha! Other than that, just looking forward to my weekly appointments confirming baby is doing ok! Hearing is heartbeat never gets old!
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