Sneak Peak

We had our 36 week appt today with Dr Huynh. She scheduled an ultrasound to see how big he is since my fundal height jumped at my last appt. We still measured 3cm ahead or 39cm, but we didn't have another big jump. She did an ultrasound and he's about 7lbs right now, so he may be as big as 8 something when he's born. She says she thinks it's doable for me. He is floating in quite a bit of amniotic fluid, but it's not excessive so she wasn't worried. PHEW! Looks like everything is ok and I should be able to proceed with having him naturally. I haven't started dilating yet so the full moon tomorrow shouldn't mean an early surprise from our little guy. :)

I've been having quite a bit of pain in my wrists and knuckles caused from Carpel Tunnel. I guess it's pretty common in pregnancy and should go away after the baby is born. It's intense and they get very stiff at night. I feel like paws would be more useful.

I've also been having a little cramping in my lower abdomen and what I've been calling "stitches" in my abdomen. Dr Huynh says all of those are Braxton Hicks. Ha! Who knew? Not I. I was expecting something much more dramatic.

I've been quite a bit more irritable and can't get the dog or the cat to give me any personal space. It's driving me crazy. I guess this easy pregnancy couldn't last forever. The irritability and fatigue I've had for the last 10 days has me more and more ready for the baby to come every day.

The ultrasound gave me a sneak peak at our little guy! Ruggs didn't want to share, but he's so adorable I can't resist! I didn't think I wanted to know what he looked like before he was born, but now that I've seen him I'm very excited. It may have given me the extra boost I needed to get through the next couple of weeks.

Nursery

We finally finished the nursery this weekend and we're feeling ready for Baby J.T.  Putting all the stuff together was exciting for Ruggs and he's a pro at putting on the vinyl wall decals. It's hard to believe we'll have a little guy in this room within the month!

Miracle Grow

I had my 34 week appointment with Dr. Huynh on Tuesday. We talked about what to expect from labor and the birth plan Ruggs and I had prepared. She listened to his heartbeat, though we had to chase him around a bit. We finally caught up with him at 141bpm. When she measured my fundal height it was a whopping 37cm! Baby J.T. grew a bunch in the last couple weeks!  At my last appointment we were measuring on schedule at 32 1/2cm so Dr. Huynh is a little concerned. I asked her if it could be my weight gain (I've been feeling a little bloated, tired and stretched to the max lately). She said it wasn't really a possibility since I'd only gained 2 lbs since my last appointment 2 weeks ago.

We've scheduled an ultrasound appointment for my 36 week appointment on Sept. 22nd. She's going to measure our little guy and find out how big he really is. She said after we determine what's going on we'll talk about some options (i.e. c section, induction etc...) because we may not be able to let him wait until he's ready to come out. She said an 8 lb baby is all she'll let me deliver (phew!). She said not to worry, she wouldn't do anything with him at 34 weeks so I guess we'll just wait and see.

Meanwhile, being me, I've looked up possible causes for this sudden jump...

What does it mean if I'm "measuring large for dates"?

Measuring large for dates means your fundal height is more than 2 centimeters larger than average for your stage of pregnancy, based on your due date. Your practitioner will probably schedule an ultrasound to find out why. Among the possible explanations are:

•  Your due date is off. (The ultrasound can help your practitioner figure out your correct due date.) - Doubtful since I've measuring on target until now.
•  You have looser abdominal muscles than most women as a result of an earlier pregnancy. - This is my first baby and I've been measuring on target until now.
•  You have uterine fibroids.
•  You're carrying twins or more. - Doubtful since we've had 3 ultrasounds.
•  You have too much amniotic fluid.
•  Your baby is positioned high above your pelvis, which might be the case with a breech baby or if you have a placenta previa. - We know he's not breech. The Dr. can feel that he's turned in the right position.
•  You have a bigger-than-normal baby because of gestational diabetes. This condition is known as macrosomia. You may need to be tested to rule it out. - I've been tested (twice) and do NOT have gestational diabetes.
Or you might simply be carrying a big, perfectly healthy baby.

Overall, I guess we can just hope that it was a fluke or that someone is feeding him miracle grow and he's perfectly healthy! I'll be sure to keep you posted!

Here's a sequence of belly shots. It's amazing how much he's (we've) grown!

I also took a little video of me playing cat and mouse with his feet. You can see him moving around! It's subtle, but I think you'll still be able to see it in the video (especially at the end).

Shower, Placenta Surprise

My sister Amy and Ruggs' sisters Karyl & Kathy hosted a baby shower for us last weekend. We had the shower here at Ruggs' and I's house since it was centrally located. I think space may have been an issue, but we made it work and it was a great shower. I can't wait to post the pictures! We got lots of cute clothes, blankets and towels for Baby J.T. We also received a lot of pacifiers and a pack 'n play (which we'll use as a bassinet when we bring him home).  We're working on getting the nursery finished and I'll be sure to post pictures when we do.

My book club also had a "Baby Book Club" for me at our meeting last night. We received lots of cute books - I can't wait to start reading to our little guy! 

As of my last visit with Dr Huynh we're measuring on target now... or closer to it: 32 1/2cm last week. Baby J.T. is turned and we seem to be doing great. At our Bradley class the instructor recommended we do a birth plan so I gave Dr Huynh a rough draft. We'll be discussing labor, when to call her and the birth plan at my visit next week.

Meanwhile, we preregistered at Avista Hospital yesterday and we are taking a tour tomorrow. After meeting with the nurse to preregister and talking to her about what we could expect Ruggs and I felt much better! We're very excited for the tour tomorrow and look forward to using the balls, jacuzzi and patient refrigerator when it's time to deliver.

We've now covered stage 1 and stage 2 labor in our Bradley classes. All of the information we're given is very helpful - I'm hoping we can remember it when the time comes! We also have lots of homework to do: practicing positions, breathing, relaxation techniques and daily exercises.

Baby J.T. is moving around a lot and seems to be not only motivated by food these days. He moves around a lot through out the day and even more between 7-11pm! My favorite game right now is Guess the Body Part.

The strangest thing happened this week! I'd been at my water class and I was a little chilly (the air just turned from summer to a more autumn feel here in CO). I came home sat in the air conditioning and ate breakfast while I check my email. Eventually, I was super chilly and decided a warm shower was good idea. When I looked in the mirror I noticed a big red circle on my belly! It felt warmer than the rest of my skin. I rushed to show Ruggs and we decided that it was likely the placenta showing through my skin!! You can sort of see it here, but it was much darker and noticeable in person! We were surprised, you could not only see it, by how large it is!