Progress Report: 37 Weeks

I am so happy to be at 37 weeks. I have been saying that I really want a more full term baby this time, but today for the first time I am really ready to get the show on the road. I told Seth tonight that I'd be ready to go into labor tonight. We didn't seem to be on the same page about that.

I have reached a new point of discomfort this week. It's still pretty doable, but let's just say that the couch is my best friend. When in the office, I really miss it. When on the way home, I can't wait to be on it.

After a series of tests and examinations, my doctor believes I have mild pre-eclampsia. At my appointment yesterday she said if I haven't had the baby by next week she will want to discuss induction. She then discovered that I am 3cm dialiated and offered to go ahead and schedule an induction for next Monday.

As tempting as it is from a planning perspective, Seth and I feel pretty strongly about letting the baby come when she is ready. We only want to induce if there is a medical reason to do so. I think inducing might feel a bit anticlimactic to me after 9 months of anticipating her arrival. Like there would be no story. Some people obviously don't mind, and prefer to be able to plan. I'm not knocking that - we all have to do what is comfortable for us. But as scary as it can be, and as much anxiety as it can cause (particularly with a toddler in the picture), I really want to let the story take shape naturally instead of choosing how it unfolds.

I started weekly ultrasounds and fetal heart rate monitoring last week related to the pre-eclampsia, and had my second round today. The baby has passed both tests both weeks. In the ultrasound they are looking for blood and oxygen flow (among other things), and with the fetal heart rate monitoring they are looking to see how the baby reacts to contractions (which often are taking place whether or not I feel them).

I am going into the office less and less. The person who is managing my clients while I am out is very up to speed and I feel really good about that situation. She is taking the lead on everything already and I am more behind the scenes. I can do everything I need to from home, so I am taking advantage of that as much as possible. I worked from home yesterday and will again tomorrow.

Next Wednesday I have my weekly check-in with my doctor, another ultrasound, and more fetal heart rate monitoring. Unless, of course, baby #2 decides to make her appearance before then...

Day by Day

That is my mantra right now, for multiple reasons.

The first is obviously the situation with baby #2. I feel like we are in such an interim state - anticipating that labor could start anytime, while realizing it may be days, or even weeks. I was a little off in how far along I was in the past. I thought my weeks changed on Friday, but evidently it is Monday so I am a few days behind where I thought I was. Not a huge deal, yet every day counts at this point.

What that means is that I'll be 37 weeks on Monday. I really feel pretty good, and think that I may prove my doctor wrong and make it past 37 weeks.

I'm obviously okay with that in terms of my desire to have a baby that is closer to full term. They say that the more developed they are, the easier they are. Or at least there is higher potential for them to be easier. That just makes sense to me.

So a more full term baby is desirable on one hand, but on the other hand I am ready to get the show on the road. Especially since the signs of pre-term labor began at 32 weeks, I have been anticipating this happening more and more. I'm just plain ready to have the baby and start our lives as a family of four.

And I'm definitely getting less and less comfortable. I know I have it much easier than many other women who have a variety of issues or are just much bigger than I am. But it's still not awesome.

Day by day.

Norah's sleep habits are another reason for my current mantra. We are amazed at how persistent she is. For 3-4 weeks we have been super hard core about not going back into her room at night when she cries for "just one more kiss." But she's just not getting it. She continues to cry at her door, asking for that last smooch until she eventually falls asleep on the floor. It is typically not that long (10-15 minutes), but occasionally it goes on for much longer. Most nights we expect it and I am fine with it. Other nights it really, really gets to me and is so hard to listen to.

I have started having very frank conversations with her about the fact that we will not be coming back into her room for one more kiss. I tell her when I am giving her the very last kiss for the night, and that I will give her lots more hugs and kisses when she wakes up in the morning. She seems to be listening, but then I give her the kiss, shut the door, and not 5 seconds later she is crying for one more.

We keep thinking she'll catch on, but she just doesn't. As Seth's mom frequently reminds me...this, too, shall pass. (But WHEN?)

For now I'll just take it day by day.

Pregnancy Update: 34 weeks, 5 days

I saw my doctor again on Monday and luckily nothing has progressed. She is still amazed at how low the baby is, and her comment this time was, "I will be really surprised if you make it to 37 weeks."

Eh? I thought 40 weeks was generally the goal.

She repeated her comment a few other times throughout the visit. Since the contractions are still relatively infrequent (they would start to worry if I was having several in an hour), and I only occasionally associate them with being up and around, she did not recommend bed rest. She just really wants me to take it easy.

Over the weekend I came down with a head cold, which has really affected my sleep the past two nights, and just dragged me down in general. I am trying to shorten days at work when I can, and choose at least one day a week to work at home.

Different scenarios and "what if" situations have started to consume more of my thoughts, particularly throughout the night. It is definitely a different situation with a toddler. I think most about what we'll do with Norah if I go into labor at various times of day or night. Then my mind wonders to having a baby in the NICU and, again, care for Norah should that happen. I know my mom will hop on a plane as quickly as possible, but the struggle for me is not being able to plan it all out.

And I know I can't, and I try to tell myself that, but it doesn't seem to relieve the anxiety. I guess I'll be working on that.

Plus, maybe my doctor is wrong. Maybe I'll be able to make it longer than she thinks. She is out of town next Tuesday through Thursday, and I am not scheduled to see her again until next Friday. Hopefully I don't go into labor before then, at which point I will be 36 weeks.

Pregnancy Update: 34 Weeks

I realized yesterday that I am only 3 weeks from when I had Norah (which was at 37 weeks). It freaked me out just a bit. 

I'm feeling good overall, but am showing multiple signs of pre-term labor. I started feeling menstrual-like cramping over a month ago. The nurse I talked to three weeks ago felt it was nothing to be concerned about since they were infrequent and not strong at all. The next week I had a doctor's appointment and my doctor agreed they were probably not contractions, but decided to check me just to make sure. 

She discovered my cervix is soft and the baby is "unusually low." Considering those two things, she figures the cramps probably are contractions. She asked me to come back in a week to see if there was any progression. Before we left she handed me a sticky note with her pager number on it "just in case." As we were walking out I said to Seth, "Something you never want to get from your doctor - a piece of paper with the number of the most direct way of reaching her." 

So I went in last Monday and she confirmed that I had not progressed. Her comment was, "Nothing has changed, but I still don't like it." It is the combination of all of the signs, plus the fact that I had Norah early. She also commented, "I'm not sure we're going to have a 37-week baby."  

She will be seeing me weekly for signs of progression. In the meantime, she wants me to be "couch-potato-ish" and stop exercising. Seth and I decided to take that as far as we can. He took Norah in to school today and is working from the office down here so that I can literally lay around all day. I'll try to minimize activity this weekend as much as possible.

If we didn't have TJ's early birth (33 weeks) as a point of reference we would probably be freaking out a little more. While the stats all look pretty good for a 34-week baby, we are doing what we can to keep her in there as long as possible. 

We got the image below from the ultrasound that was done a few weeks ago to confirm growth. My doctor wasn't really worried, but ordered it due to my small size (she did the same with Norah). All was fine, and we got this picture of her sweet little face. 

Guess we better get serious about a name!

21 Weeks

I have neglected to detail much about my pregnancy, but truthfully (and thankfully) there hasn't been all that much to report. I mentioned earlier that there was discussion about possibly moving my due date up from July 3 (or 2, I really can't remember what it is) based on some measurements that were taken at an ultrasound. The doctor I saw (since mine was out of town) didn't necessarily recommend changing it because the baby is going to come when she's going to come anyway. That made a lot of sense to me - a due date is really sort of arbitrary to begin with. 

So, based on the measurements, and the fact that Norah came 3 weeks early, I think we need to be prepared by mid-June for it to happen at anytime. And that's assuming there are no signs of labor before then. 

I feel the baby move all the time, but unfortunately I don't remember when I felt the first kick/punch. It has definitely been well over a month. 

I don't have significant food aversions, though leftovers often don't sound good (generally we live on them for our lunches). And several times I have made something and knew immediately upon completion that I wouldn't be eating any of it. But there are no real patterns in terms of what I don't feel like eating. 

As for cravings I'd say I've had a slight craving for grapefruit, oranges and orange juice. But it's definitely not a craving as in, "Seth please go to the store and get some oranges." I didn't had anything like that with either pregnancy. 

Here is a picture of me pregnant with Norah at 24 weeks:

And this is me with Peanut #2 at 21 weeks (today): 

Definitely more of a bulge earlier this time. I'm starting to feel more and more pregnant every day, just in terms of my belly. Otherwise I feel great!

Grandma and Grandpa Kauffman are visiting this weekend, so pictures of their time with us will be coming soon. They went with Seth to a Turkish restaurant tonight while I stay home with Norah.  

Pink or Blue?

We found out today that Norah will have a little......................sister!

You may be wondering whether we are disappointed about not having one of each. We're not. We can both say very honestly that we're not. Having personally experienced a special relationship between sisters, I am hopeful that Norah and Baby #2 will be able to experience that as well.

And let's be honest, it feels like another girl will be more within our comfort zone than a little boy would be. Check back in with us during the teenage years and see how we feel then.

Mommy No Baby Belly

At 17 weeks I am definitely starting to show. I have been explaining to Norah that Mommy has a baby in her belly, but she obviously doesn't quite get it yet. She typically says, "I see, I see," pulls my shirt up and puts her face right down on my belly to look.

A few weeks ago she noticed a bag of baby toys I had ready to give to my sister. She said, "Norah toy" (while pointing to her check, which is what she does when talking about herself). I told her we were giving them to her new cousin. I reminded her that Aunt Li has a big belly and explained that it is because she has a baby in her belly. "Ohhhhh," she said. I told her when the baby is born TJ and Luka are going to be big brothers and that she is going to be a big cousin. "Ohhhh," she said. "Norah big cousin," (with a finger on her cheek).

Then she said, "Mommy no baby belly," to which I replied, "Actually, Mommy does have a baby in my belly. My belly will get bigger and bigger like Aunt Li's because the baby will get bigger and bigger. And when the baby is born Norah will be a big sister. "

"Ohhhhh. Norah big sister," (with a finger on her cheek and a giant smile on her face).

The next thing she asked was, "Daddy baby belly?"

I'm sure it doesn't all make sense, but that was the first conversation we had about either my baby or Aunt Li's in which she was really engaged. Something seemed to be clicking a little.

And ever since then when I ask her what is in Mommy's belly she says, "Baby in there," while pointing to my belly.

Big Sister

For those of you who are not yet aware, we are very excited to share that Norah is going to become a big sister this year! 

(We put this "Big Sister" shirt on Norah to break the news to Mom and Dad and family that was here for Thanksgiving.)

My due date is official July 3, but based on some recent measurements it sounds like it might be moved up to June 23 (though it is nothing to be concerned about). I am just over 14 weeks now. 

All is going well so far, for which we are very thankful. I went through a few months of feeling tired and super hungry (midnight snacks and all), but I think both have improved over the past few weeks. According to my doctor everything looks great and completely normal. Here is an ultrasound picture of little Peanut #2 at 11 weeks.