36 weeks

I'm finally nearing the end of my pregnancy. Yes, that IS a good thing. However, I am not that enthused about it. I am ready to have my little girl here, and to not be pregnant anymore.I have become so miserable lately... I have soooo many contractions, all day, every day. I wound up in the hospital again on Tuesday night because of contractions that were 2 minutes apart, lasting 45 seconds or a minute each. They gave me the Demerol/Phenergan combo again, just like last week. That shot worked wonders last week!! This week, not so much. My contractions slowed to 4-5 minutes apart, but stayed strong, never went away, and then after just an hour and a half, they were back at 2 minutes apart again. That's when I asked to be discharged.... 

Anyways, the contractions still haven't stopped. I've still been having them every few minutes for days upon days. My back is killing me. I'm not sleeping hardly at all. I've been seeing stars at least a time or two a day for the last few days. It's making me very moody, which in turn is making me very short-tempered. That means Matt is very short-tempered, too, which is not a good combination.....

I'm just ready to be done with all this crap, healing from the last 9 months, and holding my baby girl. I'm exhausted, overwhelmed, and highly emotional.I need a hug, and a back rub.

That is all. I will update everyone after my doctor's appointment tomorrow morning.

9 Months Pregnant!!

I made it!!! I didn’t really think it would happen, but, sure enough, I made it! As I’ve told just about everyone, I think Emmalyn is going to be a March baby. Well, there’s only 1 week left of March, so I guess we’ll see!! I only made it to 36w 4d with Devin, & “they” say you’re 2^nd one comes earlier than the first, so HOPEFULLY Little Miss will be here in the next 3 days (since I’m exactly 36 weeks today)!

Actually, what’s funny about all of that is the fact that with Devin, my little black dog, Evan, had her litter of puppies THE NIGHT BEFORE I went to the hospital to have Devin. Well, the same dog got knocked up again about 2 months ago, so her “due date” should’ve been about April 24^th (2 days after my due date).

*~WRONG*~!!

She had her litter either late last night or early this morning!!!!! No KiDDING!!

So now I’m really happy & excited & HOPING that the same pattern holds true!!!!!!!!! Speaking of dogs, Matt’s German Shepherd, Roxy, has been super clingy lately, too, which Matt insists she did when it was time to have Devin. I CAN HOPE!!  I’m currently at the point where I feel like I’ll be pregnant for FOREVER & A DAY; last night, my feet were so swollen that I literally couldn’t even bend my toes!!!  Emm has dropped really low, and just when I think she isn’t gonna get any lower without making an appearance, she does. I’ve been wearing my pre-pregnancy jeans the ENTIRE pregnancy, and it’s only been in the last few days that I can’t really button them.

What I’m getting at is I’M READY FOR EMMALYN PAIGE MORRIS TO MAKE AN APPEARANCE!! She’s been threatening to for 2 months now… we have taken every possible precautionary measure to ensure she is safe & sound… we know she is practicing breathing on her own already… we know she has an awesome sucking reflex, too… so since we are really sure she will be ok to come into this world, I WANT HER HERE NOW!!!

Everyone please pray that either I get less anxious, stop nesting, and become a little more comfortable… or for Emmalyn to come meet her family SOON!!!!!! Lol J

34 weeks 5 days!

Went back to the doctor today, and got to see our little girl via ultrasound. We were supposed to try for a 3D u/s again today (wouldn’t work last time because she was breech and caused the image to suck), but she was head down & face down this time, so we still missed out on that. BUT, we did confirm that Emmalyn is still a girl!!

So, the latest is that the doctor is still a little concerned about all the contractions I still have (had to make another trip to LDR on Wednesday night because after doing EVERYTHING in my power to stop them at home, I couldn’t). So, I’m still on the Procardia as needed, & I’ll see him weekly from now on. The doctor specifically said that Emmalyn is “all lined up and in position” for labor, so that’s exciting!! That means we are not scheduling a c-section at this point!! He said that she is perfectly on track growth-wise for her age, but I forgot to ask him how much she weighs/what she’s measuring, so no actual numbers this week.

Oh, the best part….. I am *STILL* on bedrest, but he said I can go walking in my yard or get up & do a thing at a time, so that’s great! Our new goal is to make it to 37 weeks (April 1^st), but he said before that he would not stop my labor any more after 35 weeks (March 18^th), so I guess we’re still playing the waiting game.

I have to say, I love my doctor. Not just because he’s pretty to look at (women of Brownwood know what I’m talking about!), but he is REALLY an amazing medical professional. I didn’t even have to tell him I went to LDR again on Wednesday, because he already knew from when the nurses called him about me. He remembered me with me having to refresh his memory. He’s probably delivered a dozen babies since I was at LDR a couple of nights ago, and he’s probably seen at least 40-80 patients in his office since then, too, yet he remembered specifics of my 4 hour visit there. That is an awesome doctor by any standards. I’m proud to be a patient of Dr. Daniel Stewart.

Preterm Labor Statistics

Just because I was curious…. Here are some facts that I found interesting!!

v  More than a half million babies in the United States—that's 1 in every 8—are born premature each year. 

v  A baby born at 35 weeks is more likely to have—

·         Jaundice,

·         Breathing problems, and

·         Longer hospital stays.

v  Health care providers currently have no way of knowing which women will experience preterm labor or deliver their babies preterm.

v  More than 70 percent of premature babies are born between 34 and 36 weeks gestation.

v  The latest research suggests that many cases [of preterm labor] are triggered by the body’s natural response. In about half of all cases of premature birth, providers cannot determine why a woman delivered prematurely.

Are babies born at 34 to 36 weeks gestation (late preterm) at risk for medical problems?
Late preterm infants are usually healthier than babies born earlier. More than 99 percent of these babies survive, though they are (16):

·         6 times more likely than full-term infants to die in the first week of life (2.8 per 1,000 vs. 0.5 per 1,000)

·         3 times more likely to die in the first year of life (7.9 per 1,000 vs. 2.4 per 1,000)

Late preterm babies often weigh between 4½ and 6 pounds, and they may appear thinner than full-term babies. These babies remain at higher risk than full-term babies for newborn health problems, including breathing and feeding problems, difficulties regulating body temperature, and jaundice (17). These problems are usually mild. Most of these babies can breast- or bottle-feed, although some (especially those with mild breathing problems) may need tube-feeding for a brief time.

A baby's brain at 35 weeks weighs only two-thirds of what it will weigh at 40 weeks (17). Because their brain development is not complete, these babies may be at increased risk for learning and behavioral problems (17). Most do not develop serious disabilities resulting from premature birth.

A recent study, however, found that late preterm infants are more than 3 times as likely to develop cerebral palsy and are slightly more likely to have developmental delays than babies born full term (18). Another study found that adults who were born at 34 to 36 weeks gestation may be more likely than those born full-term to have mild disabilities and to earn lower long-term wages (19).

http://www.cdc.gov/features/prematurebirth/

http://www.marchofdimes.com/baby/premature_indepth.html

Round #2

Well, today was round #2. I wasn’t quite in and out, but I was only up at LDR for about 30 minutes total, so that was refreshing. The nurse wanted to put me on the monitors to check on Emmalyn because I’ve had decreased movement since yesterday, but that is only because yesterday, she was SUPER active. I wasn’t concerned, and they way I see it is that if I am not concerned, being a hypochondriac and all, then it’s probably ok lol. So other than that, we were good to go!

The game plan as of now is to keep her in at least until Sunday night. I don’t think that will be a problem as I’ve been feeling a lot better lately as far as the labor issues go. There are a couple or few hours every night I seem to feel WAY worse, like I’m about to pop her out any second, and then once that passes, it’s all ok again. The overall plan is to make it past next Sunday though. I’m figuring that now that we have taken every precaution for an early arrival, she’ll come a week or two late ;p

Only time will tell!!

Round #1 of Steroids - (Late Post from Thursday)

Today was Round #1 of the steroid shots. Those that are close to me know that I was really freaking out about the whole situation. I started reading up last night about the whole procedure, risks, and contraindications for me and for Emmalyn. I figured that information was power, and I wouldn’t be so anxious if I knew what to expect. Let me just tell you, THAT WAS A BAD IDEA. I found information on credible medical websites (including but not limited to the FDA website, and the website of the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology) stating that a doctor prescribes the corticosteroids when labor is expected within 7 days, and that there are explicit contraindications between the steroids and the blood pressure medicine I’m on to stop contractions, etc…. That just made things so much worse. I couldn’t put my mind at ease after my research, but I did manage to just ignore my worst thoughts.

We got up to LDR around 1pm, expecting to get the shot right away, be monitored for any kind of reaction, and on our way within an hour or so. Well, because I had my bloody show late last night (I’ll say again- it’s a blog about pregnancy… what’d you expect?), they decided to check to see if my water had broken, and the nurse and/or doctor decided to monitor me and Em for almost 2 hours before I got the shot. No, my water hadn’t broken, Yes, I was having mostly painless regular contractions on the monitor the entire time we were there. But they decided I was ok enough for the shot around 2:45pm. THAT CRAP HURTS. It has to be given in the butt, apparently. It burns like crazy, and the burning feeling spreads like a wildfire! But as soon as my nurse gave me the shot, she answered a few questions for Matt and I, told me I could get dressed and leave. Apparently tomorrow I just go up there to et the shot between 2p-3p, no monitoring necessary. We’ll see if it really happens that fast J

The Bedrest Chronicles

Well, today was successful, I guess. I did NOT:

Ø  Clean up the living room…

Ø  Unload the dishwasher OR reload it….

Ø  Cook anything (ok, I’ll admit I did heat up some hot pockets for lunch, but that’s it)…

Ø  organize Emmalyn’s room (even though I’m kinda freaking out that it’s not cleaned/organized yet and she could literally be here ANY day)…

I did, however, figure out that a nice, long, 2 hour nap with Devin is very beneficial in helping pass the time J So that was nice. We all got up this morning around 9:15am, then Matt left the house to go take care of some business around 9:30am. About 10:30am, I decided that I was still tired, and that Devin must be, too (he was SOOOO whiny), so we went and laid back down, fell asleep about 11am, and didn’t wake up until about 1pm!! Yeah, naps are a definite MUST in the coming days!!

All in all, I did pretty well. I decided yesterday that I couldn’t look at bedrest as sitting around for the next however many days or weeks potentially, that if I did I would keep doing things and justifying them by saying “I’ll rest tomorrow, but I really need to do [insert task here] today”. So, today, I just took it a few hours at a time & desperately tried to ignore my growing to-do list. I’ll try to keep it up tomorrow, but for now, I’m just gonna try to relax for a few more hours before bed, and I’ll worry about tomorrow when it comes…

One last thing before I sign off – I need to give credit where credit is due. Today’s relaxing wouldn’t have been possible if it weren’t for my husband. He may not be going around doing spring cleaning every day like I tend to, but he is definitely fetching me beverages, fixing me plates of food, moving several feet at a time to hand me things that are only a few inches (sometimes less) out of my reach. He’s been awesome (even if he is following me around from room to room occasionally to harp on me until I go sit down!).

I also wanna thank my sister& brother-in-law, Steph & Sreeni. I’m not gonna go into details, but y’all are amazing people, and even though I’ve already said, THANK YOU for everything you’ve done for our family. We love you guys!!!

See ya tomorrow J

Here’s the 411

Let me just say that preterm labor sucks. You spend a huge amount of time trying to convince others that you’re “just fine”, when really, you’re not. You try to keep up with the justifications & reassuring other people that “everything’s ok”, when really, everything’s falling apart & you feel like crap & you’re worried sick about you & you’re unborn child…. But you try to keep up the act regardless.

Ok, I’m sure my readers have figured out, the “you” I’m referring to is “me”.

So here’s the latest with Little Miss Emmalyn & me…

As of my last trip to the LDR (trip #5 I think??) at Cedar Park Regional on 2/26, I’m dilated to 1cm internal OS & a “stretchy 2 ½”cm external OS. As of those nurses, I’m supposedly not effaced; however, I know my body & compared to just a couple of weeks ago, there is a BIG difference (oh c’mon, don’t act grossed out – when it comes to pregnancy, everybody seems to want to know what’s going on down there, so I went ahead & gave you all details! Plus, the only male I know of that even reads my blog is my husband, & I get a lot more in-depth with him!). So at my appointment on 3/2, my doctor ordered me to be on bedrest. No working, no cooking, no cleaning, no toddler-chasing, nothing. Just bed, to couch, to pee, to couch. WOOOO HOOOO. I’ve been on “bedrest” for 3 days now, & I have yet to comply 100% for even a single day (I’m trying, I swear it!!!).

Anyways, the medical goal is to keep Emmalyn in until this coming Sunday, March 11^th, when I’ll officially be 34 weeks. In the meantime, we go in to LDR here in Brownwood on Thursday & Friday for fetal monitoring & to receive steroid shots to help develop Little Emm’s lungs.

The social goal is to keep her in until 5:01pm on March 11^th, because my baby shower happens to be this Sunday from 3p-5p, & being the guest of honor means I simply MUST attend (plus I’m REALLY excited to see what an awesome shower my friends Amanda & Melody have put together!)!!!!!! Oh, & I guess I’m kinda excited (*INSERT SARCASM HERE*) about seeing all my friends, too... AND ALL THE PINK AND/OR GIRLY THINGS!!!!!!!

 My personal goal is much simpler; I plan on doing NOTHING tomorrow. Just sitting & laying, lounging about… I’m determined to follow my doctor’s orders (as amusing as my dear husband may find that).

In conclusion, plan on seeing several more blogs from me in the next few days. I figure it’ll help keep me still, at least for a little while J

Until tomorrow, loves!!