33 weeks

Baby is now over 4 pounds and over 17" long (according to babycenter.com) It is fun to finally feel excited and to anticipate the birth. We have cleaned the car seat and the next item will be the bouncy seat. I will probably pack my bag this week and start washing the baby clothes. I've been reviewing my birth class info and trying to start incorporating those exercises. I'd like to start walking, just a little, as my body permits. So, I walked around the cul du sac yesterday with Joshua going very slowly. He didn't really like how slowly we went and I sent him out with Jason later to ride his bike. He's too fast on that thing for me right now! We are working on little projects around the house that will 'hopefully' be finished before baby arrives but we'll see. Baby continues to be a little gymnast. I think he rolled over the other day! Joshua has been asking about the baby more recently and when he/she will arrive. I love his interest and can't wait to see how he likes his new sibling.

New Clothes

We picked out little outfits for Baby 2 and they came today. One is a little fleece jumper and jacket that fits up to 7 lbs the other is a striped sweater jumper with hood that fits newborn. Little clothes are so cute!

Dr. Appointment

We saw the dr. this morning for our two week checkup. Since I hadn't gained any weight last time, I gained 6 pounds this time! I guess my body prefers to gain in chunks or...maybe it was the Christmas cookies :-) Baby is measuring 32 weeks which is right on. The baby's heart rate was 133 and everything otherwise looked good.

At 34 weeks (1 wk and 3 days from now), I am to stop taking the medication and then at 35 weeks I am free to go hog wild! Well, sort of. I am off bed rest at that point. Yippee!

32 weeks!

Two more weeks of bed rest and then I am FREE!! OK, so I still need to take it easy and I don't think I will be allowed to drive but the worry that I may spontaneously go into labor and this would be a bad thing will be removed. I dreamed last night that I was spotting again. I tried to get a hold of the dr's but again I couldn't reach anyone or get to where I needed to be.

I am feeling pretty good body-wise. I am still having pretty strong contractions in the evening/night and I imagine that these will only pick up as I progress. I try to do most of my activity in the morning and then lay down and take it easy-ish for the rest of the day. Things do not feel very tight yet and I think this baby is lower because I don't feel like I have feet stuck in my ribs yet but then again, I still have almost two months of pregnancy left. Can you believe that? I can't and at the same time I can't believe that we are going to have another baby in less than two months. Doesn't seem possible, even after all of this. We are talking baby names again and I think we might be getting close...maybe :-)

Dreams

I remember vivid dreams in my third trimester with Joshua. Well I had two last night and they were so upsetting! In the first, the baby's arms had come out first. We got to a clinic, not a hospital and the dr examined me and told me I was having a girl and then left. I was so worried about the baby but no one was doing anything. My whole family was there watching and saying things that upset me. I went to look for someone to help and found Joshua's pediatrician. She said we needed to have the baby so I went back to the room and they set out the equipment to give me an epidural. But no one would tell me what was going on. I told them I didn't want the epidural and no one would listen so I left again but I was just so worried about the baby. It was really upsetting.

After I woke up and fell back to sleep I dreamt that my water broke. Everyone was dilly dallying taking me to the hospital and I was trying to find clothes to wear and nothing was working. I woke up again and just decided to get up. No need to risk having another dream!

Migraine

Seems I narrowly missed a migraine today. I woke up and had an 'aura' that made it seem like the peripheral vision in my right eye was not working. I laid down until mom got here and then took at 2.5 hour nap. Seems I was able to avoid the actual headache part. Weird. Must be pregnancy hormones.

31 weeks

Three more weeks until the dr gives us the 'all clear' signal. It is good to know that we will have Christmas and New Year's to keep us occupied in that time. Jason is going to be home for about two weeks starting next Friday.

We don't need much but I went ahead and registered at Target Baby (they were giving out gift cards if you registered) It was fun shopping for the baby and thinking about his/her arrival in a positive way. Now we need to start thinking about some of the other preparations that we have just been putting off: birth plan, arrangements for the big moment, packing the bag, washing clothes, car seats, etc. I am looking forward to those activities.

Dr. Appointment

We visited the dr again today for our two week check-up. I haven't gained any weight but the baby is getting bigger. So my total weight gain thus far is 18 pounds. Blood pressure was good and baby's heart rate was 134, must have been sleeping :-)

An exam showed no change in my cervix so the partial bed rest seems to be ok. The dr. said I can slowly add a little activity at a time. It was reassuring to know that nothing has changed since my contractions had been stronger and I had been feeling more pressure on my cervix.

We are almost two months from my actual due date and we have three weeks and two days until I can move around without worrying. Making progress.

Partial Bedrest

Well...again Jason seems to know best. He didn't think that that I would be able to go from full bed rest to partial bed rest without my contractions starting up again considering that in the past when I would get up and move around they would pick up. So, the morning seems like a good time but as the day progresses if I am up and moving then the contractions start coming. I lay down but I have noticed they are stronger now and there is more pressure on my cervix. So, things to discuss with the dr. But my hopes for being able to care for me and Joshua while Jason is a work are not so high now. Mom will be here until Wednesday afternoon again Jason works Thursday and Friday but maybe I can find someone to help for a couple of hours.

30 weeks

Well... we made it over 5 weeks now on bed rest. Today, I get to move around a bit more and see how things go. I have laid down for my morning rest of 2 hours and was a bit achy but not too bad. I probably had 1-2 contractions while I was up getting breakfast. Mornings tend to be rather quiet anyway.

Baby is probably over three pounds now, which is a big improvement from when we started at 24 weeks 5 days.

November was preemie awareness month. Good timing, eh? There was an article in 'American Baby' magazine that I just read that said, 'Most premature births result from spontaneous preterm labor; in nearly 40 percent of these cases, doctors cannot determine the cause.' So, to answer questions that I have been asked a lot, No, the preterm labor is not from chasing Joshua, flying to Vegas or anything else that I may or may not have done. It just happened.

Hopefully, the day will continue to go well. Mom will be here this afternoon. Amy came with her family to help yesterday as well as Carie. Chris was here on Friday and took Joshua to see Santa.

29 weeks

It is hard to believe we have been at this bed rest thing for a month now but the time is moving along. One more week until we can try for a little more movement. I can't wait! Jason is busy at school work and Mom is out for the beginning of the week again. We have coverage for most of the rest of the week. He also has just over a week until classes are over. But, this is crunch time and he is swamped.

Baby is now about 3 pounds and growing nicely. We are looking forward to Christmas preparations and family time that we will have in the next couple of weeks.