8 Months?!

How on earth is Wilson already eight months old? He is such a cute little boy. And when I say little, I mean LITTLE. When he was weighed for his six month check-up, he was in the 1st percentile for weight. So, he's just a tiny little guy. I guess that has been a blessing for me, since my back has had so much trouble. But, we're anxious for him to start plumping up a little. He's sitting up all on his own (with only a few topples here and there).

He loves playing with toys and things that are not toys, such as plastic bags and spatulas. He is not even close to crawling, which is okay with me. He's still easy to keep contained. At church last week, we sat next to a mom and baby who was Wilson's age and he was EVERYWHERE. The mom was exhausted, trying to keep up with him. Wilson just sat happily on my lap and watched that baby crawl all over the place. 

Wilson has just decided this weekend that he's a Momma's boy. Every time Matt is holding him and I'm in the room, he puts his arm out toward me and does a "come on" motion with his hand. I love that I'm the only person he leans for. Matt feels a bit betrayed since he's the one that takes care of him during the day. He also will take both of his hands and put them on each of my cheeks and bring my face toward his open mouth. He's a great kisser. He's also a good squealer. Here are a couple of pictures from last Sunday and today. Isn't he handsome?

He had his first cold a couple of weeks ago that turned into croup. Two weeks ago, we took him to an after-hours doctor because his cough got really bad on Saturday. The doctor had to give him a shot of steroids. It seemed to do the trick and he was feeling better in just a couple of days. It was scary because it would get really bad at night. He spent a few nights in our bedroom with us so we could listen for him and help him through his coughing fits. He still has some congestion- but overall, he's much better. 

He's also doing better with eating baby food. He loves oatmeal and sweet potatoes. He tolerates peaches, pears, and bananas. He doesn't care at all for any of the green veggies. We need to work on that. 

Everyone always comments on his lush head of hair. He has already had three haircuts. For his first one, we took him to my sister-in-law's salon. But I've just given him his last two trims. 

We had a very Merry Christmas. I was still recovering from back surgery that I had on Dec. 11, but I was feeling pretty good by Christmas time. We spent Christmas Eve with my family and then had dinner with Matt's family on Christmas day. Wilson was spoiled.

We are so lucky to have Wilson in our family. We couldn't have asked for a cuter little guy. 

4 1/2 Months!

I can't believe our baby is over 4 months old! He's getting so big. Matt and I absolutely adore Wilson. It's amazing how much joy he's brought into our lives. We had a really rough beginning, but I am really enjoying being a mom now.

Wilson has had a few troubles. He spent between the time he was 2 weeks old until he was 2 months old SCREAMING HIS HEAD OFF. If he was awake, he was screaming. It was so hard. I knew something was hurting him because he was totally inconsolable. Then he started having some bloody diapers (I won't go into too much detail)... so I knew something was wrong. His pediatrician told us that it was likely due to a food allergy. So, we experimented with a few different formulas. We ended up on Nutramigen- which is crazy expensive. Just today, a girl in my ward told me about how she makes her kids' formula and she brought me some over to try- so we'll see how that works. Wilson seems to like it. It's a rice milk based formula. So, hopefully we can get off the Nutramigen. Because seriously- it costs us $300-$400 a month to feed him! I was fully planning on nursing him- but that did not work out for us. It broke my heart, but then I moved on. My body didn't have the capacity to produce enough milk- or any milk! The gastroenterologist we took him to told me that even if I had been able to nurse, I would have likely given up anyway because of his food allergies. So, we're doing the best we can.

He's a MUCH happier baby. I can tell that he's still having some tummy troubles- but nothing like what we were dealing with in the beginning. He sleeps through the night- and has since he was about three months old. He's a terrible napper though. He'll only nap for more than five or ten minutes if someone is holding him. We don't complain too much because it is pretty nice that he sleeps all night long. He's also really easy to put to sleep at night- so we're grateful!

Wilson has a very cute little personality. It's super easy to get a smile out of him. He started smiling (on purpose) right on track at two months old. He also rolled over for the first time two days ago. Since then, he's rolled from his tummy to his back quite a few times. He is also starting to play with toys and he puts everything right into his mouth. We've gotten a few giggles out of him- but he makes us work REALLY hard for that. He's a quiet little baby- unless he's mad. And boy- if he's mad... WATCH OUT. He has no problem letting everyone know just how ticked off or hungry he is.

Wilson also had an umbilical hernia that is getting better. At first, it made me really nervous! I couldn't believe how HUGE his belly button was. His doctor kept reassuring me that it was nothing to worry about. Now that it's returning to normal size, I feel much better about it. Seriously- it was the size of a very large olive. It was a little freaky.

Wilson loves bath time. He hated it when he was brand new- but now, he loves it. He used to scream when we took him out because he hated the cold, but now- he's perfectly fine getting out of the bathtub. He loves to splash and pee in the bathtub.

He also loves the tv and looking at lights. His favorite show is Judge Judy. Who can blame him?

Matt ended up quitting his plumbing job and stays home with Wilson during the day. He works for a couple of hours at the Boys & Girls Club a few days a week in the afternoon, so he drops Wilson off at Grandma Patti's (my mom's cousin) or Grandpa Green's and I pick him up an hour later when I get off work. It has worked out nicely.

As for me- my back has been nothing but trouble. I have had two MRIs since I had Wilson and found out that I have four bad discs in my lower back. The bottom two are severely herniated. I also have severe congenital spinal stenosis and short pedicles. I have had severe back and leg pain. My right big toe has been numb since July 25. I had an interlaminar epidural injection on my birthday, Aug. 28 that did nothing. About four weeks later, I had two transforaminal injections and they worked much better. They are MISERABLE to get- but I'm functioning now- which is nice. For several weeks I wasn't even able to feed Wilson because I couldn't sit long enough to do it. There were some nights I didn't sleep even one wink because I was in so much pain. There have also been days I woke up and couldn't bear weight on my right leg. It's been a scary, horrible experience. I've met with three surgeons- all who think I need to have surgery. I actually have a two-level discectomy scheduled with Dr. Reichman on Dec. 11. I do not want to do it. I'm TERRIFIED of the idea of it. If I continue to improve before then, maybe I can avoid it? I don't know. I will probably have back problems the rest of my life and I need to be super careful with it. I just hope that some day, my spine will be able to support another pregnancy so Wilson won't have to be an only child! Having a newborn on top of all of that, plus recovering from the two surgeries I had, plus a bunch of hormonal postpartum stuff made things a little difficult in our house for a while. I really didn't think we were going to survive it all. But, we have so far and things just keep getting better and better. I'm enjoying being a mom much better than I was at first! We're starting to get the hang of things a little better and Wilson is most certainly worth it all. He is for sure the best little thing that has ever existed. I couldn't love him more. I haven't uploaded all my pictures onto my computer from my phone recently- so here are some I took a few weeks ago. Isn't he cute?

Wilson

Well, he made it here! It was not easy or pretty... but, Wilson has officially joined our family. We love him to pieces. Here's the whole story:

I had known for several weeks before I delivered that Wilson was head up, instead of head down. So, my doctor scheduled an External Cephalic Version or ECV (where they try to turn the baby externally) for July 5- nine days before my due date. He scheduled it that early because he didn't want the baby to be too big, because he has a better chance turning smaller babies. However, my doctor thought I would be having a 7-8 pound baby. Boy was he wrong! So, I showed up to the hospital early Friday morning for the ECV. They do this procedure in the room next to the operating room, so that if the procedure is unsuccessful, they can take the baby via c-section- so I had to have an epidural very first thing, so I'd be ready for a c-section if the baby's heart rate dropped during the ECV. The first anesthesiologist came in to place my epidural. She tried many, many times and could not do it. Apparently my back is more messed up than I thought it was. I don't have the space normal people have in their backs for epidurals. So, a second anesthesiologist was called in. He couldn't place one either. I was hunched over, having contractions for more than an hour while they were trying to get an epidural in. My husband and sisters who were in the room with me said that they poked me at least 20-30 times. Just as the second anesthesiologist was about to give up (and they would have had to either do a spinal block, which uses a smaller needle, or do general anesthesia- either way- I would have had to skip the ECV and just go in for the c-section), I told everyone to say a little prayer and asked him to try one more time. I don't know which prayer worked, but he finally got the epidural in. I never knew I'd be so excited about an epidural! 

The doctor came in and tried to turn the baby. The baby's heart rate dropped significantly, making all of us very nervous. The doctor waited a few minutes to see if it would come back up, and it started to- but the doctor couldn't get the baby to stay turned in the head down position... so in we went for the c-section. While we were in the surgery, I asked the first anesthesiologist how many epidurals she had done, she told me over 700. I asked her how many people she had not been able to get an epidural in, and she told me I was her first. That did not make me feel good! You never want to be a medical professional's first anything! 

The c-section seemed to go well. The baby came out screaming and I was shocked when they told me he was only 5 lbs. 4 oz. So much for a 7-8 pounder! After the surgery, they wheeled me into a recovery room for a few minutes, then to the mom/baby floor of the hospital.

I felt very light-headed and extremely tired that day- so much so that I didn't even have the energy to go down to the NICU to see my baby for more than just a minute or two in the wheelchair. I remember holding him and starting to fall asleep. Matt and I thought that was normal since I had just had surgery. We had no idea just how wrong things were going in my body. That night, I asked the nurses to help me get up to brush my teeth. That was when I fainted. I woke up to a bathroom full of nurses surrounding me. It was quite scary. But again, I thought that must be normal. The next morning, my doctor came to see me. He took one look at my face and yelled down to a nurse to get a hematocrit level for me. I didn't have any idea what that meant. Nor did I understand when they told me my levels were at 18. Apparently, that's really low. A normal blood level is around 40. Many of the nurses later told me that they had never had a patient with such a low level. I was a lot of people's firsts, apparently. So, that day, I was given five units of blood. That night, my hematocrit level was up to 27- not as high as they had hoped, but high enough for me to function. On Sunday, the doctor ordered an ultrasound of my entire abdomen because my levels were not where they wanted them to be- that was when they wondered if I was bleeding internally. The ultrasound was torturous- he had to press really hard on my abdomen that was trying to recover from surgery. Plus, I was scared out of my mind. I watched as the ultrasound tech wrote something on the screen about there being a large amount of fluid, but of course he wouldn't explain anything to me.  A little while later, the doctor on call (not my regular doctor) came in and told me that there was a softball sized hematoma next to my uterus, which is where all the blood they had given me had pooled. He explained that it would probably just absorb into my body and that everything would be fine. My regular doctor came in later that night, and told me the same thing the other doctor had told me, but he also told me that I couldn't have anything to eat after midnight that night, just in case they had to open me back up in the morning if I continued to lose blood. I did not sleep well that night. The next morning, they checked my levels again and I was down to 23- so I was still bleeding internally. My doctor, plus several other doctors, were all rushing around, getting me ready for emergency surgery. I was terrified. Luckily, it happened so quickly that I didn't have too much time to totally freak out. I woke up from the surgery and the doctor explained that they removed a ton of blood, including several large blood clots from every layer they cut into. They couldn't believe just how much blood was in there. They never found an active bleed, but cauterized everything they could and wrapped me in a really tight abdomen band that I wore for 3-4 days. That day, they gave me two more units of blood and five units of plasma. That night and the next day, my levels seemed to have stabilized, but I was still terrified that I was bleeding internally. Luckily, I was not. In fact, at my last doctor's appointment, my levels had increased to 36- so that was great news! The hematoma sure did a number on my body, though! I still have significant bruising. It's hard to believe it will ever go away! 

My worries didn't end there, however... Originally, I was supposed to go home that Monday I ended up having the second surgery. Then, after the second surgery- I was supposed to go home on Wednesday. Well, Wednesday came and I started running a fever- which is a sign of infection. The doctor had my blood cultured, to make sure I wasn't septic. Those results took 48 hours. In the meantime, I was hooked up to IV antibiotics (which was a pain, because all my veins were collapsing and my IVs kept failing- so I ended up with four different IVs in my hands and arms). They kept me on the antibiotics for 48 hours, but it still wasn't taking care of my fever. The doctor wanted me to go 24 hours without spiking a fever, and my body was just not cooperating. I honestly thought I'd never get out of the hospital. In the meantime, Wilson was healthy enough to be discharged! (Yay that he's healthy, but um... how is it that he's being discharged BEFORE me?!) He was discharged to Matt on day 6. Luckily, they let us keep him in the room with us, but I wasn't allowed to be alone in the room with the baby since I was still a patient and he was not. I wasn't well enough to take care of him, so I relied on my sisters and husband to help. I am so grateful for them! 

Finally, on Friday night (after being in the hospital for 8 full days), my doctor came to see me and told me that he wanted to discharge me with oral antibiotics to see if my fever would go down better at home. I was scared to death. I didn't want to be in the hospital, but I also didn't want to go home if there was something wrong that they needed to fix! So, coming home was rough. It was not the happy experience I had envisioned. My sister had flown in from Denver when I started having complications and she ended up staying with me for the first several nights I was home. It was a huge blessing to have someone to wake up with the baby at night so that Matt and I could get some sleep. (Although who can sleep when they're worried about internal bleeding and infections?!) 

Wilson is our little miracle. He's tiny- but he's healthy! We took him to his two week appointment last Friday and his pediatrician wanted him to be back up to his birth weight ( 5 lb 4 oz)... well, Wilson showed him! He was up to 5 lb 10 oz! He's even grown out of his preemie outfits! 

As far as my own health- I am still having a rough time recovering from everything. I have a few little things that they are watching- including a constant low-grade fever, high blood pressure (which I've never had a problem with!), some strange hardening in my abdomen, and my body's inability to hold on to any nutrition. I'm hoping all of these things just resolve themselves and I won't have to have any more pokes or prods. I've had my fair share!

Oh, and to top everything off- my biggest complaint right now is my back!! I am having severe sciatic nerve pain. I can't seem to catch a break with my back! I thought my back troubles would go away once the baby was born. I was wrong. Last Wednesday, I attended my grandpa's funeral in Preston, Idaho and it was not fun sitting in the car that long! But, I'm grateful I was feeling well enough to be able to go. He's my mom's father- and I'm sure their reunion was a sweet one. I have been going to the chiropractor and I'm sure hoping he can help get this pain under control. In the meantime, I rely heavily on Matt and my sisters to help me take care of the baby. It's been rough. Mommyhood is a lot harder than I thought it would be! But, we're sure glad Wilson is here and healthy!

38 Weeks

Well, this will most likely be my last blog post before this little guy has officially joined our family because he's coming this Friday! (Unless he really surprises us and decides he wants to come even earlier.) I can't believe it.

For my last several doctor's appointments, the baby has been breech. Well, of course he still is. (And let me tell you how annoying it was to hear EVERYONE tell me "Oh, don't worry- you've still got plenty of time for him to flip on his own."... NO, people, first time moms RARELY have their babies flip after 35 weeks or so... according to my doctor and everything I read on the internet... yes, it's possible- but very, VERY unlikely.) I don't know why that comment annoys me so much... but, it does. A baby has a lot more room in a uterus that has housed a baby previously. But, this is my uterus's first baby- so there just isn't enough room in there for a nearly 8 pound baby to turn at this point. So don't tell me that my baby has plenty of time to flip. Okay, I'm done. Sorry. Pregnancy is making me cranky. Oh, and while I'm at it... do you know what I've decided I'm NEVER going to ask a pregnant lady again? I will never ask, "What's your baby's name?" I DON'T KNOW! I haven't met him yet!! It doesn't bother me so much when someone asks me once, but once I've told you, "We're not naming him until after he's born." PLEASE don't keep asking me!! Okay, I'm really done this time. The funny part about me being so annoyed about the name thing is that I think Matt and I finally decided on a name just last night. But, don't ask me- we're not telling- just in case we change our minds (which we probably will). We both like several names- we just don't know which one will be the right one for sure until we see him.

So anyway... I started telling you about how the baby is breech. Because of this, the doctor is going to perform an ECV (External Cephalic Version) or "Version" to try to externally flip the baby. He wants to do this sooner rather than later so that the baby doesn't get too big. He says he has about a 60% success rate with first-time moms. So, not great odds- but good enough to give it a try to avoid a c-section. If he can get him flipped, he will induce labor to avoid two things- first, to avoid having the baby flip back to the breech position; and second, so that the baby won't get tangled up in the cord or for there to be problems with the placenta that would increase the risk of the baby dying. If he can't get him flipped, he'll do a c-section right then so I don't go into labor with a breech baby. So, he'll do the procedure in the room right next to the operating room and I'll be all prepped for surgery, just in case. Something that's a little discouraging is that Dr. Parker told me that he's "not impressed" with my pelvis. (Don't worry, I told him that I wasn't impressed with his, either!) So, he warned me that even if he gets the baby flipped, there might be a chance that I won't be able to push this baby out because my pelvis might be too small. It's really annoying that of all my body parts, it's my PELVIS that is small. Seriously? I've got good birthing hips- but apparently that doesn't matter when the pelvis is small. The worst case scenario would be that he could flip the baby, I'll labor for a long time, then have to have an emergency c-section because I can't get the baby out. I'd rather him just not be able to flip him than have to go through labor that ends in a c-section. Everyone I have spoken to has suggested that I try whatever possible to avoid a c-section, though- so we're going to. We'll see what happens. As long as our baby is healthy, I really don't care how he gets here. I can recover from surgery (though I know it will NOT be pretty... I'm a pretty big baby when it comes to that sort of thing).

As far as how I'm feeling these days... my back problems are quite a bit better. The only issue I'm having now is sciatic nerve pain. It's not so much in my back as it is in my butt and down my leg. It's a lot better than it was (I can actually move, now!), but I used to be able to get totally comfortable when I would lie down- but now, my sciatic nerve bothers me no matter what position I'm in. I hope that goes away as soon as this baby is out of me. It's the worst when I've been sitting for too long. Last night, Matt's family all went to the temple because his nephew, Tanner, went through for the first time because he goes on his mission this Wednesday. I decided to go with them since I know it will be a while before I have a chance to go to the temple again. By the end of the session, I was pretty uncomfortable. But, I'm glad I went. Today we went back up to South Jordan to hear Tanner speak in church and then to Steve & Angie's for breakfast. We ate really good food. It will be sad to have to be back on a diet once I have to start losing all this weight I've gained.

Also- this summer is NOT the summer to be pregnant. Of course we're having record-high temperatures for June. The other day I left my house just to get the mail at the end of our driveway and I was sure I was going to melt before making it back to the house. Our electric bill this month was more than double what it was last month because I have to have the air conditioning running constantly. I've also been spending a lot more time in the basement. I'm also exhausted. I'm sure it's a combination of the heat and pregnancy. It's exhausting just being. It has been really nice to not have to work these past couple of weeks. I've been able to use all my energy getting things ready for the baby to come.

My sisters and Ginny (my dad's wife) threw me my final shower last Saturday. I couldn't believe how many people came! It was a ton of fun to see so many people there! I got a ton of fun new clothes and baby gear. I also got lots of gift cards. Everyone was very generous. I think we're officially ready for him to come. We even installed his carseat in the car just an hour or so ago.

38 weeks down, FIVE days to go (actually, only 4 1/2! AHHHHH!)

36 Weeks

Well, I am happy to report that my back is doing MUCH better. It's not totally better, but I am mobile again... so that is definite improvement. I am still having some sciatic nerve and SI joint issues, but compared to where I was two weeks ago- I'll take it! I was able to get through my meetings and teaching my class, so for that- I am very grateful. This week, I have a couple more days of meetings- but I think I'll be able to get through them without too much trouble.

I went to the doctor's on Friday and saw Dr. Allen because Dr. Parker was on vacation. I really liked Dr. Allen. However, we discovered that this little stinker is still breech! Dr. Allen says that it is highly unlikely that he'll get into the correct position at this point since this is my first baby. There is an option of trying to turn him- but he says that increases the risk for having a stillborn- so I'm not sure that's a risk I want to take. I have my next appointment on Friday with Dr. Parker, so we'll see what he says. I'm trying to mentally prepare myself for a c-section. I hope that he miraculously turns on his own and that I'll be able to have him normally- but, we'll see. Also, last time I was measuring three weeks too small... this time, I was only measuring a few days small- so this baby is definitely growing (and so am I!... dang it). He must have just been positioned strangely at my last doctor's appointment.

We are getting more and more excited for this little guy to get here. I love feeling him move and kick, but I'm also really excited to not be pregnant anymore! He gets the hiccups all the time. Seriously- he usually gets them 3-5 times a day. We can even see them when he gets them. It will be interesting to see if he gets them often after he is born as well.

I feel pretty good most of the time. Everything exhausts me, however. It is tough work growing a baby. It really occurred to me yesterday when I volunteered to make a couple of Texas sheet cakes for a family gathering we had earlier this evening. I spent about two hours making those two cakes and I felt like I had run a marathon by the time I was finished. I had to spend the whole rest of the day lying in bed because it absolutely wore me out. Also, I made it sitting through two hours of church today and by the time I got home, I was sooooo tired. It doesn't help that I am not sleeping well at night. I get excited when I can sleep for four hours at a time- which is a little depressing considering that I used to be a great sleeper. I guess I should enjoy being able to at least stay in bed rather than having to actually get up and be alert enough to feed a baby. That won't last much longer! It's all worth it though... right? I am glad we made the decision to buy a new king-sized bed at the beginning of my pregnancy. It is incredibly comfortable. I have been told by a few moms that they had to sleep in a recliner or on the couch the last few weeks of their pregnancy because their beds weren't comfortable enough. I do not have that problem. We have a great bed- totally worth the arm and leg we sacrificed for it. We bought a sleep number bed and have a gel memory foam mattress on top of it. It's pretty awesome. Plus, the extra room is nice to be able to line myself with big pillows.

My friend Lisa had a little baby shower/get together with some of my close friends. It was fun to get together with them and they were all so generous. I got lots of cute new baby clothes and a huge box of baby wipes. Every little outfit and pair of socks makes me more and more excited. My sisters are throwing me another baby shower this Saturday. After that, I will know what I still need to go buy to be totally prepared for a new baby. I can't believe how close we're getting!

Matt has been working hard at his job with the plumbers. On Thursday at work, some machine he was working with kicked back at him somehow (he explained what happened, but I don't really get it)... and I think it cracked one of his ribs. Or perhaps it's just bruised. Either way, he has been in a lot of pain all weekend. Yet, he has still been willing to wait on me hand and foot. He's such a great man and he really will be such a great dad. I hope he had a good Father's Day today. Speaking of Father's Day- we were able to celebrate with both of our families. After church we headed to Steve & Angie's to celebrate with the Smiths, then headed to Allison's to celebrate with the Greens. Needless to say, we ate  A LOT of great food. I feel like I don't need to eat for another week. The baby might not like that so much, however.

I guess there's not much more to report. We'll see what this week brings us! I'm guessing it will involve a lot of ice cream because- man, I am hot!! (and not in the good way.)

36 down... 4 to go (or 3, if we schedule a c-section!)

34 Weeks

I am currently 34 weeks 2 days pregnant (I took this picture on Sunday, when I was exactly 34 weeks). It's official- I'm no longer "enjoying" pregnancy. I knew the day would come- I just didn't expect for the reason to be my back. It is KILLING me! It is not an exaggeration when I say the ONLY time I am comfortable is when I'm lying in bed. I have the pregnancy waddle totally mastered. It's actually quite embarrassing. I even got desperate enough to go see a chiropractor. I've been twice and I'm still in tons of pain. I have another appointment tomorrow. I'm hoping it gets better. Otherwise- this will be  LONG six weeks. The chiropractor thinks I have two issues going on. On my left side, I have SI joint/hip pain, and on my right side, my bulging and herniated discs are all flared up. So, they are trying to compensate for each other and making my entire lower back a big huge disaster. It has not been easy trying to finish up the school year. This week (yesterday, today, and tomorrow), I have meetings that have been TORTUROUS to sit through... I can barely get to my car at the end of them. Hopefully I can survive tomorrow. Then next week, I have to teach a class for the district. I'm not exactly sure how that's going to go. I'm seriously praying and hoping that my back feels well enough to get through those three days. The following week, I have three more days of meetings, but those aren't as urgent as this week's and next week's. So- if I can just get through the next two weeks, life will be good. Otherwise- I have no other pregnancy complaints! Seriously... even my severe nightly congestion seems to have cleared up! 

On Saturday (May 25), I was concerned about my back hurting so badly- plus I wasn't sure if I was having contractions or not. I finally called and spoke to Dr. Young who was on call that weekend. I asked him if I'd know for sure if I was having contractions. He told me that because of the back pain, I'd better go in to the hospital- just to make sure. So, Matt took me to the hospital. They hooked me up to a monitor and discovered I was having pretty major contractions. So, they checked to make sure I wasn't dilating. I wasn't, but the doctor still wanted them to give me a shot to stop the contractions. We didn't want to have a 33 week baby. So, after the shot and some other tests to make sure I wasn't about to deliver a baby, they let me go home. I was in the hospital for just a few hours. Then, the next day the contractions started again. I called Dr. Young again on Monday (Memorial Day) to see if I should be concerned. He called me in a prescription to help relax my uterus. I took one pill and felt ROTTEN. My heart was racing, I got a massive headache, and the contractions continued. I knew I had another doctor's appointment just a few days later- so as long as my contractions weren't painful, I figured I'd just wait it out. I made it to my 34 week appointment and I was still pregnant- so, my doctor said that as long as my contractions aren't painful, I'm okay. 

One thing that is a bit concerning is that at my 34 week appointment last Friday, I was only measuring 31 weeks. The only reason it's a little concerning is that up til that point, I have always measured exactly where they expected me to. Two weeks previous at my 32 week appointment, I was measuring exactly 32 weeks. So, according to my doctor's measurements- I shrunk! What the what?! He even had the nurse double check his measurements. We're hoping that the baby was just situated funny. Hopefully he's working on getting his head down- I'd really rather not have to have the doctor try to turn him or end up with a C-section. The doctor said that at my next appointment (36 weeks), if I am still too small, they will do another ultrasound. He told me that it is very important for me to do my kick counts, and make sure the baby is still active. So far, the baby seems to be moving fine- so, I don't know. I also hadn't gained any weight since my previous appointment- but no worries there... I still weigh plenty! (Thank you Dr. Parker for your honesty.) I think I've made up for it since my appointment. Not being able to exercise or be active (because of my back) is not going to be good for my overall weight gain! At my meetings/trainings I have been at the past two days, everyone was very concerned that I was 34 weeks pregnant and not showing enough. One of the presenters is due three days before me and looks like she is about to pop. Even I could tell that my baby bump was much smaller than hers (I will say, all her other body parts were MUCH smaller than mine!). It was also a little irritating watching her just walking around like she wasn't uncomfortable at all. Show off. She didn't even waddle a little bit. It made me feel like a big baby. 

I guess I should also document how great of a man I married. Matt has been so helpful. Not only does he work ten hour days, doing hard, manual labor... he also comes home and does all the housework- without complaint. I haven't been able to stand long enough to cook dinner, so we've either been eating food from the freezer, or going and getting something to eat. Matt doesn't get home from work til 6:30 or so, and by that time we're both too hungry to wait for him to cook anything. But no matter what we've eaten- he always helps me back to bed, situates my ice pack for me, fills up my water bottle, brings me my computer and the remote control, asks me if I need anything else, then goes out and cleans up our dinner mess. He also spent ALL morning Saturday doing all the housework I normally do on Saturdays, then went out and did all the yard work for most of the afternoon. He also is always willing to rub my back or go sleep on the couch downstairs with me in the middle of the night if I need to change sleeping arrangements so that I don't have to be alone down there. He's a good man and will make such a good daddy. He already tells the baby how much he loves him and talks about how he can't wait until the baby's old enough for him to take him fishing and camping, or to coach his Little League team. He's nervous about the little things- like knowing how to change a diaper or giving the baby a bath. But, I keep reassuring him that it will either just come naturally, or I will teach him. He's also nervous that he might pass out during the labor and delivery. That, I can't help him with. When he was helping me with my bloody nose a couple of weeks ago, I was a little worried about him... so, we might be in trouble! :)

Matt's family had a family party/baby shower for us on Sunday night. His sister, Cinda, and her family are in town from Tennessee so we all got together for dinner and some baby shower games. It was fun for the whole family to be able to participate. (Except for Scott & Roxanne, who live in Vegas.)  All the kids (and adults) had a great time. Matt's parents, Steve & Angie, and Kevin & Cinda gave us a great little swing/bouncy seat combo and some newborn diapers. Spence & Holly gave us some outfits, a blanket, and a book. It's so much fun getting new baby things. Everything is so clean, cute, and tiny (at least for now)!  

I'm hoping that by the next time I post something I can report that I am back pain-free. I won't hold my breath...

34 down, 6 to go... (can we say 5?? That sounds better)

32 Weeks

Today I am 32 weeks pregnant. It seems like whenever anyone else is pregnant, it goes by so fast... but now that I'm pregnant... I can officially say that pregnancy is a looooooong process. I've had a pretty easy pregnancy, but that doesn't mean I'm not anxious to have a healthy little baby boy here.

I had a little bit of a scare on Friday morning. I have had a cold all week with severe congestion- so I've had to use nose drops a lot (my doctor told me nose drops were okay to use). Well, I think it dried my sinuses up, or something... because when I woke up Friday morning to go walking, my nose started to bleed. I used to get nosebleeds quite often as a kid, but it has been several years since I've had a real nosebleed. I tried everything to get it to stop, but it wouldn't. Just as I was about to get myself to an instacare, it finally stopped long enough for me to get ready for work. As soon as I got to work, I was sitting in a meeting when it started gushing again. So, I called Dr. Parker's office (my OB) to see if I should be worried. It had bled for an hour and a half before school and then again for about 30 minutes while I was at work. It was still bleeding when I called, so the nurse told me to come right in to see Dr. Parker. So, I stole some packages of gauze from the nurse's station and headed to the doctor's. It finally stopped bleeding right before Dr. Parker walked in the room to see me. My blood pressure was also higher than it has EVER been. Normally, I have very low blood pressure- so I was a little nervous that it was 140/80 (or around there). The doctor said that it could have been related to the bloody nose. He also asked me about fetal movement. I mentioned that he had not moved much in the previous 24 hours, but that I had felt him a few times. So, the doctor decided to do a Non-Stress Test. During it, the baby's heartbeat went too low for too long. So, the doctor had me go in for an ultrasound to check my fluid levels. My fluids looked okay, but she did discover that the little stinker is breech. When the doctor had felt the baby, he thought he was head down. But, he was wrong. Dr. Parker has delivered over 7,700 babies- so he has plenty of experience. He said that typically by 32 weeks, babies are in the position they will be in for delivery, but that sometimes breech babies do get into the correct position by delivery time, or he can try to flip him (which I hear HURTS!). So, Matt has had some stern conversations with this little baby- telling him to get his butt up higher. We'll see if he's listening. While I was at the doctor's office, I also had to have my blood drawn for them to check my platelets and some other stuff that I can't remember. Oh, they also have to test me for Fifth's Disease every time I get cold-like symptoms because it turns out I've never had it so I'm not immune to it. We had an outbreak of it a while ago at school, so they tested me and discovered that I had never had it. If I get it during pregnancy, there isn't really a threat to me, but it can be very dangerous for the baby. The doctor was shocked that I had never had it, especially growing up in a family of nine kids, plus working in elementary schools for the past ten years. So, we'll get the results for that tomorrow. I'm sure everything's fine, though. I feel better knowing that if they had to induce me at any point from here on out, the baby's chance of survival is very high. I don't want him to spend time in the NICU, but it is comforting knowing that he's baked enough to survive.

My coworkers threw a baby shower for me a couple of weeks ago. I got tons of cute clothes and blankets. It made me even more excited for this little guy to get here.

We've also been busy finishing the baby's room. Matt did a great job with the beadboard and shelving.

Isn't it cute? 

32 down, 8 to go! (or 6, if we're lucky!)