32 Weeks 5 Days NST/BPP Appointment

Another good appointment at MFM.  It took about 3 hours and was filled with lots of stress for me, but in the end everything was good.  First, they put me on the monitors for the stress test.  Then the nurse came into the room in the middle of the test and thought that the baby's heart was having decels.  So, I was freaking out BIG time.  However, after a little bit she figured out that the monitor was picking up my heartrate since the monitor was not really in a good place.  So, after that scary test I had to wait forever to get my ultrasound done.  Everything went very well with that test and I found out that she is no longer in a breech position!  So, that is great!  Now she just needs to stay that way!  This time I talked to the doctor and he said at this point he worries about my blood clotting disorders.  He said they will be keeping a very good eye on the baby and checking her blood flow.  He said it is very important for me to pay attention to her movement and if I notice any significant change, I need to call imediatedly.  So, I will now be going twice a week for NST's, BPP's and doppler testing.  It's kind of overwhelming and I hate these NST's because they stress me out every single time, but the more monitoring the better at this point to make sure baby girl is healthy.

NST/BPP

We had our first NST/BPP done yesterday and baby girl passed!  She did excellent on the NST portion of the test.  She decided to get a little shy during the BPP and didn't want to move at first or show us her practice breathing, but after a little bit she finally gave in.  She scored a 10 on that portion.  The only minor issue is that she is currently in a breech position, but we are still in the 32nd week so she still has some to turn.  The resident said if she doesn't move on her own my OB may want to try to turn her or I may have to have a c-section.  This scares me a little bit, but trying not to stress yet since she could turn on her own at any time.  We will see what my OB has to say and hopefully things continue to move along perfectly :)  I have another NST/BPP scheduled for Thursday.  More updates to come...

Baby Shower

Sunday, we had our baby shower for our little peanut.  My mom, mother in law and friends (Katie, Kim & Kelly) put it together and it was amazing!!  So thankful for every single one of them!!  It was at El Camino's in the room downstairs.  It is so cute down there and my great friends helped with the decorations, favors and games.  Kelly put together the table decorations, Kim put together the games and Katie brought the favors.  We received so many fantastic gifts!!  So many adorable clothes!!!  I couldn't believe how many clothes we got, but I know everyone loves to buy baby girl clothes :)  We also received a bunch of things off of our registry including a high chair, bouncer, car seat, wipes warmer, activity mat and so much more!





Beautiful table decorations thanks to Kelly and adorable cookies thanks to Katie!




Cake table - Our cake didn't turn out as expected.  It wasn't suppose to have any blue on it, but it ended up working out and matched the sign I made for Eli.  It was very yummy too!



3D picture of Baby Girl



A little remembrance of our little angel, Eli <3



Aren't these cookies so cute!  They were delicious too!

Thanks to Kim for all the pictures!  Hopefully I can get some more to post soon!  Thanks again to everyone who helped with the shower!  Special thanks to my mom and mother in law for throwing the shower for us and all of their hard work putting it together.  And thanks for all of the wonderful gifts!  We are so lucky to have such amazing people in our lives!  Baby girl thanks you all!  :)

31 Weeks 4 Days Appointment

I had an appointment my my OB/GYN today.  Baby is doing great!  Heart rate sounds great and my blood pressure was good.  My weight is right on target as well.  She is expecting me to go into labor around 37 or 38 weeks.  However, she does not want me to go past 39 weeks.  So, I'm assuming if it comes to that I will be induced, which makes me a little nervous since I believe the chances of having a c-section go up if the induction does not work.  My doctor's want to avoid a c-section due to my blood clotting disorder.  Any type of surgery can be a little riskier with this disorder and would require me to take blood thinners longer.  I already take a blood thinning injection everyday in my belly (which will be changing to 2 injections everyday of a similar medication at 35 weeks).  I currently take Lovenox injections which stay in my system for 24 hours.  This medication is a low-molecular weight form of Heparin.  The fact that it stays in the system for 24 hours can be an issue if I go into labor shortly after taking a shot.  If a certain amount of time has not passed since my last injection, it may be possible that I would not be able to get an epidural.  I definitely want an epidural!  Sorry to all of you who believe in natural births.  Natural is not for me.  :)  So, around 35 weeks, I will be switching to regular Heparin injections which I will have to take twice a day since they only stay in your system for 12 hours.  This difference is important when going into labor.  Especially since these meds thin my blood out and make it not clot as much.  So, the extra shot will not be fun, but it's something that has to be done so no sense in complaining about it.  We will just see what happens.  Hopefully our little girl will decide to come around 37 or 38 weeks.  :)  Can't wait to meet her and see what she looks like! 

I will be 32 weeks on Saturday, so my doctor is going to start me on Non-Stress Tests (NST) and Biophysical Profiles (BPP) every week until delivery.  These will be happening every Tuesday and Thursday every week.  I decided to do some research on these tests, since that is what I always do for everything!  It's kind of an obsession!  After we were given Eli's diagnosis when I was pregnant I swear that was all I did was research every bit of information I could find!  Here is some good info I found on americanpregnancy.org on these tests:

The NST involves attaching monitors to my belly to measure baby's heart rate and contractions.  The reactivity of the heart is measured in relation to movement for about 20 to 30 minutes.  Basically it will help determine if the baby is any fetal distress.  The primary goal of the test is to measure the heart rate of the baby in response to its own movements. Healthy babies will respond with an increased heart rate during times of movement, and the heart rate will decrease at rest. The concept behind a non-stress test is that adequate oxygen is required for fetal activity and heart rate to be within normal ranges. When oxygen levels are low, the fetus may not respond normally. Low oxygen levels can often be caused by problems with the placenta or umbilical cord.

The BPP combines an ultrasound evaluation with a NST.  The ultrasound may take up to an hour, and the technician will watch for a variety of signs that are important in measuring the health of the baby.  Usually, five specific fetal attributes are studied and “scored” during the BPP: breathing, movement, muscle tone, heart rate and amniotic fluid.  The total score will help decide the overall health and well being of the baby and help the doctor determine if the baby should be born sooner than planned.

I have to have these tests done so often due to my history of miscarriages and neonatal loss and a few other problems that make me high risk.  I was a little stressed about it at first, but now I think that the more monitoring the better.  I want to make sure my little peanut is as healthy as can be!  I should have some ultrasound pictures to post next week, so be on the look out!  :)  Also, my baby shower is on Sunday!  I am so excited! 

Take care everyone!!

Nursery

Baby girl's room is all done with the expection of hanging some decorations on the wall.  Here are some pictures....

29 Weeks Appointment

The bad news: Nick has been asked to sit at work for 2 weeks since there is currently no work. 

The good news: Nick got to go with me to our ultrasound appointment!  I love when he is able to come with me!!

Another great appointment this week!  Baby girl is growing like weed.  She weighs 2 lbs 15 oz and her HR was 146 bpm.  She's still moving around like crazy in there.  :)  The tech said that the fluid level was great.  When she measured the AFI, I could actually see each pocket that she was measuring, which I have never seen before.  Also, I could see the fluid in her bladder and her kidneys.  So amazing!  She gave us two more pictures, which I will post later.  They are not as good as last time, but still so exciting to see.

I was suppose to have a checkup with my OB today as well, but with all this snow we got overnight my appointment has been cancelled.  So, I will be working at home all day in my pj's. 

Hope everyone has a great day!   

Update - 27 Weeks 4 Days

<3 Kidneys <3

Oh how I love my kidneys...  It's crazy how kidneys have been such an issue for our family over the past year.  Last Wednesday evening I started having severe pain in my left kidney again (this happened before when I was about 6 weeks pregnant).  So, Thursday morning Nick took off work and took me to St. Charles where they admitted me to L&D for observation.  It turns our I had a bladder infection and the tubes that connect my bladder and kidney were slightly inflammed, which is probably what was causing the pain.  Last time this happened they really couldn't determine what was causing it.  They just saw alot of swelling when they did an ultrasound.  Unfortunately, when you're pregnant they can't do x-rays or CT scans to determine the problem.  It could be cauesd by a kidney stone or some kind of blockage.  Of course once I got to the hosptial the pain pretty much disappeared, but at least we got to check on the baby and make sure everything was OK with her.  The nurses said she was a wild child since she was moving around so much during our 6 hours there.  My little gymnast lol.  So, the pain continued to come and go through Friday night.  The pain was so horrible Friday night that we almost went back to the hosptial, but I knew there was nothing they could really do for me and I knew it would probably go away soon, so I decided to stay home.  I did some stretching and walking around, which helped a little.  Finally I ended up sitting in the recliner chair and after about 30 minutes the pain was completely gone!  So, I'm wondering it if the pain could also be due to the position of my little peanut in there.  The first time I had this issue the Urologist said the pain can be caused by the uterus getting larger and putting pressure on the bladder, which makes infections more likely as well.  So, I'm thinking since I am so huge now that may have a lot to do with it...  But it has been 5 days with no pain, so I'm hoping I am in the clear now!  I swear this pain is worse than labor pains!  Just like a sharp knife stabbing me right in my kidney constantly with no break!  At least with labor pains you can take a breather in between contractions!  So, everytime I feel the slightest pain in my kidneys I panick a little bit, worried that I am going to experience the same pains again.  My OB made me another appointment with the Urologist this week.  So, we will see what he has to say.  Last time he basically told me there is not much that can be done since I am pregnant.  He mentioned the possibility of putting a stent in the tube that connects the bladder and kidney to keep it open, but that would require anesthesia which they do not like to do during pregnancy.  Also, the stent procedure would have to be redone every 2 months.  I definitely do not want to do that!  So, I'm just going to have to hang in there and if I'm lucky it won't come back!  He does want me to have a CT scan done after the baby is born.  However, Nick and I both already had CT scans done shortly after Eli was born since his problems were caused by his kidneys and we were both normal.

This pregnancy is so much different than my last.  No one ever asked me if I was pregnant last time until about a month before I delivered.  With this pregnancy I am getting it all time.  I feel so huge!  I swear I was not this big last time!  I asked my OB about it and she said that basically it's because this is my second pregnancy and everything has already been stretched out once, so it's much easier for it to restretch this time.  Also, the last pregnancy was only a year ago.  At my last appointment my OB giggled at me when she saw my belly and said that I am definitely "all baby".  LOL 

We are still undecided on a name for this little peanut.  We have a list of about 3 or 4 that we like.  I have decided to let Nick make the final decision, since I picked out Eli's name.  We are thinking of waiting until she is born to make our final decision and then letting everyone know.  I am so excited to meet this little girl!  It was so amazing to see the 3D ultrasound pictures last time.  She sleeps in the same position as her daddy! 

I think the dogs are sensing that big changes are coming.  They have been so clingy lately and dying for attention.  We have taken them over to Nick's parents house several times now and they have mingled with my nephews.  Both girls seem to be really good with the kiddos.  They weren't too interested in the babies.  They just sniffed them a little bit and gave them kisses on their heads.  So cute.  I can't wait to see how they interact with a new baby.  I know my parents are a little freaked out about it because they are big dogs, but they are really sweet little babies with Nick and I.  I think they are going to be very protective over the baby and love her like crazy!

Well, I have another appointment at MFM next week, so I should have some more ultrasound pictures to post then.  :)

Here's some pictures of our "babies" dogs for now. :)

Dakota

Lola

Finny