Heart Attack Mac

So, after an hour wait at my doctor's office today (she was delivering twins), I had my group B strep swab test done (Yum!) and then had my first internal check which showed... Nothing... I was sure those horrendous Braxton Hicks' that I was having were doing something down there! My cervix is still zipped as closed as possible so it looks like my girl won't be arriving until after the new year. It's kinda funny but this ENTIRE pregnancy has been the exact polar opposite of when I was pregnant with Luke and I can prove it by the shocker that my doc laid on me today... Somehow, in the last 2 weeks (mind you it was Christmas people,and Christmas to my family means butter, cookies, butter, prime rib, butter, maybe some heavy cream, oh yeah, and my mom's heart attack mac and cheese that you could Spackle walls with!~) I managed to LOSE 2.5 pounds!!!! How the hell does that happen??? I walk into every appointment sure that I'm going to get a disapproving glance while teetering on the scale, but not for losing weight!! She actually asked me if I was restricting my calorie intake and I politely reminded her that I had eaten a piece of prime rib the size of a small dog for dinner Christmas Eve, if that gave her any idea of how "restrictive" I was being with my diet... Doppelganger pregnancy for sure!

She again reassured me that Brooklyn looks perfect and that she probably already weighs more than Luke did at birth as of now so we are good to go for game day anytime after now. Crazy, I'm going to be a mommy again really soon!

The mom and sis are coming over this weekendish to help me roll my protruding belly in casting material so I can decorate and hang my tummy on Brooklyn's wall.... Figure I should do it now as we have no idea how long she'll actually stay in there!!


Luvs!

Still here and still pregnant....

Well, it looks like my prophetic dream of me holding Brooklyn in front of our Christmas tree was nothing more than a dream... Not that I'm angry about that at all... She's still measuring small and I want her to stay inside and fatten up as long as she can.... Lukey Duke was born @ 36 weeks weighing 5lbs 12oz. and he was fine, but a little more time in ye old belly won't hurt the little bean one bit! I'm getting a little bit anxious about my doctor's appointment on Monday. Super doc is going to do another quickie ultrasound to check and see if Brooklyn's little tummy has fattened up at all since my last appointment. She promised me not to worry and that all she really cares about seeing is growth, even if it's only a little bit. So, I'm trying not to dwell on it and instead focus all of my attention on Capt. Duke who caught himself a nasty cold and has the cutest gruff little voice right now. He has spread his 5 billion Match.box cars and army guys all over every available inch of real estate in our living room and his play room, but he's having a blast and enjoying the week of mommy and daddy time. I haven't gotten nearly as much done as I had hoped, but I've gotten to spend some serious cuddle time with the little man as the cold has slowed him down a little. He's such a little love bug and he says the cutest things... I love that when he climbs onto the couch or bed next to me he'll squish himself really close to my face and tell me that he "wuvs mommy" and wants to pet me... He'll lay there, with his eyes half closed rubbing his tiny little hand across my forehead and then laugh when I catch him peeking at me out of the corner of his eye... I wish I could record every little moment and keep them with me forever....

Snow!!

We did it! We made the drive up the mountain just in time to be able to take the whole thing without chains, meltdowns, or any other downers. We attempted to get up early and get out of here before 10 but that didn't happen and it was probably for the best. We snagged our Starbuc.ks fix, grabbed the cute one a chocolate milk and headed out. The drive was beautiful and we finally tried out the personal DVD player with headphones in the car that Grandpa John gave us. So Cool! Lukey Duke got to watch Shark Ta.les the whole way down while mom and dad rocked out to some oldies. We found our way to a smallish snow park up past Nyack and proceeded to bundle the hell out of the little one as it was ridiculously cold and he wanted nothing more than to roll in the snow... Once we piled on the 2 pairs of pants, 2 pairs of socks, snowboard bib, 3 shirts, hooded sweatshirt, goofy beanie and gloves we were good to go. The Duke has always had quite the fascination with snow so it was really cool to be playing and feel the snowflakes falling... He lasted about an hour until his face was frozen, he had boogers running and was begging for a peanut butter and jelly sandwich and a smoosh (aka cuddlin' to get toasty). We then stripped all of the snow-caked gear off, downloaded him to a pair of green footy pj's, strapped him into his seat with a PBJ and grandma's big warm knit blankie. He was asleep before we hit the freeway.... It was a great day... I love Christmas and the snow, one day we'll have the 2 together... Until then, Merry Christmas all! Kiss your babies, and remember how lucky you are...


Luvs!

I knew it was too easy

Got a completely unexpected phone call last night from my doctor's office that managed to pretty much scare the crap out of me and piss me off all at the same time. Why call a patient at home after business hours if it's not a dire emergency?

So one of the nurses from my doc's office calls us last night @ 7pm and starts the conversation with something to the fact of, "I just got a copy of your ultrasound from your appointment today, and I haven't talked to your doc yet, but I thought I'd give you a heads up that she's probably going to order NST tests." My first reaction was, why are you calling me if you haven't talked to my doctor yet and what the hell are you talking about? The tech at my ultrasound had spent 10 minutes going over every picture of every body part with me and talking about how perfect she looked. The nurse continues with, "well, the baby's abdomen is measuring smaller than we would like to see, and with your history, you are going to need routine NST (non-stress tests)until you give birth to monitor her growth." WTF???

I asked her what she meant by "smaller than we would like to see," and she replied that Brooklyn's abdomen is measuring "a few" weeks behind all of the other measurements taken during the appt (skull, femur, pelvis, you get the point). Now I'm shaking in my seat, trying to keep my voice from quivering as Matt is staring at me puzzled as to why they'd be calling after I just got home bragging about how perfect she looked on the ultrasound earlier that day. I'm kinda in a daze as I hang up the phone and try to re-tell the play-by-play for Matt without bawling my eyes out in front of Lukey Duke.

Fast forward to this morning.

My usual nurse, 2nd in command to my Doc, calls and the first words out of her mouth are to apologize for the "other" nurse calling last night and giving me info that hadn't been run by my doc yet. She then tells me that Brooklyn's abdomen is measuring 3 weeks behind in development and that she really wants me to make sure that I get my PIH blood work done today so that she can give all of the info to my doc together so she can decide how to handle this. I love her because she doesn't beat around the bush and tells me that it's a concern, but that I shouldn't stress out about it and that I'm just going to need more monitoring and hands on care than the average patient.

So, in summary, I'm pretty freaked out.

My sis talked me off the cliff this morning and helped me put it into perspective that Brooklyn is a great size right now (estimated around 4lbs. 7oz.) and that, God forbid, she were born right now, she's be FINE. So, worst comes to worst, my pregnancy gets a little complicated like last time, and I muscle through the next few weeks under constant doc supervision, and then give birth to a perfectly healthy, but probably on the small size, baby girl. Or, it ends up being panic over nothing and she hangs out until her due date... We'll see....

PIH / IUGR ultrasound screening this morning

Just got back from my ultrasound to check Miss Brooklyn's growth and make sure that there are no signs of IUGR (inter uterine growth restriction)or anything else funky going on now that I'm in the tail end of this pregnancy. All looks perfect, she's measuring right on track, she has plenty of fluid to do back flips in, and my placenta and umbilical cord look perfect. I also got a possible explanation for some serious back pain that I was having yesterday... It appears that my mini gymnast has managed to catapult herself into breech position again... Hopefully she'll wiggle herself back head down soon...

Anyway, everything looked perfect on the ultrasound pictures and showed a perfect little girl, with perfect kidneys, heart, stomach and brain. It was really cool to be able to see her so far along in development. I've never seen ultrasound photos past the gender scan as I didn't have one with Lukey Duke. It's amazing to see how big she's getting and watch her wiggle around even though she is quickly running out of real estate!

Doc Appt Today

I'm actually beginning to feel cautiously optimistic As I walk into my doctor's appointments now. Since about 30 weeks prego I was really worried at every visit that my BP would spike and I'd step on the scale and see a drastic weight gain of 10+ pounds of water and be in for hell like last time. But shockingly, my BP is steady (120/74) as well as my weight gain (5 lbs from last appt) and I'm beginning to feel like there may be a possibility that I might be able to skate through the rest of this pregnancy worry free!

Brooklyn's arrival time

Any thoughts on when you think Miss Brooklyn will be gracing us with her presence? I am "officially" due Feb 4th, despite the fact that my doc and I have been using Jan 36th since I was around 12 weeks prego, and Capt. Duke joined us a full 19 days early. I'm leaning toward early, but I'm not quite sure on the time frame... Let me know what you think!

33 Weeks

Have you begun putting together Baby's layette? Do you have an alternate route to the hospital mapped out? Time to get everything ready ... Baby will be here soon!


Worried about going into labor with your partner nowhere in sight? Make sure you have your cell phone charged and ready. Also, make sure you and your partner have your doctor and hospital numbers programmed into your phones.

What's Happening with Your Body
With delivery day quickly approaching, you may already be feeling some false contractions, called Braxton Hicks. At times, you may notice your abdomen tighten and then relax. Braxton Hicks contractions help your body gear up for the real thing. If you take time to relax and put your feet up, the contractions should go away. Snagging some sleep becomes harder as your belly makes it difficult to find a comfortable sleeping position.

All About Baby
Your unborn baby's senses continue to develop. If you talk to your baby, she can hear you. In fact, her world is full of sounds. In addition to your voice, she can hear your stomach growling and your lungs taking in air, along with the reassuring vibrations of your heart beating. Also, your baby's skin has turned from red to pink and she has started preparing for life outside the womb by storing iron in her liver.

How Big Is Baby?
This week your baby stretches to around 12 inches (crown to rump) and weighs in at about four pounds, eight ounces.


** Can't believe how much there is still left to do before Brooklyn arrives and I continue to have this intense feeling that she's going to be here REALLY soon! I know I only have Luke's birth to reference, but he was almost 3 weeks early and arrived so quickly that I'm kinda scared that I won't be able to make it to the hospital in time!!!! I need to finish her room, fill my freezer with a few pre-made meals, finish packing my hospital bag, install the car seat, and figure out where Lukey Duke is going once I am in labor.... Oh yeah, and then there's still all of the Christmas related stuff to do!!!! I need longer days or 4 arms! **

Just to gross you out again...

Here's a picture of my cankels following a hellish day at work on Friday... Yuck!!!!

Baby shower on Saturday!!!

I'm so excited to see all of the work that my sister and mother have been hiding from me for so long! I don't know anything about my shower other than who was invited, so it's been kinda rough for me to hand over the reigns completely, but also a blessing in disguise. I've been completely exhausted for the past few weeks and have been wearing myself down to the bone trying to get my life ready for Brooklyn.

I've had more and more anxiety lately about how all of this is going to affect my relationship with the Duke. He's such a sweet little boy and a part of me is really worried that I won't have enough to love both of them the same. Is this normal? Does every mom feel anxiety like this before expanding their family? Will I have enough love/energy/time for both of my beautiful babies? Does it make me a bad mom for jealously wanting more time with just my little boy? I'm conflicted and I know I should just be elated that Brooklyn is almost here and we haven't had ANY issues with this pregnancy at all, but I can't help but feel a little sad about the impending loss of time with the Duke. I know that we'll adjust and create a new routine that will include both of them and they will be fine, but I can't help but be a little fearful of the unknown. I remember being really scared right after Lukey Duke was born that I'd break him and that I wouldn't be able to handle all of the responsibility that came along with this fragile, squirming little boy laying across my chest. And then I remember the night after he was born, Matt was passed out on the fold-out bed next to me in the hospital, I think it was about 3am, and I just lay there sore but completely and utterly enamored with the tiny baby asleep in my arms grunting as he snuggled in close to me... At that moment, I knew that I would be a great mom and that from that moment on, he'd always be my number one priority. I know that my love for my babies will grow the moment I get to finally meet my daughter and makes room for both of them in my already bursting heart...

Busy, lovely holiday

So, Thanksgiving went off without a hitch (muchos thanks to my Ma!!)... The meal was awesome, everyone's dishes came out great, and it was really nice to have everyone together under one roof and be able to have a nice meal. We were able to send everyone home with a goodie bag full of leftovers and I managed to get a huge pot of ham and lentil soup made with the leftover spiral cut ham and bone... So good!!!

I had an OB appt on Wednesday and got the good news that it looks like my BP is still staying pretty low (120/74) and I only gained a pound since my last appt which is awesome! I was REALLY worried that my BP was going to spike and the scale would reflect a massive weight gain of water from all of that swelling I've had for the past few weeks. My doc is still going to run me through a battery of tests @ 36 weeks to check on Brooklyn and make sure that all is well (non-stress test, blood and urine check, and an ultrasound to check her overall well being and my fluid levels). I'm so happy that she's taking the risk of my pre-eclampsia returning seriously. She's been cautiously optimistic since I first told her I was pregnant, but always reminds me that the incidence of recurrent pre-eclampsia in subsequent pregnancy is usually 1-3 but about 50/50 for me as I developed it during my 1st pregnancy and it was quite severe last time. I was on magnesium during labor, and for 2 weeks following Luke's birth, and not allowed to move because my BP was so high they were afraid I could possibly have a seizure.

Lukey Duke had his 2nd dentist appt On Wednesday and got 2 prizes for being so awesome! The hygienist was amazed that he was so happy to be there and eager to participate at only 3 years old. His teeth look lovely and we were told to basically keep doin' what we're doing as his teeth and gums look perfect.

The rest of our few days together were spent doing chores, making trips to Home Dep.ot for stuff to complete Brookie's nursery and lots-o-laziness! I don't think I've ever spent so much time curled up on our couch in front of the fire watching so many movies and cartoons! It was awesome and much needed....

Luvs!