So today is the big day - we are checking into the hospital tonight. It is kind of funny - I have been thinking today like " what do I want for my last breakfast?" before the the baby is here. It is just really kind of odd to think that after we leave tonight the next time we come home we will have our baby!
We had a good amount of snow this morning and Geoff needed to shovel the drive and sidewalks before he left for work - oh the joys of home ownership ;) My Dad came over today and brought me Kane's donuts - yum. Reading my breast feeding book I found out you can rent hospital grade(ish) scale so I called Isis and they are having one sent from the Needham store to Arlington so I can pick it up this afternoon after 3pm. I figure the $10/week fee to rent one is well worth the peace of mind and knowing how he is progressing with feeding. Weight seems like the main barometer they monitor baby's health in the beginning so I am renting it for 4 weeks and then can extend if I like.
My Dad and I are now watching the "Happiest Baby on the Block" DVD as a refresher for me. I also finished reading the breast feeding book up to the first month. I will bring the book to the hospital as well but I am just trying to keep my mind engaged so I feel like I have a better sense of what to expect.
Here is my schedule for the day, basically my mental countdown until we head out the door:
o 1:30 – 2 lunch o 3 – 4 Isis pick up scale o 4 – 5 Shower o 5 – 6 Pack remainder items o Boppi pillow; body pillow; laptop and iPhone o 6 – 6:30 Make dinner o Let Mum know Geoff is home o Dinner 7 – 7:30 o 7:30 To hospital o 8:30 Hospital
I slept well last night (well better than the past few nights) so I feel really good today. I am still going to try to squeeze in a nap this afternoon bcs I want to be as rested as possible before we head in. I really do not expect to get any sleep tonight - fitful at best.
Today is Tuesday and we are schedule to go to the hospital around 8:30pm tomorrow night. I am guessing/forecasting that they will just try to open things up overnight and then will start hoping to induce contractions later on Thursday. So that means we could have a baby within 3 days! Kind of crazy to tell you the truth - I have been counting down to the full term mark for a little while now - my goals for months has just been to get to full term - but it is still a lot to digest.
My mom came over yesterday to keep me company. We dropped off the alphabet print Cathy gave me at the framers and then swung by the post office for more stamps (for baby announcement/holiday card) and then had lunch at Stonehearth. It was really nice just to hang out and chat the whole time. My mom and dad are headed over now and should be here any minute. They were going to bring Brendan and Erin, but Matthew was up sick all last night so they did not want to take a chance in spreading germs. I think my Dad will come over tomorrow to keep me company during the day.
I did not sleep that well last night - I fell asleep well after 9pm - maybe 10pm, woke up a few times during the night and then was up for the day at 5am. I could really use a nap, but I just don't think it will be happening at this rate. If my parents are here from 2-4:30pm and then Geoff comes homes at 5:30pm to drive me to my massage from 6:15-7:15pm. So right now I am just planning on going straight to bed after my massage tonight.
I talked to Alex today for a while - that was really great. It is so nice to be able to connect and for the mental support. I am really trying to keep a positive outlook, but it is tough to do all the time. I am def. feeling better (in the last few days) regarding how things have turned out, but it is still hard to shake the concern that because of all the medical interventions to induce labor, my chance of a c-section is significantly elevated. I am need to focus on taking things one step at a time and being open to whatever happens.
I finished Lawrence of Arabia this afternoon - it took me almost a week to watch the entire movie but I did. It is a really great movie :)
So good news - this morning we went in to the Dr for some monitoring (baby and my blood pressure, no blood work needed) and they were happy with all the results and sent us home :) The baby looked perfect and was very active and my blood pressure all stayed below 140 or 90. I think my highest on the low was around 83. The mid wife on duty also said that my platelet count from the last blood work showed it was increasing which is a positive sign. Also, Ann-Marie put in her email to the mid-wife on duty today that "if you could let them go until Wed. that would make them happy." Which of course we really appreciate and was very sweet of her.
I am hoping that having things stable or improving as of today will mean that we may have better outcomes come delivery. I know that my blood pressure will go up during delivery and I am kind of afraid that if it gets too high they will need to do a c-section.
So today with our new found time Geoff is food shopping and doing laundry. I am watching more of Lawrence of Arabia and have my massage scheduled for 3:15pm :) This also means I will be able to make my massage on Tuesday night as well - yippee. Also of mention is that I have been having contracts for almost a week now. They started last Monday - nothing really painful but I am just happy that they are happening. Last night they got stronger but nothing regular or really painful. They went away when I went to bed.
So (thankfully) my blood work came back normal from Friday, so our next move is to head to the hospital today for a check-in and monitoring. Basically the non-stress test, more blood work and blood pressure monitoring.
Geoff and I pretty much finished packing our bags last night in the event they want to keep me there. I slept pretty well again last night (minus waking from 5:30 - 6:30) and just had blueberry pancakes for breakfast. I just highlighted some hypno birthing prompts that I prefer for Geoff and think I need to go wake him up at this point. He was up till 2am and will need to shovel us out of the house bcs we got a good amount (maybe 4 inches) of snow last night. It looks so pretty and amazing how much lighter with the snow reflecting the morning light.
Hopefully everything will go smoothly this morning and I will be able to post again from my bed tonight :)
So today has been a pretty productive yet restful day. I slept almost 8 hours last night - the most in about a week. I slept in the guest bed downstairs which seems to work better for me these days. I woke up between 3 and 4pm, listened to the Hypno birthing affirmations, ate a banana and then went back to sleep until 7am.
Last night Geoff went to Belmont and picked up his movies that we had left there. we watched about half of Anchorman and I went to bed and he went to play poker at Mike's.
Today I spent most of the morning doing online Christmas shopping in bed and then spent most of the afternoon organizing our receipts (naturally in bed ;) Geoff ran some errands for us, and most importantly went to Jordan's with Kurt to pick up the chair for the nursery. After that he returned the keg that has been sitting on our deck since our B-day party, and also stocked up on wine and the like for the holidays and when I get out of the hospital. He bought a lot of our favorite wines - I am so dying for a glass of red wine at this point - it is kind of painful. I have only had one sip (accidentally) of champagne the entire pregnancy. I doubt it would make a difference at this point, but what is 4 more days?
So Geoff just put a load of laundry in for me to I can finish packing my hospital bags. We are going to bring them to the hospital tomorrow in case they end up keeping me. I am sort of half planning for them to keep me just in case. My blood work from Friday morning came back normal (the nurse called me after 5pm yesterday) so that is reassuring, but I guess you really never know with this.
My mom has offered to come over and help with whatever we need tomorrow, which is really sweet, but I feel bad asking her to clean when we can just pay someone to do that. But I know she just really wants to help and see me. I am trying to think of things she can help with that are sort of fun for her and not strenuous.
If they let me go home tomorrow morning then I have a massage scheduled at 3:15pm. That and another one for Tuesday evening. If I get to use those then I will still have one left over for after the baby which will be kind of nice.
Well Geoff and I are going to watch a movie and then have leftovers from last night for dinner.
So we had our Dr appts this morning and I almost did not get to leave the hospital. The baby looked perfect during the non-stress test but my blood pressure had some higher readings. So Anne Marie (our mid-wife) basically said that I would need to be induced sooner rather than later, meaning within days, not a week.
At first she wanted to send us over to the main hospital for more monitoring and blood work and also said that I should not be surprised if they keep me. She then went to consult with another Dr and came back to say that the Dr said that bcs my blood work from Monday had come back normal they would let me go home today, be monitored over the weekend and then need to schedule an induction for Wednesday. On one hand Geoff and I were relieved and happy that we could go home, but also not thrilled that we needed to schedule an induction. Hopefully the blood work from today and Sunday will be just fine and that we can hold off until Wed. night to check into the hospital.
It has been kind of a tough day in a sense, but I am also happy to have a "plan" in place so we at least know when we will be able to meet the baby. I always figured I would go early, but I never thought I would need to be induced. I was more concerned about going into pre-mature labor more than anything else, so this one really threw me for a loop.
I am happy I decided earlier this week to stop work today - that would have been a headache if not. So I have set up my out of the office and emailed everyone to confirm that today was my last day. I have been in the guest bed pretty much all day and am looking forward to Geoff coming home. I think we are getting Stonehearth tonight bcs I really want baked pasta and they are the healthiest option I know.
Everyone has been really great though with everything, I talked to my Mom, Dad, Meghan, Alex and Geoff's Mum about it all. It does help to talk about it - and I am trying to stay positive. I have had a few good cries so far, but I think it more from the overwhelming emotions and less about being upset about things going down this path. I def. never imagined the baby being born like this (with the full range of medical interventions) and I honestly feel worse for him than for me. I feel bad we need to take him out before he wants to and hope it is not traumatic for him.
It is really kind of crazy to think we are going to have a baby in under a week - I know it will be all worth it in the end and just need to keep focusing on meeting him and being done with all the medical stuff that will need to happen in between. Geoff has been really wonderful about everything - I know this is hard on him as well and that I will be leaning on him over the next few days and during the induction to help get me through it.
Since my last post on the day after Thanksgiving things have been going well. After taking it easy all day Saturday Geoff and I went to Jordan's furniture to buy a armchair for the nursery. This was pretty much the last item on my "baby items" spreadsheet and I was so excited to be getting a comfortable chair to curl up in during the middle of the night :) So we go to Jordan's and visit their outlet section, which I believe is new. We found a really great chair (last one in stock in the color we wanted) and it was also on sale. It is really pimp - is rocks, reclines, has heater and massage and cup holders as well. The arm also fold out to give more surface area which is quite cool. It was really quick and then we went to dinner at Fuddruckers and had some delicious burgers. Sunday Geoff finished the nursery and pulled of all the tape and cleaned the room. We then started to set it up, putting things in place. I am just so thrilled with how it came out - Geoff did a really great job painting and I am so happy to have everything pretty much ready for his arrival. Granted all I really needed was the bassinette and some diapers and clothes, but I feel so much better having his room a bit organized for the arrival. After that I went for a prenatal massage and Heather said my body felt great and my ankles and feet looked and felt much better than the previous weekend.
Monday was a big day bcs of our Dr. appts, so I took my time and took the bus and train into MGH. This way I could ride home with Geoff and not have to borrow a car and drive home alone. So I got there nice and early, had a cup of tea and then met Geoff in the lobby before heading up. We got there right on time (at 3:30pm) and then proceeded to sit in the waiting room till almost 5pm. The ultrasound technician was really nice though and she made a few 3D shots for us :) The results of the ultrasounds wer great - the baby looks just fine, there was plenty of fluid in there and he looked about 6 pounds which is average for right about now.
After that we had a Dr. appt. and my blood pressure was 126/90. So the 90 is borderline high. The Dr. (not our mid-wife) was very keen to discuss induction and said that the classic text book for mild preeclampsia is to induce at 37 weeks bcs the outcomes for the baby (not mentioning the mom mind you ;) were the same. Geoff and I naturally were not thrilled and expressed that. He ordered some more blood work (5 tubes) and everything has come back normal to date, except that I am still waiting on the liver and kidney tests which should be back tomorrow.
So the Dr. also said that modified bed rest means doing pretty much nothing - so that is exactly what I did on Tuesday. I set up an "office" in the guest bedroom and only got up for snacks, to pee, or to say hi to Geoff's parents when they dropped by. They were really sweet to drop by and check in - they also brought me Lawrence of Arabia DVD - so I def. plan on watching that in the next few days. Geoff was also very sweet and came home on his lunch break to see me. He could only stay for a few minutes of course but it was so great to see him :)
Last night Geoff cooked dinner (and delivered to to me in bed) and then he went and bought a new phone - the new Android :) He was so pumped - and I was so happy for him bcs he really deserves a treat - he has been working so hard and has wanted that phone for many months.
Also, I decided last night (and then talked to Geoff as well) that I wanted to stop working remotely as of the end of this week. It has been really incredible of Pama and my work to let me do so, but it is just not as relaxing as I need to be. So after we made that decision I felt a whole ton better and emailed Pama this morning to let her know.
I did speak to our Doula yesterday and she told me not to worry and that she thinks we have some wiggle room in regards to the induction bcs my levels are borderline and pretty inconsistant (in regards to the blood pressure). Also, my sister Colleen called and told me that she had the same thing with Brendan from weeks 35-38 and that they just monitored her and she went into labor naturally with him. That was really reassuring to hear - especially bcs we have similar constitution. My mom also called to check in and that was sweet. My dad also phoned to say that he liked his B-day gift :)
Today was a lighter day for work and I just focused on cleaning up my inbox and prepping for my leave. I only have 2 more deliverables due to Pama by the end of this week so I should be all set on that front. Tonight Geoff is going to drop by Whole Foods on the way home to pick up a few things and then we are going to head to Belmont. We need his parents to sign the health care proxy form for us (as witnesses) and then we can show then the photos from Monday and pick up a box of DVDs for me. I forgot to mention that during the ultrasound the woman took the cutest photo of the baby's bum cheeks - she even labeled it like that. Once we get the scanner and printer set up here I will try to post the photo :)
Well we are now at 36 weeks. I think I felt my first practice contractions today. It felt very similar to cramps that you get when you have your period. No painful, but just enough that you know it is happening. I am hoping that means the baby is making motions and we may be able to deliver him without artificially inducing him.
Well I must go get dressed - I showered a little while ago and now need to get dressed for our trip to Belmont.
