Pregnancy Update

37 Weeks

I had my weekly appointment on Wednesday and my blood pressure read higher than normal. Up until this point it's been a-okay. On Wednesday it was 140/90. My doctor isn't immediately concerned but I can't help but be! I developed pre-eclampsia around this time with Philip and while it's supposedly very rare to get it a second time, I'm still worried. My doctor told me to take it easy and to call if I develop any sudden extreme swelling. So far though I haven't had any abnormal swelling which has been a welcomed change from my last pregnancy! I still have ankles at 37 weeks pregnant--can't complain about that!

I read online that gestational hypertension (high blood pressure) is characterized by blood pressure readings of over 140/90 so I'm right on the borderline. Pre-eclampsia isn't diagnosed unless readings are over 140/90 and there is protein in the urine, which is an indication that something is going on in the kidneys. If I were to develop pre-eclampsia again, A's cozy stay in the womb would surely be cut short. Although at this point I'm not so sure I'd complain about that one bit seeing that as of today I am carrying around a full term baby (yay!!).

So I go back to the doctor's office on Thursday for my weekly check up and to see how my BP is looking. I'll also have another internal exam to check for any signs that A has any plans of evacuating any time soon. Wish us luck!

Something's Cookin' in the Kitchen!

35 Weeks

Considering how miserable I've been feeling lately, I was totally shocked when my doctor told me last week that everything is looking great. Surely it's not possible to feel this awful and have things still be rolling along smoothly. Well, apparently they are. My weight gain is good so far, I have minimal swelling (unlike my first pregnancy where I was suffering from awful edema at this point in time), my blood pressure is good, and I'm measuring right where I should be. Who'da thunk it?

I've been telling myself lately that, not only will this pregnancy end in an successful VBAC and a healthy baby, but little Andrew will also come early. Two weeks early, to be exact. That way I can tell myself as of today that I only have 3 weeks of misery left! Isn't that great? I refuse to entertain any other options at this point.

It's funny how when you're not pregnant, you (or at least I did) see pregnant women who look so happy, all aglow with the gift of carrying a tiny little life, yadda yadda yadda, and you think to yourself, "Aww, I miss that. It really was so great being pregnant, wasn't it? It couldn't have been nearly as bad as I remember it!" Then one day you find yourself in that same woman's position, only, something's different: You're not glowing, you're sweating, because it's 105 degrees outside, and you're not relishing every moment because you're too busy chasing a toddler around the house, lugging him up and down the stairs in order to change his 4th poopy diaper of the day while he does his best to free himself from your arms and escape. Everything around you is in utter chaos and you've gone from somehow feeling like you sort of had things together to apologizing to your husband for the lack of dinner when he gets home, and for the fact that the dishes have been in the sink for 3 days straight now and the living room looks like a thousand toddlers stampeded through it all day long. Oh, don't forget the fact that you've been in the same super sexy, about-to-be-outgrown, mismatched outfit for the past 2 days, half of which is normally jammies. Yep.

Recently I've determined that as long as the house is still standing, Philip has been fed, changed, and kept safe and (reasonably) clean, then I consider the day to have been a success. Phil now understands that he cannot and should not expect anything beyond this, as it is the absolute most I can find the energy to do in one day. So he comes home after his 14 hour day at work and gets right to work at home making the two of us dinner, God bless him.

And all of this before I even make it to becoming a mother of two under two!

In the spirit of surviving, here's an awful picture of me at 35 weeks. I was undecided as to whether or not to share it, but if I wait around for an opportunity where I'm looking awesome, I will have nothing to look back on! LOL

Pardon the weird face, sloppy outfit, and stretch marks, please. At this point in my pregnancy I'm not out to impress. ;-)

Sweet Little Boy

I couldn't possibly love you any more.

Fun on a Saturday Morning

3rd Trimester

And really ready to be done with this pregnancy!

There are roughly 68 days left until Andrew's due date. On the one hand, I'm exited to be just about two months from the finish line. On the other hand, I can't believe I still have so much time left, especially when I know from experience just how hard these last two months are going to be!

On top of this, I added an extra week and a half to my third tri by changing ob/gyn's in order to pursue a VBAC. So no more scheduled repeat section for me, which also means no more lovely August 6th birth date! I'm sure the extra incubating time will be worth it if in the end it means no unnecessary surgery and long, painful recovery. With an active toddler at home, I am not going to have the luxury this time around to rest and recover in a (somewhat) leisurely fashion, so having a regular ol' vaginal delivery is high on my list of priorities.

I've been feeling less than stellar lately and this week I think the stress of being so pregnant, working, and caring for a toddler may have caught up to me. I spent Wednesday night throwing up all through the night with what I thought might have been a case of food poisoning. Around 5:00 AM, we decided I needed to go into the ER at our local hospital who decided I should instead check into Labor and Delivery given how far along I am. Once there I was put on an IV and medication to stop the vomiting and within a few hours was feeling almost human again. The doctor determined I had caught a flu virus, the side effects of which lead to me becoming dehydrated, which then lead to some mild contractions. The contractions subsided once I finally had some fluid in me. I was discharged around 9:30 and spent the rest of the day in an anti-nausea medication and exhaustion-induced state of on and off again sleep.

Phil took off work yesterday to take care of me and Philip as I was still feeling somewhat sick and weak. Not a good combo for taking care of a toddler. So I napped, sipped ginger ale, and nibbled on saltines, while Phil tended to our son's every need like the good daddy he is. Today was a bit better. I am more alert, although still feeling a bit queasy at times. But I'm definitely tired. Tomorrow I am on my own with Philip again as Phil will be getting off his night shift at 7 AM, come home, spend most of the day sleeping, and then head out to work again around 5 PM. And on that note, I better head to bed, as mommy doesn't have the luxury of another sick day ahead of her tomorrow!

Budding Lexicon

Philip has made awesome strides in the last few weeks as far as his verbal abilities go. He went from not saying anything, to saying nothing but "No!" all of the time, to saying any (simple) word we coach him to say. He's like a little sponge soaking it all up and is constantly asking us "What's that?!" or "Look at that!"

Here is a new list of words he can either say or try to say:

Eye, Nose, Mouth, Ear (when pointing to his or own or ours)
Bear
Ball
Baby
Mama (!)
Dada/Daddy
One, two, three
Tries to say Lola (our dog)
Down (when Lola jumps up on him)
Pee-pee (a development as of this morning on the changing table, LOL)
He'll also repeat some letters that we point to, like A, B, and C.

He can identify other body parts, too, which he gets a kick out of doing! If you ask him where his butt is he turns around and smacks it. SO funny. He also knows what/where his hair, face, head, hands, cheeks, belly, feet and belly button are.

It amazes me how much he really understands. He can understand simple sentences and commands and actually follows them (most of the time). I'm thinking at this rate he'll be speaking in simple sentences by his second birthday. And to think, just a month ago I was thinking he might never talk!