picture taken at 19 weeks, 1 day

Dates to Remember

August 21st, 2007- find out the good news, we're going to have a baby!!!

August 26th, 2007- Emma and Kyla were informed that they were both going to become big sisters!

September 9th, 2007- the girls read their first book to baby 'T'.

September 19th, 2007- Had my first ultrasound in the doctors office. I didn't see anything because his big arse was in the way. Didn't get to hear the heart beat then either.

October 22nd, 2007- Had 2nd ultrasound at the doctors office. This time we got to see the baby a little, and saw the little heart beating strong.

October 29th, 2007- Had ultrasound at Diagnostic Imaging to determine due date. We got pictures (see above), and learned that at that time I was 19 weeks, 1 day, due: Sunday, March 23rd, 2008.

We were also unable to find out the sex because baby was being VERY uncooperative! *crossing our fingers for next time!*

November 1st, 2007- The doctors office calls and says that the doctor wants to see me TODAY to discuss the ultrasound results, throwing me into a panic. Hoping and praying it's just the previa, and nothing to do with baby!!!

November 1st, 2007: UPDATE- The doctor did indeed diagnose me with complete placenta previa. It's kind of scary because I don't want anything to happen to this baby that we've waited so long to have. Another ultrasound has been booked for December 17th, so hopefully there will be good news then. For now, I'm ordered to do nothing... meaning no lifting, no standing for prolonged periods of time, no sex, absolutely no pelvic exams; basically I have to sit on the couch and do nothing... *sigh*

November 4th, 2007- Well it's been 4 days of bed rest, but I'm finding it terribly difficult to just sit and do nothing! I didn't think it would get this boring, this fast. I'm also getting irritated with myself because my hormones are so out of whack that I find myself getting angry, or wanting to cry for the stupidest things! I can't wait to be normal again - whatever that is...

November 6th, 2007- Had 3rd dream that baby was a boy! I wonder if that means anything?!?!

November 11th, 2007- This baby is VERY active! I feel him/her move around many times during the day. Dad's even felt the kicks with 100% certainty! One more week to go, and I'll be in my 6th month! WOW time flies!!! 36 more days until my next ultrasound- and hopefully I'll find out before Christmas that the previa is in the process of fixing itself AND the sex of this little one!

November 19th, 2007- I had my 22-ish week check up today. There's really nothing exciting to say about it though. Everything is fine with me and baby. Baby measured in at 22 weeks 5 days according to his (ancient) ultrasound machine he has in his office, and it was squirming while he was trying to get a good look at the little heart beat. He did manage to tell that it's beating around 150 bpm, which is what it has been at since the beginning. As far as I know- I'm still ordered to be on bed rest, which completely sucks because it's utterly mind-numbingly boring... and I tried to rebook my ultrasound for an earlier date because it's that weekend that we're aiming to be at the in-laws for an early Christmas, but there was nothing available so I decided to keep it on the 17th of December. So yup... that's about all I got for now.

November 29th, 2007- Baby is getting so strong now. I was sitting watching TV (since that's the only thing I'm really allowed to do) and I noticed out of the corner of my eye, my tummy move! I put the remote on my belly and watched baby kick it's little heart out. It was quite entertaining! (or maybe it comes down to small things amuse small minds?...) The girls got to watch later that day too, and they both that it was strangely entertaining, so I guess it's not just me! Haha!

December 1st, 2007- Finally my mother was able to feel the baby move. Times before, it seemed like baby knew when it was Gramma and then stop kicking.

December 5th, 2007- This SPD is getting the best of me most days. It hurts soooo much that I can barely move more often than not. I know there's nothing the doctor can do, so I haven't actually bothered to tell him about it because I don't want to sound like a complaining whiner, but damn it hurts! One week today until my next doctors visit, and 12 days until the next ultrasound! Oh- and I've still only gained 24lbs. I don't like it, but it's better than gaining 40!

December 12th, 2007- I had my 25-ish week check-up today. There's really not much to report other than the fact that baby looks good and the heart is beating strong at about 145 bpm, which is right around where it's been for the entire pregnancy. I have to do my gestational diabetes test here in the next week and I'm not really looking forward to that because of that orange crap you have to drink, but it has to be done. Six more day until my next ultrasound too! Hopefully baby will decide to cooperate and show us the goods!

December 15th, 2007- Emma and Kyla 'officially' felt their baby moving today! I thought their eyes were going to pop out of their heads! LOL.

December 17th, 2007- Today is the day I get my check-up ultrasound. I'm hoping the tech can tell me the previa is resolved and that the baby is a he or a she! We're also going to try to get the 3D ultrasound too. That should be interesting!

December 17th, 2007: UPDATE- The ultrasound went about as good as it could have. The baby's head is so far down that it was really hard for the tech to get a good picture of the placenta, especially because baby had her hand over her head. From what she did see she figured though, that it has moved up and will continue to do so, so hopefully I don't hear from my doctor because he said he'd call if something was wrong. Baby is measuring around 27 weeks, which puts me at the beginning of the 7th month and proving that baby is growing well. Also, because baby's head was so low it was hard to get any good face shots of her so we didn't get pictures this time. This also means that we weren't able to do the 3D ultrasound either. *sigh*. Ahh well, I'm sure I'll have to go for at least ONE more before baby is born just to double check. And I dunno if you caught that or not, but I called the baby a... SHE! Of course the tech's can never say with 100% certainty, she does figure that she saw 'girl bits'!

Dad got a HUGE smile on his face when he heard the news! ...now if only I could sleep through the night AND get rid of this bronchitis.

December 29th, 2007- It's been about 5 days now without much sleep. I can't seem to get to sleep and stay that way for more than 2 hours at a time. I think it's either because of my sciatica, hip or my ribs- which all hurt. And did I mention I'm sick of being so damn emotional? Crying because pancakes didn't turn out the way I wanted them to (although they were near perfect already!) is quite... pathetic! I'm done being pregnant. I wished I could time warp. *sigh*

January 3rd, 2008- Today dad and I went to WalMart to go look for more baby things. While we were there we found a stroller that matched our car seat and lo and behold, they were a 2 in one unit! Most of these units cost well over $200, but because I'd been bargain shopping over the past few months, we managed to piece together the two for $105! I bought the car seat online from someone who bought two of them, not thinking, so it was never used- for $40, and then the stroller was on sale from $124 to $65! Of course when we got home, dad had to put the stroller together!

PS: and dad was quite proud of himself because he bought the first package of diapers!

PPS: I wished I was a cat. Gestation is only 65 days...

January 6th, 2008- I realized I hadn't felt the baby move in a couple of days so I called the hospital to see if I should come up to get a nonstress test done. They told me to first eat something and then lay down for an hour and do the fetal kick count. If I didn't feel 10 movements in that time then they wanted me to come in. Well, I did what they said, but I didn't make 10. I think she only kicked/squirmed about 6-7 times, but I was ok with that since at least I felt something! Later that night I felt her more so it just made me feel that much better. If she doesn't keep it up, I'll probably end up getting the test done just to be on the safe side. AND: Dad (finally) settled on a name for the baby:

January 13th, 2008- I don't want to sound like a whiny pregnant woman, but my GOD I can't do this for another 10 weeks!!! The pressure/pain in my pubic area is sometimes more than I can bare and brings me to tears more often than not. I seriously think some days this girls head is just going to pop out. Either that, or my pelvic bone is just going to break in two. Who knew PSD (pubic symphysis dysfunction) could be so damn painful!!!

Getting in and out of the car is near impossible, and anything that requires any amount of walking, well you might as well just put me in a torture chamber; it would be more pleasant. I have my 30 week check-up with the doc tomorrow morning and I'm going to beg and plead with him to induce me early. I have 2 other kids that need my attention, and when Kris isn't on his days off I'm a little stuck. In a few more weeks, I won't be able to drive at all. What are the girls supposed to do then- hitch hike to school?! *sigh*

So frustrated. I just want to be done, and want to meet my baby (that's caused me so much pain and suffering! LOL)

January 14th, 2008- I had my appointment and it was pointless. The doctor said there was nothing I could do about the pain except take a boat-load of Tylenol (2 pills 3-4 times a day! How can that be healthy for baby?!?!?) I never got into the possibility of induction because I figured at 30-31 weeks he would just pass it off.

I am however now seeing him every two weeks. You know you're close to a baby when that happens!

I also have to go get my glucose test done (to check for gestational diabetes), but now instead of getting it done and it only taking one hour and one poke, I have to have one that's scheduled for 2 hours and get poked 3 times! Doc wasn't too impressed with me but geebus, it was Christmas time and I was sick to boot!

Kris is going back to work tomorrow or Wednesday and I'm really not sure how I'm going to manage with all the driving around that needs to be done in a week. I can barely get in and out of the car now because it hurts so much!

On a side note- what's been so hard for me to swallow lately is the fact that I had waited 3 years to become pregnant, and now that I am (and nearly done) I can't help but absolutely HATE it! It's quite depressing actually that I can't enjoy this one bit... and even more depressing that I'll never be able to do it again.

It's not fair.

January 16th, 2008- Well, I'm off to get my 2 hour glucose screen done since I missed the time frame to be able to do the 1 hour test. Hopefully it'll come out ok.

UPDATE: That'll learn me! First I went to the hospital lab, got signed in and then got my 1st needle. That one was just to see if they could give me the dreaded orange syrup. Then when the results came back, the needle lady came back with the bottle and a little cup and told me to drink it within 5 minutes. YECH!!!

An hour later (and with a mighty sore behind I might add!) I waddled over to the seat where they draw blood for the second time. I'm shaking and feel woozy because the first and only thing in my body was orange sugar. I swore I was going to fall over, or throw up!

Then, another hour later I slowly and painfully waddle back to the lab again for my last needle. This time, for some reason, I felt like I was going to fall over because suddenly I had no energy what-so-ever. After the last draw Kris and I went to the cafeteria to get some food. I never thought I'd say that hospital food smelled good!

Since I was completely drained I came home and went to bed for 3 hours! When I woke up the girls were home and quietly doing other things, the entire house was cleaned and the snow all shovelled.

What a great man I have!

January 18th, 2008- So now, not only do I have to contend with SPD, I have also just recently pulled the ligaments in my belly because of carrying this baby so low. I can be up and about for about an hour or two, and then back to bed for the same. It makes it hard when you have to run after a 7 and 9 year old- running them to and from dance/karate 3 nights a week and school each day. What's even worse now is that Kris had to go back to work so he's not around to help me out (and he's a GREAT help at that!). I have a feeling I'll be basically house bound from now until baby is born, except when I HAVE to go out. I better get real used to these walls!

January 19th, 2008- I just got back from my first hospital visit. The pain got so bad today because one of my daughters fell off the bed and smashed her head on the floor. Why did that make MY pain more? Because instinct caused me to jump up off my chair and RUN to the bedroom to see what happened. That pulled things even more than they already were... Yes- she was ok.

So, I get to the hospital hoping that they'd be able to do something; anything! Instead all I left with was that knowledge that I was having mild contractions (the nurse figured they were just BH) and got a shot of morphine. The nurse also checked my cervix and that was fine, so good news there. If things were going to start (anywhere between now and 33 weeks), I found out I would have to be medivac'd to Edmonton for Alexa's sake. Scary! We certainly don't want that.

So here I sit, frustrated and feeling woozy because of the drugs. It's going to be a VERY long 8-10 weeks!

January 23rd, 2008- Wow, how stressful is it to have to try and arrange rides to and from school/dance/karate, some with people you don't even know! Thank God for my Grampa and my good friend Dawn for bailing me out when it comes to school. I'm still trying to figure out how to get the girls to their after school things, but I guess if I absolutely had to, I'd haul my arse out of the house pain or not and take them; a change of scenery might actually be nice!

I'm almost thinking that if I continue to just lay around and (try to) do nothing, this pain might actually go away. I've been trying to do (literally) as little as possible the past couple of days and I'm feeling much better than I did last week. The sad thing is, I can't even enjoy my bed anymore because I'm there so often!

Anyways, it's 4:42am and I was just up to get a bowl of cereal. Now that it's gone I shall go back to bed until 7:30am when I have to get up and get the girls ready to go! With all these breaks in my sleep, I'll be well adjusted to nights with a baby! HAHA!

January 29th, 2008- I had my 32 week check up yesterday. There's really not much to tell (again). He said the baby was measuring 2 weeks ahead of the actual dates but to me, that just means I'm going to have another baby with a big head! I half joked about being induced early and he was quite adamant that it wasn't going to happen unless me or baby was in any kind of distress. Hey- I had to ask, right?!

February 15th, 2008- I haven't felt like updating my page for nearly 2 weeks because I ended up with a really delightful cough/cold that literally knocked me on my ass for it's entire duration. I didn't leave the house, I couldn't breathe and couldn't sleep much at all because when I layed down I'd start coughing.

Finally I went to see the doctor and he gave me some codeine pills to supress the cough and that seemed like it was enough to let me get over this. Thank God too because I was starting to lose my mind!

And since my last blurb I also had my 34-ish week check-up. When the doc measured the height of my fundus (lol that's such a funny word!) I was measuring 10 weeks MORE than what I supposedly was (34 weeks, measured 43 inches!). Does that mean I'm going to give birth to a 20lb turkey?! He looked a teenie bit concerned but I'm not going to really put any merit into it since I already know he seems to be against inductions. I'm so nervous!

I also have an ultrasound booked for the 22nd. I'm hoping that when I go the tech can give me some kind of idea on how big this 'little' gal is.

February 19th, 2008- I fell down the stairs today. I was just getting ready to leave the house to pick the girls up from school and on my way down the front steps I missed the last one and down I went- hard, right onto my baby belly! I layed there for a couple of seconds and then realized what just happened. I came back in the house and started freaking out. Poor Kris was sleeping on the couch when I woke up him saying I fell. He started to panic just about as much as I did! I called L&D to ask them if I should come up for an assesment and they said it was highly recommended, so off we went. Thankfully after being hooked up to the moniters for about half an hour, they were able to determine that everything was ok with Alexa and said I could go home. What a relief!!!

It's been about 8 hours since the mishap and I've got really sore muscles from falling and my pubic bone pain is back. Just when I thought all the pain was finally gone and things were getting better! I have no luck

February 24th, 2008- I had my final ultrasound on Friday, and got some rather shocking news. I'm not technically due until the 23rd of March (says the doctor who has no idea on when my last actual LMP was) and baby is already measuring in at 8 lbs 8 oz at 36 weeks! That means that she has the potential to be well over 10 lbs at birth. Even her girth size is 'on the large size' said the tech. It makes me nervous because my doctor is opposed to early inductions and I DO NOT want to have a toddler come out of me.

I do have my next visit with him tomorrow morning so I'm going to try and lay down the law and tell him that it's just not working anymore. I mean really, how long does he expect me to go with swollen hands/feet, no sleep because of sore hips/back, clumsiness to the point that I am now falling down stairs, I'm housebound because I can't walk for very long periods of time and over-all I'm just miserable and ready to be done... Guess I'm hoping for a miracle. We shall see what he has to say. Why can't it just be OUR choice (within reason of course!)? It's our bodies and our babies. I'm confident that everything will work out fine- so should he!

February 25th, 2008- The appointment didn't go quite as I had planned. I got my swab done for strep B and then he did a cervical exam and couldn't feel the baby at all. Since he couldn't feel her, he said he can't and won't induce me because it would be too hard on me and her. Bugger! Maybe by next Tuesday she will have decided to drop down so we can get this show on the road. I'm so anxious to meet her; it's been nearly 8 years since I had a baby in my house!

February 28th, 2008- Some of my bestest online girls held a surprise virtual baby shower for me! What a bunch of crazy friends I have! LOL. They are even sending me real presents- which was a total shock to me! I love these girls so much and only wished that distance wasn't an obstacle. A big thanks to my girls- Rita, Michelle, Stacy, Melissa, Lauren, Cathy, Julia, Carmen, Nancy and Mairia! I love you girls!

March 6th, 2008- I had my 37-ish week check-up on Monday. The doctor is still unwilling to induce early. He told me that if i was that extra point to have put me on the GD list, he would probably be more inclined. What a pain! He also said that nothing was happening with my cervix so it didn't look promising that I'd go into labor on my own anytime soon. I'm on twice a week visits up to the hospital for a NST just to make sure Alexa is doing well since she's a bigger baby and I haven't been feeling her moving around as much as she used to and while I was up there yesterday I had to do another blood test- for what, I'm not exactly sure.

I'm hoping that taking blue cohosh twice a day is going to start ripening my cervix and bring on labor. I want her out so bad. I'm tired of feeling like I'm carrying a 10lb bag of flour on my belly!

http://ehd.org/pregnancy-calendar.php?id=3586

Click the link above- gives really neat description

of baby at different stages of the pregnancy!