34 Weeks

Weekly Check-In

34 Weeks

Baby Salisbury is the size of a Butternut Squash this week!

Whelp, we've managed to keep this little stinker an inside baby! I've been discharged to my sister's house for almost a week now, and we're still hanging on. I'm still experiencing some mild contractions but, as of Monday, I haven't dilated any further! 

When they checked my cervix on Friday, I wasn't progressing so they decided to let me go to Ogden to my brother and sister's apartment to be on bed rest until either I deliver or until I hit 36 weeks. They didn't want to send me home because if they did, and I was to deliver before 36 weeks, my hospital would have to send us right back out the city because they don't have the facility to deal with pre-term babies. So, we came up with the solution of me being discharged to my sibling's house so that way if I do go into labor, I'll be literally 2 minutes away from a hospital with a NICU. Now, if I make it to 36 weeks, I can go home and deliver at my hospital with my doctor because Baby Salisbury won't need the NICU at that point (hopefully!). 

So, that's the new goal. 

I've got to be honest though, I was kind of looking forward to meeting this little guy. I know that it sounds terrible and selfish, but I would have been kind of okay with him being born (as long as he is healthy, of course). So now that it looks like that we might make it to 36 weeks (or even further),  I'm a little bummed. I was ready to meet him and cuddle him and love him. Now, don't get me wrong. I'm more than fine with him not being ready yet, but I did get excited for a little while there. 

We still have 12 days before we hit 36 weeks so there's still a chance that he'll make an appearance, but as of right now, it looks like he'll maybe make it to term. Which, I'm actually very grateful for despite my minor disappointment at not being able to meet him yet.

But, here's the second best thing to actually getting to hold him in my arms.
We got another 3D ultrasound at my appointment on Monday.
Same little chubby boy with the grumpy face. I love it.

So here I am, bored out of my mind, imposing on my wonderful siblings for the next 12 days. J had to go home to go back to work. Which is fine since nothing is happening here. I miss him, but I understand that it's not feasible to expect him to stay with me all day, every day. My siblings have been great though. They make me food, wait on me, and get me anything I want or need. I'm so so so grateful to them. I know that I'm a burden and I'm so happy that I have such understanding and patient siblings. My brother and sister share an apartment so I'm staying with them, and my other sister lives only 20 minutes away. So I'm in good hands. (:

If anything interesting happens, I'll try to update. But as of right now, I'm just a "ticking time bomb". That's what the nurses say anyway. I'm still 5 cm dilated, 90% effaced and my membranes are right there. So basically, my water could break at any moment. I guess we'll see! 

Here's my latest and greatest (as in biggest) belly shot. 

I guess we'll see if this is my last belly shot or not. Only time will tell! 

Have a great week! 

-K

33 Weeks

Weekly Check-In

33 Weeks

This week Baby Salisbury is the size of a Durian Fruit (eww)



Okay, okay...I'm a bad blogger. I totally missed last week. BUT, I have a good excuse, I really do!

I'm currently blogging from my hospital room in good 'ol Provo, Utah.
Yep, I said hospital room.


It's a long story...ready?

Monday afternoon, during my routine doctor's appointment, my doctor discovered that I was dilated and I was having contractions. He had me admitted to our local hospital with the hope that we could stop my contractions and stop me from dilating any further. Being 33 weeks, I would not be allowed to deliver at our local hospital. If I continued to progress, they'd have to transport me to the city, to a bigger hospital, where they can take care of pre-term babies better.

So after a couple hours, they checked and I was still progressing. So my doctor had no choice but to have me transported to Provo just in case I was to deliver. We were going to be air lifted out, but there turned out to be some bad weather over the mountains so the helicopter couldn't come get us. Instead, I got the oh-so-fun option of taking a two hour ambulance transport. J followed the ambulance in our own car that way he wouldn't be stranded in the city in case he needed to go somewhere. The ladies who transported me were super nice, but I really can't say that I loved riding backwards in the back of an ambulance through mountain passes.

Yeah...not my favorite.

Anyway, we arrived in Provo at 1 o'clock am on Tuesday morning.
The doctor who was on call came in and checked out my cervix. Here's the fun part-
My cervix was still mostly closed thanks to my cerclage (cervical stitch) that I had placed in February. It was only dilated 1 cm. What was dilated was a tear that had developed below opening to my cervix. That was dilated to 3 cm.

Long story short- I now have two holes in my cervix! The cerclage did such a good job of holding the opening closed, that the pressure from the contractions had to be relieved somehow, and we had a "blow out" below the opening. Pretty much like blowing out the side of a tire. Lovely mental image, I know.

So, I've been on bed rest and continual monitoring since Monday.
They've done everything they can to stop the labor, but they've also done some really important things that will improve our little guy's chances if he's to be born right now or anytime soon.
They gave me steroid shots to help develop our baby's lungs, and they put me on antibiotics to help prevent any infections. But best of all, they managed to stop my major contractions, so hopefully I won't dilate any further.

Tomorrow is our next big day- If I haven't dilated any further, there is a great chance that I'll be able to go home and be on bed rest until I deliver. If I can just make it to 36 weeks, then we can stay at home and deliver at our local hospital. On the other hand, if I have dilated any further when they check tomorrow, I'll more than likely have to stay here in the city and deliver. They don't want to risk sending me home, 2 hours away, if I'm just going to go back into pre-term labor. Then I'd just have to come back.

Cross your fingers for us! Baby Salisbury is looking GREAT. His vitals are perfect and he's in no distress whatsoever. We only need him to stay in there for 2.5 to 3 more weeks. If we can make it that long, then he' won't have to spend hardly any time in the NICU and we'll be able to take our son home (barring any medical issues). If we can't make it, then he'll more than likely spend a couple weeks in the NICU but babies of his gestational age have great odds of being perfectly healthy. They may be delayed with breathing/feeding, but for the most part, they're fine.


So, here's a picture of my hospital belly (hopefully this won't be my final belly shot!)

Please excuse the hospital selfie, I look and feel like crap. 

I hope you guys have had a better week than we have! We'll definitely keep you updated as we go! 

-K

31 Weeks

Weekly Check-In

31 Weeks! 

This week Baby Salisbury is the size of a Pineapple! 

The countdown continues...only 9 weeks to go! Holy guacamole, time is flying by!

So last week, I promised to update with pictures of my shower....

I may have lied. Well, not so much lied, as just didn't remember to take any pictures...

BUT, my step-mom did (thank goodness for her!) so as soon as I can steal those from her, I'll put pictures up. I promise for real this time! 

I must brag though...

My sisters threw the most adorable shower ever! The decorations were soooooo cute and I had a really good time! I am so grateful for everyone who came, it really meant a lot to me. And now, thanks to everyone, I have a fairly respectable diaper/wipes stash going on! I love it! 

We also got a really cute Winnie the Pooh stroller from my brother and sister-in-law and I think somebody really likes it...

Silly Luna. 

I wonder what she'll do when there's a baby in the stroller and she can't jump up there anymore.

Well, this last week has been pretty...entertaining? 

I've been to the hospital every day since Monday and I'm so over it. 

Monday I went in for a routine NST (Non Stress Test) and fetal growth ultrasound. It's a completely standard set of tests that I'm going to be doing weekly from here on out to monitor the baby and his growth because of my Gestational Diabetes. Because when you have GD, the babies tend to be born big. They want to make sure that he's not growing too big, too fast. 

The NST involves my belly being hooked up to monitors so they can follow the baby's heart rate/movements just to make sure that he's moving as often as he should and that his heart rate is good. And the fetal growth ultrasound is to measure how big he is and see how much he actually weighs. 

We passed the NST with flying colors. His heart rate and movements were perfect! The nurse said they could use his strip to teach a class. Good job, kid! (Proud mom moment!) 

And the fetal growth scan went really well too! The only thing is that he's a chunky baby! Where as the average baby at this age weighs a little less than 4 lbs, our "little" guy weighed in at 4 lbs 12oz! The lady said it could be off by +/- a week, but even so...looks like he's measuring ahead at this point. We'll keep monitoring it to make sure he's not getting too big too fast. 

And that was just Monday- 

Tuesday, I went in because I was feeling some cramping and having an excessive amount of Braxton Hicks contractions. Braxton Hicks are normal, but any more than 4-5 in an hour can be a sign of Pre-Term Labor. I was having multiple Braxton Hicks an hour for about 6 hours. That was too many and the nurse in Labor & Delivery told me to come on in for monitoring. While there, they did pick up some contractions. They gave me some medication to stop the contractions, and I got to go home. 

Then today, I had to come in as a follow up to yesterday's adventure. My doctor wanted me to come back in so that he could check my cervix to make sure that it's still closed and that the contractions weren't making it dilate. 

Everything looks good! No more Braxton Hicks, and my cervix remains closed! The only issue I'm having now, is that they found protein in my urine today and now I have to do a oh-so-fun 24 hour urine collection to see exactly how much protein is in my urine. Protein in the urine can be a sign of Toxemia or Preeclampsia. Hopefully it's nothing like that. I really don't want another medical condition to worry about! I'll keep you all updated.

Anyway...

Here's my 31 week belly! 

(Just ignore the grimy work bathroom)

Thanks for catching up with me! Hope everyone has a great week! 

-K