Well, I'm still pregnant! 40 weeks and 3 days. So at my weekly appointment with my midwife, they hooked me up to a monitor for a non stress test (NST), which they do for all patients who are overdue. It's a twenty minute test that monitors baby's heart rate and my contractions. Basically, they want to see that her heart rate goes up and down with activity and that it isn't dipping too low. My midwife walked in the door in the middle of it and could tell from across the room that she is doing fine in there! She passed with flying colors and the midwife says that's a really good indication that baby is healthy and safe.
That being said, she did set up my induction date for February 4th - this Monday. At that time I will be 41 weeks and 1 day. She said they set inductions for overdue patients at around 41 weeks because it is possible that they won't be able to fit me in that day and we'd have to reschedule, and they really don't want you to go past 42 weeks. So this gives us some leeway. So Monday morning I am supposed to call the hospital at 6 am to see if they still have room for me that day, and if so, I'm to be at the hospital at 7 am. Depending on how dilated I am, and I opted out of checking that today, there are different ways to go about inducing labor. If I'm 3cm or more, they will most likely start right up with Pitocin, but if I'm not at 3 cm, they use a gel that is supposed to dilate me. Or, if I'm dilated enough and baby's head has dropped enough, they could break my water for me and see if that got things going. Which with Owen, the doctor breaking my water is what finally got things REALLY moving, even though I had been getting the Pitocin for a few hours.
BUT, I'm hoping to avoid all of that and go into labor on my own. The weather sucks today - lots of snowing and blowing and travel is NOT advised - so tomorrow would be better. : ) I didn't even go into work this morning and only went this afternoon because my doctor's office is close to work and I was NOT going to miss my appointment! : ) I made it just fine, just took my time.
I don't think there's much of a chance that she will come yet today, but if she wants to be a January baby, she better get her butt in gear! Just the rest of today and tomorrow left! Otherwise, Little Miss will be a February baby.
Wednesday, January 30, 2013
Monday, January 28, 2013
40 weeks
My due date was yesterday, January 27, 2013. Today, on a foggy, icy Monday morning, I had to get my butt out of bed and go to work. Ugh. Not what I was expecting! I was so sure last Friday that it was my last day, and struggled to make it to 5:00 because I had worked like a mad women to get ahead, so now I have nothing of importance to do. Ugh.
The last few weeks have gone by pretty slow. At 36 weeks, I started seeing the midwives that are at the clinic I go to, since my doctor moved to Texas. There are 3 at the clinic, and they all rotate patients. That week, she checked me for Group B Strep (I came out negative) and then checked my cervix. 1 cm dilated. Stomach measured fine and heart beat was good.
Week 37, I went back and met with another midwife. Baby must have been laying funny, because she said I was measuring about 34 weeks. She ordered an ultrasound just to double check everything. Better to be safe than sorry. So a few days later I went to the hospital for the ultrasound. Everything measured on schedule and was told the baby was probably about 7 lbs 7 oz (+ or - a whole pound!). No good pictures out of it, because she was laying face down, but we did get confirmation that she is a girl! : )
Week 38 - Nothing new to report, just went over the ultrasound with the midwife, she measured baby and listened to her heart. Everything normal.
Owen found these helmets in his room. His is my old motorcycle helmet, and the other is a Vikings helmet, which he said Oriana could have. So this is them wearing their helmets.
Week 39 - Same thing. My iron and blood platelets have been low again this pregnancy, but not quite as bad as last time. I've been to the lab I don't even know how many times for a complete blood count, and everything stays about the same. So the midwife told me when I come in for labor, they will do another one then, because the anesthesiologist won't do an epidural if my platelets are below 100. They have been hovering around 140, so I'll probably be in the clear. She measured baby, listened to her heart (both looked good), and then checked my cervix again. Still 1 cm and baby is high. I could've told her that! I think she's kicking my heart sometimes!!
So she had me schedule an appointment for this week. It's on Wednesday. If I'm still pregnant on Wednesday, they will hook me up to monitors for a non stress test, just to get a good reading on how she's doing in there. If she seems stressed in any way, they will send me to the hospital to be induced right away. If she's doing ok in there, they will still schedule an induction, but I'm guessing it will be for Thursday or Friday or whenever they can get me in! So it's possible I'll be having a February baby. As long as she's healthy, I don't care when she comes out! And when I found out I was pregnant and before I had gone to the doctor, I thought my due date would be early February, anyway. I think I'm just anxious because I'm caught up at work and it's a little slow right now anyway, so it would be the perfect time to be done! : ) Plus, I don't want to be induced. I'd rather go naturally. They say induced labors are harder and I'd like to have the experience of going naturally, since Owen was induced. So I'm keeping my fingers crossed!
A few weeks ago, Owen and I were talking about Oriana coming out. He said, "But she doesn't have no door to come out!" So I assured him that the doctor would help get her out. He said, "Do you want me to get my screwdriver?" Not sure what he thought he was going to do with that to get her out, but I told him we better let the doctor take care of it. So on Saturday, I asked him again if he was ready for Oriana to come out and he went and got his doctor kit and and told me he would get her out for me! He's so cute!
The last few weeks have gone by pretty slow. At 36 weeks, I started seeing the midwives that are at the clinic I go to, since my doctor moved to Texas. There are 3 at the clinic, and they all rotate patients. That week, she checked me for Group B Strep (I came out negative) and then checked my cervix. 1 cm dilated. Stomach measured fine and heart beat was good.
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| Owen's New Year's kiss to his sister : ) |
Week 37, I went back and met with another midwife. Baby must have been laying funny, because she said I was measuring about 34 weeks. She ordered an ultrasound just to double check everything. Better to be safe than sorry. So a few days later I went to the hospital for the ultrasound. Everything measured on schedule and was told the baby was probably about 7 lbs 7 oz (+ or - a whole pound!). No good pictures out of it, because she was laying face down, but we did get confirmation that she is a girl! : )
Week 38 - Nothing new to report, just went over the ultrasound with the midwife, she measured baby and listened to her heart. Everything normal.
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| 38 weeks |
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Week 39 - Same thing. My iron and blood platelets have been low again this pregnancy, but not quite as bad as last time. I've been to the lab I don't even know how many times for a complete blood count, and everything stays about the same. So the midwife told me when I come in for labor, they will do another one then, because the anesthesiologist won't do an epidural if my platelets are below 100. They have been hovering around 140, so I'll probably be in the clear. She measured baby, listened to her heart (both looked good), and then checked my cervix again. Still 1 cm and baby is high. I could've told her that! I think she's kicking my heart sometimes!!
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| : ) I may miss my built-in table soon! |
So she had me schedule an appointment for this week. It's on Wednesday. If I'm still pregnant on Wednesday, they will hook me up to monitors for a non stress test, just to get a good reading on how she's doing in there. If she seems stressed in any way, they will send me to the hospital to be induced right away. If she's doing ok in there, they will still schedule an induction, but I'm guessing it will be for Thursday or Friday or whenever they can get me in! So it's possible I'll be having a February baby. As long as she's healthy, I don't care when she comes out! And when I found out I was pregnant and before I had gone to the doctor, I thought my due date would be early February, anyway. I think I'm just anxious because I'm caught up at work and it's a little slow right now anyway, so it would be the perfect time to be done! : ) Plus, I don't want to be induced. I'd rather go naturally. They say induced labors are harder and I'd like to have the experience of going naturally, since Owen was induced. So I'm keeping my fingers crossed!
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| Dr. Owen |
Wednesday, January 23, 2013
Christmas
Christmas went so fast this year! Luckily, we were able to celebrate it with everyone. First, we went to Muscatine for Ryan's family Christmas and stayed in a hotel so the kids could swim. Ryan's mom, step-dad, sister and her family, uncle and his family, and grandma and step-grandpa came over and we swam, had snacks, opened presents and then went to Applebee's for late night appetizers and drinks. It was fun and Owen got spoiled! Two race tracks for his Hot Wheels, clothes, a game for his Smart Cycle, a pirate ship and a John Deere tractor and trailer that he can get on and drive! We even let him drive it down the hallway of the hotel. (And thankfully, by now I think he's forgotten about it. We took it to my parent's house for the winter so it wouldn't be tempting him, and he hasn't talked about it in a while!) Unfortunately, I didn't take a single picture!
The next day we met my Mom in Manchester so she could take Owen and I back to Elkader. Christmas Eve fell on a Monday, and Ryan had to be back in Cedar Falls to work, but I didn't. So we went to my parent's house and Ryan came Monday afternoon after work. That night we went to my Grandma's for supper and a game of cards.
Christmas Eve was kind of a lazy day. It flurried most of the day, so my dad had to work, but Mom, Owen and I made it to church in Strawberry Point, where we met my brother and his family coming in from Omaha. And then it was back to my parent's for a delicious meal of prime rib and hamballs. YUM! Ryan had made it to town by then, too, and after supper it was time for PRESENTS! Thankfully, my brother and sister in law are picture taking fiends, and they were nice enough to share these with us:
He got so much more than what's in these pictures, including a Nerf gun. We also brought a few Nerf guns we had at home, bought my dad a Nerf gun for part of his gift, and my brother got Nerf guns for Ian, Annaliese, himself and his wife. So after presents there was a huge Nerf war going on in the basement. It was really funny to see, and actually the adults got more into it than the kids did.
Christmas day was hosted by my parent's, so my mom's side and dad's side both came over. Lots of people and lots of yummy food. I told Ryan I should've made a sign that says
I'm due January 27th.
It's a girl.
Her name is going to be Oriana.
and wear it around my neck. I got asked the same questions a million times. And a few times, I got blank stares when I told them what her name is. No, it's not common name. That's what I like about it. But it's not like I'm going crazy and naming her Blu Ivy or something like I'm a famous person! ; ) But anyway, Ryan and I had to work the next day, so we headed back to Cedar Falls that afternoon. Luckily, my mom had the rest of the week off, because we didn't have any daycare for the rest of the week. So Owen got to stay at Nana and Boppa's and be spoiled for a few more days. Here are some pictures of him playing in the snow with Ian:
And finally, since we were not at home on Christmas night, Owen missed out on Santa coming to our house. So on Saturday night when he finally got home, he got to open his presents from Santa.
After all the birthday presents and Christmas presents Owen got those few weeks, we had some MAJOR toy overflow! So we packed up some old toys and went to Goodwill, plus we just got a new toy organizer from my parents. There are even a few toys we haven't even taken out of the boxes yet! TOY OVERLOAD!! And next year will be worse...
The next day we met my Mom in Manchester so she could take Owen and I back to Elkader. Christmas Eve fell on a Monday, and Ryan had to be back in Cedar Falls to work, but I didn't. So we went to my parent's house and Ryan came Monday afternoon after work. That night we went to my Grandma's for supper and a game of cards.
Christmas Eve was kind of a lazy day. It flurried most of the day, so my dad had to work, but Mom, Owen and I made it to church in Strawberry Point, where we met my brother and his family coming in from Omaha. And then it was back to my parent's for a delicious meal of prime rib and hamballs. YUM! Ryan had made it to town by then, too, and after supper it was time for PRESENTS! Thankfully, my brother and sister in law are picture taking fiends, and they were nice enough to share these with us:
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| Books! |
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| Car transporter - but he doesn't know what it is yet. |
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| His face when he realizes it's a car transporter. SO CUTE! |
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| These are the glasses from his doctor kit : ) |
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| Sharing his AquaDoodle mat with Annaliese |
Christmas day was hosted by my parent's, so my mom's side and dad's side both came over. Lots of people and lots of yummy food. I told Ryan I should've made a sign that says
I'm due January 27th.
It's a girl.
Her name is going to be Oriana.
and wear it around my neck. I got asked the same questions a million times. And a few times, I got blank stares when I told them what her name is. No, it's not common name. That's what I like about it. But it's not like I'm going crazy and naming her Blu Ivy or something like I'm a famous person! ; ) But anyway, Ryan and I had to work the next day, so we headed back to Cedar Falls that afternoon. Luckily, my mom had the rest of the week off, because we didn't have any daycare for the rest of the week. So Owen got to stay at Nana and Boppa's and be spoiled for a few more days. Here are some pictures of him playing in the snow with Ian:
And finally, since we were not at home on Christmas night, Owen missed out on Santa coming to our house. So on Saturday night when he finally got home, he got to open his presents from Santa.
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| Mike the monster (from Monsters Inc) was in his stocking. |
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| Obligatory socks and underwear in his stocking! Plus lots of treats! |
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| He got Toy Story 2, The Incredibles, Wall-E, and UP. |
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| Monkey shirt with googly eyes and pants. |
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| Batman backrest. I got a new one for Christmas, too! |
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| Tool bench. He said, "Hey! Boppa has one of those!" |
Owen's Birthday Party
This year for Owen's birthday, we combined parties with two of his cousins. His cousin Jaxon's birthday is November 26 and his cousin Lexi's birthday is November 27 (same as mine!). With their birthday's always close to Thanksgiving, and Owen's the week before Christmas, we decided to have a joint birthday party for the three of them in between. So the week before Owen's birthday, we went to the Play Station in Cedar Rapids and then spent the night at the Long Branch Hotel to swim and party! The kids had a blast! The Play Station is an indoor jungle gym, basically, with slides, ball pits, tubes and games. Owen's favorite was the ball pit.
He also got some Hot Wheels cars and a Hot Wheel's suitcase to store them from Jason and Carrie, and my Mom made him a Dr. Seuss quilt for his BIG BOY bed!
We made the switch to his big boy bed somewhere around the end of November/beginning of December. We also switched bedrooms, since we only have two bedrooms, and ours was huge. This way, the kiddos are together in one big room that's also big enough for them to have quite a bit of floor space for playing. Our room is a bit cramped, having a king size bed (that I will NEVER give up!). So all that fits in there is the bed, a dresser, the bassinet and a small table. And it's tight, but it works, and after Ori's too big for the bassinet, it will be better. We don't need a lot of room - the kids do!
Anyway, the switch to the big boy bed went pretty well. I knew it was going to impossible for me to force him to stay in bed after reading nighttime stories (and was a battle I didn't want to fight in my third trimester), so the rule is that he has to stay in his room, but he can play until he's ready for bed. He has a night light, and we have a light in the hall on, so he can see, but it's not too much light. It's working out ok. He always finds reasons to come out of his room, but we just tell him to turn around and he's normally pretty good about it. He's always been a good sleeper, and normally sleeps through the night just fine. He even will get up in the middle of the night, go to the bathroom on his own, and then go back to bed without a word. I know he's done this because I have insomnia, and heard him one night. And he always forgets to turn off the bathroom light, so if I get up in the night and the light is on, I know he's been up! : ) There have been a few times he's woken up in the middle of the night and will come to our room, but I lead him back to his bed, tuck him in, scratch his back (and his head and belly - I must do all three!) and then I go back to bed and he falls asleep!
I am a little worried about how nighttime will go once Oriana's in the room with him, but I guess that's a bridge I'll cross when we come to it. He plays quietly, so I'm hoping it won't be an issue, but I guess we'll see. And hopefully he sleeps soundly enough that her waking up in the night won't be too much of an issue for him. We aren't the first family to have kids share a room, so I'm sure it will work out!
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| Ryan got in to play, too! |
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| Balls! |
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| He made Nana get in, too! |
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| He LOVES to swim! |
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| Quick break |
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| Jump! |
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| Owen, Jaxon and Lexi (who wasn't feeling well, poor girl) ready for some presents! |
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| Toy Story from Mommy and Daddy |
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| A dragon (later named Blanket Elmo George) from Aundrea, Mike, Bri and Lexi |
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| Koosh gun from Dustin and Tiffany - I think this gun is lots of fun, by the way! |
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| Smart Cycle from Grandma Angie and Grandpa Dan |
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| New sheets and quilt from Nana and Boppa |
Anyway, the switch to the big boy bed went pretty well. I knew it was going to impossible for me to force him to stay in bed after reading nighttime stories (and was a battle I didn't want to fight in my third trimester), so the rule is that he has to stay in his room, but he can play until he's ready for bed. He has a night light, and we have a light in the hall on, so he can see, but it's not too much light. It's working out ok. He always finds reasons to come out of his room, but we just tell him to turn around and he's normally pretty good about it. He's always been a good sleeper, and normally sleeps through the night just fine. He even will get up in the middle of the night, go to the bathroom on his own, and then go back to bed without a word. I know he's done this because I have insomnia, and heard him one night. And he always forgets to turn off the bathroom light, so if I get up in the night and the light is on, I know he's been up! : ) There have been a few times he's woken up in the middle of the night and will come to our room, but I lead him back to his bed, tuck him in, scratch his back (and his head and belly - I must do all three!) and then I go back to bed and he falls asleep!
I am a little worried about how nighttime will go once Oriana's in the room with him, but I guess that's a bridge I'll cross when we come to it. He plays quietly, so I'm hoping it won't be an issue, but I guess we'll see. And hopefully he sleeps soundly enough that her waking up in the night won't be too much of an issue for him. We aren't the first family to have kids share a room, so I'm sure it will work out!
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