March 22, 2011

36 weeks



from babycenter.com

Your baby is still packing on the pounds — at the rate of about an ounce a day. He now weighs almost 6 pounds (like a crenshaw melon) and is more than 18 1/2 inches long. He's shedding most of the downy covering of hair that covered his body as well as the vernix caseosa, the waxy substance that covered and protected his skin during his nine-month amniotic bath. Your baby swallows both of these substances, along with other secretions, resulting in a blackish mixture, called meconium, which will form the contents of his first bowel movement.
At the end of this week, your baby will be considered full-term. (Full-term is 37 to 42 weeks; babies born before 37 weeks are pre-term and those born after 42 are post-term.) Most likely he's in a head-down position. But if he isn't, your practitioner may suggest scheduling an "external cephalic version," which is a fancy way of saying she'll try to coax your baby into a head-down position by manipulating him from the outside of your belly.


Wheeew, where to begin!?
Well from above, we know for a fact that baby's head is already in the down position. Within the past four days, we've had three ultrasounds to confirm this. Yes, three! I'll get to that later.

Since I've been slacking with the blog, let's back up to a little over a week ago.
We had a doctor visit Friday, March 11th and still measured ahead... 3 weeks actually. This belly of mine continues to grow. Since we measured ahead, our physician ordered an ultrasound, which we had done on Monday of last week, at 34 weeks along. While a 34 week baby averages 4.7 lbs, our baby boy measured in at 6.4 lbs. We have a beast growing inside of me!

That same Friday after our doctor visit, Richie and I headed out to Universal's Portofino Bay Hotel for our Condon Family Staycation. Driving onto the property sure did take us on a trip down memory lane. They did a great job replicating Italia.
All of that afternoon we enjoyed their pool, loungers, music and of course pool-side service. It was a beautiful day, and we even got to take advantage of their heated pool. Since ours is still way too cold to swim in, it was nice to enjoy the water.
That night we dined at one of their restaurants, Mama Della's. We feasted for a couple of hours and even got serenaded in Italian by an accordion player. Wonderful evening and overall stay!

we hung out at the kiddie pool. more private and good practice ;o)

Richie was just concerned about where Fiona was.

The rest of that weekend was truly R&R and we got to thoroughly enjoy one another without any distractions. It had been over a year, but we even made it to the Downtown Farmer's Market where we enjoyed breakfast and a pit stop in the grass to relax with one other, and Delila too.

Starting that Friday during our staycation, and into all of the following week, I was feeling really off. I couldn't put my finger on what was wrong, but I just wasn't feeling myself. My lack of motivation and fatigue had been worse so naturally I took it very easy. We're nearing the end of my pregnancy so we both thought that was all part of it... which I'm sure is. I've always felt very in-tune with my body, so I thought for sure something was going on. Maybe early labor??

Well, this pregnancy was just going way too smoothly...

Thursday of last week, in the middle of the night, a warm gush of fluid woke me up about 2 a.m. Dazed and confused, the first thing that came to mind was that my water had broke. As I get up and turn on the light, I immediately noticed bright red blood on the bed. I made my way to the toilet where the bleeding had continued and was not stopping. Rich was of course up by this time, and also trying to collect his thoughts. He got himself dressed, got me clothes and grabbed our packed hospital bags. For a moment, I didn't think I would be able to get off the toilet due to the bleeding. I thought about calling an ambulance, but it had slowed after a while and that's when we made our way very quickly, to say the least, to the hospital.
After spending quite a few hours there, they really did not have an answer for us as to why I was bleeding. Luckily, it had stopped and the baby was doing just fine. They had him hooked up to the monitor the entire time and they performed two different ultrasounds. They also noticed my body was contracting about one to two minutes apart. This wasn't active labor by any means, but I could definitely feel the cramping.
So home we went finally about 5:30 a.m. or so.

We had our weekly check-up with our Ob/Gyn that same morning, thank goodness. When they found out what happened, the were irritated at the fact Winnie Palmer's ER sent us home. The office performed another ultrasound during that visit and as of last Friday, Spencer is weighing in at almost 7 lbs now. As Rich and I were excited and in complete shock over his weight, the ultrasound technician was speaking to our doctor. I knew this couldn't have been a good sign. Our doctor wrote specific instructions for us to return to Winnie Palmer to be admitted immediately. Their ultrasound had shown that my placenta had abrupted. Say whaaa?!?!

So back to Winnie we go. They admitted us shortly after our arrival. I instantly got hooked up to an IV, the baby monitor, contraction monitor, the works. A ton of labs were taken and another ultrasound was performed. We met with the attending physician who works closely with the Maternal Fetal Diagnostic Dept. We spent the day there basically playing the waiting game. My parents came up for support and spent the day and into the night with us. Saturday morning Richie and I woke up to the doctor turning on the bright lights in our room with my results. Basically, I have a low-lying placenta. It is not covering my cervix, but it is a little close for comfort. Between the baby's head being in the down position, my small contractions and his movement, this caused the placenta abruption which led to the bleeding. There is definitely the possibility I could bleed again, and if this happens the baby would be delivered. Therefore, I am now being treated as "high risk" and on bed rest until I deliver. Their main goal is to keep Spencer inside cooking at least until 37 weeks, where he will be "full term". There were also some discussions about my labor options and possibly them being limited.

Today is day 5 of my bed rest and let me tell you, this is not as desirable as one may think. I was given strict instructions to only get up to use the restroom and shower. Rich has hooked up our Netflix to stream through the Wii, so I do have plenty to watch. While I could have started my short term disability leave early, I decided not to. I work from home and can easily lay in bed and try to do what I can on my laptop. Plus, I'd like to save my leave time to spend extra with the baby once he's here.

This morning we followed up with our Ob/Gyn again. She reiterated the importance of my bed rest, Bleh. We also discussed our delivery options. While we've been thinking since Saturday that a c-section was probably the safest route to go, she expressed no real concern to try and deliver vaginally. The only scary thing about all of this is the possibility of hemorrhaging during delivery. Our doc doesn't think that we're at any greater risk, even with the low lying placenta. She said anyone could hemorrhage during labor. If this were to happen, they would already be prepared and set up for an emergency c-section. This is called a "double set-up". I did also confirm that I would not be completely knocked out if we needed this. Since I plan on getting an epidural anyway, they would just use more to numb me for the procedure.
Rich and I discussed this at length today and both want to experience the vaginal birth. With that being said, we will be induced at 38 weeks, which is 2 weeks from now. Our baby boy will be here so soon and knowing that just makes this bed rest nonsense alllll worth it. We do not have a date yet, but will definitely have one by next week.

Wheeew! I know, lots of information to take in. I will try to be better at blogging and keeping everyone informed, especially since I have nothing better to do.

We don't have a belly pic this week, but I do have a 34.5 wk, pre-bed rest pic to share:

5 comments:

  1. Oh my gosh!!! I'm sick I knew nothing of this Jenn. How terribly scary this has been for the two of you. Please call me if you can--I'm wondering about the induction + epidural works.

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  2. whew! was hoping you'd update the blog. i know that bedrest sucks. people always seem to envy you and say things like, "enjoy it while you can" but i've heard it's pretty awful. lucy was induced and waited another 2 full days to come and meet us so whatever due date they give you, folks may not be right! i'm so happy he's gonna be here soon. we sure are ready for him.

    reading about/experiencing your pregnancy has brought back so, so many memories, proving the point that you don't ever forget a minute of it - except the pain. truly! i don't really recall that much at all. nature's way of making you want to have more, i think.

    lots of love for you both. i mean, for all 3! xxoo

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  3. Wow I was shocked to read all this I sure hope you are doing well & will call if you need me xxoo

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  4. Yes, very traumatic to say the least, but as long as baby is great, that is my main concern. Thank you all for your kind words and concern. We're hanging in there and Rich has become Mr. Mom. It's great practice for him.

    Gail- I don't have all of the details just yet. We should know more after our appt this Friday or next week.

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  5. Awww Jenn!! :) Thx for updating blog!! Love the photos. :) And, granted I've never been in your flip-flops, and probably never will...from what my mom, cousins, sister, and LIB say...YOU don't recall the pain. How crazy is that??!!??! My mom swears to this day, she went to another planet when I was born. HAHAHA not sure if that's a joke or something??? lolol I'm SOOO excited for you guys. I cant wait to see him and hear his little baby noises. hahaha so sweet. XO glad to talk to ya yesterday too. Hope the time speeds up!!

    :)

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