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Contractions, Showers & Holidays ....OH MY!!!

Well, sorry for the late update... so much has happened since my last entry. Let's see: On 12/14/10 I was taken to L&D Observation because I thought my water broke & BB's heart rate was high, 187!!! His usual heartrate is between 135-150 in the mornings. He was moving alot that morning, so, I called my Dr and she asked me to come in to L&D. Well, they ran tests to see if my water really broke... it didn't... I just "inked" a little (reference "Finding Nemo"...lol) and with all the pressure that BB is putting on my bladder, I'm not surprised that a little peepee came out without my knowledge. Gross, I know, sorry... only Mommies can relate to this. While I was there they were monitoring BB's heart rate, which by the way went back to normal, nurse says if he's really active (which he was that morning) his heart rate can rise... just like ours would increase if we worked out. However, while BB's heartrate was back to normal, they noticed I was having regular contractions that were pretty strong... oddly enough, I didn't feel a single one! The nurse kept asking me if I felt it and I almost felt bad telling her no, but I really didn't feel it! She says contractions can happen in the 3rd trimester randomly and spontaneously; it's when they become regular and painful that one should worry. They gave me some medicine to relax my muscles in order to stop the contractions and it worked.

Skip to a week later...

This past weekend, my parents threw me a baby shower at the clubhouse in their neighborhood! To say it was an AMAZING shower would be a complete understatement. It was THE BEST SHOWER I've ever been to thanks to THE BEST PARENTS & BROTHER in the world. I'll be posting pictures as soon as I get them on my computer. The hubby & I made out like bandits at this shower... and with that said, BB still needs SOOOO MUCH! So, with the holidays around the corner, I asked Santa (my parents) to not get me anything but just get stuff for the baby... knowing my Mom & Dad, I'll still get some pretty awesome loot for myself and also, now, for BB! I guess it's something about this time of year that makes me (and lots of other people) feel so blessed. Not because of the materialistic things we receive, but all the love and care that you feel all around... it just seems more prominent during this time of year... or maybe I'm having a hormonal peak! LOL!



Merry Christmas to all of you!!!

Love,
Mommy & Daddy to be & BB!!! (just a few more weeks!)

Just an update...

Tomorrow marks 33 weeks for me & BB! Crazy! In 6 weeks my whole life is going to change! I'm kinda scared, but in a good way. Everyone I encounter now on a daily basis has said something somewhat typical, yet negative about the upcoming birth of this beautiful miracle. Things like: "Get ready for the sleepless nights..." or "Say goodbye to your sex life...." or "You won't have anymore 'ME' time...," etc. But you know what? I embrace it... I will tackle it... I will LOVE it all! NO MATTER WHAT! In my opinion, and I may get chastised for this, only women who've gone through extreme pregnancy tragedies or women who have battled with any magnitude of infertility can truly know how I feel. When I first became pregnant with BB, I WANTED morning sickness and I wanted to run to the restroom to pee every 5 minutes and I wanted to gain tons of weight. Now that I'm honing in on the last leg of the pregnancy journey, I'm craving the sleepless nights and the poopy diapers and the BEAUTIFUL sound of my darling son SCREAMING BLOODY MURDER in the middle of the night. I want it all and the reason for that would be, hearing those sounds, changing a poopy diaper and running on 1 hr of a sleep a night means that my miracle is here in my life, alive and healthy and that all my uncertainties and insecurities of pregnancy have been dissolved. Call me weird, I don't care, but give me all the baby chaos.... I crave it - I'm sooo ready for it!

BB Update & a Slideshow of Ultrasound Pictures

So, we had a routine OB appointment on 11/30/2010. I'm now 31w5d! My calendar in my office has a countdown... 53 more days!!!! The doctor did says that there is a small glitch with BB's right kidney. It's a bit dilated. This could mean that his urine has backed up into his kidney and caused it to appear enlarged on the ultrasound. It's a type of reflux. It is more common in boys and is usually outgrown a little while after birth. Set backs for this issue are more frequent UTIs and possible scarring of the valves in the kidney. Worse case scenario, if he doesn't out grow this, he'll have to have laproscopic surgery to repair the valve/reflux. According to my friend, who also happens to be a radiologist, the ultrasound picture may have been taken right before BB was about to take a big leak (haha!) and just had a full bladder. Whatever it is, my perinatalogist & friend/radiologist told me it's not life-threatening nor is it anything for me to worry about... so, I'm not! Another thing the Dr said as she applied that warm ultrasound transmission gel on my ever-so-round belly was that BB is gonna be a big boy! He's already almost 4.5 lbs... so, if we do the calculations correctly: the baby is to gain about .5 lbs a week till birth from now on and I have almost 7 weeks till my c-section.... I'm gonna have a whopping 8.5+lb juggernaut baby! I know those calculations of weight on ultrasounds are only estimates, but I can feel that he is HUGE! Maybe he'll be the next quarterback for the Chicago Bears or maybe he'll be the next Michael Jordan for the Chicago Bulls ;-) A mom can dream, can't she?

Anyway, we finally got a good shot of BB's face on a 3D image ultrasound... he's so handsome & photogenic ;-) Check out the slideshow below, it has his first pictures from 5 weeks pregnant to 31 weeks pregnant! Enjoy!

New date! Exactly 2 months!

So, for scheduling purposes of my Dr, our BB is scheduled to be delivered January 24, 2011... so, much for our special #26! It's ok, we'll just get to meet him 2 days sooner :-) Which makes today the 2 month countdown till my son will be in my arms and no longer in my belly. I texted my husband, "Babe, our son will be here in exactly 2 months! Are you scared? excited? nervous?" And this was his reply, "I'm scared not to be a dad but the process u will have to go through to deliver our baby." I cried a little when I read that. Although c-sections are done everyday, hundreds of times a day.... it's still major surgery and still comes with risks that ALL major surgeries have. I'm scared too, but I think I'm more excited to finally meet this little dude. Any moms out there that was a little sad that when their baby was born they realized they had to share the new baby with the whole world? Sad that this new life was no longer inside of you that you could keep to yourself and have all to yourself? Don't get me wrong, I can't wait to show off this beautiful baby, but I have a little part of me that's sad that it's no longer going to be just me and this little baby sharing car rides, naps, meals, etc. Sorry, it's the emotional hormonal roller coaster of pregnancy talking. Anyway, just thought I'd update you guys with my new due date! Tomorrow is Thanksgiving! Give thanks to everything you have in your life!

It's really REAL... like for real for real!

So, I get home yesterday to a UPS package AND brown cardboard box sitting on the counter with my name on it that my husband brought in from outside. It's not any more diabetes supplies (I'm set till after BB is born with my supplies)... what could it be??? I'm all excited by now. I check the return address... it's the name of a company that I've never heard of. Anyway, I sit down and excitedly rip open the first package:


It's a onesie from our friend, Jamie! I've never been one to be excited to open a gift that wasn't for me, but now, it's so fun! Opening a gift that another person has purchased for MY BABY... it's surreal. I haven't really purchased much for my own son... I guess I'm just afraid to have all this baby stuff until he's actually here... call me superstitious. So, with the same excitement, I tear into the other package and TA-DA!


Same sender, different gifts! Is it already Christmas for our precious BB? I think the gadget on the left is a timer that let's new Mommies & Daddies know when the last time their baby ate, pooped, peed, napped, burped, farted, excreted some kind of bodily fluid, etc. This could be very helpful... esp for a new Dad! My husband loves electronic gadgets... this'll be another thing to add to the 1000s of other electronic gadgets he clips to his belt.

So, this little guy inside me is as real as real can be. Not that the constant kicking, enlarged belly, ultrasound pictures, wonderful pregnancy symptoms (back pain, flatulence, heartburn, insomnia, gestational diabetes) was not a reminder that BB is real, but when other people outside of my husband and myself and our families are acknowledging the soon-coming presence of our son... it makes it even more real! I can't wait to meet this little guy in January!





For those who have asked, we are registered @
Babies"R"Us - Baby Registry

The (dis)Comforts of Pregnancy

If you were to say I've had a nice normal pregancy, I'd totally agree with you.... ON OPPOSITE DAY!!! Granted, I've had my share of discomforts, but not so much the typical ones that most women have.

Heightened Sense of Smell:

I was sitting in a lunch meeting at work and this lady opened a ketchup packet from way across the room. The sheer smell of that rancid, vinegarry, sour ketchup made have to leave, get some Vicks Vap'o Rub to apply under my nostrils so that I didn't have to inhale the putrid smell of ketchup.

Cravings:

I was never a sweets or desserts kinda person; I'd choose a bag of chips over a candy bar anyday, but when I got pregnant that changed... duh! So, one day I devoured 2 bags of cotton candy... and then I got sick. I could eat 5 fruit roll-ups, a bowl of frosted flakes and 1 snickers bar as a meal... in comes GESTATIONAL DIABETES! So, my binge on sweets stopped at about 25 weeks and now I'm watching everything I eat, eating healthy, no refined sugars...BLAH BLAH BLAH BLAH! GIMME SOME COTTON CANDY!!!!!!!!!!! That will be my first meal after BB is born.

Swollen Feet (WARNING!!! GRAPHIC PHOTO COMING!!! AND THEY ARE *NOT* MY FEET....I googled them):
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THANK GOD I DON'T HAVE THESE....yet! My husband does everything he can to avoid this! Hahaha! While I'm watching tv, my husband will run to get pillows to put under my feet, or when we're out eating dinner some place he'll grab my feet (I'm thinking, "OOOOOH! He's playing footsies!")and place them on his lap, or while we're in bed, he'll tuck about 50,000 pillows under my legs... HE REALLY DOENS'T WANT ME TO GET SWOLLEN ANKLES! He's deathly afraid of them and so far, I guess it's worked!

Stretch Marks (again, not a picture of my own stomach... I just googled it):

So far, I have none... on my belly! But I am getting them in other places. Places like inner thighs and hips, but that's about it. I guess with my minimal weight gain I haven't had much to stretch... I'm crossing my fingers that I don't get anymore, but will embrace them if I do.

ps: All those expensive creams that women buy to "get rid of" or "prevent" stretch marks.... THEY DON'T WORK! There are only 2 things in this world that can get rid of stretch marks:
1. Cosmetic Laser Surgery
2. Genetics

Other than the 2 listed above, you're just wasting your time and money.