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!