More pregnant than ever!

So, we hit a major milestone! Tuesday was 27wks 1day (when Gunner was born) and here I am still pregnant! I had a doctor appointment that day and everything was fine. Blood pressure was good, lost a pound, baby heart beat 146, and I measure 28 weeks (beefcake!) I don't have to go back to the doctor until March 11th. They will probably do another FFN test again (and we will hope for another negative like last time!) I do have to go next week and do a 3 hour glucose test. YUCK! This involves fasting for 12 hours and the test itself is 3 hours... that is a long time without food for a pregnant lady! Even though most of the hours will be nightime, I imagine I will still be quite grouchy by the time it is over. The baby is still active and getting more forceful in its movements. Gunner told the people at church that his mom is having a boy and his name is Kevin. Where he came up with that? No clue. He likes to make up stories. Gunner has been a champ. While he has a hard time listening and following directions and is going overboard with the backtalk- he is such a help to me. Last night after his papa dropped him off around 8- he did a load of laundry. He pushed the chair up to the washer, picked up all his things out of the laundry pile, climbed in the chair and threw them in. We did the laundry soap together and when they were done, he pulled them out of the washer, threw them in the laundry basket on the floor and then got down and shoved them all in the dryer. What kind of 4 year old is that awesome? This morning I had to yell for him when I was in the shower, and he came and got my razor which I forgot before I got in. He grabs me towels and will try to help put socks on me (which is not necessarily a help- but he feels useful!) He has been amazing.

The move last weekend went well. I stayed with Gunner at my mom's house while everyone moved our stuff. So when I showed up it was all over and we just have to put things away. Gunner seems pretty happy with the move, although when he is mad he tells us he is going to the old house by himself. We did have a hard time catching 2 of our outside cats. I actually had to get in on that one. Gunner and I caught Nittany and put her in the truck which was running when we were looking for Punt. When we came back to the truck after giving up on Punt for the night, the doors were locked. I almost freaked! I knew Gary was going to explode, then I realized not only did Nittany lock the doors, she turned on the blinkers and rolled the window down, then jumped out!! We did end up catching both cats, but it involved me sitting in the snow waiting for 10 minutes under the deck for them to both come to me so I could get my hands on them. Once I had grabbed them both Gary jumped out of the truck to save me from the savage clawing they were trying to give me. It was a lot of excitement for someone on bedrest. Currently all the cats are happy in the barn and both dogs are outside at the new house and last night decided to play with a skunk. They so tick me off.

All in all things are good. Hopefully things pick up at work for Gary, that is about the only thing we are annoyed with right now. I also can finally submit my disability papers tommorow, don't even get me started on HR at Ferris! So hopefully they go through first time without a fight. We will see. Still laying low, and praying for a big healthy baby. Each day that passes makes it just a little easier to breathe.

26 week update

Ha- I snuck out to the library again. Yesterday was a long one! My best bud Stefani took me down to the doctor for my ultrasound and my doc appt. The ultrasound was better! My cervix length is 2.2 (which is up from last week!) Shows that the bedrest is paying off. The doctor decided to go ahead and give me the steroid shots for babies lungs- even though things are ok right now. I was totally happy with that call. So yesterday I got a shot and I have to go back to the doctor today to get the second one. I also failed my glucose test- BUT that may have been affected by the steroids they gave me 30 minutes before they poked my finger. So next week at my doct0r appointment we will figure out whether I get to redo the hour long test or if they are going to make me do the 3 hour test.

This weekend is the big move. Gary has a lot of things moved out of the house already. The phone company is all set, the dishnet work is all set- so in my case- the necessities are covered. I am pretty bummed about it. I have known the move was coming- but that doesn't make it any easier to go. Gunner is excited one minute and overwhelmed the next. Hopefully he handles it well. The kid has had a lot thrown at him lately and it has shown in his behavior. We are trying to deal as best we can and get through this before we really crack down on how he has been acting.

Keep praying for baby bruce-

25 weeks

The inevitable arrived on Monday afternoon. Bedrest! After a not so good ultrasound that showed a CL of 1.7 and funnelling- I am down for the count. Hopefully down for at least another month or so. The baby looks great and is still very active.

I am off work till after baby is born, I can venture out for lunch or dinner occassionally- which I am trading for time at the public library to use the internet. I am still allowed to move around the house pretty freely but I am unable to do laundry, dishes, or grocery shopping. After approximately one day- I am aching all over my back and hips from laying so long.

Gary is busy, trying to do everything at home and also get us ready to move very shortly. It is hectic but we also new this was a possibility. Keep praying for the baby and lots of time for me to be bored silly. My next check up is next week- hopefully a week of bedrest makes a positive difference!

24

Week 24- yup if you read this, it is almost solely outlining my pregnancy. Sorry, but for us right now that it the most important thing going on. No appointments this week- so it will be a long and boring one for me. Today baby Bruce is quite active and kicking the crap out of me. I can tell baby is getting larger since the kicks feel totally different. A few weeks ago all I felt was this butterfly like movement or flip flop in my stomach. Now- I know the kid is there. No one else can really feel it yet, but I can tell a big difference. The weeks are dragging by for me, I can't wait to get to the end of February so I can feel a little more confident about this baby's chances.

This weekend Gary painted, big surprise. He is making a lot of progress at the farm. I like to avoid thinking about moving, but the big day is coming up way too soon. I can only do a limited amount to help and we are trying to finish the upstairs rooms before we move anything. The biggest obstacle will be finding (and paying for) carpet for Gunner's room. And having it installed- that is not something we can do ourselves.

We also took Gunner sledding again on Saturday afternoon. Well, Gary took him sledding and I watched from the top of the hill. We didn't stay as long this time since the wind was so awful. Gary gave me his coat to put over my coat and my teeth were still chattering. Gunner was sweating after climbing up and down the hills. At one point Gary laid on the intertube and Gunner and Paige sat on his back like they were riding a horse. It was funny to watch till the very bottom when Gunner fell off and was dragging behind tangled up in Gary's legs. From the top of the hill it looked like Gary ran him over with the tube, but Gunner came up laughing and smiling. Regardless they didn't ride that way again.

Ending week 23

So here we are, almost at the end of week 23. Nothing too major happened. Doctor appt on Wednesday was totally routine, my BP and weight were great (didn't gain again!) and baby's heart rate was 146. I have an CL ultrasound on Feb 9th then another appt on Feb. 17th when they will do the glucose screening.

We are supposed to take Gunner sledding again tommorow. Should I say Gary is sledding I am watching? The temp is supposed to be ok, but chance of freezing drizzle- hopefully it isn't too bad out. Gunner is pretty excited about it, he and Gary both had fun last time.

Gunner seems to be feeling ok- which is a relief, the last cold he had took forever for him to get over. Saying a prayer for my brother in law today, he had to see the specialist to get more input on making a choice between fusion and amputation of his ankle. Its going to be rough no matter what choice he makes. Hopefully God leads him down the right path.

We are busy all the time and don't seem to get much done, not sure what it is we used to do before Gunner or how we will manage after the new baby is here. It is always crazy. The only good thing is that each day the flies by gets us one day closer to a healthy baby.

Week 22-

Last week Friday we had a bit of excitement- and not the good kind. I took a late lunch at work only to discover (warning TMI for most men) bleeding and a small clot in the bathroom of Walmart. Of course I freaked- called my doctor. They had me come in to be checked. Gary met me there since he knew I was pretty upset about it all. The doctor thinks that what happened is that the bottom stitch pulled through on one side. At least that is what it felt like to her- although she didn't put the stitch in. Luckily I have two stitches. There didn't appear to be any new bleeding and the cervix still felt quite long to her. Regardless she sent us to the hospital for an ultrasound to check cervix length. We killed some time since the appt was at 5:30- Gary was only too happy to not be at work since it was subzero temperatures and he was supposed to be out on the dock. This was the first ultrasound Gary has been able to see. Since it was to check cervical length it was internal and of course you don't really get to see the baby well. We did see hands and feet flying around like it was practicing karate. It amazed Gary at how much the baby was moving. Myself I have been feeling these movements quite well for a few weeks and it even amazed me. The good news was the tech told us the cervical length was 3.3 still and 3.0 under pressure (which is down from 3.2 under pressure on Monday) She wasn't able to tell us anymore and we had to wait in the waiting room for the doctor to be called and call us back. Eventually we were given the go ahead to go home. We stopped for a bite to eat and I went home to get Gunner who was at Nana's house and Gary went back to work (poor guy!)

I had taken Monday off anyways since there were no kids at Ferris so I called the doctor's office and got more in depth info. No funnelling and yes my cervix is closed. And "go back to work" I was kind of thinking maybe they would tell me to only work part time or something, but 3.3cm is a pretty normal cervical measurement even if I am only at that because of a nice sewing job by one awesome OB doctor. I hit the 22 week mark yesterday and can't believe how active this baby is. One more week till "viability" which will make me breathe a tiny bit easier, but not much. We don't want "viable", we want healthy. I told Gary as we waited in the waiting room Friday night all I want is "one of those". I said this as I motioned to the extremely pregnant lady across the room. He said" a tumor" and I said " no jerk- a great big pregnant belly that looks ready to burst" It isn't asking for too much is it?

Next scheduled Dr. Appt is Jan 28th. Hopefully we don't have to make any special trips between now and then.

21 weeks

21 weeks down .... hopefully around 15 more to go if not more. I worked in the morning and then headed to Grand Rapids for another ultrasound and cervical length (CL) measurement. The baby looks adorable- we watched it yawn twice. Not little petite yawns, huge I'm exhausted yawns. It was really cute. Average sized head still and the peanut has gained 6 ounces since the last ultrasound. It nows weighs roughly 15 ounces. One more and it will be a whole pound!
The CL was a little disheartening. It was only 3.3. Which itself isn't terrible but three weeks ago it was 4.1. One thing I thought about later was the first ultrasound where I measured 4.1 the tech made me prop my butt on a wedge shaped pillow so my bottom was up in the air much higher than my head. This time I laid flat on on the table. So I am wondering how much of the change can be contributed to the positioning. Hopefully at least some of it. One positive was that my cervix was still closed and there was no funneling! Yeah! I checked with the doctor's office and asked whether I should be making any changes in my routine because of the CL change. Luckily that was a no. I just have to continue to follow the restrictions and take it easy but I can still go to work. They also mentioned that they won't worry till the CL measures under 2! That seems scary, but then again I do have 2 stiches holding things together.
The semester started yesterday- so all the wonderful students are back! Yes that was sarcasm. I did miss the activity, but as tired as I am- the thought of 16 weeks of these monsters makes me exhausted. (Notice the planning- they leave for the summer and I go on maternity leave! Now if my cervix cooperates with the plan...) I have lots of student workers scheduled this semester (what budget?) and hopefully it won't come down to needing them deperately since I am on bedrest and the replacement is clueless.
I am dreading later today and the rest of the week- the subzero temperatures and -19 windchills make me want to curl up in bed and stay there. Hopefully we don't get a crap load of snow on top of it all. I heard temps will be very cold for about 10 days. I can hear the propane meter smoking as I type. Fun times! I love winter! Stay warm-