Surprise appointment

My doctor's office called this morning, and they want me to come back in tomorrow for another appointment. The nurse practitioner reported to the other doctor in the office (since my OB is still on vacation) and he wants me to come in. I have no idea why. I'm a little nervous!

37 weeks!

Full term!

How big is baby?

He is about 6 1/2 pounds and pretty much full grown length-wise - about 19-21 inches long. My little watermelon!

What is baby up to?

Practicing all the things he will get to do in the outside world, including blinking, sucking, swallowing, "breathing," hiccuping, stretching, and wiggling.

Blood pressure

Holding steady for the most part 130s/80s. It peaked into the 140s/90s a few times this past week, with the highest at 152/95. Not high enough to go in, but definitely high enough to be uncomfortable.

Appointment update

My OB is on vacation this week, so I saw her nurse practitioner. She was very nice. Apparently, the spots I have been seeing in my vision can be from low iron. My last labs showed I was on the low end of normal for iron, so she recommended starting an iron supplement. She said the liquid iron is more easily absorbed than a pill form. She definitely didn't tell me how nasty the stuff tastes. Not looking forward to taking that twice a day.

NST

I had my NST after my appointment, so we headed into the hospital again. My OB forgot to leave orders to take labs, but we convinced the nurse that it's probably a good idea because my platelets were dropping. She eventually did the labs, and my platelets are the same as last week. Actually one point higher, but that isn't significant for anything. Good news is it's still above 150. She didn't say anything about the heart beat on the NST, so I'm assuming no news is good news on that. My only other concern was my lovely toes. They are swelling, turning purple, and quite painful. There was no doctor to look at them, so the charge nurse did instead. She was concerned, but nobody really had any advice other than to elevate my legs. Oh, and stay on bedrest. Helpful. Hopefully I'll hear more next week if my toes don't fall off by then. Jared took a picture, but I think I'll spare the world from seeing them.

Kitty

She's so sweet and cuddly.

Other than that, we have made it to full term. Jared and I are as ready as we'll ever be for baby to make his grand entrance. Now we just have to play the waiting game.

Baby Noah

I have been following the story of this family on their blog. Noah's mom is a member of the message board I have been spending my time on. My heart is breaking for them, with all they have gone through in the last few months. Click on the picture to view their blog.

36 weeks!

 Bare belly...

How big is baby?

He is about 19-21 inches long and weighs around 6 pounds.

What is he up to?

Just about all of his major organ systems are fully developed. His lungs will mature a little more in the next few weeks, and his digestive system will be ready for food.

Blood pressure

Pretty steady this week, 130s/80s.

Appointments

I had my weekly NST this morning. The nurse said he's still a "happy baby," and his heart is doing just what it is supposed to. I had blood drawn again, and my platelets dropped again, this time to 154. The lowest "normal" number is 150. When it drops below 150, it is an indication that the preeclampsia is getting worse. My OB didn't seem too concerned about it, so that makes me feel better. Otherwise, nothing too exciting. She will be out of town next week, so I'm hoping for boring news until she comes back.

Outing

My nurse let us leave the hospital a little early because it was so nice out today, so I got to experience something other than appointments for the first time in a while. We had lunch at Jimmy John's (yum!) and stopped at a consignment store close to my OB office. We were hoping to find a swing, and got lucky. Someone had just dropped off a nice swing, so I asked the staff about it and they checked it out for us right away. Really good deal: $50 for a swing that sells for $160 in stores. 

My OB appointment was after our little outing, and my blood pressure was nice and low when we got there. Must have been the 60 degree weather!

Cats

Kitty sleeping between my legs and the pillow on the couch:

Simon on the couch by Jared, face down:

And our family!

35 weeks!

How big is baby?

He is around 19-20 inches long and weighs about 5 1/2 pounds. 

What is baby up to?

He's increasing his body fat and is working on rapid brain development. 

Blood pressure

Up and down this week, which resulted in a lot of headaches as it fluctuated. My hands and feet are also starting to swell, so I made the official decision to take my rings off for the next few weeks. Better than having them cut off, I suppose!

Update

I had an OB appointment and an NST today. Nothing exciting from my OB appointment. Belly is still measuring on target and all that fun stuff. They also drew blood during the NST to check my levels. The only abnormal finding was that my platelets are a little low, though not low enough to cause concern right now. The level is at 184, and the point where they start to worry is anything below 150. I'll have more blood work next week to make sure it's not dropping too much. 

Still had a "happy baby" during the NST, which is great. His heart rate did exactly what it was supposed to, with and without contractions. Yay!

We had an excellent nurse today at the hospital, and I'm secretly hoping we have her when we go in for delivery. Not that I didn't like the other nurses, but if I had a choice, I'd choose her.  :)

34 weeks!

How big is baby?

He's as big as a honeydew melon! A little over 5 pounds and about 19-20 inches long.

What is baby up to?

His fingernails are already to the end of his fingertips. His lungs are continuing to develop, and he's packing on the body fat to prepare for the outside world. The majority of babies born at 34 weeks or later have little or no significant long-term health problems. Hooray for that milestone!

Blood pressure

Other than the random scare last week, my numbers are still hanging out in the 130s/80s. My OB is happy with these numbers and hopes they continue for a few more weeks at least.

Update

I started my weekly NSTs this week, so I now have 2 appointments to look forward to every week. The NST was on Wednesday, and the nurse said he is a happy baby. Not sure exactly what that means, but I like it. I also had a pretty uneventful OB appointment today. No major changes, but I did have a few frustrating moments with my OB. Hopefully she was just having a bad day (and unfortunately taking it out on me). 

Photo of the week

Kitty wants to play with the baby stuff...

33 weeks!

How big is baby?

He should be gaining about a half pound every week, so in theory he would be just under 5 pounds and about 19 inches long this week.

What is baby up to?

His lungs had a major step in development this week. He is preparing for the outside world. His immune system is also developing this week.

Movement

He enjoys kicking anything that touches the belly. It's fun to watch.

Blood pressure

Up until last night, it was still hovering in the 130s/80s. Unfortunately, it decided to spike at 161/106 so we had to make a trip to the hospital last night.

Update

Doctor appointment went well yesterday, but then my blood pressure spiked last night. I was feeling quite nauseous and had a terrible headache, so I checked it, and I'm glad I did. Anything over 160/100 means a call to L&D. I called and they said to come right in. They hooked me up to monitors to make sure everything was ok with the baby. His heart rate was good and he was kicking like crazy. And trying to kick the monitor off my belly.

The blood pressure went back down to its normal range, and my labs came back clear. I had quite a few contractions while on the monitors, but the nurse said they were probably from all the activity of coming into the hospital. I was monitored for about 2 hours, and we finally got home around 3:30 this morning.

I'm still feeling a little off today, but it's probably from a lack of restful sleep last night. Hoping for an uneventful night. And several more weeks before we have to go back to the hospital.

Simon says, "I'm sleepy too!"