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!"

32 weeks!

Kitty wanted to be in the picture this week.

How big is baby?

He is about 18 inches and a little over 4 pounds.

What is baby up to?

Gaining about half a pound a week from now on. Sleep patterns are becoming more like a newborn, because he can differentiate light and dark when his eyes are open. Not that he'll make his debut sleeping 8 hours a night or anything...

Movement

He is really fond of my ribs this week.

Blood pressure

Still hovering in the 130s/80s. It was a bit high at the doctor today, but not enough to cause concern.

Update

Another OB appointment today. Pretty routine, no new concerns. I had to do another blood draw to make sure those levels are stable as well. Looking forward to not having those every other week.

Jared went out on a shopping trip for baby stuff, and my amazing co-workers sent a bunch of baby gifts over, so we feel much more prepared for his arrival now. We just have a few more things to do before I feel totally ready. And by "we" I mean Jared.

I was really craving hamburgers the other night, but we only had hotdog buns. Jared improvised and made hot-burgers. Yum.

We had some snow fall today. I'm still amused by the "winter weather" freak out on the news. It sounds like we will have a little accumulation overnight - maybe an inch or two! I enjoyed watching the snow fall from my cozy couch this afternoon. And attempted to take pictures because I have nothing better to do!

31 weeks!

How big is baby?

According to the ultrasound today, he already weighs 4 pounds and is growing perfectly at the 50th percentile for his gestational age. He is about 17-18 inches long. No concern about my blood pressure affecting his growth. So happy to hear.

What is baby up to?

At the ultrasound, when the tech was trying to get a picture for us, he was opening and closing his mouth. Or maybe he was trying to talk to us. We even got to see his open eyes looking around. He was probably trying to figure out what was pushing on my belly. He may or may not have figured it out, but he did enjoy kicking the wand while it was there.

Movement

See above. It was fun to see exactly what body parts were trying to push the ultrasound wand away. 

Blood pressure

Still hovering around the 130s/upper 80s. Diastolic (bottom number) peaked at 94 yesterday. I'm hoping it doesn't get much higher.

Update

I had an OB appointment on Tuesday. That went really well. She was so excited that we made it to 31 weeks and said 32 will be even better. She sounded much more optimistic that we'll make it to 34 weeks, which was great to hear.

I had an appointment at the maternal fetal medicine clinic today. We had an ultrasound and met with the doctor that would deliver if we ended up going before 35 weeks. My hospital isn't equipped to handle babies that young, so we'd end up going to St. Joseph in Tacoma.

Here's the picture of our handsome little boy:

He looks good on the ultrasound. His kidneys are well developed and he has fluid in his bladder, meaning he is doing a good job drinking amniotic fluid. His head, arms, and legs, are the right size. Heart rate was 133. Amniotic fluid level is normal, which is good because that can be affected by my blood pressure. He is positioned with his head down already. 

The specialist said that most people in my scenario won't go past 37 weeks, so we'll most likely be parents by the end of March. Jared installed the car seat today, so we're at least ready for that!

The cats were sitting on the couch watching crows and squirrels outside. Ha!

Pictures

Belly!

Belly button pop...

Kitty cuddling with my computer

Jared and Simon dancing

 Kitty cuddling with me

 Sleepy Simon

 Kitty cuddling with the belly