I just can't believe it. My baby boy is already 3 weeks old. The craziest part is 4 weeks ago I loved him but now I can't imagine my life without him. He's everything I have wanted and more between his perfect little hands and his perfect little eye lashes.
So after being home a little over two weeks Camden is comfortable at home. He's sleeping well, eating well and just being a plain curious baby. We had our first bath already and let's just say that was interesting. Although he didn't pee on us or in the water, he screamed his little head off the entire time. Of course though as he laid there and screamed I had to keep snapping the camera away. I mean it only happens once right? Of course I left our baby modest and blacked out his goods. I want him to have some dignity.
He calmed down a little after we warmed him up. He looked so cute in his little puppy dog towel.
Cam had his very shopping trip on July 3rd out to of course Babies R US. We picked up of course more diapers, formula, a baby book since we didn't have one and a few pieces of clothing. He pretty much slept the entire trip and he loves car rides now once you get him in his car seat.
So another 4th of July has come and gone. Our little baby had a very long night but slept through 90% of it. He wasn't even waken by the fireworks. He was passed around through out the family like a hot potato but it was nice because it gave both Kevin and I time to eat with out feeling rushed. There was a huge spread of food at Aunt Kel's that was to die for which included every cook out food you could think imaginable. The fireworks were as usual small but all in all it was a great 4th! As you can see in the picture below though it made Cam passed out after such a long day!
We have a ton more pictures up on Snap fish. Feel free to look. Until the next update, everyone take care!
Well Friday June 19th, Camden was finally released from the hospital! We are so pleased with how he has been doing so well and now can not wait to start out journey here at home.
Kevin and I both want to take this time and send a very special thank you to each and every person that took even the smallest part of making it possible for our little boy to come home. With out all of you, who knows where we would be! I can honestly say that every nurse, doctor, social worker, etc down at Magee made a difference in our little boy and we could not be happier with the amazing service that he recieved.
So with Camden finally being home, we are so excited to really start our little family. Both Kevin and I already love this little boy so much which is amazing considering he has only been in this world for such a short amount of time. Our first few days have gone by pretty easy. Camden has been eating so well and has been sleeping even better!
Monday was his first doctors check up with Dr. Zove and I must say I was a little nervous since we actually never met this doctor however Lisa was right! Dr. Zove is great with babies and has a very calming nature with Cam. So props to Lisa! Cam gained some weight so he is at 7 lbs 2 oz. Thats a very good sign and let's hope now some of his clothes actually fit!
The puppies have adapted to Cam pretty well also. Zoe seems to have taken over the whole motherly role already by letting us know when Cam is crying. Brooklynn at first seemed a little leary of him but that turned around pretty quickly and now seems to be great with him too. That is a huge relief to both Kevin and I because this was one of our biggest concerns since both of our dogs are like children to us. All in all we are thrilled at how the dogs have adapted so quickly and love him as much as we do already!
All in all Cam has made a great transition home and we are looking forward to vistors now. So feel free to come by!
Here are a few pictures of our little baby and here is the link again to snap fish where we are uploading new pictures constantly.
Okay so I am going to apologize in advance because I know that for some of you who are reading this have probably heard most of this story if not once but maybe twice. I also know some people who are following our story is way behind on what has been going on so I am going to back track quite a bit and update as much as I can. So get ready for the longest blog post you will ever see or read. Again sorry in advance but this is just as much a record for our little baby some day as it is to update all of you.
So after getting released from the hospital on the 20th of May, I was basically out of work and confined to the worst torture ever. BED REST... Sounds too good to be true and trust me it is. Listening to the dogs whine, seeing all the stuff that needed to be done and all the dust bunnies rolling around came close to damn near making me go insane.
So for about two weeks nothing really changed. My blood pressure was still consistently high but manageable. I had two doctors appointments a week, urine collections and NST tests to check the babies heart rates and movements. Everything was staying consistently the same and I was basically just being monitored very closely to make sure nothing went out of control.
On June 4th, I went in to see Lisa and of course she was concerned. I wasn't looking very good and my blood pressures were all over the place. So she asked me to head back down to triage again just to have them monitor me and make sure that the baby and I were okay. After 4 long grueling hours of being poked, prodded and some more torture I was told there wasn't a whole lot of change and to go home and rest more.
On June 5th we had an ultrasound to check the babies weight, position and his biophysical profile. The BPP measures your baby's heart rate, muscle tone, movement, breathing, and the amount of amniotic fluid around your baby and basically gives them a scoring system out of a total 8 points. At the ultrasound the tech determined that the amniotic fluid seemed to be on the low side of normal coming in at 7.3 We were told not to be concerned but she wanted us to have the doctor made aware asap. Of course the little bugger was still sitting in my belly on the left side frank breech. The real kicker is he was already measuring to be around 7.4 lbs!! That placed him at the sizing of roughly a 37 week old baby and I was only 34 weeks pregnant! So anyways we dropped the papers off and were told a doctor would call later that day. Dr. Imro called me later that morning and said not to be concerned she just wanted to have another ultrasound done that following monday to check it again and make sure there was no cause for concern.
So on June 8th we had another ultrasound done and the amniotic fluid came back at 9.7 so it had seemed that the pressure had stabilized some what. The baby was still sitting frank breech and his BPP came back at an 8/8 so he was looking good. I had another appointment that afternoon with Lisa again and my blood pressure was still running around 140-150/98-108. It turns out I actually lost a pound which put me at a total weight gain of 8 lbs. I was excited about that. We both agreed that the goal was to make it to 37 weeks and even better if possible to make it to 38.
The following day, June 9th (Happy Birthday Jesse) I did another urine collection and planned on turning it in on early Wed. morning so that we had the results for my appointment Thursday. Well when wednesday came around I knew something was not right. I was having extreme headaches and was just not feeling right. I kind of had a feeling things were coming to a quick end in this pregnancy....
June 11th did not happen the way that I had expected. I woke up early after only sleeping a few hours because I had to be in monroeville that morning for my scheduled ultrasound at 11am. When I arrived I was already not feeling well. I had a really bad headache and was feeling very light headed. The ultrasound had a very hard time getting the baby to move. She had to push on my stomach several times and after a lot of poking and prodding he finally cooperated a little. After seeing his movement however she measured the amniotic fluid and we were shocked to find out it had drastically dropped to a 3.6!!! This was not looking god. She decided to do another check and she did find one more pocket however it only increased it to a 6.2 which is still very low. So she asked me when my next appointment was with my doctor and I told her not until 3:45 that afternoon. She said for me to go up right after and let them know just in case.
So I took the elevator up to the 3rd floor and advised the nurses at the front desk that I was feeling really crappy and just got some more bad results at the ultrasound. They hooked me up to the NST to check the baby and he was non reactive basically meaning his heart rate was okay but he was not moving around enough to show any kind of movement. They decided to weigh me and boy was I shocked when they told me I had gained 6lbs since Monday! That was almost more than I had gained the entire pregnancy and they knew immediately that my turn for the worse was coming. High weight gain is the sign of water weight which is a sign of severe pre-e. So really without any hesitation, Dr. Imro said "Carrie, go home and pack a bag. Expect to most likely be monitored tonight and be delivered tomorrow."
Wait what? Back up...... Okay so honestly I knew it was coming. I had just told Lisa the week before that I knew i would be lucky to make it to 37 weeks but seriously was this happening already??????? Yes at that very moment I had just realized that I was indeed pregnant. I know crazy right? I mean 35 weeks had gone by, this baby had kicked every internal organ possible yet it never really sunk in I was really going to have a baby. So I left the office kind of in an extreme panic. I called Kevin and told him to leave work they were expecting me to deliver our little boy the next day.Once Kevin got home, we packed up any last minute things and loaded up the car. I gave the puppies a kiss good bye and we were on our way.
So after getting to triage they hooked me up to the monitors of course, they took more blood and basically started to monitor me. Maternal fetal medicine came in asked about 100 questions to try and determine what the next course of action was going to be. I could tell after listing all the issues that their thoughts were in line with Dr. Imro's and that was to get this little one out.
The list that we gave them was basically this
High Blood Pressure
Severe Head Aches
Light Sensitivity
Extreme swelling
6lb of weight gain (hopefully water) in 3 days
Baby is frank breech and already at roughly 7.4 lbs
Loss of appetite
Protein in my urine was running at around 400
Shortness of breath
So after all of this they needed to confirm with my actual OB team as to how to proceed. In the mean time, they sent another resident doctor in to confirm the same position of the baby. Like a 7.4 lb baby could turn in my stomach?? Anyways she confirmed again he was still frank breech. So Dr. Divekar came in and after assessing me was still questionable of whether or not I was considered severe Pre-eclampsia. Being that I was only 35 weeks they needed to have a severe diagnosis to deliver me before 37 weeks. So she left the room and I was assuming here I go again being admitted for more monitoring. Within another half hour Dr. Divekar came back in and said "When did you eat last?" I told her I really had not eaten much all day. Just in between the doctors and coming home I stopped at Mc. Donalds for a Milkshake and a small fries to hold me over because I knew we couldn't eat in Triage. Her response then was well we got your urine results back from Tuesday and they had spiked to 596 so that in turn gave them the Severe Diagnosis. Since I had already had the steroid injections and the baby was already a decent size they were going to deliver me. So assuming Dr. Imro told me it would be the next day, I nearly fell off the table when she told me they would have him out in 2 hours at the most.
Before I knew it, there was several people in the room asking me a million questions, shaving my bikini line, asking me what I ate, if I was allergic to this and that, asking me to sign consent forms in case I died on the table and just about everything else under the sun. It became all too real all too quick. Within another 10 mins we had an anesthesiologist that was young enough to be the next DoogieHoweser in my room explaining to me about the spinal they would be doing.
To be honest I have never seen so many things happen so quickly. Kevin was told to dress up in his garments, they wheeled me into the OR and had the spinal in and me numbed up before I knew it. With roughly 15 people in there all doing different things it was kind of overwhelming but the spinal made me at ease and kind of sleepy. Within 30 mins we heard " The butt is out" and shortly thereafter we heard his first cry. So in 6 hours, I go from being monitored and feeling like crap, to having our little one brought into the world.
The next half hour the doctors stitched and stapled me up, while the pediatricians worked on our little one. We hear, he's seven pounds, he looks great, but they need to take him to the NICU to do a full check up on him. Before they take him, they wheel him in his cart over to us about 10 feel away was as close as they could get, and all i could see was a foot. That was the first and last time i would see my newborn for 4 hours and it really broke my heart that I couldn't even see his face.
After i was all closed up, they wheeled me to a Labor and Delivery Room to be monitored for 4 hours, while they pumped me full of Magnesium, Ringers, and Pitocin, hence the reason my body is so swollen from all the IV's and fluids. After the surgery, Dr. Divekar came over and checked on me and explained why the Magnesium treatment was necessary, reason is, being Pre-E during your pregnancy, you can still be Pre-Eclamptic for up to 6 weeks after delivery, complete with Seizures, headaches, upper respiratory problems, swelling & blurred vision. Fun right? I'd rather be stuck on a medication cocktail for 24 hours than have that risk. The only downfall, was i couldn't see my little one. While I was being monitored for the first 4 hours on the Magnesium, a Pediatrician came up to the LDR and told Kevin and I they had to put our baby on a ventilator to help him breathe. His lungs were slightly underdeveloped at this stage. Now keep in mind I was still drugged up from surgery and the recovery meds, and Kevin was half asleep on the couch in the room as it was almost 3am.
At 4am, they had decided it was time to move us to our final resting place in this long journey Room 2703 but before we headed there the nurses that were transporting us were nice enough to wheel me in the entire bed down to the NICU to try and see the baby. Of course they wouldn't let me out of the bed and his face was turned away in the incubator but I got about 10 mins of mommy time.. It was one of the worst things seeing him lay there and not be able to see his face or touch him but I appreciated the nurses doing what they did.
So we made our way up to our new room and I was moved into my new bed. I was told I was supposed to rest and try and take it easy... After they left, Kevin tried to get some stuff situated but all I could do was lay there and cry. I mean how was I supposed to rest knowing my little boy was down stairs on a vent and I couldn't even touch him.
Between 5 am and 2pm I think we had 20 doctors, nursers, social security workers, lactate specialists, resident doctors, nurse aides, pediatrician and a respiratory therapist so I don't know how anyone could have ever gotten any rest. Of course this was not including my family coming down. So that morning Dr. Chesin came in to see how I was feeling and I told her I really was feeling fine and that I wanted to go see the baby. She was adamant that I was not allowed out of bed and the best thing for me was rest. I was also informed I was not allowed anything other than water until 10:30 pm because of the magnesia. So much for getting through the day, I was already starving considering I didn't eat the entire day before besides a small fry.
This is the part that I want to take and tell everyone about a very special Nurse working at Magee. I won't say her name just because I don't want any of the other nurses out there to think that they weren't great however this one in particular was absolutely amazing and went out of her way to make both Kevin and I feel 100% comfortable. She also took time out of her busy work day to sneak me down to see the baby even though we were clearly told we were not able to go. We couldn't stay long but it was long enough I was able to reach my hand in the incubator and touch my little one. Those 10 mins made my entire day and to be honest I was on the verge of a mental breakdown. I truly want to send a thank you out to her and tell her how amazing she is!
Okay so after a long day already my nurse came in at around 5pm to tell me the best news I had heard yet! They were taking me off the Magnesia almost 3 hours at roughly 7pm early which meant they would take out my catheter, They would discontinue all the wonderful IV's, they would take of the boots on my feet to prevent clots, I could eat dinner, get a shower, watch some of the pens game and of course get a wheel chair and go see "Squishy". So 7pm could not come quick enough.
So after getting myself together we got to go down and see our precious baby. There he layed in the heated incubator and we heard great news, he was off the vent! When he had started at 40% oxygen for breathing had now been reduced onto room air which was a huge success! He still had a feeding tube in and IV's but I was happy to hear that he was onto such a great start in such a short amount of time. So when the nurse came in to tell us how he was doing she asked us if we wanted to hold him and of course I couldn't get him out fast enough. She gave us a few minutes alone with him and of course I cried like a baby. What had been almost 24 hours since he was born and I was just now getting to really hold him felt like years. I didn't care that he was hooked up to all the monitors because all I wanted to do was see his little face. We layed him back in his little heated bed and we headed back up to the room to watch the Pens win the Stanely Cup. All in all it was a pretty exciting night.
Saturday of course we tried to spend as much time with the baby as possible but we knew our little one needed as much rest as possible so it was intermittent at best. We learned that he came back positive for belly rubin aka Jaundice and they put the big blue lights over his bed. Kevin of course insisted it looked like he was getting a tan however it was just one more thing keeping our little one there. We also got to feed him for the first time but unfortunately we could only get him to take roughly 10cc's. We were advised he would need to be taking 40cc's every feeding to be considered for discharge so we had a long journey ahead of us considering he really did not seem interested in eating.
We made a promise to our family and ourselves that we were going to have a name by the end of Saturday night. We were still debating the name Cameron because we loved the name Cam so much however since we recently had a baby boy in the family that received that name we decided it probably was not right to still use that name. So after much debate we finally had settled on a name! He was no longer going to be only known as Squishy. And as usual, we cut it very close to our deadline....finally agreeing on Camden Michael, and looking at the clock as it ticked past midnight.....thats right, it took us until 11:59:59PM to make a decision on a name for our little one. Don't be alarmed though he will still forever be known as my "Squishy".
Sunday morning was right around the corner and I was going to be discharged around lunch time. So kevin and I both got up early so we could spend time with Cam before heading home. Kevin went down for the doctors rounds so we could get an idea of what the plan of action was and was advised that he needed to be off all monitors and help for 48 hours before he could be released. We fed him his 10:30 feeding and did have increase coming in at taking 15cc's. It was a decent level considering he was only taking 10 before. Upon discharge it was one of the worst feelings to have to leave without my little one in my arms. I cried like crazy when we got home because there is nothing worse than seeing you baby hooked up to all the monitors and not knowing when you will ever be able to bring him home.
Later that evening, Kevin, my mother and I all made a trip down for the 7:30 feeding. Cam was all wrapped up and waiting to be fed. Daddy got to change his very first diaper, take his tempature and dress him in a t-shirt. Suprisingly enough he seemed to know exactly what he was doing and was extremely comfortable. Then it was time for the feeding....Grammy took her turn and Cam increased his intake again to 18cc's.
Monday morning, Kevin and I were planning on heading down to the hospital for the 1:30 & 4:30 feedings. To our surprise he was taken off the Jaundice lights that morning. He made a huge jump on these feedings taking 30cc's and 35cc's respectively, looks like being in his little tanning bed, was taking a toll on his appetite afterall.
Tuesday we were back to the same routine, getting up early and heading for the same 1:30 & 4:30 feedings. When we got there, we found Cam all bundled up in the crib, with no heat, no lights, nothing. Just a feeding tube in case he gets finiky and needs a little help getting all his food. We were told that he was taking the 40cc's of food all night after we left monday and through the morning of Tuesday, so now it was our turn, for the 1:30 feeding, it was Daddy's turn. Cam was very hungry, and it showed, in a matter of minutes, he downed 45cc's.
After the 1:30 feeding, daddy held Cam for over an hour watching him sleep. We then decided to take a break and head to the waiting room where I could sit with my feet up for a bit. As we were leaving, we heard Cam start wimpering and starting to cry...it was the first time we heard him so upset. We were strong and kept going even though it tore at both of our heart strings...
About an hour later, we headed back to the room to find our little one as happy as can be, and no feeding tube. We were a little confused, so Kevin went to ask the nurse if she removed it while we were out, and she said "No", which means Cam decided he didnt need the feeding tube anymore...and yanked it out himself. Eyes open and Coo'ing, excited to see we returned.
It was the most amazing thing to see our little one so bright and cheery eyed. It was the most awake and oriented that we had seen him yet. It was literally like someone came in and replaced our baby with another that looked just like him only one that he was on some very nice happy pills. So after a few minutes of him looking at us and holding our fingers Dr. Roseido came in and informed us that she was going to do his circumcision. Of course Kevin winced and said he was sorry to let them do this to him and told his little man that mommy should be responsible for this one. They took him back to the room down the hall and Kevin and I heard a baby start crying really loudly. Of course we felt horrible but about 20 mins later here he came back in his little incubator with his nuk in his mouth. Turns out it wasn't Camden crying. They said all he did was wince a little but kept sucking his nuk the entire time and never made a peep. He's such a good little man already.
So we wrapped him up in a blanket and pulled him out for his 4:30 feeding. It was my turn and after just being snipped I was afraid he wouldn't eat for me but boy was I wrong. As soon as I layed him back he had his mouth wide open like a little birdie wanting his bottle. He wouldn't even give me a chance to get the bottle to his mouth before he grabbed my finger and tried to suck on it. Within 15 mins he literally had 55 cc's which was a huge jump from the day before. The real kicker is that he actually wanted more however we didn't want to over do it. Our little boy has changed so much in just one day that it makes me so extremely happy I could cry.
So now that we are caught up, if things keep going well hopefully he will be out of the hospital soon.
Again so sorry for the amazingly long post. We know that many of you wished that i would have shut up long ago however we hope that every will understand this is as much for our little one as it is for you...
So I am going to post a couple of links... The first one is from a video we took of our little one sucking his nuk friday night during the penguin game. The second link is to snapfish where you will find pictures. We are trying to update them daily however bear with us because bouncing between home, trying to recover and heading to the NICU we are so far behind in everything.
So Last I updated everyone was after my appointment last Thursday and things have changed so much since then that this post is going to be long so bear with me.
I ended up taking last Friday off so that I could do the urine collection like they had asked. I had worked a half day on Monday and had my appointment at 2 pm that afternoon with Lisa. After taking my blood pressure she was very concerned because it was 160/108. Without much thinking she told me she was sending me down to Magee's triage to rule out Pre-eclampsia because my urine tests also came back elevated for proteins.
So I called Kevin and picked him up for work and we made our way down to the hospital. At this time I was thinking they were going to check me out and tell me I was okay to go home. After getting t0 triage and them putting me into a room, they hooked me up to fetal NST monitors and blood pressure monitors. I had to give more urine samples, blood samples and the usual poking and prodding. After what had felt like forever, the doctors of maternal fetal medicine came and and basically told me what I didn't want to hear. I was diagnosed with mild pre-eclampsia however was so close to borderline severe that they were admitting me. They explained they were going to give me steroid injections of bethamesdone to try and mature the babys lungs and that they were going to keep me under strict observation. At this time, the doctors told me that if I got any worse, they would take me right then and there because it was causing more problems for me to stay pregnant than dealing with the babys health issues later. If I stayed where I was at, they were hoping for me to make it to 37 weeks which they would either induce or take me for a C section. They then proceeded to tell me that I may need to stay in the hospital for a few weeks for the babys sake and of course this made me freak out.
Last week, I was thinking I had at least 5 more weeks until this little one would be here and now they were telling me it may be by the weekend. I was a little upset becuase I was feeling very emotional as it was and now to have to worry about him being here so soon I was even more freaked out.
After a long sleepless night and a horribly painful steroid injection, my blood pressure was staying consistent at around 140/95 or so. They made me stay another day so they could monitor me more and I wasn't released until Wed. morning however I was given strict guidlines for the next couple of weeks.
1.) Any changes with my blood pressure I had to call in immediately 2.) Any changes in vision call in immediately 3.) Strict bed rest and NO WORK 4.) Pelvic Rest 5.)Double appointments and NST for the baby every week 6.) Urine collections 7.) Any changes with baby movement call 8.) No lifting, no standing for long periods of time, no cleaning, cooking, etc. etc.
Dr. Imro was in to see me and basically laid it out on the table for me. She would be highly surprised if I make it to 37 weeks because she thinks that my symptoms are going to flair up again. She also said don't be surprised if you are back in the hospital with the next couple of weeks and stay until delivery. There is really nothing we can do now other than just wait and see how my body is handling things and if it starts to take a toll on the baby don't be surprised if they take me a lot sooner.
So after a very crazy and emotional week, I was at least allowed to come home and continue my rest here where I am comfortable. My baby shower got canceled, which of course I was disappointed about but the babys health is most important. I'm home from work and am already going stir crazy because any one who knows me knows its not easy for me to sit around and do nothing.
We still have no name for our little one and time is of the essence now and we officially have our bags packed.
Vistors at this time are very welcome because talking to the puppies all day long gets very old! So anyone who wants to stop by, let me know because I am more than willing to have you come over....
My next appointment is tomorrow so hopefully things are still roughly the same. Wish me luck and I will update you all very soon!
I am about 1 week behind on updates and I don't even know where to begin...
Back on the 8th of May, we had our scheduled ultrasound at Magee to see where the baby has been measuring. On that date I would have been 30 weeks and 5 days which would have placed the babies weight at roughly 3.3 lbs. Kevin and I both were so excited to be able to see this little one again and how he has grown. Remember the last time we saw him was back at 19 weeks which feels like so long ago now.
So as I am laying back on the table waiting for the nice cold gel to grace my oh so big stomach, I am not quite sure what I was expecting but when they showed us his beautiful face I think kevin and I were both in awe. We could see his full features, his little eye lids and nose. Its so amazing that even at 30 weeks gestation he has grown so much already. So anyways, after the ultrasound tech showing us his little feet and hands, she begins to take his measurements. jWhat showed up next absolutely blew my mind.. Our little munchkin is already measuring at 5.1lbs and at 33 weeks!!!!! So a little over two weeks ahead and of course he's breech. Frank Breech to be exact. Basically he's bum down face forward, legs up by his head. Aka folded like a pretzel. Leave it up to our little one to make things always more difficult :) So that's how the ultrasound went.
Mother's day was the Sunday after our ultrasound and Kevin was awesome... It was such a nice day and I wanted to wear flip flops but of course with my stomach being big I haven't been able to do my toe nails so he offered to do them for me. Of course it wasn't as good of a job as it would have been if I would have been done by the professionals but I love him for trying. Also you can see my feet are starting to swell..
So the week dragged by until my appointment on Thursday which again might I add so did not go as planned. I was set up for a 9am appt and told Dawn ( my supervisor) that at the latest I would be an hour late to work. Our first record of business was seeing how my weight was doing and honestly I was again pleasantly surprised only being up another 2 lbs which puts me at a total of 8lbs.. Like I said I am happy about that because my ultrasound the week before said the baby was about 5.1. I should have known though right then and there, that it was the end of the good news. Shari decided to do my blood pressure next and of course it was high again. 157/94 which is the highest its been yet. They were able to get our babies heart beat pretty quickly at 144 which is a change I guess.
By the time Lisa came in to take a look at me though and to look at the results of the ultrasound she only had one thing on her mind. My bp. Immediately after measuring my fundus, which is still 2 weeks ahead, she said we need to have a lot more tests done and we need them done asap. She didn't have a good feeling about this blood pressure. So she insisted I take Friday off, obviously rest but have cbc panel, eclampsia panel and have a 24 urine collection done. I had to have this all done by Saturday morning. The biggest thing that is worrying me is instead of our normal 2 week waiting period for my next appointment she wanted me back first thing on Monday. So monday afternoon I have a follow up with her to see what the next plan of attack is.
She explained to me that with high blood pressure, if it gets out of control, it can actually cut off all nourishment to the baby. Her biggest concern is obviously that I would end up with Pre-e and have to deliver early. As a precaution, she had all my paper work faxed over to the labor and delivery department at Magee. She also made sure I had the emergency number and of course if I see any kind of change in myself I am supposed to call immediately. So with that being said let's pray that all the tests I had done this weekend come back with a positive result other wise this little one may be here a lot sooner than we think!
So the next update will be monday night and then of course we have my baby shower this weekend. Until then.....
Anxious much? Of course I am. The weeks seems to be flying by but the days seem to be dragging. I am not sure how that is really possible but this is how I have been feeling the past week or two. Everyday I can't get over the fact that I am already 30 weeks but then again I can't believe that each day feels like a year until he will be in my arms.
So this past Thursday I had another appointment with my mid-wife Lisa Cone which to be honest went better than expected but not as good as I had hoped.
I gained another 3 lbs so that's a total weight gain now of 6 lbs up from my pre-pregnancy weight. Not to shabby for 30 weeks I think. As usual our little munchkin had to go and be difficult. Both the nurse Shari and Lisa had a heck of a time finding his heart beat with the doppler. Even though he was kicking the machine and was bouncing around everywhere after 15 mins of trying they were finally able to nab him. Roughly 150's which is exactly where he's been this entire pregnancy.
So now onto the more not so great news. After first walking in they took my blood pressure which is still really high. 155/87. I explained to them that I have been getting head aches, occasionally light headed and actually had my blood pressure checked the week before and it was 147/92. Shari was of course concerned since high BP has been linked to Pre-eclampsia so they tested for proteins in my urine which actually came back negative thank god. After knowing that she asked me to lie down on the table for about 15 mins and then she would come back and check it. So after doing this, she re-took the BP on my right arm. It drastically changed to 120/70. She didn't believe it so she re-took it on my left arm. Again 120/70.
Now even though I knew 120/70 is a good BP I knew what was coming next. Lisa, being the great concerned person that she is, immediately said to me. You know, now is the time to go on bed rest and stop working. I wasn't shocked when she said this at all but of course I wasn't ready for that yet. She basically told me that I didn't have a leg to stand on because when I am up doing things my BP is high however when I am laying down or relaxing, my BP returns to normal. She explained to me that high BP leads to preterm babies, possible Pre-Eclampsia, under weight babies, etc. So with that being said I asked her if she can do a two week trial. Let me work two weeks at a time and monitor me as needed. She agreed as long as I have some tests done and they come back normal. So with that being said I have at least another two weeks of work. I am hoping at the very least to work up until 34 weeks however I am not getting ahead of myself just yet.
So Kevin and I went on our tour of the hospital today which went pretty well. It was nice to see our labor rooms, nursery, c-section recovery rooms, the family lounge and of course the big mirror on the celing in the labor rooms. Yes there really is a mirror on the ceiling. The only part I wasn't really happy with was the fact they tried to fit all 22 of us on one elevator. Yes all 22 and that's no joke. Its kind of uncomfortable when you are standing belly to belly with a ton of people you don't know but either way that's another check on our list to do!
After our tour, Kevin and I had to run to Babies R Us to use up a few coupons we had that were expiring. I just have to share what we picked up because they are adorable!!!! We got an adorable stuffed monster which I just love!! We got our little baby boy his very first basket ball and we also picked up soft baby Einstien blocks.
How cute right?
Kevin and I shared a nice lunch together today at Olive Garden. Gotta love the Soup, Salad and Breadsticks! Yummy
Also I just wanted to throw a quick thank you out to Carrie, Damien and their new little one Jake for all the stuff that he outgrew so quickly. I am sure it will all come in handy!! Especially all the diapers since I am sure we will be using a ton of them!!
Alright thats enough talking for me today! I promise you won't hear from me again until Friday after our next ultrasound!
Goodbye cold weather and welcome the awesome 80's!!
This weekend marks my 29th week however all I can think about is how much I have to get done, both inside in the nursery and outside with all my plants and flowers before this little one gets here and takes up all my time.
Kevin and I have spent 90 % of this weekend busting our buts outside and we both have the sunburn to show it. From planting the 16 new plants I picked up to painting the deck furniture we are exhausted and still have a long list to go. Just seeing this picture though reminds me that once the weather is finally here to stay we will have a beautiful yard to enjoy. I just love the view from our back deck...
And of course Brooklynn was sure to follow daddy and try to help him every where he went.. Don't mind the not so straight plant line. I still have the edging and the pete moss to take care of.
The puppies were so excited to be able to spend some time outside with us and of course bask in the sun.
Okay so enough about the puppies and our weekend work, I also made a trip to Greensburg with Nancy and found some amazing deals on cute things for the baby's room!! You just have to love the dollar bins at Target!!
Here is a little whale bank...
Cute little whale hanging rack..
Picked up these cute little round tins that have little sail boats on them..
An adorable Whale Nite Light.
So a special thanks to Nancy for talking me into going shopping this weekend with her!
Okay so I know I have been promising but I am about to finally deliver. I told you I went picture crazy this weekend! So here are some before shots of the room we were using for the nursery. And yes we know it looked like crap but trust me when I say the pictures do not do it justice. It really was much worse than the pictures even show!! Between the giant nails in the trim and the painted electrical outlets the previous owners were real handy men!
Okay so know you have a rough idea of how bad that it was, here is the pictures of the nursery now. Its not finished and we still have some decorative stuff to do but its 100 times better than it was!
Well I hope everyone likes the pictures and sorry I went a little over board! Thursday is my next appointment and I will update everyone again hopefully that night.. I am hoping my blood pressure is down so wish me luck!
