28 Weeks with Donovan:
28 Weeks with Baby #3:
I think both my belly growth and weight gain are starting to level out a little now. I still look bigger than last time, but I think I weigh about the same. I've gained around 27 pounds so far and will probably put on another 10 more at least. Did you know my dear brother and his lovely fiance planned their wedding for July? Yeah, nothing like finally being in one of your siblings weddings to make you depressed about how chubby you will look 8ish weeks after giving birth. Contrary to what people might think, it takes me many, many months to lose the weight. Typically, by 2 months post partum, I still have 25 pounds or so to lose. Ah, well!! At least I will have a beautiful baby to deflect attention to!
I am feeling generally good. This exact point in pregnancy is where I really start to get the urge to nest. It's funny cause it literally kicks in at the same time each time. I get bursts of energy and I get a lot done. When I am not bursting with energy, I'm resting from all the toddler chasing and work I've been doing. This is also the point where I start to get lots of leg/hip soreness at night and constant congestion. Neither is too bad just yet. My legs have been a little better, I think, because I have been using our new elliptical fairly regularly. My goal has been to do 2, 10 minute light workouts each day on the elliptical. It's about all I have time for and I'm not looking to push myself at all. Honestly, I'm just doing it cause it seems to help my leg muscles and it's good to get moderate exercise in pregnancy if you can.
The baby is doing wonderfully so far as we can tell! It turned head down at around 26-28 weeks and will likely stay that way. Both my others turned before 30 weeks and stayed. All the normal prenatal tests have been fine and things look great.
In my last post, I talked about our ultrasound findings and what that might mean for me and the baby. I'm happy to report that after many nights of worry, fear, and even tears, I have nothing but good news to report!!! Lets start at the beginning. Basically, there were 2 findings. First, I had complete placenta previa, which if not resolved would mean a c section. Obviously not what I want, but it wouldn't be the end of the world and the baby would probably be just fine even with the added risks for mom and baby. I really had high hopes and strong feelings that it would resolve as it was still early on and 90% do resolve by delivery. At our follow-up ultrasound last week, I was cleared of placenta previa!! The placenta is no longer covering or touching the cervix at all. It is still low lying, but will only move up from here. We are going to check it one more time before delivery just to see how low it might still be. Placentas only move up as the uterus grows, so it may not even be low lying at the next ultrasound. (Note: low lying placenta is not really a big deal, it's just if it's really low, there could be a higher risk of bleeding during delivery. We are checking it just to be on the safe side)
The second finding was that the baby had a single artery umbilical chord. This is what has given me nightmares. At first, really no one thought it was a big deal. My midwife had seen them before and had never seen a case where there were issues. The ultrasound tech said she had seen quite a few also and had never seen any other problems. The physician that looks over my ultrasounds just recommended the followup scan, but didn't note any other worries either. All the anecdotal evidence said that it was no big deal and the baby seemed totally fine. Then, at my 28 week appointment, my fundal height measurement was measuring at 24 weeks. I sort of freaked a little. I have always measured pretty close to the week I am and maybe a week behind at the most. This meant that my uterus was measuring a month behind and hadn't really grown at all since the last appt. Babies with SUA (in SOME studies) have a higher chance of IUGR. Of course, my mind went directly to this diagnosis. My midwife wasn't freaking, but I could tell she was a little concerned and emphasized how glad she was that I was having a scan in a few days. The next few days were awful. I have no idea why I freaked out so much, but I did a lot of crying. The thought of having a baby that wasn't healthy or might be very premature or worse was really crappy to think about. I kept thinking about how hard it would be to go home from the hospital without my baby or to have to visit a baby in the NICU. I think part of it was that we have been SO BLESSED with health and perfectly healthy babies, I just figured maybe my luck had run out. I always expect that some day it will come crashing down and we will have a child with all sorts of problems. Or maybe my Heavenly Father knows I am just not that strong and he is sparing me. I don't know. Anyway, lots of people were praying for us and I am so appreciative of that. Seriously, some of the studies I read were just scary and totally nerve wracking. I sometimes hate that all the medical journals and studies are online. I totally took advantage of it and read all kinds of stuff. It just made it worse.
Kevin and I both felt like I needed a blessing. Each pregnancy, I get a blessing at the beginning and I always feel the comfort and inspiration they bring. The night before our ultrasound, Kevin and a bishopric member gave me a blessing. Oh, what a comfort rushed over me. We both felt the strong impression that the baby would be totally fine and healthy. I was told that I would have the wisdom to know what would be best for this baby and that our desires and hopes for a healthy baby and delivery would be granted. Best words ever. Needless to say, at the ultrasound the next day, the baby was measuring right on at 29 weeks. They did the most advanced ultrasound available, checking and measuring everything. Our baby looks perfect!! During the hour long scan, they measured blood flow, each chamber of the heart, several valves, all the organs, each portion of the brain, seriously everything! It was so nice to get the visual confirmation of what we were told the night before. Still not sure why the measurement was so off, but I suspect it's cause it has dropped into my pelvis further or the baby was in a weird position. You can tell in the picture how much lower my belly is.
So to summarize, our baby looks absolutely fine and perfect. Everything seems fine for us both this pregnancy and so far, all my prenatal tests have confirmed this. So with that info, we are finally starting to make some delivery plans for this baby! Contrary to what some people seem to think, the delivery, birth plans, and all that stuff is NOT the most important thing to me. I am very thankful for modern medicine, experienced care-givers, and options in childbirth. I have preferences, but like every mom, in the end, I want a healthy baby however it needs to happen.
P.S. I'll fill you in on our "plans" soon : )
