The Joys of Late Pregnancy

Just thought I would give an update on here on how things have been going the past week or so. I've been to the hospital twice in the last week and it wasn't even to have the baby!

On Tuesday, I was feeling pretty sick and had been for a few days. I brushed it off for awhile, thinking I had picked up whatever Kayley had had which was some sort of stomach virus but by Tuesday, I was having severe headaches and blurry vision and just didn't feel right. I called the labor and delivery department and spoke with a nurse and told her how I was feeling and she told me to come in right away and get checked out. My friend and pastor's wife, who is a nurse, had also come by that afternoon to check my blood pressure and pick up their dog that we had been dog sitting for the week, so I knew at that point that my blood pressure was higher than it normally is for me -- 120 over 82 which I know is still totally normal but I usually run about 90 something over 60 something so I wondered if this was why I might be feeling so icky.

Anyway, Sam's mom watched the girls and we headed up to the hospital. I was put on a monitor and checked for a whole bunch of things, including pre-ecclampsia (which I did NOT have, thank goodness) The doctor and nurses were absolutely wonderful and I felt like I was lounging in a hotel with full room service instead of being checked out for health issues. The doctor had a meal brought for me and told me to relax for awhile. He was concerned about the symptoms I had been having but thankfully after drinking a TON of water and resting, everything (blood tests)came back normal, my vision was just fine and had cleared, and the headache had lessened. The doctor seemed to think it had been a combination of stress, dehydration, and possibly picking up the virus Kayley had had. He gave strict instructions for me to REST and drink a lot and to keep my stress level down as much as possible. The baby looked great on the monitors and was active as usual so there was no concern there. I went home and went right to bed (my mother-in-law had bathed both girls and put them to bed which was wonderful!) and I woke up feeling MUCH better.

Well, then this morning I had my usual weekly check-up, although it was with a different doctor because my doctor is conveniently on vacation for the next couple of weeks. She was very nice and very thorough and when she was feeling for the baby's position, she couldn't quite determine how he was lying. She thought he might have flipped up into a breech position (he has been head down for the last few weeks) and she wanted me to head over to the hospital for an ultrasound to verify his position since I have a history of rapid deliveries. She said it was either "a big bum" or a head that she was feeling up high. Well to make a long story short, I was back on the labor and delivery floor within a half hour or so and it looks like little Christian does in fact have a big bum (poor little guy) or he's just curled up real funny because he is still head down and in the right position for delivery. The doctor and nurse were wonderful, once again, and I feel at ease knowing I'm having the baby there. (This is a brand new hospital for us since we've only lived here a year and I had both my girls in our old town)

I did have some feelings of panic, however, as I heard babies crying down the hall and started thinking about the upcoming pain of labor. Thankfully, I didn't hear any awful screaming like I did at our old hospital during a false alarm which REALLY threw me into a panic. But all in all, I'm glad we kind of got a practice run to the hospital and then I got to see what it's like there and meet a couple nice nurses and hopefully the next time I'm there, I'll be having a baby!

So, I'm trying to take it easy as much as that is possible with two little girls running around, and hoping to keep the baby "in the cooker" for at least another week or two like the doctor said to do. I'm due in four weeks but I was told if I have any serious contractions or my water breaks to go to the hospital right away and not wait. I hope this labor goes quick like everyone is saying it will (Kayley was two hours and ten minutes from beginning to end) but we'll see what happens! :)

I also asked the doctor to take a guess at his weight and he said he would give it a shot and guessed that he was around "6-ish" pounds and still fairly small. He could put on weight quickly in the next couple of weeks of course so it will be interesting to see.

So that's my long update! :)