He's HERE!!!!!

Coleson James Gable

7lbs 11oz 20.5in

Born December 10, 2017 @ 5:57pm

Photo by Mikaela Marie Photography

Sorry I've been so MIA since my last post, but as you can imagine, things have been pretty busy! I've spent Coleson's nap times over the past few days recalling his birth and writing down the whole story so I don't forget one bit! Partly so I can share everything with you, partly because his birth was the culmination of such a long journey, and partly because I want to remember the pain so I never go through birth again... (HA! we'll see..)

Ok so here it goes... 

Long story short, the week of dec 3 was the longest, hardest week of my life. Luckily, it had a pretty good ending ;)

I decided I couldn’t do another week at work and that I would take leave without pay the week of his due date in hopes he would come sometime that week. We had a doctors appointment on Monday morning (the 4th), and I was really hoping for some news of progress or at least the opportunity to schedule an induction date. Unfortunately, I left that appointment crying because I got neither. I was still “not yet 1cm” dilated and even after me begging, was told they will not schedule an induction until after 41 weeks. Ugh! I was so frustrated. It made it seem like my hope of him coming that week was not going to happen and I could not imagine being pregnant for two more weeks. But! I decided to make the best of my week off, rest, get a pedicure, check out a local daycare, and cross off some last minute to-dos.

I went Monday through Wednesday with zero signs of labor. Finally by the early morning hours of Thursday, I woke up at 2am with some bad period cramping. I’d had this the week prior, but it only ever lasted 2 hours and then would go away. This lasted all morning and was definitely stronger - I was so hopeful this meant labor was coming!!

I ended up laying around the house with cramps all day Thursday and Friday (with some minor brown discharge, which I thought was promising!) but still no definite contractions that I could time. We did our daycare tour Friday afternoon, visited our friends nearby for a few hours, and then came home to just hang out. Kyle ended up having some of the neighbors over to drink some beers in the garage and I randomly ended up on the phone with three of my past work guy friends chatting and laughing for 2 hours. I got off the phone and had Kyle come inside around 10pm and all of a sudden out of the blue I started having contractions. And they were timeable! And painful!

We sat around for an hour while I timed how far apart they were. They seemed 3-5 minutes apart which was exactly what we were told to look for, so we started packing up our hospital bags. I wasn’t in a ton of pain, but after cramping for two days and now having consistent contractions, I thought for sure I had dilated and that this was the start of labor (which, it was, but I was very wrong about how long my “early labor” would be). We got to the hospital and were led to the initial labor and delivery room - this is where you get checked out to see if you’re actually in labor before they admit you to the hospital. We had a super nice nurse and went through all the questions and testing. They hooked me up to monitor contractions and the baby’s heartbeat. Then the nurse did a cervix check - still barely 1cm dilated - YOU HAVE TO BE KIDDING ME! We were told that I was either in very early labor or “false labor” and that we would have to go home and come back when I was further along. Ugh!

We didn’t get home until 2am, and I was still having contractions, but luckily they weren’t super painful and I was able to fall asleep by 3am. I slept like crap though, and woke up by 7am from a much stronger contraction. I was still having them, but they were much stronger now and further apart - about 15-20 minutes apart.

I labored around the house all day waiting for them to get stronger and closer together, which they did slowly. By 9pm we decided to try and get some sleep again. At this point, they were about 7 minutes apart. Still not close enough to go to the hospital, but I was in a decent amount of pain. I went in and out of sleep - waking up with each really strong one. At this point they were hurting so bad I couldn’t talk through them. I could only hum and focus on getting through it. By 1am I had to get out of bed, they were hurting too bad to be laying down. I went to the bathroom and (warning, TMI) I had passed a huge amount of bloody mucous - a tell tale sign that your cervix has opened and labor has really started. I knew this had to be it! Just to be careful we waited around the house to time them and make sure this was really happening (while watching Moana on Netflix to distract me). Contractions were definitely 4 minutes apart and STRONG. So we packed up our stuff again for the second night in a row and headed back to the hospital to be checked.

By this point it was about 230am. The ride there was TERRIBLE. I was in so much pain and I was so scared to be sent home again. I had now gone almost 2 days with very little sleep and I just wanted the epidural so I could rest. Again we were sent to be checked. We luckily had the same nurse as the night before. She remembered us and said “ok NOW you look like you’re in labor.” She decided to check my cervix first this time before doing everything else to see how far I’d progressed. I was really hoping for 4cm because I knew if it was anything less they’d probably send me home.

“You’re about 2.5cm so you’ve definitely progressed” - cue the major breakdown. I started balling, begging her to let me stay, and telling her there’s no way I can go home again. I was in so much pain. She told us it’s up to the doctor on whether we can stay, but that she would “fight our case” - I loved her!! We waited around to see what our fate would be. In the meantime, some other pregnant lady came into the room in the curtain across from us. She was clearly in labor too and came to get checked. It was her second baby, and literally within 2 seconds they told her she was already 6cm and would be admitted and sent to her room. I remember laying there thinking KILL ME NOW! How is she already 6cm and getting a room and I’ve been having contractions for days and I’m fighting to stay here!!!

I think about an hour had passed before the nurse finally came in and said “I talked to the doctor and we are going to admit you!” I cried out of happiness and literally gave her a hug for helping us stay. I’ve never been more happy in my life.

We moved to our room - a nice big room! And I think by this point it was probably 430-5ish. My mom was on her way to the hospital and I was begging the nurse for my epidural. I had to wait to get my IV and a full bag of fluids before they could do it, and I was #3 on the epidural list. I was told it would be around 630am when I could get the epidural. I remember thinking, “ok that’s only 1.5 hours, I can do 1.5 hours of anything.” And then I heard the screams...

In the room next to us was a lady in labor at 7cm and SCREAMING. Literally it sounded like she was being murdered. I started crying to Kyle because it scared me! I didn’t want that to be me!!! Luckily the nurse realized I was freaked out by it and said, “don’t worry, she didn’t have the epidural” - whew ok. Crazy lady.

I labored in the room waiting for the epidural and tried to eat some jello (you can only have clear liquids/foods once admitted). My contractions were getting unbearable. I had to stand and lean over the bed with each one and the pain was starting to make me nauseous. By 6:15am I thought I was dying and I have this clear image in my head of my last few contractions before the epidural. My mom was rubbing my back, I was leaning over the bed practically falling on the floor and I started throwing up from the pain. This is when I said the famous labor line, “Kyle we are NEVER doing this again” LOL

Finally my best friend the anesthesiologist walked in our room, right on time at 630am. I was TERRIFIED of the epidural, but didn’t really care because I knew it would make me feel so much better. Kyle left to go take care of our dogs and my mom stayed with me during the epidural process. He prepped my back and we waited for a break between contractions. They talked me through each step and it honestly wasn’t as bad as I thought. It was uncomfortable, but didn’t hurt one bit. It was literally instant relief once it was in. I think I felt one contraction after he was done and then they were gone! What a miracle!!!!

Finally I could relax! I was nervous that having the epidural so early would cause my labor to slow down, but honestly it had the opposite effect for me. I think I had been so stressed out while in pain that I was preventing myself from progressing. As soon as I could relax, I progressed SO quickly.  By 9am, I was already 5cm!! It was finally happening! I was too anxious/excited/terrified to sleep, but it was nice to relax while we waited.

We just laid around all day waiting for my cervix to dilate. By 12:30, I was 8cm! We thought he would arrive by 2-3! Then things slowed down a bunch... at 1:45pm, I was still 8cm and my contractions weren’t consistent enough. I would have a really strong one followed by a tiny one and they weren’t regular. The nurse said she would talk to the doctor and make a decision on what to do - either go ahead and break my water or start pitocin.

The doctor decided to break my water first, so we waited around for her to arrive. Once she broke my water, we waited an hour to see if it helped. It definitely made the contractions stronger, but they still weren’t consistent enough after an hour. I think by this point it was around 3? The times are already fuzzy to me! So we decided to start a small dose of pitocin to see how my body responded. Immediately it worked!! My contractions became really strong and perfectly timed. More waiting to get to 10cm...

About an hour later the nurse checked me and I was 9.5cm and almost ready to push! Even though I had the epidural, my contractions were so strong that I felt SO much pressure and again had to hum through them. It was like my body was naturally pushing even though I wasn’t trying - such a weird feeling. The nurse started prepping for delivery and we did a few practice pushes. I remember having a panic attack once my legs were in the stirrups. I was so scared to push and be in pain. Since his head was so low, the doctor came in pretty quickly once I started pushing because they thought I’d only push for 30 minutes. Well, that was wrong.

I remember the beginning of pushing being way better than I imagined. It didn’t really hurt - it actually felt better allowing myself to push through the contractions, but I got exhausted really quickly. Everything started to become a blur and I only remember portions of the 1.5 hours of pushing.

Once his head was starting to come out, his heart rate was dropping a lot on each contraction. I remember the doctor becoming really serious and saying “I need to get this baby out soon” - I got so scared thinking I wasn’t going to be able to do it, but it gave me more motivation to try and get him out quickly. It felt like it took forever to get his head out, but Kyle was such a good cheerleader for me. I was honestly shocked - after 9 months of him saying he would never watch, he was totally into it. He watched the whole time and coached me perfectly - I seriously couldn’t have done it without him and my mom cheering me on through it.

Once his head was out, we learned why his heart rate had been dropping - his cord was wrapped twice around his neck. It was so tight the doctor couldn’t pull it over his head, so she made the split decision to cut it even though he wasn’t fully out yet. This meant his connection to my placenta was broken and I had to get him out fast. I was screaming in pain by this point because it felt like I was being ripped in half (and my epidural had run out halfway through pushing). We still had to get his shoulders out, and quickly. I screamed and pushed with everything I had - it was seriously the hardest thing I’ve ever done. Finally he was born and I felt instant relief. They tried to place him on my chest, but he was completely blue and hadn’t taken his first breath yet. He was on my chest for a split second and then they had to take him to the warmer. I remember being terrified that he wasn’t ok, but within a few seconds he started crying and it was the best sound ever. Finally, he was here and he was ok.

What I didn't realize was that the pain was still not over for me. Although all I wanted was to hold my baby, I had to lay there and endure over an hour of more pain because I ended up with 3rd degree tears (down to the muscle) and the doctor had to stitch me up and stop all of my bleeding. Since the epidural had worn off, they could only do some local numbing and it was super painful feeling the doctor push hard on my stomach and pull and stitch everythingggg. I felt like I was being pulled apart and put back together again. And the amount of bloody towels laying around was pretty scary - there was A TON of blood. Apparently my uniquely shaped uterus (although it hadn't caused any issues through the birth) was not effectively contracting to get everything out and stop my bleeding. So, the doctor had to do a lot of reaching up there on her own and pressing down on my uterus... it was.. not fun. But I still just remember feeling so relieved that it was over and I actually did it.

Finally by 8pm we were led to the Mother/Baby unit and got checked into a room (with a much comfier bed!). And we were pumped that we were done everything just in time for the ravens game - only to find out that we were the only room on the whole floor with a TV that didn't GET the ravens game - ugh hahaha. But it didn't really matter because we were exhausted anyway.

We spent the next two nights at the hospital recovering. I had A LOT of pain and could barely get out of bed with my stitches. It was nice to finally not be in labor and rest, but the nurses literally come in the room every hour at night to take vitals, draw blood, check on the baby, etc etc so we still didn't get much sleep while there. By Tuesday morning we were definitely ready to get home!

And now? We are adjusting! I'm still sore and have issues walking around too much or doing too many stairs. Coleson is doing great and we couldn't be anymore in love with him! He's pretty consistently awake every 2-3 hours at night to eat, but we are managing! I'm nervous for when Kyle goes back to work in 1.5 weeks though. In the meantime, we've been happily having a bunch of visitors over and we are excited (and nervous!) for all of our trips outside the house this weekend for Christmas festivities! It will be good to have a bit of a change though and to get off the couch!

I still look at Coleson every day and cannot believe he was inside of me and that I actually made it through IVF, 9 months of pregnancy, and the birth process without any major complications and ended up with the most perfect baby boy - he is truly a miracle and I'm so thankful.

And I'm thankful for YOU - thank you to everyone who has followed along with my story here. I'm not sure my plans for this blog, but I do know that I'm saving all of my posts and turning them into a book for Coleson so that he can see how much he was wanted. 

We made it!!!!

Love, Lyss 

Photo by Mikaela Marie Photography

Yes, I'm STILL Pregnant.

Ugh.

Despite my extreme Thanksgiving eating and hoping to go into labor Sunday/Monday earlier this week, it didn't happen. I'm now 1 day away from being 39 weeks and never in a million years did I think I'd ever be THIS pregnant. Yeah, I'm not "full term" at 40 weeks yet, but when you're told over and over that you'll most likely deliver early and then you make it to 39 weeks, it feels like you're actually 42 weeks and massively overdue. 

I had a doctor's appointment last night which was quite frustrating - for a multitude of reasons. First of all, my appointment was at 4pm, so I left work early at 3pm to get there at 3:45. Then I proceeded to wait in the waiting room until 4:50 when they finally called me back after I sighed and rolled my eyes 500 times hoping the receptionist would see my frustration (I mean seriously?! an hour late?! I could have stayed at work a full day!). Not sure if I've mentioned this here before, but once you're called back by the nurse, that's only step 1. She weighs you, takes your blood pressure, and shoves you in a room where you then wait again for the doctor to come in. I think last night it was 5:15 until we actually saw the doctor. Ugh. 

But I digress. Luckily I liked this doctor - it was the same one I had check my hand situation last week when I went it last minute (which by the way, turns out I have pregnancy induced carpal tunnel - yay), but it was the first time I had an actual weekly check up with her. She was thorough, and I like thorough. Baby's heartbeat measured good and she even felt around the baby a lot on my stomach to estimate size, which she guessed was "high 7s". She then did my cervix check, which leads me to frustration #2: I'm still not dilated. HOW.

The good news is my cervix is 70% effaced (thinned out) AND the big shocker was that Coleson's head is considered +1 station. They measure how far down the head is based on a -5 to +5 scale. A 0 means he's "engaged" and anything on the plus side means he's descending out of my pelvis. Basically, the doctor said if I was fully dilated, I'd be pushing with his head at +1. Shocking, but thinking about how painful it is to walk lately, I guess not that shocking. I literally feel like I have a bowling ball in my pelvis. Fun.

The doctor said though that since his head is so far down, it should press on my cervix and help me start to dilate. Also, the past 3 nights I've been having contractions, so that has to be doing SOMETHING I'd think. Some of them have even been pretty painful, but every time I honestly wish for the pain to stay. Bring on the pain!!!

As expected, I'm completely miserable at work this week. I've been trying SO hard to just not think about it and go on with my normal routine, but it is a serious struggle. So, after talking to my supervisors, I've decided that even if I don't go into labor by this weekend, I'm going to take next week off of work in hopes that he comes by my due date. I just can't imagine suffering through another week and it honestly would be so nice to just relax my last week of pregnancy. I'm already feeling a huge amount of relief knowing tomorrow will be my last day. Plus, I'm getting pretty sick of people seeing me in the hall or coming to my office saying "you're STILL pregnant?!".... um yes thank you for reminding me that's very helpful (can you tell my grumpiness has totally kicked in??).

Luckily, my next doctor's appointment is Monday morning, so I don't have to wait too long till my next check. If I make it to Monday, I'm planning to ask the doctor if I can be induced if I make it all the way to Dec 9 without labor starting. Normally they say they will induce you if you still haven't gone into labor by 41 weeks, but I'm hoping we can just do it by 40 weeks. He's already measuring so big and I feel like if I wait till 41 weeks I'm not going to be able to get him out!

Coleson, we are SO ready to meet you and momma needs her body back sooooo let's get this show on the road!!!!!

Thanksgiving Week

I can't believe Thanksgiving is tomorrow! Have I mentioned that I'm pretty pumped to be (almost) 38 weeks pregnant and "eating for two" during Thanksgiving???? CAN'T WAIT.

I had my 37 week appointment on Monday which went well. Blood pressure and baby's heartbeat measured good. The cervix check this time was MUCH better so either the last doctor was super rough or maybe it's less uncomfortable now that my cervix is opening up some. Or both. Anyway, this time I got some indication that things are progressing at least a little. She said my cervix is thinned out, baby's head is nice and low, and I'm starting to dilate. Not 1cm yet, but it's opening. Thank goodness! 

Yesterday though, my hands started getting super painful. It has been pretty normal for them to feel swollen when I first wake up in the morning, but yesterday they felt tight, numb, and sore during the middle of the day. I felt REALLY crappy yesterday at work and ended up leaving early around 3. My hands continued to be sore all night and even woke me up several times in the night because they hurt so bad. I decided to call the OB office this morning to talk to one of the nurses and see if this was a symptom I should be concerned about. Normally, I'd probably try to wait it out a bit, but since it's a holiday week and they are about to be closed for 4 days, I figured I should probably call. They ended up telling me I should at least come in to check my blood pressure and urine to make sure I'm not developing pre-eclampsia, so I'm going in at the most inconvenient appointment time today (the only one they had left) at 12:10. Which means I'm only at work a couple hours this morning. Kinda sucks because I have like 14 hours of vacation time left and after today will only have 9, but I'm struggling again today at work, so I'm kinda happy to be leaving early again. It will be good to just get checked out before the long weekend anyway.

Hopefully I can take the rest of the day to relax some, prep for tomorrow, and enjoy the long weekend ahead with family! I cannot tell you how excited I am to have 4 days off. YES! And also reallyyyyyyy hoping Coleson decides to make an appearance early next week so I don't have to come back to work. Bringing my laptop home today just incase ;)

Fingers crossed!! And Happy Thanksgiving!!!

We've reached term! (well.. almost)

It's Thursday. I'll be 37 weeks in 2 days (Saturday) anddddd 37 weeks is considered "term." Meaning, baby boy is ready and labor could come any time! AND it also means that I proved myself wrong in thinking I'd never make it this far. Pretty exciting.

We took our Baby Care Basics and Childbirth classes last weekend. The baby care class was awesome - only 2.5 hours and everything we covered was super helpful. The fake babies we used were totally creepy looking, but I do feel much more confident about taking care of a newborn now. The childbirth class wasn't as great. It was SO long (unnecessarily long I think, and during Sunday football - luckily it was a Ravens Bye week), and I honestly felt like I already knew everything they covered. We did watch some disturbing birth videos though, which Kyle really enjoyed (HA), and I think he definitely learned some stuff (he's not as big into the labor/birthing research as I am), so hopefully that will allow him to know more about what's going on while we are in the hospital. Overall, I'm still glad we did both though and glad it's checked off the list! 

I had my 36 week appointment on Tuesday. They did a Group B Strep test - just a swab of your cervix to see if you have Group B Strep. Apparently 1/3 of people have it and it doesn't cause any problems in a normal person, but if you have it and deliver a baby naturally it can be passed on to the baby through the birth canal and make them sick. I haven't gotten my results back yet, but basically if I test positive, it will just mean that they will need to give me an IV of antibiotics during labor to prevent passing any issues to the baby. That test was a piece of cake compared to the second purpose of the appointment which was my cervix check...

I swear this doctor (another new lady we haven't had before) shoved her entire arm up to her elbow in there. I was SO not expecting the forcefulness of this - holy crap. I screamed it hurt so bad. And honestly it was so fast I don't know how she could tell anything from what she did, but apparently, I'm not dilated at all yet. Great. I was kinda frustrated that my body wasn't showing any signs of progress yet, but it's still early so I'm trying to be patient. The bad news is that I need to get these cervix checks done every week now and after that unpleasant experience, I'm not looking forward to the rest of them... 

Now that I'm 37 weeks and know I'm not dilated at all, the walking has begun. I've gone this whole pregnancy trying to "take it easy" by not walking more than needed, taking the elevator instead of the stairs, etc. But now it's eviction time! Although I feel like I'm going to die after just walking a short distance, I'm going to try and do it as much as possible now to hopefully get this boy moving in the downward direction!! 

Pretty sure I've mentioned this to everyone I know (and on here too), but I'd LOVE if he came sometime in the week after Thanksgiving. That way the holiday will be over, we will have our Christmas tree, the house will be decorated, and everything will be ready. Of course since that's what I want to happen, I'm sure it won't, but I'm gonna hope anyway. I reallyyyyy don't want to be in the hospital past my due date in the middle of December - who wants to spend Christmas-time in the hospital?! No thank you! 

He's definitely getting bigger, so hopefully Coleson decides he's running out of space in there and wants to meet us soon. Maybe stuffing my belly with Thanksgiving food will help :) 

35 weeks, 4 days, & contractions!!

Every time I go to the OB, they always ask, "Have you been feeling any contractions?" and I always kind of shrug my shoulders and say, "I don't think so?"

I'd always have random pains here and there and wonder if maybe they were the famous "Braxton Hicks contractions" that everyone talks about, but I've never been sure... until Friday.

OF COURSE the day Kyle leaves to go camping in the middle of nowhere is the day I start feeling contractions for the first time. Around Friday afternoon at work, I started to feel some tightness around the top of my stomach. It was getting pretty uncomfortable to the point where I ended up leaving work around 3:30. As I drove home, it got worse and worse. Then once I got home I had to take my dogs out and spent ~15 minutes walking around with two crazy, leash pulling pups. The pain was still getting worse, but I still didn't think much of it. I decided to cook dinner and lay down, but by 6:00pm my stomach was SO tight and I keep feeling this sharp stabbing pain - nothing like I'd felt before. 

Finally I decided to call my mom and tell her about my symptoms. She said right away I was probably having contractions. Cue the panic! I cannot have contractions this weekend of ALL weekends!!! The only thing I kept thinking though was, these couldn't be labor contractions (thank goodness), because there was no pattern to them (it was more like a constant pain rather than a on/off timed pain) and also, although they were painful, it wasn't like I felt the need to rush to the hospital or anything. I realized I hadn't drank much water that day, and being dehydrated can cause contractions, so I decided to chug some water and rest. After about an hour they stopped for the most part.

Luckily, I haven't had them since. Although, I think he's just taking up so much room in my stomach that just him moving around can be painful for me. Yesterday he seemed to be all balled up in one spot and I was super uncomfortable. Everyday is exhausting!!

I pretty much look at the calendar every day at work wondering how much longer it will be. I'm just dying to be done (with work mostly, I still feel like I can deal with housing this little guy for a few more weeks). Luckily even though just getting ready and coming to work sucks, it's been pretty calm for the most part which has been a nice change. Also, Kyle is off weekends now and now that his camping trip is over, we have no big plans other than checking off last minute things from our baby to-do list and enjoying some pre-holiday down time together :)

Other things... I had a dentist appointment yesterday (no cavities - yay!). It was funny too because the last time I was at the dentist I was just 9 weeks pregnant - so crazy! This Friday we are taking a "Baby Care Basics" class at the hospital to learn how to take care of a newborn. It's from 7-9:30pm - woo hoo thrilling Friday night! Not to mention also wayyyy past my bedtime, so that will be interesting. Then Sunday afternoon we are taking a 4 hour birthing class (also at the hospital). I'm hoping between all these classes we can do some other things like pack our hospital bag, get the carseat installed, etc. So, this weekend will be all baby prep and I'll be glad to check some to-dos off the never ending list!

Our 36 week appointment is Tuesday and hopefully we will get some indication on how far down his head is and if I've started dilating at all. Will post an update next week after that appointment!

"Normal" After All...

Well, the big placenta check was yesterday, and while the appointment went well, I'm still wrapping my head around the results.

The sonogram revealed (according to the doctor - my least favorite one by the way), that my placenta is approx 3cm away from my cervix. At the last check at 30 weeks (I'm now 34), it was 1 cm away. Their cut off? 2 cm. It's all very close, but according to the doctor, since it's further than 2 cm, I'm cleared to try for a natural delivery. 

Most people would be ecstatic about this - and part of me is - I mean, I never would have guessed I'd have a shot at being normal in this pregnancy whatsoever - but it all just seems too risky to me. First of all, these sonogram measurements are so inaccurate and bias. One doctor could measure and it be 1 cm and another doctor could get 3 cm, so how do we REALLY know? Also, I'm not thrilled about the plan of "trying" for a natural delivery. I just have this gut feeling that I'm going to have to go through the waiting of labor to start, the pain of labor, the pain of pushing, only to be told it's not working or I'm bleeding too much from the placenta and have to get an emergency c-section anyway. Ugh - soooo not ideal.

So I'm still trying to let it all soak in. At the end of the day, I have to trust that the doctors know what's best and hope that it all goes smoothly. Who knows, maybe the best will happen and I will actually be able to successfully deliver him vaginally and I can skip the c-section scar & recovery. Although a natural delivery means I'd miss out on an extra 2 weeks of maternity leave - so I'm kinda bummed about that haha.

In other news, I got my TDAP shot (kind of a booster shot for a bunch of sicknesses) - it includes Tetanus, so they warned me my arm would hurt for a few days, but so far, it hasn't hurt at all and seems better than the flu shot. Also, they FINALLY took some growth measurements of Coleson so we could get an idea of his size. He's measuring 5lbs 12oz - which I can't BELIEVE. He's a little bigger than average - 70th percentile - so I'm really measuring closer to 36 weeks than 34. Also babies gain .5-1lb per week at the end of pregnancy, so if he keeps that up, I'm looking at a big baby to push out - oh boy...

So, my prediction is I definitely won't make it till 40 weeks, but I also haven't had any signs of labor starting any time soon, so who knows. 34 weeks is still early though, so I'm hoping he stays put for at least 3 more weeks. Once I get to 37, I'll be all about him getting out of there. Every day gets more and more uncomfortable - I feel like he's taking up every inch of my stomach.

When I look back to March and getting that first positive pregnancy test, I remember how extremely nervous I was about what the next 40 weeks of pregnancy would hold. Would my uterus cause me to miscarry? Would I go into preterm labor and have a micro premie in the NICU? Sitting here at 34 weeks with no signs of labor coming and the chance at a normal delivery is just insane to me - I cannot believe how normal everything has been and how well my body has coped with carrying (a big!) baby. It's truly amazing and no matter how this little boy is brought into the world, I'm just so thankful that we've gotten to this point.

So now I'm off to wait just like all the normal pregnant people :) And hopefully he doesn't decide to make an early appearance this weekend while Kyle's away camping! Next appointment is at 36 weeks. They will start doing cervix checks at that point to check for dilation and we will start going every week!

In the home stretch!!!

32 weeks, 4 days

No real updates since my last post 2 weeks ago, but we did have a quick doctor's appointment on Monday afternoon. As usual, weight, blood pressure, and Coleson's heartbeat were all measuring perfectly. Just your average, every day pregnancy over here and I couldn't be more thrilled!

Still waiting on our 34 week sonogram appointment to check the placenta again. I'm just dying to know what the delivery plan is at this point so I can start mentally preparing myself... and scheduling my life. I'm honestly really hoping for a scheduled c-section at 39 weeks. It turns out my 39 week mark would fall the weekend after thanksgiving, so I've already decided that if this is the route we go, I'm going to take off work the week after Thanksgiving to give myself time to relax, prepare, and decorate the house for Christmas :)  It would be SO nice to enjoy Thanksgiving knowing I don't have to go back to work. Each week going to work gets more and more exhausting so I'm sure by then I'll really need a week break. In that case, I'd only have 4 full weeks of work left, which is CRAZY, but so exciting.

If my placenta has moved though and they say we are doing a natural delivery, that means we'd be playing the waiting game to see when I go into labor. I'd be too nervous to try and predict when that would be and take off work too early (I only have 4 vacation days left and my maternity leave won't kick in until after the baby is born), so that would mean no relaxing week off. I know that the placenta moving and getting to do a natural delivery is really amazing and I should be thankful that it's even a chance, but honestly, the whole scheduled date and week off thing sounds so much nicer to me right now...

The other thing on my radar is the weekend of November 4... Kyle is doing a "last hurrah" camping trip Thursday-Sunday that weekend and will have no cell service... great. He did the same trip last year and we were able to talk on the phone once per day when they all drove up the mountain 15 minutes to call the wives. I'll be 35 weeks at that point, so it shoulddd be ok, but of course I'm terrified I'll go into labor early and won't be able to get ahold of him. Luckily, our sonogram appointment is the Monday before he leaves, so we should get a good update from the doctor and know that all is well before he heads out to the middle of nowhere.

This week is insanely busy as I wrap up things at work and prep for my very last wedding (I'm not doing anymore weddings after the baby is born!). But starting Sunday, all my weekends are calm and should be fun as the holidays approach! And Kyle is now officially off weekends until December! Yay!!!

Getting SO close!!!

30 weeks, 4 days

Nope I cannot believe it!!! Less than 10 weeks to go until we meet our little boy, and sometimes it's crazy to me how fast this pregnancy has gone. Occasionally I seriously think I'm just getting fat and don't believe I'm actually pregnant because it's so surreal, but when he's kicking and squirming around in there, it's a quick reminder that there's definitely a baby in there!

We went back to the OB on Friday last week. We've had the same doctor, Dr. Helmbrecht, 3 times in a row now and I've decided she's my favorite. I'm really hoping she's the one on call when I deliver! Anyway, it was a great and very detailed appointment. She did an abdominal ultrasound (my fav!) to check out my placenta. She said it's definitely moved some throughout my pregnancy - it's no longer covering my cervix - but it's still considered "low lying" and the edge of it is right there at the opening to my cervix. She said there's still a small chance it could move and they will continue to monitor it, but if it's still at that position once we reach 34 weeks, we will schedule a C-section for 39 weeks. At this point, I personally don't really see it moving up anymore, and I'm honestly totally OK with that. It's moved up enough so that it's no longer dangerous for me to go into labor on my own (if you have full placenta previa and go into labor you can have massive amounts of bleeding, so they typically schedule your C-section for 37 weeks in order to prevent that), so for me, it's safe to wait until 39 weeks for my c-section. AND... since we all know I'm the queen of planning, I'd love to just have a set date rather than waiting around wondering when the baby is going to come - I think my anxiety would skyrocket doing that. Regardless, waiting for a scheduled c-section at 39 weeks still means I could go into labor naturally before then, and if that happens, the doctor said I would just go to the hospital and do my c-section then.

So currently, we have our next appointment at 32 weeks on Oct 16 - this will just be a regular check up for blood pressure and baby's heartbeat. Then at 34 weeks on Oct 30 we will go in for another ultrasound to check the placenta one final time. So hopefully, at that appointment, we will finally know the plan and be able to schedule my c-section. Then it's just waiting around and hoping Coleson stays put until our scheduled date!

Other than looking at placenta stuff, we also got more peeks at Coleson during our ultrasound on Friday. The doctor was surprised at how much room and fluid is still in my uterus and how much he was moving around! He literally was squirming the entire time she had the wand on my stomach - so cute! She said my uterus has surprisingly acted just as a normal one (although its definitely more on the left) and has stretched perfectly! He's still head down too which is good - not that it matters since I'm probably getting a c-section anyway, but it is still surprising how normal everything has been. Honestly if it wasn't for this stupid placenta placement (which isn't even related to my unicornuate uterus anyway - so they say), this pregnancy has been totally normal and maybe I would have even had a shot at a natural delivery. Pretty crazy.

I think that's all the news I have. Next few weeks doctor-wise will be pretty boring until our 34 week appointment, but work has been CRAZY busy lately, so it's kind of a good thing I haven't had much else going on. Hoping things at work will calm down a bit after October since we will be headed into the holidays. I'm also coordinating my last wedding on Oct 21, so once that's over, things really will be calming down and I'll be in full baby prep mode. I'm realizing what a blessing it is that our due date is falling right in the middle of Thanksgiving and Christmas. It's the happiest time of the year and things just typically slow down which will be nice. And! it's going to allow me to use my maternity leave all through the holidays which is so nice. Although we will be sleepless and busy with a newborn, I'm excited to spend some cozy time in our house with the Christmas tree, lights, and endless movies on TV! Ahhh I just can't wait!!

Still Hanging On!

It's been awhile! Sorry!!

We just got back from our OBX vacation on Saturday and have been busy getting back to "normal life" this week. Pregnancy-wise, my last update really still is my latest update. We did go back to the OB the Friday before we left on our trip, but it turned out to be a pretty pointless visit because they just checked my blood pressure and the baby's heartbeat - we were in and out in 15 minutes! I thought they were going to measure my cervix and check my placenta, but apparently, I'm now far enough along that it's pointless for them to really check my cervix measurements anymore and they said they won't check my placenta again until week 30 (which is this week, so we are headed back this Friday).

Needless to say, since we didn't get much of a check up at the doctor, I was a little nervous about leaving town for a week and something going wrong. Luckily, Coleson stayed put without giving us any scares though. Which was good, because hurricane Jose completely flooded the street our house was on in OBX and we couldn't get out unless we walked through knee deep water to get to our car! The first three days of vacay were bad weather-wise because of the hurricane - it wasn't terrible, but it wasn't "lay out on the beach" weather. Grey, cloudy, WINDY - the sand hurt when it blew against you! So we did some shopping, lots of cooking, and hanging around the house for the first few days - which was still relaxing and totally fine with me :) Tuesday night (at the conclusion of the storm), there was the most gorgeous full double rainbow over the ocean right behind our house - it was like a signal good weather was coming! And it did! Starting Wednesday it was absolutely gorgeous the rest of the week and we were out in the sand every day.

It was SO nice to spend 7 days without plans and just relaxing by the beach. I will say the 8+ hour drive there and back KILLED me though. It is really not comfortable sitting in a car for that long 7 months pregnant - oh and we had to stop SO many times for me to pee which was also annoying, but Kyle (who normally hates stopping on road trips) was super accommodating and didn't care one bit making all the stops I needed.

We also got our maternity pictures done while we were there!! One of my fellow wedding industry friends, Amanda Hedgepeth, lives in OBX, and when I found out we were pregnant and that we would be in OBX when I was 7 months, I knew I wanted her to take our pictures on the beach!! On Wednesday I went to a salon in Kitty Hawk to get my hair and makeup done and then we met Amanda on the beach to take pictures! It was so fun and the sneak peek she gave us turned out so gorgeous!!! We can't wait to see the rest!!

We got back on Saturday and since we couldn't pick up our dogs from boarding until Sunday evening, we decided to take advantage of the quiet house and have my grandma and dad over on Sunday to help with some nursery projects. I was exhausted from our drive the previous day, but I was glad to get some more things checked off our list! Here's a peek at how Coleson's room is coming along! It's almost done!! 

Only other news is that I've been SUPER uncomfortable lately. I feel huge and there is no position for me to lay in bed that is comfortable anymore so I don't sleep well. Just getting ready for work in the morning is exhausting and I feel like I need a nap by the time I get in the car. I can't believe I still have 2 more months of this, but I know it will go by quickly, so I'm trying to enjoy the time we have left as a family of 2 (plus puppies!).

Friday's appointment will be another sonogram and I'm hoping we get some good updates and an indication if we are definitely headed for the C-section route. Will definitely update next week!

A Good Report!

On Tuesday we went to my next doctor's appointment to have my cervix measured again. I was SO nervous about what we would find and if it would look like I was headed towards bed rest. The short story is, it couldn't have gone better and my uterus is still hanging in there!!!!

This appointment was also for my glucose test - to check whether I've developed gestational diabetes - all pregnant women do this at 26-28 weeks. So, when we arrived, I had to drink this nasty bottle of "fruit punch" sugary crap. It literally tasted like drinking soda syrup with no carbonated water - sick. I had to drink it within 5 minutes. Luckily, it was cold, so that helped, but I felt pretty awful after drinking it. Afterwards, you have to wait an hour and then get your blood drawn. I haven't had my blood drawn since my initial pregnancy blood work up back in.. what... May 1 I think? So it's been 5 months. And I've resorted back to baby status when it comes to needles. You'd think having my blood drawn every day for two weeks during IVF stims would make me a pro at needles from now on, but nope, apparently not. I actually got my results from the test back today - I passed! So no gestational diabetes for me! YAY!

After I finished up at Lab Corp with the blood draw, we went to my regular appointment. We had a new doctor I haven't met yet and I LOVED her. She did a vaginal ultrasound first to measure my cervix - which by the way - is still at 3cm!!!! WOO! The doctor said 3cm is good and she's not worried! Once she was done she even let us do an abdominal ultrasound to see the baby! It was the best ultrasound we've gotten yet by far. She took her time and showed us everything - it was so fun. Coleson is currently head down and she doesn't think he has enough space to flip around - so that's good news! Most people with a unicornuate uterus have breech babies. She also showed us where his feet were in relation to my belly - so high up! It's crazy how much space he's taking up in there now. He's getting so big - you can't even see his whole body on a single ultrasound picture anymore - you can only see just his head, or just his legs, or just his stomach. 

The doctor said we are totally fine to go on our OBX trip, but that obviously, I need to take it easy - which I was already planning on of course - it's vacation after all! They are having me come back in though on the 15th (the day before we leave) to measure my cervix again since we don't want to wait all the way until I get back from vacation. They are also going to check on the status of my placenta to see if it's moved up at all. I was happy about that cause it will be good to get the "all clear" before we leave for a week.

I was in VA for work yesterday and spent THREE HOURS driving home in awful traffic and pouring rain. AND I have to go again 3 more times next week. But! This time next week will be my last day of work before vacation so I'm just counting down the days!!! Can't WAIT to get away and relax after the craziness the past few weeks have been!