1 week down...

It has been exactly 1 week since I got admitted to Centennial Women's. I'm not meeting as many new nurses anymore, I've had them all at this point. There has only been one in the mix I didn't like very much but I'm still trying to figure her out. Our conversation this morning went like this:

Nurse: "Can I get you anything?"

Me: "Not really, I'm about to shower though and was thinking if someone could change my sheets, that'd be great." (it had been 3 days since they changed them and I sweat a lot at night because of my hormones, haha)

Nurse: "No problem, I'll do it." (goes to get sheets, comes back) "The sonographer is on the floor and will need to see you, so hurry in the shower."

Me: "Should I wait then? I don't mind waiting."

Nurse: "No, go ahead, but don't be in there all day or she'll be sitting around waiting on you."

Me: "Well okay... I don't usually take long showers but they also never tell me in advance when they are coming, they just show up, so..."

Nurse: "I know, just hurry it up."

Wow. Really? I don't like being rushed... I look forward to my morning showers after sweating in bed all night. But I don't like being rude so of course, I rushed... and then sat around for another half hour after my shower waiting on the sonographer. Either way, who said I was going to take all day in the shower?? Mind you, this is the first older nurse I've had so maybe she feels the need to be motherly in some way... all the others aren't much older than me and we actually have conversations and laugh. I like the staff here. Maybe I'll learn to like this nurse, too... maybe she was just trying to be sarcastic/funny... but it sure didn't come off that way. Part of it could have also been that the songrapher had zero personality and maybe the nurse didn't want to deal with her... she was a tough cookie... had motorcycles on her scrubs, too.

The ultrasound showed that Zoey weighs at least 4 lbs and I am excited about that! Usually the measurements come in a little small, so I can assume she's probably more like 4.5 lbs. I am excited to see how big/small she really is at birth... I was 5 lb 12 oz so we'll see if she's close! I am just glad she's at least 4 lbs right now... most of the time, hospitals will let you go home with a 4 lb baby... sometimes they wait until 5 lbs, but either way, I feel more confident she'll be able to come home with me in normal time. As usual she looked great on the ultrasound... her belly and head were more at 33 weeks and I'm supposedly at 31, so yay for that too :) She is just growing, growing...

As for my cervix, it looks like things are the same, which is good news! It hasn't gotten any worse. It's still contracting and morphing in size, but it didn't go smaller than before, so that is good. I'm having more contractions during the day, but not enough to do meds yet. Sometimes I don't even feel them, they just show up on the monitor... other times I feel a strong pressure and tightening up, followed by a hot flash that makes my whole body break into a sweat.

In other good news, my feet are 100% back to normal! I noticed after one day on complete bed rest the swelling was gone. They are back to their bony selves ;) I can't wait to try my old shoe size... it's nice to be able to wear socks. I couldn't for a while; they just cut into my ankles. I'm watching my hands intently and waiting on them to go down, too... they went up a ring size so I currently have a sterling silver, Celtic-looking, Mother of Pearl ring in place of my wedding set. I do like this ring a lot but I miss my wedding rings... however, I think Mother of Pearl is appropriate and this is something I can pass down to Zoey some day :) My hands don't really look swollen, but this size 6 still fits snuggly on my ring finger and that tells a different story.

So things are going as well as they can at the moment. I am on the hunt for inexpensive/used premie clothes so I have a few things in case newborn sizes don't fit her. I've been looking on eBay and it kills me that people will sell a set of 10 outfits for $10 then try to charge $20 for shipping. Sorry, but I'm not buying. Let me know if you all happen to find some good places to buy preemie clothes for cheap... I did find PreemieStore.com which has some Walmart prices on their clothes, but the website is really poorly put together and that turns me off a bit. Everything in the web development, from the colors to the fonts, is just ugly and doesn't make me want to shop with them.

Any ideas?

Dear Zoey...

Dear Zoey,

I can tell you're going to be a very ambitious and active little girl. You've been a great little baby in the womb and I've thoroughly enjoyed our time together thus far. However, I ask just one thing of you. Please stay inside the womb until mommy can reach 34 weeks of pregnancy. I know you've always been ahead of the game and are eager to meet the world, but sometimes it's good to just rest a little and be patient. I already know the lesson on patience is going to be a tough one... but believe me, it's valuable.

The doctors want you to stay inside for just 3 more weeks... you can do that, right? I hope I'm not asking too much. I'll give you a birth date as soon as I find out what it's going to be. Just hang inside for a little while longer and I promise it'll be worth it.

We love you! Now behave...

~Mommy & Daddy

6 weeks to go...

I have 6 weeks to go until Zoey is here. As you can imagine, my to-do list is getting long enough for it's own zip code and I worry I'm going to forget to do something before it's time to go to the hospital. I know all moms go through this as they approach the big day and begin their nesting, but those of you who know me... and I mean really know me... know that I'm overly OCD about planning things and getting them done.

I'm down to weekly appointments that include both abdominal and vaginal ultrasounds to check on Alberto and my cervix. I was lucky enough to kiss the high risk dr goodbye and keep my care solely in my OB's hands. I had to ask for it though... luckily, they agreed. I wasn't interested in going to 2 appointments a week for the rest of this pregnancy when my OB is perfectly capable of sending ultrasound images to the high risk clinic if necessary. So we worked it out. Yay me :)

Zoey moves a lot more since we got the first pair of steroid shots... it's like they dosed her up with caffeine. She apparently thinks she's a musician and has taken to my ribs as a xylophone. I'm trying to cut a deal with her and offer a new pair of bongos for her birthday if she'll chill out for the next 6 weeks but I'm not sure she's buying... the second set of shots will be the week of her eviction and I don't look forward to them. They hurt going in and it burns, burns, burns after they take the needle out and the steroids "settle."

It's okay though. I'm thankful to even be in this weirdo situation... I'm just waiting for someone to offer me some money to put this case of vasa previa in the medical journals... seriously, don't I deserve that much?? I should copyright Alberto before it's too late!!!!!!!!

100 days to go...

There are only 100 days left in my first pregnancy. When people ask when the baby is due, I always say "the end of April, which means early May." However, the fact that my ticker says I only have 100 days left is putting me into nesting overdrive! 100 days left and so far this is where I stand:

Weight Gain: 27 lbs. This means I've outgrown nearly all the maternity clothes given to me and finally had to purchase some of my own in my 25th week. All the clothes given to me were previously worn by a mother who gained 33 lbs in her first pregnancy and 27 in her second... this is why I'm busting out of them so soon. Holy moly. Thank goodness another friend brought me some clothes today :) They should help get me through the next 3.5 months.

Stretch marks: I never thought about stretch marks taking over my inner thighs, but alas, there is a colony marching up and down my legs. This baffles me. I knew they crawled up the boobs and belly, but legs? I've always had a few on my legs from growing a little too fast as a kid... but now they are ALL OVER THE PLACE. It seemed to happen overnight. I'm not even going to try to do something about them right now. As for my belly, I do have a couple starting at the bottom. This is because I have become horribly lazy when it comes to applying my magic lotion. My fault. Oh well. What's a girl to do?

The Nursery: Zoey's room decor + bedding came in on January 12 and it's above and beyond what it looked like on the internet. It's brighter and just completely warms my heart. Today, the paint colors were picked out. We're going with a light yellow and a green accent wall. Operation Nursery will begin shortly... I'm hoping on the 23rd. I'm itching to actually open her furniture and get it set up. I'm ready to take all the gifts from my first shower out of the gift bags and put them in their places. I'm ready to walk into her nursery and feel extra anticipation for her arrival as I watch everything come together...

Pains: Zoey is consistently sitting on my sciatic nerve, and lately it feels like she's literally dancing on it. I feel like a foot is going to fall through my cervix any second now. She's obviously moved into a foot-down position. It's the weirdest feeling and I'm ready for her to correct herself. All her movement is downtown and I don't like how it feels. I wonder what she is thinking right now... is she more comfortable? Mommy sure isn't.

I can't believe I'm less than 3 weeks from my 3rd trimester and just 3.5 months from giving birth. It seems like just yesterday I saw those 2 pink lines in the bathroom at work. Tuesday, January 19, is the glucose tolerance test and another ultrasound to check on the placenta previa. With as much downtown action going on, surely the placenta has moved into it's proper place... only time will tell.

The next 100 days are going to include a lot of preparation and OCD-ness. I look forward to seeing what happens...

Zoey Elizabeth

Obviously I have a lot to share with you all. :) My 18 week ultrasound revealed that I have a healthy little girl growing in my uterus. It's hard to believe that between then and now she's grown to be from the size of a sweet potato to the size of a cantaloupe. Where does she even have room to grow?! I know that with her growth, I'm starting to feel her more more often. I noticed that the stronger movement is at the top of my belly and now I know why.

Placenta Previa. It sounds a lot scarier than it is, but basically, the placenta is at the bottom of my uterus, covering the cervix. You cannot deliver the placenta first. So either it has to move, or I'll end up having a c-section, which I don't want. Usually it moves, so I'll just get a few more ultrasounds to check for the movement. That is the good part. :) So anyway, the reason her movement isn't as strong at the bottom is because of the extra padding. I do feel her a lot more, but Glenn won't be able to for a while... hopefully that will change soon. I think he's itching to be more involved in the pregnancy and experience our baby girl.

My sciatic nerve pain has finally gotten easier! If it wasn't for that cuddle pillow, I'd be in some major trouble. I've just been extra careful lately, and I honestly don't have a choice because the belly is getting bigger and harder... which means it's more difficult to move around. Standing up is already a task... I worry and hope I don't end up gaining 70 lbs like my mom did with me... so far I'm at 21. My goal was to keep it below 40... I have a feeling I'll say goodbye to that goal soon.

Stretch marks? Not a single one. :) I hope I'm not speaking too soon... but I'm always on the lookout for the creepy crawlies, just waiting for one to show it's ugly face. I lotion up regularly and remind myself to stay hydrated and that I have good genes. Mom never had any, so maybe I won't either. :)

I'm ecstatic that we have a daughter on the way. I would have been just as ecstatic if it was a boy though. I'm more happy that I finally have something to plan for... up to now we haven't actually purchased a single thing for the baby. I'm approaching my first baby shower (December 19) and we're all registered at Babies R Us. We'll register at Target sometime soon... my next shower isn't until early March. We're very excited and as soon as the holidays are behind us, we're going to start on her nursery... I can't wait to show you guys what we have planned. She's going to have the coolest chick pad in Robertson County.

Say "HI!" to Zoey Elizabeth...

Dance, Baby, Dance! + My Growing Belly

My little avocado baby started moving this week. I think of David Bowie in the movie The Labyrinth when he's dancing with the baby and all the goblins... yeah, I know, kind of odd, but I keep talking to the baby and telling it to dance for me so I can feel something. Tuesday, day one of 16 weeks, I started to feel a pushing sensation on the lower right side of my belly while driving home from work. I was listening to Jeremy Camp in the car. Moments later, I felt it again a little higher. I think baby is a fan. ;) I wasn't sure if it was really the baby until it happened again yesterday and today. Now I'm sure. Baby is moving in there. I can officially document fetal movement beginning at 16 weeks. :)

I've also been told that I have been a slacker on the belly pics... so here you go... enjoy!

5 weeks

10 weeks

13 weeks
15 weeks