Negative GBS Test! Yay, the final test of the pregnancy and it was negative. That means no IV during labor unless there's an unforeseen complication. I've also been feeling a bit more energetic and positive. I can't believe I will be full term on Monday - this baby is really coming :)
I posted a few belly photos in the album. They came out kind of blurry so I want to take some more, but at least I have these. Had a great birthday celebration last night with John, Jake and Bob, my mother-in-law. We went out for Mexican and I had mole crepes, just delicious. Then we came home and had chocolate cake my Mom had sent over from a local organic bakery. It was layered with brownie cream cheese frosting and covered in chocolate sour cream frosting with chocolate chunks. This thing was absolutely divine!
2008-05-07 (36 weeks)
Good 36 Week Appointment Zoom zoom - this pregnancy is just zipping along. The last few weeks have actually been kind of rough for me, but I've had more energy the past few days and have been feeling better, so I hope that keeps up.
I had a prenatal appointment today and all is well. My cervix is high and closed, but soft. Baby's head is still down, and I'm measuring right on track for 36 weeks. Next week I'll get an ultrasound too, just to make sure all is well. I've been having tons of Braxton-Hicks contractions and a few of them have been uncomfortable, very different from my pregnancy with Jake. These are often brought on when I'm too physical with Jake, picking him up or bending over a lot to pick up toys, etc. So I've had to learn to take it easy and he has gotten very good at entertaining himself while Mommy watches and encourages him while sitting on the birthing ball. We're doing a lot more talking too, he'll identify body parts and things around the room for me while I sit there. So hopefully he's benefiting from my slowed mobility in some way!
I also had my Group B Strep test today and I'll have the results on Friday. I've been taking garlic and echinacea supplements for the last 2 weeks in the hopes of encouraging a negative test. I know it's not a big deal, but I'd rather not be hooked up to an IV while laboring since I'm going to have so many other battles to tackle with this VBAC. If I test negative I will get a heplock, which I'm fine with. I've also begun taking evening primrose oil to encourage my cervix to ripen. I'll probably start using it vaginally at 38 weeks to try to help things along as well.
Finally, I went to a chiropractor a couple of times. He made my lower back feel better and was really nice. I really just wanted to have him on tap in case I go post dates - there are some things he can do to help the baby get into a good position to encourage labor. But hopefully we won't need to do that. I've been doing my Bradley exercises and bouncing on the birth ball a lot, and have a good feeling this baby is going to be lined up and ready for birth in the next few weeks.
I've been told by my OB practice they will "let me" go to 41 weeks and then I'll have to schedule a C/S, but I don't plan on doing that. Since Jake came on his due date, I'm hoping I won't go much over it with this little one. But if I do, and I'm passing the non-stress tests and the baby is health and I'm healthy, I can't bring myself to schedule a C/S. They can't refuse care at that point, so they're going to have to deal with it. Hopefully it won't come to that though!
2008-04-04 (31 weeks)
We are Head Down and Going Strong I just wanted to make a quick update since I've let another couple of weeks go by. After my last entry John and I did some maneuvers in which I was upside down against the couch and we put an ice pack on my belly in an effort to get Sprout to move head down. The night after we did this I felt a lot of strong movement and pressure and felt pretty sure that she had turned head down. I was feeling a lot of pressure in my pelvis in the days after that, plus much strong movements lower down. Sure enough, last week's ultrasound confirmed that baby is now head down!
She seems to be staying that way and I'm still feeling a lot of pressure, but that's OK. I'm just happy she's practicing the "birthing position," even if it is still early. In other news, our dog is back living with us. Long story, and much money was spent transporting him cross country both ways. Anyway, we decided the only solution for him is to make him an outside dog and keep with with us. We also could have euthanized him, but I don't consider putting down a healthy 8-year-old dog to be euthanasia. Unfortunately because of his aggression issues he's not considered adoptable, and my parents can't handle him since he gets bossy with their 2 other dogs. For the time being he is living in our basement and spending time in the fenced in backyard area when it's nice out. John has begun constructing a large fenced in area in our side yard for him and we also purchased a doggy igloo, so that will be his permanent home once it's completed and the weather is a bit warmer.
I'm still feeling really positive about my VBAC, and despite fatigue and heartburn, my body seems to be gearing up for this birth. I've gotten a bunch of newborn items organized for Sprout, including clothes and diapers. I also have an outfit I wore as an infant that will be her coming home from hospital outfit if it's a girl. We have plenty of boy outfits too so I'll just pack one of each.
I have another prenatal appointment next week so I will try hard to update after that!
2008-03-23 (29 weeks)
10 Weeks to Go! This pregnancy is truly flying by. As of tomorrow I will have 10 weeks until my due date. I'm entering the slightly uncomfortable phase where my belly has gotten pretty big and I'm plagued with reflux, restless legs and backaches. But I really can't complain as none of my problems are really painful, and I've had no contractions or prodromal labor yet.
I had a prenatal appointment and an appointment with my rheumatologist last week and all is well. I passed my gestational diabetes test with a 110, which is a good number. I was careful to go low-carb and not eat sugar this time around, which I believe is what led me to fail last time around. Everything is status quo, and I was measuring exactly 29 weeks last Wednesday.
I go for another ultrasound on Wednesday, but I already know that Sprout is still breech. I've been doing some maneuvers to try to get her to turn, but so far no luck. I haven't been diligent about them though, hanging upside down for a few minutes and putting ice at the top of my belly to encourage her to go head down. SpinningBabies.com recommends going upside down for 20 minutes at a time, 3 times per day! It's early in the game still, but I will be doing that if she is still breech a few weeks from now.
Our dog fiasco continues. My trip to Oregon was brief, and after 1.5 weeks my parents have decided my dog isn't going to get along with their dogs. So we are planning to shell out big bucks to ship him back out here. This was a horribly tough decision for us. He's 8 years old and aggressive toward other dogs and children, so no humane societies will accept him (and his chances of being adopted are pretty much zero anyway). Animal shelters would euthanize him. So our options are to euthanize him ourselves, or take him back. We can't find it in our hearts to do it because this is a perfectly healthy and loving dog, who has many good years of life left in him. Yet he poses a danger to Jake and Sprout, so we can't take him back into our house. Our solution is to build a 250 sq foot fenced area out in our side yard (away from the enclosed back yard where the children will be playing) and turn him into an outdoor dog. He'll have lots of love and attention, he just won't be able to live with us in the house anymore. We think this solution is better than a death sentence, even though my parents don't agree. This has been an incredibly stressful time for me, not really what I need during my 3rd trimester of pregnancy.
In more positive news, we got Sprout's bassinet set up and it's so cute! It has a 20-minute timer so you can set it to automatically rock, and has really pretty eyelet linens. It's in off white, so not too frilly in case we have a boy! I'll have to take some pictures this week and post along with any new ultrasound pictures I get.
