29 Weeks 1 Day: We Have a Plan!

We went to our 29 week doctor's appointment yesterday and discussed our birth plan. At my first appointment, the doctor told us she would induce us at 38 weeks. I didn't really ask questions at that time because I figured we'd cross that bridge when we get there (just hoping, of course, that we'd get there). Well, I can see the bridge up ahead. It's gettin' close, folks!

Here's the deal (some of which I have explained before): I will go off the 81mg daily aspirin at 36 weeks. The reason for this is because the aspirin does reach the baby and it is not entirely safe for me to deliver while I/we (she, really) is still on the aspirin because of the risk of a brain bleed.

I will go off the Heparin the day before the scheduled induction. Here's where the decision had to be made. The Heparin does not reach the baby, so she is not affected at all by when I go off the Heparin. I am the one that could be affected. It is a small dose of blood thinner; it's not like I have water running through my veins or anything. Still, some anestestiologists won't perform an epidural unless I've been off the medication for at least 12 hours. My doctor said this is more likely to happen with an older doctor with an "old school" mentality. A younger doctor with a more modern way of thinking would realize that the dose was insignificant.

The decision is to either schedule an induction at 38 weeks and go off the Heparin the day before or hold out for a 39 week induction and go off the heparin the day before. As a mommy, I have to choose what's best for my daughter. At 38 weeks, there is a possibility that she will have to go to the NICU because of under developed lungs. At 39 weeks, she'll be good. I told the doctor I want to induce at 39 weeks, and I'll take my chances with the whole epidural/heparin thing. My baby cannot go to the NICU. She has to stay with me. I'm going to hold her and nurse her and never take my eyes off her and no one is ever going to take her away . . . not even down the hall to the NICU.

October 5, 2011 it is! At St. Mary's on Washington Avenue in Evansville, IN.

27 Weeks 5 Days: So Blessed

Saturday I had my very first baby shower in Fairfield, IL at Fairfield Cumberland Presbyterian Church where Skyler and I got married. It was a dream come true--everything I've been waiting for. Skyler and I are so thankful to everyone for coming and blessing us with your love, prayers, and gifts. And oh the clothes and hair bows baby girl got! She'll be the best dressed girl in Kentucky! I just can't wait to see how pretty she's going to be.

 27 Weeks

 Shower snacks

Me and my even more pregnant BFF, Ame

 The darling flower pot/diaper centerpiece created by my wonderful sister, Shana

 She made these flower cupcakes, too!

 My BFF Stacy and I

 The preggos think something's funny!

 Playing games

 Concentrating to win the prize

 Having fun!

 Excited to open the first gift

 Cute baby clothes

 A diaper bag

 More clothes

 OK. This is just too stinkin' cute!

 Can you tell this is all just making me way too happy?

 So sweet!

 Those hair clips are for the baby and me, right?

 Hehehe. A whole bunch of head bands!

27 Weeks: They're Gone!!!

The choroid plexus cysts on her brain are gone! At our 27 week ultrasound today (that's the third trimester!), her head was the first thing to come up on the screen. I could see right away that her head shape is perfect. It was so obvious that even I could believe it. Then, I could see that the scary black spots were gone! She has a perfect head and a perfect brain. I've waited so long for this thing that so many take for granted.

Magnificent, don't you think?

Then, we saw that Baby Girl is misbehaving a bit (She's a female. She does what she wants!) She is in the frank breech position. This means her head is up, her butt is down, and her feet are up by her face. 

Can you see her head on the left with her feet right above it and her bottom on the right? I think she's gonna be a gymnast. Her flexibility is pretty impressive!

It really was incredible watching my perfect baby today. I know perfection is what everyone expects, but for me, "normal" feels like an absolute miracle. My baby is normal, though. Actually, I'm pretty sure she far surpasses that. 

Her weight today is 2lbs 4 oz. She wiggled and moved during the entire ultrasound. She would not, however, move her feet and hands away from her face to get a good picture. I'm sure she just wants to make a dramatic entrance.

Speaking of the entrance, we discussed the delivery with the doctor today. In the beginning of the pregnancy, the doctor mentioned inducing me at 38 weeks. I've been pondering an induction lately, and it has me a little worried. She wants to time the birth with me going off the heparin and baby aspirin. I thought I was going off the heparin at 36 weeks. Wrong! I'm going off the aspirin at 36 weeks, but I'm not going off the heparin until the day before the delivery. The advantage of timing the delivery is knowing when to go off the medicine. Most women, as she says, worry about going off the heparin and still being pregnant. Right now, though, I don't really need the heparin to keep my baby alive like I did in the first trimester. Still, my doctor said she can't exactly guarantee that nothing will go wrong if I go off the heparin and then stay pregnant for another week or two. She even threw out the s word (stillbirth), which I'm quite sure she wouldn't use around me unless she really needed to. So, after this appointment, I'm not sure if we'll go for a 38 week induction, but I might let it happen at 39 weeks. Obviously, we need to pray about this.

26 Weeks 1 Day: It was THE Room

Many of you know that my long time BFF, Amy, and I are prego at the same time (she's just 5 weeks ahead of me). Tuesday, we took a tour of St. Mary's Medical Center to get a glimpse into what having our sweet babies there might be like. Now, I already had this tour when I was 11 weeks pregnant with Gabriel and I did, in fact, give birth to him there. Amy was actually in the room when he was born. So, we both have a pretty good idea of how it all works. Still, she wanted the info from the perspective of having her precious baby boy, and I wanted a refresher on the happy baby birth experience. I never really know if what I experienced with Gabriel is how it is for everyone, or if things went a little differently because I had such a special baby.

The first stop on the tour was the LDR (labor, delivery, recovery) room. I knew we'd be seeing it, but when I walked in, I was immediately aware that this room looked exactly the same as the room where I had Gabriel.

"Is this the room?" I whisper to Amy.

"I think so," she says, knowing what I am referring to. "It was the very first room."

The tour guide is busy giving us the low-down on contraction monitors and the infant warmer, but I am staring at the bed, wishing I could lie down on it and pretend I am holding him again. In my mind, I am there. He is there. I can hear him. I can feel him. Only for a moment, then, I snap back before they even know I left . . . to that day, in that room, 538 days ago, the only place and the only day that I heard him cry and felt his breath on my cheek.

We continue the tour. Gabriel is at the front of my thoughts now, even more so than Baby Sister. It won't be long, though. Soon I will return here to make a new memory, and she will rule my heart and my thoughts every second of every day. We will tell her about Gabriel every day, how he loves her, how he loves us, and how she has a different mommy and daddy because of him--a better mommy and daddy I hope.

BUT FIRST, I'll go back to meet Amy's baby boy on his happy birthday. And she'll know. She'll know when I hold her newborn son, that I'll be thinking of mine.