She's here

Baby E is here! Quick post but we have been thrown a curve ball called pierre robin sequence- just google it bc its a weird one to explain. Life started out in NICU....and now we're at a huge top rated children's hospital 2 days after birth. Heartbreaking to see our gal with such struggles. We are living hour to hour. But think in the end she'll be ok. 

Three More Days as a Family of Three

This post is all over the place so apologies!

It's surreal, I have to say. To be this close is so exciting. My emotions are all over the place it seems. I'm excited, hopeful, worried, scared, nervous, elated, exhausted and overjoyed all at once.

My fluid levels have stayed about the same and docs are still not worried. The swelling in my feet seems to be better than last week which is nice and I'm finally home for good.

I am teleworking which is great because I was just so tired of getting dressed every morning for work and dealing with the commute. The last few days at work were pretty stressful getting ready to head out but now I feel like things are under control and I'm ready. 

I hope I can handle being a mommy of 2. Today I got sad because I wasn't doing drop offs and pick ups for C at day care. I won't be doing that the majority of the time on maternity leave either. That time is both difficult and cherished. But I'm comforted by the fact that while I'm on maternity leave, I can decide to keep him home with me more and have some extra special days.  Having the option is great though I know we'll have him go to day care at least 4 days every week to keep up that continuity, but I can pick him up early or drop off late if we want.  I realize that when you have more kids the love grows, but I want to be sure C gets just as much as he was getting before. I know at first, the adjustment to mommy's time will be hard. Thankfully, he's still very much a daddy's boy so E will likely be the main man.

Last OB appointment is Wednesday and then c-sesction is Thursday. Here we go!

We're Getting Close

Like...really close. 16 days close to be exact, but something tells me she's going to come sooner than that.  Fluid levels at my last check remained unchanged which was good. Of course, going down would have been better, but I can work with words like "stable" and "high side of normal."  Baby girl measured a little over 6 pounds at the last check.  My next check is tomorrow and I'm hoping for another "unchanged" fluid check and a 7 pounder in there.

Yesterday, we had a bit of a scare and I ended up in Labor and Delivery for about an hour. Sunday night, baby girl's movements were much different. It had me worried. She's usually super active after dinner and I just wasn't feeling it. Plus movements were softer and not as forceful as they used to be. I laid in bed for awhile and felt her multiple times so I figured everything was likely OK and I was just a bit nuts. Plus, I used the doppler so I knew her heart was beating away.  Then yesterday, I was feeling nauseous, and sweaty all morning. Sitting at my desk for a conference call, I thought I might melt into a puddle right in my chair. So I called the doc, explained the decreased/changed movement patter and my general "awfulness" - they sent me right to the hospital.

Thankfully, once there, a nurse found me and used the doppler right away to check on heartbeat - perfect. Then they got me a room and hooked me up for about 30 mins to monitor baby's movement and heartbeats. She did great and I got to go home after about a full hour of being there. I had to get back to work still feeling nauseous, but sucked it up. I was so relieved and my doctors are so nice- they told me never never to hesitate if I feel movement has been different. In fact, my one doc said I should have come in Sunday evening instead. "Don't mess around" were her exact words. So I won't, ever again.

Today, I'm feeling much better and looking forward to tomorrow's check on the baby. We've been doing weekly ultrasounds to check the fluid so it's great to see her each week.  A few more days to go...I can hardly believe it.

Fluid levels

Well last week's level rose by 1 point which docs still aren't worried about so I didn't have any MFM appointments. I have another check up tomorrow. Truly hoping that the fluid level went down or - at this point - is even the same as last week.  Baby girl is super active which is very reassuring...and was head down at my last appointment. Hoping she stays that way but with lots of fluid, there's room to move.

Another quick update

Some recent news about 2 good friends' miscarriages has really been weighing heavily.  Both gals had been trying for too long and these were much wanted pregnancies. I am so incredibly saddened by the news of bad stuff happening to the best people.

In other not-so-great news, my amniotic fluid levels were borderline high at my last appointment Friday so we go back Thursday for a check. If it's still borderline high, I'll go see a high-risk specialist to help me make sense of what's going on. From what my OB said, in about half of cases where this happens, there's no known reason. In the other half it can be due to gestational diabetes (which I don't have) or birth defects which neither blood work or US have been able to detect. Really hoping fluid level goes back to normal Thursday.  Baby girl was squirming around in there a lot - weighing in at 5lbs 4oz.

OMG - I'm living with a maniac!

Two-year old little boys are maniacs. How come they don't come with manuals?!!?!? I tried the off-the shelf books to no avail. Had a rough weekend of toddler defiance and boy, that kid is just so physical I can't "make" him do anything he doesn't want to do.  He's really lucky he's adorable or else.  I've solicited for some good toddler skills with friends so we'll try out some new things tonight, but I'm tired. Gotta love when E is out of town too!

33 weeks and counting - we're getting ready for our little gal's arrival here soon. I can hardly believe it!

Success!

Night #3 and C slept the entire night up in his big boy room all by himself. I am so thrilled and well-rested.  The first night was hell, the second night was tough, but the third night was perfect. I almost couldn't believe it when I woke up about 4:30 am to use the bathroom and realized I hadn't been woken up prior to that. I knew the kid could do it, I just wasn't sure how long it would take. I am sure there will be some nights where things don't go perfectly, but I think we're making really great progress. 

Walking past the empty nursery is bitter sweet. The emptiness makes me sad for our boy who is growing up but I know the only reason he's not in there is to make way for his baby sister who will be here in about 8 weeks.  Truly feeling blessed today.