Isabella Joy

Hi, everyone! Sorry I haven't been on here to post, but life with a newborn at the hospital (with lots of visitors during the day) sure keeps you from doing those things!

Isabella Joy arrived Wednesday afternoon at 1:35. I was scheduled for a c-section at 1pm that day because she was breech. They did an ultrasound an hour before surgery to check her position and she somehow had wiggled herself head down. But when the obstetrician made the incision in so he could reach her head, she had moved again. She was in a diagonal position and dodged his attempts to pull her out. She's a pistol!! He had to make an extra cut into my uterus in order to get her to come out. All that means is that my next child will HAVE to be a c-section baby because of possible rupture to the uterus if I went into natural labor. The doctor said when she first came out of the womb, she looked around with a disgusted look on her face because she didn't know where she was. Then, when she realized she wasn't going back into the womb, she cried. It's the most beautiful sound there could ever be in the entire world. I couldn't see her, since I was on the other side of the surgery sheet. But that noise...beautiful. I cried. Seriously. And then, after she was cleaned, I got to see her. I didn't hold her until I was in the recovery room. It has been an amazing experience. Surgery itself hasn't been fun, I'll admit that. But having my precious Isabella is wonderful. I'll write more later about the surgery itself and the recovery process here at the hospital. Right now, I'm just waiting to be discharged. Here are a few pictures to enjoy of my beautiful blessing.

 

Last Update/Quiz Before Isabella's Arrival

Symptoms: *Heartburn (yes, it's still here. I sleep with two pillows so that my head is propped up), *frequent potty trips (I guess my bladder is preparing me for feedings every three hours), *stretch marks, *tiredness (I ♥ my naps), *lots of baby movement, *random nausea

Total weight gain: 30 lbs as of my last OB appointment. No more appointments left until after my c-section...

Maternity clothes: I'm just bumming it when I'm at home. I wear comfy crops with a tank top. But I can still get away with wearing non-maternity shirts and dresses!

Stretch marks: They are seriously not my friends. They look like fire on my belly. Hubby calls them "Diablo."

Sleep: Sleep hasn't been the best thing. It takes so much effort to toss and turn. I'm up every few hours for a potty break. Last night, I had horrible knee pain in the middle of the night. So sleep isn't too great. I guess it's preparing me for life with a child.
 

Best moment this week: Being able to count down the days until Isabella's birth on one hand.

Movement: Tons. It's like an alien living in my belly. 

Food cravings: Chocolate. Weird, I know, since I haven't craved it at all throughout the entire pregnancy. But I've been wanting chocolate for the last week.

Belly Button in or out: It's a halfy. It's half in and it's half out. If I do something like blow my nose, it sticks out a little more.

What I miss: Being able to walk up a flight of stairs without losing my breath or feeling like my knees are my arch enemies.

What I am looking forward to: Isabella's arrival on Wednesday.

 

Milestones: Having my last prenatal checkup with the obstetrician. It really makes it real that Isabella is arriving this week! 

 

How is daddy? He's really excited, but he's also very nervous. He's like a little kid going on an exciting trip. he doesn't sleep well at night. He hasn't had a big appetite. He's excited but super nervous.

How are the grandparents? They are SOOOO excited. There are no words to describe their amount of excitement.

Here's the last of my belly pictures...next picture I post should be of Isabella!

Only a Week to Go!

It's so hard to believe that there is only one week to go before I meet my sweet Isabella Joy. In anticipation of her arrival soon, Hubby write her a beautiful letter that I added to my other blog, Letters to My Unborn Daughter. I cried when I read it. It's beautiful. I wrote her another letter, too, as I wait so anxiously for this next week to pass. It is still so surreal that I am finally in the place where I am waiting for my child's arrival instead of waiting for an egg to grow or an egg to ovulate. It's been quite a journey getting here! But I have come to the realization that I am so thankful for every ounce of strife on that journey. All my tears? They were worth the joy of waiting for this child. All my fears? They were worth working through to get to this point. I'm thankful for the blessing of the long journey. It's through my journey that I can encourage others who are walking on a similar road. I had the same encouragement along my journey and I will never forget how powerful it is to have someone walk with you who has been in similar shoes. 

Hubby is anxiously awaiting the arrival of his little princess, too. He's more worried about me post baby's arrival, since we are scheduled for a c-section. Here's the latest on my wiggle worm. She is breech. My amniotic fluid levels are now within the normal range instead of being so high. Although that is GREAT news, it means she has less room to move around. That means she has less of a chance to get into a head-down position at this point. I'm okay with that. God has been good to me through the past month. I did another pre-eclampsia test (24-hour urine collection) and my results totally rocked! They were spectacular. I am still shocked by the great news. I had settled myself with the fact that I most likely had failed and would be having a c-section this week. But that was not God's plan for us. So next Wednesday, the 28th, Isabella will arrive into this world unless she has a time line nobody knows about and chooses to show up earlier. 

There's not much else going on. I'm still on bed rest, so there's no nesting going on. I'm a bit bummed about this, but Hubby has been doing all the nesting. He's been a great partner and best friend through all of this. He's my encouragement on the days where I feel so useless. He cleans, he cooks, he set up the nursery. Me? I sit on the couch or a lay down. That's all I'm allowed to do. It gets frustrating, as I feel like I am not tending to the needs of him through all of this. But he's always so encouraging and reminds me that it's because of strictly limiting my activities that Isabella has been doing so well and is staying in as long as possible. He reminds me that keeping the baby in the womb longer is far from useless. He's such a great husband. I am so blessed to have him. 

I'm going to go for now. I've got a case of the munchies, so I'm going to eat some grapes and maybe one of my cheapie freezer pops. 

36 Weeks 6 Days Update

How far along: 36 weeks 6 days

 

Symptoms: *Heartburn (ugh...I thought it was getting better, but in the past week, it has made an appearance in the middle of the night, so sleeping is not the BEST thing ever right now), *frequent potty trips (I'm back to getting up in the middle of the night again), *stretch marks, *tiredness (I ♥ my naps), *lots of baby movement, *random nausea

Total weight gain: 25 lbs as of my last OB appointment. Next appointment is Thursday.

Maternity clothes: I'm still loving my dresses. But since I've been in basic bed rest, I don't wear them unless I'm going on. I just sit around in a nursing sleep bra, tank top, and maternity workout capris. I'm comfy, so I can't complain. But when I go out, I do make myself look much cuter.

Stretch marks: Oddly enough, they run a circle around my belly button. They are nowhere else other than the center of my belly. And they itch like crazy!

Sleep: Sleep hasn't been the best thing ever as of late. It is quite a task to roll over in the middle of the night. Whenever Isabella is breech, my back hurts, even in the middle of the night. I've been up to pee at least once, usually twice in the middle of the night. And my heartburn is out of control, so I have to sleep with my head propped up a bit, which is not comfortable. Not much longer, though...
 

Best moment this week: Knowing that tomorrow will be the 37-week mark, which makes Isabella "full term!" Nothing is better than that, especially with all the adventures in the past few weeks. Of course, still not having pre-eclampsia (when all the doctors swore I would end up with it) definitely helped me reach that milestone.

Movement: Tons. The problem is that she is still a bit small and I have a lot of amniotic fluid. So she has PLENTY of space to move around. She was head down on Friday (which she should be by now!) and now she's head UP. Yep. She kicks me a lot and punches me, too. And as she gets bigger, I can't say that it's always enjoyable.

Food cravings: Salads, fruit, and cereal. Oh, and oddly enough, mozzarella sticks with yummy marinara sauce. Yum! Still nothing sweet, I have no sweet tooth. It randomly died when I got pregnant.

Belly Button in or out: It's still mostly an inny, but it changes whenever Izzy repositions herself. It was starting to pop out when she was head down for the weekend and then she flipped. So now it's back to trying to pop out. Hubby still thinks that it will pop just in time for the baby to come.

What I miss: Being able to do things around the apartment like clean, cook, and play with the dog. Since I'm on bed rest, I'm not allowed to do any of that. It can get very frustrating.

What I am looking forward to: Isabella's arrival sometime within the next few weeks.

Milestones: Reaching the 37-week mark tomorrow.

How is daddy?He's really excited, but he's also very nervous.These past few weeks have proven that you just never know what is going to happen. This child has a mind of her own and she brings the drama. But somehow, he stays calm through all the stressful moments.

How are the grandparents? They are SOOOO excited. There's not much longer left until they get to hold her, so they are thrilled.

Here are my latest pictures for you to enjoy. These are from 36 weeks 4 days.

Adventures in the Homestretch

IIt's so hard to believe that I am in the homestretch here. Only 4 more weeks to go at the most...if I make it to that. This last month has been quite the adventure with all the Maternal Fetal Medicine appointments, pre-eclampsia testing, fetal monitoring, and talk of early inductions. Whew...what a journey! I was really afraid Isabella was going to arrive a week and a half ago, when they first started talking about inducing me. Thankfully, I passed all the pre-eclampsia testing and there was no reason for her to come out. Since that time, things have settled down a little bit. Thankfully, as interesting as the journey has been, the stress of it has decreased.

I had one of my bi-weekly non-stress tests on Tuesday. Isabella was doing fine. They also did a growth scan. Thankfully, she has grown at a steady rate and is no longer in the bottom 5th percentile. She's still small, measuring in at 5lbs 1oz. This puts her around the 10th percentile. Maternal Fetal Medicine is happy with her measurements now, since she has shown quite adequate growth. The newest issue (see, there's always some adventure) is that she's not breech but she's not head down. She's "transverse." So she's resting her head at my right hip while kicking me by my left rib cage. Not comfortable and not safe for her. My amniotic fluid level is quite elevated at 26, which isn't reason to induce me, but it is reason for concern if I start having contractions. I haven't had any contractions of any kind that I know of, not even Braxton Hicks. My cervix today was still hard, high, and at most, a fingertip dilated. So hopefully, MFM won't be too worried. They talked about hospitalizing me if my cervix started to soften, thin out, and dilate. The concern is that with the baby's position and the amount of fluid I have, if my water breaks on it's own, the umbilical cord could threaten Isabella's safety. That's the latest of the adventures. 

The nursery is all ready for baby to arrive. I'll post some pictures of it. Hubby did a great job getting everything together. Since I'm really not allowed to do anything, he had to do the majority of the work. I helped by sitting on the glider telling him where to put things. But he really enjoyed getting Isabella's room together. I'm so excited about it!

I was sort of challenged to take a picture of myself in a bathing suit with my bare belly exposed. So I did. I'll be bold and post them on here, stretch marks and all. I'll also post my latest bump picture (from Sunday). Enjoy!!

The Nursery

My bare (and quite round) belly

The latest bump shots from Sunday (July 4th)

 

God is Good!!

I saw Maternal Fetal Medicine today for my normal Tuesday appointment with a fetal non-stress test and dopplers to check blood flow to Isabella's brain and internal organs. I must admit that I was very nervous and a bit shaken after my appointment with them on Friday. I had the same doctor today that I had on Friday. I didn't like him on Friday. I told him that today and he got a bit of a chuckle out of it. I have a much different opinion today. He was glad to see me and glad to tell me that all my pre-eclampsia testing was, in fact, NEGATIVE. So he thinks there's no reason Isabella can't stay in until at least 37 weeks. All that could change after my next growth ultrasound, but I'm prepared for that. I knew that there is still a chance she would need to come before "full term." If she can make it to 37 weeks, she'll be a full term baby. That's my hope. And he seemed to think she should be able to do that. But there's no way to be sure about that until the growth scan. If she's above the 5th percentile, she can stay in longer and won't be considered an IUGR (intrauterine growth restriction) baby. If she's under the 5th percentile but showed adequate progress from the last growth scan on the 15th, they'll let her bake another week. But, if she is under the 5th percentile AND hasn't showed adequate growth, she would need to come out for her own health and well being. I'm prepared for anything at this point. It's not in my control, it's definitely in God's hands. I'm so thankful for everyone's prayers, I truly believe that those prayers carried me through my appointment today. I'm still pregnant for at least another week. YAY! That's my good news, God certainly is good. 

On a sad note, though, a blogger friend who was a little over halfway through her pregnancy had her whole world come crumbling down this weekend. Rebecca from The Road Less Traveled unfortunately went into pre-term labor and lost her baby girl right after birth. My heart just aches for her and her family. There are no words to make someone in her shoes feel less pain. It is, I'm sure, an unbearable pain. Please pray for her and her husband as they prepare to say their final goodbye to the baby they won't get to enjoy and watch grow across the years. I know that God has a plan for everyone's life and there is a reason why He allowed this to happen to her at this point in her life. But I have an unspeakable heaviness on my heart for Rebecca. Please take the time to read her blog entry about her loss and offer her some encouragement and prayers.

It May Be An Early Delivery

I have had a rough weekend, to say the least. Last week, I spent another few hours in Labor and Delivery having testing done for pre-eclampsia. I again passed the tests leaving my doctors scratching their heads. So I was sent home to do a 24-hour urine collection. I also went home being told that I had a urinary tract infection and given an antibiotic for it. So I did the collection Wednesday into Thursday and the results weren't the greatest. In order to avoid pre-eclampsia, I have to keep my protein numbers below 300mg across 24 hours. Not that I have any control over how much protein is spilled out of my kidneys...Well, needless to say, that test yielded 377mg of protein, so the beginnings of pre-e or mild toxemia. Scary stuff. But I mentioned to my OB about the UTI (it was another doctor from the office who treated me in L&D) and he the questioned the accuracy of my 24-hour urine. Apparently, a UTI can spill extra protein into the urine. 

So I went to Maternal Fetal Medicine on Friday morning for my twice weekly fetal Non-Stress Test and the doctor there so nicely informed me that I should deliver my baby that day. Yes, seriously, he suggested an immediate delivery. He even called my OB. My OB disagreed and to compromise and come to an agreement they all could live with, they put me in the hospital for the night. I did another 24-hour urine collection in the hospital and was monitored closely. I was NOT in Labor and Delivery, though, since they felt it unnecessary to monitor me as closely as the women in there. So I was in the Mommy/Baby Unit. 

My OB told me very bluntly that if my protein this time around was over 300mg, he would induce me today and I would deliver Isabella on Monday (tomorrow). So during my lovely stay, I had my blood pressure checked every four hours, they checked the baby's heartbeat at the same time. They weighed me Friday night and then again on Saturday to make sure there was no sudden weight gain, as is common with pre-e. Nope. I actually lose a pound somehow. No swelling, no headaches, no spots before my eyes, nothing. This was the point of being there, to rule out pre-eclampsia and make sure Isabella didn't need to be delivered right away. 

So last night, after 9pm, they told me I could go home. My protein is pushing close to the 300mg mark, though, and that makes me nervous. I have to make an appointment tomorrow to meet with my doctor tomorrow. I don't know what he's going to say other than I imagine we're going to talk about how much longer I can keep going with this pregnancy before Isabella needs to come out. I'm hoping he will agree to two more weeks. Take her out in two weeks, that's only a few days shy of full-term. I can deal with that. We shall see what he says. But almost 100% guaranteed, Isabella will be here before August 4th. She'll arrive in July, it's just a matter of when. I'll keep you all posted!