RaeRae’s Pregnancy Journey

” All things are possible to him who believes” – Mark 9:23

and more bedrest …. November 13, 2008

Filed under: fetal stress tests, preeclampsia, sonogram, third trimester — raeraegirl @ 9:04 pm

Another doctor visit, another trip back home.

I must remember that although its quite a pain to drive into town repeatedly for checkups, it’s all for good reason but I won’t lie and pretend like it’s not getting a wee bit frustrating at this point.

Today my BP was elevated again : 135/100
I still have the protein spilling into my urine.

Another check revealed that I have a “cervix made of steel” according to the OB and while the baby is sitting directly on it and at station 0, my cervix is doing diddlysquat and still posterior and firm. The OB did say that if my cervix actually started to dilate or soften I’d go into labor fairly quickly considering how engaged he is right now. That’s wonderful,except it doesn’t seem like this baby boy is quite ready to be evicted.

What does this all mean?
If you guessed more strict bedrest you’re correct.

He’s passing all the fetal stress tests with flying colors. His amniotic fluid levels are perfect, thank God. But alas, mama is the one who needs to continue taking it easier so I can be in the best condition possible when labor comes, whether its natural or induced.

My next appointment is Monday morning with my regular OB who’ll be back by then (yay!) Please continue praying that my blood pressure remain in check so as not to put us in danger when the time comes. As always, we’ll update via blogs because it’s much easier to reach everyone this way.

 

Blood pressure update November 6, 2008

Filed under: baby movement, high blood pressure in pregnancy, third trimester — raeraegirl @ 10:02 pm

Today I went to my OB appt. and praise God my blood pressure has gone down! It was certainly not what I expected to hear given the pattern I had developed. It was 155/88 last time, today it was 142/80 so they let me come home!

Tomorrow morning we get the results of my protein check and depending on the results , if they are bad, I may be induced tomorrow. If the results are good, then I may go for another week with blood pressure checks every other day. At this point, they are preparing us for the real possibility that he will be here by next Friday at the very latest.

Needless to say that we are asking for continued prayer that my bloodpressure keeps getting better as that will only help make the delivery much safer. It would be wonderful to carry him another week to give him time to gain a bit more weight as well, however we know that God has already chosen his birthday so no matter when he comes, we pray for strength to be ready.

At this point they are also guessing he’s about 6lbs at 36wks.  He’s gonna be a little peanut but that’s ok! I”ll fatten him up :)

We’ll try to keep everyone up to date when we can. Thank you so much for your prayers!!

 

It’s a great pumpkin charlie brown November 1, 2008

Filed under: belly pics, third trimester — raeraegirl @ 11:49 am

Yesterday I had a little fun with my punkin’ and we dressed up together…yes, mama was Juno but I had to dress up my baby boy too!

and here are a few more pics from the maternity session I last posted.

I must also report, before I forget that my latest OB appointment this past Thursday on 10/30 revealed that his head is “way way low” but my cervix is still back and closed. I gained 2.5lbs and now weigh 145.5. Since I only have a month left it looks like I may be right under 150 when he comes. Woo hoo. Right on target according to my OB.

 

Our Maternity Session October 29, 2008

Filed under: belly pics, pregnancy, third trimester — raeraegirl @ 3:49 pm

Sorry its been a while since I’ve posted here, but I have photo goodies to share! We LOVE our maternity photos and I plan on making it a quest to take ONE belly photo per day in my 9th month just cuz hehe :)

Here are a few self pics i took weeks back but never posted.

33wk4d for the next 5 pics

and my self portrait at 34wk5d

big sister Princess and big brother Smokey can’t wait for him to arrive

 

The nursery is adorable October 21, 2008

of course, I”m totally biased but I am just LOVING how its coming together. Yes, can you believe we still have more plans in the works for this room. For one, we’ll have a clear spot once we clear out the closet to move some of the boxes of unopened gifts in there and the car seat will be in the car instead of the stroller. Well, this post won’t be fun without lots of pics so here we go! Our jungle safari nursery!

look at these cheetah chairs! the toddlers who’ve come by to visit his room LOVE them so I know they’re going to be a hit for him!

 

Another wonderful baby shower October 21, 2008

Filed under: baby shower, pregnancy, third trimester — raeraegirl @ 3:21 am

My best friend hosted this shower for me and the attendees included some of my closest longtime friends in my life, some whom I’ve known since I moved here in 95. I was exceptionally happy that my mom was able to make this shower since she takes care of my grandma by herself and hardly gets time away. Thank God for that special blessing – it made us both so happy. I can’t help but just cry happy tears when I see how many people are happily anticipating his arrival and showering him with things. He is already soooo loved by so many! That warms mama’s heart!

My best friend and hostess

Proud grandma

my partner in crime – jen

 

A mini-photo shoot September 14, 2008

I thought the weather had cooled off enough to tolerate a mini photo session. Eh maybe not! We walked around Mayfield Park and enjoyed the scenery all while stopping to take a few portraits of us together w/ my bump. I’m happy that we aren’t attempting our official maternity session on our own because it just wouldn’t be possible to pull off. Anyhow, here are a few shots we did manage to capture before I ran back to the car for the AC!

I also learned during this “shoot” that I need to pick really tight maternity tops in order to showcase the bump better. Maybe that won’t be an issue next month when we do the actual session :)

 

Babi Italia -Crib is up in one hour September 1, 2008

Filed under: babi italia, baby movement, nursery, pregnancy, third trimester — raeraegirl @ 6:44 pm

Ray was pretty proud that he put the crib together in just under an hour. Afterall, everything we’ve read and been told had us worried it would take NASA to set it up. Its perfect. Exactly what I wanted for my baby even before baby came to be. This nursery has honestly been the first room in the house where the planning of it couldn’t be going smoother (knock on wood). I normally am so indecisive on colors, layouts , etc. but one day I walked in that room and said “this will go here, crib there, armoire there” and in my mind it all fell into place.

I love how this looks now and it’s not even dressed up with the bedding yet. The armoire goes in  with the help of a neighbor who can assist Ray in moving it in. Solid wood furniture isn’t lightweight and I”m definitely worthless right now in the moving department. But I can make up for it with shopping and decorating :p

The furniture is from the Babi Italia Pinehurst Collection in espresso.

Because I”m using this journal to also document my journey towards motherhood, I’m going to write up the events of last night.

Around 7pm I started feeling symptoms of a UTI, but thought perhaps the time had come where he weighs enough that he’s constantly pushing on my bladder thus giving me the signal that I have to tinkle. But then I started feeling dull aches similar to a menstrual cycle and after a 3 hour nap woke up to a horrible radiating pain/cramp that only affected the 1/2 half of my torso. Literally from my spine , across the right and stopped at my navel. Baby boy wasn’t moving and I felt my uterus tense up. Naturally, I became worried after moving about 30 minutes and he wasn’t. My next door neighbor came over, who’s a nurse and checked my BP for me while I took a few minutes on the phone talking to my best friend who went thru a checklist with me of symptoms. Ray was trying to get ahold of the on-call Dr. and that is a whole story in itself but ultimately after 1 hour of constant pain we opted to go to the ER. It was midnight by then.

So there we go, in the car taking the drive into Austin. I thought to myself “this is what the drive will be like when I”m in labor, but 10x worse.” Thankfully we got there in under 30 minutes. I’m rolled up to the L&D and they strap me up to get the baby monitored. There is that sweet sound. 155 bpm. Normal. And now he hears the sounds of his own heartbeat and starts to kick and kick. The nurse tells me she must give me an exam to see if my cervix is dilated to determine pre-term labor. Oh and a catheter to see if I have a UTI. Someone shoot me. I HATE catheters. I’d rather be stung by bees.

Well after many attempts and failures nurse #1 is unable to reach my cervix and calls in another who after much searching determines that its way back and very closed. No pre-term labor. Thank God. Catheter is done in a matter of 15 seconds, but again give me bee stings anyway. UGH. Ray held my hand thru the entire ordeal talking to me and distracting me from the immense pain I was under. If I had any second thoughts of having an epidural they’re now officially squashed. I WILL have one. If they’d let me have two I”d take both.

They kept me in the L&D for 2 hours for monitoring all the while baby boy can’t sleep because of the monitor loudly echoing his heartbeat. I nap here and there and Ray’s trying to catch some z’s too , but everytime baby boy kicks the sound is so loud it wakes us both. So , the results. No UTI, no preterm labor, no infections. They don’t know what it was. Great. They advise me to call the on-call Dr. tomorrow (today) after 9am because “she’s probably asleep tonight and that’s why she’s not answering.” Don’t EVEN get me started on how I felt about that. Must be nice. We get home around 4am, woke up today at noon and all I want is bbq and a backrup.

I”m grateful that he’s ok, that it may have been a ligament stretching or just some crazy cramp or pinched nerve. but what a scary night it was there for a while. Just writing it out has made me tired again.

 

Hi ho, hi ho, it’s off to paint I go August 25, 2008

Filed under: babi italia, belly pic, belly pics, jungle safari theme, nursery, third trimester — raeraegirl @ 6:38 pm

The nursery room is primed and ready for some color! I”m so stinkin’ excited to finally get this going. The crib and armoire were delivered to our house over two weeks ago by my best friend who did us the favor of bringing these ginormous pieces to us and I’ve been itching like crazy to rip open the boxes and assemble it. But alas, I can’t because if I did they wouldn’t fit through the door! Imagine how hard it is waiting on doing that! Just a few pics to document the start of this process too.

We went with a dark cherry wood because I’m a sucker for these finishes and it compliments the rest of the house (hey, I gotta have flow throughout the house right?!) Plus can you imagine the mess that would show up immediately in a boys room with white furniture. Yea, I’d rather not set myself up for that heartattack.

 

In other exciting news, Baby boy is moving SO MUCH more now and to the point where others can see him moving around too. woo hoo i LOOOOOOVE being pregnant. I wish I could freeze this time. And that’s not just pg brain talking. I just love it and the connection we share right now. This is THE CLOSEST I’ll ever be to him in all my life. Sigh. I love that he’s got a routine going on where he’s most active after eating pudding and between 10-10:30 and 11:15-12am. He’s definitely fond of music because when I have it playing near my belly thru my laptop he’s dancing around and we just watch him get into the groove.

 

 

Ray decided on the colors for the nursery. On this computer the Leapfrog looks more lime, but its not. Its definitely a perfect color for a little boy. I can’t wait to see it on the walls!

So much has happened since my last post. Lets see, I’m definitely showing alot more. I’m much closer to the moment that I have to remove my navel ring as I’m bumping my belly into things more and more. I can BARELY reach the top cabinets in the kitchen to get dishes without getting stuck.

Here are a few more random belly shots I”ve taken

taken at 25wk

 

 

 

 

Step away from the fridge August 14, 2008

Filed under: baby movement, belly pic, belly pics, pregnancy weight gain, third trimester — raeraegirl @ 2:13 am

Today was our 24th week visit to the obygn and it was a quick, but informative visit.

  • My uterus is measuring 24cm and I’m 24 weeks – “perfect” said the doc
  • His heartbeat was strong at 154 bpm
  • My blood pressure is really good
  • um…..I gained 9.5 lbs in one month

Which brings me to 133.5 lbs at the 6month mark of this pregnancy. That was my pre-pregnancy/pre-workout weight back in September. I think that’s kinda funny actually. To pretty much come full circle on my weight.

The Dr. told me we need to “keep a watch on that weight gain” because no doubt that at that average I’d be up to 160-170 when my due date comes around and yea, that’s not happening. I completely blame this on my work schedule which resulted in me getting home every night at 9:30pm, eating a hefty dinner and then going straight to bed. No exercise, no walking..nothing to burn off anything that I ate. No bueno! Now that I”m getting off at 5pm, I shouldn’t have a problem maintaining a good average…and eating more salads!

We also went to register at BabiesRus today.

Someone please tell me how people managed to raise a child before this store existed. My god. The amount of stuff in there is UNREAL. The prices are just insane and by the time I left my feet were swollen and throbbing. Thank God for baby showers because we’re be in the poor house if we had to get all this ourselves. Whew!