As of today, we officially have 1 more month until our due date. I can't even begin to tell you how that feels. We're super excited, of course... but we're also very nervous, but for different reasons. Brandon is anxious because he knows that a newborn comes with sleepless nights and a wonky schedule. I'm nervous because I honestly feel like we'll sit there and look at her and not know what to do. Brandon reminds me that this was exactly what we did with Lance, though, and he turned out alright... so far. :) I'm sure there will be tons of unknowns in the days ahead - but I guess there's no sense losing sleep over that. Aren't we all in that boat? Who knows what tomorrow holds for any of us? Sometimes we wake up to fabulous days where things are peachy keen... other times, we have days we never imagined would be true and have to deal with the impossible. Either way, I think we can all agree that this is true for everyone. That doesn't stop my fear, but fear is one thing that I continue to struggle with daily and will laugh at myself for later, I'm sure.
That said, let's talk about what we've been up to the last few weeks. On July 13th I went in for my 33 week appointment with Dr. Dev. My weight was down a bit (so up about 8 pounds total so far). Because they want to keep a close eye on Ellie, they started putting me on the monitors for a non-stress test. Dr. Dev will transfer my care to Vandalia at 36 weeks and we talked about how we'd start meeting weekly at this point. On July 24th, I had a day that was scarier than normal. Since Miss Ellie practices her acrobatics constantly, it was alarming to have a morning where I felt nothing. She's usually so active, so around 9am when I hadn't felt her move at all, I sent B a text to ask him if he knew where our fetal monitor was. [Yes... we ARE that dorky. When I was pregnant with Lance, I bought a fetal doppler on Amazon so that I could listen to his heartbeat at home. I do have to say, it's been my favorite pregnancy purchase to date.] Anyhow, once Ellie started moving around a lot, we hadn't used it. Instead, the boys had used it as a microphone, so I had to search the house to find all the parts to it. I did a quick check and was so relieved to hear her heart thump along at 145 beats/minute. I could get back to focusing on work before I headed to an appointment that afternoon.
She still wasn't her active little self at our appointment. Her heartrate (HR) was fine, but didn't vary much at all, so they used the stimulator on my belly a few times. I didn't know such a tool existed. I'm sure it's just a buzzing sound to startle baby, but it could totally pass for a mini taser. Ha! They tried to stimulate Ellie twice and she only had a tiny reaction... not the elevation in HR they wanted to see. Dr. Dev wanted to start monitoring her more often and scheduled us for twice weekly - blah.
Last week we had 4 total appointments. Monday and Thursday were non-stress tests again with Dr. Dev - both went just fine. On Tuesday morning, I had an appointment in Vandalia and the ultrasound tech said that Ellie weighs 5 pounds 5 ounces. It was much harder to see things this time because as her bones harden, they deflect more sound and it's harder to see much in the ultrasound. However, we were able to get a great view of Ellie's heart and everything looks on par with where it's been. She was hiding her face completely, and is in the head-down position (SCORE!). Her little foot looked extra chunky, and the ultrasound tech said, "Oh my, look at all of that hair!". I don't know what she considers a lot of hair, but I'll take it! Thursday, we also had a family chiropractic appointment with Dr. Josh Steinke in Wapak. The adjustment sure made my whole body feel better - as always!
We had another appointment today with Dr. Dev and had a discussion about how the transfer of care works. I also asked (since we're 36 weeks on Thursday) what was considered "full term". I knew that they considered 37 weeks "full term" with our boys - not that it mattered because they both went past 40 weeks. Anyhow, Dr. Dev said that they would not stop labor at 37 weeks, which took a little stress off of me. I still want this little girl to stay put until the due date, but in a little over a week, it'll be safe for her to make an arrival. I think we better get that carseat out of the attic soon... eek!
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