35 Week Appointment

I had an appointment with the Perinatal Center yesterday to be followed up with Dr. H. Brady took the day off work to go to the appointment with me. I had a rough weekend pregnancy-wise and he wanted to make sure that everything was ok.

We thought that we were just going for some monitoring, but to our surprise we got a growth ultrasound in addition to our regular appointment. The ultrasonographer Krisha was amazing as usual. She took measurements of both the babies. Our girl is a whopping 5lb 11oz! Our boy is 5lb 4oz! I am carrying 11 lbs of baby in this uterus. Both babies are doing great, although they still won't change position, so a c/s it is. Susan performed my NST and was a little concerned about my swelling. She said that I looked quite a bit different from a week ago. I had noticed it as well. Plus, I think I got the "you won't make it another week, I'm surprised you're here" comment a dozen times at church on Sunday. Obviously I was looking like I felt, swollen and crummy.

Dr. H wasn't concerned though. My BP was fine at the office (although it had been high over the weekend), my constant cramping is normal, swelling is normal, etc. The only thing that concerned me, that I didn't mention because I didn't figure it out until later last night was that I gained 6 lbs in one week! That has to be due to all the swelling in my feet, hands and face. So much for great delivery pictures, but at least the water weight will fall off within a couple of days of delivery.

I can't complain (well, I complain just fine actually, but I shouldn't...), things are going well and I've had a great pregnancy. I'm just ready to have these babies. My c/s is scheduled for Tuesday Feb. 17th at 10:45am. I wouldn't mind having them earlier, but Mom won't be here until the 7th, so it will have to be after that. So, only 21 more days. Brady and Mom think I need to take it easy and just rest. Mom says to leave the housework for when she gets here. Can Mom come visit without a spotless house? I think I would have a panic attack.

Here come the contractions...

I started contracting during church. I thought maybe it was the hustle to get there by 9am, since we are used to 1pm church that brought them on. I hoped that by sitting during the first meeting they would subside, but they didn't. They were hard painful contractions and made me nauseated every time they hit. They even brought me to tears a few times. I was teaching yesterday and they weren't very consistent in their frequency so I stayed and toughed it out. I had a bout of contractions like this the weekend before, but not as painful and eventually I was able to fall asleep during them and they had stopped by morning.

After our meetings, I came home and decided to lay down. At about 4pm I called Dr. H because the contractions were coming between 5-8 minutes apart for a few hours and not letting up. And they hurt! So, after discussing our options I decided to stay home and try some Procardia to see if it would stop the contractions. I've given Procardia many many times to patients and usually it worked, but sometimes not. Thankfully about an hour after taking the Procardia the contractions slowed to 2-3 an hour, but just like clockwork they started back up again right before my next dose of the med was due. At this point I am taking it every 6 hours, but we'll see what the next few weeks bring.

Well, at the doctor on Monday the babies looked really good, but the stinkers are in no position to be delivered without surgical intervention! Baby A is still breach and Baby B is still transverse. But, they are growing like they should and I have almost 8lb's of baby in me! Baby A (our girl) is 3lb 13oz (51%) and Baby B (our boy) is 3lb 15oz (54%). Only a 3% difference in weight is excellent. I had told Dr. H about my contractions during the last week and he let me know that he was on-call this weekend so to call if I needed him. So, I didn't hesitate to call when the contractions started up again.

Our next appointment is next week when the Perinatal Center will start monitoring (MBPP-modified biophysical profile) the babies. I'm not sure that we will have anymore ultrasounds for growth, but Dr. H will still do them in his office for positioning etc. Then we move on to weekly appointments. This pregnancy has flown. I can't believe that in possibly 3 weeks we could have a couple of babies! Hoping of course for a few more than that.