35 Week Doctor Visit

Today was our 35 week doctor's visit. It was pretty much uneventful but very informative. Of course, he is still breech. The doctor listened to his heart, measured my belly (fundus), and gave of lots of info about the next visit. We are suppose to start seeing her every week now; but since he is breech and I have been feeling so well, we are just going back at 37 weeks for an appt and the external version. We see the doctor on Tuesday, December 2nd during which they do an ultrasound to check his size and the amount of amniotic fluid. If he is too big or there is too little fluid, they would not try the version. If all that checks out okay, then we go for the version early the next morning (she could only do it during the 37th week on a Monday or Wednesday). Well I turn 37 weeks on Monday at midnight (according to UMC's way of calculating), so that left us with Wednesday. I am really happy that we didn't have to choose a day. I didn't like the idea of determining his birthday. That is God's department, not mine. So Wednesday, December 3rd early morning we go to the hospital. I go to an OR where they start an epidural and give a medication to relax my uterus and start the procedure. Jonny will be there "to hold my hand" as the Dr. Hampton said. If successful, we stay most of the day just for observation. If unsuccessful or Jackson has any distress, then they will do a C-section right then and there. I hoping for success. The next two weeks are probably going to be the longest weeks of our lives!

Updates

I figured there are a few things on which y'all need to be updated:

1. We did go to Baton Rouge this weekend to meet my birthmother's entire family. It was the first visit since I initially met Dana (my birthmother) on September 29th. I made the trip just fine. I have been feeling and moving alot better recently so that helped. My doctor gave me the go-ahead last visit. I don't think I could have asked for it to go better. I have been so at peace about it all. I wasn't nervous, just very eager. It is truly amazing how wonderful it went. Everyone was so welcoming! Dana has three children: Travis who is 23 and about to join the Air Force, Tyler 21 (I believe) who is a police officer in the Air Force and scheduled to deploy to Iraq in June, and Elizabeth 18 who is a senior in high school. The three of them were so welcoming and sweet. They are all three really cool. Dana has four sisters and a brother. They were all there with all their children and grandchildren plus Dana's mom. Dana said the head count was about 45 and it was the first time in a long time that everyone in the family had been together. My mom, stepdad, brother, brother's girlfriend, Aunt San (mom's sister), and step-grandparents all came also to share in the experience. It is no doubt that this is all in God's plans. I feel so blessed with how it all went. Here are some photos: Dana, me, and Mom at the first meeting on September 29th.

Dana and me at our first meeting on September 29th.

Travis, Dana, me, Elizabeth, and Tyler.

2. The baby belly is continuing to grow. My Aunt San (who saw me last weekend and this weekend) said that the belly must have grown like three inches in one week. I agree that it is steadily growing...yeah, it means our little man is getting BIG! This photo was taken tonight. I am exactly 35 weeks. 3. Tomorrow is a doctor visit day. I figure that it will be a quick and uneventful visit. I wish he would turn in the meantime. He must take after his mom in that aspect (I was breech but more than anything I am stubborn)! Anyway, will let you know how the visit goes.

4. Lots of you have asked about the nursery. We only are lacking the rug which is on back order until mid December.

Hope you all enjoy. Sorry it is SO long!

Our Crazy Dog

On Tuesday Jonathan put together the swing our sweet friend Holly got Jackson. We moved it to the living room since the nursery is so small. Sam is not a fan of it, especially if it is swinging. I took a video on my phone of it. It is cut a little short because I was laughing so hard when he took off running. I am glad he is scared of it instead of trying to get to the mobile or toys attached to it. He has been standing on his back legs and whining to get to the nursery mobile since I put it on the crib.

Turn That Crown Upside-Down

Well the last few days I have been that "pregnancy miserable" AKA very short of breath, heartburn, indigestion, and uncomfortable from him being so high. He is also still breech, so that compounds the problem. Today was what we call "Super Tuesday." Jonathan is off every Tuesday, and we usually have a lunch date followed by errands or whatever we want. We look so forward to Tuesdays. We watched a Lamaze video that the UMC nurse educator gave to us. We have already been to childbirth class here in Greenville, but it lightly touched on breathing. We finished watching it tonight. I got inspired to try to turn him after hearing about natural labor. I really want to avoid a C-section. I had read home remedies of using frozen vegetables to turn the baby. You place the cold items your upper belly, and the baby is supposed to move to a warmer spot. I have put this off for a week because it seems pretty cruel. BUT I really want him to move. I also read that you can lie down with your pelvis elevated for 20 minutes, ten times a day. I decided to try it all at once. Can you see my desperation???? We also added Sam's heating pad (yes, he is so spoiled that he has a heating pad) to my lower abdomen. It was pretty comical until I started laughing while upside down and stretched my already stretched abdominal muscles. I had to literally roll off the couch into Jonathan's arms. I felt so silly. It in no way worked. I was left walking off the pain from stretched muscle, a really red belly from the frozen food, and a really active (guessing very mad) boy pushing even more on my ribs. Jonathan photo-documented the event. So enjoy!

Not the most flattering photo, but funny.

P.S. In all the "literature" it kept mentioning frozen peas. We used frozen mangoes and frozen artichoke hearts. Surely, that didn't have anything to do with it??? ;)

Latest Doctor Visits

We went on Monday to Jackson for two appointments on early Tuesday morning. It was nice to get away for the night and go to dinner. At 8 o'clock that morning was a followup ultrasound for Jackson's brain.

The good news: the ventricle size had not progressed anymore and is measuring the same as all the other times. Meaning we don't have to go back for anymore ultrasounds with the high risk MDs. It is bittersweet. We are so happy he is okay, but we loved the ultrasounds and the staff there! The ultrasounds were usually about 45 minutes long with the staff just playing and trying to get a perfect picture of his face for us. They are wonderful! We did get a 3D or 4D (not sure which) picture of his profile. He was not wanting to say "cheese" and look at the camera!

The bad news: he is breech! One reason why we couldn't get a good picture of his face. He is face down with his head underneath my right ribs. That explains the reappearance in the last week or so of heartburn and shortness of breath. Two weeks ago when we went to the doctor, he was already engaged into my pelvis and I was 80% effaced (my cervix was thinned 80%). Not the best news. Obviously now he is not putting any pressure on my cervix. At 10:45 we had my OB visit. She didn't check me this time, so updates on effacement or dilation. However, we did have to talk about what to expect if he didn't turn positions on his own. If he doesn't turn by week 37, we will go in that week (the week of Dec. 2nd) for a procedure called External Version. Thanks to my nursing school friend, Bailey, who works at UMC labor and delivery (where we will deliver), I have all the info about it. We will go in to the L&D floor and to an OR for the procedure. I will get an epidural since it is supposed to be very uncomfortable. There are 3 doctors present. They will give a medication to relax the uterus. Then they will try to turn him manually guided by ultrasound. If anything goes wrong (like his heart rate drops) or he just won't turn, they will go ahead with a C-section right then hence why we are in the OR. Hopefully, this will all be avoided by him turning in the next 4 weeks on his own. They should have sent us home with a portable ultrasound machine because I am constantly feeling on my belly and playing "Guess The Body Part."

Here is the 3D or 4D picture. It is not great quality, because it is photo taken with my phone and emailed to me. The scanner is upstairs in the newly moved office, so I can't scan the original. Maybe Jonathan will scan it later and upload it.
OH YEAH! During the ultrasound, the doctor was talking about how much hair he has! He must take after his daddy!