39 weeks

I am 39 weeks!! We can't believe it! I never really thought we would get to this point, its crazy- We had our dr.'s appt today and everything is still looking good. I have thinned out a little more than last week and the baby has dropped from -2 to -1 station, she was able to touch his head!! I haven't really dilated any more, she thinks I am about a 1, so not much difference there- but things are on schedule for the induction on Monday night. Our family is coming in Monday evening so we are very excited to see everyone! The dr. said that some women go into labor just by using the cervical ripening agent, which we are using Mon. night. So who knows, maybe we will have our baby before Tuesday :)

If anything changes, we will let everyone know- if not.....Happy Halloween!

Brian's baby outfit-

I got this little outfit in the mail today from Brian's mom- its the outfit he came home from the hospital in 28 years ago!! Isn't it the sweetest thing- This is what Henry will wear home from the hospital :) Its so neat, its kinda retro at this point :)

Well, the nurse called me this morning and scheduled my induction for next Tuesday, Nov. 4th.

I will go in on Monday night and they will start some meds, and then the actual induction medicine will start first thing Tuesday morning!! We are so excited...its only 1 week away!! The doctor said he is about 7-7 1/2 lbs. right now, so he will be a healthy baby boy! I started taking my heart medicine today and am hoping to get to go to a dinner tonight with Brian, hosted by the medicine department from the hospital- they are having bbq for everyone :) I still have my regular appointment on Thursday just to make sure everything is on track and then we will have our baby on Tuesday- unless he decides he wants to come before then :)

Please pray for us that everything goes well!! We are so excited!

38 weeks!

So... I went to the Dr. today, and she said everything was progressing well! She looked at my charts from the cardiologist and saw the notes that she thought it might be a good idea to induce if the baby was healthy and she agreed!!! We are soooo excited! I was supposed to have my next appointment on Thursday, but she is going to try to fit me in at the beginning of the week so that we can schedule the induction for Thursday or Friday! This is if everything continues to go well- There is always a chance the hospital won't be able to schedule it until the beginning of next week though...which stinks- So we will see :) She said there is also a chance (as with anyone at this stage in pregnancy) that I could go into labor before then, so we are just waiting :) We will let everyone know as soon as possible but in the mean time, she said to go ahead and take the medicine for my heart rate so that Brian and I might be able to enjoy our last few days before the baby. She said it is safe and that I should have nothing to worry about- So who knows...maybe we can squeeze in a date before next weekend :)
We could have a little Halloween baby :)

Cardiologist

I went to the cardiologist yesterday to go over the results from the test we did last week. The ECHO came out normal, which is the best news- she was a little worried about my heart being enlarged, but everyting looked fine!! The results from the heart monitor were not as good- I never had any really bad episodes while I was wearing the monitor (of course..), but I did have a lot of shortness of breath and dizzy spells. During those times, my heart rate was 168 beats a minute. She said that is not good at all. She asked what I was doing during those times, and I explained to her that I was just sitting or laying down. She said its not life threatening at all or harmfull to the baby since its just been going on for a few weeks. I guess its only harmfull over long periods of time because your heart just cant beat that hard for too long. She decided it was good to write me a prescription to try and bring the rate down, but explained that few studies have been done on the med. during pregnancy. She said as far as they know, its safe, but they just dont have enough info. The med. also only has a lifespan of about 4 hours and takes 30min. to an hour to work. I feel like thats a pretty short time to feel good to have possible side effects- She wants me to ask my OB about early induction to avoid taking the medicine. So, I go back to see my Dr. on Thursday and I will talk to her about it then- At that point, I will be 38 weeks so Henry should be safe!! I guess we will just wait and see what happens :)

37 weeks

I had my 37 week appt. today with the OB! She said everything looked great- the baby has dropped and is at -2 station and although I haven't started to dilate, she said things are softening and starting to thin out!! Things are measuring right on track! Brian had his last night of call until the baby comes (actually until the last of Dec.)- which is awesome!! The doctor said that sometimes the baby's movement will decrease in the last few weeks as it looses space, but not in this case. He is still going strong and kicking pretty hard- I think he is as ready to come out as we are! I go see the cardiologist tomorrow, so I will let you know what she says. For now, I am still taking it easy and just waiting!

Cardiologist-

Well, we met with the cardiologist yesterday. She was really nice and we were able to start to figure out what we can do (if anything). First of all, my resting heart rate is about 140, which is about 40-60 beats higher than normal. During this time, I actually feel ok, its when it hits about 200 that I want to pass out. She put me on a heart monitor for 48 hours to see if we can track a pattern with my heart and she also ordered an ECHO (which we did at 4:00 yesterday). She was a little worried that the pregnancy might have caused my heart to become enlarged and if so, we would have to induce pretty soon. Well, we don't know the results of the ECHO yet, but judging by the fact that they let me go home, probably means it looks ok. I return the monitor on Monday and then go back to her on Friday- She said that she is hoping to find a med. that is a low enough dose to be safe for Henry, but also to get me through the next few weeks and labor. I guess after the baby comes, there are a few procedures that can be done to correct my problem, but it's not that bad when I'm not pregnant :) So hopefully things will settle down after he gets here!
Brian took the day off today and has been so great! I couldn't ask for a better husband. First off, he came home and got me twice yesterday to take me to my appointments, then he got me breakfast this morning, cleaned the house, made lunch, and is now at Wal-Mart getting groceries (which he hates more than anything, but didn't complain at all :) I couldn't be any happier to have him in my life :)
Well, even though I don't feel great and some days go so slow, we really can't believe its almost time. I go back to my OB on Thursday and then I only have 3 more appointments after that! We are so excited to meet Henry, and to get to see our family again! Please pray for us that everything goes well, and that we have a healthy little boy!

36 week appt.

I had my 36 week appointment today and got to talk to the Dr. about the problems I've been having. First of all, I had an episode on the way to the hospital and actually had to stop in the middle of driving to catch my breath- it just comes out of nowhere. My heart was pounding and I had sharp pain in my chest, I was actually really scared this time because I was in the car and by myself. Thankfully I made it to the hospital and Brian was able to meet me there. This was his first time to meet the doctor (which is good since she will be delivering our baby soon:).
The doctor sent me down for blood work to see if maybe I have a thyroid problem that has been overlooked, and then tomorrow I will meet with a cardiologist. We are hoping that I can get on a medication that is safe for the baby, and will also help during labor.
It's getting close, which is good because I am feeling pretty uncomfortable and its hard for me to really do anything :( I know everything will be just fine- we just have to get through a few more weeks!! I will let you know how the appt. goes tomorrow- Can't wait!!

Happy Birthday Brian!!

Our new baby mobile :) I got the idea online and made it for about $3!! Not quite as cute as some, but way cheaper! :)

Well, I am 35 weeks now and not feeling quite as well as I have been- I think all those months of a great pregnancy are catching up with me :) I have had a small problem with my heart, but it hasn't really kept me from doing things until now. For about 2 weeks, I haven't been able to do anything but sit and lay down without my heart racing- I go back to the doctor on Wednesday, so we will see what she says. I'm sure everything is just fine, I think Henry is just getting big and my body is trying to adjust. We are getting more and more ready for him- 5 weeks to go!

In other news...:) Brian's birthday was yesterday and we got to spend the day relaxing! He was on call the night before and so he got off work at noon. We just hung out and had chocolate cake with peanut butter icing (his favorite!). It wasn't very exciting, but unfortunately these days my body can't handle much excitement :) He starts a new rotation today- G.I. which will be a pretty good month. The hours are still pretty long, but only one night of call the whole month!! Thankfully things are starting to slow down, just in time for baby!!