...has stolen my heart. It really is hard to believe that we have just about 7 weeks left until we welcome her little sister in our lives...if I even make it that long! I'm just so excited to meet her, to see Adalyn and her together, and to be a family of 4!!! I can tell the end of this pregnancy is going to be a tough one for me. The progesterone side effects are in full force. I'm emotional, puffy, and itchy to say the least. But focusing on what is to come, what it's all for, makes it totally worth it. :)
Sooooo my Dr.'s appt last week did not go so well. My OB, Dr. H, discovered that I am already 50-60% effaced and don't have much of my cervix left. This is exactly what happened with Adalyn, but thankfully, it's happened much later this time (32w vs. 25w with Adalyn). Since I'm not dilated at all, I don't have to go on bedrest, but she was pretty serious about modified activity. Being that this is my second pregnancy, it's much easier for contractions to dilate me now. My contractions have unfortunately picked up too, though they are inconsistent and not painful. Basically, I have a 50% chance of going into preterm labor, so we're taking some precautions since Monkey Jr. is not fully cooked yet.
I've been started on progesterone to help keep me from contracting. Besides modified bedrest, this is what I took with Adalyn, and as most of you know, it worked....she even came late! Dr.H was very comforting at my appointment today and reminded me of just that. Because I shortened so much from my u/s 2 weeks ago and since this is my second pregnancy and she knows that rest isn't really possible with a toddler, she decided to also start me on steroid shots for Monkey Jr.'s lungs. Andrew joked that if Monkey makes it to full term, she will come out roaring like a lion. hehe
I really, really, love and trust Dr. H, and there isn't a better feeling than knowing that you and your baby are in the best hands.
Aside from the drowsiness, dizziness, and oh so wonderful puffiness from the progesterone, my only other symptom is the feeling like someone used my right arm as a punching bag. I didn't have to get steroids with Adalyn, so that part is new.
I go back tomorrow for another monitoring and then from there on out, it's just watching my contraction patterns and calling if they get painful or consistent. They will try to stop labor up until 35 weeks.
All of this being said, I am not getting it into my mind that this girl is coming early. It was torturous for me at the end with Adalyn, as I was ready for her to come at 35 weeks when they took me off the medication. I also have a number of photography sessions left before I'm done with work. My last newborn due date is March 16th, so besides the fact that it would be too early for Monkey Jr. to come before then, I REALLY can't have her coming before then!!
All in all, I'm hanging in, but that's basically my 32 week update. Oh, and I'm up 29lbs...the other kicker to my appointment last week. I really wish I could go to the gym now. I know that swimming was ok last time, so I might make a point to get into the pool at the gym sometime this week.
Need a laugh after all of this? We've been taking some cute videos of Adalyn on our phones. She is growing up too fast and we love her more than we could ever describe.
It's hard to believe that we are looking at just over 2 months before we meet our other baby girl. This pregnancy has gone by both fast and slow. On one hand, I feel like I've been pregnant FOREVER (since we found out the first week of August), and on the other, I can't believe that we are thiiiis close to d-day.
How far along?:31 weeks How big is baby?:She is now 15.2 and 16.7 inches and 2.5-3.8lbs. and going through major brain and nerve development these days. Her irises now react to light, and all five senses are in working order.
Weight gain/loss?:I'm guessing +27 and I'll find out at my OB appointment on Thursday. I don't feel good about it and have gained more than I wanted to thus far. I'm at the point of having to order bigger maternity clothes. :( Stretch marks?:none...please stay away! Maternity clothes?: duh. Sleep?:I've turned into an even lighter sleeper than I was before and I'm seriously about to start using ear plugs. Food cravings?: well, it's no secret that Monkey Jr. loves her sugar, so it shouldn't surprise that this week, I've been wanting icecream. Gender?:sweet baby girl and we have (fingers crossed) once again settled on a name. Movement?: not quite hourly, but I feel her all the time. Her kicks lately have actually been hurting too. Belly button?:It's about half in and half out. hmmm, I might actually pop this time! Symptoms?: I feel a bit like a sausage in a casing in my clothes and I'm starting to see some swelling in my hands and feet. I can tell my joints are really starting to soften too. Things are just hurting more and 3rd trimester fatigue has set in. What are you looking forward to this week?: Nothing too notable, except my last ultrasound of Monkey Jr on Thursday. If all goes well, I will have surpassed the bedrest point. Even though I shortened almost a whole centimeter at my last appointment, I am still nowhere near the danger zone like last time, and a shortened cervix isn't an indicator of preterm labor after 32 weeks. I REALLY hope I'm in the clear! I have less than 3 contractions a day and there is absolutely no patter to them. ...And onto the BLIZZARD! It's been a while since I've seen this much snow. We got about 22 inches here, and my hometown of Hamden got 40 inches! Most of my friends that live there are still stuck in their homes because the roads have yet to get plowed. Andrew was thankfully home with us on Friday so we just watched the snow fall, cooked, and played outside. On Saturday we went on a walk after playing some more, and on Sunday my parents came over and we went sledding and out to dinner...SO much fun and it was such a treat to have a 3 day weekend with Andrew. Andrew is gone from 6:45 until 11:30pm on Mondays, so it's a long start to a long week, and I know we both love having fun memories from the weekend to look back on. Once again, please forgive the order of the pictures...
wohoo! Between having our nanny here this morning, and then Adalyn taking a 3 hour nap this afternoon, I actually had time to do some personal picture editing. These are from our sledding escapade a few weeks ago - Adalyn's first time.
I should say that I was proud of her for actually keeping her gloves on. I unfortunately bought too small of boots for her, so she had to wear her black dress boots in the snow. Oh well.
I think she liked it, but this kid would love anything that is "owtide".
A few notes:
1) blogger is REALLY annoying me and messing with the order of photos, even when I specifically number them. I am thiiiis close to switching over to wordpress when I buy our new domain (acubed just won't work anymore, right?)
2). tips on taking pictures in the snow. Being in Manual mode is really the only way to do this right. You need to be in spot metering mode, meter off of a face, and then overexpose by one stop. Otherwise, your camera is going to read the snow, and all your pictures will have grey snow and faces will be underexposed. Sure, you can always bump exposure in processing, but that will bring more noise into your photos. On a dreary snowy day, and when you are trying to use a fast shutter speed to capture movement, your ISO is probably already going to be up higher and they will be noisy as is (especially if you are on an intro DSLR). These are almost SOOC, and to be honest could have used an exposure jump anyway.
