35.5 Weeks Belly Shot

Here I am on Friday, just over 35 weeks.  Today, I am exactly one month from my due date.

32.5 Weeks

Here is the belly at 32.5 weeks at the Hawksbill Summit in the Shenandoah National Park. We hike up the mountain, which is the highest point accessible from Skyline Drive, at 4050 feet.

I am looking rather large in this picture.

Nursery Preview

We got to work on #5's nursery this week. The wainscot went up, as well as crown molding and chair rail. The room went from baby blue to "Indulgent" purple and white. The color is great. We even painted her crib a shade of purple. Her bedding is purple with butterflies and flowers. Hopefully her nursery will be almost complete by the end of next weekend, so stay tuned for the finished product. I am already very excited with what we have so far!

3D/4D Ultrasound

Today, David and I went to get a 3D/4D Ultrasound of #5. This is something we had never done with our other four and it really was a special experience. The ultrasound lasted about 30 minutes and it was amazing. We saw her moving all around in 4D! Most of the time she was sucking on her toes or her hands. I am sure it will be something we treasure for a long time to come!

She really is a sweetie.

31 Week Appointment and Growth Ultrasound

Today, I had my 31 week OB appointment and growth ultrasound. I am exactly 31 weeks today. Because Jeremiah was IUGR (growth restricted), the OB wanted to do an early third trimester growth ultrasound. Number 5 is in the vertex position, but very high up in the uterus. She had her hands in front of her face the whole time and was very scrunched up so we could not get a view of her. However, the tech was able to get all the measurements she needed. For posterity's sake, here we go:

BPD--7.82 cm--31 weeks, 3 days
HC--28.47 cm--31 weeks, 2 days
AC--26.25 cm--30 weeks, 3 days
FL--6.07 cm--31 weeks, 4 days

Putting all these measurements together, she is in the 48th percentile and weighs 3 lbs., 11 oz.  The abdominal circumference is at the 35th percentile. By way of contrast, I has an ultrasound at exactly 30 weeks with Jeremiah and he was measuring more than a week and half small and weighed 2 lbs., 10 oz.

My OB was very happy with these measurements and so was I, but I will get another growth ultrasound around 37 or 38 weeks to see how she is doing. Everything else checked out fine with me as well. My blood pressure was back down to 96/58, so I was happy with that. I had no questions, neither did she, and I continued to follow my "don't ask, don't tell" philosophy.

My only real complaints are swelling--I can't wear my wedding rings, my feet look like clubs and none of my shoes fit. I also get terrible heartburn at night, but that's expected. Life is good. God is good! I am very grateful and thankful!

Can you say indecision?

With our contractor hopefully coming next week to do the baby's room, it is time to select a paint color for our baby girl. I have already purchased her bedding and drapes, and with that in mind, I knew the color of her nursery would have to be purple. But what shade? As you can see, I bought seven paint samples. Two of them are so similar that telling them apart is difficult, even when I put them on top of each other. The kids all like the really dark purple color. I am between the two similar colors--the one on the bottom (which is also painted on a small strip between the upper left and right and to the right of the really dark color) and the one on the upper left. The other four, we eliminated pretty quickly. As anyone who has been in our house can tell you, we are not afraid of color, so dark colors do not scare me. If anything, I am turned off by muted or milky shades of a color and I tend to think that, generally speaking, most people go too light in selecting their paint colors. Furthermore, her room has three big windows, which bring in a lot of light all day long. Finally, nearly half the walls will be covered with semi-gloss white wainscot (bead board), not to mention the base, crown and window wood-work will be white, so we can definitely support a much darker shade, even in a small space.

30.5 Week Belly Shot

Here are two pictures of Craig and me goofing off on Saturday at our party--30.5 weeks. Less than 10 to go. Hard to believe.

First Purchase for #5

At the Springsteen concert on Friday, we made our first purchase for #5--A Bruce Springsteen onesie. I hope she loves the onesie and Bruce as much as we do. She certainly did not seem to mind all the dancing and bouncing around her mama did at the concert. She probably knows all the words to his songs by heart by now!

And on Friday night, I was 29 weeks, 2 days pregnant, so this picture will have to suffice for an updated belly shot as well!

28 Weeks

Yesterday, I was 28 weeks pregnant. Yesterday, I officially hit my third trimester. I am mind-boggled when I consider how fast this pregnancy has progressed. It's unfathomable. In just 12 weeks, just 12 weeks (that's not much time at all), we will either be holding our baby girl or getting ready to meet her soon. I think everyone in this house is very excited to meet #5, but we are all also a bit nervous. Change is hard. A new baby is hard work. Everyone will be affected.

The children seem to love #5 already. Isabelle and Jeremiah especially love to hug my belly and kiss my belly and talk to her. To say Isabelle is excited to have a baby sister would be something of an understatement. She has big plans for helping me with her.

This past weekend, I finished cleaning out my office, which used to be Gabriel and Jeremiah's nurseries. I met the contractor on Tuesday to discuss some improvements to the room. He will begin the first week of October installing wainscoting, chair rail and new crown molding in the room, in addition to hanging my window fixtures and painting the room. I am very excited to have the opportunity to decorate a little baby girl's nursery for the first time. With the twins, we went with yellow and they shared a yellow room until we separated them when they were getting ready to enter kindergarten. Jeremiah and Gabriel both had blue nurseries and then moved into a green room. This room will be all girl and I am very excited about it. Isabelle is too.

As for me, I am feeling pretty good these days. I did not get my second trimester energy burst until well into my second trimester. I would argue that it never really came at all, given the heat of the summer. In fact, I was pretty exhausted most of the summer. Now, I seem to have some more energy, at least for the time being. So, I am using that energy to get as much done around the house as I can. I am a bit swollen. My pubic bone hurts quite a bit on many days. Sometimes, if I have been standing a lot or walking a lot, I feel like I am just going to split in two. The pain can be excruciating. But it's only temporary.

#5 is moving around quite a bit and it's always fun to feel the baby move inside me. It's one of my favorite parts of being pregnant.

Last week, I talked to my OB about delivery. She said that when I have contractions 6-8 minutes apart, I should come to the hospital right away especially since this is my fourth delivery and we live 45 minutes away on a good day. I reminded her that #4 came out in one push. She also said she could offer me induction at 39 weeks, but not before and I again expressed my sincere desire to avoid an induction. She suggested we wait until we get closer and see how I am "progressing" down there. 39 Weeks will put me right at Thanksgiving and that is really not an ideal time to be having a baby.

Twelve weeks. One trimester. And a sweet baby girl to love and snuggle with all winter long!

27 Week Appointment

Last Wednesday, I had my regularly scheduled 27 week appointment. This was just a standard in and out type of appointment and everything is looking good with #5 and me so far. I gained another 4 pounds. All my blood work came back normal--no anemia, no syphilis, no whatever else they tested. I was borderline for gestational diabetes, but my OB was not worried about it, so I am not either. I also got my thyroid tests back, and my thyroid appears to be regulated, finally. I go back again in four weeks, when I am 31 weeks pregnant (after which time I will be on two week appointments). At that visit, I will also receive a growth ultrasound for #5 to see how she is growing in there. It was about that time when they noticed Jeremiah's growth slowing down. My OB does not think this will be a small baby though. Thankful for another healthy check-up.

26.5 Week Belly Shot

Here is a picture of me with my friend, Ken, at his restaurant on Friday night. It won't be long until I am bigger than he is.

25.5 Week Belly Shot

Now, that is one white belly!

23.5 Week Belly Shot

Here I am, painfully white on Saturday, our first day at the beach...

I guess I did not realize how totally unflattering that suit was until I saw it in a photo.

Fetal Echocardiogram and 23 Week Appointment

On Tuesday, I headed to the hospital to have my fetal echocardiogram and then to the doctor to have my 23 week appointment. I was not due for an appointment until next week, but we will be at the beach and my doctor did not want me to wait until 26 weeks for an appointment. The echocardiogram was just a precaution since Gabriel was born with congenital heart disease. When one child in the family is born with CHD, the chances of having another child with CHD are much greater. Still, even with the increased risk, the risk is what I would consider small and if I were a gambling person, I would take those odds. We had no reason to believe anything was wrong with our little girl's heart.

I had to wait a while for the echo. I should also note that I am not a science person and I don't know much about biology of anatomy or physiology, but I know all the parts of the heart, what they look like and how they should function. I think it comes from all the doctors explaining everything to me with Gabriel so many times. The images are burned in my head. So, I knew what the sonographer was looking at and what he was doing and when he got to the aortic arch, I knew exactly what that was and let me just say, it was beautiful, a very beautiful sight. Even I could tell there was nothing wrong the heart. The cardiologist confirmed this when I met with her after the echo. She is partner at Hopkins Pediatric Cardiology and therefore she works with Gabriel's cardiologist. She did warn me that (as I already knew) even though the aorta looks perfect now, after the baby is born, when the PDA closes, it could cause a narrowing of the aorta at that spot, which is exactly what happened with Gabriel. Everything else looked perfect though. I was very thankful. They also measured the baby and she is measuring right between 22-23 weeks, so just where she needs to be at this point.

I then had to cool my jets for two hours while I waited for my OB appointment. I grabbed some lunch. It was just a standard OB appointment. Everything looks fine. I gained another 4 pounds. My blood pressure was higher than usual--124/58, but still good enough. My fundal height was right at 23 weeks. I was warned that I cannot boogie board, body surf, surf, para sail, water ski, go tubing behind a power boat while at the beach. However, I can go jet skiing. I go back in 4 weeks and I also have to get my 1 hour glucose test done at that time as well.