Pregnancy #2: 38/39 Weeks Pregnant and Specialist/Midwife Appointment

I was 38 weeks pregnant on April 24th.

According to thebump.com, the baby is the size of a pumpkin.

The Baby
He may have as much as an inch of hair, however Emma was pretty much bald so we shall see.

He is slowly shedding the white vernix, but he will probably still be born with some. Emma was covered in it.

He is around 20 in long and weighs around 7 lbs. I'm curious to see if the growth scan was correct or not on his weight.

His head is about the same circumference as his abdomen.

The Mama
I have really been struggling the past few weeks with just utter exhaustion from working full time while being this pregnant and not sleeping. With Emma by this point it was July and I had been out of school for about 6 weeks. While this is my last week of work (I have three days left while writing this), I am struggling a lot. It hasn't allowed me to get a lot of stuff done on my to-do list, which is kind of freaking me out, but I go to bed around 8 and I'm still really tired the next day because I am up so much in the middle of the night.

38 Week Specialist Appointment
He looks good, she spent some time really checking his abdomen and making sure he was swallowing fluid to make sure not to expect issues there when he is born a long with the heart issues. She wasn't really concerned about my blood pressure since the urine at the hospital was fine. She said just to watch it and call if I felt bad again or it went up, but that since I am so close to my induction date (May 3rd) she really isn't worried at this point.

38 Week Midwife Appointment 
This appointment went well. We talked a little bit about the induction next week and how that would go. It was pretty short, we didn't do a cervix check since I have another appointment on Monday a few days before the scheduled induction.

39 Week Specialist Appointment
I had my 39 week appointment the day before I turned 39 weeks, three days before our scheduled induction. She noticed a blockage in his colon and while it is probably just meconium she wanted to go ahead and induce before it gets any bigger and could potentially cause more issues. We found this out at 11 am on Monday, April 30th. We spent several hours getting child care figured out for Emma, running last minutes errands and cleaning last minute things. Then we hung out with Emma before we had to go to the hospital around 6pm.

Pregnancy #2: 37 Weeks and Midwife/Specialist Appointment

I was 37 weeks pregnant on April 17th.

According to thebump.com the baby is the size of a winter melon.

The Baby
He is practicing some skills: inhaling, exhaling, sucking, gripping and blinking.

He is also getting ready for his first dirty diaper.

He measures around 19 inches and 6 to 7 lbs. I am sure he is over 7 lbs at this point if his growth scan last week was correct, but I have my doubts that it was.

He has started falling into a good routine of movement on most days.
The Mama
I have been having some contractions on and off for a few days, but nothing major. At my chiropractor appointment I jokingly told her to "adjust me into labor" I did have some more contractions after, but they went away once I went to bed. I wouldn't mind him coming sooner than the induction date as I just keep thinking about my 48 hour induction with Emma. All the midwives keep telling me it won't be that long, but technically 30 hours is shorter than 48.

I've been having some headaches this week, I tried upping my water intake but it doesn't seem to help. I'm also getting over a lot of sinus pressure/allergies so maybe that is part of the issue. It has been a pretty stressful week at work as well.

I'm pretty sure I lost my mucus plug on the 23rd, the last day of week 37, the pelvic pressure has increased a lot, however not really any contractions anymore. I woke up feeling really foggy on this day and it just progressively got worse. At noon I went to the school nurse and had her take my blood pressure. We took it four times over an hour period and it was high all four times, so the midwives had me go to maternal observation. We were there being monitored for about 2.5 hours, but my blood pressures were fine the whole time, my urine came back with no protein and the baby was doing well so they sent me home and told me to just watch it since I have two doctor appointments during week 38.

Midwife Appointment
We set an induction date of May 3rd, but going in at 8 pm on the 2nd for softening of the cervix if needed. We will find out for sure on April 30th. My blood pressure was high with the cuff, but fine when done manually. This happened when pregnant with Emma too. The information from our growth scan last week says he is in the 69th percentile. Three weeks ago he was in the 29th, so I'm not really believing these scans at all at this point. She said everything looks good. I found out I was GBS negative, so I am so excited not have to have any antibiotics during delivery.

Specialist Appointment
This appointment was at the office that I like the least amount, they always take forever because they don't buzz him soon enough to get what they need. For example, they had me on the monitor didn't check on me until 15 minutes in and instead of buzzing him then then, they let me go for another 5 minutes. Of course they didn't have what they needed, had to buzz him and then monitor for another 20. The other location checks on you every 5 minutes and if they don't have what they need in that first 5 minutes they buzz the baby to get them moving, so I have rarely gone over the 20 minutes there. It was really annoying and I'm sure they realized I was not a happy camper. Other than that everything looked good, the scan and meeting with the doctor only took about 20 minutes all together.

Compare to my pregnancy with Emma 

Pregnancy #2: Birth Plan

Our birth plan is similar is a lot of ways to Emma's, however because of the NICU stay that we will have it is a little different as well.

Goal: Natural Medication Free Birth

People Present:

• Bobby Gaddis - Dad/Husband
• Lindsay Johnson - Doula
• Debbie French - Mom/Grandmother
• Care Providers
• NICU Team

Labor Requests:

• Hep-Lock, no IV
• wireless/waterproof monitoring
• No breaking of waters, use of pitocin, or other medications unless discussed and agreed upon first
• Eat and drink as necessary
• Hands on massages, counter pressure, hip squeezes, belly lifts, prayer, encouragement, essential oils when appropriate, lots of movement as feels comfortable, playlist on phone, etc.
• Low lighting, when possible
• Labor where comfortable: shower, bed, etc.

Delivery Requests:

• Push in position most comfortable
• Immediate skin to skin

Post-Delivery Requests:

• Delayed cord clamping, Dad cuts cord
• Use cord blood to test for Trisomy 21
• Dad accompanies baby to Cooks NICU

If Non-Emergency C-Section Occurs:

• Family centered/gentle cesarean
• Husband and Doula present
• Drape dropped to see baby
• If all is well with baby and mom:
• Skin to skin with mom/dad
• Delayed cord clamping, Dad cuts cord
• Follow post-delivery requests as much as possible

Freezer Meal Prep

When we had Emma I didn't prep any meals before hand, which I regret. My mother-in-law prepped some food for us but it only last about a week.

This time around, especially with a NICU stay ahead of us I wanted to be prepared. It took me about 5 hours, split into several weekends, to make roughly 25 dishes/meals. Some dishes will provide enough for left overs.

I found all the recipes online.

Breakfast (doubled all of these)
Sausage Balls
Pancakes/Waffles (I forgot to by the flour, so haven't made these yet)
Egg Muffins (I do not follow the exact recipe, I just use the cooking and freezing directions. I normally do eggs, some cream, diced ham and any other veggies I feel like)

Dinner
Lasagna x 2
Chicken Spaghetti x 2
Spaghetti Sauce (I got 4 bags out of this)
Fiesta Casserole x 2 (I got 3 out of doubling this)
Chicken Chimichangas (it says 4, but I only got 3 pans)
Ground Beef (I browned and froze roughly 7 lbs for various uses)

Pregnancy #2: 36 weeks and Midwife/Specialist Appointments

I was 36 weeks pregnant on April 10th.

According to thebump.com he is the size of a honeydew melon.

The Baby
He is getting closer to being able to breathe on his own. His skin is getting smooth and soft and his gums are getting rigid.

His liver and kidneys are in working order and his circulation and immune systems are good to go as well.

His movements can still be pretty intense at times and he has started to have more of a pattern of awake and sleep routines.

The Mama
Not sleeping super great, but still feeling good. I think feeling so good is due to the weekly chiropractor visits. He dropped and the pelvis pressure is crazy. I did not have this with Emma as she never dropped. This is the only uncomfortableness that I have at this point, even though the shirt in this weeks pictures make it look like he is nice and high.

The nursery is 100% done, except the pictures, we really need to get on that. The car seat is ready to be installed, however since we will for sure be in the NICU for 5 days minimum, we probably won't install it until after he is born.

We had testing this week at school and due to me being so far a long I was a teacher reliever/bathroom monitor. Once day I did so much walking I started having some contractions, that weren't horrible and only lasted a few hours, but you definitely don't forget what they feel like.

I caught some movement on camera this week too.

The Midwife Appointment
We tested for GBS and should get those results back next week. I had it with Emma and I am really hoping I don't have it this time. My body has had a enough antibiotics go through it the past few months.

My blood pressures have been great since the one semi high one. We talked a little more about the induction and got it narrowed down to May 1st, 2nd or 3rd. I'm hoping to narrow it down to the day next week.

The Specialist Appointment
Of all the days to have a high blood pressure this would be it. I had a fight in my classroom and it was day four of testing. It was super high when they took it with the cuff and then she redid it the old fashioned way and it was perfect. When I was pregnant with Emma they had to stop using the cuff around this point because it was always higher. The specialist was happy with how my blood pressures have been, so no 24 hour urine, yay! We did a growth scan and he is approx. 6lb 13 oz (give or take a lb). Emma was born at 7lb 6 oz, so he has a chance of surpassing her even being born at 39 weeks. However, you really have to take the measurements with a grain of salt, because the further along you are the less reliable they are. I only have two specialist appointments left. We are so close!

Pregnancy #2: 35 Weeks Pregnant and Specialist Appointment

I was 35 weeks pregnant on April 3rd.

According to thebump.com he is the size of a coconut.

The Baby
His hearing is now fully developed, and he responds best to high-pitched noises (this is probably why he likes Emma's voice so much).

He is about 18 in log and about 5 lbs, but will continue to gain more fat over the next few weeks.

When Emma was this old her movements were less intense, however his movements just get more and more intense.

The Mama
I am up at least 4 times a night to use the restroom which makes for some tired days. My allergies have really started to bother me this week too and the congestion and cough are driving me crazy. I haven't had any heartburn this pregnancy, but with Emma I had had it a few times by now. We got another donation of clothes, so I got those washed and organized. We still need to hang the pictures in the nursery, hopefully next week that will get done. I got all the bottles and pump parts washed and sanitized. That took several hours. I also got 12 meals prepped and frozen. I still have breakfast meals to do.

The Specialist Appointment
My blood pressure was a tad high at this appointment. My first one the whole pregnancy and I had to beg her not to make me do another 24 hour urine. She finally agreed since I can monitor my blood pressure at home and there was no protein in my urine and it came back down to normal within 20 minutes. I had to have our school nurse check it two days later and then I had my midwife appointment the next week. She said it was high at the midwife appointment to have them do a 24 hour urine.

The baby looked great, still not other issues except the heart. When they were monitoring he was pretty active and kept poking his but up.

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Easter 2018

Easter started out with Emma's hunt at school. I wasn't able to attend this year because I had to work, but she had a good time.

We went to my mom's for Easter Sunday and had lunch and an egg hunt for the kids. My mom lives on the lake and the rule for Emma is that if she in the backyard she has to have a life jacket on since there is no fence. 

She found her Easter basket before I was ready for her too, thus the nakedness.