We Are Having a Giant!

Today we met with another high-risk doctor. They come to this hospital on Mondays and Thursdays, they switch out each time. So we had a new one today, Dr. Magee, I believe. I really liked him. He told GT that at week 4 when Audrie smiles at him, she will have him wrapped around his finger, HAHA! I know it! GT has no idea yet! 

Anyway, so his weight estimate today is that Audrie weighs 8 lbs 12 oz. He told us that they are usually off a pound either way. We are hoping it is the under a pound way. I cant imagine her being 9 lb 12 oz-that would be nutso. So I think him and my doc are considering me starting insulin tomorrow since my blood sugars arent exactly where we want them to keep Audrie from gaining weight so rapidly.

So my question is...She is so BIG-why cant we take her out now???? Well the main answer is lung development. Babies whose mama's have the GD, usually have poor lung development. The test they use to determine lung development is amniocentesis. Basically they take some of the amniotic fluid and test it--somehow they can tell. Well, of course we have a complication with that. My fluid level is at an 8. When I gets below an 8, they take the baby. AND the amniotic fluid in the uterus is under my belly, so it is really low and the doc would have to go through my hip to get it, which he said would be extremely painful and I would not like him for it. 

Im not going to lie- I am ready to get her out :)  However, I understand why we are keeping her in. My biggest concern is that she continues growing and gets too big where my doc feels a C-Section is necessary. Why would that happen? Well, I am glad you asked. Doctors biggest concern with a large baby (macrosomia) is shoulder dystocia. This is when they babies head comes out but the shoulders do not. This is extremely dangerous. It only happens in 1% of births and it does not happen all the time with a baby that has macrosomia. There are alot of factors involved including the woman's pelvis, the size of the babies shoulders, etc... So what does a doctor do if shoulder dystocia happens? The doctor can do a few maneuvers to try to ease the babies shoulders between the pelvis bones---2 worst case scenarios: they have to break the babies arm and pull him/her out or push the baby back into the uterus and perform a C-Section (verrrryyyy dangerous)! So, this is something that could be an issue, but again only happens in 1% of birth. Plenty of women give birth to big babies, but it is my first baby and I have no idea how my pelvis is spreading or not spreading...I will ask my doctor how we check and when we begin checking those things.

I still am holding on to a little hope that we will be able to give birth naturally. Depending on if my doctor will allow me to be induced or not. The reason we wouldnt be able to do it naturally is if during labor my blood pressure spikes, then doc will want to give me an epidural to make it go down. I was talking with my night nurse about this issue...she told me that what happens is usually when I woman experiences pain then her blood pressure will go up. SO if me and GT are able to practice our relaxation techniques and I am able to work with the pain and not get tense and continue abdominal breathing then maybe we can keep the BP down and have her naturally. Another good thing is that shoulder dystocia is less likely to happen if I am pushing in a squatting or hands and knees position. Well, a woman cannot get in those positions if she has had an epidural. I will be bringing that to my doctor's attention...

To conclude things, please do not think that we do not have Audrie's best interest in mind. We certainly do, but just because I have these complications does not mean we forget all we have learned. We still strongly believe that natural child birth is the best option for us at this point. We have done alot of work researching and studying things to help with the child birth. We arent just saying we are doing it naturally and leaving it at that. However, we do value our docs opinion and respect her medical knowledge. We would prefer to do it naturally and will keep hoping for it, even though we know it might not happen. 

Debbie Downer...

Well since yesterday, I started on an antibiotic for an infection I have. The medicine makes me sick. I looked it up on the internet, it is not a class B med, and it is not FDA approved for pregnant women. They have studied it in lab rats and they got cancer. So it is not confirmed but they think the medicine when taken during pregnancy could lead to child hood cancer for the baby or cancer later in life. Wonderful. I guess ignorance really is bliss. But then when I say something to my doc, its like well we cant keep you having the infection it could hurt the baby. So what do you do? I dont feel like I have a choice. Prior to coming into the hospital I was taking NO medication, not even my prenatal pill (opps.) Now I am taking like 5 pills a day! Pre-natal pill, iron pill, antibiotic, stool softner and something else for heart burn. Although, I told my doc I wanted to continue taking tums so I could just take it when I had really bad heart burn, but no, I must be on some sort of prescription heart burn pill and take it everyday :(

So, the doc came by this morning. I asked if GT and I could do some things we learned to prepare for labor right now. She said no, because it could induce my labor. Then she said she would not begin to check my progress until we know when we want labor to start. I asked her if we were still planning on inducing at 37 weeks. She said she didnt know, that the high-risk doctors I see will help determine that. It discouraged me a little because I am a planner and I dont like to not know. And  I dont like to think that I might be here under bed rest for longer than 2 weeks. I know it will be what is best for Audrie so I will get through it. 

THEN the nurse came in and said when they tested my urine it showed a +2 of protein, so I have to do another 24 hour urine catch. Fun times. I think I am most frustrated because I am trying really hard. I am sticking to the diet (I dont really have a choice) and I am staying in bed (again really no choice)...but I am doing everything I have been ordered to do, and my blood pressure is still high, they are still finding protein in my urine and my sugar levels arent were my doctor wants them. I guess I just feel kind of helpless...I do know that this is what is best. and hopefully once it is all over and I am holding Audrie, I will forget about all of this! Especially since GT and I want 4 kids! 

Thanks for all the thought and prayers! We are so blessed. 

Busy Day at the Hospital

So I am not sure how it happens, but this morning has been so busy, I am just now getting to blog. How can you be busy on bedrest?????

SO last night went well. It was my first night to spend by myself, and I loved it! I really enjoyed my mom being here, but she snores and so does GT! I tried ear plugs, but they hurt my ears, so anyway, I am glad to get so much needed rest. 

Early this morning we met with the perinatologist, Dr. Payne. He did a sonogram on little Audrie. He estimates she is 7 lbs 9 oz, which is alot better than 8 lbs 4 oz! So I am guessing she will be at ab 9 lbs when born. He got a view of the top of her head but thats all he could see because her head is already really low in the birth canal. She will def. have a cone head for a few days after birth! I asked the doc about her head being so low, he said "She is on the runway!" I thought that was humorous. They are putting her sonograms on DVD, but I cant do anything until they finalize the dvd, which they wont do until all my sono's are done, but when it is I will try to post it. You cant see her face or anything since her head is so low in the canal, but I still find it interesting to look at. 

So thats the excitement of today. We had some visitors yesterday which makes time go by so much faster! And they brought coloring books and crossword puzzles which I am very grateful for! :)  I sent GT home today to clean house and I am actually enjoying being by myself for a few hours--maybe now I can get my thank you notes from my baby showers written! It is about time!

I met with the dietician an hour ago (not really my fav person although she was extremely sweet). Lydia and diets are not friends. She kept talking about my diet when I go home. I dont think I am still going to have diabetes when I go home???? Unless my doc lets me go home before Audrie is born, but I dont think she is. Either way, GT and I have already committed to eating better and exercising more- we have a baby to think of now, and we need to be healthy! but I am not calling a diet or I wont do it! :)

Thats all for now! I am going to write thank you notes and color. My bestfriend, Jessica is coming today to stay with me for awhile, I am looking forward to that---she doesnt snore!

 

A BIG baby!

Yesterday was pretty uneventful. Blood pressure kept going up and down, but not too high. Getting used to the diabetic diet is pretty tough. I am constantly hungry, but I lost 3 pounds since yesterday. I think it is all fluid- but hey, 3 pounds is good! My sugar is getting alot better so they think they will be able to control the diabetes with diet alone and not have to give me insulin. 

The nurses here are so great. I had a new one this morning and I told her they think Audrie is 8 pounds, she said " I heard, she is already 8 pounds 4 ounces." Well, I didnt know about the 4 ounces, but I think its funny. Like I am a crazy medical marvel because I have a 8 lb 4 oz baby at 34 weeks, well today 35. I guess all the maternity nurses know about me and Audrie. GT and I would be the ones to have an extremely large baby. I am ok with it, a little sad, because she has some really cute newborn outfits that she wont be able to fit in to. :( 

So the newest medical update. They found lukocytes in my urine this morning. It could be sign of infection. T he nurse did a catheter (just a temp. one), then she did a swab and my Group B test. She said it could be bladder infection or other type of infection. I am like, "just add it to the list". Sometimes I feel like they are just finding things, but then at the same time, I am glad to be here, if I wasnt maybe no one would have found it and infections in that area can be dangerous to the baby. Who knows. I am sure my health insurance loves it... 

I will update later when I get the results. If you cant tell, I am already extremely bored out of my mind and I still have atleast 2 weeks! AH! 

More bad news...wa..wa...

To start out with the good news, my new room is so much bigger! This end of the hall is quieter and the room seems darker. So that all means more sleep! Thank you Jesus! 

Yesterday when they tested my urine, I had high levels of glucose so my doc ordered blood sugar testing after every meal. After lunch my sugar was 165 then after dinner it was 151. They took it again first thing this morning after not eating anything..it was 118, i got really excited since it was so low, then the doc told me it was supposed to be under 80 first thing in the morning...boo...So she officially diagnosed me as having gestational diabetes. That makes a little sense to the reason why Audrie is already so BIG! Doc said Monday a "high-risk" doctor will do another sonogram on me and get a more accurate reading to see how big she is and to see if there is any fluid around her kidneys, which happens sometimes the doc says. 

I feel alot better today. I got up took a shower, washed my hair and actually put on make-up! I have a feeling though when they come test my blood pressure it will not be good...  :(  but at least I will look pretty and feel pretty :)  

I am sure there will be more updates to come. And just so you know, when they put you on a diabetic diet in the hospital, it is NO fun! Especially when your preggo and hungry all the time. BUT I am doing this for a good cause and we want to make sure Audrie is healthy! After she is born, I am eating a snickers! :)

In the Hospital

Tuesday I went to the doctor for my bi-monthly exam. The medical assistant told me I had protein in my urine and the doctor was going to do a catheter. Doctor came in did the catheter and confirmed that I had +1 protein in my urine. I was put on bed rest and the doctor sent me to the lab to get some blood work done and sent me home with a 24 hr urine test. Basically, I had to catch my urine in a big jug for 24 hours, it was gross. Thursday morning GT brought the urine jug to the lab and we had an appt at 2:00. We got to the appt and the medical assistant checked my blood pressure- it was high :(  even after being on bed rest for 2 1/2 days! So then an hour later, the doctor came in told us to go home, get our bags and go to the hospital. 

We got to the hospital about 4 pm. We were put in a temporary room and hooked up to a few monitors. My blood pressure started going down then I went for a sonogram. When I came back from the u/s my blood pressure had went up again!!!!!!!!! Just from going to get the sono. So then about 8 pm they put me in post partum room (even though I am not post-partum). We had a rough night. My mom stayed with me so GT could go home and take care of the dogs. (I cried yesterday because I had to leave them...possibly for 3 weeks!) They checked my vitals and the babies vitals every few hours. And they were cleaning the floors all night!!!!!!!!! I was pretty irritated, they put me on bed rest only to get no sleep! 

So my doctor came and saw this morning. She said the sonogram showed that Audrie is actually measuring at 38 weeks! So she is already about 8 pounds! (I am supposed to be 34 weeks, wont be 35 weeks until Sunday) We are pretty sure of our conception date- so she is just a big baby. The doctor is hoping we can hold off until I am 37 weeks (so August 9) and then we will induce labor. She said my 24 hour urine test I did at home showed my protein levels were around 600...doc said anything over 300 is a sign of pre-eclampsia. So basically, I am not going home until we have Audrie. Audrie has been doing good. Her heart rate is good. We had a BPP (biophysical something) which she scored 8/8. So right now they are worried about me since my blood pressure goes up even when I go to the bathroom. But it is good to know, if she has to come today she is already quite large, just hoping to wait to make sure all those organs are developed! 

We just moved into a room that I will be in for atleast 2 more weeks if not more. We are in room 1275 at Good Shepherd hospital in Longview. 

Thank you for all the prayers and thoughts! We appreciate them so much! We know we are exactly where we need to be and are very grateful our doctor had the wisdom to figure things out and put us here! 

He has a plan!

I feel like my last post was pretty debbie downer...I was very frustrated if you couldnt tell. I cant believe I am 33 1/2 weeks pregnant. It is very exciting and a little scary all at the same time. GT and I still dont know where we will be living or where he will be working...we are trusting God and his timing, whew, is it hard! It was alot easier to trust in him when GT was laid off in April, but now that we are about 6 weeks away from having a baby, I find I am beginning to worry more. 

Tonight, GT and I went to the first of a three week class with Steve and Debbie Wilson at our church. Its called marriage matters. We believe that we can never know enough about marriage (especially only being a year into ours!)...And God reminded me as He does so often, that He is in control. He chose to give us Audrie and He will take care of all of our needs. Debbie shared this verse from James, ^{2 "}Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, ³because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. ⁴Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything."

This is definitely one of the hardest times I have ever had to go through, but at the same time, it is exciting and an adventure. I have no idea what my life will be like in 3 months or where I will even live. BUT I know God has a plan and I know wherever I will be it will be with my wonderful, amazing husband and we will be experiencing parenthood for the first time together.

I know in my last blog I said I would be blogging about child birth...I still plan to, but tonight my heart and mind are on other things...

The Beginning of the Birth Discussion

Wow, it has been awhile! GT and I have been sooooo busy preparing for the future. We have been attending parenting classes at our church, going to Bradley classes and we just started birth classes at the hospital here. It is good to keep busy, but being 8 months preggo is exhausting in itself!

As I said in my previous post, GT and I made the decision a few months ago to invest in learning about the Bradley method which is a way to give birth naturally. I will have to say I am very tired of hearing all the negative comments when someone finds out that I wish to give birth naturally. I have learned not to tell people, because most people are not in favor of it and they usually think I am crazy. So I have chosen to vent by blogging about it. I hope to keep this up weekly to share my thoughts, ideas, research etc...on birth, not just natural child birth, but birth in general. I love to learn and this experience has been very very enlightening to me and GT. I think we as society accept too many things without questioning, and the birth of a child is not something to take as lightly as we often do. So with that said, I decided to start my first "birth" blog with the story of how I got interested in natural child birth.  (Disclaimer: Some of my entries might be a little "gross" to someone who is not interested in child birth or who isnt comfortable talking about it...so if it grosses you out, you might not want to read the next few post, but this one wont be bad!) 

When I first found out I was pregnant, having an epidural was the only option for me. The question of, Are you going to get an epidural?, was like a given YES! The biggest thing that was important to me was breast feeding. So I bought this big book (Everything Book on Breastfeeding) which I highly recommend. When I was finished with that, I had so much fun learning about my body and what it would be like, etc...that I decided, well I probably need to read about child birth too, to know what to expect and what I want...boy was I in for a surprise. So I purchased 3 books: The Birth Book by the Sears, and The Bradley Way by Susan McCutheon, and I dont even remember the 3rd one. Prior to reading these books, I had told my husband on a whim, I think I could do natural child birth if I wanted to. So it was kind of already in my mind, but I wasnt all too serious. 

SO- then I started reading and learning. This was the biggest lesson I have learned through all of this...as a woman, as a family, I think decisions regarding the birth of a child should be educated decisions. Some women want epidurals, some want caesarean sections, some want natural child birth...whatever it might be, I think a woman and her partner should become as educated as they can about what they want for the birth of their child. Once I have read the information found in these books, and what we are learning in classes on the internet, I personally do not feel like I have any choice but natural child birth. Which I know it sounds nutso, but I am SO excited about it! 

So what have I learned? That is a great question, and I will share it with you in my next posts over the next few weeks! I totally know these are my opinions and how I feel. It is probably very different for you and that is why I am wanting to post this information. Not to make women feel like I do or even have a natural child birth, I am doing it because I think knowledge=power. I think women are very uneducated about birth in American and I believe sometimes the medical field likes it that way. These posts will just be to encourage you to think about it--and if your not pregnant or not planning on becoming pregnant, you probably wont care anyway :)  Please let these just be a starter of doing your on research and finding out what is best for YOU and YOUR birth!