A Rough Day on Thursday

I've been having Braxton Hicks contractions off and on for the last 6-8 weeks. They're just a little annoying, but no big deal. Until yesterday. Throughout the day they were getting more and more painful and were coming every 10-15 minutes. The big concern, though, was that I was getting dizzy and lightheaded after each one and really didn't feel right.

I finally called the OB mid-afternoon, who said to drink as much water as I could and lay down. Then, if I had more than 6 contractions an hour to head to Labor and Delivery at Kettering. My sister came over to stay with me and help with Luke, so I told Marty to head to his evening job since it's right down the street; and I'd call if I needed him to come home.

The water and lying down really helped. I was still in some pain throughout the evening, but it was more from Lexie shifting position, jumping and punching and kicking me. The bottom line is that I'm okay. The contractions have stopped.

Then, Luke felt warm and was fussy, so we gave him tylenol at 5:00 pm. 2 hours later his fever was 101.8, so I waited until 9 to give the next dose. By 9:30, his fever was up to 102.4 and I was getting concerned. He was so miserable, flushed and fussing.

The on-call pediatrician said to switch him to Motrin, which seemed to help. She said the crying was a good sign... at least he wasn't lethargic. She also said we didn't need to bring him to the ER unless his fever got close to 104.

He slept through the night with the occasional crying, but he settled himself back down. At 1:15 Friday mom and I are taking him to the doctor to see if he might have an ear infection. His fever was way down when he woke up; only 99.5.

Poor baby. He's so miserable! And Marty and I are supposed to go to our marriage conference starting this evening. Luke will be staying with my parents. Please keep us all in your prayers that everything will be fine!

I am so tired these days!

I've only gained 25 pounds so far this pregnancy, but I think it's all gone to the baby! I haven't swollen up like I did with Luke, but I feel like I'm carrying all the extra weight right out in front. I get so tired if I walk too long or even sit upright too long. I've gotten fairly dependent on those regular afternoon naps; otherwise my hips ache and the pressure on my pelvis gets painful. Thank God Luke is so good at playing by himself and enjoys bringing me toys to play with him so I don't have to get up so much.

I went to an all-day scrapbooking event on Saturday, and I guess it wasn't such a good idea after all. (Hindsight is always 20/20!) The chairs were padded, and they even had couches in the lobby so I laid down a couple of times for about 20 minutes, but it wasn't enough. I was so sore by the time I got home that evening that I couldn't get comfortable no matter what I tried. I tossed and turned all night and hardly got any sleep. It seemed that just when I'd finally find a comfy position, Lexie wouldn't like it and she'd start kicking; so I'd have to shift to get her to settle back down.

By morning I was very groggy. Luke was up by 7:45 and I told Marty I had to go back to sleep. Fortunately, Luke went in for his nap at 9:15 am, and I promptly fell asleep, too. I finally got a sound 2 hours of sleep, but Luke slept for 4 hours! That's his longest nap ever; I'm guessing he had a growth spurt. So, all in all, it worked out well for Luke and I that we stayed home from church to rest.

We won't make it to church next weekend either, because Marty and I are going to the Weekend to Remember marriage conference, and Luke will be staying with grammy and poppy. I'm praying that I won't be hurting too bad during each of the sessions. Fortunately, there's lots of breaks, and it will be worth it for our marriage. We both love going to this conference each year. It always brings us closer to each other and closer to the Lord!

Lexie's 31 Week Update

I had another ultrasound and saw the doctor on Wednesday. Lexie is now 4 lbs 8 oz and is 16.5" long. Her head circumference is already 30.3 cm; Luke's head was 35 cm when he was born and he got stuck! I'm praying her head doesn't get too much bigger. She's very healthy, though, and all her parts look perfect. She even reconfirmed that she's definitely a girl!

I'm scheduled for another ultrasound at 35 weeks. Once we get another look and measurements we'll discuss various options for delivery... all depending on how big she's grown. They said she could gain anywhere from 1/2 lb to 1 lb per week from here on out... yikes! Even if she only gains 1/2 lb per week, we're looking at an 8 1/2 lb baby. She's definitely bigger than Luke was a this point, and heavier.

A friend's sister-in-law is also a patient of Dr. Banias, and last week she was 37 weeks along. Her baby was measuring 8 lbs 15 oz, so they gave her 2 options figuring her baby was too big to wait to go into labor naturally: (1) induce now; or (2) schedule a c-section at 39 weeks. She took the second option so her baby could cook as long as possible.

If I have to make that decision, I'm probably going to induce again. I really don't want to have surgery unless it's medically necessary. And this baby is so big that I don't think I'd have the problems with induction I had with Luke. My body's been through it once before and I believe it will be more ready for labor this time around. Any thoughts?

Some Small Pics of Lexie

For some reason the images downloaded extremely small, but you can make out her features fairly well. This is a 3D image of Lexie's face. She's holding her left hand next to her face. Isn't she cute?


This one is Lexie's profile in regular 2D ultrasound. It's so nice to get a sneak peek as to what she looks like!

Lexie is a Big Girl!

I'm almost 31 weeks, which means 9 more weeks to go. I feel huge, and nothing fits right. Even my size large maternity jeans are too tight in the hips and thighs! Ugh! If anyone has size XL casual pants I could borrow, that would be great. (I hate to admit I need them!)

Yesterday, I got to have a 3D ultrasound for free by being a test subject at Kettering College of Medical Arts. GE was demonstrating how to use their latest equipment on me for the radiology students. It was pretty cool. I didn't get many printouts, but they saved a bunch of still images and videos to CD. Once I get them downloaded, I'll post the best images so you can all get a sneak peak at Lexie!

By the way, she weighs 4 lbs, 5 ounces... already!!!

No More Bottles for Luke

Well, we've spent the last couple of days going cold turkey on Luke's bottles. The last time he had one was Wednesday morning, and so far so good. I hid them all so he can't see them, and so I won't be tempted to give in when he's upset. He's had occasional meltdowns, but we're working through them. He'll still cry and hold onto the refrigerator door saying 'bottoo, bottoo', which breaks my heart. But once he sees me filling his sippy cup with milk, he'll usually take it. He's not drinking very much, but the pediatrician said to expect this for a few days. Fortunately, he's drinking lots of water and juice, because I worried about him getting dehydrated.

And he's using his binky a lot these days to satisfy his sucking urge. It seems to really calm him down when he's upset about not getting a bottle. Thank God the pediatrician said to wait on breaking him of the binky until well after the new baby comes. He really seems to need it a lot more now!

He has a couple of new words to add to his vocabulary: Humpty Dumpty (one of his favorite nursery rhymes), and Row, Row, Row (Your Boat). His little voice is just so darling; I love hearing him talk!