36.5 Weeks

Oh man. Some day I'll owe Fisher a big explanation of why I missed so many blog posts. The simple answer is that by the time I had any down time, I was asleep. We put Finley down at 8:00 for bed, and then we go to bed right after. But I'm sorry, Fisher. I should've done a better job.

To catch everyone up on everything that's gone on and is going on, Fisher's nursery is almost complete. It is so cute, if I do say so myself. When everything is finished, I'll post a blog with better photos, but for now, here is a little peek.

I haven't been as good at taking weekly photos as I was with Finley, either. (Sorry, Fisher!) But here are the ones I've got. 

23 weeks with Finley on the left. 23 weeks with Fisher on the right. 

25 weeks

27 weeks

29 weeks with Finley on the left. 29 weeks with Fisher on the right. 

30 weeks with Finley on the left. 30 weeks with Fisher on the right. 

32 weeks

33 weeks with Finley on the left. 33 weeks with Fisher on the right. 

34 weeks with Finley on the left. 34 weeks with Fisher on the right. 

35 weeks

36 weeks with Finley on the left. 36 weeks with Fisher on the right. 

I started having really bad acid reflux again about 4-5 weeks ago, and my insurance won't okay Nexium for me. I'm currently taking something else that they did okay, but it's definitely no Nexium. So that's been no fun. I have woken up choking several times, just like I did towards the end of my pregnancy with Finley. With her, I had to sleep on a big wedge pillow towards the end, but I can't, for the life of me, find that pillow. I think I've been doing pretty good as far as continuing to work and act like a normal person. And my wedding ring still fits, so I'm really excited about that! Just today my ankles started swelling really badly. I am hoping that they'll go back down, but I am afraid that this is just the beginning. I really haven't been elevating my feet at all unless I'm asleep, because I just don't have time. I haven't gotten as many leg cramps with this pregnancy as I did with Finley. Maybe because I'm drinking TONS of water. I will feel the onset of one during the night, but I'll fight it off before it gets a chance to lock in. I wouldn't really say that this pregnancy is super different from my pregnancy with Fin. Just little things here and there. All in all it's been very easy compared to some. 

Monday I had the first of my weekly doctor's appointments. I also got a sonogram so they could make sure the baby is head down and things are looking good. I fully expected to go in and for her to tell me that I'm not dilated, I'm not effaced, the baby is head down, and for me to hang tight for the next four weeks. The first thing the ultrasound technician told me was that the baby is breech. I wasn't TOO surprised because at the last visit Dr. Deem said he/she felt sideways. But I thought maybe by this visit he/she was in position. I was completely caught off guard when she then asked me if I have diabetes. I told her no, and immediately asked her why she thought that. She said, "Because this baby is really big." She continued to do the ultrasound and told me that since the baby's head is in my side, she was able to get a very accurate measurement of the head, and that it measures 40 weeks. (Usually at this stage in the pregnancy, the head is hard to accurately measure because it is in the pubic bone.) She then measured the arm and the belly and the femur. She said the femur is about 37 weeks, and the belly and arm are measuring big as well. (I can't remember how many weeks they measured, but it was further than 37 weeks.) She said that according to her measurements, the baby weighs 7 pounds, 4 ounces. Yowzah. After the sonogram was over, I saw Dr. Deem. She went over a lot of stuff with me regarding this big baby I'm growing. She said there is a procedure that they can do where they give me an i.v. to relax my uterus, and then they literally try to make the baby do a summersault by moving my belly around from the outside. She said it has about a 60% success rate, and they do it about 4 times a year. That's all fine and dandy to me, but even if this baby gets into the proper position, it still has a large head. I asked her about that part, and she said that I need to consider my options i.e. having a c-section. I never imagined that I'd have a c-section with this baby. I just assumed I'd be asleep one night and then start having contractions, then I'd go in and have the baby vaginally. She told me that sometimes a scheduled c-section is the best case scenario with certain circumstances, and a baby with a large head (a breech baby, at that!) is one of those circumstances. (And she mentioned doing the c-section April 29th.) She said that what we wouldn't want to happen is for me to go into labor, try to push the baby out for 6 hours, put a lot of stress on the baby, and then have an emergency c-section. She told me that in two weeks I'll have another sonogram and we can measure the baby again and see if he/she is still breech. She told me to go home and process it, think about it, pray about it, and I'll see her next week to get checked again. (Oh, by the way, I'm not dilated.) Soooo.... I did just that. I talked to Hooper and my friends and family about it. I prayed about it every time I tossed and turned that night, and when I woke up, I felt at peace about having a scheduled c-section. I called the doctor's office and set up my c-section for April 29th at 2:30. I'm terrified of the experience, but I was terrified of the contractions and going into labor anyway. My friend, Kristyn, is having her c-section that exact same day at 12:30 by Dr. Deem. So that is really comforting. I told her that we can walk our laps around the hospital together. :) Another good thing about April 29th is that it is a Bad Weather day for the schools here. So Hooper will already be off, and Anna will be off, too. I'm still processing the whole c-section thing, but I'm looking forward to meeting my little (big) baby in only 17 days. Here is a sonogram picture of the little chubby hand pointing. I really think that his/her hand and wrist look sooo chubby! 

And here is a video from last week. When he/she gets to moving, he/she REALLY gets to moving!