Baby Boy

I am 30 weeks pregnant today, and this officially starts the craziness of doctors appointments. Being high risk this time around changes A LOT. I have appointments every other week with not only my midwife, but the specialist as well. Plus, starting at 32 weeks I begin weekly non-stress tests.

Although the craziness of appointments is a bit overwhelming, it has taken away SO much anxiety and fear as I get farther along into this pregnancy. I no longer have to depend on kick counts and "did the baby move enough today?" Those are still really important, but with ultrasounds every other week that reveal if there is severe anemia, I can rest a bit easier.

I'm also thankful that the baby isn't considered "high risk," just the pregnancy. Might not make any sense, but my baby is "safe," they are just watching closely to be sure my body and his are working as they should. It's hard to let go of fear when it comes to your kids. It's amazing how much I love this baby growing inside of me even before meeting him!

I was at one of my appointments with my favorite midwife this week, and each time I have to go over what exactly happened with Ella's birth, which is all so odd, because nobody seems to know what happened with her. All we know is that she was born extremely anemic, but nobody knows why.

I'm beginning to understand just how fortunate we were with Ella. I had an appointment around 35 weeks with this midwife, and something she told me not only stood out to me, but probably terrified me at the time. She told me to be sure I am doing kick counts. They had a few stillbirths in the recent past, and asked that I be especially watchful of her movements. Talk about giving an expectant mom anxiety :)

But, when just a week later I noticed a decrease in movement, red flags went up. I remember feeling so paranoid. I was at a wedding that day, and was nervous that I hadn't felt her move, but chalked it up to being on my feet and just not noticing. I waited almost 36 hours later to make an appointment-in which I was scolded for waiting so long.

So anyway, I was at my appointment this week with the same midwife who had given me that warning. She had asked to hear what the deal was with Ella's birth (since nobody knows for sure) and as I gave the recap of what happened to the best of my knowledge, she said, "Wow. I remember hearing about her birth." Scary. Scary to know that people heard about your daughters birth. It didn't seem like such an emergency at the time. Thank goodness.

I shared with her how she had told me what she did about kick counts, just a week before I stopped feeling Ella move. She looked at me and said, "Wow, that's strange. I can't say I have ever said that to a patient before. Must have been a weird week."

Pretty sure her words were from the Lord. I can't help but come home from appointments like that and squeeze Ella a little tighter. We are so blessed by this little lady.

I start non-stress tests weekly as well. Not a big fan. For those of you who don't know what they are, they strap two monitors to your belly. One see's if you are having any contractions, and the other monitors the baby's heart. You have to sit for a half hour. Not a big deal? Well, I don't do especially well laying on my back while pregnant (imagine feeling like something is sitting on your stomach-somewhat suffocating). Plus, they want to get that baby moving, so they fill you up with all sorts of sugary cookies and juices. Liquid+sitting for a while=having to pee. A lot. Not great when they are trying to get consistent monitoring of the baby.

Plus, my babies tend to do goofy things. Like grabbing their umbilical cord, causing the heart rate to drop drastically enough for them to send you over to triage at the hospital for a biophysical profile, only to be sent home later because everything is normal. It can make for quite the ordeal.

But, it's all to know this little dude is healthy and thriving. I was told Ella's strip of paper during the NST was being used during training to show others what was considered an abnormal NST. Yikes. I always watch that piece of paper so closely now-since I know what "bad" is.

One of the fun parts of all these appointments are the ultrasounds! I had another one last night, and it was SO much fun to take a peek at baby boy. They even do 3D ultrasounds at the specialist, so I got to take a peek at his face. It was SO strange. I posted the picture below, but on the doctors screen it was so much clearer. I almost felt like I didn't want to see what he looked like just yet. I think next time I'll ask that I don't see it. With 10 weeks to go, there are still a lot of changes that will take place, but I couldn't help but feel like I caught a small picture of our baby.

I have my first and last wedding of the season tomorrow. I'm so glad I didn't book any others for the year. It's exhausting to think about being on my feet and working hard all day. But, I do enjoy photographing weddings, so I am looking forward to spending the day out of the house, doing something creative.

I also love that the kids get to spend the whole day with daddy. I know it's special for them to be able to have time with just him as well. They don't get a ton of one on one time with him, because I'm usually around!

I spent $50 on cleaning supplies at Target today. Can you say "nesting?" Haha. I just bought a swiffer wet jet mop. Here's to no more sticky kitchen floors! I was a bit skeptical that the thing would actually get some of the gunk up that my kids leave behind, but I am VERY pleased with how it cleaned my floors. Oh the things we moms get excited about :)

Alright, well nap time is almost over for the kiddo's, and I'd like to get a few things accomplished....