33 Weeks

I still can't get over how fast the weeks are flying by now. I realized today that I better hurry up and post a blog because 33 weeks is almost over! I have to say that this makes me super, super excited and a little sentimental/sad at the same time. This pregnancy definitely had some ups and downs, but overall I have thoroughly enjoyed carrying my little guy. I love feeling him move all around and how strong he is these days. My favorite movement to feel is when he moves either his knees or his elbows (not sure which one!) across my belly. Shaun still enjoys watching my belly move all around or feeling him move, but he is definitely ready for Henry to be here. I can just see the excitement grow for him as we get closer and closer. Yesterday morning, we were laying in bed talking/reminiscing about the pregnancy. Shaun brought up about how we found out on Thanksgiving day, and it got me thinking. When we were trying to conceive or probably even before when I would think about someday getting pregnant (you know how us girls like to daydream), I would dream about finding out that we were pregnant on a holiday and telling family and friends on a holiday. I also figured out during this dreaming that November was the BEST month to get pregnant because you could wear all of the cute maternity clothes (no need to bundle up that huge belly). Those of you who have been readers for a long time know that all of these little dreams came true. We got pregnant in November, found out on Thanksgiving morning, shared with some family on Thanksgiving and surprised the rest with a little ultrasound video at Christmas...not to mention that I have gotten to wear all of the cute summer maternity dresses :). How amazing is it that God listens to even those little desires deep in your heart that you don't even share with anyone? He had it planned all along! His perfect timing.

I didn't get a 33 week picture on Wednesday of me holding up the fingers...but my friend did take a photo of me in a pool. Yes! I finally got to float, and it was even better than my expectations. One thing that surprised me was when I was getting out of the pool...all of a sudden all of the weight that I'm carrying hit me as I stepped out. I had no idea I was carrying so much until I got a little break from it :). No wonder I move so slowly these days!

Being back in public after five weeks of isolation has been very interesting! I forgot how much people love to stare at pregnant women. Also everyone wants to stop and talk to you...when are you due? boy or girl? My favorite story from this week is when I went to go get the oil changed in my car. I walked over to find a magazine and sit down to wait, and I heard these two ladies laughing really loud. I finally looked up and realized they were laughing AT me!! One of the women said, "Honey...you look as cute as a button...but it is just too hot to be THAT pregnant." Now it is probably the hottest and driest summer on the record books for Mississippi so that might be slightly true, but I must be way bigger than I think I am if people are actually laughing out loud at the sight of me. I think I am in a little bit of a denial about how big my belly actually is these days. Shaun says I am so I will take his word for it :). He likes to tell me how "huge" I am, and it makes me laugh because not very many husbands could get away with comments like that, but I let it slide because I know what he means. He is constantly telling me that I look "hot" or "so cute," which is really sweet because he sees me naked :). And it looks like I have gotten attacked by a cat on my butt, thighs, and the top of my hips. Glad I didn't put stretch mark cream on this entire pregnancy only to be applying it in the wrong place...my belly doesn't have a single mark!!

Well sorry for such a long, random post but I had a lot to share!

Big News!

I had my dr appt today, and my ob took me off bedrest!! So as of today I am a free woman! I will of course continue to take it easy, stay hydrated, and take meds, but I'm very happy to be able to do some things! I can't believe how fast the past five weeks have gone by! It wasn't easy, but it really wasn't nearly as hard as I thought it would be. I'm actually grateful for the time that I had to rest up and to process all that is happening right now. Henry passed the biophysical ultrasound with flying colors, and he is measuring a little ahead at 4 lbs 12 ounces. He should gain approx. a half a pound a week from now until he is born. I just can't get over that I'm going to get to meet him soon. Shaun and I both are having little thoughts/dreams pop in our head that get us so excited. Like last night in the kitchen, Shaun said "ooh! I just thought about Christmas! Think about how much fun Christmas will be with Henry." It is all starting to feel real as we get the house ready to bring him home, but I don't think it will really feel completely real until we hold him in our arms. Thank you for all of the prayers and encouragement during bedrest...I can't tell you how much it meant to me! P.S. Expect a 33 week picture not from the couch this week!

32 Weeks....YAY!

Yesterday was our big Wednesday celebration day! I can't believe we are 32 weeks! 32 weeks means that we've met our doctor's immediate goal and that we have completed an entire month of bedrest. A month went by super fast so I know the last two weeks are going to fly! Shaun brought home bbq sandwiches, potato salad and baked beans from my favorite BBQ restaurant in town (yum yum!), and we watched another chick flick this week (He's Just Not that Into You). I love our Wednesday nights :). I realized at the end of the night that we didn't take a 32 week pic, and I can't stand breaking tradition so we decided to take a pic of just our hands since we both were not picture ready (if you know what I mean-wink wink). By the way...I just realized that I held up 32 weeks last week...what was I thinking??!! And none of y'all called me out on that! Wednesdays are also the days that I take a shower and let myself take a little more time (sitting down of course) to fix my hair and makeup. Shaun came home from work and said, "Wow what did you do?...you look hot." I'm sure it was a nice change to see me in regular clothes with clean hair and makeup. Right before Shaun got home from work, I decided to stand up and experiment with taking a few maternity pictures of myself. I know this sounds silly, but I was so scared that I was going to go into labor and not have any decent pictures of my last few weeks of pregnancy. Here is a sample of some of the photos & our fingers holding up 32!

Pretty funny pic and we kinda got our fingers in the wrong order...but hey we tried and we didn't break tradition!



Shaun purchased this entire outfit for me by himself last weekend at Target...he has such great taste!



This is what happens when you attempt to take pictures of yourself...no face :)

Daddy Instinct

Last night was probably one of the funniest (and sweetest) things I've witnessed in a long time. Shaun was very tired from a long week of work so he feel asleep on the couch and told me to wake him after I was done getting ready for bed. I really wasn't that tired so after turning out all of the lights, I decided to lay down on our love seat to do a little internet surfing and blog reading. Jen from Maybe If You Just Relax posted a blog about the book "The Happiest Baby on the Block" by Dr. Harvey Karp. I just finished reading the book as part of my quest to learn everything I can about babies on bedrest so I decided to take a look at what Jen had to say about the book. At the end of her fabulous summary of Dr. Karp's 5 Ss, she had two related youtube videos to watch. I watched the first video which was about ten minutes on a very low volume, and Shaun didn't move a bit...he was definitely in a deep sleep. When I clicked on the second video, a newborn was crying, but I didn't think it would bother Shaun since it was at such a low volume. About two seconds into the crying, Shaun all of a sudden throws off his covers...pops off the couch and starts sprinting to the bedroom door. "Courtney, Courtney are you okay?? I thought I heard a baby crying??!!" When I first saw him throw off the covers I thought I woke him and that he wasn't happy about it, but there he was obviously distraught at our bedroom door with his hair sticking up everywhere and a big line down his face from the blanket he was using. I have never seen anyone move that fast from a deep sleep. It was like he turned into Jackie Chan. At this point I was confused..."Shaun, are you okay?" Once he realized that I was laying on the loveseat, he got this priceless look of relief on his face. "I thought you were hurt...I really thought I heard a baby crying." We both started laughing as we realized what happened. "Well it definitely seems like your daddy instinct is ready!"

It really meant a lot to me to see Shaun react like that to a little newborn cry. It made me realize that I'm not the only one who is going through a lot of changes and feeling some anxiety. And he must really love us to sprint into action that fast from a deep sleep! He is going to be the best daddy!

31 Weeks and Dr Appt Update

I am a very happy bedrest camper right now! I had a great doctor's appointment this afternoon, and I'm starting to feel like a full term delivery is a likely possibility for us! I was so nervous about this appointment. Henry was hardly moving at all this morning, and I was having some unpleasant symptoms that can be a sign of labor. I was thinking the absolute worst! Dr checked me, and my cervix is still holding steady at a fingertip dilated (YAY!!). I expressed my concerns about Henry's lack of movement so he sent me for a biophysical ultrasound. We had to wait for him to practice breathing...it took some time, but he finally practiced. I enjoyed watching my little guy on the screen for an extended period of time. He was taking a nice nap but thankfully he moved around a little for me. Henry is getting so big! It doesn't seem that long ago that he was just the size of a pea on our first ultrasound. My next appointment is Tuesday, June 23rd, and we will do another biophysical ultrasound to check in on our little guy.

In other news....I'm 31 weeks!! Last night was our big Wednesday celebration. Shaun brought home subs for dinner, and we watched Marley & Me. ****Spoiler Alert****- the miscarriage scene where they found out at the ultrasound that the baby's heartbeat had stopped beating (very similar to how we found out with baby faith) just about put me into uncontrollable sobbing. But overall it was a great movie, and it was a fun night together! And even though I look rough on bedrest...I still feel the need to document every week's celebration.

Doctor Appointment Update

My doctor appointment went very well yesterday morning. I had a list of questions ready, and now I have a better understanding of what to somewhat expect for the next few weeks. Our immediate goal is 32 weeks, and my ob will take me off my meds and bedrest at 34 weeks. I definitely plan on making it to 34 weeks so I have approx a month left of bedrest (July 1st to be exact!). I asked why in the world my uterus is acting like this (like I should expect after all of this for my uterus to behave lol), and my ob explained that I have a few risk factors but for the most part some women just have an irritable uterus. Next d/a is Thursday morning.

Yesterday afternoon (after a little meltdown on Thursday evening) I was so positive and happy. I got back from my d/a, and I felt great about four more weeks of bedrest..."oh I so can do that...no problem!" I played Wheel of Fortune on our PS3 for part of the afternoon (I've discovered that this is another way to entertain myself), and then my friend came by with her cute little guy for a quick visit. It is so fun to watch him because Henry will be around his same age this time next year...pretty exciting to think about! Anyways all this to say that I was having a very good bedrest day. Today.....um not so much. I hate to even complain because I know that this time last year if I read what I was writing one year later I would want to reach into the future and slap myself. But I'm turning into a crazy lady!! I'm so emotional...so on edge...so frustrated with my husband (he gets to go play tennis while I stay at home by myself on a Saturday)...my uterus is irritable...I'm irritable. I of course don't want to get off bedrest because I want Henry to stay in here until he can enter the world safe and healthy, but it doesn't make this any easier. Okay I'm done venting, and I'm sure tomorrow will be a better day! Wow I feel so much better after writing that...whew!

On a happier note...Henry's movements are so strong. I love watching my belly move all day. I can definitely tell he is getting big, which of course warms my heart. I can't wait to hold him in my arms and put his sweet cheeks next to mine and squeeze him so close.

The Big 30!

Last night we celebrated 30 weeks! Doesn't 30 weeks sound so much better than 29 weeks? I really wasn't feeling that great last night so I took a long nap in Shaun's lap, and he said I was sleeping very hard (I'm guessing that was a nice way of saying that I was snoring). I don't know how it is possible for me to be tired after laying around all day long! After I woke up, I decided that even though I looked awful that I still wanted to continue our new tradition of taking a picture of our weekly celebration.



And here is my "lovely" 30 weeks belly shot...I'm hoping to get a better one tomorrow at my dr appt...



Speaking of my doctor appointment...I'm really looking forward to getting out of the house and having a sit down with Shaun and my doctor. I feel like I have so many questions, but I don't really know what to ask??!! I'm going to write a couple questions down this evening so that I don't completely blank when I get in there. I will definitely update tomorrow after my appointment!

Top 10 Things I Love about Bedrest

10. Laying around all day with a sink full of dirty dishes and no guilt
9. Not waking up until around noon everyday
8. Watching Judge shows and laughing at what people actually say (Judge Toler is my fav so far--she is tough but sweet). side note--I don't have cable, and I'm NOT going to watch soaps.
7. Getting lots of phone calls from friends because they know I'm free to talk
6. Reading about what to do once this little guy actually gets here
5. Staying in my pjs or lounge pants all day
4. Watching birds or Larry the lizard--yes I named him...outside my window
3. Shaun looking at me like any sudden move and I might pop--he actually told me that I need to pretend that my belly is a balloon
2. "It's going to be a hot summer!"--Not for me! It is 72 degrees with a slight breeze. I'm so scared to see our power bill this month--I'm in Mississippi...it is going to be a big one!
1. Feeling Henry's every move because I'm laying still all day--loving it! He is getting so strong--it is like an earthquake in my belly.

Back from dr...

I decided to call my nurse this morning because I'm still having contractions while taking procardia. She thought it would be best for me just to go ahead and come in to be monitored. I'm glad she did because it really gave me peace of mind. I was definitely having what they like to call "irritability" (a wavy line the entire time)and a few larger contractions. My nurse was saying that I definitely had something going on there, but then my doctor came in and said that he "wasn't that impressed" with my contractions. He checked my cervix (I was terrified that he was going to see more progress and send me to the hossy), and there was no change!! We also did a transvaginal ultrasound to check the cervix length, and it was 3.1 cm, which is a slight improvement from two weeks ago. So what does this tell us? We are on the right track with the procardia and bedrest. I really do think that the bedrest is helping! And my dr must agree because I got the impression from him today that I'm on bedrest for good. Considering Wednesday makes me 30 weeks...I'm guessing that I have about six more weeks. So how do I feel about this? Well this morning I started writing this really sad pity party post about all of the things I'm not going to get to do because I'm on bedrest. I'm glad that I didn't post it because it was pretty pitiful, but I will mention a few things. We should be on our way right now to our first childbirth class. I was so excited about our childbirth class that I registered for it in early March. I was just looking forward to being a normal little happy expectant couple going to childbirth class. I had it all planned out that Monday nights were going to be our date nights and that we were going to go out to dinner after class. Oh the best laid plans! I also had two showers planned for this month...One here in town and one in our hometown in Alabama. Then a quick trip after the AL shower to the beach with Shaun to meet up with my close college friends (I had a really cute bathing suit by the way). Add to that list a maternity photo shoot, prenatal massage and pedicure gift certificate that I can't use, soaking in pools, shopping for Henry, a breasfeeding class, and a much needed haircut. So yes I'm a little sad. I'm sad that I can't just be normal for once. I try not to think about what this could potentially mean for future pregnancies and fertility treatments but I do. This could be it for me. We won't be able to risk multiples like we did to get pregnant with Henry. With all of that said...I am so blessed, and I have absolutely no reason to complain. Who cares if I can't get a massage or go on a beach trip?? Who cares! I have the sweetest most precious gift inside me right now, and I will do anything for him.