Week 34 - I'm in the Hospital

This week's post was started this morning...since then I've been admitted to the hospital. I will post that update first, then read below for the usual updates I'd started earlier...I apologize for spelling/grammatical errors, it's not easy typing on my side!

Unfortunately, I'm writing this to you from the Labor & Delivery floor at Luther....I'm OK, baby is still an "inside baby" and we're trying to keep it in :) Here's the story....too much information warning in some details...

Yesterday (Saturday) I began having some light watery discharge, continued this morning and I was having some menstrual-like cramping in my lower belly and back. If I weren't pregnant, I'd have thought my period was on its way. I got a little nervous, so I called the hospital. Dr. Peltier (on call today) wanted me to come in to be checked. They hooked me up to a fetal monitor, checking baby and contractions. I had 6-7 contractions (nothing painful, just tightening) in about 45 minutes...too many. Peltier did an internal exam and I am already dilated to 2cm, am effaced 80% and baby is stationed at 0. Dr. gave me a shot of something to stop contractions, so far so good, I've only had 1-3 in the past few hours. I was also given a shot of steroids to help Baby's lungs be ready if he/she should come early.

I will be at Luther for the next 24-48 hours, I think they'll just continue to observe me. In the event I get to go home (with an INSIDE baby) my guess is I'll be on bedrest or limited activity. If Baby should come, the prognosis could be good, but she/he would probably be in the hospital for a week or two. At the moment I feel relatively fine, definitely was scared earlier. I'd like to fast forward 2 weeks if I could. For now I'll lay here with my legs tightly crossed :) Keep us in your thoughts and prayers. Feel free to email, I'll be the queen of email if I'm stuck in bed for the next few weeks...could be interesting! H

Countdown:
Baby Sullivan’s Estimated Arrival: 43 days (6 weeks)

On Tuesday we were able to see Baby Sullivan again! Unless there’s a concern, we won’t see Baby again until it’s an “Outside Baby”. Our friend Jess, allowed us to come back to the CVTC lab for another ultrasound – just for fun! Baby was definitely bigger; the readings estimated Baby to be about 5 pounds. At this time, Baby is head down (YEAH!), technically this could change, but as Baby grows there’s less room to flip. I also learned that it is a foot that lodges under my right rib every time I sit in the car. Baby’s heart rate continued to be lower, 128. Based on measurements, the computer gave us an estimated due date of July 31st. Jess knows if our Baby is a boy or girl, she took a picture of “the parts” to show us afterwards…we all looked away!

Tuesday we celebrated my Grandma Market’s 87th birthday. We had dinner at my parents, complete with birthday cake! Her sisters and a few other relatives joined in the celebration. Grandma continues to recover from her compression fracture, it has slowed her a little. She's back at home, Ann is taking excellent care of her, and Grandma's allowing us to take her on social outings again - good for her spirits!

On Wednesday we took our first baby class; Luther Hospital offers a variety of classes to fit your needs. We are attending three evening classes (they are 1-2 nights each), we attended “Taking Care of a New Family” this week. A pediatrician spoke on many topics, from vaccinations to choosing a pediatrician to what to expect the first few days home. A labor and delivery nurse answered questions and then demonstrated giving a sponge bath, taking a rectal temperature (it made my butt squeeze together!), soothing techniques and more on a two-day old baby boy. It was very interesting – and fun to see the new baby. In two weeks we are taking a class on Breastfeeding and then Birthing Basics – I think Birthing Basics will be scary, I think there is a video involved!

I’m really enjoying summer vacation. I love having time to do things rather than trying to squeeze it all in after work. This week I did more cleaning, caught up with friends over dinner (Hi Kellie & Kat!), finished a book/started another, watched The Baby Story and Bringing Home Baby on TLC, started pulling together items for my hospital bag, and even put together a few baby items that will soon be used.
My go-to pregnancy book has been Your Pregnancy, Week by Week, it offers 3-4 pages for each of the 40 weeks. Each week (chapter) details things to expect from my body, baby’s growth expectations, baby developments, nutrition advice and more. This week I made a new purchase…Your Baby’s First Year, Week by Week. Wow! We must be getting close!

Another sign I’m getting closer – I returned some maternity clothes that I haven’t worn yet. There were a few items I’d bought for work and hadn’t taken the tags off…now that I’m in comfies 75% of the time, I decided if I hadn’t worn them yet I didn’t need to. I’ve got enough other maternity stuff I’ve only worn a few times. Its seemed crazy to buy a new wardrobe for such a short amount of time, maybe Baby #2 will be a summer baby too so I can wear this stuff again…did I just make a reference to Baby #2??? Ha! Let’s get Baby #1 here first!

Pregnant women are recommended to rest and sleep on their left side. This allows the best bloodflow to Baby. My Baby can generally be felt hanging out on my right side (under my ribs!). This week I was resting on the couch and Baby was putting on a show for me. I was on my left-side and Baby was on my right – totally distorting my belly! I could see the movements roll across my belly and then feel lumps when it settled in. Rather than a rounded belly, I had a belly with points and corners. I attempted to capture it on camera, keep in mind I’m laying on the couch looking down at my belly.

Baby Sullivan is a Honeydew Melon again this week. Baby is 18-19 inches long, and continues to build fat layers. The central nervous system and lungs are continuing to mature. Babies born between 34-37 weeks that have no other health problems generally do fine, they may need a short stay in a neonatal nursery but in the long run do as well as full-term babies. 37 weeks is considered full-term, but a full pregnancy is 40 weeks. This is the first chapter of my book to begin talking about labor – it mentions old wive's tales of trying to start labor, how to time contractions, preregistering at the hospital, etc…another sign that we’re getting closer!

Week 34 – Honeydew Melon