35 weeks

Pregnancy Stats:

How Far Along: We are exactly 4 weeks away from holding our baby girl!

Size of baby: On average a baby at this stage is 5.5-5.8 pounds and around 18.5-18.7 inches- about the size of a coconut.

Movement: Still plenty of movement, but it’s getting less and less intense.

Sleep: It comes and goes. I can nap really well though!

Cravings: Nothing new here, still chopping on lifesaver mints and ice like crazy.

Symptoms: Still have bad heartburn that I can’t seem to get rid of, more swelling, and of course all the mess that went on Monday and Tuesday!

Best Moment this past week: Our fun dinner party/shower Saturday night! (more on that in another post)

Stratton may be digressing a little. He told us Sunday that we weren’t having a girl, but a baby boy! Hmm. . .I’m thinking all this might be getting a little to real for him too! He’s been watching a show on Disney Jr. lately called Charlie and Lola. It’s a cute cartoon about a big brother and little sister.  So, I think at the moment he thinks having a little sister is going to be fun like the cartoon. Haha. He’s in for a rude awakening! We are still dealing with some weird tantrums and fits. This morning he got mad at Jarrod because he was going to walk him into his classroom, like we always do. Today apparently he wanted to do it alone! One minute he’s wanting you to hold him and the next he’s Mr. Independent?! These moody phases need to pass!! I’m the one that is supposed to be having the mood swings!

Adren’s room will be completely complete if I can just get Jarrod to hang up the window valance sometime this week! My mom finished it and gave it to me this weekend. We just haven’t had a chance to get it up, but we will soon! Then I will finally post pictures!

Other than being mentally prepared, I think we are ready for her to come anytime. Her bed is ready, laundry is done, bottles are ready to go, carseat is revamped and ready to put in the car, and We all have bags packed and ready to go . . . I just need to schedule the cleaning lady to come and do a really good deep cleaning to the whole house and we’ll be set.  It’s funny that I think I’m ready- and it’s even funnier that I know I’m kidding myself and I’m not even the least little bit prepared for what’s really to come! At least I’m trying! I know even the best and most thought out preparations are going to need some tweaking, but things are much farther along than when Stratton was born and we made it ok, so I’m not going to get too worried! I feel like I’ve done just about everything I can do at this point!

Things on the checklist now are:  Spend quality time with Stratton, Take it easy and try to make it 4 more weeks, Get a mani/pedi (and maybe one more massage), Go buy a new robe that isn’t white (I left mine at the hospital on Monday! Ugh!!). All that doesn’t seem too ambitious does it? I don’t want to over-do it! Ha-ha?!

 

Yikes! Just 4 more weeks?!

What an ordeal!

So, it all started Monday morning while I was getting ready for work. I was standing at the bathroom counter drying my hair, when things started getting blurry on my left side. I went about my getting ready thinking it was just something that would pass but after a few minuets it was worse. I got Stratton up and situated on the couch with something to eat and drink and called Jarrod to come home. I called the Angels hotline at UAMS and talked to a nurse who instructed me to get to a hospital as soon as possible. Jarrod got home, we ran by and dropped Stratton off at school and went to the hospital. I started having some numbness in my left hand also and my head was slightly aching, but I chalked that up to sinuses. I was concerned it was preeclampsia. I had been on my feet a lot over the past weekend and started noticing more swelling in my feet, legs and a little in my hands over the last week.

My blood pressure was on the high side when I got there but after laying on my side and resting it went back down, and was never dangerously high. It just so happened that Dr. Layton, the ob/gyn that I have seen in the past, was the one on call. She knows my history so that was reassuring. She really thought it was just a spell brought on by an increase in blood pressure. She said that at this point even just standing in one place too long can spike bp enough to make me dizzy and lightheaded along with the other symptoms. She also told me to make sure I ate. (which I do, I just hadn’t gotten around to it yet at 7 am!) She let me go home with instructions to rest the rest of the day and drink lots of water. So that’s what I did.

I took a nap and watched some tv, pretty much was a bum all day. Then about 5 pm my left eye started doing the fuzzy/blurry thing. So I laid down and rested on my left side, while in the middle of this episode Jarrod and Stratton came home so Jarrod took my bp and it was ok. I started feeling better so I got up to sit and eat with the boys. About 5-10 minutes into sitting at the table I all the sudden got to where I couldn’t talk. It was the scariest feeling. I was trying to say something like “Stratton, wasn’t it nice of daddy to bring supper home tonight?” and only about every 3rd or 4th word would come out and it wasn’t the words I was intending to say. Jarrod had the strangest look on his face, really confused looking. And I just burst out into tears! I did manage to get out “I don’t know what’s wrong with me!”. Jarrod calmed me down and Stratton was asking a thousand questions of course but he was really sweet, and looked concerned. Jarrod called Dillon who rushed over to stay with Stratton and we headed back to the hospital. With this episode my left lip was numb and my left hand was numb and tingling. I was seriously worried I was having a stroke!

Jarrod checked me in, since I couldn’t really articulate what was going on with me and they quickly took us back to a triage room, hooked me up to the monitors and started checking my bp. Everything checked out and was fine. They came and drew blood, and then not too long after that Dr. Layton came back in. This time she thought my symptoms sounded more like a migraine. Since all my vitals seemed to be checking out, she couldn’t come up with any other reason why I would be having those symptoms. And of course by the time she got into see us, the speech impediment was all but gone and I was starting to feel like myself again. She said she wanted a neurologist to have a look at me. So they moved us to a real room while we waited for the neurologist. My mom and dad came to check on us.  It was probably 7:30-8pm by now. Jarrod ran home to take a shower and get some stuff (like our ipads) in the case that we had to stay the night. We called in and checked on Stratton and he was already taking a bath and Dillon went back over to our house and gathered up the stuff he needed for bedtime, since it looked like it would be late by the time we got out of there. By the time Jarrod got back I was having my doubts. Between 9:30 and 10pm the nurse came in and we asked her about the consult and she told us that more than likely if they hadn’t showed up by 9:30 they probably weren’t coming till in the morning. Great. So we were stuck. My mom and dad left a little before 10pm and I decided to take a shower and maybe being warm and clean would help me  be able to rest in those awful hospital beds. We did have a pretty restless night. Poor Jarrod tried to sleep on the chair that pulls out into a sleeper! Ouch! However the nurses and staff left us pretty much alone. They came in around midnight and then again about 5am. Not bad for a hospital! When the nurse came in around 6 she told us the Dr. was making rounds and would be around to see us soon, but he’d already seen my chart and thought everything looked ok, and they were going to discharge me around 8 am. I asked her about the neuro consult and she didn’t seem to be very positive that anyone was coming. She said they were extremely hard to get to come in, but for me to ask the Dr about it when he came by. Sure enough when the Dr came by he suggested that we just go home. He said that unless he has a patient stroking out right in front of him that it’s almost impossible to get a neurologist to come in. (Good to know!) He thought it would be in our best interest to go home, and if it happens again come back or take it up with my Dr at UAMS. He said there are so many things that these symptoms could be caused by, and while it could be anything from a migraine to a pinched nerve it might just be some weird fluke. He said some really weird stuff can happen when your pregnant that there is just no explanation for! I was really frustrated, but glad he was honest with us. Otherwise we might have waited all day long and who knows if they would have even showed up?! At least I was under observation all night and nothing happened, so maybe that’s a sign that this little spell, or episode or whatever is over or at least on its way to being over!

Tuesday we got home about 9am. Jarrod decided to stay home with me. Dillon had taken Stratton to daycare to keep him on his normal schedule. So Jarrod and I got something to eat and then we both crashed. I’m not sure when the last time was that I slept that hard! I think I got up around 11 am and Jarrod fixed us some sandwiches. Then the rest of the afternoon I did laundry and piddled around the house. Jarrod had a dr appt at 4pm so Brandye went to pick up Stratton and brought him home. He was mad because he wanted to stay at their house again! Brandye gave me what I hope is the last of my progesterone shots! Then Jarrod fixed us some dinner and we were all in bed pretty early! I did have another small spell last night around 8pm. But it went away pretty quickly. We went ahead and checked my bp just in case, but it was good. 

I did get word from my Doctor at UAMS. While she thinks it all sounds extremely rare and is concerned, she didn’t seem to think that I should rush to see a neurologist. I have an appointment with her next Tuesday, so I am guessing we will discuss it more then. She said if I had anymore issues to either go back to my local hospital or call the Angels Hotline. She said that they could arrange for me to see a neurologist at UAMS but she wasn’t sure how long it would take for me to get an appointment. At this point I almost feel like going back and forth to another Dr. in LR these last few weeks of pregnancy aren’t worth it. Especially if we do a bunch of testing, which come out inconclusive and then all my symptoms go away after childbirth anyway?! I think we will just play it by ear, at least till Tuesday and go from there. I do feel a little better since all this has happened a couple of people I know who have regular migraines said those symptoms are familiar to them and others that are in the medical field have said they also have seen these symptoms play out in migraines, even migraines without a headache? Weird, but not unheard of.

I didn’t sleep much at all last night. Probably from taking a nap yesterday? So I am so tired today! But so far things are ok. My eyesight is a little blurry and splotchy, and I’m a little lightheaded but overall I feel ok. I decided to come into work. I was already bored at home yesterday, and I think as long as I feel like it and am able I will try to work. And there is plenty for me to do at work still to keep me busy!  I’m not far from home if I need to go home, too.  Plus, I don’t need to sit at home with time to twiddle my hands and Google all my symptoms . . .

34 Weeks

Ya’ll, I’m tired!! I saw this cartoon on a website and had to post it to facebook immediately, as this is exactly how I feel!!

Pregnancy Stats:
How Far Along: 34 Weeks. . .5 weeks and 1 day to go till Arden’s scheduled delivery.
Size of baby: Almost 5 pounds and around 18 inches! Compare to a cantaloupe! (I feel like I’m carrying a 20lb watermelon in there, though!)
Movement: There’s been a big change in movement this past week. She’s still kicking, but it’s much, much less. I think she’s either “dropped” into position or just really cramped!
Sleep: I had a few nights of wonderful sleep! One night I only got up twice!
Cravings: Still chopping on lifesaver mints and ice and I’ve been so thirsty!
Symptoms: WORST. HEARTBURN. EVER. Seriously, I have bad acid reflux to begin with, but the hb I’ve had this past week was killer, it’s keeping me up at night and making me nauseous. And my feet are swelling, I knew it was just a matter of time.
Best Moment This Week: Just making it to 34 weeks! I can’t believe we’re here already!!

Wow. 34 weeks! God is so good!! What a blessing. I’m just so relieved that we’ve made it this far and haven’t had any issues. We’ve continually been blessed with a normal pregnancy. . .no diabetes, no bed rest, and so far looks like no signs of preterm labor. I can’t get over how fast the last seven and a half months have gone by. I’m excited about Arden’s arrival, but also a little sad since this will likely be my last pregnancy. It’s weird and conflicting emotion! (Why am I sad?? I’m tired and miserable?? It doesn’t make any sense!).

Other good news, my cold symptoms are much better, thankfully! I took my last dose of antibiotics last night! Glad those are over! They sure were giving me some stomach issues!

We are just about done with Arden’s room. Just a few more final touches and it will be complete. It’s pretty much ready now, the big stuff is in place and her laundry is done, and the car seat has been washed and recovered! We are ready to go! I even have my bag packed! I’m hoping that getting all prepared will just mean nothing happens. Like in the winter when there’s a snow storm coming and they tell you to get prepared, so you run out in the craziness to get milk and bread. . .and then nothing happens! : ) I’m hoping for that scenario! I have to be honest, at this point I don’t know that I am going to make it 5 more weeks. I hope I’m wrong, but I’m just feeling like it’s getting closer.

Stratton has been such a love bug lately. He has been noticeably more affectionate to me especially. A couple of months ago, he could pretty much care less if I was around or not, he wanted “daddy to do it” whether it was getting dressed or fixing him something to eat! He was also right by Jarrod’s side where ever and whatever he was doing. But the last month or so he has really become a momma’s boy. He’s also been asking us to “play with him” a lot lately. Where as before he would just sit in the floor and play by himself. Now he frequently asks us to join him.  Sunday Jarrod said he was ready to go back to the beach and asked Stratton if he was ready to go. Stratton’s response “No! We have to wait till my sister comes out so she can go with us!”. And last night he drew a picture of “our baby sister” and “she is going to be red!”. Haha.

Finally Friday!!

This week has been forever long! I guess that’s mainly because I’ve been sick, but some weeks just seem to drag on and on! I did get my hair cut and colored on Wednesday! The last time before Arden comes! That’s just so weird! I go about every 8 weeks, and when I left the salon, the lady that cuts my hair mentioned that the next time she see’s me I’ll have to bring Arden with me?! Crazy?!!

I decided since I still felt awful and it didn’t seem like my cold was getting any better I should maybe go to the doctor. I emailed my dr at UAMS on Wednesday to see what she thought about my lingering cold and she said to go to my family doctor and get checked out. So, I did and turns out I have sinusitis and bronchitis. I guess it’s a good thing I went. Now I’m on antibiotics and feeling a little better. I left my Dr. Appt and headed home to rest before the guys got home and we had to rush around for church. Well my resting was interrupted with a call from Jarrod that he would be working late. So I went to pickup Stratton and he was in a MOOD. I didn’t feel like fighting him by myself and we missed church. Some nights I just don’t have the energy to get him home, fed him get him bathed and dressed and to church by 7! It’s not that he’s necessarily bad, he just gets side tracked and I’m constantly having to keep on him! He just doesn’t get in a hurry- sounds like somebody else I know!

Yesterday at lunch I met Carla and we got pedicures. I haven’t had one in almost 3 weeks and I thought it might help with my swollen feet. I think it actually made it worse! My feet looked awful last night! I am somewhat trying to watch my sodium intake and I just can’t figure out why some days when I really don’t do much my feet swell so bad and other times when I’ve been on them all day they are fine! There is no rhyme or reason! I have to document my night last night! I went to bed around 10ish and only got up TWICE during the night to go to the bathroom and then I went right back to sleep! That means I got roughly 8 hours of sleep last night!! Whoo!! I haven’t done that in months!! I guess I was just really tired? Who knows. The funny thing is, you’d think I’d just have lots of energy this morning- Not really! In fact I’ve been pretty groggy. Weird!

We don’t have any plans this weekend. It’s the “tax-free” back to school shopping weekend, so I think we will try to stay out of town as much as possible! And Jarrod is working Saturday night, like he did a couple of weeks ago. He’ll go in around 10pm Saturday night and hopefully only have to work a few hours, but it could be most of the day on Sunday as well. Sunday I have a baby shower to go to at church for Tia (McDonald) Carraway! I can’t believe she’s old enough to have a baby! I can still see her as a kid! And even though there’s only like 3 years difference in our age, it makes me feel old! Haha! Her baby is due September 9th. She is also having a girl and they are going to call her Hollis. So, our girls could potentially only be four days apart in age! How fun is that?!

33 Weeks

Pregnancy Stats:
How Far Along: 33 Weeks. . .a little over 6 weeks to go!
Size of baby: 17.5 inches and around 4.5 pounds!
Movement: She’s still really active at times, but I can tell it’s getting cramped in there!
Sleep: I think I would be sleeping better if it weren’t for this nasty cold!
Cravings: Ice and lifesaver mints
Symptoms: All of them. Pretty sure I’ve rounded the corner and the next 6 weeks are probably going to be miserable.
Best Moment This Week: Getting more things marked off the to-do list!

So, getting a summer cold in the last weeks of pregnancy is not cool. In fact it takes miserable to a whole new level. Take your normal icky cold symptoms and multiply it by 100! Sore throat, congestion, coughing and headache. . . the only good thing is that I don’t have a fever. It’s just a common cold. And everything I read, just says to “hydrate and rest”. Really? That’s it? Isn’t that easy for a doctor or book author to say?! Here in the “real world”, it’s just not that easy! I am drinking a TON of water, and it seems like the only noticeable effect is my having to run to the bathroom even more often, which I honestly didn’t think was possible! And for the rest part, well it’s not easy to do when I need to go to work and there is so much to do at home. Plus, whenever I lay down or even lay back I can’t breathe! There are some over the counter meds I can take, but they aren’t doing me much good either. And Benadryl, that normally doesn’t effect me too much, will knock me smooth out! So it’s either be miserable or be in a coma! Great options, don’t ya think?!  Poor Stratton has it too. Although he doesn’t really act like he feels too bad, he just has a continual runny nose. Unlike me, he has some good meds that are really helping clear his congestion up. Plus it has rained a little, so maybe that is helping too.

Last week was a busy one. I started feeling sick around Tuesday, I figured it was just allergies. I had a massage on Tuesday afternoon, and the lady that did my massage was struggling with allergies, too- or so she thought. Thursday evening I had dinner with Amber and later that night it rained for the first time in forever, so I thought that would probably help. It didn’t. I ended up going home from work on Friday early to rest. I had an awful headache and really thought it best for my co-workers if I took my crabby, sick self home! Jarrod and Stratton went to the farm Friday afternoon to work on a trailer Jarrod had bought. So, of course Stratton didn’t want to come home and he ended up staying the weekend with my mom and dad. Which worked out good, I actually felt much better on Saturday, and did laundry, cleaned Stratton’s room, reorganized all his toys and got rid of a bunch of stuff, we put the last few things up in Arden’s room, I cleaned it up, whew! And then Saturday afternoon we decided to venture out to the mall, I needed to take some stuff back after the shower last week. But it wasn’t long and I was tired!! We went and ate supper and then headed back home.

Guess what?? Sunday I felt awful. I should know better right?! Just because I felt better on Saturday I shouldn’t have done so much. You’d think I would be smarter than I actually am. But when I feel good it’s hard to stop! It’s a vicious cycle! We got up Sunday morning and went to church in HR, had lunch with my grandparents and mom and dad and then we headed back to Jonesboro in time for Exaltation at the Fowler Center. It was good, but Stratton was in a mood! I’m so glad we don’t have theater seating at church! Those chairs were just too much of a distraction! Anyway, we made it through with only one minor injury. Stratton knocked his forehead/eye on one of the seats and it looks like he’s been in a fight now. But what else is new? The boy is constantly sporting a shiner from some incident or another!

Monday, I woke up and just felt horrible. Like a train had hit me. I decided to stay home and rest for the first part of the day and see if that helped. I took some cough medicine and some tylenol and went back to bed and slept till 10:30am! I got up and went to work and so far I’m feeling somewhat better. It’s funny when people ask how I’m feeling. I honestly don’t know anymore! I am starting to forget what it feels like to not be miserable! Haha! Most of the time I just tell people that I’m feeling good. And I guess I should quit complaining.  After all, as Kristen so nicely pointed out to me, I am getting to experience the misery of the last 6 weeks of pregnancy for the first time. Apparently, it’s completely normal to be this miserable! So, hooray for being normal.

The rest of the week and weekend actually doesn’t look too bad. I’m getting my hair cut and colored for probably the last time before Arden gets here (that’s weird). I have a baby shower for a friend on Sunday, but other than that I am hoping we can just take it easy at home. We don’t have anything planned for the next several weekends (intentionally, just in case. . .) I’m hoping we can just enjoy the last few weeks of being a family of three! 

32 Weeks

Pregnancy Stats:
How Far Along: 32 Weeks
Size of baby: 17 inches and around 4 pounds!
Movement: Lots of activity, and I think it’s funny the way my stomach “rolls”!
Sleep: About the same. Most nights are long and not very restful.
Cravings: Sweets
Symptoms: Pretty much the same. I am really thirsty all the sudden!
Best Moment This Week: Setting the tentative date for Arden’s arrival!

 

I had a doctor’s appointment on Friday. Everything looked and sounded good. I gained another 5 pounds, which brings the total so far to 23 lbs! We talked about the symptoms I’ve been having and some of the pain, I got the impression that it’s all normal and I should get used to it! More or less, I’m just going to have to deal with it for another 7 weeks. The good news is that it all sounded completely normal to her, and she wasn’t worried at all. She did explain in more detail how my pain pain and tightening stomach could very well be contractions, and I needed to be aware of them and if they started to be more frequent or started coming and going with a pattern to let them know. She said that if that were to happen the first thing they would do is send me home to bed and tell me to really hydrate for 24 hrs, if things got worse or didn’t improve then they would bring me in.  

We talked about options as far as her birth will go. We are opting for a scheduled C-section over the VBAC. I just can’t see myself going through what we went through with Stratton again, only to be sent to the OR for a c-section anyway. It was so hard on me. Plus, there are added risks since I’ve had a c-section before and a recent surgery, so I just feel better about a c-section delivery. Unless I go into labor early, we are shooting for September 12th to be her birthday. I was really hoping for it to be on Friday the 6th, so Jarrod wouldn’t have to take as much vacation time off, but Dr. Smith’s OR day is on Wednesday morning, so I guess we will just have to deal with it. It will be nice for both our kids to have birthday’s on the 12th, though.

My next appointment will be on August 21st, I’ll be 35 weeks then (Yikes!) and she will do an ultrasound so we can see about how big she is and what position she is in. She told us that if we made it to our next appointment she would be pleased! That made me nervous and really put things into perspective for me. It’s all starting to get REAL. After my next appointment they will be more frequent, too. I am glad she isn’t wanting to see us every other week right now. That two and a half hour trip to Little Rock and back is getting tougher on me!

After my appointment, we met Steven (one of Jarrod’s college buddies) for lunch and then did a little shopping. It was so stinking hot! My car was reading 110 degrees at one point! I am so ready for fall weather!

Arden’s baby shower!

Sunday afternoon the church hosted a shower for us. It was so nice and there was an awesome turnout. Honestly, I am so humbled by everyone that came! I didn’t realize people liked us so much! Ha! The decorations were cute and they really had spent most of the time and energy on the food and drink (hmmm, someone knows me well!). They had the cutest pink punch in cups that were rimmed with hot pink sugar! And pink lemonade mini cupcakes, white chocolate covered strawberries, dipped pretzels. . .all super yummy!

Hostess: Julia Bristow, Lori Fitts, Tara Coker and Christy Phipps

Love this picture because it shows you what happens when my friend Lori is around! She is so funny and can always make me laugh.

Stratton went with us. I asked him and he said he wanted to go. I’m glad he went and was involved. When my mom asked him before we left what you do at a baby shower he told her “open presents and eat cake”. Yep. That’s pretty much it!! He was such the big helper. He helped me open gifts and pass them around and then would line the unopened ones up at my feet. He enjoyed the snacks and punch, too! I tried to get him to play with some of the pink dolls and he said “That’s for sister!”. He was so good the whole time!

Telling Gigi a big story, I’m sure!

Sitting with Nan having some punch.

Look! Not everything I got was pink!

Ok, the difference between a baby girl shower and baby boy shower is now evident to me. At my church shower for Stratton we got very practical things. Loads of diapers, wipes and bath stuff. Bottles, pacis, and other essentials. However, at Arden’s shower we got clothes!  Lots and lots of clothes! I guess everyone likes to buy the cute stuff for a baby girl! We only got 2 small packages of diapers and two tubs of wipes! Isn’t that crazy!! I also got a lot of monogrammed stuff, bibs and burps cloths and blankets, but not many plain jane everyday ones. Again, I think everyone likes to buy the fun, cute stuff!! Which, don’t get me wrong, I LOVE that stuff too!! I am so excited at all the pink!!

Just some of the clothes from the shower.

Other fab stuff!

It was a fabulous shower and can’t even begin to describe how thankful we are for our church family’s generosity! We are just so blessed!