I've been telling her that I'm ready for her to come but now with this horrendous cold I have found I'm telling her to wait until that goes away. I really don't want to have to try to get through labor with all these symptoms I'm having. Worst of all, this horrible chest cough that is going on. Just need to overcome this and then I'm all set for this beautiful little girl to make her appearance.
It has been an interesting last week and a half of Doctor appointments. Went in for my weekly appointment on February 3rd and everything was looking great. Dr said she was 90% sure that baby was head down but 90% wasn't good enough for her if I were to go into labor now. She went and got the portable ultrasound machine to check to make sure she was head down, which she was. However Dr. wasn't seeing much fluid and wanted to get me in to have the fluid levels checked. They got me in for an appointment in 15 minutes. Included in the ultrasound was a AFI (amniotic fluid index) and a BPP (bio-physical profile). The AFI is where they would measure the amount of fluid. The BPP they give a rating out of 8, 2 for each of the following; heart rate, movement (3 small, 1 large), practicing breathing for longer than 30 seconds. I believe that is all that is measured. Fluid levels looked great at 10.5 and she scored a 6/8 on the BPP. She didn't practice her breathing. Next step was to do a NST (non-stress test). Here they just hook you up to a monitor and study baby's heart rate and make sure that there are peaks with movement to make sure she is recovering and her heart rate goes back to normal. They also want to make sure that there aren't any dips in her heart rate. Where it would fall low, multiple times of this occuring could mean baby is in distress. Of course she wasn't being cooperative and barely moved the entire NST so that gave them inconclusive results. So Dr. decided to send me over to the hospital to labor and delivery to make sure that she was doing good. Which after about an hour or so in the hospital they concluded she was fine and sent me on my way. So my normal Dr appointment resulted in 4.5 hours of stuff including the hospital.
Dr. wanted me to do all of the testing over again just to be sure so on the 9th I went in to do it all again. This time she got an 8/8 on her BPP and the fluid level was down to 9.07. Under 5 is when they would induce and 10 is normal, so as the Dr. put it, I was in the gray zone. I had a feeling it was the way she was positioned. They did the NST and there were a few parts where the Dr. wasn't quite sure if there were dips or not (because of the way it printed out on the graph). She wanted me to come back the next day to do it all over again.
So there I am on the 10th going through all the tests again. 8/8 on her BPP and fluid is measuring at 14.7. So I'm guessing I was right on how she was positioned, just not giving a clear shot to measure fluid levels. This time she was totally cooperating and NST looked great. However Dr. wanted me back early the next week to check it all again. So I go back to have it all done again on the 14th.
Getting these all done seem repetitive to me, and now I have to start using the PTO to go to the appointments which leaves less for maternity leave. But I guess if the Dr. finds it necessary for her health then I will do what I need to do. I appreciate the fact that the Dr. is willing to really pay attention to her. I hear stories of people going in with issues and they can't get anyone to listen, and here my Dr. is doing things multiple times to make sure that she is safe where she is and there isn't any reason to be concerned.
I have been preparing myself all weekend that I have probably 2 full weeks left of work. I really don't see peanut showing up anytime soon, stubborn little girl, so I have to prep my mind to deal with 2 more weeks of work. Two people's guess have come and gone. This weeks holds 3 more guesses, we will see if any of that turns out.
I can't believe how close it has come. Even if she is overdue by 2 weeks that means there is still only about 20 days or less for her to come. Cue slight first time mama freak out now. Brand new baby, full time work, part time school with only 1 year left to finish. How do you balance it all? How do I make sure I am being the best mama to her? How do I give her all the love and attention she deserves with such a full plate? How do I make sure her daddy sees her as much as possible being so far away? I guess how every new mama does it. Practice, time, less sleep, and a few failures.
And to conclude my 39 week bump picture. A few people say that it looks like she has dropped a little. Makes me feel like its a little closer at least.
If you made it all the way through this post, thanks, I know it got a little long and boring :)
-Mama Lucas
What a wonderful way to keep everyone informed about the progress with you and Abby!!!! Love you all!!!!
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