New 34 Week Belly Pics

Okay well I forgot to post this last week but the belly keeps getting bigger...Thankfully at a slower rate now! Olivia is still moving and twirling like crazy. I thought she might calm down as she ran out of room but she hasn't figured out that she has ran out of room. Some of her naughty new tricks are NOT mommy approved, I have stern conversations with her but she is already defiant and not listening. lol I went to the dr and she checked me. I was 80% effaced and not dilated. I was not surprised by this and okay with it since I am only 34 weeks. The next day we went to Spokane and I had horrible contractions for hours. We went out to eat and I felt sick. We decided to leave and come home. The drive proved to be worse and I was sure she was coming! I had not got a bag together for the hospital so we decided to come home first. I had more than exceeded the "allowed" contractions per hour. Once we got home I layed down and they stopped. We debated what we should do. I was so tired that we decided to wait and see if they came back. They didn't. Not sure if it was the right choice to go or not go but we don't have a baby. I am going to talk to the dr on Monday and let her know. I am still having sporatic contractions but not painful, can't talk, must breath contractions. I think it was just a false alarm I think she will not be arriving for at least three weeks.

Lots of new updates

Things seem to be busy busy! On Sunday my friends Lynley and Josie hosted a baby shower for me. We had a great turnout of about 30 people. It was cozy! We had it at my house which was a lot of work to get ready for but no transporting presents and we had everything we needed handy. Olivia received an amazing amount of presents. I haven't had a chance to really look at everything and take inventory of what we got and still need but there shouldn't be much. I will have to post some pics in the next couple days.

I saw my dr for my follow up heart issues. The cardiologist had called and consulted with her. My monitor showed: "Heart monitored for 24 hrs of those hours: rates above 130 were noted for 6 hrs 44 min, rates from 100-130 were noted for 7hrs 12 min, 60-100 for 9 hrs ?, and below 60 for 1 hr 20 min. No abnormal rhythms were noted. The episodes of tachycardia (rapid heart rate) are an abnormal amount and patient should be tested for hypothyroidism." The dr had already tested my thyroid and it was normal. So after she consulted they agreed that although there was an abnormal amount of time my heart was fast it was still regulating and slowing on its own. The medication would slow my heart rate down but I would need to be monitoring the baby's activities frequently to make sure she wasn't showing stress. NOPE I would be a disaster if I had to do this. I would end up sitting in the parking lot of the hospital for hours "just in case". My blood pressure at the drs office was only 98/53 which was also another reason I will not be taking the medicine, it would lower it more. So after a long chat with the dr we agreed I would continue to lay on my left side and drink a glass of water everytime this happens and suffer through the next 8 weeks. I am content with that decision. I feel like it is the safer option. I will be 33 weeks on Wednesday.

I am getting so excited for her arrival. That's about it for now!

31 week Belly Pics

Okay here goes again! The newest belly pics at 31 weeks...only 9 more weeks to go. I think my stomach will split open soon!

Baby Shower and Dr Updates

Last weekend I flew to Twin Falls. On Saturday my sister, cousin Carly, and mom had a baby shower for me. It was really great. We had it at my sisters daycare. It was a good turn out of about 30 people, most I hadn't seen in a couple years. Kari, Crystal, and Lindsey, friends from high school, were able to come and we were able to catch up and have breakfast and dinner (we always liked to eat a lot!). All of them have babies (of varying ages) which was great getting to see our grown-up selves! I got tons of presents at the shower. Majority was clothes which is understandable given they are soooo cute. I ended up taking a huge suitcase and shipping two boxes home, and I still left a couple presents my mom is going to bring up when Olivia arrives.

After the shower Jamie, Dallas, mom, Emily, and Chris went to Jackpot, Nevada for the John Michael Montgomery concert. It was interesting to say the least....a combination of a drunk and laryngitis John MM. We made the most of it and still had fun singing along and there was even some drunk dancing in the aisle from Chris. I am not sure if Baby Olivia liked the music and was dancing during the concert or if she was getting a headache from all the loud noise but she was a twirlin' the whole time.

The rest of the trip was made up of going out to eat a lot. This seems to be a common occurrence when I go to Twin Falls. Everyone wants to meet up for a meal. I end up going out to eat four times a day. This is very easy when I am pregnant because I am pretty much hungry by the time I get to the next restaurant.

To follow-up my last blog entry...my heart is still going crazy. On Friday while I was getting ready to head to TF I tried to get ready and it ended up taking 3 hrs. I kept getting dizzy and sick and having to lay down. I debated not going on the plane but decided this wasnt' a new problem and to forge on! Once in the plane crazy heart came back but much worse. I was sweating and lightheaded. I had a fairly unfriendly man next to me that I asked if he had a watch to take my pulse but he didn't. I contemplated telling the flight attended to please page ahead and have an ambulance waiting for me but I could see the confusion I could cause on an airplane being I look like I am ready to have a baby. I ended up saying a pray I would live to get off the plane and told no one. After landing I got off and sat in the airport until my heart slowed down. I called the hospital and asked a nurse what to do. She paged out my dr who called me back. My dr again reassured me this was normal and I did not need to be seen. I was not convinced and only continued to lose confidence in her. I ended up driving to TF and not seen.

Yesterday was my dr appt and I was not happy to go. I was still angry about the whole thing and the response I kept getting from the dr. My heart hasn't been as bad as it was on Friday but still not getting better. A couple nights I have woke up with it pounding and I am sweating and I can't sleep. So off to the dr appt.... After weigh in which was better this month only 3 lbs. (Amazing given the food consumption in TF). She did the routine stuff which was all normal. The nurse asked how my pulse felt which it seemed fine then when she took it it was 100. Not reassuring that I felt like that was normal. Then we discussed the heart! Finally I felt like she listened. She is sending me today to get a 24hr heart monitor to decide how severe it is. She said her dilemma is that there is only one medication that is safe for pregnancy to slow your heart rate. The contraindication is that it lowers your blood pressure. My blood pressure is very low (110/58). She said there is a good chance that if I take the medicine I am going to find my blood pressure causing me to be really light headed and working and daily activities will be minimized. aka possible bed rest. The game plan is going to see how much of the time my heart is going crazy and how severe. She is planning on consulting with a cardiologist to see what his opinion is. She assures me that it is not causing the baby harm but over the next 9 weeks she is worried it will stress me and then cause harm to the baby. Hmmm what do you do?

I guess I will see how the heart monitoring goes.

BJ has been working like crazy. So far he will have 250 hrs for the last two weeks. I can't wait for the paycheck because we have some bills that really need to be paid off before the baby. He is deliriously tired. His work just told him that now he has to leave on Sunday for Oregon. They were going to wait until next month but because of the baby they are sending him now. He is not too happy this trip will mean he hasn't had a day off in three weeks and won't have another one for another two weeks. I am quite proud of him and how hard he is working. I keep telling him to not take the overtime calls for a day but he keeps going saying he wants to make sure we have plenty of money saved for Olivia. Last night we had our birthing class and I really wanted him to go. He has had to miss the last two because he was at work. He worked a 22 hr shift and came home and slept for two hrs and got up and went to the class with me. I am just so proud of him and I know he will be a good daddy!

Stupid Doctors

I am officially mad at the Doctor's office. I don't know if I should be mad at the doctor or the nurse so I will blame both of them. A billion dr appts later and them encouraging you to "call with any questions or concerns" I think I won't be calling again until this baby comes out! Grrr



So here is my angry story ( I realize some of this is probably prego hormones but still.....):



I have a dr appt last Tuesday. We discuss the contractions that I have been having. She assures me they are just Braxton Hicks and it is fine. I do the routine stuff and everything is good. So on Thursday I wake up and feel exhausted. I assume it is nothing and force myself to get up and do some laundry. As I keep trying to work around the house I am incredibly nauseated. It is like 1st trimester all over. My heart is racing. I attempt to take a shower and end up getting out and laying on the bed for an hour. Again I force myself up and get dressed. Now I am laying on the couch with my heart still racing and the nausea continuing. This goes on all day. I mention it to BJ and we agree that I must be overdoing it and I need to slow down. Friday I still feel tired, nauseated, and heart racing but I head to work for my 72 hr shift. It continues all day until I go to bed and feel drunk. I am lightheaded and dizzy. I decide I need to elevate my feet. (LOL not seek medical attention upstairs). Saturday same thing all day. Sunday the nausea and heart racing seems worse. I sit in the office and take my pulse and realize it is over 120. I head to the nurse's station and proceed to burst into tears. Not sure why I needed to sob but they didn't mind. They took me into the OB room and put on a heart monitor. For the next 2 hrs I lay/sit and the on-call dr and 5 nurses stare at my heart monitor go from 85-130 every min. The dr looks at it and says the rhythm looks fine it is tachycardia (racing heart) and to follow up with my OB dr tomorrow. I end up leaving work a couple hrs later. I faithfully call the dr office the next morning. I explain to the nurse what has been going on and she says she will talk to the dr and call me back.



This is when I get irritated......



She calls back. "Dr thinks it is increased blood flow and she isn't worried until it is over 150."



"Okay does she think I need to have any follow up testing? Did she want me to fax the EKG?"



"No she thinks you are just fine."



"And she didn't think it was abnormal that my pulse has never been above 65 and now it is 135?"



"No she said it was because you were running around work."



"No I told you I was sitting/laying. That was my resting rate."



"Oh she thinks you are fine. do you want to come see her?"



"Does she want me to come in? What will you do if I come in?"

"Nothing. you can talk to her."

Ok?

"If she thinks I am fine then I guess I don't need to come in."

"Okay well call us if you have any concerns!"

Yeah right?! I can see why prego women come to the ER after having days of problems and never called their dr. It is because they make you feel like an idiot for calling and then give you stupid answers. A week later I am still having the same problem but I take my pulse to "make sure it isn't over 150." I guess this is another prego perk but really do they have to make you feel so stupid. My next appt is a week from tomorrow. I will not be voicing my concerns as I have happily learned, " I am just fine."

New Bathroom Pics

Well we aren't finished with the bathroom yet but it is 90% so I will go ahead and post some pics. I only have the one before pic. The wall had linolium (spelling?) on the walls so when we took it off it pulled the drywall off. Yay!! We had also moved the bathtub in this pic. It originally stuck out 17" further then in this pic. We knocked the wall out into the bedroom to make the bathroom a little bigger. It is still small but better. We still have trim work to finish like moulding and painting the ceiling. (Tried to but you can't paint a ceiling with a prego belly it feels like you are doing 1000 crunches...) Hopefully we will finish it up before Miss Olivia arrives. Bj has been working a ton of overtime due to the yucky weather so it might not happen.

28 Weeks

I am officially 28 weeks today. I have the newest belly pics. Not too much to report. I have had some strong contractions in the last couple days. I spoke to the nurse today and she doesn't think they are concerning yet. I have an appt next Tuesday so as long as I don't start having more than I am going to wait until my appt. She has also assured me that I will notice other changes of preterm labor (nausea, vomiting, discharge). For all you mothers out there....Will I recognize these signs of labor?????