Thursday, June 30, 2011

It’s the beginning of the end….

The end of this pregnancy!!! Today I am officially 37 weeks, aka FULL TERM!!!! Jelly bean is getting bigger every day, how do I know this... My stomach has grown to accommodate him and let’s just say it has gotten rather obvious to me at least that the poor thing is rather frustrated with his oh so cramped surroundings. The way I can tell, you know how when you get really frustrated you’ll maybe clench your fists and just shake them (or want to) yea sometimes Richard will be wiggling around and all of the sudden he does that, just shakes. It makes me giggle, but at the same time I feel bad for him.


Our last prenatal appointment was on the 23rd, and at first my new Dr. wasn’t going to check me but I told her about the change in the discharge and I could completely tell that she got one of those feelings that said she better check. So at 35 weeks and 6 days I was 80% effaced, 1 cm dilated, and baby was in the -1 position. I could hear the surprise in her voice when she commented on how “low” the baby was, and the fact that my cervix is behind the baby’s head rather than in front. (This makes for a very difficult time checking to see how the cervix is doing) The one thing that I appreciate the most is she has not gotten after me about my weight gain, each time I’ve seen her she asks how big Jason and I were when we were born and then explains “you are just all belly.” She has also explained that because of how big “daddy” was and is, explains a lot as to why I’ve gained so much weight and why my belly is so big. Then when she squeezes my belly to estimate how big Jelly bean is she always comments on how big he is and that he is “solid”. This last time she did her estimate she said 7 ½ pounds, (which could be a half a pound less or more) and said that if I don’t go into labor within the next couple weeks they were going to have to do something to ensure that baby Richard doesn’t get to big for me. So Jason and I are both guessing that baby Richard will be approx. 8 lbs. (give or take some ounces) and at least 19 to 20 inches long. Chunkier than I was when I was born (6lbs 7 oz. 21 inches) but slightly longer than Jason was when he was born (9lbs 18inches).

We had my maternity photo-shoot done when I was 34 weeks by Hannah Photography. I honestly just wanted to see what he could do with me. We’re still waiting on the photographer to get the pictures all edited. As a result of this photo-shoot I am going to be taking a lesson from the makeup artist to learn how to do my own make up sort of in the way she did it for the shoot. Jason is being very encouraging about it, because he knows I’ll have fun and it will be something that I’ll be able to use for various reasons. (Gotta look good for those MC Balls right :p)

Other than that not much is going on besides trying to evict the small one from my body. I can honestly say that being away from home and halfway around the world from family who would be helping out with things makes this hard. When I’m having false labor contractions I deal with it on my own, rather than having my mother or sister there to reassure me that I’m ok it’s just my body getting ready for what’s to come. I end up having to wait to call them either first thing in the morning or late at night when we’re about ready to go to bed. Which, I still get the same encouragement from them, but it is strained and different because there is only so much one can really do over the phone rather than in person. I try to rely on Jason as much as I can, but at the same time he is being bogged down at work and comes home sometimes not until 8 o’clock and is practically dead on his feet. So I feel bad during the week asking him if he can help me do things like wash the dishes or just the general house cleaning chores. He does it, but the majority of the cleaning gets saved for the weekends.

I guess that’s it for now… Baby Jones Watch 2011 has officially begun!!!

Monday, June 6, 2011

Wake up call!

Update: So the baby showers went great. Baby Richard got completely spoiled :p I am so very grateful for everyone who is celebrating with us our little miracle baby!!

I was talking with my friend Siggie and I explained how the one OB Dr. I saw told me I’d probably never be able to have children on my own and she laughed and said “Your body probably said ‘oh yea watch this’ just to prove him wrong.” Definitely sounds like something I’d do.


The temperature here is getting very humid and hot. Like right now we are supposed to be experiencing a high of 78 degrees... however the temperature outside is 84 degrees with a 75% humidity. If I don’t drink enough water I get very very uncomfortable. And if I don’t drink enough water I start having bad contractions. This brings me to the “wakeup call” we recently had.

Last Wednesday I had been having Braxton Hicks contractions on and off all day, anywhere from an hour to 30 minutes apart. Then it got to the end of the day where I was feeling a little weird but I was taking the kids out to the “bus stop” to be picked up then I’d be able to go home soon. I ended up taking one little girl to a bench to sit and wait for her mommy because her mom was late. I started having a contraction that just seemed to get worse. Richard had been laying side-ways and all of the sudden he moved… into the perfect position for being born. I literally felt him “click” once he got settled like he was locked and loaded for take-off. Then the extremely painful contractions started, they went to 10 minutes apart, and I called Jason when they were 7 minutes apart. I told him “I need you to come here and get me, I’m having contractions at least 7 to 8 minutes apart and they really hurt and I know I need to go to Labor and delivery.” And like any “new” daddy he rushed as fast as he could down the island to come get me. He had me call the people in L&D and explain to them what was going on, by the time I got them on the phone I was having contractions 5 minutes apart. We went in with in the next 15 minutes of me getting off the phone with them and they already had a room ready and waiting for me. The first nurse who started working with me was awesome, and as it turned out also happened to be the OB educator so she sat there and answered all our questions and gave us a crash course of what is going to happen the next time I come in. Which as it turned out I was in labor, I had some contractions that were 3 minutes apart, and Jason said he remembered were reading at a 60 on the contraction counter. They hooked me up to an IV which hurts like all get out, (I’m not looking forward to doing that again) and got some fluids in me, and that managed to stop my labor. During the sonogram the Dr. said that the baby was measuring that he was 5 and a half pounds, which is very large for a then 32 week fetus. I noticed his head looks rather big (like his father’s poor thing :p)But again the Dr. while she seemed very overwhelmed was nice enough to answer our questions and let us know what was going on. According to the test they ran there was a 98% I would NOT be giving birth in the next two weeks, and I heard her say that she gave me four weeks before I was back. Her parting words were “Because of the size of your baby we’re going to have to keep a good eye on you guys from now on to make sure everything is ok.”


I go see a new OB Dr. on Thursday, because the other Dr. I was seeing is PCSing soon and said that it would probably be a good idea if I saw one of the other doctors because he wasn’t planning on taking on very many appointments during the month of June so that he could get ready to leave… Plus there was also a conflict of personalities between us, where I felt I wasn’t being “listened to” very well and that he rushed us throughout appointments rather than showing concern over something other than my weight gain.


So like I said our eyes have been opened, time is getting short. And soon very soon we will officially be a family of three… For the most part the nursery is ready, the pack ‘n’ play has the bassinet in it and is now in the bedroom with us. My bag is for the most part ready to go, and Richard’s diaper bag is packed. I just have to make a list of things for Jason to come back and get once everything is all over and he’s able to get away to get himself cleaned up and changed, and let people know that Baby Richard has been born. I have two more weeks of work, please pray with me that I make it through with no further problems!!!