36 Weeks: And the verdict is…..

Baby Brayden will be here Thursday!

For those of you who like things short and sweet... stop reading here... this is a LONG post!

Since the last post:

• My blood pressure has continued to rise.
• The protein levels in my urine have continued to rise.
• I have had the following: continued bedrest, 3 doctor’s appointments, an overnight stay in L&D, an ultrasound, a non-stress test, a Biophysical Profile screen, a GBS test, continuous monitoring, fetal movement monitoring, contraction monitoring, blood screens, and so much more….
• At one point while I was in the hospital, I was having very strong (non-productive) contractions every 1 to 1½ minutes. The doctor put me on Procardia XL, which is actually another blood pressure medicine, to get the contractions to chill out a bit. It worked!! The contractions are still strong, but they have spaced out to 1 every 15 minutes or so!!

Doctor’s Report:

• Well, I get to stay at home… still on strict bedrest and monitoring, until Brayden is born.
• Brayden is measuring 4 weeks ahead (that would put him at 40 weeks). His head is measuring at 41 weeks 5 days. He has dropped some, which is REALLY making me waddle AND making me take potty trips constantly (I guess strict bedrest is kind of compromised in that sense).
• Because of my blood pressure, rising protein levels, being less than full term, and Brayden’s massive head circumference, I will be having a C-Section on Thursday, 2/23/12. At this point, it will be safer for both him and me for Brayden to join the world.

 Pregnancy Update:

1. How far along: 36 weeks 0 days
2. Total weight gain: 18 lbs
3. Fundal height: 39 cm
4. Baby’s heart rate: 160s bpm
5. Baby bump: You bet! It moves all by itself… kind of like an alien movie…
6. Movement: Yep! Not as much though… he’s super cramped in there! The nurses have used a buzzer on him a couple times during monitoring to get him moving… apparently he can hear quite clearly and gets the hiccups when startled! It’s funny (minus the rhythmic headbuts against my pelvis with each hiccup)!
7. Cravings: Milkshakes, milk, juice, water, French dip sandwiches, Eggs Benedict… that’s all I can think of right now
8. Aversions: Onions, chicken, peppers
9. Symptoms: Generally uncomfortable, in virtually every way…
10. Sleep: O geez! I would love to get a good night’s sleep! I can’t get comfortable, so I change positions, which causes contractions, which make me need to pee, I waddle back to bed, finally get remotely comfortable and my foot/leg/arm/back/head/neck (fill in the blank) starts to hurt or falls asleep, I change positions, and the whole thing starts over!
11. Gender: He is still a boy. I checked again, today during the ultrasound… there is no question about it!
12. Belly button: By some strange coincidence it is still in. I can’t see it without a mirror and it is stretched beyond what seems humanly possible, but it’s still sticking in!
13. What I miss: Playing with Landen, I mean REALLY playing with Landen. Being able to sit with my legs together. Independence. Being able to get in and out of my own car.
14. What I’m looking forward to: Meeting Brayden. Getting off bedrest.
15. Concerns: (I am really striving to focus on Matthew 6:25-34, but I am struggling with turning these over to God)
1. I am so concerned about being a mom of two!! I don’t know if I am ready for this! I can’t imagine loving another child as much as I love Landen (I realize that other mom’s think this too, but it has been keeping me up).
2. I’m super concerned about Landen adjusting to having another baby in the house. He’s not old enough to understand any of this, or even to know what a brother actually is… I DEFINITELY don’t want him to ever feel like he’s being replaced or neglected. I was up crying about this last night… for quite a while!
3. I am really concerned about Keith. He has SO much on his plate anyway, and now having another baby with sleepless nights, as he goes through PT School.
4. I’m a little concerned about Gus (our cat). He and I have been bonding lately, with me being in the bed all the time, and he is VERY much my cat. Landen loves Gus, but Gus is quite the skiddish little buggar and gets a little freaked out when a toddler starts chasing him. When Landen was born, Gus had a bit of a nervous breakdown and his hair fell out in places and he lost weight. I realize he is a cat, of all things, and I should NOT be worried about him adjusting, but I am. It may be more hormonally based than anything else, or maybe I’m just blaming the hormones, but Gus is my little buddy… my buddy that keeps getting bumped down the line of importance.
5. I am extremely concerned that Brayden, being a month early, will end up in the NICU.
6. Finally, out of sheer selfishness, I am extremely concerned about the actual surgery and recovery! I realize that I have been through a c-section before, but it scares the mess out of me! I mean, really, who wants to get cut from one hip to the other!?!
16. Blessings:
1. Keith was able to take his PT practical today (it was scheduled for Thursday).
2. I have been able to remain at home rather than being hospitalized (for the most part).
3. Brayden seems to be on target developmentally.
4. I have an amazing job with amazing co-workers.
5. Our families have been super supportive and helpful.
6. God’s Promises: 

Matthew 6:25-34 25 “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? 26 Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? 27 Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?
   28 “And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. 29 Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. 30 If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith? 31 So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32 For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. 33 But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. 34 Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.