contractions & morning sickness

I feel like I'm either on the home stretch or getting really close. In 3 1/2 wks I will officially be full term....but who's counting? It's hard not to count when I get contractions all the time. Most the time they're braxton hicks-like contractions, but sometimes I notice back pain/mild cramping with them & that makes me really nervous. Especially since I get them really frequently at least one or more times each week (like every five minutes). I thought it was a Saturday thing for this little baby, but this week it's been occurring more consistently. Am I dehydrated you might ask? Since that is the #1 cause of preterm labor. No I am not. I have been very mindful of my water intake since my first scare with contractions every 5 min, and I still seem to get these. Even tonight I went to a breastfeeding class & I looked at the clock every time I got a contractions & they were consistently every 10-12 minutes. What's the deal?

People say that the 2nd trimester is the honeymoon of the pregnancy & that you see a return of different symptoms in the 3rd trimester. So far I have found that to be true. Although, I can't say my 2nd trimester felt like a honeymoon since I have never had complete relief of my nausea & vomiting... or even heartburn for that matter. I had to keep myself from eating chips & salsa, spaghetti or anything with red sauce, nacho cheese dorrito chips, etc. to avoid how awful I would feel afterward with the heartburn (and that was even after eating some tums). Well it has gotten worse in the 3rd trimester. I was so excited to make it to the grocery store the other week & finally get my starburst I had been craving... just to find that it gave me terrible heartburn? That really surprised me. Who knew starburst could give you heartburn. In my 2nd tri the nausea & vomiting was less frequent, once a week at the most. That seems to be speeding up now :( And I'm wondering if zofran even works for me anymore. Not that it every worked amazing, but it's not preventing me from feeling nauseous or even throwing up. I've been feeling really crummy lately & haven't had a great appetite due to that but for some reason I am always in the mood for a bean burrito from taco bell come dinner time.

I'm noticing that it's hard to put socks & shoes on. Most the time I wear flip flops or my danskos that just slip on. The other week Morgan wanted to go for a run, so I rode the bike while he ran. In getting ready, Morgan actually put my shoes on for me - it's hard to reach that far down. Now I try to imagine if I was as big as a typical 8 month pregnant woman... I don't think I'd even be able to put my socks on...

Baby girl gets hiccups A LOT. Today she had the hiccups 3-4 different times. Morgan doesn't like it when she gets the hiccups & always tells me to jump up & down or do jumping jacks. Sometimes I wonder if I should be doing anything when she gets them...

Cravings/foods that I love... I already mentioned my bean burritos from taco bell, medium cheddar cheese, string cheese, cookies & cream ice cream, and I would almost say starburst except now I don't like them because of the heartburn.

31 1/2 wks...keep on cooking baby!

I had my first scare this last weekend while working. I'm use to getting braxton hicks contractions & sometimes more frequently than others. But Saturday took it to a whole new level for me. It wasn't just the contractions, but that it hurt - cramping & back pain. I told my preceptor & she told me to sit down & drink water. I started timing the contractions... they were every 5 minutes. After 30 min I called the birth center to talk with a midwife. She suggested I go home, lay down, drink a ton of water, continue to time the contractions & she would call back in an hour. So I left work early, but the contractions only slowed down initially. I wasn't having the pain I was having before & that seemed to be the only change right away. The next hour they were back up to every 5 minutes, but still no pain. Took a bath & then went to bed. That's the end of the scary story. I was already thinking she would come early with all the braxton hicks I've been having from early on & my mom always had her babies 3 wks early.... but 3 wks early would be the earliest I want her coming. Hoping she doesn't come sooner than that. Just keep cooking sweet little baby :)

my little girl

Why hello little baby :) Wake up! Alright there you have it. I have the sleepiest baby around. I ate some fruit snacks in hopes she would be awake for this ultrasound... but even though she was moving around a bit & kicking, she would not open her eyes. She is head down and positioned like a sandwich - yes her legs are also up by her head. She was just curled up & hanging out on one side of my uterus. Doesn't she know she has a little more room to spread out? The woman doing the ultrasound pointed out her face & her chubby cheeks. And what a cute little face she has! She also has her hand curled up right next to her face. Now I know that her bum is what I keep feeling high up by my ribs. She's measuring 2 lb 14 oz and her little heart is pumping good.

29.5 wks

August in a whirlwind

This month was busy busy. It started off with Morgan's parents visiting us, finding out we had to move, moving, and ended with my family of 8 visiting us.

We had a great time with Morgan's parents. We went on an airboat ride and saw some really cool gators & birds, went to the beach, shopping, etc. Morgan & his stepdad, Dan, went down to the keys to go fishing one day and had a blast. We ate some great food & had a great time swimming in our pool that was finally operable (1st pic on top). We miss it!

We had to move from our current secluded 3 acre property because it sold. We were sad to move from our cute little guest house & leave our Pembroke Pines ward that we love so much. I miss my amazing young women!

We moved into a guest house over by Las Olas and by my hospital. We now get cell phone service in our house = no more missing calls!!! woohooo! That is a plus for sure :)

My family came to visit us & to attend my graduation from Nova Southeastern University. It was one crowded house, but it was a BLAST! We did a lot of beach, they went up to Orlando for a day, went to the everglades to see some gators and Kimball even got to ride a gator (alright the last part was a lie :). It was weird to have a full house & feel like I was home again, but here in Florida.

Update on Pregnancy: I am 29 wks & in my 3rd trimester! This baby is getting big and strong! Had a real strong craving last week for Taco Bell & my plain old bean burrito was DELICIOUS :) The newest thing is that when little baby kicks in one corner - I will feel it in the opposite corner too. That's how I know she's getting so big! She loves hanging out in the top right part of the uterus - can't tell if it's her head or bum, but it makes it really uncomfortable to sit sometimes because she positions herself right there under my rib...

According to BabyCenter, she is 2 1/2 lbs & a little over 15 inches long. I had a scare this last week when I was getting contractions about 15 minutes apart...yikes! However, no pain or cramping, and baby was still moving so the midwife said it was ok. Now I am back to normal where I still get lots of braxton hicks, but not so regular & frequent. At my 28 wk appointment, my midwife measured my fundal height at 25 inches (it should be 28 or at least within 2 cm of that), so I'm having an ultrasound this Wednesday to make sure she's measuring ok.

26 1/2 wks & on the move

Literally on the move in more than one way. We have been living over by Weston for the past year & have loved our cute little guest house on a 3 acre property. Well we recently had to move & moved to Ft Lauderdale right by my hospital. Very nice commute I must say :) but we were sad to leave our great ward & home. However, I am very happy to have 2 bedrooms - which gives us a baby room :D extra big smiley face for that one. I'm excited! Don't worry as I decorate I will post pics!

Preggo update. I am 26 1/2 wks and have been getting noticeable braxton hicks contractions for about 2 wks now. Weird. Every once in a while I notice my stomach feels tight & it feels really hard. Alright so there's my first taste of what a contraction is. My uterus is getting nice & strong in preparation for when it really counts. Little Miss Baby Ball is always on the move too. She's also getting very strong as I'm noticing when I see my stomach move when she does her kicks & punches & flip-turns. I'm still getting nauseous every once in a while & have trouble with certain foods and smells but life is good because I can still function.

Raccoons

He feeds them milk using a dropper.

Anyone that knows Morgan, knows that he loves animals. Well the past week we have had 2 new pets - 2 little raccoons. About a week ago, we were walking down our driveway to take out the trash when we saw two little raccoons on the grass. Morgan, squats down & puts his hand out to try to get them to come to him. And they did, and then they started doing that awful hiss noise raccoons always do. So right away, Morgan decides "We're gonna catch these raccoons." And he did. He caught just one that night. We came to find out that the raccoon had a broken arm & a wound on that same arm. Morgan has been feeding the raccoon, as well as, putting neosporin on the raccoon's arm. A couple of nights ago, he found the other raccoon out by the pool & caught it. So now we have 2 little raccoon pets that Morgan is determined to keep... Hmmm.... He feeds the raccoons, takes them outside to play, takes them to swim in the pool, and even has given them baths.

IT'S A GIRL!!!

This one shows baby's blood flow.

This is the perfect picture that shows our little baby curled up in a ball, sitting with her legs crossed. She liked this perfect little nook in my uterus & we almost didn't get to find out the gender...

Her heart rate today was 152.

And what a little naughty girl she is :) Like I said, we almost didn't get to find out the gender. The woman doing the ultrasound showed us how she was all balled up (she's already taking on the family name) and sitting with her legs crossed in a little nook right next to my bladder. It was fun to hear the heartbeat and see her pretty little face, but once she told us she didn't know if we could figure out the gender, we got really worried. I tried a couple of things to start, changing positions and turning on my side...nothing. Baby was very comfortable where she was and she was sleeping. So then I got up and did some jumping jacks, jumped around a bit & pushed on my tummy a little. When I laid down again, baby had moved and her legs were uncrossed. I'm looking at the screen but don't really know what I'm looking at, and then the woman says, "It's a girl." Of course Morgan says, "Yeah, we already knew it was a girl." And I clarify by saying he's been saying the baby is a girl ever since we knew we were pregnant. Good thing she looked for the gender right away because within minutes, our little girl had already moved back into her comfortable little nook, balled up with her legs crossed again....

FYI: she is head up, but that's alright because we've got time for her to move around more & decide to be head down later. The placenta is located at the fundus (top of the uterus) & we want it to stay there :) looking good little baby girl!