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I haven't posted in quite a few weeks because we have been VERY busy at our house lately. As you all know, I was hoping to make it full term with this baby, but he seemed to have different ideas. Here's a brief recap of what happened:
May 2 - went to see my OB, everything fine, blood pressures were still borderline but non-stress test was great. Plan, return to OB on Thurs for another appointment. I went to work for the afternoon.
May 3 - spent the day hanging out with Jack, my sister and niece came over in the morning to help out for awhile, nothing exciting going on.
May 4 - Dustin's mom came over to help out, she watched Jack while I rested for the day, good blood pressure in the morning but it starting creeping up in the afternoon and I noticed the baby wasn't moving as much. We decided I should call the OB and see what to do. He wanted me to come in and be checked out at the hospital to see what was going on. So, I got Jack's diaper bag packed and headed out (of course, I didn't have a bag packed yet). Dustin was planning on meeting me at the hospital and then we'd decide what to do with Jack when we got there. I got hooked up to the monitors, had a high BP reading there, so I started laying on my left side and it went down. I started noticing the baby moving more frequently so that was a relief. While I was hooked up to the monitor, it was measuring contractions - turns out I was having regular contractions, 5 min apart and increasing in intensity. Dr. Kappelman came in and was glad my BP was down but was concerned about the contractions. He checked me, I was dilated a fingertip. He told us that he'd see what happens over the next couple hours and make a decision regarding the baby...he said that likely we'd be having him that night. Of course, I was very nervous, I was 35w 1d, we made it to May, it was just so frustrating to make it that far and have this start but I guess he really wanted to meet us all! Well, 2 hours later, contractions were closer together, Dr. Kappelman had spoken with one of the MFM doctors, and they said at this point it would be better if we had the baby, 35 weeks with my history is great...so on 5/4/11 at 9:43pm, Reid Harrison Albright was born. He weighed in at 6lb, 19.5in long. He came out screaming, which was a welcome sound. The NICU was on standby, they checked him out, decided he didn't need to go to the NICU and would do fine in the Continuing Care Nursery (CCN). I got to see him and give him kisses before he headed to CCN. It was scary to have another early baby but he seemed to be doing well.
Here are a couple early pictures of Reid -
We have been making every effort to get outside and enjoy the weather, when it isn't raining. Last Saturday, I got lots of rest during the early afternoon while Jack napped and Dustin mowed the lawn. Thankfully, Jack woke up from his wonderful nap and we went to the neighborhood playground to enjoy the rest of the warm afternoon with Aunt Marianne, Uncle Steve and Kate! Here are some fun pictures from our afternoon!
Wow, the month of April seems to have flown by!! I can't believe in a few short days it will be May. I've been looking forward to May ever since I found out I was pregnant but now that it's here...I can't believe it! Thankfully, I'm still pregnant, hoping for 3 more weeks, that'll be 37 weeks...full term. Things are going well so far, I've had a couple non-stress tests, that all looks good. My blood pressure is staying within a good range and I'm still working!
We are still not finished with the baby's room...it'll get done, hopefully soon but we'll see. We have a couple things to still buy, plan is to do that this weekend...we have a little painting and organizing left to do. I haven't even washed the new clothes I bought!! I'm definitely running behind on all this...it's crazy because I know it'll be here before i know it!
I hope everyone had an enjoyable April...still can't believe it flew by...my birthday, a night in the hospital, and Easter...all done and we look forward to May and meeting this new baby in a minimum of 3 weeks!!
We started off planning on having a nice relaxing weekend here at home. Spending time with family and trying to work on the baby's room. Unfortunately, none of that happened...Saturday morning, I had some high blood pressure readings, the bottom number was into the 90s consistently. We weren't sure what was going on, so I called my OB and he wanted me to come to the hospital for observation. So, we got a bag together and called the grandparents to see if they'd watch Jack. I went straight to high risk(familiar territory) and they got me settled into a room. I was hooked up to the fetal monitor and started on a 24 hour urine test. The first blood pressure reading they took was within normal range - go figure! Turns out though, I was even having some small contractions...strange, didn't even know it. The plan was to monitor me for 24 hours to rule out preecclampsia, we can't be too cautious with my history. Thankfully, my blood pressure was normal the entire time, I had bathroom priveledges, so I was at least allowed to get up out of bed for that. I had a few more contractions over the course of the 24 hours, thankfully they weren't strong enough to cause dilation but I definitely figured out when I had at least one and my nurse confirmed it. It was interesting and at least now I know what a contraction is.
Once my 24 hour urine test was complete, I was allowed to head home. I spent most of Sunday afternoon relaxing at home and was very happy to see my little boy again!! He had an enjoyable time with Grandma and Grandpa Albright. I went to see my OB on Monday morning, my 24 hr test came back fine, I lost 2lbs from last Friday's appointment (so I'm not retaining extra fluid), and my BP monitor actually runs high compared to the numbers they got by using the normal method of checking BP.
The plan for the next 4 weeks, work my 2 afternoons a week oupatient(through the first week in May), work my at home job as much as I can, see the OB 2x/week, relax as much as possible, be thankful that Jack's grandmas are willing to come help out which allows me to be off my feet and get them up. If we can get through the next 4 weeks without anything major going on, then we have hit 37 weeks and this little man can come at any time!
Jack update - overall he's doing great. He started school/day care on Monday, did very well but was completely exhausted that night! He's only going to be going 2 days/week, so hopefully he enjoys his 2 days there. He ate all his lunch and took a short nap on the cot...it's going to take some getting used to for him! We took him to see the GI nurse practitioner yesterday, he was up to 30.25 inches and 20.02 pounds. They said we could start trying to wean him off his prilosec now. The only thing they could find was that he is still a little underweight but following his own curve still and gaining 11 grams/day which is the high end for his age! He's in the 10-15% mark for his height (unadjusted age) and still under the 3% mark but closing in on it. We follow up in 6 months and if he's off his prilosec and doing well at that point then they will be done with him!! I hoping for another good visit when we go see the NICU follow-up doctor next week. We unfortunately did find out that he has an ear infection, so we are on some antibiotics to get that cleared up soon! Jack got his first bloody nose last night, poor guy tripped over his jeans and fell face first on the floor...it was all over his shirt. He was a mess!
Baby #2 update: 31 weeks, 1 day and still pregnant! Things are going well, seeing the OB twice a week now, mainly precautionary, to make sure if something starts then we catch it early. Minimal swelling in my ankles so far and it goes away at night or when I get my feet up! I'm still working 2 afternoons a week and hoping to keep that up for as long as possible. Our goal is to make it 6 more weeks at minimum...I am positive we will get that far and maybe even longer!! We are working on trying to get his room finished...a few more things to buy (mattress mainly) and some finishing touches on decorating (painting the nightstand, chair rail, lamps, valance, etc) and we'll be done! I'll get some pictures once it's completed.
We have officially made it 4 weeks past when Jack was born and still going strong. I did have a blood pressure spike on Monday morning, went up to the 140s/90s, called my OB, went in to see him, and it was thankfully back down to normal by the time I saw him. He said it was likely a spike and there is no specific reason as to why it did that but the important thing is that it went back down and I'm not having any other signs of preecclampsia right now. I'm still keeping a close eye on everything and likely will be seeing the OB more frequently now. I'm not going to complain, if it keeps me pregnant for another 7-8 weeks then that's great!
We were lucky enough to have another ultrasound completed yesterday due to my history of preecclampsia and because Jack was small for his gestational age when he was born. Everything looks perfect with the baby! He's still a boy and he's a big boy right now!! He's measuring about a week big, at 31weeks 2 days, weighing in at around 3lb 13oz at this point. We were very happy to know things are growing as appropriately and there are no concerns regarding small size!! Here are a couple of pictures from the ultrasound, he looks like he has some chubby little cheeks already!!
Unfortunately they aren't the best pictures, since I took a picture of the picture they gave us. We got a nice profile shot, then you can see his chubby cheeks, and lastly, he was grabbing his toes!
I realized I hadn't posted much of anything in awhile...mainly because there hasn't been much going on around here. Jack's doing well, finished up with Occupational Therapy, he's age appropriate now! We are very proud of him! He's been eating pretty well, one molar has popped thorugh, he's getting his incisors, so hopefully once all those come in, it'll be much easier on him. We are still working on the straw cup with him, yesterday he took all his Pediasure from it!! He did awesome! The only thing that's been driving us crazy with him is that he isn't gaining much weight, though he isn't losing any. He does seem to be getting taller and he's feet are growing, so we aren't sure what the deal is. We will be meeting with a nutrionist at some point to make sure he's getting the most out of his calories.
I'm doing well, as of Tuesday I will have completed 28 weeks of this pregnancy! So far, things are going great. Blood pressure is good, no swelling yet either. I've only gained a total of 16 lbs the entire time! It's been wonderful. I look like I'm smuggling a basketball under my shirt! I keep looking towards May, preferably the end of the month! I had to take the 4 hour glucose tolerance test last week and thankfully the results came back with no indication of gestational diabetes!
Overall, so far, March has been pretty calm and I'm just continuing to work and plan on doing that as long as I am able!
