"Share" is not in baby's vocabulary

Seems that babyhill is taking after hilltot in the "sharing" category. See, while I'm growing a baby, I share all of my nutrients (and energy) with the baby. In fact, the baby takes everything first, and I get whatever is left over. It's nature's way of making sure the baby is taken care of, with the assumption that if I need more nutrients for myself I will find a way to get them.

The problem is that I started off with a deficiency in certain things, especially red blood cells and iron. Now that babyhill is proving to be at least a gazillion times the size of hilltot, he/she is taking more iron than I have to give. I've been taking iron supplements throughout the pregnancy but my body still can't keep up. My anemia is becoming more and more symptomatic, which includes heart palpitations, shortness of breath, and faintness in addition to the regular fatigue. Since it would take 2-3 months for any additional iron supplementation to take effect, there's not really anything we can do about it now.

I ended up in the ER on Friday because of shortness of breath and faintness. We didn't need to check babyhill -- luckily the baby handles all of this quite well -- but Dr. H wanted them to check my heart and lungs and to make sure I didn't have a blood clot. I got an EKG and chest x-ray along with a barrage of blood tests, and I'm glad that they were so thorough and everything checked out. Now at least we know my heart and lungs are OK when I'm feeling like this! And I guess this is pretty much how it's going to be until babyhill makes his/her debut.

I can handle another 4-6 weeks of this though. Hear that, babyhill? I don't mind -- you stay nice and comfy in there and I'll manage things out here. Deal?

Belly pic: 33 weeks

OK, back to my amateur belly pictures. How is it my belly looks so small and dainty in the pictures Judith took, yet so large and out of control in the pictures I take? I think part of the problem is that I'm comparing them to 2007...and I get more and more alarmed every week. What is going on?? Isn't this the baby that is in danger of IUGR (intrauterine growth restriction, i.e. being too small)? And wasn't hilltot the baby in danger of being too large due to gestational diabetes??

So we've made it to 33 weeks! Only one more week until we hit the "safety zone" -- babies born between 34 and 37 weeks have a high chance of being born healthy. Of course I would prefer to make it all the way to 37 (or even 38, if I dare dream) weeks so that we have a full-term baby, but Dr. H told me that if labor starts after 34 weeks, they won't do anything to stop it. Especially now that we know what happens when I take terbutaline. Not only am I one of the small percentage of people who react badly to Nifedipine (which we discovered when I was having preterm contractions with hilltot), but I'm also one of the even smaller percentage of people who react badly to terbutaline. There aren't many more options for stopping preterm labor, so our best chance is to just make it until at least 34 (or 38...c'mon baby!) weeks on our own.

The baby hasn't dropped yet, although I honestly don't know where it would drop. My belly already rests on my lap when I sit down. I've heard that second babies often don't drop until labor starts, and I'll be happy if that's true for me. I remember feeling like I was trying to keep a bowling ball from falling out when hilltot dropped!

I'm thrilled that babyhill has flipped around to be head down, and now I'm just hoping for him/her to turn a bit to be anterior-facing. Right now, baby is facing my right side, which is better than posterior-facing (like hilltot was) but still not ideal. I feel kicks and punches and twitches and hiccups all over my belly though, so I have no idea if the baby has turned or not.

Things are going well other than the whole preterm contraction stuff. I had a glorious prenatal massage on Wednesday (thank you Chris and hilltot, for my Mother's Day present!) and the massage therapist was careful to stay at least three zipcodes away from any pressure points that might cause contractions. I have a lot of back pain so I spend a fair amount of my evenings in either child's pose or cat-cow pose. I generally wake up around 1 AM with painful heartburn and spend 30 minutes or so trying not to throw up, and then I wake up again around 3:30 or 4 AM to go to the bathroom (again). Pretty standard pregnancy stuff. I have contractions whenever I stand or walk for too long, but so far they are irregular and not too painful so I haven't started tracking them.

Otherwise, I'm just counting down the days and hoping to make it to full-term! I'm also thinking that it might be time to start getting things prepared for babyhill's arrival. Maybe buy some diapers, wash some of the newborn clothes, set up the co-sleeper...

Meanwhile, here's my aggressively growing belly:

Official -- and gorgeous -- belly pic preview!

I love love LOVE these pictures! Even though they are of me and therefore that makes me a bit narcissistic. But really, they are of my belly and therefore of babyhill, and I especially like the ones with hilltot and Chris (well, his hands) in them.

As I mentioned earlier, I had my official belly pictures taken last weekend by the fabulous Judith (of Fernstrom Photography). She just posted a few of the shots to her blog and I can't wait to see them all! Although I already know I want the one of hilltot snuggling with my belly blown up to wall size and perhaps painted on the side of the house. I'm also thrilled that there's at least one "zen" shot -- I don't remember pausing long enough between chatting and laughing to look so maternal.

And so, without further ado, here are the preview images:
http://fernstromphotography.typepad.com/my_weblog/2009/06/beauty-and-the-belly.html

Not again...

So today was a surprisingly eventful day in babyhill land! The original plan was to have my regular 15 minute OB check-up, followed by a 30 minute NST (non-stress test) which would show that the baby's heart is great and my uterus is nice and relaxed. I suspected things would be a bit off when I woke up feeling like I had just swigged a bottle of wine and was trying desperately to keep my balance in a wildly spinning room (note: I felt like that while I was still lying down in bed). I ate some food, drank a ton of water, and checked my blood sugar. My blood sugar was normal, and nothing stopped the room from spinning. I was glad that I already had a doctor appointment scheduled.

My appointment was uneventful (blood pressure and pulse were normal, even though I still felt dizzy) and Dr. H said she thought my dizziness might be from my chronic anemia getting worse as the pregnancy continues. Even though I'm already taking double the regular dosage of iron supplements every day, I might have reached a new threshold and have started feeling symptomatic anyway.

So off I went to the NST room to be monitored. There was another woman in there who is 41 weeks pregnant and doing everything she can to get labor started naturally. The way the room was set up, we could see each other's charts but not our own, so we kept each other up-to-date. Turns out we both developed chart envy. Hers was nice and stable with a couple light contractions that built to their peaks slowly and evenly (showing no sign of impending labor). Mine was full of huge spiky contractions. We asked the nurse if we could trade charts, but no go.

I ended up getting a shot of terbutaline, a beta-adrenergic agonist bronchodilator. Basically, it relaxes smooth muscles (such as the uterus) and is used to stop preterm contractions. After the shot, they monitored me for another 30 minutes and the contractions had stopped. So far, so good! But Dr. H wanted me to have a quick ultrasound to check the baby's position, blood flow, and now my cervical length (because of the contractions). I had a bit of time before the ultrasound, so I went to the front desk to schedule my next few appointments.

As I was standing at the front desk, I suddenly felt super dizzy and nauseous and broke out into a sweat. I interrupted the receptionist and said, "I'm sorry, I need to sit down" and as I backed toward a bench, apparently I turned a lovely shade of gray. A nurse happened to be passing behind me and the receptionist yelled for her as I fell. The nurse guided me down on the bench and called for help, and soon I was being wheeled back to Dr. H's office. I rested there for awhile as they monitored my heart rate and blood pressure and gave me some crackers and juice. Eventually I felt a bit better and they wheeled me to the lab for my ultrasound.

The ultrasound was fine. The baby looks great (and is very busy), my cervix is still over 3cm, and everything looks just as it should. Even better, the baby has turned to be head down! No more breech!

I headed back to Dr. H's office for a last check-in, and she verified that things look great on the ultrasound. The dizziness and fainting are concerning, but don't seem to affect the baby at all. Now my job is to "take it easy", eat well, stay hydrated, and call Dr. H with any signs of dizziness, fainting, or contractions.

So after a relatively uneventful pregnancy, looks like we're back in preterm labor land. I'm hoping this was an isolated event and the terb will do its magic to stop things until I'm full-term (5 more weeks). However, I'm a bit worried about the instruction to "take it easy". Hilltot is not a "take it easy" kind of guy, and the last thing I want or need is to end up on bed rest.

Oh, another lesson learned: take Chris' car to the rest of my appointments. Thinking I'd only be gone for 45 minutes, I took my car -- the one with the car seat, the stroller, AND the Ergo carrier. 4 hours later, Chris was trying to figure out how to get to the hospital with hilltot. He ended up putting him in the BOB stroller and started walking. Luckily I didn't get admitted to the hospital, so I was able to leave and pick up my boys as they trekked across the city.

The silver lining of this entire day? I got a surprise ultrasound! Here's babyhill at 32 weeks! This is the best profile shot we were able to get -- babyhill was quite annoyed with being bothered all day and kept turning or placing a hand in the way of the image. To be honest baby, I don't blame you.

Belly pic: 32 weeks

I'm 8 months pregnant today! Which means, if babyhill decides to stick it out, I have 2 more months before we get to meet the little one! Of course if babyhill is anything like hilltot, we'll be introducing ourselves in a little over 4 weeks.

I have reached the point of pregnancy when people look at me with pity once they hear I have another 2 months to go. Yesterday, one woman said, "Really? Wow. You look like you're ready to pop right now. You poor thing." No kidding. And this morning, Chris commented (in a very loving and supportive way, of course), "Honey, you are HUGE." Still, even though I'm feeling huge and whale-like, I know that I'm not that big compared to many other pregnant women. In fact, I feel a bit inadequate when I'm around women who look like they are "really" pregnant (making me look "kinda" pregnant).

I've been trying to figure out if babyhill has turned head down by tracking the kicks and punches. Unfortunately, my ability to accurately pinpoint the origin of movement leads me to believe that I'm growing an octopus in there. I feel and see movement all over my belly -- up on top, down below, on both sides. And I can't feel anything that might be a head or a bottom. I have an appointment on Monday, so maybe Dr. H will be able to tell me.

Tomorrow I have my maternity photographs with Judith and I'm really looking forward to it! I just hope I don't have all kinds of stretch marks or stuff that I wasn't aware of (I can't really see much beyond my belly button). I love her work and I'm sure she'll make me look great, even if we do have to use strategic placement of scarves or an uncooperative toddler in order to disguise any unpleasant side effects of expanding to more than twice my size in less than 6 months.

Anyway, here's the belly:

Busy busy bee

Lately I seem to have gotten another surge of energy. I don't feel the desperate need for daytime naps anymore and I'm finally starting to think about the things we need to do before babyhill arrives (like figure out where he/she will sleep, etc.). Of course, I haven't done anything about it yet, but I'm thinking about it.

What I have been doing is finally getting around to baby-proofing critical parts of the house. I know, it's a little late for hilltot and a little early for babyhill, but I'm doing it more as a precaution for when I am in the middle of nursing babyhill and hilltot suddenly decides to empty the knife drawer. See, our current form of baby-proofing is called "staying one step ahead of hilltot". He's pretty predictable, so I know what he's going to try to get and I can either distract him or block access to his dangerous objects of choice. That won't work as well once I have to take care of babyhill while hilltot is on the move.

I'm thinking this is probably a form of the nesting frenzy that happens before the baby is born. I remember having several rounds of this before hilltot was born, with the most intense happening in the days before I went into labor. I just hope that at least one or two rounds of my current nesting will result in me actually doing something that directly affects the baby (like set up the co-sleeper, get out and wash the newborn clothes, buy diapers, etc.). But I have to admit, it's much easier to think and worry about how the baby's arrival will affect hilltot -- he's the known quantity in the equation.

Is it just me?

Is no one else alarmed by how much BIGGER I am this time around?? Although I suppose I am the one who's going to give birth to this baby, so its size affects me a bit more than anyone else. But still! I'm HUGE!

Belly Pic: 31 weeks

I think this picture makes it pretty clear that babyhill is large and in charge this time around. At this point, hilltot was only in the 20th percentile for size. Babyhill is in the 80th. And at 29 weeks, babyhill was already measuring 32 weeks. Yet in spite of this impressive growth, I've gained exactly 0 lbs in my third trimester. But no worries -- I gained 16 lbs in my second trimester alone. So I'm doing just fine.

I'm also suffering some side effects that I never had with hilltot. I had some swelling of my feet and ankles in the evenings before (which changed to MASSIVE elephantine swelling after he was born), but this time my ankles and feet are already swollen by mid-morning. I also can't lie down on my back, or even sit down leaning back with my feet up (which is supposed to help the swelling) because it makes me lose my breath and get dizzy. And I have to take a break to catch my breath after walking up a single flight of stairs.

However, on the plus side, I have not been having preterm contractions (at least as far as I know), I haven't been restricted to modified bedrest, and I don't have diabetes. So even though I am bigger and more uncomfortable this time around, overall it's still an easier pregnancy.

If I could change one thing, I'd ask babyhill to flip around rather than riding transverse breech. The baby is still facing down (head, back and butt on top, arms and legs dangling below) so any kicks and punches are aimed directly at some very sensitive internal organs. Unlike hilltot's kicks, these kicks make me feel kind of queasy, like I'm riding a roller coaster. And I can't see them as well since they are deep inside my belly. Hilltot's kicks were clearly visible on the outside of my belly -- I could actually grab a foot every once in awhile. Which is kind of quease-inducing as well, but at least it was visible so I could share the experience with everyone around me! Now I just jump and say, "Ooh!" and no one really understands what's going on.

9 more weeks! We're down to the single digits now. I'm hoping for at least 7 more weeks (to make it to 38 weeks), and sometimes I think that I might actually go overdue this time. Babyhill seems awfully comfortable in there...

Belly Pic: 30 weeks

This picture's a bit late because I was in Boston last weekend for my MIT reunion (that's also why I'm wearing a green shirt instead of my customary blank tank top). The trip was a lot of fun and I didn't go into labor, which is a huge bonus! We spent most of the weekend walking around the city and I felt pretty comfortable, even though my feet and legs are now swollen like sausages. I was so happy to not have GD, because that meant I could eat whatever I wanted (lobster pasta, cannoli, fried noodles, Emack & Bolio's ice cream...yum!). However, I would not choose to fly a cross-country red-eye flight when 30 weeks pregnant again. I didn't have to use my doctor's note to get on the plane, but I did get lots of looks from people. I suppose it's not that common to see such a pregnant lady flying.

Oh yeah, I got a haircut too! I originally went in for a trim and ended up saying, "Could you just cut all the layers off?" That turned into more than 5" removed, and for the first time in 30 weeks I feel lighter.

Ultrasound

So far it's been a good week in babyhill news! First, no gestational diabetes (YAY!) and now a good ultrasound! The purpose of the ultrasound was to check the baby's growth, see if they can figure out why I'm measuring large for my date, and check my cervical length to make sure it's OK for me to travel to Boston at the end of the week. And everything looks good!

The baby is measuring 29 weeks 4 days (which is just one day ahead of actual gestational age), the amniotic fluid is normal, and my cervix is a nice long 43mm. Babyhill is still breech, but is more transverse now (head on my upper right side, bottom on my lower left) which is why I'm not carrying quite as high as I was at my last appointment (when baby was sitting straight up). We still have about 4 weeks for baby to turn around, so turn, baby, turn!

One of the main risks of SUA (the umbilical issue) is intrauterine growth restriction, which means the baby could have trouble getting enough nutrients and growing as he/she should. Well, turns out that doesn't seem to be an issue yet -- babyhill is in the 79th% for weight (3lb 10oz)! It's funny, because one of the main risks of gestational diabetes is that the baby grows too quickly, yet hilltot ended up being very small, always measuring around the 20th% for weight. Dr. H joked that my body seems to find ways to manage the growth of my babies (diabetes or SUA, as necessary).

Dr. H thinks that babyhill seems very comfortable and may decide to hang out in utero longer than hilltot did -- maybe even make it to my due date! That would be ironic, since my mom and Manfred are arriving three weeks early this time. But we don't have a lot of control, and Dr. H said that I can't be induced due to my previous c-section. So we'll just have to wait and see what babyhill has in mind (unless baby decides not to turn around and we end up having to schedule a c-section).

Dr. H also warned me that second labors tend to be faster (and hilltot was pretty fast -- I never had "early labor" with him) and because I'm attempting a VBAC, I need to be in a hospital when I go into labor. So no waiting around until we hit the transition stage of labor -- once contractions start, I need to head to a hospital pronto. I'm a little worried about how fast this might be. My mom had 30 hrs of labor with my brother and only 5 with me. If my second labor follows the same pattern as my mom's, we'll be lucky to make it to labor & delivery in time to catch babyhill!

Anyway, we'll cross that bridge when we come to it. In the meantime, here are the ultrasound pictures from today! You can see a little face, a profile, and a foot. So cute!