What we've been up to..

Studying (him) and taking care of the little one (mostly me). Not much time for blogging unfortunately but soon there will be more time... hopefully. :)

In no particular order

I am going to start posting things I am learning as I go about being a mom. They will be, as the title of this post says, in no particular order.

Last night it dawned on me, after a conversation with my husband, that motherhood is going to take much more planning than I originally thought. Actually I should say more than I ever conceived because I never really thought about it. I figured it was as simple as: 1) have baby 2)love baby (and feed, clothe, diaper, etc.) 3)put baby down for a nap 4) clean house while baby is sleeping and/or happily entertained by a hanging mobile/toy bar. Enter reality. This baby needs my (or someones) full and undivided attention most of the day and when she does nap chances are I am so tired from getting up in the middle of the night and attending to her that I probably need one too.

So lesson number one: plan your day and keep a fairly consistent routine (i.e. bedtime which has not been consistent for us... I will let you know how that goes...) Then if things get off track you at least had a plan so you can say "look how well my day was supposed to go!" :) But seriously, I hope by planning my day to be less frustrated at the end of it when I look back and go: "where did all that time go and oh my gosh I didnt get anything done." Which ties in nicely with my next post which will be about setting SMALLER goals.

Ponderings

Well, for only the second time in 6 weeks, we have our apartment to ourselves and I can't deny feeling a little relieved. As much as I love to have family visit, I do feel the need to take some time and reflect on life (and there is a lot to reflect on!) For starters being a mom is harder than I thought. I thought I was prepared for how demanding it would be, after all, I have been a nurse for almost 6 years and I am accustomed to taking care of other people. One thing I didn't take into account: at the end of the shift, whether it was 8 or 12 hours, I got to go home and unwind. I got to relax and try and process or forget about my day depending on how draining it was. Enter the crying baby: there is no end of the shift here. Still, you forget about how tired you are the moment she wakes up without crying and peers intently into your eyes, just like you forget how hard and long the labor was and how uncomfortable the pregnancy was the moment you get your hands on her after she is born. I still am struggling with anxiety and worry but I am trying to let go and let God take care of all of those things I have no control over but which terrify me. I pray for the ability to follow his will and relinquish my fear and worry. I really should be doing it more often though (praying). It is harder to make time for it when there is no routine but I really need to. Daily prayer throughout the last half of my pregnancy got me through every doctor appointment and even the day we were told, unexpectedly, that we had to go to the hospital to be induced. Hmm lots to ponder and process still. Hopefully I can make enough sense of things and get enough clarity to write about it more clearly in my next post.

She's here and a week old already!

Isabelle was born March 22nd at 2:24 AM after a very long labor. I was induced a month early for preeclampsia and we have been so blessed that she is doing very very well! It took me, on the other hand, a little more time to recover although hopefully I will start to regain some energy soon.

Update

Well we went in to the perinatal clinic yesterday and everything checked out ok so they said I can go ahead and ignore my frequent BH contractions. It was quite a relief. They did a fetal fibronectin test which they said, if it was negative, is a good indicator that you won't go into labor anytime in the next 1 to 2 weeks. It was negative so we were happy. The alternative would have been some very unpleasant drugs if I was actually in preterm labor, which may even have been somewhat dangerous for me to take, not to mention who knows what effect they would have on the baby. Anyway, thank you again for the prayers. We continue to be blessed throughout this pregnancy and we are so thankful.

If you read this...

Please say a prayer for us. I have been having a lot of contractions last night and this morning, up to 8 per hour. We are trying to decide whether to go in or not since they don't really follow a pattern and I am nervous since we are only just past the 33 week mark. For now I am in bed and trying to drink lots of fluids but if they don't calm down in an hour or so we may be heading to the doctor.

30 week update

Well we have about 10 weeks to go till my due date and I am feeling a bit unprepared. I am having a strong urge to nest but things have been so busy around here lately I haven't had time to get all the things done that I want to get done. There are drawers to empty out and organize (so they can be filled with baby clothes!), clothes to put into storage, clutter to be cleaned out, and lots of general cleaning to do. I am hoping to get more of it done this week and next week.
In other news we got another good report at the Dr.'s office today. The baby still looks healthy and got good results on her non stress test and biophysical profile. Also the tumor seems to have stabilized and doesn't seem to be growing a whole lot. We are so thankful that our prayers are being heard and we continue to pray for good results for the rest of the pregnancy and delivery.

28 week appointment

We got wonderful news today at the doctor's office. All of the baby's measurements are within normal range and the high pressure measurement from last time may have simply been an inaccurate reading due to the baby moving around so much. Anyway that means we go back in two weeks as usual for another checkup. The doctor even said that our baby's fetal monitor strip was one of the best ones she has seen for this gestational age.

27 week appointment and update

We had our ultrasound and appointment with the perinatologist yesterday and, although things are still looking normal, the doctor was a little concerned that the blood flow in the baby's brain was trending up at a faster rate than normal. This means we have to go back next week for another ultrasound and a biophysical profile. We are praying so hard that things will still be normal. When we asked what happens if the trend continues upward too quickly she mentioned betamethasone shots. That means premature delivery. :( She said if that happens we will hope to try and make it to at least 32 weeks and preferrably at least 34 weeks. It seems like such a long way away... Please pray that things will level out and the baby will continue to measure in normal limits.

Update

So as of last Wednesday, everything was looking fine with the baby and the growth on my placenta hadn't gotten significantly larger, which was very good news. We continue to pray for a safe and healthy pregnancy and birth for this little one without further complications. I passed the 26 week mark on Sunday and I can't wait until we get to the 28 week mark so I can breathe a little easier.
In other pregnancy related news, our childbirth classes are going well so far. We are taking Bradley Method childbirth classes and I really like it. They focus on preparing for birth the way you would prepare for a marathon or other such intensely physical event, which makes sense. Right now I am trying to focus mostly on increasing my activity level and on my diet, especially eating more protein and green vegetables. Things kind of went crazy over the holidays and I found myself eating a lot of sugary foods and the more I eat sugar the more I want sugar, a vicious cycle. So today I was checking my email and I saw an email with a link to this in my inbox. How cool is that? It's just what I needed to get back on track planning meals, which really helps in the healthy eating department. I find when I don't meal plan I just grab what ever is easiest/quickest and that doesn't translate into the most nutritious food most of the time.
Otherwise things have been good if a bit stressful. I have started knitting things for the baby and I sometimes wish I had a few extra pairs of hands so I could knit more than one thing at a time! I have finished another flannel diaper which came out much better than the last one, and I got a bunch of receiving blankets on sale for $4.98 for a 4-pack at Target. I have read that they make good flat fold diapers and the prints are so cute and girly. I think I am starting to lose some of the energy boost I got in the beginning of my second trimester. I am finding myself wishing for a nap in the afternoon at work lately. So that's the update, thank you to those of you who have said prayers for us and please continue to pray that we will have a healthy happy outcome with this pregnancy.