| April & May Entries |
| Thursday, April 4, 2002 - 26 weeks Ok, first entry for these months! Nothing major to report but wanted to share with everyone that the baby's crib has arrived! It's beautiful! It's a pine crib with an antique pine stain. We figured pine was a safe stain to choose since you can buy many things in pine. So it shouldn't be too hard to get things that match. We will take photos and put them up once we have them. We have also taken some belly shots but I won't know if I am putting them online or not until we get the film developed. I don't think there is a huge difference yet but there may be. It's hard for me to tell since I see it everyday. But hopefully they will turn out half way decent and they will be online soon. My stomach is getting larger and it seems to be "filling" in everywhere. Before long it should be nice and rounded which I am looking forward to. The baby's kicks and movements are becoming more pronounced and the kicking is getting to be a bit harder as well. That's about it and thought I would just pop in a real quick first entry. Trust that there will be more because our pre-natal classes start on the 12th and the midwife appointments will be going to every other week after the next one on the 16th. ***FYI: The baby's fingernails are now present and the eyes begin to open!*** |
| Friday, April 12, 2002 - 27 weeks We had pre-natal classes tonight. I can't say I was totally impressed with them but that could just be because of everyone being a first time parent and not knowing anyone in the class. Hopefully as the weeks go by it will be more interesting and exciting. This session mostly consisted of telling us things that Hugh and I already knew about but there were a few things that we hadn't red in any books. Many people in the class didn't know much and I'm not exactly sure if that is because they prefer not to know or just don't care. Out of 10 couples I think I was probably the youngest and also the one with the latest EDD (estimated due date). There were 3 other women who were under 30 weeks. ***FYI: The baby now weighs about 2 pounds (little under 1kg) and is about a foot long (30cm).*** |
| Tuesday, April 16, 2002 On Monday I had blood tests to check for gestational diabetes and iron levels and whatever else they check for. I know they check them 2 for sure. My appointment with the midwife today was canceled due to Jo having a woman in labor to tend to. We have rescheduled for Friday, April 19 and will know the results of the blood tests then. ***Photos have been added. Check main page.*** |
| Friday, April 19, 2002 - 28 weeks Our midwife appointment was again canceled today because Jo had 3 births that week and wasn't able to come to us. We weren't able to go to her either because Hugh had physio for his knee. We were able to reschedule again for Tuesday, April 23. I did however find out the results of my blood test which by the way didn't check for gestational diabetes. The result of my hemoglobin (iron) was 133 which is good and you should fall between the range of 100-150. Jo told me that many pregnant women fall closer to the lower end of the rant. So she isn't putting me on iron. She also checked my iron stores and said they were low but it probably just means that my body uses iron more efficiently than others. (Hemoglobin is the iron that is floating in your blood.) I asked about the gestational diabetes because I had just assumed that this would be checked for. She said she doesn't do the test unless she thinks it's necessary at which time I would have to go for a 2 hours long test. She said she will just monitor the baby's growth and every appointment I do a urine sample to check for glucose anyhow. Hopefully more on Tuesday. |
| Tuesday, April 23, 2002 - 29 weeks Ok, the midwife appointment was all go today! Yippee!! I had made a list of things that I wanted to know about. Nothing major but things I had thought about and wanted to ask. My fundal length was 33cm which is 10cm more than last time and she also told me that the baby has plenty of room to grow in there yet! I had been eating eggs in the morning to get some of my extra iron but recently they have been making me sick. So I asked Jo about this and she just said to stop eating them. I can't think of why they would make me sick and it would only make me feel sick about an hour after eating them. Who knows but I haven't been eating eggs at all. I also asked about some hip discomfort that I have throughout the night. She said there wasn't much to do since it was only happening at night and it's probably just my bones softening up. We also discussed vitamin K too and the baby movements. I was a bit concerned about baby movements cause there have been about 2 days where I wouldn't feel much activity at all if any. She said it isn't anything to be concerned about yet and they don't usually worry about movements until after 30 weeks cause the baby still does have plenty of room to move around yet. Our next appointment is on Tuesday, May 7. So from here on out until 36 weeks I'll be going every 2 weeks. Boy, oh boy, it's getting so close and before long Hugh and I will have this little person we created in our arms!!! |
| Friday, May 3, 2002 - 30 weeks Well today was a bit of a worrisome day. Starting on Thursday afternoon the baby's movements seemed to have dropped off. After about 30 weeks you are told to kinda pay attention to movements and if anything seems out of the ordinary then to get a hold of your caregiver. Well the baby was pretty active while Hugh was at home but then through the evening while he was at work I hadn't felt many baby movements. When Hugh got home I mentioned it to him but he just said the baby was probably lying differently than normal. So we both went to sleep. Today, Friday, I had a shower which usually gets the baby moving but nothing happened. So when I got out I told Hugh I was worried. So I laid on the bed and Hugh was feeling my stomach for movement. He was feeling some movement but I still wasn't feeling anything. After a while of trying this I eventually felt a couple of movements but nothing to clam my nerves so Hugh suggested I call the midwife and tell her what was going on. I called Jo and she pretty much said the same thing as Hugh did about the baby probably lying differently. However, if I still wasn't satisfied with the lack of movement on Saturday then to let her know and she would hook me up to a fetal heart monitor. Well we went off to our prenatal classes in the evening and when we got back Jo had left a message for us. I told her I hadn't felt anything since talking to her in the afternoon so she told me to have something sweet and lie down for 30 minutes and then to give her a ring if nothing happened after 30 minutes. Well nothing happened so we called her and it was of to Maternity Associates where she works. (This was all happening about 10:30 at night and we had already made on trip into the city for prenatal classes earlier.) We got there and she hooked me up to the monitor and let it run for a while. I had to push a button if I felt movements. She said the heartbeat was perfect and nothing to be concerned about. I had felt about 8 movements while there but the pressure from the belts could of been causing the baby to move. Anyway, I was relieved that everything was ok and nothing was wrong with the baby. |
| Tuesday, May 7, 2002 - 31 weeks ***First I want to start by saying that after going to have the baby's heartbeat monitored on Friday things still hadn't changed with me feeling movements. There was still a lack of them and I wasn't feeling them.*** Today was our midwife appointment. I told Jo that nothing had changed since Friday and I was still a bit concerned. So she suggested I go for a scan then to see if everything was alright with the baby. Luckily she got us in today (more on that in a minute). She asked how I was feeling and I told her tired because I am not sleeping well through the night because of my hip discomfort. So now I am off to an osteopath on Friday to see if he can do anything for me. Jo figures if I don't go then I will just be miserable for the next 2 months and I really shouldn't be. The appointment went well and nothing else to report on besides the baby's lack of movements. Blood pressure, protein, and glucose are all fine and no reported swelling. Our next appointment is May 21. Ok, now about the scan. All I can really say is WOW!!! I highly recommend a 30+ week ultrasound scan for sure!! The baby was head down so the tech was able to get a great head measurement right away. Then she moved to the face of the baby and OH MY GOSH I just started crying!! You can see the baby soooooooooo perfectly!! We could see everything on it's little face - it's eyes, lips, nose, nostrils, cheeks!! The baby is so beautiful and has a little tiny nose and chubby cheeks with a small little mouth. Very cute but maybe I'm biased!! It had one hand by it's face and the other was across it's chest up by it's neck. We seen everything except for the sex!! We even seen the little feet too and got to see it kick me pretty hard which I did feel. We got to see all the movements it was making and nothing was wrong at all. The tech told us everything looked normal and all the measurements were right on target. I did ask if she could tell how big the baby is and she said yes and told us the baby weighs about 4.2lbs (1.9kg). So I thought that was rather big considering I still have 9 weeks to go. So everything with the baby's movements was fine and she didn't know why I wasn't feeling them because it was sure moving around. It's amazing that we have now seen what the baby looks like though. It was AWESOME!! I know it will still probably change some over the next 9 weeks as well but definitely looking forward to meeting the we little one!!!!! |
| Thursday, May 9, 2002 Our scan report came back today. The doctor had examined the films and didn't find anything out of the ordinary. Since the day of the scan the baby has been moving a lot. I think maybe it just had a growth spurt and wanted me to have a scan so we could see it :) With the measurements that were taken, my due date has been put at June 29th. Which isn't all bad if the baby wants to come early! Hugh seems to think it might be June 27. He's not sure why but says that the date sticks in his head. That date is fine with me as long as it doesn't come on our 1st anniversary on the 23rd! We got the films with the report as well but only one face shot and it was kinda looking up the baby's nose. Hugh is going to try and get them to fiddle with it at work and maybe I can get it online for everyone to see. Measurements: Head Diameter: 80mm - 3.15in Head Circumference: 309mm - 12.16in Abdominal Circumference: 283mm - 11.14in Femur Length: 62mm - 2.44in |
| Sunday, May 19, 2002 - 32 weeks The baby shower was today! It was small and intimate. I had some gifts arrive from overseas which were great to open. We didn't get much but that could be because we have so much stuff already. Plus baby showers don't seem to be a big thing here or baby things for the baby. Like I told Hugh, in some cases in the US baby showers are much bigger than weddings and everyone loves buying for a baby!!! Hugh didn't take many photos only because he was busy videotaping so I guess I will forgive him this time : ) He did take a couple which we will put up when the film is developed. I'm still tossing up rather or not to keep the videotape cause I look so huge!! My midwife assures me that I will be surprised at how much I lose once the baby is born but I'm still skeptical!! |
| Tuesday, May 21, 2002 - 33 weeks Midwife appointment today. Nothing out of the ordinary to report. Blood pressure was good and the baby is still lying with it's head down and on my left side. The heartbeat has seemed to come down a bit but Jo assures me that it's normal and the closer you get to delivering the more it slows down. However, it wasn't anything to be concerned about. The fundal measurement was 38cm which was 5cm above what it should be but I still believe it's all because we are going to have a rather large baby. We also talked about my hip pain and how my trip to the osteopath only gave me about 2 good nights of sleep. She suggested I go back and see if it helps. Our next midwife appointment is on May 31. |
| Friday, May 31, 2002 - 34 weeks My last and final midwife appointment for this month. Everything went well. I told Jo about having acid reflux at night while I am sleeping so she gave me a prescription for Mylanta. I haven't gotten it filled yet only because I have found that a glass of milk each night before bed seems to work. The fundal length was 40cm this time. Blood pressure and urine are all fine. The baby is still lying head down and LOL (left occipital lateral - it's spine facing out towards the side) which is a good position for it to be in right now. If the baby were lying ROL (right occipital lateral) then it has a good chance of turning OP (occipital posterior - it's spine against yours) which makes for a long and hard labor. The baby is also in Phase 1 of the descent into the pelvis. Which was something I didn't think had happened. There are 4 Phases to the descent so it will be interesting to see where it's at when I have the next appointment. Our next appointment is June 11 where we will also meet the alternate that will be standing in for Jo from July 1-7. I will also have my 36 week blood tests done that week as well to check my iron again. |
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