36 weeks

The last week has been eventful! But first, let's talk about baby's development. Sean is about 20 inches long, and weighing in now about 6 pounds- babycenter.com compares him to a crenshaw melon. At the end of this week, he will be considered "full term" and docs will give the go-ahead to let labor go at anytime after that. Most of his systems are fully developed at this point, aside from him lungs, and his digestive system will kick into gear once he takes his first suckle at breast or bottle.

Momma is definitely waddling at this point, mostly due to the fact that hormones have cause all of the joints and ligaments to loosen, preparing for labor. And he has definitely gone through the "lightening" stage- dropped lower in my abdomen. Breathing is somewhat easier (sometimes) but I think my belly is noticeably lower that it has been, and my pelvic bone sure can feel the difference!

Now as for the chain of events that happened this week, I'll start by explaining Braxton Hicks, in case you aren't real familiar with what they are. They are basically false, or practice, contractions that most women experience, usually later, but at any point in pregnancy. Typically they are painless, but somewhat noticeable, because your belly gets hard as a rock and it can make you stop in your tracks and say "what was that?" At least, that's how they are for me. They are not signs of true labor, because they are usually intermittent, irregular, and tend to go away when you relax, drink water, take a warm bath, etc.

So on Wednesday, I was having these type of contractions all day. They seemed regular in the morning, and then sort of spaced out throughout the rest of the day. But, as I said, they don't hurt, so it was hard to tell if they were still there when I wasn't focusing on them. Also, my pelvis was hurting tremendously that day, and I literally felt like he was falling out of me. It seemed to worsen when I would have a noticeable contraction. So I called my doc to make sure I wasn't experiencing real labor. They told me with any regular pregnancy, they would have me go home from work, relax, drink water, and pay attention so I could time the contractions to see if they were still regular. But, because I still showed placenta previa on my last ultra sound appointment, they were concerned if it was true labor, and didn't want me to wait. So they advised me to go to the hospital and let them monitor me for a few hours, so they could see if it was real labor or not.

So we did that Wednesday night- they didn't want to check for dilation because of the placenta's location as well, so they just hooked me up to the belly monitor to measure contractions. I only had about 2-3 in the 3 hours we were there, so they checked to make sure I wasn't bleeding or leaking amniotic fluid, ran a few tests and sent me home. The next day was my regular OB check up, so my doctor said that it's still a bit early, and that baby boys lungs tend to develop slower than girls in pregnancy, so he really doesn't want to jump the gun and have a c-section too early. But he also doesn't want me to progress into real labor, because then we risk placental rupture, hemorrhaging, etc. So, he scheduled me for amniocentesis screening on Monday. With that they will also do another ultrasound. So they can check the placenta's location again, while testing to see if our baby's lungs are developed enough- if they are, they will probably scheduled the c-section sooner than later, because I will be considered full term in a week. If his lungs aren't developed yet, I am sure they will just be monitoring me to ensure I don't go into real labor, and wait it out a bit longer (probably 38 weeks). If the placenta has moved, then I think they will just allow everything to go naturally.

That last option sounded ideal to me weeks ago. But I have been mentally preparing myself for surgery since my 20 week appointment. If they tell me at the last minute that I am clear for normal delivery, I will be a little confused and a little bummed. It would be better to not have surgery, I think. But I have not mentally prepared myself as much as I should have for labor. So that will be difficult, and slightly scary for me.

The amnio test itself does have a possible side effect of inducing real labor- the nurse I spoke with said to go ahead and bring my hospital bag just in case. They will monitor me for a bit after the test is done, and if there are no signs of labor they will send me home and call later with the results. If his lungs are developed enough, and the placenta still has not moved, we could possibly be welcoming our little baby into this world sooner than we expected!! Part of me wants this to happen the most- I am so tired of being pregnant, and I feel like we are as ready as we will ever be, so why not? But I also don't want him to come out before he is ready, just to have to spend time in the NICU. So I have been thinking and praying about it all, and talking to little Sean about it. Hopefully he will help make the best decision for us both, and I will be sure to keep everyone posted!

On a lighter note, yesterday was my last day at AT&T!! For now, anyways. Until my leave of absence runs out. That makes me feel better- I can now get a few more things done before Sean arrives, and have time to sleep during the day. Booyah! We had a lady from the state come and help us install the carseat on Tuesday, that was pretty cool. Yesterday, Mike finished the letters for Sean's name and hung them over the crib. Our friends got us a cool under the sea crib toy, we were both pretty excited about that. Also, we got the frame for the glider chair from Mike's mom. Now we are waiting on cushions- they ship separately, and I think Mike said they are supposed to be here later this week. All we really need to get for his room now is blinds, and we are about done!