Preggo Pictures

28 weeks...

I don't have photoshop on my computer any more since my brother wiped it when I was in Texas. So these were "crappily" edited with photobucket.

I made nate and the boys go out in this crummy weather to takes these pics. It was cold. And wet, and miserable... and in my mind, reflective of how this pregnancy has been. lol

I don't *love* these pictures. I like them though -- ish..
I can tell that they're typical, and rushed because it was so yucky out. Had I been by myself, or with people who didn't care about being out in crap weather I would have taken my time. But we quite literally ran around the area and took pictures (as the camera batteries were dying) and then came back home.
So thanks to my gracious hubby, and boys who put up with me - I have these.

Warning -- Nudity in the 5th picture.








To add to that:





It wouldn't be a pregnancy of mine without a naked photo.



Although it's unfocused, unedited, with no flash and bad lighting.

I really love this photo.

I think this is one of the most "raw" photos I have. It's a little more forgiving without the flash, and with being unfocused.
It reminds me of a memory I have of my eldest sister - who is 18 yrs older than myself.
I was 4 when my nephew was born, but I distinctly remember walking into her bathroom when she was VERY pregnant. I remember seeing her in the soft yellow light taking a bath. Her belly protruding from the water, full of life and promise.

I love this photo very much. However, it bothers me that I can still notice the injection bruises on my thigh and stomach. Others may not see them, but my eyes automatically gravitate to the area, knowing what I'm going to see.

I'm so very tired of dealing with these shots. Dealing with the constant monitoring, blood tests and ultrasounds. I'm emotionally overwhelmed by it, and therefor EVERYTHING is harder to deal with.

Like being in this small little tub, trying to relax. It's just not physically possible. I'm too cramped and the water gets cold way too quick.
I feel confined and overwhelmed by the medical issues this pregnancy is enduring. I just want out.

platelets

My doctor called this morning, my platelet levels went back up. So they're at 96,000 now instead of 93,000.

He seems to think that it's EXACTLY what I found in my web searching. Gestational Thrombopenia. I told him I saw that on google and he chuckled. lol

He mentioned that he personally has a low threshold for platelet levels. And he just wants to watch them. Asked me if I could come in on monday. I said "Uh... I already AM coming in on monday."
"oh! great! see you then."
And they'll check them again then.
He also said that the low weight heparin (lovenox injections) can affect the platelets as well.

Massive update

Last friday night I was having birthing waves. 2 minutes apart. for several hours.

I had called my midwife and we talked for a while. But I decided that I'd call her back if they got really intense and "painful"... which I don't trust myself to realize when they're "painful" (and she understands where I'm coming from - aka Hypnobabies). I felt fine enough on my own though. Didn't want to be checked or rushed to the hospital. I just felt that I needed to talk to her.

I told her my cervix felt mushy and was pretty far back. Hard to reach. She said being far back was a good sign.

They did get really uncomfortable, but I could still talk and breath through them. I told her "they're not completely over-taking me like during roan and willem's birth."

Things were annoying me like smells, and OTHER people talking - but not to the point that i just wanted them to shut up.
I also felt like I wanted to throw up. I was having loose stools. So those things were of concern to me.

I called her again at 10:30pm or so and we talked some more. I told her "I don't want to rush to the hospital for this. But I don't want to 'push' it and actually be in labor and not go..."

It's not that I didn't care, or worry about this being preterm. I had all sorts of thoughts going through my head. But I was also thinking that I wouldn't be able to drive myself. The kids were asleep, I didn't feel like calling someone to come watch them. So I just wanted to do a wait and see approach. Worse comes to worse we could have gone to the closest hospital instead of my doctor an hour away.

I've been dilated since my last midwife visit. about 1cm. I forget if I've mentioned that we're taking cervical pictures at every visit for the My Beautiful Cervix project. Otherwise, dilation would have gone unnoticed. Physically, if I tried,
(and I let the midwife know this) it feels as though I could probably put 2 fingers into the OS which would make me 2cm dilated. However, I'd rather not try and stir things up, so for now it's all visual.


My mom is reassuring and tells me "I was 5cm dilated and half hanging out and I walked around for a month like that."

Things ended up dying down, but I had a lot of crampy feelings for half of the next day. Then those completely went away and I feel back to normal.

My 28 week appt was yesterday. I'm actually only about 27+ 5.
I mentioned how my cervix feels shortened, and asked her to confirm that for me. Which she said that I'm 70% effaced. She said as long as nothing else starts up (like the contractions I had last friday), then it's not worrisome to her. And it'll just probably mean a shorter birthing time in the end. (but I know that's not a guarantee either.)

This is why prenatal vaginal exams aren't helpful. lmao IMO they create worried feelings. lol
The picture taking itself is pretty evasive even for me, as she'll note something and I immediately ask "okay so tell me what that means... are you worried?" But at the same time, she's amazing at talking through things and letting me know "hey this is just a variation of normal" but I mean with the whole 70% effaced thing, and being dilated. I know that it can be normal. I know that it doesn't MEAN that I'll be in labor any day soon. That HEY, my body is having baby #3. And this is just it's way of handling this pregnancy. But then again, first time moms can do this very same thing. So yeah. rambling...
Anyway. I very much enjoy the fact that I noticed an effaced cervix. It makes me feel like I "know" my own body. And having been going through a lot of bodily issues lately with the blood clots, and blood thinners, and constant bruises -- I don't feel apart of my body. This helped tremendously.


I passed my glucose test with flying colors. Not sure how y'all do it, but we did a meal, and a finger prick 2 hours later. I had buckwheat pancakes with lots of syrup, eggs, and OJ.

My heart rate was a bit high, but then again Roan was climbing all over me and I was messing around with him quite a bit (ie rocking back and forth and swinging him over my shoulder) so I can imagine that would make things pick up. Blood pressure was great. Baby's heart rate was great, had great variations 120-160. She's breech for now, kind of diagonal in my belly, with her butt by my left hip and her head by my right ribs.

It would give me some peace of mind if she'd just turn head down already! But she's measuring great. =) I'll probably do some Spinning Babies techniques tonight to coax her head down.

All in all a great visit!

My midwife is coming over on the 30th. We're going to hang out, have some coffee and bagels. Watch Willem's birth video. (since she wasn't the MW that was there for his birth, she'd like to see it.) And then she's going to go to my ob appt with me as "a friend". So I'm excited about that.

My OB called to say that from my last blood test my platelet levels are low, and they're concerned about that. They were 151,000 back in Oct, and now they're at 93,000. When I had talked to them the first time, the nurse on the phone said that blood thinners have nothing to do with platelet levels. Then when they called back yesterday, a different nurse said that generally the rule is that blood thinner injections don't lower platelet levels, but they HAVE seen it before. She said that maybe for me it could be doing that. So I may have my injection doses lowered to bring my platelets back up.

I've never followed the "general rule". lol

In my google searching, I found that what it's called is Gestational Thrombopenia. And as long as my levels don't drop below 50,000 that it's taken as a "wait and see" approach until they do. And care providers won't usually do anything invasive like giving blood transfusions or medication unless the levels keep falling. So we'll see.

Random pregnancy pointers:

How mommy alleviates lower back ache - with the help of daddy.

This gives the greatest amount of pressure to the area, while having to do the least amount of actual pushing. In comparison to the thumbs...
Roan took this picture.

Note: It is also beneficial to have a 3 yr old slide down the daddy's legs. The slowly added extra 30+ lbs of pressure really helps those heels dig in. Use 3 yr old with repetition.




my example of a pregnancy "diet" (or - how every woman should eat pregnant or not) note: the pepperoni slices probably aren't the healthiest.. willem finished all of those off anyway. i think i got two in the end.

The family

My eldest, Roan, turns three tomorrow at 10:26pm. We had his birthday party this past sunday.

Three years old. He's grown so much, and so fast. Yet he's still my little shorty. 2T is too small for him, but 3T is too big. I have to roll up his pants (and jacket too if it doesn't quite fit right).
But I miss being able to hold his whole body without him hanging all gangly over my lap.

He's a smart little booger and was trying to sound out words the other night as we looked at a picture book. He knows all his letters and the sounds they make (taught himself actually - and we encouraged him when we noticed his efforts). And can count to 20. Not to shabby for a child who STOPPED talking at 12 months and didn't start again until we got him into speech lessons.

He's a little on the OCD side. For his birthday I bought him a melissa & doug ball and hammer wooden toy. He has to match up the ball colors to the colors on the side of the toy before pounding them down and starting over. And that's on the small side of the ocd.


His birth was momentous. It showed me the overwhelming strength that I had within me.
Born at home, in the bed he was created in, after 17 hours of active labor (not counting the contractions all during the previous night that I thought were annoying braxton hicks) - the last 6 hours of his birth being very intense back labor.

He gave me confidence as a mother, and still does, with his calm and quiet demeanor. He has an all around happy and loving disposition. I'm so glad that he's in my life. He (along with his brother of course!) makes the hard days better, and lately has become a serious crack up with the various things he decides to say.
"ma. my butt is broken!"


I love you my little man. You are so beautiful.


6 months pregnant with him.


Minutes old, and very alert.


2 days before turning Three!

a comment at another blog:

Some publicly available numbers on amniocentesis:

Tabor et al. 2009 Ultrasound Obstet Gynecol 34:19-24. Based on an 11-year population registry survey – miscarriage rate 1.4% after amniocentesis, 1.9% after CVS. Rate was more than twice as high at centers that performed under 500 than at centers performing over 1500.

Cahill et al. 2009 Am J Obstet Gynecol 200: 257.e1-6. In twin pregnancies, loss rate 1.8% (3.2% in women who had the procedure vs. 1.4% in women who did not).

Kozlowski et al. 2008 Ultraschall Med 29:165-172. Excess risk estimated at 0.5%.

Seeds 2004 Am J Obstet Gynecol 191:607-15. Review that estimates 0.6% rate with concurrent ultrasound guidance (higher without).

It looks like the risk of death of a normal fetus from amniocentesis is roughly an order of magnitude higher than the risk of death from homebirth. Are you a rotten mommy if you get amnio to further your “selfish” desire to know in advance whether you’re going to have a defective child?

in response to how "selfish" and risky moms are who choose to homebirth...
i like this particular commenter. a lot actually.

25 weeks!