It's hard to believe how close we are to meeting this baby now. Weeks. And, for the longest time I have thought I was ready - way more ready to deal with the worry of this baby outside my belly rather than the worry of this baby inside my belly but now that we're getting closer I'm not so sure. We are just weeks away from the biggest life change we've ever experienced. I'm not sure anyone's ever really ready for this.
We've been spending the last couple of weeks getting prepped for the baby. My dear friend from North Carolina flew into town for my baby shower and I immediately put her to work helping me make some freezer meals so that we have something on hand after the baby is born. I have never done anything like that before, so there is some question as to whether or not these meals will be edible, but it feels good knowing I have something on hand, and we had a lot of fun prepping them!
I had two baby showers in which Nerdlet was spoiled with fantastic gifts coupled with the kind of warm wishes that I couldn't even read in public due to the ugly crying. My loved ones were able to put their amazing creativity to work in fun ways like -- the diaper wreath:
The diaper motorcycle ridden by a stuffed frog:
The flower arrangement made with little washcloths and bibs:
....and more. So much more. In fact, those of you loved ones reading this should not be offended that you didn't make the pictorial. I don't think the internets is big enough for all the wonderful things we received.
The baby showers in and of themselves were a kind of milestone for me. I remember when we picked the dates I had been hesitant because, as always, I have expected the worst. I figured i'd be on bed rest by now or - in a worse case scenario - would be caring for my preemie. We hit the baby shower dates with no problem and Nerdlet is still squirming away in there.
At my appointment 2 weeks ago my doctor became concerned with a low level reading on my amniotic fluid. I've been seeing more than one doctor throughout this pregnancy and it's amazing at what a difference there can be between them. The one didn't think much of it, the other immediately scheduled a bunch of tests to make sure everything is okay in there. So - this past week I had a non-stress test to measure Nerdlet's neurological activity, and then a biophysical profile to measure Nerdlet's growth, breathing, and amniotic fluid. Nerdlet passed all tests with flying colors - except the amniotic fluid test. In fact, in the week between my doctor's concern and the second test, the fluid levels had dropped even more. However, Nerdlet is currently measuring just over a week ahead and the doctor we saw last week (a new doctor, of course) said that the main concern with low amniotic fluid levels is that baby isn't being properly nourished and/or isn't growing. Since we're measuring ahead, that doesn't appear to be the case, so he wasn't too worried. However, to be on the safe side, he scheduled another biophysical profile for this coming week. So - Nerdlet has another test ahead and I'm hoping that we'll sail through this next one just as smoothly.
My good friend google tells me that the result of low amniotic fluid levels is sometimes bed rest. And if levels get too low, sometimes they will take the baby. So - my honeymoon period with this pregnancy is being threatened. On the bright side, we've made it very far so if bed rest happens at this point, it won't likely be for long. We'll see. As always, prayers are appreciated!
Other than that, things are still going relatively smoothly. I had a pretty nasty cold that I finally seem to be shaking. This marks the second cold of this pregnancy, for those of you keeping score. And this one was way worse. I wound up on antibiotics due to some squeakiness in my lungs. I'm happy to say that they seem to have helped tremendously. I may not be coughing this baby out after all (as I had feared and, at one point, dreamed).
Only 6 more weeks to go til my due date - with the holidays just around the corner, we know how quickly that is going to fly by. At some point I'm going to have to stop being in denial about how this baby comes out of me (the baby classes are helping with that) - my brain leaves an empty space between feeling Nerdlet squirming around in my belly and feeling Nerdlet squirming around in my arms. That empty space will be filled with all kinds of crazy memories eventually -- but for now, we'll just leave that worry for another day.
No comments:
Post a Comment