IUGR...here we go again

I had my MFM ultrasound this morning and then my OB appointment midday.  The results of the ultrasound are that baby's weight has dropped to the 3rd percentile (it was at the 21% at 34 weeks, 4 weeks ago).  This makes the baby Intrauterine Growth Restricted because she is under the 10%, but like Ellie was.  
I knew heading into my OB appointment that she was going to say induction at 39 weeks and that is exactly what she said so no big surprise there.  She did a cervical check and I am 1.5 cm and 30% effaced, not super great heading into an induction but she said usually second babies go quicker.  I will be 39 weeks next Tuesday (aka my 34th birthday!) and that is when she scheduled the induction to start because she is on call at the hospital Tuesday night and all day Wednesday.  

So it has been a whirlwind day but I am in a much better place heading into an induction this time around versus when I had my first with Ellie.  Knowing when things will happen is a lot easier to time things with child care coverage and work schedules.  Now we know we have to set all the baby stuff up this weekend!  We are also going to go out to dinner on Sunday night just Brian and I to celebrate our 6th wedding anniversary, so that will be nice! 

I am feeling this overwhelming sense of needing to spend every last moment with Ellie as an only child.  Things will be so different for everyone when the baby comes home and I just want to savor the last remaining moments where all my attention can be on her.  

I asked my OB what could be the cause of the IUGR in both Ellie and this baby and she said for me she really doesn't know since I don't have any of the normal things (smoking, high blood pressure, diabetes).  I also asked her if there was anything we could do to get things moving over the weekend and she said the typical stuff (sex, spice food, raspberry tea, walking, etc).  We shall see if I get to any of those!  

I have an OB appointment on Monday to do a non stress test and that will also be my last day in the office for work (Wednesday was supposed to be my last day in the office).  I will need to go in and wrap up a few things!

38 Weeks

How Far: 38 Weeks 1 day.  

Total Weight Gain:   Hmm I checked this morning and it looks like I am holding steady at +21 lbs so no gain this week. 

Symptoms:   Lower back pain.  I am usually up at around 2 am and watch a show or two and am back in bed around 3:30/4 am so pregnancy insomnia is hitting me hard.  Most mornings Ellie is up around 6:15 am so I can't really sleep in for that long - such is the life of a mom! I had a prenatal massage on Sunday which was great, I think I dozed off during it!  After I came home I played with Ellie for the rest of the day so unfortunately the "relaxed" body didn't last very long as the favorite saying is "up mommy" from Ellie. 

I think I have been having Braxton Hicks contractions ever few days...I sometimes feel cramping like period cramps and I think that qualifies, but nothing outside of that.  I have been craving sweet things lately - brownies mostly so I made a batch over the weekend.  My stomach has gotten pretty squished and I haven't felt like eating all that much.   No signs of labor though. 

I have my MFM ultra sound on Friday morning to check growth and then my OB appointment in the afternoon.  This will really be the big check to see if baby has grown much in the past month and see if they will need to induce me early. 

Maternity Clothes?  Yup.

New Baby Prep: I am pretty sure we have decided on the name!  First and middle. Wow it was so much harder this time around!  I won't be sharing it until the baby is born but I will let you know if we change our minds between now and then :) .  I installed the infant bucket seat in my car and seeing 2 car seats back there was a "whoa this is happening" moment.  Poor Winnie's spot has been displaced. I also moved some stuff out of our dining room bedroom and created some space for baby stuff. I still need to get out the rock n play and we need to put the swing out in the family room, but we are in decent shape.  I will have to share a picture of the "nursery nook" when the rock n play is there.  

House Update: Not a huge amount of progress this week. 

Here are some cute Ellie pics from the week!

Ellie lining up her "babies"

 Ellie reading to her babies

Next Appointment: Friday September 18th

37 Weeks

How Far: 37 Weeks 1 day.  So is 37 weeks not considered full term anymore?  A lot of places I have read it is now 39 weeks but I am not sure exactly which one is correct. 

Total Weight Gain:  21 lbs.  I think I gained a pound this week according to my home scale but at the OB today they say I stayed flat. I think mine is more accurate because it takes out any food/clothing fluctuations as I weight myself first thing in the morning.  

Symptoms:   Last night I had some mild cramping that was a bit uncomfortable.  It makes me hope that perhaps things are thinking of happening on their own and even if I do need to be induced this time around that my body will be more ready for it. 

I had my OB appointment today.  I measured 35 weeks by the fundal height so that was still behind but 2 weeks apart this time which was the same as last week so luckily my belly is still growing well.  They told me I am strep B positive which i guess isn't a big deal I will just get antibiotics once I am in labor and will probably have to come in right away if my water breaks at home.  I also got my flu shot at the doctor.  They said next week they will start doing internal checks to see if I am dilated at all. Not super excited for those as they are the most comfortable thing, but I am somewhat curious, but not expecting big things.  

Maternity Clothes?  Yup.

New Baby Prep: I washed all the premie/newborn clothes this week and put some in the temporary drawers in our room. I put the pack n play in the living room with the diaper changing attachment on top.   I also started to pack my hospital bag and put a few items for baby to wear in there.  I remember how annoying it was to try to re-swaddle Ellie in the blanket they put her in at the hospital so I packed some of Ellie's swaddles with the velcro to use instead. I packed some nursing tanks and stretch pants for me and some toiletries but there are so many thing that I can't pack until I know I am heading to the hospital like phone chargers, ipad, etc.  

Next on my list of things to do is to move some things out of the dining room where Brian and I reside and put the rock n play in our room and set up the swing in the living room.  

House Update: Still moving along.  We have made some decisions this week on house paint color, tile, etc but we still need to pick out the counter top for our kitchen. 

Here are some cute Ellie pics from the week!

Ellie and Pap-Pap (my grandfather/her great grandfather).  They have the cutest relationship and despite the housing situation being tight, I love that they get to spend so much time together! 

The picture is a little blury, but I just loved her outfit!

36 Weeks

How Far: 36 Weeks 1 day Wow!  I can't believe there is less than 1 month to go! That is crazy. 

Total Weight Gain:  20 lbs.  I have been getting a lot more comments on my belly this time around and they aren't the "you look so small" comments I got during Ellie's pregnancy.  While I don't love the comments from random people (I get a lot of the "looks like you are going to have your hands full" comments when I am out with Ellie) I don't mind being obviously pregnant.  

Symptoms:   Getting a bit achey.  Picking things up off the floor is getting mightily difficult.  I am still able to pick Ellie up pretty easily, but I can't hold her for too long and it is getting harder to hold her on my lap.  I have been lucky that heartburn and swelling haven't hit me yet.  I feel the most impact of my pregnancy if I have been sitting or lying down for a while and then suddenly get up and walk - then I am full on waddling until things seem to "settle" in me. 

I had my OB appointment this week and it went well.  I measured 34 weeks by the fundal height so that was still behind but 2 weeks apart this time versus 3 weeks last time.  We had the labor talk which was basically letting me know when to give them a call when I start getting contractions and to try to stay home as long as possible.  I need to come up with some sort of plan for when labor happens (if i am lucky enough that I don't have to be induced this time) because Brian works in the city and takes the train in, so I don't want to be stranded with Ellie and in labor for too long!  I am sure it will happen more gradually, but you never know!  3 more weeks of work until I go on leave!  Lots to do before then, yikes!  

Maternity Clothes?  You know it.  It has been too hot lately to wear pants so I am mostly in dresses and skirts at work and gym shorts when I am home.  I am so very done with the warm weather! 

New Baby Prep: Nothing much new over this past week.  I am getting to the point where I feel like I should start bringing things down from the attic and setting things up...but then I think "why would I want to trip over this for the next month" so I am not sure when my "go time" will be.  I will probably wait until 38 weeks since I can always have Brian or my mom help with set up. Maybe I will start by taking some of Ellie's toys that she doesn't play with often out of the living room to make room for baby stuff. 

House Update: A lot of progress this week.  Framing is done and they have started to put some windows in.  They are taking of the existing vinyl siding today.  We are 80% of the way there with picking an external paint color (or colors) so that is one less thing!  We have to hit up a few tile and stone places to finalize stuff, but hopefully that will be done this week.  As Brian says "this is a full time job" and it really feels that way.  Pretty much every night we go home and answer questions or make decisions about house things or email the builders.  I am nervous the house business will continue once the baby is here.

Here is a picture of our house pre construction

Here is a picture of our house as of yesterday - you can see part of the addition on the back and that they have pulled off all the siding.  It looks totally naked/ugly at the moment but will hopefully look great in a few months!

35 Weeks

How Far: 35 Weeks 1 day

Total Weight Gain:  Looks like I might still be hovering around 19 lbs.  I feel like I should be packing on more lbs at this point but things are getting so tight that I can't eat much!

Symptoms:  Insomnia, it comes and goes.  Getting up from sitting for a long period of time is tough - I can feel things shift around, haha.  I had my OB appointment last week and things are looking good.  I am measuring small 31 cm versus the 34.5 weeks I was at, but that is not unexpected for me. I got my TDap shot which wasn't bad, but made my arm sore for a few days.  My OB said we would have the "labor talk" at my next appointment when I will be 36 weeks.  I am wondering if they will start doing any internal exams at that point...it has been nice keeping my clothes on for the appointments :)

I had my ultrasound with the MFM on Friday.  Baby is measuring 21% percentile which is good because only less than 10% is considered IUGR and a concern.  They estimate she is about 4lbs 9 oz which sounded big to me considering Ellie was born at 5 lbs 5 oz.  It was funny because after the ultrasound tech did her measurements the doctor came in and said "I guess you don't like to have big babies!" ha I think that is just the way it goes with me.  Makes for easier pregnancies :) 

 I was feeling pretty good about the appointment until I went home and re-read through some of my Ellie blog posts around this time with her pregnancy.  At this same point she was measuring 30% (non MFM ultrasound) and then closer to 37 weeks they had me go to the MFM and those ultrasounds showed she was less than 10%.  I am really hoping that this isn't a trend that my babies start to slow down growth as they reach the end. As I got towards the end last time my belly seemed to stop growing when they take the fundal height (tape measurement from outside). I have another MFM ultrasound around 38 weeks so I am hoping that this baby remains above 10%.  

Maternity Clothes?  We went to a wedding this past weekend and I wore a floor length maternity dress.  It was super comfy and allowed me to rock the dance floor.  Some folks said they were impressed I was up dancing so much being so close to my due date and all I could think was "well once the baby is here I won't be able to get out and do this for a while so I better live it up now!"  It was great seeing friends and we had a really great time.  

New Baby Prep: My family threw me a sprinkle this past Sunday!  It was super sweet of them to put this together because I really wasn't expecting any sort of party for baby #2.  It was a nice chance to get the ladies of the family together and my sister in law always does such a nice job with party planning/decorations:

Ellie enjoying some party food

We received some really nice gifts like diapers, outfits and some decorations that fit our pink and navy nautical nursery theme!

 The best thing was that everyone made a monthly onesie using fabric pieces that they then ironed onto a shirt.  They all came out really cute!  Look for these in the future as baby #2 gets her monthly picture taken!

One family tradition we do is to make a finger print picture for the baby's nursery.  The picture is kind of blury but it is of a whale and everyone's fingerprints form the pink and red splashes coming out of the whale.  People then sign their name and the baby has all family members fingerprints up on their wall in a nice decoration.

Ellie's nursery is giraffe and elephant themed so her picture has the finger prints representing spots on the giraffes!  Side note - I had to go back into my blog post about Ellie's nursery to find the picture below and I got a little panicky that at 35 weeks with Ellie her nursery was done and looked so nice and this baby's nursery doesn't even have walls yet :(  I know we will get their eventually but it makes me a little sad she won't have her own set up room from birth.  (file this under #firstworldproblems I guess)

My cousin brought the rock n play, swing and newborn clothes that I borrowed from her for Ellie so now I feel better that if for some reason the baby came early that I have some place for her to sleep :)

House Update: They keep making progress but I just wish it would go faster!  I am sure that is always the case.  They delivered our tub this past week and it is now sitting in the middle of the upstairs hallway.  We have a meeting with a person who is going to help us figure out the external paint colors for the house on Friday so that should be interesting.  Since our house is a victorian house we may go with a few colors instead of just 1 straight up color.  Since this will be a big decision Brian and I decided our Information Technology and Accounting backgrounds did not qualify us to pick the color on our own.  

Next Appointment:  September 1st

34 Weeks

How Far: 34 Weeks 1 day

Total Weight Gain:  Holding steady at 19 lbs overall this week.  I will see what the scale says at my doctors appointment tomorrow. 

Symptoms:  Still having some trouble breathing at times - it doesn't help that the temperature has been hovering around 90s this past week. I used to be able to put my shoes on without sitting down, but I can't do that anymore!  Insomnia!  Most nights now I wake up at like 4 am and can't go back to sleep. It is nice that I may it to 4 am those nights though!  Sometimes I am up sooner to pee. 

Maternity Clothes? You bet!  Although I still wear a lot of non maternity dresses that are cut well to allow for my belly!  Most days when I am at home I wear non maternity gym shorts that have elastic waists.  I am attending a wedding this weekend and it is black tie so I am wearing a long dress that is a maternity dress - i am very excited that it looks pretty decent on me!  I was nervous about looking like a whale at the wedding...I will post pics after the event. 

New Baby Prep: Ellie has started to refer to the baby as "Jo" i have no idea why since we have never provided her with any names.  Previously she said the baby's name was going to be "blue" so at least "Jo" is more on track!  But still no definite name to speak of!

I finished a craft for the baby's room - it is similar to the below but the background is pink instead of yellow.  It came out pretty decent so I may dabble in more baby room crafts if I have the time.  

House Update: Still moving along although we have been asking the builders to give us an updated timeline and I think they haven't yet because they know they are behind the original timeline and don't want to tell us that!  We ordered a lot of things this week (fixtures, appliances, etc) and some have started to arrive so that is exciting!  We are working on finalizing some paint colors and tile for the kitchen and bathroom so we don't have to worry about those after the baby comes. 

Next Appointment:  2 this week!  Tomorrow (Thursday August 20th) I have my OB appointment with my normal doctor and then Friday I have an ultrasound with the MFM doctor to check on the baby's size.  Hopefully she is growing well.  She was on track at 19 weeks, so we shall see!

32/33 Weeks

Doing a combined 32/33 week post this week because I was on vacation last week and I am very very lazy :)

How Far: 32 Weeks, 6 Days

Total Weight Gain:  19 lbs overall, I think vacation and lots of eating helped me make the jump up a few pounds this last week!  I gained 18 lbs with Ellie overall so now I am officially over the weight I gained last pregnancy, which is a good thing because I am hoping it translates to a bigger baby :)

Symptoms:  Trouble breathing - at some points during the day depending on where baby girl is situated I have to take a lot of deep breathes.  No swelling to speak of yet, which is surprising given the heat! Now the fun really starts...I started to leak a bit, which is annoying, but I am hoping it means that I won't have trouble breastfeeding again this time around and my milk comes in relatively quickly. 

You can file this under the TMI section...so Brian and I went away without Ellie up to Quebec City for 3 nights this past week.  We did what married adults do when they are alone and after the second day in a row I started feeling some of the worst lightening crotch/pressure down there that I have ever felt and it lasted for quite a few hours.  I think it was a combo of doing the deed in the morning on back to back days then trying to walk around the city the rest of the day.  I felt pretty rough that second day and had to take a few breaks back at the hotel laying horizontal for a while. It must have been something to do with all the blood flow to the area, but it was not fun!  The next day I felt fine again. 

Quebec City! By the way, one of the things I was most looking forward to when coming back from vacation (aside from seeing Ellie of course) was the unlimited access to the bathroom. It was stressful being 32 weeks pregnant and walking around thinking "I wonder where the closest bathroom is" half the time! 

Maternity Clothes? I picked up some new maternity tank tops for $5 each!  Such a deal and necessary to get me through the rest of the summer...somehow I managed to get stains on one already :(

New Baby Prep: Still hasn't hit me that this pregnancy thing will lead to another baby...ha.  We did start to think about prepping things at my mom's house for what we will need for the baby - we will put up the pack n play with the newborn attachments on top in my mom's family room that will act as a changing area for the baby and also put the swing in this room.  I guess the nice thing about not having any extra bedrooms for the new baby is that all of her things will be on one level (with Ellie there was a constant up and down stairs thing going on).  I am nervous about having to cram all the baby stuff and clothes into the dining room with us because it is already crazy crowded.  I will have to post a picture of our "nursery" aka my mom's dining room when the baby stuff is out to give you all a good laugh!  Still no progress on the naming front.  We really like the name Claire, but that is already Ellie's middle name so we can't "steal" it from her!  If you have any ideas for names that are similar we would love to hear them!  Should go well with Elizabeth and we seem to like Irish/English sounding names.  

House Update: Decent progress was made this week, and framing should be almost done by the end of this week.  I can't tell you how good it feels to have actual wood framed walls up!  To be able to stand in the spaces and feel the dimensions is awesome.  We still have a lot of decisions/work to do, but we are trying to prioritize and knock things out asap before the baby comes.