Monday, April 18, 2016

Baby Lowery #2: 36 Weeks



The biggest news this week is that Baby Girl turned head down! We are so thankful! My prayer the last several weeks was that if she needed to be born by c-section for health or safety reasons, then I didn't want her to turn. However, if not, then I wanted her to turn on her own--without the doctor trying to turn her. (The second biggest news is Holt has the croup, poor buddy).

Essential oils are a big part of our life. My mom and I researched to see if there were any oils that supposedly helped turn babies in the womb. Turns out, there is! You layer peppermint and myrrh and rub in an upside-down rainbow under your bump (hip bone to hip bone). Lots of testimonials claimed rubbing those on for just a couple of days would turn a baby. It didn't hurt to try! We applied them Sunday night, Monday morning, and Monday night. I started having several contractions around 8:00pm Monday night, similar  to my experience when Holt turned. I think she must've turned while I slept during the night, but when we went in for our ultrasound Tuesday morning the first thing the tech said is "she's head down!"

The tech also measured her to give us an idea of how big she is. Thankfully she's not measuring near as big as her brother did! At 35 weeks, 3 days she is approximately 5 lbs. 11 oz. The tech told us that's right on average for her due date, hallelujah. At 34 weeks with Holt, he already measured 5 lbs. 13 oz.! She also got some great pictures--advances in ultrasound machines are so amazing! We saw that she has lots of hair (which is great because the heartburn is coming back!) and that she is basically Holt's twin! What do you think?





After the ultrasound we saw my doctor and got a great report. I still haven't made any progress which is great for now. He told me to continue bed rest until our goal, April 27th, and then at that point it would be fine if she comes so I can start doing things again! I've had some nesting tendencies this time, which has been driving me crazy on bed rest, so I will be super happy to finally be able to get some of that stuff done--I need to finish the "E" for above her bed (I'm going to hot glue flowers onto it), pack Holt's overnight bag for when we are in the hospital, and pick up a few last minute things for my hospital bag.

I still have contractions daily and they feel a bit different now that she is head down. Plus she is getting bigger everyday so I'm sure that's contributing to my contractions feeling tighter. We go back to the doctor tomorrow to see how things are progressing!

How far along: 36 weeks 2 days
What have I missed since bedrest: I miss doing things around the house, weird as that sounds. I feel so guilty just sitting while my husband and other family members come do household tasks. Don't get me wrong, I fully understand that I am the only one who can take care of Evie right now and she takes priority, but it has always been hard for me to ask for or accept help because I feel like I should just be able to do everything. Yes, it's pride talking. And I'm working on it. I really do appreciate the help!
Sleep: I've had more insomnia. Especially if I take a nap during the day, I can't fall asleep until 11:30-12:00. Once I fall asleep, I typically sleep great all night and I only get up once to go to the bathroom usually.
Food cravings: My appetite in general has dwindled significantly. Hardly anything sounds good. Every now and then, I'll be like "_____ sounds really good right now!" but not very often.
Best moment: D and I got to have a date night! Our church has childcare for Parent's Night Out once a month, so we took advantage! We only went out for a couple of hours but it was so nice to be out of the house---not to mention sushi and Target make for a great date ;)

Monday, April 4, 2016

Baby Lowery #2: 34 Weeks

Evie and her baby cousin, already friends in the womb!


We made it to 34 weeks with our sweet girl!

Things are going pretty well! I've seen my doctor twice since my last post. He agreed with my self-induced bedrest, and told me that limiting my activity was helping so to keep it up. My first appointment, they re-checked me (no change) and did another Fetal Fibronectin test which came back negative again. Evie was still breech, but that is probably a good thing because it prevents her head from putting pressure on my cervix. Everything checked out great and I was told to come back a week later.

Throughout the next week, my mom came for several days to help out. It's always nice to have your mama come! She was a huge help--she brought us freezer meals (which is a BIG timesaver and help for my husband) and helped with Holt and other things around the house. She came back for my next doctor appointment this past Thursday (03/31) and we got another good report! Evie is still breech, but I haven't changed at all and we got to look at her on ultrasound again. The NEATEST thing is we could see her breathing on the ultrasound--her little chest was just rhythmically moving in and out.

I'm still having contractions on a daily basis--anywhere from 15 to 30 a day (or more) depending on how active I am. Thankfully these are still Braxton Hicks contractions and are not causing labor to progress in any way. So why stay on bed rest? Because we don't want it to turn into labor, which it could at any point if I do too much or lift too much weight. So limiting my activity is more a preventative measure. We need her to cook in there for a few more weeks yet!

This past Saturday (04/02), my sweet friends hosted a "sprinkle" for Evie! A sprinkle is just a smaller version of a baby shower, usually for 2nd (3rd, 4th, etc) babies--since you already have the big stuff from your first baby, it's mostly just the practical stuff like diapers and clothes if you're expecting the opposite gender. A big plus was I got to see my cousin who is expecting her first baby and our due dates are only 10 days apart. It will be so neat to watch these cousins grow up together! The shower was so fun and so beautiful! It's WAY different this time expecting a girl--all the bows and gowns and pink! So thank you from the bottom of my heart---it was perfect (even though I took ZERO pictures)!

We had another appointment today (04/04) and she is still breech. My doctor had us schedule an ultrasound for next Tuesday (04/12) so we could measure her and also check amniotic fluid levels. If at that point she is still breech, we will be looking at the calendar and scheduling a time for me to come in and let him try to externally turn her head down. This is done down in Labor & Delivery (just in case something happens) and she will be monitored the entire time. I'm a little nervous because I've heard it can be uncomfortable for the mama, but I think it's worth it to at least try and avoid a c-section. If for some reason it's unsuccessful, we will be looking at a c-section (unless she turns right before D-day, which could happen).

At this point, our goal is to keep her cooking until 38 weeks. Once we reach that point, I'm taking myself off bed rest and baby girl can go ahead and grace us with her presence anytime she wants!

How far along: 34 weeks 2 days
Sleep: I'm still sleeping very well. Some days, especially if I take a nap, it takes me a long time to fall asleep--closer to 11:30pm--but I think that's due to the fact I'm not as active right now.
Food cravings: Even though I haven't had one in a few weeks, donuts. Oh, and Lucky Charms. The past couple of weeks, we bought the "family size" box and I've had at least one bowl after Holt goes to bed.
Movement: She has been getting the hiccups! This is so fun for me because Holt never got them one time (unless it was during the night and I was sleeping so I didn't' feel it).