Induction date!

Induction date is set for 1/12 at 5am, 2 weeks from today!

I am still hoping to go on my own before that, Dr C will sweep my membranes next thursday, maybe that will do the trick :-)

Catherine

4 lbs 7 oz

Woo hoo! 4 lbs 7 oz! ok not huge, lol, but for this baby it is tremendous!

BP today was 118/71 - i feel SO lucky to be where I am today after my first post at 18w3d, where I was in terrible shape, I am 36w2d

Sam had nice weight gain in the last 3 weeks, he is a chunky 4lbs 7 oz, and looked good on his BPP and NST-

The plan now is to have a baby :-) If I go into labor on my own they wont stop me, but Dr O did tell me to go straight in to be monitored, to make sure he handles the contractions well enough.

If I havent gone into labor on my own by my last appt on 1/9, they will schedule an induction for that week.

No more than 2.5 weeks left until we meet sam!

And, look at what Caroline MADE for her new baby brother, a beautiful double sided fleece blanket! It had both Ray and I in tears, she is so sweet :-)

Catherine

I had a regular OB appt today, after my NST at the peri's (all good there, Sams HR was good, my BP was good)

Had a step b test, and an internal - 1 cm and 50% effaced at 35w4d, better than i have ever been this early!

How I would LOVE to go into labor on my own. She was felt his head too, he is fully engaged!

Catherine

ps. i refused to get on the scale, lol - the nurse was a little snippy, but i told her if Dr C wants me to get on I will.... Dr C said, no worries! After all this pregnancy has been who cares about your weight

The math as I see it...

Ok I have a 14 year old in algebra so here is my equation...

known values...

Sams last weight :1300grms
Weight 17 days prior 911 grams
Weight gain per day: (1 300 - 911) / 17 = 22.8823529 (did you know you can type that into google and it figures it for you?

So, on Tuesday it will have been 22 days since the last growth u/s, if he is maintaining the same rate of growth he will weigh...

(((1 300 - 911) / 17) * 22) + 1 300 = 1 803.41176

1803.41176 Grams or...

1 803.41176 grams = 3.97584236 pounds

Just about 4 pounds... I will be 36w2d, I am praying he has kept up or increased his weight gain...If it has slowed down I think we have got to assess if he would be better outside me than inside me!

Wee! That was fun...NOT...or my 3 hrs in L&D triage...

Ok...my little man was to have a non eventful NST this am, got there, got hooked up, he started dancing around, and his heartrate plummeted into the 60's! For over 30 seconds!! I thought he was dying...so scared. I called the nurse in, she got the Dr, he said you just bought yourself a visit to the hospital, but lets do a quick u/s first.

Fluid was awesome and cordflow normal, he looked closely at the cord and said there are no knots, but there isnt alot of gel around it, so minor compressions can show the decels. I guess the cord is not as protected on the outside as some.

Send me to L&D, where Sam was a perfect gentleman, and showed nice accels and no decels. His heartrate baseline is much slower that it has been, in the 1hundred teens to 120- even saw some low 100s but I guess this isnt something so scary, it seems odd to me, but i guess now from what they tell me.

So, he gave me a heart attack, probably not the last time, but hopefully the last time until he is 13...

Catherine

34w1d

We had a BPP ultrasound today, and Sam passed his tests again this week, good boy! The S/D ratio on the cord flow was slightly elevated, not alarming, but they will watch it, it was 3.07 and normal is between 2 and 3 I believe. Good news is now if there is a problem we will deliver a baby, not go into the hospital on bedrest. At my next BPP I will be 35w1d, I am SO thankful we have made it so far - 37 weeks is considered full term, and that is less than 3 weeks from now!

Raymond is on his way back from Michingan. His mom is still hanging on in the hospice center, just agonizing, she knows she is dying and is in pain when the morphine wears off :-( . I pray she can pass peacefully soon. I am counting the minutes until I can get Ray from the airport and hold him tight.

Thank you all again for all of the good thoughts and prayers you send our way, I don't think I would be where I am now without them.

Catherine

Baby Registry

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For those who have asked me to, I did a registry at Babies R Us online, registry number is 33701914.

I certainly don't expect anything, if nothing else looking at the stuff got me excited to meet this little boy and anticipate what his needs will be!

Thanks all,

Catherine

Ray's Mom is dying :-(

Raymond is back in Michigan right now with his parents and siblings, his mother is in hospice and not expected to make it more than a few more days, she is 84. I am very sad for him, we were so hoping we could take Sam out to meet them next summer. His father, 74, is taking this very very hard, and has said he has no desire to live once she passes. They have been married for 50 years and this just breaks my heart, I pray his children give him the strength he needs to live after this.

Mr. Sam passed his NST this am with flying colors, and my BP was a nifty 101/75 - so at least we don't have to worry about Sammy at this moment.

Catherine

33w1d

Little Sam is still a little guy- weighing in at a whopping 2.9 lbs right now-

He gained .9 lbs in a little less than 3 weeks, so, if he keeps at the same rate until 39 weeks we are looking at about a 4.6 lb baby, I feel sad my body failed him in the growth department, and hope he comes out healthy and ready for mama milk to help him catch up.

His growth restriction still puts him in the 1 th percentile, and is still asymmetrical, meaning his head is just about the right size for gestational age, but his abdomen and legs are small- this is a "brain sparing effect".

Fluid is still good- over 15.

I wonder if me coming out of the hospital, and going off the sedating drugs slowed his growth- when i was sedated, so was he- maybe he burnt less calories? I don't think this would be the answer, but just wondering. Cord flow and placenta look good.

A normal size baby at this point of the pregnancy should start putting on like 1/2 a pound a week, which would put him at almost 6 lbs at birth.

Dr said if he had to guess he would say he will weigh about 2 kilos at 39 weeks, which would be 4.4 pounds.

So I am continuing to pray and hope this little guy keeps packing on the weight and has healthy lungs, and appreciate all the good thoughts you guys send my way!

Catherine