Appointment today

We went to the doctor today for our regular scheduled appointment. We were able to see Dr. McIlveen (he was on vacation last week when all the drama took place). He checked me today and said that my cervix is still closed (apparently the nurse at the hospital didn't know what she was doing), he also did an ultrasound of my cervix to check the length and it is 3.9 and he said that anything over 3 is good. He also did this new test where they check for a protein around your cervix that is only present if your body is getting ready to go into labor in the next 2 weeks. Mine came back negative, thank heavens! He says that it is 99.7% accurate...so we are relieved. If Jack were to come in the next 2 weeks we would have to deliever elsewhere, which terrifies us. However, stranger things have happened, and only time will tell. He did check and found out that I am dehydrated and he said that is what is causing the contractions. I told him that I didn't know how I could be I am drinking more than a gallon of water a day..and he said, "drink more!" so I guess sleep will become even harder and now my eyeballs will float! Well whatever happens, I guess we will be meeting Baby Jack in 6 weeks or less!!

Well...

This morning while we were in church, I started having these strange feelings. I tried to push it out of my mind, but they just would not go away. When Igot home I called my mom and told her what I was feeling, and I asked her if she thought it was contractions...we thought that maybe they were so we began timing them. I was having them about every 30 minutes and they were lasting anywhere from 2-7 minutes. I called the hospital and they wanted me to come in so they could hook me up to the monitor. So we went and they hooked me up and I was having some contractions but Jack was tolerating them just fine, they also checked me and I am 1 centimeter dialated. They kept me there for awhile and just watched, and the contractions were not becoming regular or intensifying so they told us we could come home but that I am on strict bed rest for the remainder of the pregnancy. If Jack were to come now he would most likely be okay but I would have to deliever in Winston-Salem (they have a NICU), which I absolutely do not want to do. If Jack hangs on for 2-3 more weeks I can deliever at Hugh Chatham with my doctor and Jack will without a doubt be just fine. So it looks like a boring next few weeks for me. It is a good thing I have such a wonderful hubby who doesn't mind waiting on me! We go back to the doctor on Tuesday, day after tomorrow, and hopefully Dr. McIlveen will either set a date for induction or will give us a more concrete time frame. I will keep you updated.....

Back to the doctor

We went back to the doctor today for my OB checkup and to have a rescan in 4D. Dr. McIlveen was out performing an emergency c-section so we didn't get to talk to him, but we did get to have the ultrasound done. Last time Jack just would not cooperate...this time he still didn't want us to see his entire face but he did let us see most of it. He has his arm around his face that is what you see going up the right side of his litte face. During the visit we got to see him opening and closing his eyes, he yawned, sucked on his hand and punched and punched and punched. He finally has turned head down though which is a good thing but now his little feet are right in my ribs and he LOVES kicking them!

I guess he wants there to be some surprise on the day he arrives!

Enjoy the picture!

Hiccups

On Sunday I felt Jack have the hiccups for the first time! It was such a neat feeling...we could watch my whole tummy jumping in rythm. Guess he swallowed too much amniotic fluid...yuck!

We have our second birthing class tonight...we get to watch a vaginal delivery..yikes! I will let you know how it goes!

Precious...

As many of you know I teach PreK in the public school system. It has been really interesting to hear the children's thoughts as they watched my belly grow during the school year. They ask daily how baby Jack is doing and they love feeling him move inside of me. At dismissal time they give baby Jack hugs and kisses and wish him well. In dramatic play the girls and boys pretend to be pregnant and they perform delicate surgery, with play utensils to remove the babies. One day one of the girls was delivering a baby and told the expectant parent, "Here eat some Mac and Cheese, it always makes you feel better" I thought if only it were that easy...

At luch yesterday as I was downing my bottle of water one of the children asked, "Mrs. Lisa why do you drink so much water?" I told her because it was good for me and for baby Jack. "How does baby Jack get it?" I told her that when I swallow food or drink it goes to baby Jack's tummy first and when he gets all full my tummy gets whatever is left over. She thought about this for a minute and then said, "Well, Mrs. Lisa, did you have to swallow baby Jack for him to get in your tummy?"......so sweet the thoughts of the innocent.

Kicking, Kicking, Kicking...

Shew, the past few days Jack Nolan has been so active! I have been feeling him move from the time I wake up until I fall asleep at night, and even then he often wakes me up several times a night. We are not talking about small little jabs, I am talking acrobatics. You can watch my tummy, through my shirt and see him moving, sometimes he gets all on one side and I look "lopsided" so my girls tell me! We aren't sure what he is doing in there, but apparently he cannot get comfy. Please don't misunderstand, I am not complaining I am trying to cherish every movement. Right now I have him all to myself and I am the only one that gets to feel those miraculous movements of life. Pretty soon I will be "empty" and will have to share him with the world....

Birthing Class

Well we attended our first birthing class on Monday, 6/1. It was nice to be with other couples who are all due around the same time, and are experiencing the same things. We learned a lot about how your body changes when the baby is ready to be born, the start of the birthing process, what to expect, what things are suppose to feel like and when to head to the hospital. We got to share some of the things that are bothering us the most and the instructor shared ways to help with those issues, which was very helpful!

Then that night.....while I was trying to sleep I had a terrible dream that I was in labor and I was screaming at the top of my lungs, nothing anyone was doing was helping. Then once Jack was born and I was holding him Dr. McIlveen came over and told me that I only had 2 stitches and I started screaming at him, "Nooo, I said no stitches, I can't have stitches". Then I woke up...

I am certain that the dream was due to all of the information from the class the night before, but it was still unsettling. Next Monday we get to watch a vaginal delivery, so there is no telling what I will dream about that night....yikes!

'Till then......