Our local church family had a neat surprise for us yesterday during fellowship break – A Baby Bath! It was basically a low-key baby shower with a rubber ducky theme, hence, Baby Bath. Unfortunately, I don’t have pictures, because my camera (which is always in my purse) was in the work truck. But good memories! And someone had a 35mm camera that was used for pictures, so eventually we’ll have some evidence. 😉

In other pregnancy news, I hit 34 weeks tomorrow! I’ve been feeling pretty good lately, especially when I stay on top of getting my protein, exercise, vitamins, etc, etc. Swelling is under control, BP is fine, I’m getting used to the carpal tunnel, and my energy level overall is good. I do seem to be a little low on amniotic fluid, so I’m trying to drink even more water so baby can make more cushion for him or her self.

In other health news, we’re trying traction to try to get out the knot in my neck/shoulder. Between that and the wonderful massager that J bought for me, I’m not having much of the burning from the knot that has been haunting me for the last couple months. Praise the Lord!

I find myself pretty quiet lately online and in my email groups. It’s an interesting thing to me. It’s not that I’m hiding, or that I don’t want to communicate. It just seems important to use my energy elsewhere. So I find myself not replying to blogs and group emails on which I would usually comment, and blogging very little myself. I have tons to say, just seem to be on auto-filter. Some women nest right before going into labor; I think I nest 1-2 months beforehand. 🙂

Speaking of nesting, we re-arranged and cleaned our room yesterday. Yay! Our room is very dark (wood panelling that was there when we bought the house), and I very much feel the need to lighten things up. So we re-arranged and did some cleaning, and I got out the light-colored quilt. J even said that we could go ahead and paint that dark wood panelling! Woohoo!

Why all the need to lighten and brighten? I have had, with some of our babies, a tendency to slide downhill emotionally after birth. I’m greatly aware of how much my physical environment affects me, and I’m concerned that being in a dark dreary room during those critical first couple of weeks will drag me down emotionally. The thought of being in a fresh and light room, however, lifts my spirits even now! I’m praying that I can find someone willing to come and paint for us so that J doesn’t have to use his limited time off work to do it. We’ll see how it works out! 🙂

So that’s the latest scoop from our house – how are you all?

I talked this morning with my lovely midwife in Kansas, where we will be travelling for our “homebirth away from home.” in June. I feel much lighter of heart!

Some of the things that helped lighten my heart and ease my mind –

After hearing about what my body’s been doing the last few weeks, she’s not worried about preeclampsia at this point. I’m going to keep tabs on my BP, etc, and keep in place the healthy changes I’ve made in the last couple weeks, but my mental load over this issue is lessened by her confidence.

It was interesting to hear her recommendations for protein intake. I actually wasn’t doing poorly with protein intake before, according to what she recommends. I was still getting way too much junk food and too many wasteful carbs. I find it fascinating that so many women that I respect and see helping women have healthy babies have such varying opinions about things like optimal protein levels. I’m not sure where we’ll land over the next few weeks on what my daily goal will be for protein intake, but it’s encouraging to know that there probably isn’t a perfect number!

While not sounding happy about how much weight I’ve gained already (I was expressing my concern about this issue), she is happy with the fact that I’ve changed my eating and exercise habits the last couple weeks. She thinks that if I’m really committed to eating well and exercising faithfully, that I could healthily maintain my current weight or possibily drop some before delivery. Dropping weight is never a good goal in pregnancy, but it’s neat to know that if I take advantage of the spirit of power, love, and self-control that God has given me (2 Tim. 1.8), that I could see some of the junk food weight come off while nurishing my baby better.

And then there’s just the excitement that comes from getting ready to order a birth kit and starting to really prepare for a birth. That always gives me such a lift.

Guess what??

I’m gonna have a baby!!!!!!! 😀

First of all, I want to thank Michelle for not letting me blow off her concerns about the possibility of preeclampsia developing. You are a true friend!

Last night I got a call from a dear friend of mine who knows a TON about pregnancy and birth. She had read my Checking In post on my blogspot blog and called in the midst of an extremely busy and stressful time to check on me because my symptoms raised a lot of red flags for her as well. This was followed a few hours later by a terrific informative email from another dear friend who was alarmed by what was going on with me. They both were concerned about preeclampsia and had some super practical suggestions on how to head it off.

Sometime between yesterday evening and this morning, I realized that when I talked to my midwife about the tingling in my hands/arm, I didn’t mention the swelling. I called her this morning to round out the information I’d given her and she too was very concerned.

So, here are some changes I’m making. Some are specifically to head off the preeclampia possibility, some are things I should have been doing anyway and have been lazy about . . .

~ I am boosting my protein intake Bigtime. I have not been getting nearly enough protein in my diet and this is probably why I’m having such trouble. My goal is to get between 125-150 grams of protein a day for a while and see what this does to my symptoms.

~ I’m serious about charting my food intake now!

~ A cucumber a day.

~ I will be having my BP checked once a week for the rest of this pregnancy. What I learned last night is that often BP doesn’t do a sudden rise with preeclampsia, but it rises in smaller gradual steps. Tracking it weekly should help me keep tabs on where it’s headed. Today it was 112/62, which is right along what it’s been throughout this pregnancy.

~ I’m being faithful in taking my vitamins – duh!! I have been really bad about this this pregnancy.

~ Though I’m usually a strong advocate of moderation, which for me includes allowing myself a cup of coffee per day in pregnancy, I’m dropping the coffee for now. It interfers with calcium absorbption, and hubby’s research last night found a connection between low calcium levels and preeclampsia. I should be drinking my Red Raspberry Leaf tea anyway. 🙂

~ I have also been waaaaaaaaay lax about exercise this pregnancy, and I’m going to keep working on getting back into that habit, though not so aggressively as I was on Monday and Tuesday of this week. I’m going to plan on two 10 minute sessions of non-intense exercise each day. Reasons? 1) The exercise I got Monday and Tuesday does seem to have made a significant difference in the swelling. 2) Hubby found several studies last night that found that exercise did not have a negative effect on moms dealing with preeclampsia. 3) Two brief periods of gentle exercise should not offset the huge boost I’m making in my protein levels.
Note – I’m open to more input and research on this.

There are probably other things I’m working on, but that’s what I can think of at the moment. And I need a nap. 🙂

I have more eternally significant things to blog about today, but I feel compelled to share with you that I am so glad it is starting to feel like spring! Besides all the usual reasons, there’s my maternity wardrobe. And my size. Or maybe it’s the way my maternity wardrobe and my size are fitting together. For a little while longer….

You see, the cute summer clothes that I had looked forward to wearing closer to “term” fit me now. Not fit as in, “I’m pregnant-enough-looking to avoid looking ridiculous wearing this outfit” but fit as in, “Hmmm… won’t be able to wear this much longer.” The large end of my maternity wardrobe is all summer stuff, hence the rejoicing over springlike weather.

About the size issue… I started this pregnancy about 25 pounds heavier than I would have liked to have been. I’m 25 weeks along and I’ve gained 30 pounds. The midwife is not concerned about the weight, but she has cleared me to start watching my carbs if it will make me feel better. I’m not too worried about the weight myself, because I think a big part of why I just couldn’t lose it before I got pregnant was because of the estrogen dominance issue. I feel very confident about getting it off after the baby arrives.

In the meantime, it won’t be long before I’m going to run out of clothes that fit! For now, though, I’m just going to enjoy wearing my summer clothes. I shall consider myself the beacon of coming warm weather!

This is mostly for my own documentation…

I’m looking forward to my next prenatal – to seeing what my caregiver thinks of my fundal height. I’ve been consciously practicing self-palpation for my last several pregnancies, and I’m regularly feeling the top of my fundus at my belly button. On me, that’s ~22-23 cm. Generally, your fundus corresponds to the number of weeks along you are, and for me that’s held true through 6 previous pregnancies.

Here are some possible reasons I found on babycenter.com for measuring “large for dates”:
• Your due date is off. (Nope, don’t think that’s possible)

• You have looser abdominal muscles than most women as a result of an earlier pregnancy. (rofl!! I’ve had 6 earlier pregnancies – ya think?! But my abdominal muscles have been looser than normal for 10 years, so I’m not thinking this is it)

• You have uterine fibroids. (This is a known side effect of estrogen dominance, so I’m not ruling it out. However, looking at the list, pre-pregnancy I had no symptoms of uterine fibroids, so I’m not super concerned about this)

• You’re carrying twins or more. (Twins do run in my mom’s family…)

• You have too much amniotic fluid. (I suppose this is possible, but honestly, what I’m feeling does not feel like amniotic fluid to me)

• Your baby is positioned high above your pelvis, which might be the case with a breech baby or if you have a placenta previa. (This early in the pregnancy, I don’t think these would really be issues)

• You have a bigger-than-normal baby because of gestational diabetes. This condition is known as macrosomia. You may need to be tested to rule it out. (Given my history, the list of risk factors, and my current condition, I really don’t think this is it. And my urine’s been “great”! lol)

So that’s the fundal height report. Any reasons you know of that aren’t listed here?

16 weeks today!

I had a wonderful treat last night, thanks to our cat Beren. He climbed up in my lap to be petted, and started purring away. I’ve often heard that babies in the womb really respond to cats, but I’d never experienced it myself, as this is the first pregnancy I’ve been through while having a cat.

It’s true! Our little one must have felt that purring and gotten excited. I got to feel the baby move for the first time. And the second, third, etc. It was so special!

Things seem to have calmed down with the cramping I was having, praise the Lord. Yesterday I had almost no cramping, and today I haven’t had any so far. I’m going to continue being careful with my activity levels (and use my timer whenever I’m doing anything standing up/moving around!) today, but I’m optimistic that I’m over the trouble spot.

I’m putting more details here of this whole thing, just to be sure I’m tracking stuff well.

Mental/Emotional Notes:
The hardest part for me of this experience was feeling like it was my fault. See… I ran out of my progesterone cream about a week before I started cramping. I’m supposed to be using it until I’m at least 15 weeks, which is when the placenta is really supposed to kick in with extra progesterone production. So I kept telling myself I’d run to the herb store (we have a Terrific herb store here in our tiny town – it’s called Root Diggin’ Nation – isn’t that a hoot?!). But I kept not getting it done.

To my guilty sobs Friday night of “How will either of us every forgive me if we lose this baby because I was too lazy to get more Prog. cream?,” my wonderful husband assured me that if the Lord took this baby home, it would not be my fault. All life is in His hands, and if He chooses to take this little one home to praise His name for eternity, we can trust Him with that.

I found myself repeating Ps. 131 over and over to myself:
Oh LORD, my heart is not proud, nor my eyes haughty;
Nor do I involve myself in great matters,
Or in things too difficult for me.
Surely I have composed and quieted my soul;
Like a weaned child rests against his mother,
My soul is like a weaned child within me.
O Israel, hope in the LORD
From this time forth and forever.

What a wonderful thing to know that we have a loving and sovereign God.

“Treatment” notes:
~~I’ve been drinking Tons of water (dehydratiion can cause cramping, and Thursday was not a well-hydrated day) and focusing on taking it easy and trusting the Lord (read: accept His peace and Stay Calm).
~~Mom Smith picked up some Cramp Bark extract for me Friday afternoon, and that seems to help a lot. I haven’t needed to use it since Saturday late afternoon, though, praise Him!
~~She also picked up some Prog. Cream, but it had Evening Primrose Oil in it, which is a phyto-estrogen – Not Good! So Jonathan picked up some simple Prog. Cream on his way home that evening, and I’ve been doubling up on that since Friday.
~~I remembered to take Vit E on Friday, but have forgotten it since unitl just now. I need to take some today, probably.

That’s the scoop!

Monday, we had our first prenatal – probably the latest we’ve ever had a first prenatal, but all is well.

Random notations from the prenatal-

Need to drink more water. I haven’t been feeling as “green” lately, so it’s easier to slack on the drinking. It’s cool all the stuff your urine call tell you, eh?

My iron is great – 12.something. I was a bit concerned because I haven’t done the best job of taking my vitamins lately.

Fundal height – not measured, but in the right spot.

Diet’s okay, but could use improvement. Got sheets to keep track of what I eat. Guess I’ll start tomorrow…. that Snickers I got at the hardware store today probably blew it, lol. 😉

Need to find a way to exercise again. I was doing so well with this for a while, but…

Due to a communication glitch between Jonathan and I, we ended up hearing our little one’s heartbeat. We usually have our care providers use a fetascope unless there is an indicated need for a doppler check, so except for once when we were leaving on vacation and I hadn’t felt movement yet, we generally just hear the doppler occasionally during L&D. I have to admit. It was Such a Thrill to hear that little hearbeat. Wowsers. 164, by the way.

My cheapo wheel was off by a couple days (something I would have realized if I’d bothered to look at the calendar). Our new official ETA is June 19. The big deal with the wheel being off is that I actually hit 12 weeks yesterday (instead of tomorrow). No cramping, no spotting. So I think I’m ready to do the next post in My Balancing Journey – what I’ve learned about hormone imbalance. Praise the Lord!