Des Moines

Because of the fact that my cervix has been measuring short and I am still having contractions, even with the meds, my doctor sent me down to the specialists in Des Moines yesterday. When I asked the purpose of this appointment I was told it is kind of a second opinion that everything was being done correctly and to make sure no further steps might need to be taken. That being said, I was kind of hoping the appointment would be somewhat informative-sadly I was mistaken.

The best part of the appointment, as usual, was the ultrasound. The technician was very nice this time (different person than last time I was down there) and she explained everything she was doing. It was a more thorough ultrasound and they checked everything from making sure he had 5 fingers on each hand to making sure he didn't have cleft palate. Oh and also that HE was still a HE (hubby had decided to bring up girl names on the drive there and I told him get over it lol).

No mistaking that picture!

She went through all of the small detailed pictures they needed and got his measurements. He is measuring one day ahead this time and is now at 1lb 14oz which is perfectly average. His heartrate was at 153bpm. Oh, and he is laying straight across my stomach at the top, so all of the feelings I keep getting so low are his feet kicking. The last measurement she took was my cervical length which was at 2.57-basically the same as it was last week. This is good and bad. Good that it didn't go any smaller, but bad that it's still shorter than it should be. Here are a few more pictures she gave us before we were sent to the room for the "consult".

He is going to have big feet like daddy and brothers.

A good profile shot. His hand was in front of his head again...he seems to like doing that.

A nursse met us not long after being taken back and asked for a basic history of my pregnancies and overall health and then left us to sit. So after waiting a while in the room (and hearing the dr go in the room next to us to discover he was in the wrong room) the doctor came in along with a med student and a resident doctor. He pretty much just verified what the nurse had written down for my history and asked what my cervical length was then (even though it was right in front of him). He asked if I was having contractions, which I answered I was and that I was also taking Procardia to help with them but it wasn't always working. He asked what my doctor had me doing besides the medicine and I said bedrest for now. He didn't comment any further on any of that.

The doctor asked me to sit up on the table and he felt my stomach. He didn't comment on anything except for the fact that he could tell I was having a contraction at that time (like I couldn't tell or something). He didn't ask how often I have contractions or if my uterus felt normal size or anything.

He then went on and asked if I had dilated at all and I said I had no idea because I hadn't been checked. He said that he would have them start checking me and if I started to dilate I would be sent back down there. After asking again if I'd be checked, he asked if they could check me. I agreed and he left the room and let the resident check me. She was not gentle at all with it like I am used to from my doctors. She did say that I wasn't dilating yet and that my cervix was still firm (which is good). When I was changing back into my clothes I could hear her talking to the dr in the hall outside the room and he was saying that what she was reporting to him did not match the ultrasound results. I never heard the end of the arguement but they all came back in and he said I wasn't dilating and so just to keep in touch with my dr.

He then proceeded to pull out his phone and tell me that he had an application that could tell me what my chances of having a preterm baby were. I laughed to myself at this. The application asked 3 (maybe 4) questions: How many previous vaginal deliveries 0 or 1+? How many previous deliveries were preterm? Is the cervical length < or > 2.5cm? And maybe there was one about being dilated or not. Based on this application there is a 0% chance I will deliver before 32 weeks, a 4.6% chance of delivering before 34 weeks, and a 15.6% chance of delivering before 37 weeks. I'm sorry but if this was so accurate than why would I be seeing him or even my own doctor for any problems when I could just download this app myself that can tell me this based on a few questions...he seriously went by this too.

After all of this the appt was over. I had no chance to ask any questions or anything. He just told me that if I started dilating I would be sent down there again. In my opinion I would my rather see a doctor that actually knows what is going on with me and will pay attention to me than drive down there for him to say "my iPhone app says you're fine and keep doing what you're doing". I will more than likely request not to go back unless I am in actual labor and it would then be for the sake of the baby since there is not the proper care for premies around here.

I think I am done venting now. This appointment really stressed me out. After leaving I at least got some Arbys (since I was starving by then) and we even stopped in Story City for some Dairy Queen too. That just made me miserable of course so the rest of the day was spent with Bentley (who was definitely glad I was back) and Jaxton just wanted to go to my sister's house so I didn't see him much until he came back home at 9 when the sleepover failed. I made up for some of the stress by doing a little Christmas shopping today since we are having our exteneded family Christmas next weekend and there's no way I could let my husband go buy the gifts. Now its back to the couch and my book for the rest of the afternoon:)

Bad news

Went in today for another cervical check and it has gone down to 2.5cm from 3cm last week. I am now on bedrest until further notice and on the Procardia every 8 hours. If I am still having contractions by Friday I will be sent down to Des Moines next week to meet with a specialist to decide where to go from here.

Hospital trip:(

Yesterday I called my nurse because I had been having a lot of contractions the night before and some that morning also. As expected I was told to go in to see what was going on. They did a fetal fibernectin test to determine if it was likely id go into labor within the next two weeks. Thankfully that came back negative but that was the only good news. I was extremely dehydrated. My dr told me she wanted to admit me for fluids but I asked if I could come back later if I still needed tosince my sister needed to go take her pharmacy technician certification test and I was supposed to give her a ride. Reluctantly she agreed.

It was a really good day and I got to do a little baby shopping finally. I wasn't good at drinking fluids like I was supposed to be though. When I got home I got a call from my nurse checking in because my dr had called her asking why I hadn't gone in yet. I honesly didn't realize she expected me to either way so we decided I better go.

I was under the impression I would be getting some fluids and going home but that didn't work out. When I was on the way to the hospital I called to see where I was supposed to go and was informed Id be staying the night. I was hooked up to fluids right away and the nurse said I had an order for Procardia but since the contractions weren't that bad I asked to wait on it and the nurse agreed.

This morning the dr came in and wasn't very happy I had declined the Procardia because I was having contractions still. I have had a headache which is turning into a migraine also so needless to say I'm way worse this morning than I was last night. I was given Procardia and told to finish the bag of fluids and I would be checked on again soon.

The contractions did slow down but I still had a headache. I was able to leave but was given a prescription for every 8 hours. The stuff has made me feel worse than I have in a long time but I am trying to put up with it at least until I get checked on again Monday.

Check up

Went in today for a quick follow up from last time and saw the dr first. He said I'm measuring at 26 weeks instead of 23 so that was nice to hear! Baby's heartrate was in the upper 140s. Then I had an ultrasound to check my cervix since the followup was because of contractions. She took about ten measurements that ranged anywhere from 2.66 to 3.06 with only two of them over 3 where they should be:( I didn't see the dr again after the ultrasound but I have to go back in another 2 weeks. The receptionist tried talking him into 3 weeks because I have to do my diabetes test and rhogam shot then but he was set on 2...they didn't really say what that appt would even be for so of course now I'm just nervous and praying the cervical length doesn't go down anymore or ill be on meds again:(

October update

I forgot to update last week! I had a short appointment and didn't get to see my regular doctor since he was out so it was even shorter. The on call dr came in and took baby's heartrate which was at 152 and then said everything was measuring fine (even though he said he hadn't seen my chart yet and didn't measure anything...) and then asked if I had any questions. Since I don't care for him I waited til my nurse came in and asked her about my contractions I'd been having on and off. She of course scolded me for not calling the couple of times I probably should have. We scheduled and ultrasound for 11/2 to check my cervical length and have another appt to check on things.

I also asked her if she knew of any birth photographers because my husband probably won't be here for the birth of the baby (long story) and she said she hadn't seen anyone do that at their hospital:( She did say that she would be glad to come and take pictures for me though, which was really nice of her!

Since then I have talked to a good friend and she offered to make sure to drive me there if I needed it when the time comes and she said she could take some pictures for me too:) It's so nice knowing some people really do care when the one's who should don't seem to!

In other news we do have a name officially picked! I have been good and still haven't told anyone so I'm proud of myself! It's tough when I'm just talking though because I almost let it slip here and there. I also started in on his scrapbook already with the pregnancy pages so it's becoming a lot more real!

I'll try to remember to update after my appt next week again and maybe post another bump picture since it's sticking out more now!

It's a.....

Baby!

We had our big ultrasound today. We got there and the receptionist told us it would be at least another half hour after my scheduled time before we got in. Luckily I was able to have my appointment before the ultrasound so we didn't have to just sit there the whole time. Of course the appt was uneventful since they didn't even have to check the heartbeat or anything with me having an ultrasound right after.

So we went in for the ultrasound and right away while she was just moving the scanner around I could see what it was. She got a few measurements of the cervix and placenta first...the boring stuff out of the way. Then she moved on to baby. After a couple of random shots of the face and feet we saw the goods....sticking right out again. On the drive there Toad had said that it would probably have it's legs crossed or something and I told him it would have its legs wide open with a penis in between and of course that's exactly what he did! So we are expecting baby BOY number 3.

Otherwise everything seemed to be measuring ok. Baby is right on with my due date. Heartrate today was 148. Nothing else really to report!

August update

Not much has been going on again. I have had an ongoing cold/allergies for about three weeks now that is starting to really drive me insane but otherwise things have been smooth so I am thankful for that!

I had an appt on Tuesday which didn't consist of much. I brought up being sick and the dr said that it was most likely from the high levels of progesterone in my body right now mixed with the weather. She said try taking Zyrtec or Claritin to help. When I mentioned not sleeping at night she said I could take some Tylenol PM so I neeed to go get some of that and pray it works! I just haven't had the chance yet. Heard baby's heartbeat again and it was at 166. This makes me nervous because both of the boys were always in the 160's and I want a girl so bad!!

Wednesday we made the trip down to Des Moines for my first trimester scan. It was nothing like last time and I was very bummed. When I went with Bentley (only four days later than this time) the tech took a good 45 minutes-1 hour for the ultrasound. She was super nice and even told us what we were having. She explained everything she was doing and was very personable. Oh and she printed a ton of pics, which of course made me happy. This time around the chick just seemed rushed and like she didn't care at all. She ran through a few measurements, turned to 3d for 5 seconds and printed a pic, went back and saw the baby's foot and printed it, then said she couldn't get the one measurement she really needed so I needed to get up and walk and she left the room! About FIFTEEN minutes later she came back in and got what she needed and was about to quit but I asked if I could have at least one profile pic of the baby. She did that quick and printed another picture of the other foot (must've had a weird foot obsession) and we were done. She said it was too early to try and see the gender (which you can tell after 12 weeks if you know what you're doing). Got my finger poked for the blood test they do and we were done. Oh and baby's heartbeat was in the 170's (number escaped me for a moment) and it is measuring within two days of my due date. The only good out of the trip, other than seeing that baby was still ok and growing, was the Taco Johns on the way home.

Here are a few pics from the trip.

My next appt will be September 27th and I will get an ultrasound so we can find out what this baby is! Keeping our fingers crossed for a little girl...but we have been looking at boy names as well just in case. I keep trying not to get my hopes up too high because I was so bummed last time but whatever happens happens.

We also have decided we aren't telling anyone the name before the baby comes this time. We MAY have a first name for a boy finally but I still keep changing my mind on a girl name. We are doing this because last time I got soo mad at people for talking crap about the name Bentley that I almost didn't want the one name I loved anymore. I'm determined not to let that happen again and I know if people don't like the name they know better than to say something after the baby already has it for sure!