Nearing the end

I do remember daydreaming about when i would be this close to the end of pregnancy, now that i'm here I have to remind myself of how little time is really left. I have come to that stage of the game when its a constant battle with my attitude. Generally i'm uncomfortable (in pain is more like it), not sleeping at all, queezy, grouchy....the list goes on. I need to find my rose colored glasses and put them on :) Baby is baking very well. He/She is still constantly on the move (ouch it hurts now) and this is very encouraging. I had my dr's appointment on thursday and it went okay. Baby was perfect and the Dr confirmed my suspicions that baby dropped. My platelets are back down to 65 but at least their still above 50. My Dr politly asked me to not have any more painful contractions until i reach 37 weeks, lol. This coming monday I have my appointment with the high risk obstetrician. I know it will calm my own Dr's nerves once I have seen him and I also get a bonus in office ultrasound out of the deal. I'm hoping that after this appoinment i can get some plan of action answers from my Dr. She has carefully evaded telling me what her plan is if my platelets fall below 50 either before or after 37 weeks. I think she is avoiding answering because she has never dealt with this probelm before and wants the high risk oby's opinion. I would just like to prepare mentally for steroids or transfusions etc.
I have been getting the occasional painful contractions but there are sparse and very low on the pain scale. If I am remembering correctly this is the time when i started getting them with Noah and Lily as well so it doesn't really concern me.

I am very satisfied to have most of the pre-baby lists finished. I am done pretty much all the christmas shopping (including stocking stuffers), my deep freeze is full of prepared meals, the christmas tree is up and decorated (much to my kids delight), and baby's clothes are washed. I think we may have even decided on names (i'm not saying what just yet though). There are very few things left to buy from my baby needs lists and really most of them are wants. I just might have to do another seperate post on that front :) I'm daydreaming about holding this new baby and finding out if its a boy or a girl!

point form update..

*my platelets went down to 64 last week
*they went back up to 79 this week
*baby's favorite thing to do is push really hard on my hips
*I'm pretty much done unpacking the new house
*I've started packing baby's hospital bag
*I'm super exhausted all the time
*The kids all think its funny that they can all walk faster than me
*We still haven't chosen names for baby
*The only baby items left to get on my list are a change pad for the change table, the snowsuit, gripe water, and Ovul.
*Lily said sadly yesterday that there wasn't enough snow yet for baby to come out

Platelets Went Up!

This will be short as i'm super duper tired. I had my doctors appointment yesterday. My platelet count went up from 74 to 79 which pleased me and my Doctor. the ultrasound results were perfect. My Doctor was in a great mood with all the good news. I couldn't bring myself to tell her that my count went up with lily right before they dropped by almost 40. Oh well, this time it might be different. I'm still seeing her week and doing my blood work weekly and she is refering me to the high risk oby/gyn just for a consultation. She said she just wants him to be aware of my pregnancy in case she needs his help (she is newish to obstetrics). While i'm okay with it, i'm not excited. I have heard this other doctor has over 25 years of experience and is pretty amazing, but i've also heard that he's very very pro c-section and also likes his interventions. But then I've also heard he almost never makes it to delivery rooms on time. Oh well. Its only a consultation.

The braxton hicks have definitly kicked up a notch this past week. They are starting to get a bit more than uncomfortable. This is the same time they increased with Lily as well so its not really worrying me, just a bit annoying.

Saturday is moving day #1!! Saturday we pack up the house into the moving trailer and have it all cleaned. We hand over the keys on saturday night. That night and sunday night me, noah, and lily are staying with my brother and his wife. Lawrence and Gabe are staying at some close friends ours house (Gabes best friend). Then we get the keys to our new place Monday morning. I'm so looking forward to Monday! Sunday should be really nice. It'll be good especially for me to have a full day off from moving right in the middle. A forced break. We'll get to go to church and take the kids out in their costumes and spend a bit of time with Jer and Tasha. I'm going to try and remember to take pictures of the house as soon as I get in there, before all the boxes start showing up!

Baby is doing good, mommy's body is not being good.

I had my monthly Dr's appointment this morning. Baby's heartbeat was perfect. My body however is not so perfect. My platelets have dropped again and my Doctor is clearly worried about it. She (and I) is just really hoping that they can stay above 50 until I reach at least 35 weeks, preferably 36. They are currently at 76. She has changed my blood work to weekly now and i'm now seeing her weekly as well. She also called in for an "emergency" ultrasound because i was measuring a bit small and she was concernced about my fluid levels. I was quite suprised that they got me in for an hour after my dr's appointment. The tech was super friendly and showed me baby's cute little face! Baby is measuring perfectly for my dates and she didn't seem worried about my fluid levels either so thats great news! At one point during the ultrasound she had me lying on my side so i was facing her. It took so much will power to not look at the screen! My babies are never shy about what sex they are and I really want to be surprised this time. But i was awfully tempted to peek and maybe see something! Its a good thing were moving in a week and half or i would probably be upstairs packing hospital bags and setting up baby gear right now, lol.
While i was leaving the clinic this morning I was thinking "so much for going into labor naturally for the first time." Right away i felt pretty convicted that i was limiting God. I dont' know what his plan is for this babies birth, but what i do know is that He is in control. If He wants to bring my platelets up then He can and will! But if He doesn't than He is still the same God, He is still all I need!

The next 5 weeks are going to be super busy which will help the time pass. Were moving into our new house from the 30th to the 1st which means lots of packing and then unpacking. Then I will be able to start setting up all the baby stuff. I need to finish all the christmas decorating, shopping, wrapping, and baking by November 30th, I need to buy a car seat and the rest of the baby essentials, pack the hospital bags, and get the some prepared meals into the freezer. Right now i'm feeling a little anxious because i can't start any of this until we have moved, but i think its actually better. Like I said it will help the time pass quicker and keep me busy! The kids are getting excited about the baby which is cute. Okay, Gabe and Lily are getting excited. Noah doesn't seem very interested in the whole thing. But knowing my shy little man, he is just too embarrased to show his excitment.

Thats all for now. I'll try and update again next week after my doctors appointment.

essentials I wish were currently in my closet

Old Navy fleece wrap front sweater

Old Navy long Maxi dress

Old Navy Layering tank

Old navy full panel leggings

Oh those darn platelets

I had my monthly prenatal appointment yesterday. Baby is doing great! Head down, heartrate in the 140's and kicking the doctor. My body however is being a little annoying. While my weight gain isn't out of control, I'm definitly heading towards my highest gain in pregnancy yet. Oh well. Then there's my platelets. Are you tired yet of hearing about my blood? At last months appointment my Dr. was very pleased that my platelets had gone up from 98 to 101. Not so this month. They have dropped down to 86. Still high enough to not overly worry or do anything yet but I could tell my Dr is none the less concerned about it. So i'm now getting my bloodwork done every two weeks instead of monthly. Luckily i'm used to needles by now. I'm not sure how low she'll let my count get before she wants to try intervention methods. With Lily they got as low as 50 but luckily they went back up a few days after that. I know that its below 50 that it gets dangerous. I looked over my pregnancy journal from when I was pregnant with Lily and my count didn't get this low until after 30 weeks. Hmmm. I'm mostly not worried about it, but i do have my moments where I think..."what if?" I'm really examining how I feel about blood transfusions and being on steroids? Time for some googling I think.

Otherwise things are good. I'm loving feeling this little one moving around all the time. Baby is so far really nice and sleeps all night and doesn't start kicking me until i wake up in the morning. My ribs are starting to feel a little cramped but its actually helping me to have better posture! I was thinking numbers last night, if i had this baby when i had Noah (36 weeks) then I would have only 10 weeks left!! Getting excited!!!

Almost to the third and Final!!!

In just over 2 weeks I will be in my third and final trimester of this pregnancy! I was feeling like its all going by very slowly (i think due in large part to the fact that Fin was just born and i have two friends here that are due any day) but thinking about being in my last trimester puts it all in a new light!! I'm still feeling pretty good. I'm tired but dealing with it fine. My back pain has been minimal to non-exsistant, and my pelvic pain has been better the last few weeks so thats really nice! Baby is moving like crazy all the time and it can get uncomfortable at times (though i still love it). Early this morning (about 3am) I had trouble getting back to sleep after my second trip to the bathroom because baby was kicking so hard, lol.

I've been thinking alot about labor this past week. While Ruth was delivering their little miracle i kept thinking about all she must be going through. I forced myself to think not only about the warm fuzzy moments of labor and delivery but of the.....not so heartwarming moments. Even remembering my worst moments in labor (yes i have been known to scream out "NO NO, OUT OUT!!") I still just cannot wait for it!! The sound of the baby's heartrate monitor, the nurses in and out chatting quietly, changing positions, the excitment of finally being able to push, and especially that moment of overwhelming relief when your baby joins your world and you hear that first cry!! Other moments that have always been favorites of mine are the first time you nurse your little one, and oh! The first time your alone with baby and you just have to take off their sleeper and look at their tiny toes, fingers, legs, and just marvel at how absolutely perfect they are! Another great moment for me has always been the first meal I have after labor! I'm always starving (even despite my ridiculously short labors) and know exactly what I want! With Lily, I was walking the hospital halls after having my water broken and I suddenly smelled chinese food! Christy and Ruth thought I was crazy and the smell was gone a second later but I told lawrence right there that as soon as Lily was born and he could get away, I needed chinese food! He dutifully ran out of the hospital and barely made it to Polly's before they closed and brought me chinese food at 10pm. I could barely stay awake to finish my meal but to this day I'm sure it was the best meal I have ever had!!

I'm trying not to think to hard about how different it will be having a baby so far away from all or our family and friends from Terrace! Even when in the hospital, it will be odd not seeing all the nurses that I know roaming the halls and giving me encouraging words (though i'm sure the nurses here will be wonderful). I'm sad that most of family and friends will not even get to meet this baby until its closer to 4 months old. At the same time, i'm so grateful for the amazing friends we have made here in Fort Mcmurray! God really has brought some amazing people into our lives!

On and totally different note; I'm so so so excited to be able to fly to Terrace next month for Ruths baby shower! My wonderful husband is taking a couple days off work to stay home with the kids so i can fly over by myself!! What a gift!!! I just can't wait to meet Finley!!!