It's a go!

We had our last BPP today and an amniocentesis. My two previous experiences with amnios were mixed--the first one was simple and actually comical while the second one was awful and painfully uncomfortable. So I didn't know what to expect this time around. Baby had one pocket of fluid up near my ribs so that's where the doctor went. Fortunately, this time was quite easy and my body decided to wait until the needle was removed to have a contraction. Whew!!

Baby was measuring over 8 pounds today and we heard an interesting anecdotal while the doc was prepping my belly for the procedure. He said to the ultrasound tech, "Remember that one from Friday that measured 7lbs, 7oz.? She gave birth this weekend and the baby was 9lbs, 11oz." WHAT??!! I said, "Oh, that's a great story to tell me right now!"

We got a call from my OB at 1:45 saying that Baby's lungs showed maturity so we're a GO for Wednesday morning at 6am. We are as ready as we'll ever be. We got most things ready this weekend and all set up for Baby's arrival. I got the girls' clothes all set out for the week, some meals in the freezer, all the baby "equipment" in place, the car seat straps cleaned and starched, and my bag packed (almost). So now we just wait for another 36 or so hours and we'll get things started to meet our new guy or gal. :D

Next time I update, hopefully it'll include Baby Murphy pictures!

Disgruntled Baby

Our most recent ultrasound showed Baby continuing to grow well, but looking slightly disgruntled. Every couple of minutes, Baby would make the "crying face" and look really sad. If we could hear it, it would have been whimpering and starting to cry. :(

We're back to the doc on Monday for an amniocentesis and we're still on schedule to induce on Wednesday. :)

Take a peek at Disgruntled Baby (and his or her cheeks!!):

Gigantaur strikes again

I had another ultrasound today to check baby's muscle tone, breathing movements, estimated size, placental function, and fluid level. Everything checked out well except the fluid level (it was about half of what it was last week) and the baby's size. As has been the case all along, Baby measured about 4 weeks too big again. Baby measured 6lbs, 4oz last week. Today, Baby measured 7lbs, 2oz. That's just about a pound since last Wednesday and about 2lbs bigger than an average 34w5d baby. YIKES!! We've jokingly been calling the baby Gigantaur and today when the tech covered the screen so I couldn't see the size, I knew that our not-so-little one was up to something.

The tech said she'd run the fluid level by the doctor because of the rapid decrease but that it should still be in the "safe level" zone.

Next ultrasound is Monday morning and I'll see my regular OB in the afternoon that day. We should know more then. But so far, the plan is still to do the amnio on February 2nd and induce on February 4th. The early induction is scheduled because of our significantly elevated risk of placental abruption because we had that complication during Charlotte's labor. I asked my OB about it yesterday and she said that we will be prepared in the event that it reoccurs because she is meeting us at the hospital and remaining there all day until Gigantaur is born. So that makes me feel better about that aspect. I'll be happy to report a safe, healthy delivery in two weeks!!



Here's the photo. Baby was sticking out its tongue...or its face is just so fat it had no other choice!! LOL!! Tilt your head to the right--Baby is lying sideways with its eyes in shadow.

Baby update

We had an ultrasound today to check baby's growth and to check the placenta. Baby looked great and is definitely getting bigger--2 lbs, 10 oz according to the scan. The tech told us when to look away so we didn't accidently see something (or nothing) in a specific gender-determining area. We asked about how many people don't find out the gender and she said sometimes it's as high as about 25% of their patients but it's usually less than that.

I'm about an inch away from bed rest but so far I've only been instruction to "take it very easy" until I see the cardiologist on Friday. My heart has been doing weird things that landed me in the ER last week after fainting several times in public. But hopefully we'll figure out a plan on Friday that doesn't include bed rest. My OB thinks that it's probably BECAUSE of the meds that I'm feeling this way (beyond exhausted, heart palpitations, extreme dry mouth, dizziness, ears ringing, etc) but because of my poor response to beta blockers, we really have no other medication options to control the gestational hypertension. So if I go off the meds, I will have to be on strict bed rest.

He did instruct me to stop taking the one med--and it's the one that I think is causing most of my symptoms--so hopefully that will help. But I think it's also the one doing the most work to control my blood pressure so I might be shooting myself in the foot. The last complication with that is my low iron levels. I can't take the iron supplements because they interfere with the absorption of the blood pressure med I'm now taking 3 times/day. So my iron levels are dropping, which doesn't help my exhaustion level, which is a side effect of the blood pressure med.

So I'm a complete wreck, but Baby is healthy (presumably--we'll know for sure after our visit with the pediatric cardiologist on Monday morning) and that's ALL that matters!

Here are the two latest photos:

Baby's profile

3/4D Image of Baby's face (No, there's not really a big hole in Baby's head)

Getting bigger

Baby is growing, that's for sure. I was concerned about its fluid level after being so dehydrated with that stomach bug last week. But since I had an ultrasound scheduled for that Monday, I did my best to get fluids and rest in the meantime.

Again, we didn't get our favorite tech, even though I scheduled the appointment with her. I need to make sure the next one IS with her or I'm going to start getting upset. I'll call tomorrow to double check.

Anyway, Baby was moving all around so the tech had a hard time getting some of the shots she needed. Fortunately, we were able to get a couple of good head shots, though. The first one makes me smile because it looks like Baby is laughing. The second one is just a general profile but still amazing to see how much Baby has grown. Measuring a hint big, Baby weighed about 1 1/2 pounds (according to ultrasound which we all know isn't the most reliable in determining fetal weight) so I was pleased. That's some actual weight--we're past the point of measuring strictly in ounces. YAY!!

So here are Baby's latest portraits!!

Photo Shoot and Complications

It probably seems like all we do is hang out at the doctor's office and have ultrasounds. I promise we do more than that. But it's about the most interesting thing we're doing these days. I WILL post about other things going on in our days--soon--I promise.

But in the meantime, I have more baby photos to show. We had our scheduled ultrasound today and Baby was measuring a few days bigger than its gestation (and had a good heart rate of 170), so that's good. Baby was moving around in there and Char said, "Mom, the baby is waving at me!" She's so in love with the baby already. Our RE (Dr. Burwinkel) is ready to get us off of his books and send me back to my regular OB.

And, it wouldn't be a Murphy pregnancy without our share of complications, right? It seems that this pregnancy is going to be no different. While Baby looks great and and is growing at just the right pace, the cause for my bleeding is a complete placenta previa. The baby's placenta is totally covering my cervix so when I do too much activity (lifting, coughing, dancing, etc.), a little bit of the placenta tears and I bleed. So that's a big thumbs down. :( We had that with Charlotte and whether or not it had anything to do with the placental abruption that happened during labor, we'll never know. But I am at a higher risk for bleeding and stuff because of the previa. So I'm under orders to "take it easy" until further notice. The placenta will likely move out of the way by the time we're ready to deliver, but it'll definitely be something to watch.

Okay, so here are the photos. Our little bean has turned into a moving, wiggling, waving alien. :)

Dr. Burwinkel labeled the hands, legs, and head for the girls. They, at ages 3 & 5, had a hard time deciphering which parts were what. They could tell the heart because we could see it beating and they could tell where the hands and legs were when Baby moved around, but they had difficulty with a still photo. So he did this one for them.

This is a profile photo of Baby's body. I'm supposed to be 10w4d today and baby was measuring a few days bigger at 11w1d, so we're NOT complaining that Baby is growing so well!! :)

Grow, Bean, Grow!!

We had another ultrasound this morning and I was a little tense because we had the girls with us. I was worried that if something was wrong, they'd be there to see me distraught.

Fortunately, all is well and Baby is growing well. Again Baby is right on target for growth and the heart rate has increased to 175 beats/minute!! YAY!! The girls LOVED hearing the heartbeat and I loved seeing their faces when they heard it.

Our next ultrasound is August 5.

Here's our latest photo. Baby is almost upside down with the head toward the lower right and bottom toward the top left. If you look closely, you can see a little arm hanging down, too. YAY!!

The sweetest sound

Because we've had 5 miscarriages since November 2006, we never count on a positive pregnancy test to mean much of anything until we see or hear a heartbeat. We haven't had that pleasure since Charlotte was in utero, so considering I've been pregnant 5 times since then, it's definitely not a given that we'll carry to term.

But today changed all of that. After finding out a couple of weeks ago that we were again expecting, I've been on pins and needles (twice daily heparin shots, that is) waiting to see if this one is going to "stick".

We had an ultrasound appointment this afternoon and I was nervous, excited, and scared to death. But it didn't take long for me to see that beautiful image---a beating heart. And it was really pumping--not just a flicker--it was a REALLY, TRULY, LIVING HEARTBEAT!! I immediately covered my face and sobbed. I was crying so hard that that doctor couldn't focus the probe on the heartbeat to hear it. When I realized what he was doing, I gathered myself (as best I could) and waited. Low and behold, there was the sweet, beautiful sound. Thumpa, thumpa, thumpa, thumpa-----I could have listened for hours.

So while we're only 6w5d, it may as well be delivery day for me. We are thrilled and elated that God has blessed us with a living baby and we pray that he/she continues to grow and develop and stay in there as long as possible. Hopefully in February, we'll be posting pics of a brand new Murphy.

In the meantime, here's a shot from today's ultrasound. Not the greatest photo in the world but it's Baby Murphy's first photo. :)