32 weeks!

I had planned to do my update after I went to the doctor yesterday afternoon for the 32 week checkup. Little did I know I would have so much to report!

On Monday night I was sleeping peacefully. And then I wasn’t. Around 1am I started having contractions. They were strong/painful and occurring every 4-5 minutes. After an hour I called the midwife and she told me to drink as much water as I could and take 2 tylenol and call her back if the contractions hadn’t stopped by 3am. At 3am I called her back and told her they were still coming at 4-5 minute intervals and she said to head into the hospital (my practice has a midwife in the hospital at all times). So I woke up Mark. He did very well considering he was fast asleep and then I was shaking him and saying “we need to go to the hospital now.” 32 weeks is TOO EARLY but we both stayed calm. I called Matt (of Matt and Wendy) and he came over to watch the kids while we were gone. Mark drove me to the hospital. We got there and they put me on the monitor and started asking zillions of questions. Luckily this means when we go to the hospital next time our admittance will be easier because all the information will be there ready. Why it isn’t there from last time is a bit of a mystery, but there you have it.

By this time the contractions HAD slowed down. They recorded a few blips, but mostly registered that my blood pressure was fine and that Margaret’s heart rate was fine and that everything was fine. They did a bunch of tests and everything came back just fine. So other than telling me to drink a gallon of water a day (!!!) they sent us home around 5.30am. We stopped off for breakfast sandwiches and got home around 6am. Matt got to go home before the kids woke up, and Mark went to bed. As expected, Max woke up around 6.30. I got the big kids up around 7am and got them off to school. Joanna said she would come and get Max instead of us driving him to her, but by 8am I was too tired to go on. I got Mark up to handle the last hour of Max-care before Joanna could come and get him. And then we were both asleep until lunch time.

I had a follow up visit yesterday with another midwife from my practice (they work it so that each doctor and midwife works a reasonable shift, but you are advised to meet all the doctors and midwives during your pregnancy because you get who you get when you go into labor). She checked me out and reviewed the notes from the midwife I had seen at the hospital. She recommended I go to get a sonogram today to check everything out. But otherwise said everything seemed fine.

So this morning I had my appointment at 10am (it was a miracle to get that appointment!) and I had the same sonogram tech I had the last two times I had sonograms. She confirmed that Margaret is still a girl (hurrah!) and did a very detailed check of all of her measurements to make sure she is growing like she should. The measurements all came out to within 3 days of my due date and the test are +/- 3 weeks so that means all is well. We even got to see that Margaret has some hair! And she was practicing breathing. She is butt down at the moment but I have 8 weeks to go and she still has room to turn around on her own. The sonogram tech also confirmed that there are no signs that I am going to have the baby early, so we can all breathe a sigh of relief on that! 34 weeks is the minimum but 37 weeks or more is what everyone is looking for. And another sonogram appointment means more photos. Unfortunately Margaret was wiggling around so it was hard to get a good picture. This is the best one. There is also another clear one showing that she is a girl, but I'm going to let her have a little privacy...

She is 4 pounds, 1 ounce and totally on track for being a good sized baby girl when she is born.

As of this morning I had gained a total of 16 pounds.

Here's the 32 week update:
http://www.babycenter.com/6_your-pregnancy-32-weeks_1121.bc
How your baby's growing:
By now, your baby weighs 3.75 pounds (pick up a large jicama) and is about 16.7 inches long, taking up a lot of space in your uterus. You're gaining about a pound a week and roughly half of that goes right to your baby. In fact, she'll gain a third to half of her birth weight during the next 7 weeks as she fattens up for survival outside the womb. She now has toenails, fingernails, and real hair (or at least respectable peach fuzz). Her skin is becoming soft and smooth as she plumps up in preparation for birth.