28 Week Update

Well, our little man was quite the stubborn one today. He has finally figured out a new way of hiding his little face. Dad says he gets a spanking as soon as he comes out for being so troublesome to his mom. I couldn't agree more.

As for the the story, I had been having signs of preterm labor since last Thursday. Lots of sharp pain, pressure, cramps, nausea and vomitting. Not good signs at all. Out of the 4 signs of preterm labor I had 3 of them. Lots of worrying going all week till my appointment. I put off going to the hospital and had lots of reasons for doing so since Jeff was in Fort Bragg and I felt like I couldn't leave at the time. I finally went in today.

The previous night I had drank 5-6 liters of water. For those Americans, I'm not sure what that equals out to, but approximately 12-16oz glasses of water. There could have been more, I kind of lost count. So, anyhoo, on top of that I haven't had any appetite. In fact, I have lost 2 pounds! I have to force myself to eat the tiniest of things like a peanut butter and jelly sandwich that had to be forced down, a happy meal hamburger, etc. I haven't slept well at all and just generally have not felt good period.

I went in to the doctor this morning. After giving my urine sample, the midwife took me right back. She had me weigh and I only gained 1 kilo in a whole month. I said 1 kilo and she that is okay. Loosely translated "not great but passing". She hooked me up on the doppler for the very first time. I sat there and listened the the little guy's heartbeat for 20 minutes. The first thing I noticed is that he has the same heartrate that his sister had when I was pregnant with her. While sitting there she took my blood pressure 110/75. She said not bad. However that should have been a sign for things to come. My previous blood pressures were 125/70, 120/70 and 120/75. My blood pressure today was even lower than when I was first pregnant before I got the awesome amount of blood flow in my body that I have today. 115/85. Anyways, that number should have said something because after she took, while I was still hooked to the Doppler, I started feeling bad. As I sat there it got worse, I turned to her and said "I feel REALLY badly. I don't know if I am going to throw up or pass out". It soon became apparent that I was going to pass out. The room kept spinning and I felt clammy. All I wanted to do was lay down, but I knew that I was in the perfect position. I was in a reclining chair (kind of- hard to explain). I was very secure. I couldn't have fell out of it, so I knew if I passed out I would be okay. Probably why she didn't show any concern at that time. Well, doppler was finally done. She sent me out and went to talk to the doctor.

I had just sat down next to my friend, Dawn, and was explaining that I was feeling really bad when the doctor called me back to his office. He had me take a seat while he finished up with another patient. I sat there and once again started feeling really horrible. I looked out his office windows and the snow and wanted to be out there so bad for the cool and fresh air. I tried to lay my head on his desk, but because of the big belly I couldn't lean down far enough. I put my head in my hands, but that just made my head hotter and I felt dizzier. I took my purse off his other chair and put my legs up and leaned back. I felt like I was going to fall out of the chair. About that time, I heard his printer going off (meaning prescription being printed out and he was coming out). So I took my legs off the chair so he didn't think me rude, and I sat there and waited for him. He walked his other patient up to the front and came back in time to see me put my face back in my hands. I sat up when he walked in and he said what is wrong with you? I told him all that had been going on with me and what was going on right then. He wanted to know where Jeff was? Fort Bragg. Did you drive yourself? No, I had a friend bring me. Good he said let's go back right now and check you out.

He had me undress so he could check my cervix. He said that I wasn't dialated or effaced so that was a good sign. He then did an internal ultrasound to measure my cervix. He was happy to see that it measured a 6mm which is 2mm more than what is normal. So, it's nice and thick. The whole time this was going on I was very sick. He had me go get dressed so he could do the regular ultrasound and invited me to bring my friend, Dawn in. Dawn was very excited to be able to see my little monkey in there kicking and moving around. It was about this time that I started feeling a bit better and I could tell when I looked in the mirror that I had regained color again. I was pretty white before. After the ultrasound, he measured a full week ahead of schedue and 1.1 kilos or in pounds 2.3 I think. His feet are even bigger than before. The only thing that wasn't a positive, but he said is too early to worry about is that he has turned and is now feet first. So, everything looked really good and the baby wasn't in any distress. His heartrate was perfect with no serious dips in it to indicate that something was wrong. He deemed the baby very healthy.

That is when he turned to me and started asking if I was eating breakfast. Yes, never miss it, Isaac demands that he gets fed. He wakes up when it's time to eat. I swear that kid has a great sense of smell. lol. He was very concerned about how I was feeling. He said maybe some part like the thirst if from my thyroid hormones, but they had to be tested anyways since they were so high the last time. Then he said he wanted to test my blood sugar for diabetes and my liver. They had a really hard time finding my veins which is amazing since I drank so much water the night before and didn't pass too much back out. After all that, he told me he wants to see me in two weeks and told me that if I had anymore problems to call him immediately. It's just really weird with all the symptoms that I had that I walked out without any answers just reassurances that the baby was okay. Which don't get me wrong, made me very happy to know that the little guy is still hanging in there all secure in his pouch. But, I wish I knew something.

The following is a bunch of videos that he took of Isaac. Isaac has found a new hiding place. He likes to mush his face into the placenta and cover himself with his umbilical cord so we can't see him. If you notice, in one of the videos he once again flips us off. I'm really starting to wonder about this kid. lol. I will do my best to tell you what is going on in the videos.

This is the first video and he is waving his hand back and forth and at one point it looks like he is sucking on his fingers. The blurry thing over his face is his umbilical cord. He then turns to hide his face.

So in this video is his face. The meaty looking thing that he has his face pressed against is his placenta. The blurry thing around his mouth that floats in and out is his umbilical cord. Towards the end of the video he shoves his hand through and you can see him moving his little fingers.

Ok, I have about 5 more videos, but after reviewing them these are the best. I'm sad to say that you will miss out on his evil little finger as it's on a video to large to load. I know you will miss that. lol.

Well, that is all for now folks, we will keep you updated if there are any major changes or anything that is newsworthy!

Love,

Pam and Isaac