Mile Marker 25

Seems I might have left the blog and you guys hanging after the last post. We've been busy little beavers over here trying to get it together before Ailbe's arrival. We're losing the battle so far but we've been getting some help so there is still hope.

Since so much has happened I will post several posts to cover all the bases. First let's talk about the ECHO appointment. We saw a Pediatric Cardiologist on Sept.14th and after nearly an hour long scan the cardiologist said Ailbe's heart looked great and he also feels that the "mass" that is appearing on ultrasound is just the thymus gland. Whew! The hospital will still do an ultrasound on her chest when she is born but I think everyone feels pretty confident that there isn't anything to worry about. Thankfully I am still scheduled to deliver at Valley since everything looks good.

The picture above is of me today at 36 weeks (soon to be 37). As of Wednesday I have been cleared by the specialists at Maternal-Fetal Medicine and told I could do jumping jacks now if I wanted. Also, I have now been taken off all the meds (other than vitamins) that they had me on. Since I did not go into premature labor, since I did not end up needing the cerclage and since I was thankfully not labeled as having an incompetent cervix (there are probably so many jokes in there), if I were to get pregnant again, my pregnancy could be totally different and may or may not involve bedrest, talk of premature labor and they would not immediately want to do a cerclage. So that's good news. Also after my last OB appointment I found out the baby was engaged at +2. What does that mean? I wasn't really sure so I had to look it up. It means she is in the head down position, in my pelvis and pretty low. That would explain why I have some of the weird pains I have every once in awhile. I believe I read that when the baby is ready to be born they are at +4. The OB didn't seem concerned about early labor though so the plan is still set. She did say if I did not already have a scheduled c-section she thinks I would do fine with a VBAC. I let her know that I'll keep my c-section date and was in no way interested in a VBAC. She said she'd probably feel the same way. It's nice to be on the same page as your OB. She also assured me she would not look at me like a drug addict if I asked to be sent home with Percocet and Vicodin (which is what I had after Rooney). Another whew!

Everyone says to me this must feel like the longest pregnancy ever but it really hasn't. It has actually gone really fast. So much has been going on this last 9 months that even though I was on bedrest for 3 of those I was busy. Plus having a 3 year old I could hardly fixate on what was going on in my belly. This could be the reason that will only a couple weeks left we are running around like a couple of chickens with our heads cut off.

Hopefully Dana doesn't read that last line.