FFN Test Negative / 32w6d today

Well, I am 32w6d today. I just found out the FFN test I took last Friday at 32w2d was negative so there is a 99% chance I will not go into labor in the next 1 1/2 weeks. Yeah! I feel a little relief from this news today.... No more FFN tests for me as my drs office does not do them after 34 weeks.

29 days until full term and 50 days until 40 weeks. My drs told me they do not stop labor after 36 weeks. I am of course hoping I will reach at least 37 weeks!!

I am feeling quite uncomfortable these days between the Braxton Hicks, back pain and now, I think my little guy is either starting to drop or I am having serious ligament stretching in my pelvic region. I am really not sure how to tell the difference. I am more leaning towards ligament stretching as I do not have as much pressure when I stand or lay down. I feel it more when I am sitting and especially when I am driving - and of course I sit all day for work. Is there a better way to tell the difference? Any advice? Should I worry if he is starting to drop this early? Can you tell I am a FTM with no experience = ). Is there a point when I should worry and call my dr? My next appt is not for another 10 days. Lots of questions going through my mind.

Speaking of laying down, it is time for me to go rest for the evening. I have been sitting all day for work. Magnum PI and Bones re-runs, here I come!!!

A rough morning today. Mini hormonal episode!!

I had a rough morning today! I was so tired as I did not sleep well last night at all. I ended up going back to the hospital last night after the Braxton Hicks were coming every 3-10 minutes and the six hours had not gone by since I had my last Procardia pill. I called the OB unit since it was after hours and my dr, who was there for a c-section, asked for me to come in to be monitored. I ended up being on the monitor for about 2 hours -- and while they monitored me, I drank tons of water (to try to avoid an IV) and they had me take another Procardia. When everything calmed down, they sent me home. I just wish there was more of an explanation on why this was happening. But thankfully and most importantly, everything sounded good with Baby Dude. Needless to say, I did not sleep well and was way overtired today. My next OB appt is on Friday and they are going to give me another FFN test. I am going to see if they can check my cerivx too. Usually telling myself this is practice helps me, but it did not this morning.

So my boss (who I do not like) asked me how I am feeling and I just broke down crying as I did not feel well, I was overtired, I am stressed about getting all my work done, etc. Well, instead of letting me go home or trying to console me, he starts criticizing me about how I did not do this right yesterday, I need to do this, etc etc. I just sat there with tears in amazement about how someone could be so cold. If you did not really care about how I felt, why did you ask.

After I left his office, I went to call my DH as I needed to hear his voice. He did his best to calm me down but I know he feels helpless as he is not sure what to do. He is an engineer and always wants to "fix" it so when there is no fix, he has trouble. But he listened the best he could and it helped!! I then still could not go back to my desk so I went to visit a friend in another office. He has three kids so he understand what I am going through -- and so we sat & talked for about 30 minutes. Another co-worker of mine was looking for me to make sure that I was OK and she talked with us for a little while too. This helped and I was able to go back to work for the rest of the afternoon. I took another Procardia when it was time and felt better.

I came home from work and the BH started up again. I could not take another pill for a while so I tried to offset the effects with water & laying down. They seem to be most frequent in the afternoon/evenings, I am not sure why. Thank goodness for the old episodes of Magnum PI we now have on video. They are helping to distract my mind while I am resting.

I feel like all I do is complain about the BHs. I am not meaning to complain as I am so thankful to be pregnant. Except for these contractions, I have been very lucky with my pregnancy. However uncomfortable I am, I always try to remember that and I try to think about my little boy & how much I love him. I just wish I could find a way to not overshadow my happiness so much with the constant anxiety and worry of the BHs.

Enough rambling from me. I am off to try to get a few hours of sleep tonight. Hopefully tomorrow will start out better. I will be 32 weeks tomorrow... 35 days until full term and 56 days until my EDD.

31w4d update

How far along?: 31w4d = ) 59 (+ / -) days to go! My mom predicted this past weekend that I will deliver early and I too am having that gut feeling with all the Braxton Hicks I am still having! I just hope that I can make it to 37 weeks, which is actually only 38 days away....

Weight?: ~ 15-20 pounds. The weight gain has increased the last couple of weeks, unfortunately. And I have had several comments about how much I have "grown" the last two weeks. I have tried to keep is slow & steady but I think fluid retention is causing some of the weight gain too as my feet are starting to swell more. I hope I do not get "yelled" at during my OB appt on Friday.

Sleep?: Still not very good. I am still having a lot of trouble trouble getting comfortable and it is getting harder to toss and turn too! It is still a struggle between my back and side. I am trying to at least prop myself up with two pillows so I am not flat on my back if I do roll onto my back -- and this also helps with the heartburn. I also wake up at 3am almost every morning and can not go back to sleep until 4ish-am. This weekend I have tried to take short naps to help offset the lack of sleep at night.

Best moment this week?: Hearing that my FFN test was negative again and as always, I am loving the movement!! Baby Dude has also had hiccups a couple of times this week -- my DH was able to feel them this morning = )

Food cravings?: SWEETS!! I think this is also contributing to my weight gain. My mom made a coffee cake for us last week when she was in town last weekend and it is so yummy!!! I could not stop eating it all week!! And I have been craving M&Ms too! Not good!! I am trying to balance with fruits & veggies though!

What I miss?: Diet Coke!

What I'm looking forward to?: My next OB appt this Friday!! And our nursery furniture arriving in about 2 weeks (beginning of September sometime!)

How's Daddy? He is well and taking good care of me. Yesterday I had another frequent Braxton Hicks episode and he made sure I rested, took my medication and drank my water while he did the chores around the house! I do feel bad though as he is so busy during the week and has not had much time to relax on the weekends. I wish I could do more.

Emotions: Still up and down!! I am so excited but starting to get nervous about labor & delivery. We talked about it in our childbirth class this past week and it was the first time I have started to get a little scared! Still worried about the frequent Braxton Hicks. The Procardia is helping but they are still more frequent than I would like.

Other:
** DH started outlining the room to start painting the nursery. Hopefully he can paint next weekend.
** I ordered a few more clothes and basics for Baby Dude from diapers.com. I still feel like there is alot more to get though.
** Crazy Busy at work right now, which is good & bad! It is good as last week went by very fast but bad because I am very tired when I get home from work & have no energy for other things!
** Trying to figure out:
** when should we install and have the car seat checked?
** is having a birth plan important?
** I am taking child birth classes... What else can I do to calm my nerves about labor & delivery?
** when and what I should pack for the hospital?
** what baby basics should I make sure I have before Baby Dude arrives?
** are there any books I should be reading now? A couple were recommended regarding sleep schedules.
** I would like to do something special for my DH for all of his support & help while I have not been able to do as much the past few weeks. Not sure what to do yet though?!?

My first (and last) massage ever.....

I had my very first massage today and I hated it!! I was so bummed as I was hoping to like it and I was hoping it would help my lower back pain. I found it uncomfortable (even though she had me in the proper position on my side with lots of pillows and even rotated me half way through) and I found myself not being able to relax. On top of this, her daughter is married to the son of the Senior Vice President in my office. Too weird for me!! And unfortunately, my back hurts more today than it has in the past few days! I am now trying to think of alternatives to help my back -- I bought a maternity support belt that I am going to finally try -- and I am going to look for the rice heating packs to try as well!! I have already taken 3 regular strength tylenol today (two this morning and one this afternoon). I think I may need to take another soon.... I am trying so hard not to take them but I think it is better to take and not be in too much pain.

On more positives notes, my FFN test from Friday came back negative again. YEAH! The And I will be 31 weeks tomorrow!! Double YEAH!!!!

3D U/S Pics at 30w2d and Weekend Update

Yesterday I had another 3D u/s done as my mom is in town and she could not be there with us when we went a few weeks ago. Unfortunately, my little guy was not too cooperative and kept hiding from us. He was hugging the placenta for the first part and then turned himself toward my back the second half. I attached two pictures that are not too too bad - one looks like he might be sucking his thumb and the other he has his mouth open!! Even though he was camera shy, it was still amazing and I loved every minute of it! The u/s tech this time was not as good as the first time but she was very very nice.

After the u/s, we went for my 30 week OB appt and it was smooth! They did another FFN test and hopefully that will come back negative. I did not hear anything yesterday so hopefully that is a good sign. I hope they will call me on Monday to tell me the results either way -- but knowing my OB office, if it is negative, I will either not here unless I call or they will call mid-week. I love my OB's office except for they are not very good at calling with good news!!!

My mom and I went out for lunch & did a little shopping yesterday. I held out for as long as I could before my back starting bothering me. We started buying some of the basics --- onesies, towels, wash clothes, changing table organizer, swaddlers, sleepers, etc etc. It was definitely a good start -- although I feel like there is so much more to get!! I hope our furniture comes soon so I can start organizing & setting up the nursery. I am probably going to do most of the rest of my shopping online though. We may go to Babie R Us tomorrow if I am feeling OK after we drop my mom off at the airport - there is not one close to us but there is one close to the airport, which is an hour away. We came home after shopping & I was able to rest a little -- then we went out for a fun dinner.

It is HOT/HUMID today but there is a craft fair that we may go to. It is a part of Blueberry Festival this weekend - which is a big weekend long festival in our town!! It is crazy - people come from all over the area (lots of people from Chicago) for this. To avoid all the tourists, we are going to get some fresh veggies at the farm market and grill out at home tonight. I love fresh veggies & steak cooked on the grill. YUMMY!!

Not sure what else is on our agenda today. Just one of those days where we are playing everything by ear! I am on my way soon to pick up my DH & my mom from my DH's weekend walk into town. Happy Saturday!!!

Irritable Uterus

I started having more tight feelings that seemed like they were coming every 5 to 10 minutes. This happened during lunch time so I left work to start heading towards the drs office or home if the drs office did not call me back before I got home as I had to leave a message. They did call me back so I went in for an appointment. I finally got the results from the FFN test last week and it was negative, so that was some good news. The dr checked my cervix again (not fun), listened to the hb and did his normal measurements. He said my cervix is high/closed although softening a little. He said it is nothing to worry about as it is what he would expect for how far along I am. Hb sounded good and I have grown nicely from my last appt. I was surprised I only gained 1 pound in two weeks. To sum it up, the dr said I have quite the irritable uterus. He is having me keep my appt on Friday and I will have another FFN test done. He also prescribed a medication (procardia) for me to take when needed. I took one this evening and it has helped a little. I feel like a walking drug store btw my thyroid meds, prenatal vitamins, iron and now this. I feel bad I am taking another medication but if it helps....

On a positive ending note, I will be 30 weeks tomorrow. Yeah!!!!!

Waking up in the middle of the night....

It seems to be a common thing lately where I wake up about 3am and can not go back to bed. Although reading on the internet is probably not the best thing to try to help me go back to sleep, it is what I seem to do! Since I can not sleep, I thought I could ramble on a little bit.....

This weekend was a lazy weekend for me. I am still getting quite a few Braxton Hicks daily despite my efforts to drink as much water as I can -- so much so I feel like I am going to float away. Even though my dr did not put me on any restrictions, I am being very careful. Our couches in our family room are not even comfortable for me any more so my DH set up a small TV in our bedroom for me to be able to lie down on our bed. In our almost 8 years of marraige, we have never had a TV in our bedroom. I caught up on my DVDs of How I Met Your Mother! Not sure what I will watch when I am completely caught up - I am thinking of getting Sex in the City DVDs next!

My DH had a very productive weekend - he put together the stroller/car seat & pack n play on Saturday. He cleaned the house as my mom is supposed to visit this weekend. He did laundry, cut the grass and even worked on Sunday afternoon. And he made me a nice dinner last night too. I feel so bad that I am not able to help much. I did take him out for ice cream this weekend to say thank you!!

We went to Menards (store like Lowe's here in Michigan) yesterday and bought some paint to work on the nursery. I was happy to have a chance to get out of the house for a little while -- but even at the store I felt my uterus tighten & was dizzy. I ended up going to sit in the car while I waited for my DH. I came home, drank some water and laid down -- and felt a little better.

My mom is supposed to come visit this weekend to go shopping but I am debating about having her cancel her trip = (. I really am not sure how much walking around/shopping I am up to! She did say she would help around the house if she came and I khow my DH would keep her busy too, but I still feel bad if I am not up to doing much especially since she was coming up to help me shop/register. I was hoping a weekend of laziness would help me to feel better but I am not sure it has as the BH are still there! I still have a few days to decide so hopefully I will feel a little better the next couple of days.... I am trying to stay positive!!

I think I am going to try to go back to sleep -- the alarm will be going off in just a few hours!

Dehydrated!

Yesterday afternoon towards the end of my work day, I started having really tight feelings again! I needed to call the drs back about my thyroid results so I decided to call & tell them about the tight feelings I was having again. The nurse called me back and said to come into the hospital again. I ended up spending ~ 5 hours in the hospital last night.

They actually had me get into one of the hospital gowns this time (I could not figure out how to get into it so I had to ask the nurse. I was pretty embarrased.) They hooked me up to the NST machine -- blood pressure was good, pulse was good and I loved hearing my little one's hb (it is always music to my ears)!! They monitored me for a while and since the contractions were a little closer together than they liked, they gave me a shot of something (can not remember the name) which helped but made me quite jittery. They also gave me an IV with fluids, which also helped. They are not sure why the contractions but most likely I was dehydrated despite my efforts to drink as much water as possible, especially since my NST a week and a half ago.

My little guy was continuously monitored throughout as well and they said he sounded very healthy from his hb/movement. They also did a FFN test (which I should get the results in the morning) and they checked my cervix, which they are called thick & closed so that is good. We got home about 11pm, I went to sleep for a little while but woke up at 3am and could not go back to sleep. I finally slept again from 5 to 7ish. Although they did not put me on activity restrictions, they recommend I limit my activities anyways. I called and told my manager I am going to work from home today. I feel better this morning but thought it would be best to take it easy while trying to get some work done at home.

I am so glad everything is OK, especially with my little guy as that is most important to me! I was scared at first as it was a bit of information overload! Once my DH arrived, I felt better. I always feel better when he is there!

Well, off to get some work done I go!!!