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Dress: J. Crew (On sale!! Get it here) // Turtleneck: Target (Only $15 and comes in tons of colors! Get it here) // Shoes: Target (similar here) // Purse: Kohl's (similar here)
Wednesday night, I started to feel not super great. It's difficult to describe how and what I was exactly feeling, but I had some pain in my back and stomach and was just overall uncomfortable. It was late when the pain started and I was about to go to bed so I figured if I could sleep through it, it probably wasn't too big of a deal. I woke up several times throughout the night, but ultimately survived and headed off to work. I struggled to get comfortable at my desk and just had this overall bad feeling? It's hard to explain. But it was the first time in a while since being pregnant that I wanted to go home and literally do nothing but lay in bed. However I had several things going on that day so I continued on and tried to ignore it.
Eventually I called my mom and told her what I was experiencing and she advised me to call my doctor and just see what they suggested I do. I was kind of reluctant though because I was feeling a bit like the girl who cried wolf and didn't want to call them over every little thing. But this being my first pregnancy, I just had no idea how to interpret the weird symptoms I was feeling. Ultimately, I called the nurse at my doctor's office and explained my symptoms. She told me she would pass the info onto my doctor and they would call me back.
I continued about my afternoon not feeling any better and eventually got a call saying my OB wanted me to come in for a non-stress test. I headed that direction thinking it would be no big deal and I'd be home within an hour. I checked into the labor & delivery wing (where the nurse told me to go), and the lady at the reception desk was VERY confused as to why I was there. She kept trying to convince me that I needed to go to another part of the hospital for this test, but I explained to her that my OB wanted me to come here. "Oh you're PREGNANT!" She said. "I didn't even realize!" Once that was established, she checked me in and off I went with one of the nurses.
While the nurse checked me in, she asked if I had a carseat to take the baby home in??? Panic ensued. I was nowhere near ready to take the baby home if he came this early (granted he probably would have been in the NICU for a while but still)! I hadn't had my maternity photos or shower, the crib wasn't set up, I didn't have any diapers, I mean I had nothing ready for this child. I told her I had a carseat, but it was in a box at home. She said that was fine and moved on to the next question haha.
They hooked me up to the monitors and said they'd be back to check on me. The nurse told me they would watch me for about a half an hour, maybe an hour at the most. She explained that she had to leave for a meeting but another nurse would check on me.
So I laid there for about an hour, VERY uncomfortable/in pain, but nothing horrible. I was mainly just bored and I couldn't get comfortable enough to nap. After an hour, the second nurse came in and said she was concerned because in the last 30 minutes, I had started having real contractions as well as uterine irritability. She said she would talk to my OB and come back to let me know what she wanted me to do. I figured if I was having contractions and could potentially be in labor, they would hurry and come back to proceed with the next step. Buuuuut I was wrong. She didn't come back for another hour?? I was very confused at this point. And very hungry. I wasn't sure if I was allowed to eat or not, but I had some popcorn in my tote bag so I decided to shove some in my mouth as quickly as I could so the nurse would (hopefully) not walk in and see. I was successful. I didn't have much popcorn (just a handful or two), but I had enough to sustain me.
Taking selfies because bored.
Then my original nurse came back and said she felt so bad for leaving me when I was contracting. She said my OB was still seeing patients, but she wanted me hooked up to an IV to see if getting more fluids would help stop the contractions (sometimes dehydration can cause them to occur). She told me it would take another hour for the IV bag to empty and then asked if I would like to order some food. YES YES YES YES YES. It was around 5:00 pm at this point and I hadn't eaten anything since 10:30 am, which was not exactly helping matters. Ordering those chicken fingers and fries was an exciting moment.
You may be wondering at this point where Chris or my mom was. Well, originally I thought I'd only be there for an hour or so and it didn't seem worth it to ask my hard-working husband or busy mom to leave work and their afternoon schedules just to sit with me while I laid there. So I went by myself. But after being there for three hours and knowing I would be there for another two hours or more (I finally asked the nurse how soon I could maybe go home), I was starting to get bored and lonely. I wished so badly I had brought my laptop, phone charger, book, laundry to fold, or SOMETHING, but I had no clue what I was in for when I arrived earlier that afternoon. Chris was about to start cooking dinner to feed the missionaries in our church so I felt bad asking him to cancel on them, but I was getting pretty desperate. Chris, of course being the wonderful husband that he is, immediately dropped everything and came right over after I called him.
While Chris was on his way, my OB came in to check and make sure I wasn't dilated. That was not a pleasant experience, let me tell you. Thankfully, I wasn't dilated at all so she gave me some meds to stop the contractions and said that if they worked, I could go home. Or else they would keep me overnight to keep an eye on me, which I REALLY wanted to avoid. I'm convinced there's nothing worse than spending the night in a hospital bed.
Possibly the best food I've ever eaten.
So happy to be eating.
I went home and ate everything in the fridge then fell asleep shortly thereafter. Who knew laying in a hospital bed for five hours doing absolutely nothing could be so exhausting?
The next day, we had an ultrasound to make sure everything still looked ok and the baby was growing as he should. It totally made up for my crappy day on Thursday. The baby smiled at us during the ultrasound, is still growing at a rapid rate (measuring about two weeks ahead of schedule), and we found out he has a full head of hair! I didn't even know you could tell from an ultrasound that a baby had hair?? Who knew. But I am very excited about this. I hope he still has it when he's born!
Like I mentioned earlier, I'm still feeling good after resting on Friday and skipping the gym this weekend. I'm really glad I decided to listen to my mom and my body and go to the hospital, even though the whole day was not very fun. I'm hopeful that it won't happen again, but even if it did, 90% of babies born at 32 weeks or later survive and do just fine, so that is a comforting statistic.
As far as the rest of my 32 week bumpdate, here's how things are going:
Sleep: I'm overall sleeping quite well, at least compared to how other women I know sleep in their last trimester. I can get pretty comfortable with an extra pillow between my legs and I only get up once to use the bathroom at night.
Cravings: Ice, ice, and more ice. When I had some blood work done before our Israel trip, they discovered that I'm anemic. I wasn't totally surprised by this because I've always been borderline anemic (I've never been allowed to donate blood for this reason). I'm in the process of finding some chewable iron supplements I like and I'm hopeful that will solve the issue. It's pretty common for anemic people to crave ice (no one really knows why) so I've been chomping on cubes throughout the day. I've also been eating a lot of popcorn and cookie dough ice cream, but other than that I haven't had too many unusual or persisting cravings.
Belly: I'm still pretty small, but I definitely look more pregnant than I did a few weeks ago. My belly button is also about ready to pop. I'm carrying pretty low right now so I have dreams of someday filling out more and having a cute, round belly, but who knows what will happen. I could also balloon up a lot in the last few weeks haha so stay tuned.
Back: Not too much pain at this point, minus Thursday when I was having contractions, but it is definitely getting trickier to bend forward haha. Chris is often recruited to help me get off the couch, out of bed, etc.
Maternity Clothes: I definitely need maternity clothes for some things (pants, certain shirts), but there are quite a few non-maternity items I can still get away with. Sometimes I just size up in things like sweatpants, workout leggings and shirts. etc. and that seems to work pretty well. I like to buy things I can wear postpartum as well so pieces that are nursing friendly and loose are exciting to find.
Swelling: My feet are a little more swollen than usual. I still fit in all my shoes, but laces/straps/etc. leave more imprints than normal.
Heartburn: I burp/hiccup all. the. time. Especially in the evening. It's not too bad, but the acid reflux is never very pleasant.
Kicks: The baby is quite active/strong at this point so I feel him move a lot throughout the day. He is head down so he pushes on my bladder a fair amount and likes to kick me in my ribs. The other night, we could actually feel a very tiny, but distinctive, foot move around my stomach! It was weird but so cute.
Mood Swings: Like I've mentioned before, I'm not much more emotional than usual. However, I am definitely starting to get into nesting mode. I have a looooooooooong list of things I want/need to do around the house before the baby comes. We'll see how much I get checked off the list!
Exercise: You guys. Stairs are so hard. Much harder than they used to be (but then again stairs are never easy, IMO). I get so winded walking up to the office at work and it's just one flight haha. I am also getting a little more exhausted when I do my usual gym routine, but for the most part I've been able to keep it up. Exercising always helps me destress and feel better so I'm really grateful I haven't had to stop.
Nursery: It's coming together! Chris finished re-painting the dresser we're using as a changing table (probably the biggest project we had on our list) and it looks so good! We're assembling the crib as well, but there's still quite a few small things to do in there. Also the carseat and stroller, as I mentioned earlier, are still in their boxes in our family room. Fingers crossed we get those unwrapped before he comes!
It's been a crazy past few months, but I have loved it! I'm really grateful my pregnancy has been overall quite easy and that the baby is healthy and safe. I'm also super grateful that I felt well enough on Saturday to go to Chicago to visit my brother! What a blessing. I would have been so sad if I missed it!
There is a lot I want to do before he makes his debut, but I'm feeling pretty at ease about it. We will have lots of family in town for the holidays (when he's likely going to show up) so I don't feel too overwhelmed about the transition to motherhood. I'll wrap up both my jobs shortly after Thanksgiving so after that I will have a few weeks to finish getting things ready (assuming he doesn't come super early!).
I'm doing lots of research on natural childbirth methods for hospital births, so if you have any suggestions or articles/books to read, let me know! I'm sure I'll be discussing my birth plan on the blog closer to his arrival, but for now I'm focusing on learning techniques that will allow me to relax during contractions. I'm not opposed to an epidural or pain meds, I'd just rather not have to deal with the side effects if I don't have to.
As always, thank you all for your love, support, advice, prayers, and well-wishes! I cannot wait for the baby to meet all the wonderful people in my life.
Wishing: The weekend was longer.
About: To watch Netflix with Chris.
Wanting: A prenatal massage sometime soon.
Excited: For maternity photos this Saturday!
Days Until Christmas/Baby: 56!!
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