Remington in the Hospital

What a day! (Monday September 20, 2010)

Yesterday morning I took Remington into the ER for trouble breathing. Sunday night, after I made my weekly trip down to Bartlesville, OK Remington was wheezing a little bit, but I thought he was just getting a cold. As the night went on, he had a lot of trouble going to sleep. Nothing was working. All night I tried to get him to sleep, but he was wheezing a breathing hard. I was going to wait to see how he was in the morning before maybe taking him to the doctor.

The main problem is that we don't have a doctor in Oklahoma yet, so I didn't want to mess with that unless I had to.

Around 5:00am, Remington woke up yet again (he probably only slept around 4 hours all night). He was really struggling to breath and wheezing a lot. His chest and stomach were moving a lot. Nothing was calming him down. He wouldn't stop crying or wheezing. I decided it was best to get ready for the day and take him to the doctor. I got myself ready and packed a few things in his diaper bag.

I've had asthma since I was 2 years old, so I'm used to wheezing and that sort of thing. I figured I just take him to the ER for a breathing treatment and then stay home with him the rest of the day.

Went I got to the ER, the receptionist immediately commented about how Remington was having trouble breathing. I thought I'd be fine, but I started getting teary and had trouble thinking clearly enough to answer her questions right away.

We went into a ER room and waited for the doctors. Remington got hooked up to an O2 monitor and received a breathing treatment from the RT (respiratory therapist) right away. We waited a bit to see what happened. He started acting like he felt better, but the wheezing still wasn't going away. The doctors then gave him some oral Prednisone and another breathing treatment. He was acting much better, but still not perfect.

The doctors said that they would admit Remington into the hospital if his O2 levels were 92 or lower. His levels were ranging from the mid 80s to 95.

Since Remington's O2 levels weren't getting better or stablized, the doctors decided to start an IV and admit him for observation. We then moved up to the pediatric floor.

During this time I called family, cancelled daycare, and called into work. After I knew we were being admitted, I called Landon and he headed here to OK. Landon arrived at the hospital around 2pm. It was so nice to have him there. I was exhausted and glad to not be alone anymore. I think I handled everything fine, mostly because I figured I knew what asthma was all about and wasn't worried. The only trigger we could think of was being around the dog for an extended time at Landon's dad's. But who knows.

We were finally released around 8pm and we went home. Landon then had to drive 4 hours to go back home to be ready for work today.

This was not a good start to the week, but it's all okay now. Remington is back to his old self today and was happy playing. If history repeats itself and Remington inherited anything from my side of the family this is only the beginning of many more doctor visits like this. Oh goody... :)

4 Months

03/01/10

Remington is now 4 months old! I can't believe how much he's grown and changed since he was born. On Wednesday, I took him for his 4 month doctor appointment. He weighs 13 pounds 6 ounces ( 25th %ile), and is 24.5 inches long (50th %ile). His head circumference is 16 inches (10th %ile).

While we were at the doctor, I also asked about Remington being sick the last 3 days. I know that some stuff has been going around. He's been coughing and wheezing a lot. The first night, we decided to put him in his seat and keep him next to our bed to keep and eye on him and his breathing. That did not work, neither of us got any sleep with him breathing so loud and being worried about him. He's also been really congested and has a runny nose. After going to the doctor, we let him sleep in the crib with the mattress slightly elevated with a pillow between the mattress and springs. The doctor said that he probably has RSV, or Respiratory Syncytial Virus. Most babies get it at least once before the age of 2. She said she could run a test to know for sure, but according to her professional opinion, he has it. Unfortunately, there's not much you can do about it, but let it run its course. By now (Monday), he's pretty much over it. However, he has given it to Landon and I. We've both been sick for the last couple days.


A year ago today, we found out I was pregnant, what a year!

Here's what he's supposed to be doing at 4 months (from MedlinePlus):

PHYSICAL AND MOTOR SKILLS

The typical 4-month-old baby should:

• Show a slowing of weight gain to approximately 20 grams per day- He's still a little small, but gaining.
• Double the birth weight- Almost, he should be 14 pounds to be double. But, he's pretty good for having lost so much at first and having so much trouble with the weight gain.
• Have almost no head lag while in a sitting position- He's very good at this now.
• Be able to sit up straight if propped- Yep, he falls over fast though.
• Raise head 90 degrees when placed on stomach- Pretty close, he still hates tummy time.
• Be able to roll from front to back- Not yet, hopefully he will soon.
• Try to reach objects with hands (may commonly overshoot)- A little bit. He likes to reach for and hit the sack of wipes by his changing table and he'll hit the buttons on his excersaucer.
• Hold and let go of an object- Yep
• Play with rattle when it's placed in the hands, but won't be able to pick it up if dropped- Yep, he'll hold one for quite a while now.
• Be able to grasp rattle with both hands- Yep
• Be able to place objects in mouth- A little bit, he tries to put the pacifier back in if he took it out and still has it in his hands.
• Sleep 9 to 10 hours at night with two naps (total of 14 - 16 hours per day)- Yes, yippee!

SENSORY AND COGNITIVE SKILLS
A 4-month-old baby is expected to:

• Have well-established close vision- Seems to.
• Increase eye contact with parents and others- Yes, he really likes to watch people and smile.
• Have beginning hand-eye coordination- He likes to watch his hands and feet sometimes.
• Be able to babble and coo- He's been doing this for about a month.
• Be able to laugh out loud- Yes, and it's adorable!
• Anticipate feeding when able to see a bottle (if bottle-fed)- Yep, if he sees it, he watches it pretty intently.
• Begin to show memory- Kinda, it's hard to tell at this point.
• Demand attention by fussing- All the time.
• Recognize parent voice or touch- Yeah. There are certain things that Landon does to make him laugh, that I'll try and he just looks at me. And I can put him to sleep and comfort him way faster than Landon.

PLAY
You can encourage development through play:

• Place the baby in front of a mirror- He likes to smile and watch himself or look at us when we're holding him.
• Provide bright-colored toys to hold- I almost think the excersauser is too over stimulating.
• Repeat sounds the infant makes- We've been doing this from the beginning.
• Help the infant roll over- We try this sometimes, need to do more to help him learn to roll over.
• Use a swing or stroller- Since day one.
• Play on the stomach (tummy time)- He still hates it.

Remington is still eating just formula, we'll start some rice cereal soon. He sleeps well and laughs and smiles all the time. He does this adorable shy smile, where he smiles and then turns away to hide his face like he's shy. His eyes are still gray and he's getting more hair. He's grown out of most of his newborn clothes and is starting to wear some 3-6 clothes.

Weird things people say and the end of maternity leave

When you cart a baby around with you 24/7 you're going to have people ask about the baby. Most of the time they ask how old he is. I don't really have people ask me if Remington is a boy or girl- I think he definitely looks like a boy and I usually have him dressed in blue. One weird thing people ask is if he's a good baby... How are you supposed to respond to that? No, he's always disobeying and back talking me. One more night of his crying and I'm shipping him off to military school. I mean, what do people expect you to say? I just respond with, Yes, he's pretty good.

I haven't updated about Remington's 2 month doctor appointment yet, so here it is: Remington's doctor appointment was last Wednesday (Dec. 30). He was weighed first thing and was 9 pounds 11 1/2 ounces! I'm so glad he's continuing to gain weight. He's still in the 10th %ile though. He hasn't gotten any longer- 21 1/4 inches (5th %ile), or a bigger head either- 15 inches (10th %ile). The doctor didn't seem concerned though since we had so many problems at first. Just as long as he's going, it's okay for now. The doctor checked his heart, lungs, and movement. He has good neck control when he's sitting upright, but still can't quite support it when he's lifted from being on his back. It was amusing when she was trying to get him to lift and turn his head when laying on his stomach. She put him on his stomach on the doctor table thing and had me go to the side in which he didn't have his head turned. Then she had me talk to him and try to get him to lift and turn his head to see me. He tried so hard. He just kicked his legs and flailed around so much she thought he was going to roll over (which he didn't- he can't quite accomplish that milestone yet). He kicked and kicked until he was rotating himself around to face me. It was very cute. Even though he can't quite turn his head, he's pretty good on milestones.
I thought the doctor was going to give him his 2 month immunizations, but apparently I have to set that up with the health department. I'll give them a call on Monday.

Tomorrow I have to go back to work. I'm so not looking forward to it. It will be nice to get a break from Remington, but I know I'll miss him too. I'm just worried about how much I stress about work anyway that now it's going to be worse since I'm stressed taking care of Remington. Tomorrow won't be so bad since my mom will be watching him at our house, but then it's off to daycare. I've blogged about daycare before here and here. I'll let you know how the first week back to work goes, until then...

Doctor Appointment and Getting out of the house

Tuesday I was able to get out of the house and shop with Remington. Some new parents don't take their newborn out much, but we have since he was a week old. I'm nervous about the H1N1 and seasonal flu, but a kid (and his mom) can't stay home all the time. We took a trip to Wichita to pick up Remington's birth announcements/ holiday card from the photographer. I love the card, it's so cute! I then finished my Christmas shopping and went home.

Wednesday, Remington had another doctor appointment. He now weighs 8 pounds 7.5 ounces. He's gained almost a pound in 2 weeks. He's still smaller than he should be at this point, but he's gaining well. His next appointment is January 4th (the day I go back to work- sadness). After the doctor appointment, I headed over to my parent's house. My mom watched Remington while I got a much needed haircut. I had major split ends and hadn't done anything with it since I got pregnant. After the haircut, my mom, brother, Remington, and I went to Hutchinson for Christmas shopping and for something to do. I'm so thankful for my family. They are helping a lot to keep me sane and watch Remington at a moments notice.



Thursday, yesterday, I spent the day at home alone again with Remington. I used the swing (until we had a poop blowout) and was able to get some things done around the house. I was good, emotionally, for most of the day until it was time to put Remington to sleep for the night. Landon had some errands to run and didn't get home until 9pm. That meant that I spent the entire day with Remington without a break. It wasn't hard, but it got to me at the end of the day.

This weekend, Landon's family is coming to our house for our Christmas celebration. We've been working to get the house ready, which isn't that difficult, except that I can't hardly get anything clean if I'm having to check on Remington or hold him all the time. We're ready for it though and the house just needs a quick run through to be finished.

Praying for Weight Gain

One of the few times you want someone to gain weight is for Remington to at least get back to his birth weight. Well, he's almost there.

After going into work this morning for an IEP meeting (yeah, during my maternity leave time) that was rescheduled from Monday after the parents were no shows, I took Remington into the doctor for a weight check. The nurse had me undress him down to his diaper again (like at every weight check) and put him on the scale. I was relieved right away when it read 7 lbs 9.5 oz. Yay! Remington is a half ounce from his birth weight. He still needs to gain more though to get up to where he should be at a month old. The supplementing is working! The doctor came in a told me that it's good that he's gaining weight again. She wrote me a prescription for Reglan, which is a drug they give for morning sickness, but it also increases milk production. I'm supposed to take it 4 times a day for 10 days. I'm also to continue supplementing, but only give him the bottle if he acts like he wants it. In 2 weeks, I'll go back to the doctor and we'll see how Remington is doing.

I'm so glad he's doing better. He's also sleeping better after the supplementing too (more on that in a later post).

In other news today... While I was at work, my brother and sister watched Remington and the house. We've been needing to finish out our basement before everyone comes over for Christmas, and mostly needed someone to install carpet. We bought the carpet and pad, but needed it installed. We finally found someone and he came over today at 8am. I got back home from work and the doctor around 10 and he was completely finished with the installation! I was impressed, it only took him 2 hours and $175. I'm glad we found him and didn't do it ourselves. We still need to do some touch up work before it's ready for the holiday, but it's so much further now. Today was a good day!

Catch Up

It's been a while since I've posted. The holidays and new baby leave no time to blog. Thanksgiving was fun. My mom's side grandparents and Landon's grandparents got to see Remington for the first time.

Remington still isn't gaining weight like he should. I called the doctor today and asked if I could just stop by and weigh him. The last time he was weighed was 2 weeks ago. I stopped by the doctor's office and Remington weighed 7 lbs 3.5 oz. That's 1/2 ounce less than 2 weeks ago. Our doctor came in and told me to start supplementing with formula. Instead of me feeding him for 30 minutes every three hours, I'm supposed to feed him for 10 minutes on each breast then feed him 2 ounces of formula (if he takes it- I'm not supposed to force it down him). I'll take him back to the doctor on Wednesday to see how he's doing. I hope the supplementing works.



Remington has also developed a case of baby acne. I feel so bad for him, he looks like a teenager. There's nothing you can do for it, so we'll just wait for it to run its course. My youngest brother also had baby acne when he was little.

Relieved

The doctor's appointment to find out if Remington is gaining weight was yesterday. Landon and I took him in and I nervously brought Remington to the scale to be weighed. I hoped and prayed so much these last couple days that he would gain, if not I don't know what I would do. Of course, I thought worse case scenarios like cystic fibrosis or celiac disease.

I watched the scale, and sighed in relief when it said 7 pounds 5 ounces. Rem gained 4 ounces since Thursday. I'm so happy and now I can relax. I can already tell that I'm going to be one of those mothers that panic every time their kid has a cold. Or like Landon said- he has a headache, it must be a brain aneurysm. Even though he's not back up to his birth weight like he should be by now, at least he's not loosing weight.

Everything that I've read and heard about babies and sleeping through the night is coming true, unfortunately. Apparently babies sleep pretty well until about 2 weeks, then the trouble starts. Right now Remington sleeps well, but it's getting him to sleep that's the problem. Last night we started trying to put him to bed at 7pm. He was sleeping just fine on his boppy, then I feed him at 9pm and took him up to the crib to sleep. He was not going to sleep in the crib. He would cry and scream every time he lost his pacifier, which was like every five minutes. So, Landon and I are constantly having to go back to his room to give him the pacifier. Just as we lay back down, he starts crying again. Even if we held him and rocked him until he was asleep, as soon as he was in the crib he'd cry. He wasn't hungry and didn't need his diaper changed, he just wouldn't stay asleep. Finally, Landon went downstairs and got his bouncy/vibrator seat. We put him in that with his WubbaNub and finally got some rest at 1am. I felt sorry for Landon, because he had to get up for work at 5am. There better not be any more nights like this.

2 Week Doctor Appointment

Remington had his 2 week doctor appointment last Thursday. Everything is going well, except he's not gaining weight. He actually dropped half an ounce from the last time he was weighed. I was not expecting this since he's been eating so well. He eats every 3 hours at least and will eat for 20 to 30 minutes each time. The doctor had me weigh him in kilograms then feed him at the doctor's office and then weigh him again. He gained .07 kilograms which equals to about 20 milliliters. So, he's taking in enough just not gaining weight from it.

We're going back to the doctor on Monday to see if he gained any weight over the weekend. Hopefully he does otherwise we'll have to start supplementing or something. Also, I looked up possible causes for babies not gaining weight or "failure to thrive" and it could be cystic fibrosis or celiac disease. I sure hope Remington doesn't have some underlying problem like that. Gain weight baby, please...

First Doctor's Appointment

Remington and I got out of the hospital finally yesterday at 11:30. His biliruben was finally low enough. We were and still are having trouble with breast feeding. He just doesn't want to latch on anymore and/or he won't wake up to eat. It's so frustrating and emotionally draining. I know Landon feels bad too and helpless that he can't do anything to help.

The doctor wanted to see how Remington's biliruben was going today, so I made an appointment right away for 10:40 this morning. It was our first outing, and definitely my first alone with Remington. Landon had to go back to work. It went really well getting him in the carseat and in the doctor's office. When I get there, there's another couple of babies- one week old little girl- and a bunch of kids. I wait with Remington to do his lab work. I feel so sad for him, he's had his heels pricked so many times! I took him back to the lab and the nurse pricked his foot. He was sound asleep the whole time at the doctors, so he didn't cry that much. Then the nurse had to fill up a little vile with his blood. This took forever as she squeezed his foot to get all the blood. I felt so bad for him, it almost made me cry. I'm surprised I didn't too, since I've been very emotional lately. Then she couldn't get enough blood from that heel, so she had to prick his other one. She even commented about how she didn't want to have to prick his second foot because he'd already had it hit so many times and you could tell it was tender. At least he didn't cry that much, but I'm still sure it hurt so bad. Poor baby!

After the lab, we still needed to see the doctor. I go back to sitting in the waiting room. It was cute to see the babies and I had two people come up and ask about Remington. It was the saddest thing though. This looks at Remington and tells me that they just lost a grandbaby on Friday. He was premature and only lived a short time. The parents were in the waiting room having to watch all these little kids and two newborns when they had just lost their baby. I felt sooooo sad for them. It would be incredibly hard to have to do that. It made me extremely grateful for Remington and his health. We may be having trouble with feeding that tears me apart at times, but at least he's here and healthy. Even the jaundice is no big deal compared to what could happen. I'll pray for that family and hope they get through that tough time.

We go to see the doctor and first Remington was weighed. All babies loose weight from what they are at birth and Remington weighed 7 lbs 2 oz. today. This is up from 7 lbs 1 oz. yesterday at the hospital when he was discharged. This is a good sign. At least what little he's eating is enough. He's not loosing weight, which is good. The doctor also told me that his biliruben is up to 13 again (which we knew it would, but it's not too high). We talked about feeding and I showed he the chart I've been keeping about how much I feed him (from the bottle) and how long he nurses. It also charts his diapers. She seemed to think this was all good. I told her too that we were going to buy a breast pump tonight, so that at least he's getting that instead of formula. I needed to buy a pump eventually to go back to work, so now we're just having to get it early. The doctor's appointment gave me confidence that what I'm doing, even though it's hard, seems to be working. We have our 2 week appointment next Thursday (12th), so we'll see how it's going then.

The Final Countdown

We had our last weekly doctor appointment today. I haven't been feeling any contractions so I wasn't expecting much. However, I'm dilated to 1.5 and 70% effaced! Wow! The doctor then asks us about inducing again and how we felt about it. I told her that we were wondering if we could possibly induce on Halloween (Saturday). The doctor was understandably hesitant, especially since she has her own kids that she'd want to take trick-or-treating.
Then I mention that maybe we could induce late on Friday (30th) and hope that labor lasts past midnight. She thinks it over a little, and then says she'll go call the labor and delivery dept. at the hospital to explain what's going on and see if it'll work out. When she came back to the room, she said we were good to go and told us what to expect when we get to the hospital. Awesome! I'm supposed to report to admissions at the hospital at noon on Friday and then go up to labor and delivery to start the baby process. This works out great too because I don't have to work at all on Friday and Landon won't have to take off any time (except a half day Friday) unless I'm still in the hospital on Monday. Friday is also my brother's birthday. I don't really want Remington to have to share his birthday, but my brother would love it if Remington was born then.
I'm excited, but kinda nervous too. It's like we lost 2 days now, and now it's a bit more real that we'll have a baby this weekend. I'll make sure to bring the laptop along to the hospital to post something of an update if I can. I don't know how much I'll be able to post though, but I will definitely have pictures up ASAP. So, Remington, we'll see you in 3 days!

By the way: We just sold our last two puppies tonight. A couple our age took the last two puppies together. It was so cute how they were cuddling each other, it was probably hard to split them up. :)

Picture: Our porch for Halloween.

We finally have a crib!!!

After more than 5 months of waiting, we finally have a crib for Remington. Luckily he hasn't come early since we only have 5 days left! Landon and I went to the store yesterday, picked up the crib, and stayed up putting it together. It really wasn't that complicated. Landon had no problem putting it together. I really love the color and design and it looks great with the bedding and the room.

With the days getting closer, I don't know what to think. I've been preoccupied with getting everything done at work before I leave. It's stressing me out. I'm just glad that he hasn't come early and is giving me a chance to make sure everything is ready. I can already tell that it's going to be hard to come back after leave ends in January. At least all the IEPs and high need students are ready. Tomorrow is our doctor's appointment. I highly doubt that I'm dialated at all. I haven't even felt any contractions really. We'll ask if we can induce on Halloween, and hopefully we can. I'll post more tomorrow. Now enjoy the pictures of the crib and the nursery.

Week 38 Doctor Appointment

Picture: Remington's name letters in the nursery.

Another week, another doctor appointment. This one was boring again. The doctor checked the baby's heartbeat and made sure he is still head down. Everything seems good. I've been having some Braxton Hicks contractions, but nothing much other than that. The doctor is going to be out of town this weekend, but neither of us think he's gonna come that soon, so it'll be okay. The doctor also mentioned induction. She said that they don't induce before 39 weeks, but after that it's mostly up to me. I told her we would wait until November 1st (the due date) and then after that, induce away. It sounds good to me that I probably won't have to wait (and work) an extra week before they would induce.

So, everyone should prepare to meet this little guy right around Nov. 1st. I can't wait and it can't come soon enough.

37 Week Doctor Appointment

Yesterday we had our weekly doctor appointment. It was another boring appointment since I haven't had any contractions yet. The doctor just listened to the heartbeat, felt around on my stomach to make sure he's still head down, and sent us on our way. She also told us the results of last week's Group B Strep test, which dang it, I'm positive for. From americanpregnancy.org, and Mayo clinic:

"Group B streptococcus (GBS) is a type of bacterial infection that can be found in a pregnant woman’s vagina or rectum. This bacteria is normally found in the vagina and/or lower intestine of 15% to 40% of all healthy, adult women.

Those women who test positive for GBS are said to be colonized. A mother can pass GBS to her baby during delivery. GBS is responsible for affecting about 1 in every 2,000 babies in the United States. Not every baby who is born to a mother who tests positive for GBS will become ill.[...]If you test positive for GBS this simply means that you are a carrier.

According to the CDC, if you have tested positive and are not in the high risk category, then your chances of delivering a baby with GBS are:

* 1 in 200 if antibiotics are not given
* 1 in 4000 if antibiotics are given

The signs and symptoms of early onset GBS include:

* Signs and symptoms occurring within hours of delivery
* Breathing problems, heart and blood pressure instability
* Gastrointestinal and kidney problems
* Sepsis, pneumonia and meningitis are the most common complications

Newborns with early-onset are treated the same as the mothers, which is through intravenous antibiotics.
How serious is GBS? GBS can cause bladder infections and womb infections for the mother. In some cases GBS can cause stillbirth. Newborns can get meningitis, sepsis, and pneumonia.

If I test positive for GBS does that mean my baby is going to get it also? No. Approximately 1 of every 100-200 babies who are born to mothers who carry GBS will become ill.

Group B strep infection is fatal in about 20% of infected men and non-pregnant women and about 5% to 15% of infected newborns."

What this means for me and the baby is that during delivery I'll be given antibiotics (through an IV). The antibiotics are therefore transfered to the baby so that he's okay after birth. The hospital will then just keep an eye on him and watch to make sure he doesn't show any signs of the infection (Breathing problems, heart and blood pressure instability, Gastrointestinal and kidney problems). Our doctor also made sure to mention that this means I'll be in the hospital for at least 48 hours because of the doctors wanting to watch for the Strep B. From what I've researched, it sounds like the infection isn't really all that bad (especially compared to other things that can happen during birth- living in an information packed world is scary sometimes), especially when antibiotics are used to treat it. Our doctor didn't seem to worried about it, so I think we'll be okay. It's just another thing to worry about. By the way, that brings me to a scary thought Landon and I have expressed to each other... this pregnancy has been so easy and uncomplicated that it makes us worry about what could happen after the baby gets here. What if he has some disease or syndrome that we don't know about until he's born? It's scary to think of all the things that a baby could have wrong with them or have happen. I just hope I don't become one of those crazy worried new parents. Think positively, think positively, think positively...

Blame it on the Baby

Picture: The nursery in progress.

For the last couple weeks I've been waking up with numbness and tingling in my hands. It's like they've 'fallen asleep.' So I Googled and found out it's pregnancy induced carpal tunnel! So weird. Apparently, while you're retaining water everywhere, you also retain it in the carpal tunnel in your wrists, so that's why my hands are going numb and tingly when I sleep on them.

Today was another weekly doctor appointment. The doctor did a Strep B test, which is an infection that affects the baby when it's born, but is no problem for the mother. I'll have to wait to see if I have that. If I do, then the doctor will just give me antibiotics during labor. Today was also the first time the doctor checked my cervix for dilation. Remington's not coming this week- 0 dilation. I'm glad he's waiting, we're not ready yet. We don't have a crib.

This baby was completely planned even down to being born in October/November, but now that it's getting closer you start thinking, "Am I really ready for this?" Our lives are going to change forever. We're going to be responsible for this little helpless creature. Can we do it? Everytime I ask myself that I always think, well so and so did it when they didn't plan to have a kid, etc. so we can if do it if they can, right? Only 3 weeks to find out.

By the way: This is my 100th post!!! Wow, I never would have thought I'd be blogging this much, maybe I need to cool it down before I get carpal tunnel for real, :).

35 week doctor appointment

Picture: Nursery closet so far.

We had another doctor appointment today. I had two main questions for the doctor before coming in 1) the baby's movement had been slowing down and I wondered if it was normal and wanted to make sure the heartbeat and everything was okay. This was answered right away when she measured the heartbeat in the 140s/150s. She also confirmed that movement does slow since there is decreased room to move. Before I went to the doctor I also quickly Googled baby movement during week 35 and most people agreed that if the movement decreases a lot to call the doctor because the baby may be in distress. I had been doing fetal kick counts, which turned out okay so I didn't call the doctor. The baby should kick at least 10 times within an hour.

Question 2) was if the baby was head down or breech or transverse. The doctor automatically checked to see if she could feel where he was. She said she thought he was head down, but couldn't be sure so we went across the hall to do a quick ultrasound. She confirmed that he is indeed head down and commented that he was pretty low in my pelvis too.

I'm happy to know now that he's head down, doing well, and ready to go. Our appointments are weekly now, so I'll have another update next Monday.

There's only more pain to come.

Yesterday, Landon and I took a trip to the State Fair. We were only there about 3 hours and I was exhausted. My legs hurt so bad and my hips were killing me. Landon was caring (ha) and made sure to comment on how I waddled back to the car.

Today was another doctors appointment. I'm measuring right on track and the baby's heartbeat is strong. I also lost 4 pounds from the last doctor visit- so weird. The doctor hasn't mentioned anything about that though. I also got to get a fun flu shot. The doctor said we would then have to stop over at the hospital to get a Rhogam shot, which I should've had at 28 weeks, oh well. By the way, the Rhogam shot is because I have O negative blood and the baby may have positive blood. Rh sensitization is more concerning with kids after your first, but they still do Rhogam shots. When a mother has Rh negative blood, the blood might start fighting the baby's blood if the baby is Rh positive. That's a simple explanation.

We walked over to the hospital and sat at admissions for a while. At least now I'm in the computer so I don't have to go through that while in labor. Then they sent me back to the lab to have blood drawn. They have to test it for something before the shot. The lab was busy with emergency stuff so we went home for a couple hours before getting a shot. By this time it was 5:00pm (Our doctor's appointment was 4:30). We get a call to go back for the shot at 8:00pm. They took us to labor and delivery where a nurse checked my vitals and prepared the shot. At first it had a huge needle, which I didn't see, but Landon said, "you could fit pills through it". She got a smaller needle and shot me in the back of my hip. Ouch! That was the most painful shot I've had in a long time. I'm not afraid of needles at all, but yikes! It hurt the entire time she pushed the medicine in and after. Then we had to wait there for 30 minutes to monitor for an allergic reaction. Nothing happened, so we were free to go. What a night.

Glucose Test and Random 10 Friday

Today was the glucose test. I was instructed to drink this orange sugar stuff an hour before the doctor appointment. I'd heard that it is some disgusting tasting stuff, but I didn't think it was that bad. It tasted like overly sweet Gatorade. I then went to the doctor and they took my blood. I don't have gestational diabetes, thankfully! However, I am anemic. So, the doctor suggested iron supplements and just a extra prenatal vitamin that has DHA in it. The DHA is supposed to help the baby neurologically. Now we start our twice a month appointments. It's getting closer! I've had at least three different people at work tell me how small they think I am for being in the 3rd trimester. I can't believe it. I feel huge. Just watch, these last couple weeks I'll just blow up. Fun.

Random 10 Friday Tunes:

1. Lit Up- Buckcherry
2. Halcyon- Orbital
3. Running From an Angel- Hootie & the Blowfish
4. Spoonman- Soundgarden
5. Toxic- Crazytown
6. Africa- Andy McKee
7. Swing Life Away- Rise Against (amazing song!)
8. Original Fire- Audioslave
9. Fine Again- Seether
10. Slowburn- Rev Theory

Random Picture: 3 week old puppies.

Random 10 Friday

Yesterday, Landon and I went to another boring doctor appointment. The doctor found the heartbeat right away this time. Everything is looking fine and I'm measuring right where I should be. I've only gained 6 pounds since I first started going to the doctor, but she seemed to think that was okay. The baby has been kicking a lot lately. I can only imagine how it's going to kick during the fireworks tomorrow. Also at the doctors office, we asked for information about doing a 3D/4D ultrasound. They don't have it at our hospital, but we can go to Wichita and have it done for $140, so I'm going to set up an appointment Monday. Should be fun.

Random 10 Friday Tunes:

1. Loverman- Metallica
2. Flagpole Sitta- Harvey Danger
3. Cold (But I'm Still Here)- Evans Blue
4. Mess- Ben Folds Five
5. Enter Sandman- Metallica
6. The Guns of Brixton- The Clash
7. Make Me Better- Fabolous feat. Ne-Yo
8. February Stars- Foo Fighters
9. Secret Smile- Semisonic
10. Poison Well- Insolence

Random picture from computer/camera: Drak in the snow this winter.

45 Days

So, at our doctor appointment today, we set a day to find out the gender. We have to wait until the sonogram person has a slow day and can just fit us in really fast to do a gender check for free, instead of having to pay for a whole ultrasound. That means, we have to wait until July 20th!! 45 days! That's too long... We also listened to the heartbeat again, which was in the 140s, which is normal. Landon also got the call today to go back to work after being laid off for 3 months. Luckily we didn't feel too much effect from it, since he was getting enough on unemployment, and I'm getting paid enough. Still, we had to cut back a bit on the fun things we used to do.

Week 18

Your fetus has become amazingly mobile (at least compared to you), passing the hours yawning, hiccuping, rolling, twisting, kicking, punching, sucking and swallowing. And, baby's finally big enough that you'll be able to feel those movements soon.

This picture looks gross. I haven't felt any movement yet, which I hear is normal for a first pregnancy. Landon thinks he can hear it moving when he listens to my stomach, but I think he's just hearing digestion or something. We have a doctors appointment on Thursday and we'll ask to see when we can find out the gender of this baby. Until then...