Count down to Baby!

This week has been crazy, I know I say that a lot but this week it is especially true. So sit back relax because this may be a long post. =)

As you know Jason and I are expecting a baby girl and my due date is October 20th. When we moved to Dayton, I got all set up at the hospital on base and I started having appointments with several different doctors. I didn't really like that but I realize that, that is how some military hospitals are. At one appointment I was telling the Nurse practitioner of several new symptoms and concerns and she did not listen to me and wrote everything off as being "normal" pregnancy symptoms. I walked away from that appointment really frustrated and I even cried when I got to my car, because I knew in my gut that what I was experiencing was not "normal." I have had 2 kids prior to this one.

Anyways, the week after having that awful appointment I started doing some online research because my symptoms were getting worse, I was not sleeping, I was frustrated and I was getting worn out. My symptoms were all over body itching, I felt like I wanted to jump out of my skin, there was no rash or anything just itching. I had really bad back pain, cramping and I thought at one point I was having real contractions. But the main thing I was really concerned about was the itching. It was keeping me up at night and it was very, very frustration because nothing seemed to work to get rid of it. So I googled itching during pregnancy and the first thing it came up with was a link to the Mayo clinic, so I clicked it and this is what it came up with, Cholestasis of Pregnancy . After reading about it I knew this is what I had. (If you don't already know I had a gallbladder attack at about 14 weeks.) So I called the OB clinic and asked to speak with a real doctor. The nurse was really nice and asked me what was going on, I told her what I was feeling and she then went to talk to the doctor. They had me come in the next morning to have some blood drawn and to run some labs, they also wanted me to have an appointment with a doc after my labs were done.

So last Thursday I had my labs done and a doctors appointment. Right of the bat the doctor said that one thing that I could possibly have was Cholestasis.....ha go figure. She reviewed one of the labs was ready almost right away and it showed elevated levels in my liver. They then did an ultrasound to make sure there was enough fluid around the baby and then they did a non-stress test...which those two things looked good! They sent me home saying that we had to wait for the other labs to come back and they would be ready the following week. They also had me do a 24 hour urine collection...eeewwww....right. They wanted to test and see if there was protein in it.

Monday morning I was chatting with Jason as he was getting ready for work and he asked when i would hear back from the lab and i said they should be done early this week sometime and I will for sure know by Thursday which was my next doctors appointment. No news is good news right! Jason goes down stairs and I proceed to find my clothes and get in the shower. Literally 2 minutes after he goes downstairs he runs up and says that the OB nurse left him a message and I was to call them back ASAP.

So I call them back and they got the results back from my 24 hour urine and it had protein in it. So they had me come in that day for an ultrasound to measure fluid and to do a non stress test and then the doc wanted to talk and they were hoping my other labs would be back by the time I got there. I go in and the baby looks good and fluid levels were fine but the protein was really high. Then my labs did get back and my bile acids in my liver and gallbladder were high and backed up. So I was officially diagnosed with Cholestasis. The doctor sat me down and said "Now that we know you do have this we are going to deliver you early" I was like "How early?" She said at 37 week. I did the math and exclaimed..."That's next week" YES...She asked me to come in the following morning to have a normal prenatal appointment and then we were going to discuss the induction and set the date.

Jason was able to go with me to the appointment! The baby sounds good and I was measuring right on track at 36 weeks. My doctor then said there were two ways to do the induction, one being the most common cervadel and pitocin and the other being a Foley Bulb. I had never heard of the Foley Bulb. Basically the foley bulb in placed on my cervix and then water is pumped into it to stretch and dilate my cervix. I chose to do this because there is a chance I will not have to get Pitocin if my contractions start on their own. But if they don't then I will get Pitocin. Which I am ok with.

We also got a tour of the Labor and delivery unit and it is awesome!!! So nice. The rooms are really big and updated! I also like that they do everything in the same room you deliver in. I mean everything, the first bath, the finger prints and foot prints....everything. The only reason they take the baby out of the room is to do the hearing test and circumcision. So for us the hearing test! The baby rooms in with me at all times! So I am really excited about that!

The Plan: My mom comes in on Tuesday and she is staying through the following weekend. I am being induced Wednesday night at 8pm. Everyone thinks that this is going to be a fast delivery...even with the induction. I think so too. Hopefully by Thursday morning we will have a baby! Jason and I are soooo excited to finally meet her! We still have to come up with a name. We are stuck. We have thrown out names that we both like but nothing is sticking out like WOW we have to name her that. So we are really coming down to the wire with name picking =)

Now for the fun part: Comment here and give me your top two name suggestions (first, middle) the birth date and time and how much she will weigh. Clues: We are not into the really common names, we like people to know what they are and to have heard of them but you don't know a million people with the same name (ex. Sarah, Anna, Emily etc...) My original due date was October 20th and I am being induced on September 30th. Bo weighed 7lbs 14 oz and Joel weighed 8lbs 2 oz. Those are your clues and I am looking forward to seeing what you guys think!!! And who knows you may use your name!!! But you won't know for sure until she is born =)

Anyways, I have been frantically trying to get things done and unpacked. I went from having a month to having a week to get things done. My neighbor Sarah has been a life saver helping me with the boys while I go to doctors appointments and she even helped me unpack my room! She rocks! She is even throwing me a baby shower on Monday! The rest of the week I am working on baby announcements, staying on top of laundry, cleaning the bathrooms, finishing sewing the receiving blankets, taking naps, having 2 non-stress tests done, meal planning and going to an apple fest on Saturday!

That's it for now...stay tuned because you know me....I will probably be blogging and facebooking while in labor =) =)