This is it!!

So I thought I would do one last update since it looks like I will probably not be updating for a while . . .
We were waiting all week, trying to encourage my body to go into labor, but that wasn't really happening. I've been in early labor for a few days, having contractions and what-not, but nothing regular or even very strong. I kept getting totally frustrated.
We had a doctor's appointment this morning, and she checked me as well as doing an ultrasound. She said that my cervix seems just about the same as two weeks ago, which was seriously disappointing. I expected to be pretty effaced from all the activity that's been going on, but apparently no such luck. However, I am dilated one centimeter! So my body is doing something, I suppose. So while she was checking me, the doctor said, well you'll definitely have this baby sometime this week. Then she did the ultrasound. She said everything looked great, except for my "very mature placenta". That seemed to be pretty serious to her. So after looking at everything, she said, "okay get dressed, I'm going to call the labor wing, and let you know what they say." It looks like they are okay to check me in tonight, so we're going in!
We'll be admitted at 6pm tonight, and they'll start a cytotec induction. That's the same thing she was going to have done three weeks ago when she first brought up induction. It's supposedly the gentlest, most natural way to induce (according to my doctor) - plus it directly works on the cervix, rather than going through an IV. It also does not require monitoring after the initial six hours, which other induction methods do. The doctor is pretty sure that this will put me into real labor, since I'm already in early labor, and we won't have to do any more augmentation. But she is going to do the lowest pitocin level induction if necessary. Either way, we should have a baby tomorrow sometime!
I'm hoping the cytotec does its thing, or that I go into real labor in the next few hours (which is a real possibility). We may have a baby in the very early hours of the morning, if things move along quickly, but it will probably be further along in the morning. So this is super exciting for us!! We will post pictures as soon as we get around to it . . .

So Close!

First, some apologies about not posting for so long. I've been meaning to, but we've been having some serious issues with our internet connection. Robert is working on it, so hopefully soon it will be totally fixed.
Lots of big news, mainly, little Gabriel may be coming into our world a little earlier than we'd thought! Last week at my doctor's appointment, my doctor decided to get super concerned about the fact that I am still having glucose show up in my urine. In addition to that I am still putting on more weight than I really should be. Those two things combined made her go, "Okay, you know what, I don't care if your gestational diabetes test came back normal all those weeks ago, we're going to do something about this." Like I've said before, I am a relatively healthy eater - not great, I do have my weaknesses, but I really shouldn't still be having these issues if everything is normal. So she did some more bloodwork. They also did some bloodwork to see if there was anything going on with my gallbladder and liver, because that constant pain I have had in my ribs has gotten much much worse recently. I've had a few times where its seriously made me a little bit incoherent and panicky, it gets so bad, and I have to lie down to make it go away. And apparently, that is where my gallbladder and liver are! So she just wanted to make sure they were functioning properly.
When the results came back, everything looked fine except for my blood sugar levels. I had already made an appointment with a dietitian to put me on a meal plan to handle my blood sugar levels. When I saw her, she also showed me how to check my blood sugar levels with a little meter, so now I'm poking myself in the finger four times a day to get a record for my doctor. After the blood results came back, my doctor said she was basically treating me as though I have gestational diabetes. So I had to go to the hospital on Saturday so they could do some monitoring of the baby. They did what they call a non-stress test, where they make sure his heart rate is fine and that he's moving. They are also looking to see accelerations in heart rate with the movement, because that shows that his blood is properly oxygenated (I think). Gabriel did fine, but had a little trouble with the acceleration part. According to their protocol, they have to see certain signs before they can let me leave, so I was sort of stuck there until he had another heart rate acceleration. Thankfully he did, and then they had to call my doctor for her to authorize my release. That was when I realized that if they didn't like something that they saw, they would just check me in, call the doctor, and I'd be having a baby! It was a little eye-opening.
On Monday I had an ultrasound, just to make sure that the baby looked good - there were a variety of measurements the doctor was looking for that would tell her whether or not he was suffering from my excess blood sugar. I was very glad to hear that the doctor thinks he looks great - she is not worried about him at all, right now. However, I will be very closely monitored for the next couple of weeks until my due date, and I have a feeling that the doctor will not be interested in waiting beyond that for this baby. Until my due date (so for the next three weeks or so) I'll be going to the hospital once a week for non-stress tests (my next one is on Friday), and getting an ultrasound every Monday morning with my doctor. When we made the appointments for the ultrasounds, the receptionist said, "She likes to do these in the morning, in case you need to head to the hospital afterward."
So, at any of these visits, basically, the doctor could potentially decide that she doesn't like what she's seeing, and I could be checked into the hospital to have the baby. Presumably there won't be any emergencies, and he can be induced, rather than requiring a c-section. But I'm really not sure. She also started me on a medication to lower my blood sugar, because even with my diet changes (which are honestly not that much), it's not where she would like to see it. I have one more final project for this semester, which is not due until Sunday, but which I am planning on getting done tomorrow or Friday at the latest. I would like to get it done tomorrow, so that when I check into the hospital for my test on Friday, I have no worries, at least where school is concerned. After that, I am obviously going to make sure the baby's room is ready, and that we're ready for him whenever he comes!!
I'm not worried, I think the baby will be okay no matter what happens - the doctor is being super extra cautious right now just to make sure that's the case. It's just a little strange to think that it may happen this way! And I want to reiterate that the doctor does not think that he is in any trouble right now, and in fact, he looks fantastic. I think it's me, and what my body could still potentially do to him, that they're a little worried about. Thank goodness gestational diabetes goes away after pregnancy! Now I know the value of taking care of myself so I don't get type 2 diabetes in the future. It is seriously no fun. Oh, and I will try to post a picture soon! I am rather large, as you might imagine.

more ultrasound pictures

They sent us home with a stack of pictures from our most recent ultrasound, which was done on the 19th of August. I scanned them all, just to preserve them, but I won't be sharing them all here. There are a couple that are just a little too creepy, and at least two that I have no idea what you're even supposed to be seeing. But here are the rest!
Well, blogger decided to be difficult about the formatting of this post, so I may just leave all of the picture descriptions at the top, and the pictures below. Hopefully you can figure out what it is you're looking at!
First is a picture of baby with his hand in front of his facing holding the umbilical cord. He was playing with it a lot while we were watching him. This is a 3D image, which is why it looks a little different.
To the right is a profile view of baby's face. We've decided he has my nose.
Next is another 3D picture, this one more of a profile view, with his hands up by his eyes.
To the right of that one is another, similar 3D shot, one of the creepier ones I think.
Here is a 3D shot of baby's legs!! (I've been feeling those a little bit recently - I'm sure I'll be very familiar with them by the time he arrives!)
To the right of the leg picture, another 3D face shot, a little more defined, I think.
And finally, this last shot is the one where the doctor said, you have a boy! No idea how he can tell from that, but I thought I would include it anyway, for entertainment value.









































So there you have it! Baby pictures! I've been feeling him moving around a lot more lately, which is very entertaining. I can even feel it from the outside sometimes, so Robert's been able to feel it. And I've started my registry at Target. It's really made me realize we have a real little person coming soon that we'll be taking care of!

Ultrasound pictures!

Thanks to my wonderful friend at the Shoreline Library, I was able to get these pictures scanned (finally!). These are from two weeks ago, when I was 12 weeks, 5 days pregnant.
You can't seen much, but you can see the head, and the body. That's baby's hand in front of the face, it looks like something is sticking out of the mouth. And you can sort of see baby's legs. We could see it better in the actual ultrasound. What got printed out wasn't quite as clear.
So there you are!! We'll have another ultrasound at 20 weeks, when they'll let us know the gender of our baby (yay!), and we may have more before then, I'm not sure. I will certainly continue to post whatever pictures we have.

Very Official First Post

I'm unsure of how to begin this blog, so I guess it's best to just jump right in.
We got to see the baby together for the first time this morning. It was incredible. They gave us a DVD of the ultrasound, and I was trying to figure out a way to post it somewhere and embed the video here, but I think it won't be happening. So we'll just have to make copies for those that want them.
One of the very first things we saw was the baby do a little full body wave. It has lots of room to move around right now, and it sure is moving. We got to watch for twenty minutes or so, I think. It was just lovely.
I did get some pictures, so I'll try to get those scanned and then post them here. It definitely looks like a baby!!
I don't know how often I'll be posting at this point, as there are not many noticeable changes happening. But I will try to post at least once a week!