One Month and Counting

We had an ultrasound today! I always love seeing baby. It's so fun! Especially this far along, he looks much less alien-like than he did before - more like an actual baby. It makes me realize how close we're getting! Anyway, Sequel looks great! He's still head down, fluid was good and all that good stuff. The tech said that his diaphragm was going up and down, indicating breathing-like movements, so that means good lung development. And he's measuring at... drum roll... 39w3d, which is all fine and good, except for the fact that I'm only 35w5d!! The u/s tech actually had to check her measurements. She thought I was due today instead a month from today. But we have to take this with a grain of salt because the tech said that it's accurate within 22 days. That means it could be off by three weeks. Either way, he's still measuring a bit ahead, but maybe not by as much as we think. Based on the measurements, the u/s tech estimated that he is 8lbs 4oz right now (give or take a lb). That's the 90th percentile! Even if you subtract 1lb for margin of error, he's still over 7 lbs. Isaac was 6lbs 13 oz when he was born at 37w6d. This kid is already bigger than his brother was when he was born! Eek!

Next we had our NST (non stress test). This consisted of me sitting on the exam table with two monitors strapped to my belly - one to monitor baby's heart beat, and one to monitor contractions. The goal was for baby to have two "accelerations" in a 20 minute period, meaning his heart rate had rise by 15 bpm twice in that 20 minutes. They also gave me a little button to press every time I felt him move. After about 5 or 6 minutes he wasn't moving a whole lot, so the nurse gave me a Sprite. That did the trick. Then he moved around like crazy and we got our accelerations. Everything looked great!

Finally, we saw the doctor for our appointment. She was very happy with how everything was going. My BP was 130/65, which she was happy with. She had a pretty frank talk with me about re-evaluating my VBAC, though. She said that she really believes that our bodies don't make babies that are too big for us to give birth to, and that I certainly can still plan on having a VBAC, she just wanted to lay all the cards on the table at this point. If this was a first pregnancy, or if I hadn't had a c-section before, she would probably suggest induction after 39 weeks because the baby is so big. Unfortunately, we can't induce for a VBAC (as I've mentioned before), so I'll have to go into labor on my own. She didn't seem very comfortable letting me go too far past 39 weeks because of his size, and I'm pretty certain that she won't let me go past 40 weeks. She also said that labor will be more difficult if this baby is a 9 pounder, and if I were to end up needing a c-section after my trial of labor, the recovery would be harder than it would be with a planned c-section. She said, if I get to that 39 week milestone and haven't had the baby yet, we'll have to have a more serious talk about scheduling a c-section.

To be honest, this is exactly what I was afraid of. I knew that if baby measured big, my VBAC would be in jeopardy. And I also know that ultrasounds later in pregnancy are much less accurate for measurements. I do know he's big. I can feel that. I'm much more uncomfortable than I was in my last pregnancy. My belly is bigger, and I've gained more weight than last time, so this news is not surprising to me. However, women deliver 9lb babies all. the. time. Heck, my mother-in-law's last baby was over 10 lbs. It's possible. And I want to try it. And I'm fairly confident that I will, indeed, go into labor before 39 weeks, although there are no guarantees. (Hey Cat, when do you want to come over and give me a foot rub? LOL)

James and I talked about it, and as of right now, here's how we feel: We will still plan for a VBAC, but we will schedule a c-section for July 8th. July 8th would bring me to 39w2d. If I haven't had baby before July 8th, that will be his birthday. For me, this decision really had nothing to do with his size. I feel like July 8th is a good date because it's not too close to Isaac's birthday (July 13th) and not too close to the 4th of July, and it's two days before our OB goes on maternity leave, so she would be able to deliver him. I am pretty comfortable with this decision, but I reserve the right to change my mind, of course. ;)

The OB also said that I'm past the point where they would intervene if I did go into labor. That means baby could come any time now! Although, I think it will be a few more weeks. I was only a fingertip dilated today, which is the same as I was on Thursday. I was hoping for a little more, but I know that it doesn't necessarily mean anything. Oh, and she also said that I still have to take it easy, but I can do a little more since my BP is down. Yay!

Ok, I'm cutting myself off now. This post has gotten really long. If you're still with me, thanks for reading. :)

Adventures in Labor & Delivery

Ever since our appointment on Monday, I've been monitoring my blood pressure with a cuff that goes on your wrist that I borrowed from my dad. Last night, I got some really high readings. Like, scary high. 160/100 high. Add to this the fact that I'd been having headaches for about a day and a half (which she said to watch out for), and I got a little worried. So I called the on-call number and spoke with the on-call OB. He said that the wrist cuff was probably not the most accurate, but I should definitely head up to Labor & Delivery to get monitored and some blood tests. This was at about 9:30 PM, so my parents came over to stay with Isaac (who was in bed), and James and I left.

Needless to say, I was freaked out. Here are some of the thoughts that were going through my head, "OMG, what if I have preeclampsia and they have to deliver baby TONIGHT?! I'm only 35 weeks! Are his lungs developed enough? Will he have long-term affects of being premature?" Yeah, I'm a bit of an overreactor like that sometimes. But when the doctor tells you to get your butt to labor and delivery asap, you tend to get a little scared.

So when we got to labor and delivery, the nurse took me back to the room where they keep the people who they aren't sure are staying. This particular room has three beds and they only really keep you there to be monitored, not if you're actually in labor. Thankfully, I was the only person in there. Anyhoo, the nurse took my blood pressure and it was in the 170s/115. Yikes! After a few more tries and doing different things that might help (switching arms, turning off the lights, etc...) she got a reading of 150something/108, so that's the one she recorded. Then the resident came in and said he talked to the on-call OB and they were going to do blood work and test my urine for protein, and that since my BP was so high, they were going to start me on a beta blocker called Labetalol.

We were there for a few hours. Poor James had to get up for work at 3am, so around 11pm, he went home and my parents came to keep me company instead. It seemed like a long night, and we didn't get home until midnight. Long story short, my labs all came back looking good, which was a huge relief. So instead of preeclampsia, I just have Pregnancy Induced Hypertension. This does put me at a higher risk of developing preeclampsia though, so I'm still on modified bed rest for now. That means no trip to the lake for us this weekend. Boo.

They wanted me to follow up with my regular OB today, so I called this morning and went in for an appointment at 1:30 PM. At the appointment, my BP was 140/88. She said I absolutely did the right thing by calling last night and that she was SO glad I did. She's going to keep me on the Labetalol and we're still shooting for a VBAC. But she explained to me that if my blood pressure gets too high or if I develop preeclapsia, a VBAC is pretty much out of the question because baby would have to be delivered early, and she won't use Pitocin if you've had a previous c-section (increased risk of uterine rupture, as I believe I mentioned in my previous post). But she made it clear that, at this point, there is no reason why baby would need to come now. I still have an ultrasound and another appointment scheduled for Monday, but she also added a NST (non stress test) to the list, which I believe I'll be doing weekly from now on. A NST is just where they have you lay there with a little contraption on your belly that monitors baby's heartbeat for about 30 minutes, just to make sure everything is okay.

And I just want to end by saying THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU to my wonderful parents. They dropped everything to come watch Isaac so we could go to the hospital, they were more than happy to come chill with me at 11 PM, and they spent all morning/afternoon at my house to help me with Isaac so I could take it easy per doctor's orders. I do NOT know what I would do without them. They are truly amazing. I love you guys so much!

The News Could Be Better :(

Well, we had our 34 weeks doctor appointment today. Baby's heart is beating strong at 143 bpm. :)

And my blood pressure was high again. It looks as though I could possibly have the early signs of something called Pregnancy Induced Hypertension, which is essentially high blood pressure brought on because of pregnancy. The main concern with this is that it can lead to Preeclampsia. In order for Preeclampsia to be diagnosed, my blood pressure would have to be 140/90 (which it was today), and I would have protein in my urine. Fortunately, I only had a trace of protein in my urine today. Last time it was +1 for protein, so the fact that it is back to normal is good. I found out today that the blood work from two weeks ago was all fine and dandy. The nurse said that no news is good news.

My doctor is a little concerned since this is the second appointment where my blood pressure has been on the higher side. She told me today to stop working (which I'm not anyway because school is over), and that I'm not on bed rest, but I need to take it easy. Her words were, "The couch is your new best friend. Vacuuming is no longer your friend. Doing the dishes is no longer your friend." I'm glad James was there to hear it directly from the horses mouth or I'm afraid he would think I was making it up so he would have to do all the housework. Honestly though, it's going to be tough for me. I'm home all day with an almost-two-year-old. I have to make him breakfast and lunch and take him to the potty and change his diaper and stuff. Plus it's going to be hard for me to NOT do that load of laundry that's sitting in the basket, or that load of dishes that's piled up in the sink. Especially since I feel fine. I feel like I should be doing this stuff because I'm the one who's home all day. I already feel guilty about it.

She also had me get more blood work done. An hour after we left the hospital, I got a call from the generic hospital/clinic number on my cell phone. I got really nervous, thinking that they wouldn't call me if the results were fine. When I answered, I was fully expecting the nurse to say that my blood tests came back abnormal and I would have to go to the hospital to be monitored or something. Fortunately, she was just calling to tell my that the lab results were in, and everything looked good. Holy heart attack, Batman!

My doctor wants to see me back on Monday, so we're skipping right to the weekly appointments now instead of two weeks from now. We're also getting an ultrasound on Monday to make sure baby is growing ok. She said sometimes when you have high blood pressure for an extended amount of time, it can cause baby to not grow as much as he should. But she said I'm measuring a little ahead (as I have for the entire pregnancy) so she's not worried, she just wants to know for sure.

My sincere hope for our next appointment is that I will go in, my blood pressure will be back down, and everything will be hunky dory. (Do people still say hunky dory?) I don't like restrictions. And I really, really don't like what Preeclampsia could mean for my VBAC. If I end up getting diagnosed with it, the only way to get rid of it would be to deliver the baby. And they don't like to use labor inducing drugs for VBAC mom's as that increases the risk of uterine rupture, so that would mean the only way to deliver the baby would be another c-section.

So I'm trying to stay positive here, although it's hard. I've been so very emotional lately anyway, that it doesn't take much to reduce me to tears these days. I am currently accepting thoughts/prayers/good vibes/whatever you want to send my way.

Sequel Update

James and I went in for my 32 week doctor appointment yesterday! Man, I can't believe I'll be 33 weeks tomorrow! I had Isaac 5 weeks from where I am right now in this pregnancy. Crazy.

Anyhoo... baby is doing well. His heart rate was 135, which is good. He's still head down. Also good. I did have a little protein in my urine, though. The nurse told me this, and I know it's a sign of pre-eclampsia so I was a little nervous that my blood pressure would also be high (another sign of pre-e). Since I was nervous about it, naturally, it was higher - in the 140's over 93 (or 97, I can't remember). The doctor took it again a little later and it was 130-something over 90. Still high. So she had me do some blood tests and another urine test at the lab after my appointment to check my liver and kidneys. I haven't heard back yet, but I'm assuming no news is good news. When I had my liver enzymes checked after my gallbladder disaster, it only took an hour or so to get the results, so my doctor should have them by now. I won't even go into what would happen if I do have pre-eclampsia because I really think the doctor would have called me by now if I did.

The doctor also said that we'd have one more ultrasound before baby comes so that we can check his weight to make sure I'm not going to try to VBAC a 12 lb baby. I have mixed feelings about this, however. I know that late-term ultrasounds are not very accurate in predicting a baby's size, and I've heard stories about women who are told they're going to have 10 lb babies, and found out after the birth that baby was actually only 7 or 8 lbs. I really don't want large size to be the deciding factor for a repeat c-section, only to find out that baby was really nowhere close to as big as they thought.

Next up - our hospital tour! You might be wondering why a couple who's had a baby before would need a tour of the labor and delivery floor. Well, because they've remodeled. Or rather, they are in the process of remodeling. Unfortunately, this could mean that I'll have a roommate, which would suck. Big time. I can't imagine trying to recover from childbirth (especially a c-section), feeding your newborn every few hours, having visitors, and trying to rest all while someone else in the same room is doing all the same things but at different times! Talk about hectic! Sorry, but I really don't want to have to wake up every time my roommate needs to feed her baby. I barely want to wake up to feed my own baby! My doctor assured me, though, that if there are enough patients where rooms need to be shared, they will try to put you with someone who will be discharged soon. So, hopefully I wouldn't have to have a roommate for the entire stay. I guess we'll see what happens.

Our next appointment is on June 6th. I'll be 34 (almost 35) weeks then!

Chocolate Cobbler

Let me start by saying that this recipe is a pregnant woman's dream. Or any woman's dream. Any woman who loves chocolate.

I got this recipe from Tasty Kitchen. I sure do love that Pioneer Woman. She knows what's what.

Here's what you'll need: 
1 cup flour 
2 tsp baking powder 
¼ tsp salt 
7 Tablespoons cocoa  powder, divided 
1-¼ cup sugar, divided 
½ cups milk 
⅓ cups melted butter 
1-½ teaspoon vanilla extract 
½ cups light brown sugar
1-½ cup hot water

First, mix the flour, baking powder, salt, 3 tablespoons of the cocoa, and 3/4 cup of the white sugar together in a mixing bowl.

Then add the milk, melted butter, and vanilla to the flour mixture.

Then spread it into an 8 inch dish.

Now combine the rest of the sugar (½ cup), the brown sugar, and the remaining cocoa powder (4 tablespoons).

Sprinkle it evenly on top of the batter in the dish.

And now for the weird part. Pour the hot water on top of the whole thing. If this step feels weird to you, you're not alone. I'm not sure how, but it works. Just believe.


Pop it in the oven for 40 minutes or until the middle is set. 40 minutes worked just fine for me.

Here's what it looked like when I took it out of the oven. And it smelled fantastic!

And it tasted heavenly. I only wish I would have had some ice cream or even whipped cream on hand. Instead, I just drank a big 'ol glass of milk while I ate it.

This would be a great dessert to make when you have company. It will impress, and it requires very little prep. It's ooey and gooey and delicious.


Ok, I might have to go get another piece. Now.

Mother's Day

I know this post is a little late, as Mother's Day was over a week ago, but I wanted to share all the cool stuff I got. :)

On the Friday before Mother's Day, Isaac brought home a gift for me that he made at daycare. It was super adorable.

It's a brick, painted green, with Isaac's foot print on it. It's meant to go in a garden, but I don't have a garden, so it's on our front porch. Just as good if you ask me.

Here's the card that was tied to it. So cute!

Then, on Mother's Day, I got a cake. Pregnant women like cake. James commissioned our good friend who decorates cool cakes as a hobby to make me one.

Isn't it cute? But wait, look at the other side:

It's James, me (complete with a little blue dot that is Sequel), Isaac, and that's Gizmo in yellow on the left. I sort of cut him off in the picture. And James is handing me a flower. It was adorable! And delicious. Funfetti cake with raspberry filling.

It was a good day for this Mommy!

Cheesy Chicken Pesto Ravioli

Wow, it's been a whole month since I last posted! Time flies! How have you been? How are the kids?

Ok, so I've actually had this recipe ready to post for a while and just never got around to it. I made it up myself. I got the idea from my co-worker. She told me how to make "Lazy Man's Lasagna" with frozen cheese ravioli (just layer it and add meat and sauce). I misunderstood, and thought you still had to boil the ravioli before baking it, which doesn't seem so "lazy" to me, but I was mistaken. Apparently you don't have to boil the ravioli before hand, so that might work in this recipe, too, but it's not how I did it. What can I say? I like to be difficult. In fact, if you don't need to boil it first, this would probably make an excellent freezer meal.

Oh, and I waited so long to post this, that I lost my list of ingredients and measurements, so you'll have to bear with me.

Here's what you'll need (I think):
2 chicken breasts - cooked and shredded
1 - 25 oz bag of frozen cheese ravioli
1 packet of pesto mix
1- 15 oz jar of alfredo sauce
1 - 15 oz container of ricotta cheese
Lots of mozzarella cheese to put on top

Here we go!

This is the kind of ravioli I used.

You want to boil it first. (Unless you decided to skip this step. It might work, it might not.)

And while you're boiling the ravioli, you might as well prepare the pesto mix according to the package. Here's the kind I use.

Here's what it will look like when it's ready. It looks gross, but tastes oh so yummy! You're going to use the whole thing, just to make sure we get all that delicious pesto taste. (P.S. Like my new saucepan?)

When the pesto is ready, mix it with the ricotta cheese. Seriously, I'm drooling.

Next, you'll want to break out the alfredo sauce. This is the kind I always use. It's delicious.

Spread a thin layer of alfredo sauce on the bottom of the lasagna dish.

Then arrange a layer of ravioli.

Spread a layer of the pesto/ricotta mixture on top of the ravioli.

Sprinkle some of the chicken (which, for the purpose of this blog, has already been prepared. I think we all know how to cook and shred chicken by now) on top of that.

Then pour on some of that alfredo sauce.

You're going to repeat these steps one more time, and then top it all off with lots of mozzarella cheese. I think I used a whole pack (2 cups), but I can't exactly remember.

I often forget to take pictures after I take my concoctions out of the oven, and this is no exception. So if you really want to know what the final product looks like, you'll just have to make it yourself. Trust me, you won't regret it! I thought it was going to be really rich due to all the cheese and sauce and such, but it was actually not overwhelmingly rich. It was very, very good. This is most definitely NOT a diet food, though. I doubt that needed to be said, but I thought I'd give that little disclaimer anyway. If you're looking for some good old fashioned, carb loaded, comfort food, this is it.

It even gets the 1-year-old kid seal of approval!