One month and counting!!

Hey Peeps!

Ok, so officially we are down to one month before the "projected" due date. Which, if you do the math means that Courtney is 35 weeks and 4 days as of today (Wednesday). Now for those "baby illiterate" people out there (I would have included myself in that number prior to this experience), a full term baby is between 38 and 42 weeks which puts that September 1st due date right at 40 weeks. So, the baby could come tomorrow, two weeks, a month, or a month and a half... it really depends on the baby's timing.

I have a feeling (which could be wrong) that says that she is going to come early. We went to the doctor's office today and he measured Ms. Courtney's belly and found that she was measuring a solid 40cm from pelvic bone to top of uterus. Now for those that have read my prior posts you will know that the average is 1cm a week. So Courtney is measuring at full term which means that the baby is quickly running out of space.

Courtney can also attest to the fact that Madeleine is a space hog due in large part to the fact that at certain times during the day she can't breathe (Maddie is stuck up in her lungs) and at other times Courtney has sharp "crotch" pains which I like to think of as the baby trying to escape (really the baby is hitting her head against Courtney's cervix). Courtney has also had a ton of Braxton Hicks contractions which are basically harmless contractions of the uterus... think of them as simply a warm up routine for the real thing.

Interesting note. Doctor Ellis did say that it was very unusual that first time pregnancies result in tons of Braxton Hicks and those crotch pains... usually that happens during the 2nd or 3rd go around but even though it is unusual for Courtney, all is well. Maddie seems to get the hiccups about 50 times a day (which is cool because you get that wave affect as the hiccup sends her crashing into the wall of the uterus... which shows on the outside of the belly). The cool thing about hiccups is that it means that her lungs are developed enough to sustain her.

Another cool thing is that for about 6 weeks now Maddie has been in a head down position which makes the complications of a "breech baby" non existent for the most part. A breech baby is one that wants to come out of the shoot feet first which can't happen and usually results in a C-section. But Maddie IS head down and doesn't seem to be moving anywhere else so all should be well in that department.

Catch me on Thursday or Friday as I talk about graduating from Prenatal Classes (which have been a blast over the past 3 weeks).

Cheers,
Ash

PS. Start praying at this point because the baby could come at any time and we are asking for prayer requests that all goes well with the upcoming labor and there are no complications for mama or baby! Thanks!

The clock is ticking!

Hey Gang!

Sorry for not updating in a while but I've been busy and, to be honest, wasn't in the mood to update the blog. Sorry!

Anyway, that is beside the point. Everything has been going great except for one little hiccup about a week ago. Usually Madeleine moves a TON all the time but for about two days Courtney hadn't been feeling her as much which worried her. She called the doctor and he said to come in just to be sure. So they hooked her up to a fetal monitor which captured the heart beat and Courtney was supposed to push a button every time she felt Maddie move. The reason is because every time the baby moves the heart rate should go up. So after about 20 minutes the doctor came in and didn't look too thrilled with the result. He said that she was borderline failing the "Non-stress test" but said to give it more time. So we did it for another 40 minutes and he came in and saw a good result so he decided all was well. He did say that it was probably good that we came in but that everything is on the up and up. That was a little freaky but not too bad.

Other than that the only thing going on is that we are going to our birthing classes on Tuesdays and Thursdays for the next two weeks. We've already done one week and have learned breathing techniques and learned about the birthing process and relaxation techniques. One thing I'm sure Courtney would want me to include is that we had to watch these birthing videos that showed like three ladies giving birth and I pretended like I was watching (like my face was pointing at the TV) but my eyes were looking elsewhere. Courtney called me a sissy and told me that she was "going to tell my mom". Whatever.

Anyway, here is a pic that we took today so you can see the Courtney in all her largeness!

No news is good news

Hey All,

Sorry for not updating... but, there really hasn't been much to update. We went to the doctor's last week and all is well. Courtney is starting to gain some weight which is good. She is continuing to have some Braxton Hicks contractions which are not too comfortable but manageable. Work is wearing her out but her amazing husband (ehem) is making sure that she is being taken care of at night so that is going fine. So, as they say, no news is good news.

The only point of interest is that last week when we went to the doctor's office he measured her uterus and found that she was measuring 36 cm. The average is 1 cm a week and full term is 38-42 weeks. So the fact that she was only 31 weeks along but measuring like she was 36 is of note. Now she is almost 33 weeks (this Saturday) and I'm sure she is probably measuring close to that 38cm mark. So watch out!!! As of August 1st we are basically on baby watch!!!

Anyway, that's about it. Hope you all are doing well!

Cheers,
Ash

Some new pics!

Hey Gang,

We've got another appointment tomorrow (Monday) but I thought I'd show some pics we took today!

Cheers,
Ash