Great Landings

Hello everyone and welcome to Baby Watch for week #38! This week we have about as big of news as you can get in the world of Baby Watch blogging. During our first amniotic fluid check since last weeks hospital visit we learned that the fluid was at it’s lowest point to date. If you remember from last week normal fluid levels are between 8-18 centimeters and Erin had been hanging out in the borderline category of 6-10 centimeters. This week on Monday’s check the fluid level was 5.4 centimeters and just like the week prior this prompted a chat with Doctor.

During the chat with the doctor he explained that 5.4 centimeters was very low (but above the emergency cut off of 5cm), and that the non-stress test they had also been doing was looking great so the baby appears to be doing just fine. He expressed some concern over Erin’s blood pressure saying that it wasn’t abnormally high, but that over the past several weeks it has been slowly creeping up. He also talked about how our situation may seem very similar to when we met with him a week ago, but that we were now in week #38 and that was hugely positive and made all the difference. It was at this point that Erin shouted out (as she does at almost every chance) “Lets just have this baby already!”. The difference was this time the doctor agreed! He explained the risks and procedures for inducing Erin and said that as long as we were comfortable, he was comfortable with moving things along. We said yes, and they scheduled the induction for this Thursday, April 29th!

Erin and I will go to the hospital on Wednesday night where they give her medicine to help get her ready for the induction. On Thursday morning the doctor will break her water and begin giving her more medicine designed to put her into labor. At that point we will wait and hope that the everything works as it is supposed to. If the labor progresses at a normal pace they will continue to plan and prepare for a normal birth. However the doctor said it is possible that Erin’s body is just not ready, and the induction medicine may not work. If that happens they will switch over to a C-Section and deliver the baby that way.

So there you have it. After months of baby showers, cleaning, painting, putting stuff together, worrying, crying, smiling, and of course baby updates, the day is almost here. Funny to think that I already know our babies birthday and it is not even here yet! I am also very excited to find out the sex of the baby. It has been hard sticking to our plan of not finding out. Hard to shop for clothes, hard to decorate the bedroom, hard to figure out the name, and hard to always be calling it an “it” or just baby. But now that the time is here I am happy we did it this way. Thursday we will all find out together, and that is pretty awesome!

Here is what the baby site has to say for week #38~

Baby’s Growth and Development When You’re 38 Weeks Pregnant

During the 38th week of pregnancy, your baby’s systems and functions continue to increase. These include:

• Your baby’s organ functions refine when you are 38 weeks pregnant.
• His nervous system functions increase.
• His brain helps him refine breathing, improve digestion, regulate his heart rate, and prepare for eating during the 38th week of pregnancy.
• Your baby might pass solid waste, called meconium, prior to delivery. If your water breaks or leaks and it is greenish-brown in color, this might indicate meconium spotting in your amniotic fluid. Call your doctor right away if this happens.
• He has reached what will likely be his birth length.

I have no doubt we will be calling, texting, Facebooking, sending smoke signals, and tapping out Morris code as soon as the baby gets here. But you can also keep an eye out here on the website and I will do my best to put up pictures and information as soon as I can. Next stop… Baby Birthday!

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Hey everyone, and welcome to week #37 of Baby Watch or as I like to call it “dry run” week. First off I have a correction to make from last weeks update. I have been told the new test they are doing twice a week is called a “NON-stress test” rather then “stress test“. Other things I have been told this week include “You better start paying better attention to me” and “if you touch me one more time I will break your finger“. Glad we got that cleared up.

On to our eventful week. On Monday we went into the doctors for the “NON-stress test” (NST) and a ultrasound to check the amniotic fluid (AFI). The NST went just fine. They warp a couple of bands around Erin’s belly and it monitors the babies heartbeat, any contractions Erin might have, and also the movement of the baby. Since our appointment was in the morning the baby was still sleeping and not moving all that much. But as you may have guessed they have a solution for that and it comes in the form of a loud, vibrating contraption they put on Erin’s belly near the babies head and “zap” it. This woke the baby up and in the process almost kicked its feet right through Erin’s lungs. But it worked, and as I said the test went great and everyone was very happy with the results.

Next up was the Amniotic Fluid Index (AFI) check. This is where they use the ultrasound to measure the four pockets of amniotic fluid around the baby. If you remember from last week we had this done during our last ultrasound and they determined the fluid was on the low end of the normal range. Well this time around it was even lower still. The normal range for this test is between 8-18 centimeters. Last week we were at an 9.4 (low end of normal), but this week it was at 6.1. This concerned the doctors enough to send Erin to the hospital to get IV fluids and be monitored. Why the IV fluids you might ask? Well apparently the amniotic fluid is made up primary of urine from the baby. So by pumping Erin full of fluids, the baby gets lots of fluids, and hopefully responds by making lots and lots of urine. Thereby increasing the amount of amniotic fluid.

So Tuesday morning they did another AFI with the ultrasound (see new pictures here) the hospital and found her to be at 8.5. Back into the normal range, but just barely. At that point her doctor decided that one more night in the hospital with the IV fluids was probably the best plan. So we did that and this morning got another AFI check. All the while everyone was expecting the fluid amount to increase just as it had done after the first night. Erin was going to the bathroom every two hours, so the baby must be as well right? Apparently not because her AFI was back down to 6.5. In talking with the doctor they decided that while this is not ideal, there are no other indications that anything is wrong with the baby. As such they were not willing to induce labor or do a C-Section at this time. Had there been other indicators that the baby was in distress, or that Erin was any where near going into labor this could have been a very different baby update. But instead they sent us home and plan to monitor the AFI, baby, and Erin closely through our office visits. They did say however that should the fluid continue to drop (below 5 being the new magic number) they would start making plans to speed things along.

So there we have it. Our dry run at the hospital. While we are both disappointed our little trip didn’t result in anything more positive then a IV and some crappy hospital food, I did learn a few things. First off it takes me exactly14 minutes to drive (at normals speeds) from our front door to he hospital. From there I can make it to and from either of  the two main entrances of the hospital and the birth center with my eyes closed. I know where the cafeteria is, where the ice maker and water is, and most important (according to Erin) where they keep the ice cream. We also have a much better idea of what we should pack and what can probably stay home. The last thing I leaned was that not one single piece of furniture in that place is in any way, shape, or form comfortable. Not sure if this is by design as payback for the Dads but after 48 hours of sitting there, my butt hurts.

Here is what the baby site has to say for week #37~

Baby’s Growth and Development When You’re 37 Weeks Pregnant

• When you’re 37 weeks pregnant, you have a reason to celebrate. Your baby is considered full-term. These are a few changes she experiences:
• Your baby’s weight gain slows considerably, but she’s got just a little more room to grow.
• Essential fat (aka baby fat) will continue to form. This will round her out and help her stay warm after birth.
• If you have an ultrasound during the 3rd trimester, the technician might measure the head, stomach, and femur to estimate your baby’s weight.
• She weighs more than 6 pounds.

Two things that stand out to me in the above. First off “weighs more then 6 pounds“. Yes that is technically correct, but more correct in our case would be “weighs more then 8 pounds“. During our little visit the hospital the ultrasound they did showed the baby at 8 pounds, 4 ounces. WOW! Second they say that 37 weeks is considered “full-term“. Again technically correct, but our doctors office feels very strongly that they need to do everything they can to keep the baby in until 38 weeks. It might not sound like that much, but the further development of the lungs they get in that last week is very important.

So that is it, week #37 in the bag. I have a gut feeling the big show is right around the corner so stay tuned!

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Word on the little people street was that Erin and Adam’s house was the place to be this weekend. Last night we had Jackson, Steph, and Andy and today we had Avery, Kelly, and Steve! Baby Avery was super cute and it didn’t take me much time at all to bust out the camera. She has grown so much since the last time I seen her! It took a little bit before she warmed up to me and my giant lens, but we got lots of great pictures in the end. I added them to the Avery June Sloan album on the Greatlandings photo site. Just like Jackson’s pictures I have added the dates below the photos so you can see when they were taken.

Next up on the baby photo train, Baby Carlson!

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Andy, Steph, and Jackson came over to visit last night. While they were here Jackson asked me if I would take a million pictures of him. Not wanting to disapoint my little buddy I busted out the camera and took some pictures. I have added them to the Jackson Andrew album on the Greatlandings Photo Site. I have also added the date below them so you can see what is from where. It was great to have everyone over and hanging out with Jackson just makes me more excited for our own little baby to show up!

By the way, Andy used the baby name book and came up with the names for Baby Carlson. If it is a boy – Anta, and if it is a girl – Daniesha. But really, I seen that guy go to work this morning wearing navy blue pants he thought were black, so I don’t think I can take him seriously any more.

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Welcome back everybody! This is Baby Watch for week #36 and this week I am starting to hear the tic tock of the clock on this turkey! Erin is slightly less miserable then last week. Thanks in part to the wonders of modern medicine, and also in part to her new working conditions. After attending opening day for the Reds last week with her boss, and after him witnessing the crazy that is perggers Erin first hand, he told her it was OK to work more from home. So she has been taking advantage and spending the day working here, with her super awesome husband. It took a few days to settle in, but this morning I came down to find her all set up in her “lounge chair office”. She had all her files, phones, computer, pens, and papers all laid out with her feet kicked up in the living room lounge chair, working like it was just another day at the office. The upside is I can already see a difference in how she is looking and feeling. Or maybe it is all just from hanging around me all day!

This week we had another ultrasound and the first of our now weekly office visits. The ultrasound was cool as always, but it is also very different then the ones before. The first couple we had you could clearly see the baby on the screen. Now with the baby getting bigger and bigger, we can only see big parts at a time. So the pictures are not as cool as they used to be. As you can see in the one I posted here, it is just a big giant head. Compared to when we could see the whole head and body just a few months ago. But still pretty amazing to see your baby on a TV just moving and wiggling around in there. I have added the pictures to the Ultrasound album on the photo site if you want to see them all.

The doctor visit also stepped it up a notch this week. Rather then our normal boring visit where they listen to the heartbeat and ask how you are feeling, this time they starting checking things “under the hood” if you know what I mean. I am not sure what exactly they are checking, but I am glad to see them doing something that looks doctor-y at these visits. We also discussed the babies size again. Today’s ultrasound showed the baby weighing in at 7lbs 5ozs, or in the 90%. They said given it can gain up to a 1/2 lb per week, and we have around four weeks left, it means the possibility of a 9lb 5oz baby come May 10th!! They also measured the fluid in there with the baby and said while it fell into what they would call a “normal” range, it was on the lower end of that “normal” range. So beginning next week we will now have weekly ultrasounds to measure the fluid, and twice weekly office visits to do Stress Tests on the baby. All in addition to our now normal weekly office visit to the baby doctor.  I thought Stress Test sounded kind of scary, but basically they are just going to put a band around Erin’s belly and measure the baby moving and stuff to make sure everything is progressing well. In fact that was the running theme at the doctors this week, monitoring to make sure everything is progressing well.

Other then that we continue to play with are the cool shower gifts we got. I have put just about everything together now, although since nothing (and I mean NOTHING) takes the same size batteries we are still short a couple size C’s. One of the things Erin got using her work bonus points was this baby carrier called a Baby Bjorn. It straps around you and holds the baby on your chest. Or at least that is the idea. I tried it on and unless they sell one at the Big and Tall store I don’t know how much I will be wearing it. But it did fit Erin real nice, and as you can see from the picture it works great for holding all kinds of babies!

Here is what the baby site has to say for week #36~

Baby’s Growth and Development When You’re 36 Weeks Pregnant

At the end of 36 weeks of pregnancy, your baby will be considered full-term! Although he has more growing to do after that time, it’s exciting to know his arrival is approaching quickly.

• Your baby has grown almost completely into his skin that was once so oversized.
• He now has a fully rounded face, in part because his powerful sucking muscles are now developed and ready to get to work.
• Although your baby’s bones are hardening, his skull remains soft and flexible for his birth.
• At 36 weeks of pregnancy, your baby probably weighs about 6 pounds or slightly more.

Well we know that it is more then the 6 pounds they say, and if you ask me the idea of a babies skull being “soft and flexible” is just plain crazy! It is their skull people! Anyway, I’m excited to see the cool new Stress Test for next week. If we are lucky Erin will let me take a picture or something. See ya~

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Some of you might remember it was almost a year ago that I posted about our friends Trish and Kris getting engaged. Well as of last night they have moved on from engaged to married! Erin and I were lucky enough to be able to drive the seven or so hours it took to get to Hamilton OH and witness the big event. It was a beautiful church and ceremony, and both Trish and Kris looked great. We all had a wonderful time at the reception celebrating and hanging out with everyone. (Some of us celebrated a little too much) As usual I took the camera and for the first time ever managed to drain both batteries taking over 650 pictures! Of course when you factor out the ones where it was more the whiskey taking the picture then me, we are down to a reasonable sub-300 range. So check them out in the Trish & Kris Wedding album on the Greatlandings photo site!

Congrats Trish and Kris!

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Hello everyone and welcome to Baby Watch for week #35, or as I may start calling it, “This Week in Water Retention“. I know I have mentioned that Erin has got some serious swelling going on, but you can forget anything I have ever said before because I didn’t know what swelling was till this week. Some of you may be familiar with the term “Kankles“, it is a combination of the words Calf and Ankle for people who just seem to go from foot to calf. Well if going from your foot straight to you calf is a Kankle, then Erin has “Thankles” because she is to the point it just goes from her foot to her thigh! I feel so bad for her, it looks like the most uncomfortable thing ever. But the doctors say it is all part of the deal, and it will go away when the baby comes.

Other then that Erin and Baby are doing good. The baby is so big now that you can see it moving around inside Erin’s belly, and I haven’t had much trouble feeling it just about anytime I want. The other morning Erin woke me up because the baby had the hiccups and I got to feel them. It was pretty sweet and cute as all get out knowing our baby is right there and it has the hiccups.

The other major development has been the baby showers. Erin had her Friend shower a couple weeks ago, and had her Family shower this past weekend. I can’t thank everyone enough for all the awesome stuff we got. Two weekends in a row Erin brought home massive piles of awesome baby stuff. Some was cute, some needed battery’s, and some lots needed to be put together. But all of it was needed and greatly appreciated, so thank you to everyone who helped us with such awesome gifts. One additional bonus was that my Mom and Grandma flew down for the shower. It has been over five years, and was only the second time that my Grandma came here to visit. They had a great time hanging out with us, and getting to go visit with all the girls during the shower. Although next time I may have to send her over with some ear plugs!

As part of us putting all the cool stuff we got together and away I also installed the car seat base into both cars. It may be a little early for them since we should have about five weeks left. But I was too excited and wanted to make sure we were ready at a moments notice. In fact my new thing is to tell Erin everyday that “Today is the day the baby comes!“, just because I know that at some point soon I will be right. Then I will say “I told you so!“.

You may have noticed that this weeks update is a little later then usual. Normally I have it set to post at 7:00AM sharp just in case anyone wants to be the first to read it. But this week we had our doctors appointment this afternoon so I thought I would hold off a little while so I could include some breaking news for y’all. So what is this breaking news you ask? Nothing.. Same old same old doctors appointment. But they did schedule another ultrasound for next week based on how big Erin is measuring. So look for some new pictures on next weeks update.

Here is what the baby site has to say for week  #35~

Baby’s Growth and Development When You’re 35 Weeks Pregnant

During this 35th week of pregnancy, your baby’s growth has been progressing at a remarkable pace as your due date draws near. But the next three weeks could bring your baby’s most rapid weight gains.

• Your baby probably continues to gain at least a half a pound a week.
• During the 35th week of pregnancy, she already might be close to her birth length, near 18 inches from head to toe, and she continues to build up necessary fat, especially in her shoulders.
• Within your now-crowded uterus, your baby might shift her movements from kicks and punches to more rolls and wiggles.
• Her brain development continues to advance quickly.
• Your baby already might have settled into a head-down position in your pelvis, if this is your first pregnancy. This is the ideal position for delivery because your baby’s head is the biggest part of her body.
• Position refers to your baby’s placement in your uterus — whether he is facing right or left or is headfirst or feet first. Your baby floats in your uterus and changes positions often throughout early and mid-pregnancy. When you’re between 32 and 36 weeks pregnant, your baby usually rotates to a head-down position for labor and delivery.
  • Headfirst position is called the vertex position.
  • Feetfirst position is called a breech position.
  • If your baby is breech but is not too far down into your pelvis, your doctor might try to turn your baby into the proper position a few weeks before your due date.
  • Lying-sideways position is called a transverse position.

This is the first week that the baby site has not included a food item as a size reference for the baby. So I will help out and tell you that based on my expert opinion it is the size of a Volkswagen Beetle. I can also say that based on the last several ultrasounds and from what Erin has said she is feeling the baby is already it its head down position. Almost like it is ready to come out, like I told Erin this morning, maybe today is the day the baby comes!

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