Belly Painting!

I have a very talented and generous friend who offered to do a belly painting!  I guess this could double as a belly shot as well as I am 37W1D.

36 Week Belly Shot and an unexpected hospital visit

Here is my belly shot for 36W5D...I am pretty sure he has dropped as the shape of my belly has changed and I can breathe and eat a little bit easier!  

This past week has been a hard one... Seana was hit with appendicitis and had to have an appendectomy on Friday.  She made it through the surgery with flying colors but because her appendix had a small perforation and bacteria had to be flushed out of her abdomen her hospital stay was longer than a normal stay for this type of surgery.  She ended up having to stay 3 nights... which was 2 nights too many in our book but she needed the medical attention so she was a champ and made it through!  I didn't get to visit with her as much as I would have liked.  We decided to not take Maggie to the hospital to avoid all the germs.. the last thing we needed was a sick toddler to top everything off.  Which meant finding people to watch Maggie when I could visit, thankfully I have so many great friends here in Connecticut willing to help.  I didn't want to overburden anyone so I only went once in the morning and once in the evening most of her stay.  Sunday she only got one visit.

I cannot tell you how many times I was asked when I was due during my many excursions to the hospital... apparently I am so evidently pregnant that the taboo of asking a woman about being pregnant no longer applies.  I am sure it was quite the sight as I helped Seana to the car... Actually I know it was as someone actually said to Seana "You should be helping her."

It was such a blessing to her home Monday afternoon, and Monday evening was when we got these photos taken.

It is crazy to think that in less than 3 weeks he will be here!  We are working hard at getting

Ultrasound 35 weeks!

I had my weekly appointment this morning with ultrasound to check his growth rate.  Our little boy is measuring 5 days bigger at an estimated 6 lbs 4 oz!  He is still in the 85th percentile... So the ultrasound technician thinks he will gain at least 2 1/2 more lbs before his due date she estimates him being around 8 lbs 12 oz if we went to my due date...since we are having the c-section a week early he will likely be a little smaller than that... So maybe I do grow big babies... she said to keep the tags on all newborn clothing... ummm too late everything is washed and put away already whoops! 

We also talked to our midwife today about why I am doing the non-stress tests weekly visits as well as the ultrasounds.  She said that it is due to colitis and the medication I have to take to treat the colitis; they want to keep an eye on the babies growth as well as look for any side affects like changes in heart rate that the medication could cause.  So there you have... it is because of my illness upping the risk level of the babies development.  But the midwife as well as the OB/GYN we see both have stated that our little guy was completely unfazed and is in fact ahead of the curve in growth and showing no signs of being impacted by my health or the medication.  Which is such a blessing!

Here are pics from the ultrasound!

34W Belly Shot!

I finally did it!  This is 34W5D... 

My Doctor's office has already switched me to weekly appointments... actually the past 3 weeks I have done weekly appointments... we are guessing because of my colitis I have been deemed "higher" risk and they started doing weekly stress tests on the baby (I get strapped to a machine and the baby is heartrate and activity are monitored for 15 minutes) So far every test has come back normal, even ideal... My next appointment is tomorrow I am getting a growth ultrasound to see how our little guy is growing as well as the stress test... The ultrasound is not something they normally do so again we are assuming it is because I was sick...but any opportunity to get a peek at our little guy we will take. 

We have also decided to go with the planned c-section and it is scheduled for 7:30 am on March 13th!  So as of tomorrow we only have 4 weeks to go!