Sunday, December 29, 2013

Week 32 and 33: Expect the Unexpected

Weeks 32 and 33

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As you all know, I am no stranger to children. I am under no illusions that any part of parenthood will be easy and I'm also under no illusions that I will be able to plan how things will go. 

I guess then I shouldn't be surprised that this pregnancy has taken a complete 180 turn from the time when my doctor declared me her healthiest patient to… where I am now. In this case, I can't even blame Max. He has continued to do everything he is supposed to do as expected (hopefully this is what he will be like out of my tummy as well, please?). 

This past week I was diagnosed with Cholestasis of Pregnancy. I fortunately caught it quickly thanks to some crazy middle of the night itching I was complaining about on twitter and in my last update. It's basically a liver disease that, in my case, is brought on in pregnancy and will disappear afterwards (yay!). In the meantime, it could cause a lot of stress to Max and has been shown to increase the chance of stillbirth or preterm labor. Not yay. 

Fortunately, last week I had a Non Stress Test (checks baby movement and heart beat) and ultrasound to confirm that as of now, the baby is doing very well. I will continue to be monitored twice a week for the remainder of pregnancy, which incidentally will be MUCH shorter than I expected. In order to decrease the stillbirth risk, this will be dealt with by inducing the baby between 36-37 weeks before my liver can bother him too much (hopefully) which is in… about 16 days. AH. 

Since all of this occurred during Christmas week, there was a lot of craziness with the doctor and I just didn't feel comfortable going to Florida in the midst of this chaos. Okay, what actually happened was that I literally packed everything (actually not everything because I forgot half of what I actually needed), went to the airport and had a complete and total meltdown for over an hour before deciding not to get on the plane. Full disclosure. It was a bad day. But in the end, I think I made the right decision because I am now relaxing at the Cape and not a three hour plane ride away from my own doctor and hospital. Max has probably enjoyed enough travel for now and hopefully it's only the beginning of his many travel adventures. 

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So. That's the biggest news of Week 32 and 33. Other notes include: 

- I did get a prenatal massage. It helped my back A LOT. I do not find massages to be super stress relieving, but they do seem to work wonders on my back. 

-Only a few days after fixing my back, I managed to hurt the back of my pelvis (which is basically my back/butt) and could barely walk on Christmas Eve morning. I decided to go swimming anyway (but Caroline had to bring me a towel because walking upstairs to get my own was too hard). By some stroke of luck, swimming ended up being exactly what I needed and all back, pelvic etc pain has been pretty minimal since then. I don't know how many times I can say it, I would not have survived this pregnancy without swimming. 

-Max continues to take after his dad and be a night person. He is predictably quiet in the mornings and CRAZY active in the afternoon. At my appointment last Monday they had to wake him up with an alarm clock (not joking) to get him to move so they could measure things properly. This is because it was 9 am. Lol. 

-The silver lining of being a "high risk" pregnancy is I now get a weekly ultrasound. The one on Friday was fun and even though he looks like an alien on the 3D machine, at least he looks like an alien with my nose. Score. 

-Max currently weighs 5 pounds, 6 ounces which is exactly what I weighed when I was born :) He is at the 64 percentile for weight, which I think is a perfect place to be. Hopefully he will be about 7 lbs when he is born. If all turns out well, this will be a blessing in disguise because he may have been REALLY big by February, ha. 

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I may do weekly updates now, since I'll probably only have 2 or 3 more. Crazy! 

11 comments:

  1. Oh my gosh! That is so exciting, but I am sure you are anxious!! Are you ready to leave your classroom?
    I'm glad you had a relaxing holiday and went with your gut about not going to Florida. I think gut instincts are powerful!

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  2. Yikes, those risks are really scary so I am glad that they are closely monitoring baby Max. I will keep you guys in my prayers and hope for a safe and issue free delivery! It is exciting that you are going to meet him in 16 days possibly, but I also can see how that is nerve wracking since you have so much to do between now and then (on top of teaching and preparing for maternity leave). Hang in there! Wish I could come over and help in some way! Even if it's just to talk you down from the stress ledge you are probably residing on right now!

    Also, I think it's hilarious that they had to wake the baby up with an alarm clock! hahaha

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  3. You've had such a crazy week, I definitely think you made the right decision not to come to Florida (though we miss you guys!) .. If it makes you feel better I haven't had an awesome time here.. most recently being woken up by a wake up call NOT for us at 6:30 AM. But anyways.. you're so close and we are all here to help you get ready in 16 days!

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  4. So sorry to hear about the complications but it sounds like things continue to go as well as they could be! Hope you're feeling well and able to enjoy these last couple weeks before you meet your son!

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  5. Oh, my goodness, I can't believe you're going to meet Max so soon! I was 5 lbs when I was born and I was just 2 weeks early. I'll be praying that everything goes smoothly for the next 16 days and you can try to get everything done and be ready to meet this little dude!

    I think not going to Florida was the right decision - especially if you were feeling so much anxiety about going. Always trust your gut!

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  6. Oh man, I hate that you are having these issues, but so happy you caught it. Rest up as much as you can!

    I love the doctors had to use an alarm clock to wake Max up!

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  7. Super crazy, but exciting, too! I think you made the right decision about Florida. If it was stressing you out that much just before getting on the plane, then not getting on the plane was the right move. Florida will always be there and next time you'll be able to introduce it to Max! Here's to relative health in the next few weeks and a happy & healthy January birth!

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  8. Oh my goodness! Sounds like a busy and stressful week for you. Glad to hear that you were able to catch it early and everything should be okay with you and babe. Is it crazy that he could be here really soon?

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  9. So so glad you're okay and glad your doctors are monitoring you so closely!

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  10. ((())) I will be thinking of you! Induction can be a bit crazy. But it's nice to know when it's happening.

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  11. I read this last week on my phone but I'm just getting around to commenting now -- so so crazy, I'm glad you didn't just ignore your crazy itching and you went and got checked out for everything. I'm sure that was a really hard decision not to go to Florida but I think you made the right one. Thinking of you lots these days!

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