33 weeks

Okay so that picture is actually from last week at 32 weeks. We went to PA to visit my family and have our baby shower there. We had so much fun! We arrived Friday night and had dinner with my parents. Todd's mom came out for the shower so she joined us. After dinner, we hung out for a while and then went to my grandparents' house, where Todd's mom was staying for the weekend. We hung out with the grandparents for a while and then came back and went to bed. It was so hot there! I think it was about 90 degrees and humid! On Saturday, we went thrift store shopping a little then picked up Todd's mom and my sister and went shopping at Once Upon a Child. We got lots of cute baby clothes. Then we met Todd and my dad at Five Guys and had lunch. The boys had been out running a bunch of errands all day and talking about books and history. After lunch, we all went to visit my great grandmother at the nursing home. She has Alzheimer's disease but seemed to be having a pretty good day. She was able to remember all of us. However, after about 45 minutes, she got distracted and wandered off so we decided to leave. We had dinner with my grandparents, Aunt Sue, Uncle Art, and cousin Andrew that night. After dinner we headed to my sister's house to have a bonfire and marshmallow roast. Unfortunately, it was pretty humid and we had trouble getting the fire started. Then it started raining. We were pretty tired after a long day, so we headed home to bed.

Sunday was our baby shower. Aunt Sue made all the food and my mom used her cafe for the shower.

This is me with my mom (in the pink) and mother-in-law at the shower.

With my sister

With my Grandmother

 The cake. Created by my Aunt Rochelle and Aunt Susie. It was as delicious as it was adorable.

This is my friend Emily. We've been friends since we were 12. She is pregnant with her 3rd baby and is due about 3 weeks after me.

The baby shower was a lot of fun! My sister planned a few fun games including one where you had to taste baby food and figure out what flavor it was. It was so gross! There was also Baby Word Scramble, Guess the Number of Jelly Beans in the Bottle, and a raffle for door prizes. All the decorations were really cute and the food was delicious. We received lots of gifts too. Everyone was so generous and we are almost all set for the baby now.

I had an ultrasound this past Thursday at 32 weeks 5 days. Baby is measuring right on schedule and weighs about 4 pounds. His heart rate was 137 bpm and he is still head down. The tech said that my high risk Dr wanted one more cervix check so she did it and my cervix is still very long at over 4cm. I've been having some swelling in my ankles and feet since Monday so they checked my blood pressure. It was normal at 108/64 so the dr said to just drink lots of water and put my feet up whenever I can.

I am feeling pretty good, just soreness from stretching and hip pain. I have to pee all the time, which is kind of annoying.  Baby is kicking like a crazy person. He always kicks a lot right after I eat, but really he is just a kicking machine.

Upcoming events:

6/7- Dr. S. 34 week appt
6/28- 36 week growth scan and Non-stress Test

I will have another Dr. S. appt in there somewhere but it isn't schedule yet. It will probably be on the 21st though.

Only 7 weeks to go!

30 weeks 5 days

Today was my last cervix check ultrasound. My cervix is 3.39-4.01cm, which is good. Baby's heartbeat was 139 bpm and he has flipped to head down. The tech said she noticed that my belly has gotten a lot bigger over the past few weeks so she wanted to make sure I don't have too much amniotic fluid. Nope, fluid level is normal. Maybe baby just had a growth spurt or I just look big because of his position. I think he looks a lot like Todd!

I'm feeling pretty good lately, just tired and a little achy in the evenings.  He is kicking up a storm lately.

Coming events:

5/24- Dr. S
5/27- PA baby shower
5/31- Growth scan

29 weeks 5 days

I had an appt with Dr. S today. It was pretty routine. They checked my blood pressure and it was normal at 117/76. I haven't gained any weight still. He listened to baby's heartbeat and said it sounded good. He was able to feel baby from the outside and said he's still breech and curled up around my belly button. I told him I've been having trouble sleeping and he suggested that I take benedryl before bed to help with breathing and sleep.

We've been getting out cloth diapers ready for the baby. So far we have about 18 prefold flat diapers, one newborn cover, and 3 size small covers. I have ordered one more NB cover and one more size small. A friend is giving me 9 more prefolds and we registered for a few more. I also bought a few pocket diapers from a friend that we are thinking of using for nighttime.

Upcoming events:

5/17- Cervix check
5/24- Dr.S
5/27- PA baby shower
5/31- Growth scan

28 weeks 5 days

We had a growth scan and cervix ultrasound today. My cervix is really long at 5.6cm. The tech was joking that it would take a really long time for him to get out because the birth canal is so long. Ha ha. Baby was measuring right on track and weighs approximately 2lbs 9oz. His heart rate was 125. He is also now breach. I think he turned over the last few days. The tech said she thinks he will probably turn again. He was all curled up with his legs crossed and his arms up by his face. She also confirmed again that he is a boy.

Oh it's rough being a fetus!

Upcoming events:

5/10- Dr. S

5/17- Cervix check

5/27- PA baby shower

5/31- Growth scan

28 weeks!

This has been a bit of an eventful week. On Sunday night, I felt like the baby had dropped really low and it was hard to walk. I tried drinking some water and stayed off my feet the rest of the night. Around 10pm, I started feeling some tightening in my uterus. I went to bed and drank a lot more water. It continued on and off until around 2am when I was able to sleep. I woke up at 4:30 because it was happening again every 4-5 minutes. I drank more water and it stopped after about an hour. I woke up at nine and it started back up and I was having a lot of abdominal pain. I could feel baby pushing out with his butt every time I had the tightening feeling. I called my Dr.'s office and the nurse told me to go to Labor and Delivery for monitoring. I called Todd and told him what was going on but he was stuck in a training at work and couldn't come get me so I called a friend and she came and picked me up and took me to L&D. Once there, they hooked me up to a fetal monitor and a contraction monitor. I was having "small contractions." They took blood and urine and discovered that I was very dehydrated. They gave me 2 bags of fluids by IV and the contractions slowed way down. A midwife checked me internally for infections, signs of early labor, and my cervix. My cervix was closed,  the early labor tests came back negative,  and she didn't see any outward signs of infection. Baby was fine the whole time. He was moving all around and kicking the monitors. After about 4 hours, the contractions stopped and they let me go home.  I was still in pain, but they said that was from the baby fighting the contractions and it would go away in a few days.

I saw Dr. S. on Friday. He said that all the tests from L&D came back negative and baby looked good. He checked his heartbeat and it was good. My blood pressure was 115/79 and I haven't gained any weight. He talked to me about fluid intake and told me to rest this weekend. He also said that I am now on every other week appointments with him.

I have been resting on the couch all day other than going to the bathroom every half hour.

What is baby up to? He's a kicking machine and moves all over the place all the time. He's very feisty as we learned during the hospital visit. He has been kicking my belly button a lot lately, which feels so weird! My belly button is getting shallower every day but I think it's in his way!

Upcoming events:
5/3- Growth ultrasound
5/10- Dr. S
5/27- PA baby shower

26 weeks 3 days

We had another ultrasound and cervix check today. My cervix is between 3.3 and 4.45cm long. The tech said this is normal and awesome. She said that my average for the whole pregnancy thus far has been 3.9 and that if I have another baby, they probably won't need to check it. Baby's heartbeat was 150bpm. He was kicking me the whole time we were looking at him. He also looks just like Todd!

Doesn't he look like he has Todd's facial features?ProfileWith all the ultrasounds, no one has ever shown me his feet, so I asked to see them today. Cute little feet!

We had our baby shower in NJ this weekend. Todd's mom threw it in her home and it was great! His aunt Arlene and cousin Charlene cooked all the food including fried chicken, lasagna, pasta salad, potato salad, and meatballs. A lot of Todd's mom's coworkers came and everyone was so generous! Baby Zachary got lots of clothes and toys, along with a convertible carseat, bouncy seat, a cute lamp, and NJ Devils Jerseys. We also got a bunch of diapers and wipes for him. Thank you Mom for the wonderful shower!

Upcoming events:

4/27- Dr. S monthly appt
5/3- Growth scan
5/27- PA shower

24 weeks 3 days

I had a growth scan today. Baby Zach looks great! He's measuring right on schedule and weighs about 1lb 8oz. I had my favorite tech today and she rechecked everything from the anatomy scan. She also made a point to make sure that he is indeed a boy. He is! His heart rate was 141 beats per minute and he was moving all over. She also checked my cervix and it was 4.47 cm. Even longer than last time! She mentioned that everyone (the drs, etc) is really happy with how my cervix is doing. She said that they will keep checking it until 30 weeks and I will have growth scans every 4 weeks. Everything looks perfect!
Here you can kind of see his jaw with his arm on the topAnother profile with arm3D face with arm in front
3D face with arm in front. I love his cute little nose in this one!

Upcoming events:

4/14- NJ baby shower
4/17- Cervix check
4/27-Dr. S monthly visit
5/3- Growth scan
5/27- PA baby shower