36 weeks!

So today I hit my 36 week mark, which means... only 4 more weeks left until my due date!!!

Here are some pics of my belly from today. There isn't much difference from last week honestly (which you can see in the second picture).

 

And below is a collective belly pic from week 10 until now. I have missed a few weeks here and there... the latest one is from today. The one before that is from week 33. 

(Click the image to see it bigger)

OB Appointment on 1/27/10

Had an OB appointment today and it went really well.

I was hooked up to the NST machines (NST = Non Stress Test) for 20 minutes first thing again. The baby didn't really start moving/doing what he needed to do until the last part. The nurse told me that I may have to do the test again if the doctor needs me too. Thankfully, he didn't. I have to lay almost flat on my back and when I do that, the baby crushes my lungs so its kinda uncomfortable.

After the scan, I had my blood pressure and weight taken. Blood pressure was normal and I gained 2lbs since my last weigh-in, which was 2 weeks ago, putting me at a total of about 15lbs weight gain this pregnancy so far. Not too shabby :)

Then I met with the doctor, who measured my belly and I am still measuring a little small at 34.5CM (I should be almost 36) but he said it's ok. He did a very quick ultrasound and we found that the baby is head down again! YAY!! My hope now is that he stays head-down.

I was also able to get a prescription of Nexium for heartburn! I told him how TUMs, Rolaids, and Maalox just wasn't doing it anymore. I said that I found two Class B heartburn meds that I hope I could take and he agreed to write a prescription for one of them. Now I just have to wait to see if it helps. If its not helping by my next appointment (next Friday) then he will probably give me a bigger dose.

I turn 36 weeks tomorrow meaning there is only 4 more weeks left to go!!!!!!!

Parenting Class #2

So last night Matt and I had our second parenting class. It's held at our Hospital (Queens Medical Center) in a small auditorium. Our first class was last Monday, but nothing really interesting happened there. We took a tour of the hospital again (Matt and I took one right before visiting family in November) and signed registration paperwork.

Yesterday is what I consider the first "real" class session. Each week, the class is taught by someone different, from different areas of the hospital. Yesterday's class focused on Labor and Delivery.

During the first part, the lady talked about water breaking, dilation, and all that fun stuff. Then she showed us tools that they have that are used to help the baby during birth (such as the vacuum and forceps).

We then got to watch a few short videos, which contained both 3D video and real-life video of a vaginal birth and all that goes on in the uterus, the baby, and the mom during the different stages of labor. That was fun! haha... actually, thanks to TLC and other various TV stations, I've seen a few live vaginal births before, so it really didn't phase me. I believe Matt was doing good as well. I did hear a few others getting a little squirmy in their chairs though (especially when they showed a live birth of the placenta. FUN!! haha..)

The video also talked about medications during birth and we got to see how an epidural was administered. I know I am definitely getting one, and honestly, it doesn't seem to bad to have done... ask me later if I still feel that way though haha!!!

Overall, it was a very informative class. My head was full of lovely images and information, which played out in my dreams last night, whenever I could fall asleep. The little guy was moving around A LOT, making me cramp a bit at some times. My heartburn has been getting worse at night.. I'm going to beg my doctor to let me take something stronger then TUMs, Rolaids, or Maalox. They just are not doing their job anymore, except giving me bad upset stomachs and even some nausea now.

I have my NST Scan and OB appointment later today. I will update with that information either tonight or tomorrow morning :)

Appointment info from 1/20/10

So this last Wednesday (1/20/10) I had an OB appointment that contained an NST scan. Apparently I will be having this scan, followed by a visit with my OB, weekly until I have the baby.

What the NST scan does is monitor the baby's movements and heartbeat, as well as to see if I am having any contractions. I get two monitors attached to me (one for me, one for baby) and I have to lay there for 20 minutes. The baby is supposed to move a certain amount of times during those 20 minutes.. apparently, my little guy completed the requirements within 6 minutes haha! They still had me stay hooked up the full 20 minutes. Baby's heartbeat was great and I had no contractions.

Once done, I saw my doctor (Dr. Sakaguchi, for those who don't know his name). He was very pleased with the movement and heartbeat of the baby. He then measured my fundal height (which is from my pelvic to the top of my uterus). It is supposed to match the number of weeks I am. So if I am 35 weeks, it should measure 35cm. Every week that my doctor started this measurement (at 29 weeks), I have measured right on track. However, this last appointment, I was measuring only 32cm, and it should have been 34-35cm. The doctor did a quick ultrasound and found that the baby had flipped and was now breech. The doctor isn't really worried at this point, because the baby has 5 more weeks to flip back around to head-down. However, he told me that if the baby does NOT flip, then it will most likely mean I will have to have a C-Section.

The doctor then took a few measurements of the baby (I think size of stomach, femur bone, and a few other things) to try and determine how big the baby is. According to the computer, the baby was measuring 5lbs 15oz. The doctor doesn't want to say that that is the actual size of the baby, as the measurements can be off by 1-2lbs up or down. He just wanted to make sure the baby is growing, and he is, so that's all that matters.

My next appointment is this upcoming Wednesday, 1/27. Since my doctor gives me a quick ultrasound at every visit, maybe he will give me a new picture for me to post for you all to see.

The First Blog!

So I was trying to come up with a way that family and friends can easily see updates about little "Baby Black" before, and after, he is born. While Facebook is nice, most everyone has to scroll around to see any updates from me (which I only do about once a week and they are not very detailed) and sometimes they get buried or it just doesn't show the updated status.

I know a lot of people who use BlogSpot and decided to give this a whirl!

Since this is basically for family and friends, I won't post too much background information, as most of you know it already.

The basic information is: WE'RE HAVING A BABY!!
He (yes, confirmed he is definitely a boy back in September) is due February 25th, which happens to be exactly 1 month from today.

We have not announced the name we have chosen and that will be kept a secret until the little guy arrives. Until then, the baby will mostly be referred to as "Baby Black" or "Reggie".

I hope to update this blog whenever I have appointments to give further update. In fact, the next post will be from my last appointment, which took place last Wednesday.