Whoa Baby, Not Quite Yet!

37 Week Update from BabyCenter.com:

"Congratulations — your baby is full term! This means that if your baby arrives now, his lungs should be fully mature and ready to adjust to life outside the womb, even though your due date is still three weeks away.
Your baby weighs 6 1/3 pounds and measures a bit over 19 inches, head to heel (like a stalk of Swiss chard). Many babies have a full head of hair at birth, with locks from 1/2 inch to 1 1/2 inches long. But don't be surprised if your baby's hair isn't the same color as yours. Dark-haired couples are sometimes thrown for a loop when their children come out as blonds or redheads, and fair-haired couples have been surprised by Elvis look-alikes. And then, of course, some babies sport only peach fuzz."

It's amazing how much can change in a week!! Last weekend I was talking about how there has been no progression with my pregnancy. This week, it's a whole different story! Let me back up to where I left off...

So last Saturday was fantastic!! We won the SEC Championship and now we're on our way to Pasadena for the National Championship game! Right before the game started, I looked down to see one cankle! Yes, just one...but definitely a cankle!! For some reason, my swelling started the day I hit 36 weeks and decided to only go after my right side. It was a funny, yet disgusting, sight and little did I know, it was only going to get worse! The swelling has definitely increased and has moved over to the left side too, so from the waist down, I feel and look like a marshmallow!! My feet look disgusting and we just have to laugh at them.

Sunday I went to Decatur for my last shower and had so much fun! It was great getting to see old friends that I haven't seen in a while and we got tons of awesome stuff! Thanks to Becca, Anna Lee and Amanda for hosting such a great shower for me!

By Wednesday, it was back to summer foot wear for me - my swollen feet decided that the only thing they were going to fit into was something that was completely un-restrictive. Flip Flops. So I went to my doctor's appointment and work wearing flip flops, and had to ignore the fact that it was freezing outside! My feet appreciated being free rather than being warm. They did not check me at the doctor's office so I didn't have any news as to what my progress, if any, was at that time. I did get confirmation that my doctor would NOT make me go 41 weeks, which was music to my ears. Other than that, it was a normal ole visit with no excitement. That afternoon, however, I began to feel Braxton Hicks contractions! It was the strangest feeling to realize that's what it was I had been feeling for the last few days, but also really exciting to know that my body was preparing itself for labor. The contractions were off and on most of Wednesday afternoon and night.

Saturday was a busy day in our house - it was our weekend to get everything done in the nursery to prepare for Austin's arrival. Time to get the crib put together (since it was late arriving and didn't get here until Friday!), paint some furniture, hang decorations and wash his clothes. My best friend Jenn came to help and it felt like we got a lot done...except the crib and furniture. So Justin and I prepared for a long day on Sunday. Oh, and I did invest in some Crocs Saturday night so now my feet can be warm AND not be restricted for these last few weeks while they look like sausages!!

Sunday morning, however, had a different plan for us than putting together a crib and painting furniture. Upon getting out of bed and going to the bathroom, I discovered LOTS of blood. Considering that I haven't seen the slightest drop of blood this entire 8 1/2 months, this really took me by surprise. Had it have only been a few drops, or just "spotting", I would not have been concerned. But I called the doctor's office and within 2 minutes the on-call doc returned my call and said to come on in. Shortly after I hung up with the doc, I started feeling contractions - this time with a little bit of cramping pain in my lower abdomen. Going to the hospital was NOT in our plan for the day and all I could think about was the fact that our crib wasn't done! We honestly did not think that I was in labor and felt like the hospital visit would be pretty short, so I called a dear friend, Emily, to see if she would accompany me to the hospital while Justin stayed home to finish the crib. So Emily came to pick me and off we went. We got there around 10:00 and they put me right into a room. The nurse checked me and shocked the crap out of me by saying, "Well, you're about 2.5 cm dilated and 80% effaced! You're in early labor!!" Holy Cow. NOT what I was expecting to hear, but exciting nonetheless! Around this time, the contractions started picking up and were getting a little more intense. According to the nurse, they were coming about every two minutes - WHAT?!?! I couldn't believe what she was telling me!! Early labor?!? So shortly after, the doc comes in and checks me, and she said I was more like 1.5 to 2 cm dilated and she really felt like they should give me meds to stop labor. Since I was only a day over 37 weeks (even though he is now considered full term), she felt like if they could stop labor, it would be better than delivering and have him go straight to the NICU since they couldn't be POSITIVE about my gestational age (even though I am). Soooo, they started pain medicine and contraction stopper medicine every four hours and told me I would be staying the night. Justin came to hospital once his duties were done at home and we basically just waited it out. I still had contractions but they were irregular throughout the afternoon and night. I got an Ambien to sleep, which definitely helped, but the back pain, uncomfortable bed and every 2 hour visits from the nurse made it really hard to get a good night's sleep. The doctor came in around 7am to check me and said I was still at 2 cm. They wanted to do more blood work at noon since my blood work that morning showed a decrease in numbers. They also scheduled me for an ultrasound to make sure the baby was okay and that the amniotic fluid was still intact. Finally around 11am, they came to take me to the ultrasound and then took my blood when I got back to the room. At about 3:30, the nurse came in and said my blood count was up just enough and the ultrasound looked fine so I was free to go home "if I wanted to". Are you kidding me?!? Of course I'm going home if I'm not having a baby right now!!

Soooo after the last two chaotic days, I'm "bed resting" today until I see the doctor in the morning. I'm still having contractions, some with cramping pain and some without. They are irregular so I don't think there is anything to worry about at this point. I had some slight bleeding during the night but nothing to be alarmed over. I'm hoping to get more information from the doctor tomorrow as to why they stopped labor, and I'm also hoping to get a better idea of when to expect Austin to make his true arrival! We're not sure if the doc will keep me on bed rest or tell me it is safe to return to work. I can't help but feel like he is READY! I would not be surprised if he came by the end of this weekend, but that could also just be some wishful thinking on my part :) I keep reading that the bleeding I had is an indication that labor could be either hours or days away. Hopefully I'll have an update tomorrow!!!