Arrival...

So it appears Brielle's arrival is anyone's guess at this stage in the game. I saw my OB today, I'll be 38 weeks tomorrow, eek!!! I'm still dilated at one but she said I'm really close to being at a two. The good news was that I'm effaced at 50-60% so it really is a toss up at this point what will happen. She said I could go into labor this weekend or we could be still looking at a c-section on June 9th. If I don't go into labor by next Friday the 6th I'll be going back to the OB for one last check up and growth ultrasound. Those of you who know me know that I'm a planner so quite honestly the unpredictability and uncertainty of when and how she's going to arrive is driving me a bit crazy!

Belly pic at 37 weeks...

Any guesses? I'll be sure to post after next week's appointment if we make it that far and if not after she arrives! Thanks for all the support & encouragement. I still am having a hard time wrapping my head around the fact that we made it to full term and we'll be meeting our baby girl in less then two weeks!!!

Full term....

I've officially reached the point in this pregnancy that is more then I could have hoped for! As of today I'm 36 1/2 weeks pregnant, on Saturday I'll hit the 37wk milestone. I had my last progesterone injection this weekend and got to turn in my sharps container at my OB appointment yesterday. I had my first weekly appointment with the OB yesterday...eek so excited to be at weekly appointments! The mind blowing thing is that everything is continuing to look great, my blood pressure is remaining low, I've had no swelling, baby girl's heart rate is great and she's as active as ever! On the down side I'm definitely sleeping a lot less this past week and feeling a whole lot more uncomfortable so thankfully I'm experiencing some of the symptoms of full term pregnancy essentially:) My OB checked my cervix during yesterdays appointment and I'm dilated to 1 cm, not a lot but hey it's something so I'll take it! Because of the Holiday weekend  I won't see her again until the 30th unless something happens before then. I had some very brief contractions last week but once I laid down they stopped after about thirty minutes so no reasons for hospital trips yet. We went ahead and scheduled a repeat c-section for Monday June 9th but are still planning to attempt a vbac if I go into labor on my own before the 9th. Otherwise we've got our hospital bags packed and ready, and are anxiously waiting to meet our little girl!!!!

34 week ultrasound....

I met with my OB yesterday for my 34 week appointment and monthly growth ultrasound. Baby girl is looking fabulous and weighing in at 5lbs even already, which we're thrilled about! Also we were surprised to hear the tech say that she has a lot of hair since this was not at all the case for her big brother. My blood pressure is remaining very low and I've experienced no swelling so things are looking great. All of us are thrilled I've made it to this milestone!

We talked a lot about VBAC vs repeat c-section and as any of you know facing this decision there are multiple variables that play into which route we'll end up going. For now we've decided that if I go into labor naturally we'll attempt a VBAC, baby will be monitored the entire time and if everything goes smoothly hopefully this can happen. It will make recovery and taking care of two little ones a lot easier. If though I make it to 39 weeks and have not gone into labor on my own both us and the OB agreed we don't want to induce and then try for VBAC so in that situation we'd schedule a c-section. So time will tell. It was a bit overwhelming to me discussing the risks with the OB. I'm hopeful when the time comes it will be more obvious which route we should go and thankfully I have an OB in my corner that I trust fully.

I'll be going back to the OB in two weeks for a regular check and then will have weekly appointments from there on...crazy to think I'm almost to that point!! My mind is still having a hard time grasping that we've made it this far and that she'll be here possibly in the next month! We've officially decided on her name, Brielle Grace and have started putting the nursery together.

33 week milestone, pictures and baby shower....

Lots of catching up to do with this post! I'm officially the most pregnant I've ever been which is so exciting as of today I'm 33 weeks 2 days!!! Saw my OB last week and everything continues to be progressing normally. I'll be going back in a week for my next growth ultrasound and regular check up.

Two of my amazing friends blew me away this past weekend with the most fabulous baby shower. It was such an incredible morning surrounded by friends and family and adorable baby stuff and most of all love, it was fantastic!  Just a few snapshots of the day...

And as I mentioned before one of my friends gave us maternity and family pictures as a gift and I received the CD with all those pictures at the baby shower. Here are just a few of those as well. Needless to say I'm feeling seriously in awe of the amazing people we have in our lives and all the love and generosity we've been show. Counting every day as a gift but continuing to hope to reach the 37 week milestone!

30 weeks....

Had my monthly growth ultrasound on Monday and baby girl is measuring great at 3lbs 3oz. My blood pressure is staying nice and low and I'm not experiencing any of the swelling I had with Ian's pregnancy so thankfully things are progressing drama free! I've started having more trouble sleeping this past couple of weeks, but other then the fatigue and lack of sleep which lets face it are pretty normal at this stage anyway I'm doing well.

We've officially had Ian potty trained for a little while now and he's doing great with that. We're planning to transition him into a full size bed and his new toddler room this weekend, so hoping that goes smoothly!

A very dear friend who is a photographer offered to do maternity pictures for me as my baby shower gift so we did that on Sunday and I'm excited to see how they turned out. Looking forward to the baby shower on the 26th and enjoying an awesome day with family & friends! Otherwise continuing to hope for full term & celebrating every week we're given!

Only a few days away from officially being the most pregnant I've ever been...SO excited to pass this milestone!!!

29 weeks...

I’ve been terrible about keeping up the blog as of late but I’ve felt a drastic slow in my energy levels this past couple of weeks. I had a regular OB appointment on Monday and did my glucose screening. As her nurse told me I passed with flying colors, they like to see below 140 and my blood work came back at 80! She jokingly told me to go eat a candy bar, so thankfully everything’s continuing to progress smoothly. Otherwise nothing really to report, I’m measuring right on track and baby girl continues to be reassuringly active. I’ll be going back to the OB for my next monthly growth ultrasound in a little over a week.

I’ve been feeling really positive about how well this pregnancy has been progressing but occasionally start to worry since we’re quickly approaching the time when Ian was born. Really, really hoping we get to full term this time. I know I sound like a broken record but it’s on my mind a lot! Some of my very dear friends here have decided to throw a baby shower for me at the end of April so I’m really excited about that. It will be the day I am officially 32wks pregnant which will be the most pregnant I’ve ever been so a huge milestone and really fun day to look forward to!

One thing I’m planning to talk with my OB about further at my next appointment is VBAC vs c-section. I honestly hadn’t really let myself think about it at all until this last appointment. I’m a bit torn when it comes to these options. Honestly I never wanted a c-section but the fact of the matter is that it was necessary for Ian’s delivery and ultimately it really wasn’t as bad as I expected in terms of recovery. Ultimately I do trust my doctor and know that so much of delivery is out of my control but if possible it’s definitely an option I want to consider so we’ll see.

Snapshots of baby girl...

I had a monthly growth ultrasound this past Monday and baby girl continues to look great and be her active little self! She was measuring in the 40^th percentile, weighing in around 1lb 14oz and my fundal height was right on target . I’ll go back next week for the first glucose screening and a routine OB appointment and then in three more weeks for the next monthly growth ultrasound. 

A few lovely snapshots from the appointment…

Really excited that this coming Saturday I’ll hit 28wks and officially enter the third trimester!!