38 Weeks

As things are starting to wind down into the final weeks the news just keeps getting better and better!

Yesterday we had our final visit to the specialists and got to see Lucanne for the final time in ultrasound. The sonographer was able to point out that Lucanne currently has a full head of hair and it is actually quite long at this time. This comes as some surprise to me since my own hair was so fine and light that you couldn't really see it at all until I was 2!!! Lucanne was measured and while this is the first time she didn't meet the average sizing for her "age" she still weighed in at 6lbs 8 ozs!! The doctor figures that she could easily be a 7 1/2 pounder by birth if she keeps growing the way she is now. This pretty amazing seeing how things started for us and how just a few months ago the fear of losing her or having her prematurely was a high probability. The fluids went up this time to over 11cm and that seemed to surprise everyone since it should actually be going down now, not up, but we'll take it.

We also had our weekly visit to the OB yesterday and he is now thinking that she is staying put; he even joked that she may not come until August now. He tries, but he really isn't funny at all!!! We have no signs of dilation still so I still predict she will be a week late and I am perfectly happy to have her come whenever she is ready!!

Work is progressing on getting the house ready for a baby, but I know that I will not be done on time, no matter how many hands I have helping me out. I have resigned myself to not having the nursery painted and seeing as how the crib and baby furniture isn't even expected for another 5-7 weeks I am OK with it all. Still, on many days I have to remind myself that it isn't as important to have it all done before she comes because she won't care what her space looks like for a long while!

Meanwhile, I am glad to say that it seems like Winter has finally left us...at least this week! While we had around 8 inches of snow just last Wednesday, this weekend it warmed up enough to feel like Summer is barreling its way full speed towards us. We are expecting rain this week and over the holiday weekend, so maybe we will see something that resembles Spring yet...only time will tell. I have to admit that even though my body doesn't care much for the heat, I am definitely glad to be rid of the white stuff this year! Being on bed rest and having nothing much better to do than watch the snow fall can be as depressing as Seattle in the grayest of times. :~D (Still, I'm glad I will not to have to go through the worst of the summer heat pregnant and without air conditioning, that is for sure!)

Oh, and if the Penguins sweep Detroit in the Stanley Cup Finals Lucanne may end up with the middle name Sidney (after "Super Sidney Crosby" for those of you who don't follow the game)!! GO PENS!!

37 Weeks

This week we had just one appointment and that was just to check our status. We still have no dilation and very, very little effacement, but that Lucanne's head has moved down just a little further into place. The OB thinks now it may take a few weeks to get there, but he warned that it could happen very suddenly and not take any time at all. The excitement is mounting!! As is my need to nest!

Week 36...almost there!

We are officially at 36 weeks and getting excited now! Yesterday we had our double duty appointments and everything is going along just great!

First, we went to the regular doctor who has finally decided that the non-stress tests will not show us anything useful and has agreed to stop putting me into the torture chair weekly. I still need to get a photo of the chair to show you all what I am talking about when I whine about a 30 year old device that is designed to make mom so uncomfortable that she might just forget her daily pregnancy woes to the backache caused by sitting in this device! We had a basic exam which showed exactly what I expected...this baby isn't ready yet and isn't isn't going to be forced into the world any sooner than she wants to come! The baby hasn't "dropped" yet and I am not dilated or effaced in any way. She is still an active little bugger and even kicked the doctor when he was trying to push her into a position he wanted her in to listen to her heart rate. (That's MY girl!) She also had the hiccups...something that happens now 3-4 times a day...while he was listening, which made him laugh. So while we are still going to have weekly appointments with the doctor she is taking her time and enjoying life right where she is...much to the doctor's chagrin, I suspect!

Next, we headed over to the hospital for our bi-weekly sonogram. The sonographer was one we hadn't seen before and didn't care much for. I'm sure some of you have heard about the newest trend in ultrasounds, the 3D picture. It is supposed to let you see what your baby is going to look like and has a fairly high rate of accuracy in visuals. If you want to know what her face is going to look like you can use this technology to get a good idea. Well, we knew from talking with our normal sonographer that you cannot see a thing with this technology if you don't have a lot of fluids in front of the baby's face or if you have an anterior placenta. Our sonographer, without asking us if we were interested in this and in a huge waste of our insurance company's money, just plops us into 3D mode and tries to look at the baby's face. Well, we knew it wouldn't work, but we still ended up with a picture of a sepia toned blob that we were told we could use our imaginations to see the features!! What a waste of time, I only hope we don't get billed for the wasted resource because those can run anywhere up to $5,000!! So the specialist finally shows up and it turns out not to be the one we usually see...I had no idea there were 11 doctors in their practice that we could see at any give time regardless of who we schedule with! This one I liked well enough, despite the annoying habit she had of talking so quietly that no one around her could hear what she was saying! This gal actually took the time to read our charts in front of us from cover to cover (like a good doctor should) before sitting down to look at the baby. I cannot tell you the surprise she gave us when she read a note from the other doctor saying we were supposed to get an amniocentesis and possibly have an induction of labor next week!!! WOW! Talk about your shockers! Here our doctor just two weeks ago said she didn't agree with the talk of induction because of how well Lucanne was doing, but then apparently notates that we should have an amnio and induction without ever discussing either with us?! Again, I say WOW! Not only was this not discussed with us, but we never would agree to doing an amnio unless there were some reason for it and we had no indication that one was ever intended, let alone needed. This really makes enforces my theory that these doctors up here are only interested in forcing a birth so they get their way and don't have to do any unscheduled births. I don't care if I have to give birth in the car on the way to the hospital, I am not letting any doctor take unnecessary medical action to make it easier on them and to get to charge 20-30% more in the process! So finally the doc sits down and looks at the baby. She says we are normal in every way (except the fluids, of course) then spends a good 15 minutes looking at various Dopplers. Yes, that is Dopplers, as in what you hear on the evening weather reports. The Doppler in a sonogram allows the doctor to see and hear the pulsing of the blood through the arteries and flow back through the veins. We got to not only experience the Dopplers within our girl, but also in the umbilical cord back out to me! Pretty cool, and yes, on the sonogram it looks just like the red and blue weather Dopplers on the news! Again, everything is going well and all news seems to be good news with this kiddo.

I'd like to take a moment to thank everyone again for their love and support. We could not have made it easily through these 4+ months and we are so grateful that every one of you is a part of our lives. I'd also like to again thank Uncle Kevin & Aunt Kim for their gracious lending of the cradle, "Nonnie" Kelly for the Dragonfly crib bedding and a great BIG thank you to Aunt Lane for the recently received remaining coordinating Dragonfly items. I have already loaded the diaper stacker with newborn diapers in anticipation of Lucanne's imminent arrival and I look forward to actually getting the nursery put together soon. Now that bed rest restrictions are a little lighter I am working my way back to sanity by cleaning and nesting as much as I can take. A couple of hours a day is about all I can take at a time, but boy do I feel accomplished by the end of that day! I am hoping to start painting with eco-friendly, stink free paint in the next few weeks.

I'd like to do a friends and family pool of when Lucanne will arrive. I've personally think she will arrive June 7th...what is your guess?