Life With Levi Interview

If you're not familiar with Jen at Life With Levi, you should be! She's quite a Super Mommy and runs one of my favorite blogs!

Color me totally flattered that she chose me to interview for her blog's Follow Friday Feature!

You can check out the interview here!

35 Weeks & Appointment With The Perinatologist

Today I'm 35 weeks and am currently feeling quite relieved after all of my anxiety towards having to see the perinatologist today. I was referred by my primary OB on Tuesday to see a perinatologist today to deal with my preeclampsia issue. We're still waiting on results from my latest 24-hour urine test (which will hopefully be back tomorrow) but my doctor wanted to be sure that I was checked out immediately by a perinatologist. I went into this appointment with the overwhelming anxiety that she would tell me to get in the car, drive to the hospital and they were going to have to deliver my baby right this minute. I've been dealing with fear of a pushed-up delivery since this began and when my OB admitted this was very much a possibility during my last visit, I've let the worry kind of consume my little world.

But, luckily, I only have good things to say. My pressure was great at 117/78 and Ethan looked great on ultrasound. He's super active with a fantastic heartrate and my fluid levels are perfect. We're still waiting, like I mentioned, on my latest urine results to come back but based on everything the perinatologist did today (did I mention we were there for 3 1/2 hours?!) and my time on the monitor, she's confident that my delivery window will be between 37-39 weeks.

This means a lot of things. My first thought was a deep sense of relief that she wasn't horrified by her findings and rushing me over to the hospital to deliver right now. 37-39 weeks is a window that I will definitely take and accept! As I was running it through my mind, I realized that 37 weeks is only two weeks from today. Two weeks! It's a possibility that I may have little Ethan here in two weeks! Of course, I'm pushing for as close to 39 weeks as possible but it's still a great relief to know that he's not being pressured to make his big debut right this minute.

As far as a future gameplan, I have to see my primary OB weekly and I also have to see the perinatologist weekly. Together they'll keep tabs on the sneaky pre-e and work on week-by-week estimations on how long he'll stay in utero. I've got a great medical team behind me and I'm just trying to remember that whenever I get nervous. Today, at least, I can focus on the fact that I was given a 37-39 week window which is all I can possibly ask for at the moment.

As for Ethan, we learned today that he's weighing in at 6 pounds! That's a bit bigger than the 5 1/2 pound estimates from the baby websites, who also estimate him to be around 18 inches long. We got to watch him swallowing and practice his breathing on ultrasound today which was pretty cool to see. His kidneys are fully developed now and his liver is processing waste. Most of his physical development has been completed and now he's just working on gaining weight. Gain away, Ethan!

Baby Shower!

Yesterday my amazing mom threw me the most beautiful children's book themed baby shower in the world! I was cleared for this so long as I stayed seated and kept my feet elevated but it was so nice to be able to visit with family and friends. Ethan was beyond spoiled and it very much looks like a Babies 'R' Us store exploded in the living room! Every last detail was perfect (thanks, mom!) and I am still just filled with gratitude towards all of our amazing friends and family members. Ethan is a very, very lucky little boy to have all of them in his life.

We are so lucky! There are not enough thank you's in the world!

34 Weeks

So sometime between last week and this week, my baby belly exploded! I woke up this morning and noticed it. I wonder how much bigger it can possibly get over the next five weeks?! Poor Ethan is still running out of room in there.

I'm still on bedrest but it's gotten a bit better this week (and a special shout-out to my weekly visitors, Mike and Nea!). My aunt Fran is visiting from Pennsylvania for my baby shower this weekend so instead of walling myself up in a bedroom, I've moved my bedrest station to my mom's living room couch. This has given me the opportunity to visit with family and still remain all laid out and capable of doing absolutely nothing. It definitely helps lift the morale a bit.

Ethan should be around 18 inches long and weighing as much as a standard cantaloupe. His fat layers are filling out and, as we saw from our 3D ultrasound yesterday, he's quite chunky already! His lungs and nervous system are busy continuing to mature. The lanugo that covered Ethan is pretty much gone and instead he should be covered in vernix. Instead of relying solely on the placenta, Ethan's immune system is strengthening and gaining some antibodies on his own!

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3D/4D Ultrasound

My aunt Fran flew in from Pennsylvania today for our baby shower this upcoming weekend. We (my mom, my husband and myself) picked her up from the airport and surprised her with a trip to 4D Picture Perfect in Fort Lauderdale. The last 3D ultrasound we had was back at around 20 weeks and I was so excited to see how much Ethan grew now at 33 weeks, 6 days!

Sure enough, he looked like an actual baby in there! He's gigantic and running out of room (sorry, kid! Your mom is only 5'0"!) and so cute! He's still frank breech but since I'm already scheduled for a c-section, no one is concerned. We were still able to get great pictures of him regardless of his positioning and it was so cool to see which features he inherited from me and which he inherited my husband (because, whatever, you can totally tell!). If you're wondering, we've decided he had my nose and chin and my husband's lips and (huge) feet!