Dear Ninja: A Plea.

I'm just as appreciative of a good joke as the next girl, you know this. However, if these random contractions...these REAL contractions - don't amount to REAL LABOR soon, we're going to have a long talk about how rude it is to lead someone on.

I had the most painful one so far this morning, around 5:30am. It woke me up. I thought maybe it was just the evil combo of a braxton hicks along with a full bladder. However, after peeing, it was obvious it was much much more.

I've since had maybe 3 other contractions this morning that made me pause for a moment and made me unable to think of anything else. Of course, there's no rhyme or reason to these contractions, and they're lasting between 2-4 minutes a piece, with as much as FIVE HOURS apart.

My parental units will be here in about 5-6 hours.

I will say, if this DOES turn into labor this weekend, the Ninja will get a gold star for timing. Having my mom AND dad here for the big event would be more than I could ever hope for.

I'll attempt to not get my hopes up.

Also, it's snowing like a mo-fo right now.

Oh - and John the midwife called last night and said my bloodwork looked okay, so if nothing happens this weekend, I'll be seeing him on Monday.

Call me now for a free reading, dahrlin'!

Maybe I'm more in tune to my body than I think. Maybe I AM in fact, Ms Cleo's less-Jamaican intern.

I finally went to the doc yesterday because I was having a leaking sensation (again), and the midwife checked everything out and everything seemed good. He attributed the leaking sensation to the ridiculous amount of discharge I had. (gross) The tests he ran against it showed it wasn't amniotic fluid, and that my cervix was still thick and tight, but the baby's head was rightthere on my cervix. (PS - that makes my second internal - BOOO). He ran the test for the protein released when contractions are "going to work" and said he'd only call me if it came back positive, but that he didn't anticipate that happening since everything looked good.

He just said to take it easy and come back in a couple weeks for my normal appointment.

And then at 8:00pm last night he called. The test came back positive. He said this test result means I have a slight chance of going into labor in the next two weeks. BUT he also said I could go full term, too. So, he basically said I have to come in next week for another internal, and I shouldn't do anything out of the ordinary. Bed rest not required. If the BHs get close together again I need to come in and get hooked up to the monitors. He really was surprised that it came back positive. He said NOTHING from his exam pointed to this test coming back positive. He didn't think steroid shots were necessary at this point (to mature the baby's lungs).

(This is the webpage explaining the test.)

It seems like a lot of women have this test and still carry their babies to full term, but I'm still freaked out. I took today off so I could just lay and rest anyway...and I plan on doing that a lot this weekend.   I'm still having contractions, and of course, they're more uncomfortable than before, but I'm hoping that's just because I had a dude's hand up my vag for like, 10 minutes yesterday.

I was totally fine and being the calm one about it until I called my mom last night to tell her and then I cried like a baby. I'm not ready for an outside baby yet. AT ALL. Esp at this point.

But, it's really kind of out of my hands. The whole pregnancy really is. I'm doing all I can to keep this baby healthy and inside...and if my body wants to be a jerk and send me into pre-term labor, then it will. Of course, I'll still fight it till the end to keep this baby inside, but I can't control anything. Which is a really shitty feeling.

Thoughts, prayers, good vibes - whatever you have to offer would be appreciated. I'l take what I can get at this point to keep this baby inside.

The rings are off, and so is the watch.

Swelling, party of 1.

Last week, my beloved Storm watch had to come off. It's got a metal band and could not be adjusted to work with my expanding wrists, so...I bought a new one and had the band set with room to expand. Here it is!


All last week and this past weekend my rings have been tight and uncomfortable, but I was dealing because I just didn't want them off yet. This morning at 5am, I woke up to actual pain in my ring finger...so I soaked my hands in super cold water and applied liberal soap, and FINALLY got them off. Needless to say, I don't think I'll be able to get them back on again for a while. Hopefully they WILL fit again someday.

I ordered a fake set to wear temporarily. It looks like this:


It was only $25...so we'll see how it works out. I had to order it a half size bigger than what my ring finger currently is (thanks so whole sizes only) so who knows if it'll fit. If it's big right away, I'm sure after a few weeks, it'll fit just fine.

Also - in test results news - the lab tech that told me my iron was low and to take supplements was kind of wrong. Apparently my number was 10.8, and they like it to be around 11 or higher when you're pregnant (since you have more blood volume, which tends to dilute your iron levels). The nurse I spoke to today said supplements weren't really necessary, that I could try to add iron in my diet and that should be enough. THANK GOD. I hear those iron pills do a real disservice to an already slowed digestive system. :)

Survey says...

....NO gestational diabetes!

::cheering and applause::

However, a few less than desirable outcomes were had from this appointment.

1.) My gallbladder is acting up. What I thought was my body's reaction to too much sodium in soy sauce (mmm veggie rolls) was actually my gallbladder reacting to my avocado consumption. So, no more avocado for me, and no high fat foods. (Which is really fine, I wasn't really eating any anyway.)

2.) I have an effing yeast infection. GREAT. While she was checking my cervix (to make sure all these braxton hicks weren't doing anything) she did a quick check and low and behold. The DEVIL. Argh.

3.) My iron is low. Not SUPER low (10.5), but low enough for the lab tech to recommend iron supplements.

So yeah. That's the wrap up from my appointment. Everything else was looking great - baby's heartrate was at 150 and everything's measuring right on target.

Had a fun time at the cabin this weekend with the hub's parents - sun, fishing and relaxing. It was quite nice. Made coming back to work today totally suck. :)

That's all for now...I'll have my 25 (!!) week update later today or tomorrow. :)

The newest belly pic is up...

...for your viewing pleasure. :)

Enjoy.

Also - we got a letter today - the spina bifida test came back negative, so we're in the clear for any abnormalities! (Aside from the horrid feet this baby is no doubt inheriting from me.)

NT Results are in!

And we got the best possible result - a 1/10,000 chance of either Down's or Trisomy 18 or 13!

Hooray!

As my mom said, "Of COURSE our baby would have the best score!"

(Yes, she calls it our baby. Who am I kidding, it really is - considering this is the first grandkid on either side of our families.)