34 Weeks (A week late...)

I had my 34 week appointment on Tuesday, Novemember 17th. I weighed in at 173, which is 1 lb less than I did at my 30 week appt. Dr. Gerber asked Dave if I'm eating and his answer to that was, "Oh yes, she's eating!!!" I was given strict instructions to eat LOTS on Thanksgiving!!! I measured right where I'm supposed to, at 34 cm and the baby's heart rate was good. We discussed induction with Dr. Gerber. She said the earliest she can do it is 39 weeks which makes it Dec. 23rd. I was pretty upset about that because we talked about the 21st or 22nd early on. It make me really nervous to do it that close to X-mas, incase something should go wrong and I would need a c-section. But I think we're gonna go with the 23rd and see what happens. I would like to have my whole family together for X-mas.

Later in the day, Ellie started with a stomach and intestinal virus. We ended up with her at the Good Shepherd ER and she spent 2 nights in the hospital. We got her home on Thursday evening. Our dryer went out during all this and we ran out to buy a new washer and dryer set that night. I started in with the virus while we were out. I called the Dr. the next morning and Dr. Wener wanted me to go in for IV fluids. We got there and they hooked me up to the monitors and it turns out that I was contracting and the baby's heart rate was not fluctuating the way they would have liked it to. I guess they like to see large jumps in the heart rate and the were not seeing that. In fact, it was dipping a bit. They hooked me up with some fluids and the baby's heart rate started picking up almost immediately. The nurse did an internal exam and everything was fine there. The cervix was soft, which is normal for women who have had babies, and was closed. They let me go home a few hours later.

The next afternoon, Carter started throwing up. We ended up with him in the ER. We were able to take him home after some fluids. The next day was pretty rough. He wanted me the whole time and I think I kind of over did it trying to take care of him. The next day, Monday, I felt horrible again. I have continued to have contractions several times throughout the day. Some are strong enough to stop me dead in my tracks. I am just feeling over all yucky. I seem to be having trouble recovering from it all. We'll see what Dr. Wener says tomorrow at my 35 week OB check.

I must say that laying in that labor and delivery room really put things into perspective for me, and Dave too I think. I found myself getting excited, finally! I'm feeling like I want to get everything done so we're ready if this baby comes early. We need to Christmas shop for the big kids, shop for the baby, set up the crib, and get baby things down from the attic. Once those things are done I'll feel MUCH better. Dave all of a sudden got motivated to talk about baby names. I think we have come to a decision on a name but I'm keeping that to myself for the time being. I would like a slightly different vowel spelling to make it easier to understand but Dave doesn't like that name as much. So we'll just keep it a secret for now...