Day Before Induction

Here's a picture of Maia two days after her due date. Her little nose is squished, why doesn't she want to come out? It's got to be a little bit uncomfortable foe her!

Here is a video we took last night of Maia being especially active. It's kind of hard to pick out, but you can see Maia's feet moving along my belly on the left part of the screen. She's a strong little girl!

Tonight we go in to the hospital to start the Cervidil and then tomorrow morning we start pitocin. Aleks and I are pretending that we're going away for a couple of days to a hotel where there are maids that take my blood pressure and bring me ice chips if I want. It's going to be the biggest adventure of our lives.

Due Date

Well, today is my due date and no baby. I had a doctor's appointment today and I'm not dilated at all. It seems like Maia wants to stay where she is for the time being. We scheduled an induction for next Tuesday, March 31. I don't know if we'll keep the induction date, or decide to keep waiting for things to happen naturally.

It'd be nice to know that she'll be here soon, but we don't want to induce unnecessarily. There are so many things about pregnancy that are just unknown. My due date could be inaccurate and she just needs more time to cook, or maybe my body and her head aren't compatible and medical intervention is necessary. It's just hard to know what the best choice is. So, for now we'll wait out this week and re-evaluate this weekend.

Here's a picture of me on my due date, the baby and belly are getting bigger! (Who knew that was possible?)

She has a name!

P.S. we picked a name:

Maia Lee Sternfeld-Dunn

Week 39

Well, I am now 39 weeks along and still pregnant! We're very happy that I haven't had to be induced, but I am starting to feel like I might be pregnant forever. I have 2 non-stress tests scheduled for this week to make sure that the baby is doing fine. She's been moving around a ton, especially after I drink something cold. Here are some pictures of my HUGE belly.

My mom and dad are flying in tomorrow to stay for a few weeks and I'm really looking forward to having them here. I just hope the baby comes while they are here so we can take advantage of the help!

Week 38 pictures

Aleks has spent the past 4 days in bed. He went back to work yesterday and is feeling lots better. However, he still has a cough and is going to get it checked out on Friday.

So, I had to take this belly picture all by myself because Aleks was on his deathbed. It's not the greatest, but it works. And hey, I figured out how to use the timer on my camera!

Good news today, the protein levels in my urine were lower this week than last week. They are still above normal, but not enough to indicate pre-eclampsia which means we don't have to induce this week! Yay! However, I'm pretty tired of being pregnant, so lets all pray this baby comes sooner rather than later.

38 weeks

Well, our wireless Internet is acting funny, so I'm not going to be able to post any pictures right now, but I thought I should update since a lot has happened in the past week.

Last Monday, 3/2 we had a doctor's appointment and my blood pressure was pretty high. Dr. Adkins was concerned that it could be pre-eclampsia, and if it was, we would need to induce. He sent me to the hospital for a non-stress test, lab work, and a 24 hour urine collection to test for protein in my urine. All the tests came back relatively normal, except for the urine test which came back borderline. Apparently there is always some protein in the urine and normal numbers are below 150. Mine came back with a number of 200. Dr. Adkins said that number is high enough for some doctors to induce, but after talking with his colleagues, he decided to wait at least one more week before inducing if possible. He asked that I take at home blood pressure readings and send them to him daily and to inform him of any headaches, blurred vision, or unusual swelling. He also sent me in for a bio-physical for the baby. It is basically an ultra sound in which the baby has to have gross movement, muscles extensions, and breathe a certain amount of times within a half hour. It also checks the amniotic fluid and baby's heartbeat. Our baby got 8 out of 8 on the test (already takes after mom!) and is looking terrific. She's still a girl.

This Monday, 3/9 we had another appointment. My at home readings have been on the higher side of normal, but much lower than when my BP is taken at the doctor's office or hospital. So, of course, my BP was high again at the appointment. Dr. Adkins decided to send me in for another round of the same tests (non-stress test, blood work, and 24 hour urine collection) to make sure that I'm remaining stable. As of today, the blood work and stress test have come back looking great. We're just waiting on the urine test, which I turned in today. Also at my appointment on Monday, Dr. Adkins did a pelvic exam in which he found that I'm about 60% effaced. This is great news because it makes me a good candidate for Cervidil which they will use before Pitocin to help soften and dilate my cervix. Sometimes, the Cervidil is enough to get labor started and Pitocin won't have to be used. So, we'll find out more later this week and hopefully I'll be able to go into labor on my own before it gets to the point where we have to induce.

I have 13 more days until my due date and am getting excited to meet our little baby girl. Aleks is just getting over the flu, so I feel better about her coming now that he's healthy. So, once we get our Internet figured out, I'll post the pictures of me at 38 weeks and Aleks on his deathbed. We still haven't decided on a name...

Week 37

So I'm just starting my 37th week and I'm ready to have this baby! Aleks was out of town Wed.-Sat. night, so now that he's back, I feel like she can come anytime. 

My belly button is starting to pop out more and more each day.