Week 34....a bit of a snafoo

Things have been going great! The dr made a mistake last week of asking me about all the drama and excitement. I aim to please, so drama and excitement is what he had yesterday during our appt. The ultrasound was great - AnnaJo is getting big and really is running out of room. We went over to see the dr and had some different news. My blood pressure was 150/100 (super high) and I had protein in my urine. He went ahead and checked my cervix to see if the cerclage is accessible and it was (yea!). Then he informed me that we were headed to Labor & Delivery for 24 hours of testing. His concern was about preclampsia/toxemia. As soon as we got over to L&D they hooked me up to the monitors and took my blood pressure. It was immediately lower, so I calmed down quite a bit. The first urinalysis was negative for protein too, so that calmed me even more. I'm stuck here peeing into a hat in the toilet and then dumping into a brown jug that's on ice. At 6:00 pm they will run the lab work and we will hopefully be out by 8pm. It is back to a little more strict bedrest after this though. I guess I will put my painting projects on hold for a little bit. That might be something I fit into the times when she is napping. :-)

Other than this brief hospital stay, life is good. AnnaJo is progressing great and we are slowly but surely getting ready for her to make an appearance. I have some pictures at home of Cliff putting her crib together. I'll get those posted soon. Everytime I think about uploading them, I get sidetracked and forget all about the original plan. Gotta love baby brain!

Love to all...Cliff, kate and AnnaJo

32 weeks...she is getting big!

Great appt today with Dr. Trumbower! We are past the very important 32 week mark and AnnaJo is getting big! She weighed 4 1/2 lbs today...62nd percentile! I cannot believe she has gotten so much bigger in the last 2 weeks. For any other measurement she has not been above the 50th percentile. Makes me a little nervous that she is going to be a big baby! I'm praying that she doesn't get past 8 lbs before we deliver. For multiple reasons...first the obvious - come on now! It really does defy the law of physics! Second, because some of the really cute outfits I have are for newborns - less than 7 lbs! And i mean cute!!! She'll only be able to wear them a week at this rate...have to change her at least 3 times a day! She was very active today - had her arms moving the entire time. She even sucked her thumb for a long time! I'm really hoping this means that she'll be a good breast feeding baby.

I'm doing good too! My cervix is staying a little over 2 cm and Randi, my u-sound tech, thinks that I'll have no problem carrying to term. The dr is planning on taking out my cerclage around the 36 week mark, so that will be interesting. He is certain that I'll have to wait a few weeks at least once the stitches are out since it won't be my cervix holding her in completely. Not to worry...i have plans for moving things along after that. :-)

Funny story...our nephew Carter is up here visiting this week. It has been a lot of fun getting to hang out with him and he thinks its very strange that AnnaJo doesn't talk back to him. He stayed with Uncle Piff and I the other night and the following morning he did get to experience AnnaJo kicking...right in his face. He likes to talk to her and since she wasn't answering from my belly, he decided to try a different approach. He grabbed my face and opened my mouth and yelled "AnnaJo!!". It was so funny! He gave her zerberts today and made her kick...he is getting the hang of it. He let the dr know today that he was talking about 'his baby' in aunt Kati's belly. He is such a hoot!

Love to all!
Kate, Cliff & AnnaJo

Headed for the 32 week mark! woo hoo!!

We're nearly at the 32 week mark!! How exciting! My dr is on vacation this week in FL so he has allowed me a week's break from the weekly visit. The next time he sees me, I will be 32 weeks and a few days along! He is going to be so thrilled that we've made it! AnnaJo and I are doing good....I can tell that she is running out of room though. She makes my stomach morph into some very funny shapes!

We're very excited about AnnaJo's first friends making their appearances! Rogun Burch arrived on July 31 (barely making the Kindergarten cutoff!). I hope they don't change the cutoff date before he turns 5! :-) Kale Bisges should arrive tomorrow, 8/8/08. I'm so jealous about the birthday! I'm such a numbers freak...8/8/8 is so freakin cool! Not cool enough for me to do anything to risk having her this early, but it will be a birthday that I don't forget. As soon as I find my camera cord, I'll upload pictures of the boys. It will be so much fun watching them grow up together!

August 1st already!! Almost 31 weeks!

Can you believe it's already August? The summer is flying by and we're going to have a baby girl around here before you know it! I am nearly 31 weeks along and AnnaJo is growing fast. Our ultrasounds for the past 2 weeks have been very good. Week 29 was a measurement week...she weighed 2 lbs 15 ozs. She should weigh nearly 4 1/2 pounds at our next measuring appt in 2 weeks. I can tell she is growing though because my prego belly is getting bigger and I am very aware of her every move. It already feels like she is running out of room! I'm so glad we have less than 10 weeks left at this point! My cervix is shortening some more, but Trum said it was to be expected at this stage in pregnancy. I keep asking each week about removing the cerclage that is keeping my cervix tied shut and I'm told every week to be patient. Trum will remove the stitches as soon as AnnaJo is healthy enough to be born....probably around week 36 or 37. There is a small chance that I would go into labor once the stitches are removed, but it is more likely that i'll be sent home to start the labor process naturally. I won't go into detail about my plans at that time, but they will for sure include some repainting of the nursery and our dining room!

Sorry for the short update...I've been experiencing some insomnia and it's time to be over it. I need to get back to sleep before it gets really light outside and I can't. Have a great weekend!!