Our Little Butternut Squash

Today marks week 29, and BabyCenter claims that our little one now weighs about 2.5 pounds (think of your average butternut squash) and is a tad over 15 inches long from head to heel. Her muscles and lungs are continuing to mature, and her head is growing bigger to make room for her developing brain. To meet her increasing nutritional demands, I am to consume plenty of protein, vitamin C, folic acid, and iron. And because her bones are soaking up lots of calcium, it is also quite important to make sure my calcium intake is up. This trimester, about 250 milligrams of calcium are deposited into the baby's hardening skeleton each day.

North Carolina Baby Shower

Jarrett and I went to North Carolina over the weekend for a baby shower at his mom's house in the High Point/Greensboro area. We started out the trip late Thursday afternoon, and made a pitstop at my parents house in Charlotte on Thursday night. We had a good time visiting and going through boxes of old stuffed animals and baby clothes to see what might be worthy of passing down to Baby Helms.

After a nice breakfast with my parents late Friday morning, we headed further north to meet up with Jarrett's mom and sister, who were out shopping for decorations for the shower. When we arrived at the store, Jarrett started feeling a bit under the weather, and I felt quite tired myself, but thought it was just because of the hugeness of the store, which can often tire me out quite quickly. By the time we were ready to leave, Jarrett really felt the need to just go to his mom's house so he could rest for awhile. Within 20 minutes of being there, Jarrett was sick -- and it was the kind of sick that was coming out both ends, if you catch my drift. The poor thing was running to the bathroom every fifteen minutes, and it lasted (tapering off some) until around midnight when we were finally able to at least try to relax and get some sleep. I was able to sleep okay, but I don't think Jarrett slept much at all. I woke up around 5:30 Saturday morning and asked Jarrett if I could get him anything, and after a run to the kitchen to get him something to drink, I realized it was then my turn to get sick. And so it started in for me.

With the shower starting in a matter of hours, it was a bit of a worry whether to go on as planned or attempt to call it off. I was determined to let things roll (and figured it would be very difficult to try to get in touch with everyone at that point -- not to mention all the work that had already gone into it!), so we did. I got sick for the last time right after my mom and a couple of her friends arrived, but then somehow Jarrett and I made it through a four-hour event. The shower really was lovely -- we had a really nice time and received many wonderful gifts. Our friends, Erin and Jason, were able to make it down from Raleigh, and it was nice spending some time chatting with them after most of the other guests had left.

After Erin and Jason headed home, though, we completely crashed. We intended on taking about an hour nap and then getting up to eat something, but that turned into about three hours of sleep. We did eat a little and then laid back down, but Stephen noticed when he came in the room to chat with us that I was burning up. So we took my temperature and, sure enough, I had a fever... of 101.3°F. Jarrett called the OB/GYN office for the second time that day (he called earlier in the morning to see how concerned we should be about the loss of fluid and whether -- if this was caused by bacteria -- we should be concerned about the baby, but the doctor on call said things should be okay unless it lasted over 24 hours), and then talked to the same doctor, who was somewhat concerned about the fever and said that if it reached 102°F, we should be at the hospital. Jarrett's sister was kind enough to run out for us (again) and pick up some Extra Strength Tylenol (which is the only thing I can really take to bring down a fever), and within a couple hours after taking it, my temperature came down -- thank God. I did NOT want to end up at the hospital, for sure.

We were fairly worn out for the drive home on Sunday, but faired okay and are both back at about 100% now. Despite the ugly illness, the trip was so worth it for the shower, and I thank Jarrett's mom especially, as well as Bethany and my mom, who helped out with the food and decorations!

Here are some (okay, many... sorry) photos from the event. Enjoy.

28-Week Belly Shot

Drum roll please...



The skin is an amazing organ, is it not?

And you see that belly button transforming into an outie? Yeah, well, I am a little disturbed by that. People laugh at me, but I was actually quite happy with my belly button prior to this whole pregnancy thing. I'll get over it, though. Baby Helms will certainly be worth the deformation (and hopefully it will just snap back into place, right?).

28 Weeks

We've hit the 28-week mark -- only 12 weeks to go (maybe). At this point, Baby Helms weighs approximately two and a quarter pounds (babycenter compares the size to a Chinese cabbage; Parents.com makes a comparison to a pair of sneakers -- but what size?) and measures 14.8 inches from the top of her head to her heels. She can blink her eyes, which now sport lashes, and with her eyesight developing, she may be able to see the light that filters in through the womb. She is also developing billions of neurons in her brain and adding more body fat in preparation for life in the outside world.

I had my last visit at North Pointe OB/GYN yesterday, which was a bit of a fiasco. When I signed in, I realized that no one else on the list had written a midwife's name under "doctor" on the sheet, so I already anticipated a problem. Then there was some mumbling among receptionists behind the glass... and then inevitable call of my name. I was told that Robin, the midwife I was scheduled to see, was at the Cumming office that morning -- not the Roswell office. Lovely. I had called to reschedule my appointment over the phone and, when I did, the woman I talked to failed to tell me that she had rescheduled me at a different office -- an office I have never visited. Thankfully one of the other midwives was working, so they were able to get me in anyway, despite the fact that my chart was in Cumming. That made things interesting, as they were just writing down my blood pressure, urine analysis results, weight, etc. (which all looked good, by the way... and I'd only gained one pound from the last visit), on a little slip of paper, and had to ask me such things as my due date, whether I'd yet had the glucose test, etc. It was me that had to tell them that I was due for my rhoGAM injection since my blood type is O negative. After the usual routine with the nurse, I met with the midwife and we heard the baby's heartbeat again (still sounds perfect), and she made sure I was feeling okay and that everything was progressing as normal. I told her I'd been pretty sick over the weekend (which you'll have the grand opportunity to read about in the post about our first baby shower), but she said I wasn't showing any signs of dehydration or anything, so I seemed to be doing quite well. After our conversation, the nurse came back in to administer the injection in my hip, and it was surprisingly painless. We still don't know for sure if Jarrett is RH positive or negative, but we did talk to his mom over the weekend and she is A positive and remembers that she never had to be concerned during any of her four pregnancies, which likely means that his dad is positive as well, though we forgot to ask him when we saw him on Sunday. So, anyway, we're assuming Jarrett is positive at this point, which means I would have needed to get the injection anyway.

Because they didn't have my chart, it made it a bit difficult to request my records so that I can take them to the new office I'm going to on July 1 when I meet with Margaret. After all the chaos, I just went ahead and made my next appointment as if I am coming back and figure I will just call in today to cancel and give them the fax number to use to send over my records to the new place. Hopefully they don't get too bent out of shape, but it's my decision right?

27 Weeks

This week, www.babycenter.com says that Baby Helms weighs almost 2 pounds (compare to a head of cauliflower) and is about 14.5 inches long with her legs extended. She's sleeping and waking at regular intervals, opening and closing her eyes, and perhaps even sucking her fingers. With more brain tissue developing, the baby's brain is very active now. While her lungs are still immature, they would be capable of functioning—with a lot of medical help—if she were to be born now. Apparently any tiny rhythmic movements I might feel are most likely a case of baby hiccups, which may be common from now on. Pretty crazy. I guess each episode usually lasts only a few moments, and they don't bother the baby.

As for me, I'm feeling fine. I deal with the occasional bout of heartburn and have been experiencing a bit of back pain (in one centralized location) some evenings lately, but I can't really complain -- I've pretty much sailed through this so far, and am really enjoying being pregnant.

We are headed to North Carolina tomorrow and will spend the weekend in Charlotte and the High Point area. Jarrett's mom is throwing us our first baby shower on Saturday afternoon, which should be a lot of fun. There will be a lot of family and family friends there, I'm sure, and our good friends, Erin and Jason, are making the drive down from Raleigh, which will be a lot of fun since we haven't seen them in quite some time.

Jackpot!

Woo hoo! I think I have ESP. It was late in the afternoon yesterday, and I got the urge to Google Margaret's name to see if I could come up with any news on her in terms of her changing practices, etc., and -- jackpot! -- I found a post dated 9:27 a.m. that was written that day that gave me all the information I needed. As of next week, Margaret will be at Alpharetta Women's Specialists, which is just up the road from the hospital (the practice I was previously at was right beside the hospital, and this really isn't too much further). It was too late yesterday to make an appointment, but I did so this morning and now feel so much better about things. I guess security is bliss at this point!

Preparation for Childbirth

Jarrett and I took an all-day (8:30 a.m.–6:45 p.m.) Better Birth Foundation childbirth preparation class on Saturday. I think we were both slightly dreading it at first, mainly because of the length of the class, but the instructor was fabulous and made the class go by quicker than one would have thought possible. She didn't miss a beat as far as giving us all of the information, and she broke up the class really well in terms of the length of time spent in more of a lecture setting and the length of time spent actually practicing some of the techniques. We learned many breathing options and positions to use during labor and delivery, which I think will be most helpful. We'll just need to make sure and practice so that we don't forget anything before "labor day" (I guess this baby could potentially be born on Labor Day).

The instructor seemed to favor us a bit after she found out that we were having the baby at North Fulton Regional with Margaret Strickhouser. After we said we were going to North Fulton, she even asked if we were with Margaret... and Margaret was actually the acting midwife in one of the births we watched on video. After the class, Jarrett and I were commenting that it seemed as if Margaret is the Ina May Gaskin of Atlanta. Hey, I'm not complaining. She also commented on North Fulton several times in positive ways, so I definitely left the class feeling even better about our choices.

The due date is three months from today... can you believe it?

Glucose Test Results

I forgot to mention in my last post that I got the results of my glucose test yesterday -- I tested negative for gestational diabetes, which is great. They did say that I am slightly anemic, but shouldn't be too worried about it. They did prescribe an iron supplement, so I just made an appointment with my chiropractor/kinesiologist for early next week since she handles all of the other supplements I take and will probably have a better idea of which one to give me.

26 Weeks

According to www.babycenter.com, the network of nerves in Baby Helms's ears is better developed and more sensitive than before. She may now be able to hear both my voice and Jarrett's as we chat with each other. She is inhaling and exhaling small amounts of amniotic fluid, which is essential for the development of her lungs. These so-called breathing movements are also good practice for when she is born and takes that first gulp of air. She is also continuing to put on baby fat, and now weighs about a pound and two-thirds and measures fourteen inches (about the length of an English hothouse cucumber) from head to heel.

She's moving around like crazy still, with most movement concentrated, it seems, in the morning and early evening hours. I feel something pushing up against the bottom of the ribs on the right-hand side of my body, but I can't figure out what body part it is -- definitely something that moves because I occasionally get a bit of a jab in the ribs. I think she might enjoy the fiddle, as she really got going to during more of a bluegrassy tune at church this past Sunday, which was pretty cool. I can deal with playing some bluegrass for my baby. That got me to thinking that she'll probably really love growing up with a dad that plays the guitar.

The air conditioning has been out at the office for two days now, which has been interesting. Yesterday I survived because I was in a meeting, and the room we were meeting in happened to be a bit cooler, and then they closed the office early. The day is starting out even warmer today, though -- it's currently about 87 degrees in my office, and it's only 9:40 a.m. It's supposed to get up to the mid-90s today in Atlanta. There is hope that the air-conditioning system will be repaired in the next hour or so, but I'm not holding my breath (then I might really pass out). I'm just hoping they don't torture us too long.

In other baby news, I met with a potential pediatrician on Monday and really, really liked her, so we're probably just going to go with her. She is the only doctor in her practice, which worried me a bit a first, but this passed after talking with her. Her hours seem rather limited (9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m., Monday–Tuesday and Thursday–Friday, closed Wednesday), but it all makes more sense when she tells you that she takes that Wednesday off to actually read her medical journals and catch up with the latest news in the field. Most doctors cram so many patients into their daily schedules that they never have time to do any research. All they are concerned about is what the pharmaceutical companies have to offer. She also will schedule appointments outside of her regular hours for established patients, and is available on her cell phone 24 hours a day for any emergencies. For this reason, she is planning to keep her patient base fairly low, so I'm glad I went into see her when I did. She practices functional medicine, which (per her Web site) is "an intensively science-based healthcare approach that assesses and treats underlying causes of illness through individually tailored therapies to restore health and improve function. Functional medicine emphasizes 'patient care' as much as 'disease care,' on the grounds that it is just as important to know what patient has the disease as it is to know what disease the patient has." Her approach seems like a good mix of the holistic point of view and that of traditional Western medicine (e.g., she believes in administering vaccines for those diseases that are truly debilitating, but will not give vaccinations for diseases that babies don't need to worry about, and the vaccines she does administer are done on a delayed basis). Anyway, I'm pleased with her and will probably end up going there myself, as she is a family doctor.

25-Week Midwife Appointment

My midwife appointment last Thursday was less than ideal, but I made it through nonetheless. I drank my yummy orange drink on the way to the appointment (really, it wasn't that bad... it basically tasted like a flat orange soft drink). The appointment itself started out with the usual... peed in a cup, weighed in (I have now gained 11 pounds total since my first appointment, which means I gained about four more pounds since my previous appointment), and had my blood pressure checked (which was fine). I then went into the examination room, soon to meet the third -- and my least favorite -- midwife. We went through introductions and she asked me some questions, and I made the mistake of asking her a question. Jarrett and I were curious as to how the baby gets the clue to turn head first in the birth canal when it comes time to do so. Apparently one should not ask this particular midwife questions, as she dwelled on it the entire time. She did not know the answer, and said she had not been asked the question in her many years of midwifery. She said she was very curious, though, and would have to find out the answer. But it didn't stop there. She would ask a question on a completely different subject or check the heartbeat, and then interrupt herself and say, "Hmm... that 's a really good question... I'm going to have to find that out." It was just a little odd, and I felt quite distracted through the entire visit. Again, please let Margaret deliver our baby. :) I guess we'll have to see what shakes out with the whole transitional process, and see where Margaret ends up.

The other annoying factor was that Jarrett came to the appointment with me in hopes of getting his blood drawn so we could figure out his blood type and figure out if I really need the Rh immunoglobulin injection. Everyone still seemed fine with this idea until the lady that draws the blood said that they couldn't do it -- that the only test they could perform on a man (from the insurance companies' perspective since it's an OB/GYN office) is that for cystic fibrosis. So this was rather aggravating for both Jarrett and for me. It's likely I'll just go ahead and get the injection at my next appointment (in about two weeks) unless we find somewhere convenient for Jarrett to be tested for his blood type, as there is no harm in getting the shot even if I don't need it. But I'm still of the thought that why should I get something that I don't need? We'll see what happens. I did get my blood drawn for the glucose screening, and she wielded the needle quite well -- it was nearly painless.

Anyway, despite the crazy visit, everything looked good, and I should receive the results from the glucose test early this week. Pray for no gestational diabetes.