Deflating

Balloons are so much fun when you are little! They float, they make your hair stand up on end and they make a glorious sound when you pound on them! The sadness ensues the next morning, however, when said balloons have somehow gone from sprinting toward the ceiling at every chance to barely hovering above the ground with no chase left in them. Lawson loves to put both his hands out, palms up, to ask my where something is or why something is and these limp balloons elicited exactly that response. These were not the balloons that made his hair jump off his head the night before! An early childhood lesson that sometimes good things must come to an end.

There are those times, however, when letting the air out and taking some pressure off is actually a BAD thing coming to an end. Last week I posted about my blood pressure being high. Well, this week I am happy to say that the air has been let out of the balloon, so to say. I took it easy all week long and took my doctor-prescribed two hour nap every day. By Friday of last week, my diastolic number (the bottom number in a blood pressure reading) had gone down from the 90s to the lower 80s. On Tuesday my pressure was down to 120something/63!!! It took a week or so to get it down that low, but it seems that my body likes taking it easy at this point. Because it mysteriously went up so high and then back down, it's not at all out of the realm of possibility that I could go back on Friday and find that the balloon is once again full of helium. I'm hoping it's popped for good and we don't have to worry about it anymore, but I still have to continue taking precautions to ensure it stays as low as possible. Two hour nap, feet up as much as possible and lots of deep breathing. Better than bed rest!

My doctor is quite positive that Dustin will be back before Naomi decides to show up and even went so far as to discuss what would happen if I went over 40 weeks! I was under the impression that induction was not an option for me due to uterine rupture risk, but he said that if all my stats are good, he'd feel comfortable doing a very slow pitocin induction at 40 weeks. He is not sure if he's comfortable letting me go beyond 40 weeks because the occurrence of many of the things I'm already at risk for drastically increase after 40 weeks and it could be more dangerous to me than a slow induction. I am all for going naturally, but I'll take an induction over another c-section if it is an option!

Another little bit of knowledge I gained. I seemed to have gotten the estimated weight wrong last week. I thought that she was 4lb 11oz, but the correct weight was actually 5lb 11oz at 33 weeks. This week at the ultrasound, they didn't take measurements of the baby, so he measured my belly instead and found that I measured right on. The great news about this is that he would expect me to measure ahead if the ultrasound estimates were on track and he is pretty sure that she is a little smaller than the ultrasounds are leading us to believe. THANK GOODNESS!!! I had images of pushing out a toddler at my last few appointments as she jumped from the 70th to the 80th to the 87th percentile from one week to the next. If that trend continued, by week 40, she ought to be coming out singing the abc's!

So, as week 34 of my pregnancy comes to an end, I'm working on packing my labor bag. Slowly. I've been acquiring items for a week or two and pulling out a few things here and there to add to it, but somehow packing it seems a little daunting. I know this may seem early, but I had Lawson at 35 weeks and did not have a labor bag ready. I was at the mercy of those bringing me my belongings and had to explain in great detail the whereabouts of as many of them as I could remember. It was less than favorable, so I'm trying not to let history repeat itself. Anyway, the internet is full of lists of what to take and not to take and I'm pretty sure that there are some labor rooms that look more like a dorm room by the time Mrs. BYOB (bring your own bed) show up. People take the craziest things with them! I'm pretty sure the basics will cover it, but if anyone knows of some awesome magic object that should be finding it's way into my bag, let me know!

Alright, rambling over! Off to go find a bigger bag so I can fit the toaster oven and coffee maker in. Apparently, it's far superior to brew your own coffee so you don't have to go all the way to down the hall for the "nasty hospital coffee". Seriously, if you need a laugh, check out some labor bag check lists.