up to 37 weeks

Almost 37 weeks!  I cannot believe I've made it this far and am so happy and blessed everyday he stays in there and is able to grow and develop.

Around 34 weeks, I started not feeling great-- not uncomfortable pregnancy stuff- something else.... I was flushed, felt hot in the face, started swelling in my hands and face, besides my bad leg which had been swelling for several weeks before that.  One Saturday, I felt excruciating pain in my left side and I thought- this is it... something is wrong- we're gonna have to go to the hospital... I'm probably pre-eclamptic and abrupting and they're gonna have to crash section me at 34 weeks (the mind of a labor & delivery nurse) haha.  I did everything I knew to do to try and stop that sick feeling all over and the pain, and I finally fell asleep that night feeling a little better.

I went in for my appointment 2 days later, and my doctor was worried.  "Why didn't you call?  You should've called... you know better," she scolded.  "I know, but I didn't want to bother you if it was nothing at all..."  She shook her head and smacked me in the arm.  "You L&D nurses are the worst patients."  The pain was gone completely by that point, so I wasn't that worried anymore, but she was.  My blood pressure was up and she immediately drew pre-eclampsia labs, which ended up coming back quite abnormal.  She told me then that she hadn't expected me to get past 32 weeks, and every week since then has been a blessing.  She put me on bed rest and biweekly appointments and we started doing 24 hour urines to watch for the pre-eclampsia to worsen.  "Let's try and get to 35 weeks," she told me.  I wasn't excited about bed rest, but I was happy to be staying pregnant and giving the little one some more time.  Honestly, at that point, I think had I told her I was worried enough, she would've delivered him that day.

I've been on bed rest since then, and we've had some ups and downs since then, but I'm still pregnant and he continues to grow and develop, and we're just so blessed for that.  My pre-eclampsia labs and blood pressure have remained fairly stable, except for my hemoglobin and hematocrit levels, which have been low since nec fasciitis, which took a dive last week and required an IV iron infusion.  This week, they're stable, so we're shooting for another week.  Once I hit that 37 week mark and he's considered "term" I'm going to feel so much better.  I started contracting yesterday and they've become more and more regular and so I'm a little concerned that we might not have much more time, but I'm laying on my side and drinking water and keeping that little bugger in there as long as I can.  My scarring feels pretty miserable.  When I contract, I can feel my abdomen harden, but it pushes against the scars and it won't give way.  That part is pretty darn painful.  But honestly, after skin grafts and wound vacs, what's a little scar ripping? (which is what it feels like).

The nursery is done and looks awesome.  I'm so happy with it.  It was alot of work but we got it done, and now it's all ready for a baby.  Working on packing on my hospital bag and doing last minute things, but it's hard because I can't really be on my feet.  The room is grey with one grey and white striped accent wall.  His furniture and bedding are from Pottery Barn and we found his glider chair at Walmart.

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Finishing this post up as the baby is 7 weeks old :)  I was on bed rest until 37 weeks with a couple ups and downs-- contractions, scar pain, and signs of pre-eclampsia that came, then went, then came again. When I finally hit 37 weeks (and my dr was THRILLED), I was able to come off bed rest.  That very night, I went back to the gym and hopped on the treadmill.  I was going so stir crazy that I couldn't wait to be active again.

And that was enough to do it!  I got to meet Cole just 3 days later... to be continued to Cole's birth post!