Week 31 Update!

Well, this pregnancy is flying by. I'm now a little over 31 weeks and man have things become crazy. I've been managing 4-5 appointments a week while trying to keep up with my 40 hour a week job. It's been a lot to handle. We only have 5-6 more weeks left MAX and we all have a feeling she's going to show up earlier than that. So, what does my typical week look like right now?

• Monday: 9AM NST at the Hospital Maternity Ward
• Tuesday: 8:15AM BPP at MFM
• Wednesday: OB appointment at SLWHE
• Thursday: 9AM NST at the Hospital Maternity Ward
• Friday: No "scheduled" appointments (meaning, this is the day they'll randomly make me come in for more tests.

So, as you can see it's a lot to keep up with. This past Thursday I had my liver enzymes (AST and ALT) and my Bile Acids tested again. My liver enzymes came back extremely elevated. In fact, they are at the levels they were at when I went into spontaneous labor (water broke) with my son at 35 weeks and 5 days. That was a little overwhelming for me to hear. I still haven't received my Bile Acids back yet but they should be back hopefully by tomorrow. When we get those back, we will see if we are needing to adjust anything else. Not sure if that means delivering earlier than anticipated or what. What's good is I'm being closely monitored by quite a few doctors. In fact, I've even met a majority of the nurses in the Maternity Ward and built relationships with them which is kind of neat. 

Today, I did get my second dose of the steroid injections which are to help speed development for Baby Girl's lungs since she'll be born early. So, I feel good that if she does come earlier than even expected hopefully her breathing won't be an issue. Of course, I got diagnosed with Gestational Diabetes not long after my last post so the steroid injections throw off my blood sugar levels for about 24 hours. Luckily, I'm diet/exercise controlled so other than yesterday and today and part of tomorrow, my numbers have been great! I walk 10-25 minute after every meal now which has made a dramatic impact on my steps. As sad as it is, before I was diagnosed I was only getting maybe 4-5k steps a day. I was just struggling so badly with fatigue the first and second trimester. Once I started getting these steps in, it's really helped my energy levels. I mean, I'm still exhausted but there has been a small increase in energy. 

We got to have our 3D/4D ultrasound! We didn't get quite as awesome pictures of Baby Girl as we did of Reilly but that's because she is in position to be born already! She's facing my spine and side, head down and loves to put her feet in her face and mouth! Here's a few pictures we got! She's still a cutie!

Here she is smelling her feet. That's her toes and foot right in front of her nose! Eyes open!

This is looking at her from behind. You can see her ear in the upper left right above her shoulder. The ripples you see at her neck is actually hair! We even got to see hair at her 2D BPP yesterday! I can't believe it! Our kid actually has hair! Reilly was bald for a majority of his first year and a half so it's kind of cool to know that won't be the case with her!

Here's a comparison of Baby Girl and Reilly. I still can't believe how amazing technology is nowadays. I mean, to be able to actually see what the babies look like inside the womb is so insane! 

Devan and I just celebrated our 5 year wedding anniversary! We've been together for over 10 years! I can't believe it! We went away for our first night ever away from Reilly and it was actually really nice. We missed him like crazy but he did awesome with my parents. Even slept in until 8:15 the little booger! Here's a picture from our overnight getaway! We even had a nice little thunderstorm and got to watch an awesome Royals game. 

One fun thing I've been dealing a lot with is contractions. I've been feeling them and I see them on my NSTs every week. However, this past Friday they were definitely more prevalent on the NST machine. I took some pictures because I couldn't believe how many I was having. Granted, they were very small compared to ones you'd see if I was having a baby any hour but still! They started off small and very far apart and actually grew in intensity and became closer together as the morning went on! The top line is Baby Girl's heart rate. The middle line is my pulse. The bottom line is contractions. If you aren't having any that bottom line will be flat. I feel them but seeing them is a completely different feeling! 

The last thing I'll leave you with is that at my BPP yesterday they had a hard time measuring Baby Girl's head because she had moved so low. I've been feeling extra pressure on my cervix so it's good to know it's because she's moved down some. Looking at pictures I don't look like I've dropped or anything so that's good! What does concern me is that didn't happen with Reilly until my last BPP before I went into spontaneous labor. So, she's just making herself nice and comfy and all ready for her debut! 

When I dropped with Reilly it was much more obvious so that's what I'm going by! 

It's kind of fun looking at that picture because I'm about that size now three weeks earlier! 

Anyway, I'll update later! Not much longer until we'll get to meet this special girl! I cannot wait! As much as I'm not ready to give up my sole time with Reilly, this pregnancy has been just a whirlwind and I'm ready to have my body back!