What A Day!!

Let's start with the good...

Today I had one of those fancy schmancy 4D ultrasounds.  I have to say that it was pretty cool.  And I am totally cynical, so that says a lot coming from me.  It was in this cool room where I was allowed to bring up to 10 people with me.  There were a couple of different screens to look at and also all the images were projected onto an 100 inch screen on the wall.  They checked her out for a full 30 minutes and I left with like 6 5x7 color photos, a ton of smaller black and white photos, a CD full of all of the images (about 75), and a DVD of the entire experience.  In case you're wondering, it cost me $135.  Totally worth it.  Obviously I booked this before the whole bed rest, losing all of your income thing, but I am glad I did.  I never would have splurged on it otherwise and I am really happy that I did it.  Without further ado...please meet "The Girl..."

This is her chillin' with both of her arms up behind her head, so what is surrounding her face is the long part of her arms and her elbows.

This next one cracks me up.  She was physically SUCKING on her feet.  Can you believe that?  Sucking on her damn feet.  We had to do a lot of work to get her OUT of this position so that we could see her better...
And finally, here she is with both her arms clasped to the left side of her face like she is cheering or something.  She had a little smile in this one, so I had to include it...
I mean, really, how cool is that?  The Boy was SO cute while all of this was going on.  He kept saying, "I see her!  I see her!"  And then he would say in a little baby voice, "Mommy, she so cute..."  Totally adorable.  It was really quite sweet.  It was great to get to see her and gave me the little pick me up that I needed.  Of course things didn't end there...

So now the not-so-fun part of the day.  So after my ultrasound I went home to lie down (as per doctors instructions) for about 45 minutes before my weekly OB appointment to check my blood pressure.  Once I got to the doctor, they took my pressure as I was going in and it was okay.  It wasn't great, but certainly better than last week.  I think it was like 139 over 89 or something.  When the doctor (no more messing around with my favorite nurse...) came in she was happy with the fact that my blood pressure had gone down significantly.  She said that the medicine was working and she was happy with that.

I then told her of some of the "side effects" I have been having on the medication.  Those being very lightheaded, extremely exhausted, having virtually no appetite...etc.  Then I told her that when I stand up everything goes black and I have to sit back down so I don't pass out, and that for the past couple of days I have been seeing flashing lights (I call them "diamonds in the sky) randomly throughout the day.  She asked how the baby has been moving and I told her that she moves around, but nowhere near as much as The Boy did.  She just chills, and then it seems like she runs a marathon really quickly, and then stops moving again.  More in spurts.  But I said that we had had an ultrasound today and that she was sucking on her feet and moving around and stuff.  

She got "the look" on her face.  She said she didn't like the visual changes that I had been having and the decreased fetal movement.  I clarified that it might not be decreased, but that maybe she is just different from how The Boy was.  She still wasn't happy with the visual thing and said "JUST TO BE CAUTIOUS" that she was sending me over to Labor and Delivery.  She said she was sure it was nothing and just wanted them to do a stress test on the baby and take some blood just to be sure.  She said I would be home by dinner time and not to worry about it.

So I headed over there.  I have to say that it was weird going back to the same hospital where I had The Boy (and where all the scary stuff happened with The Boy) all by myself this time.  My mom was with The Boy at home, so she couldn't be with me, so I was all alone.  I don't mean to be drama about that...I mean the situation is what it is.  I knew going into this that I was doing it alone, but something about going back to the same place, for the same type of scary thing, but this time being completely alone, was just weird.  And I have to say that for what ended up transpiring throughout the day, I held up pretty damn good.  Anyway, I digressed...

So I got there and gave the obligatory urine sample and got hooked up to all the monitors and put on the fancy gown etc...  I had to register for the hospital and fill out a bunch of papers and sign a whole bunch of crap.  The nurse that was assigned to me was fantastic.   She asked me when I had last eaten (and once she mentioned it I realized it has been quite a while ago) and brought me a sandwich and a ton of water and I settled in.  I knew I needed to have blood drawn, and have the baby on the monitor for at least 20 minutes and wait until the blood work came back before I could leave so I figured I would be there for about an hour.

I made some phone calls and hung out...and eventually the nurse came in and asked me if I was feeling any tightening in my uterus or any cramps.  "I never really had braxton hicks contractions with The Boy, so I am not sure what they feel like, but no...I don't think so, why?"  Apparently I was having contractions.  "Like serious contractions?"  Um, yeah.  And they are 5 minutes apart.  What the hell?!?!  So then she went on to tell me that she would be back and came back a few minutes later with a whole armful of stuff.  She proceeded to tell me that they were going to do that test where they take a swab of your cervix to see if you are going to go into labor within the next two weeks.  (I don't remember the name of the test, but thanks to all my internets out there, I was familiar with the test itself).

So at this point she did the test...(NOT fun to have to hoist my ass up on an upside down bedpan with a towel over it, use the dreaded speculum, which I thankfully have not experienced in QUITE some time and get the swab...) and right around that time my blood pressure shot up.  Well who the hell can blame me?  I should also point out that the hospital where I was checked in is going to close on April 10th so not only is it like a ghost town, but I was also aware that if things went badly, I would have to be transferred to a different hospital where there was a NICU available to deal with my 30 week old child.  Oh yeah, but don't worry.  And don't stress out.  It makes your blood pressure go up...  Jesus Christ!

So I will save all the drama and waiting that occurred after this and get to the end result.  After drinking a ton of water my contractions stopped (I had a crazy busy day and hadn't taken in anywhere near enough liquid or food throughout the day) and all the tests came back okay.  The cervix one was negative and all of my blood work came back okay.  So after about 4 hours in the hospital I was discharged.  The nurse did give me all of the belts and stuff for monitoring and told me she had a sneaking suspicion that this would probably not be my last time in the hospital before I gave birth.  Great.  Very comforting.  But I was able to go home.  I went to my mom's house to pick up The Boy (who was told that Mommy was just having a long doctors appointment and dinner) and brought him home.  He is now sleeping soundly in his bed and it is time for me to go and pass out in mine.  I swear this daughter of mine is already testing me.  Is this what it is going to be like to raise a girl?  Damn, I need a drink...