Baby Be Blessed

Until about a year ago I had never heard of Baby Be Blessed, but I quickly fell in love with their dolls. They are hand-sewn, personalized, and each features a "scripture patch" on its belly. Every Friday (including this Friday) they do what they call "Yay...Free Friday!" They have a giveaway on their blog for one of thier awesome dolls! This is how I got a doll for Cooper. I won one!

A couple weeks ago they posted a code on Facebook for a discount. And I knew I needed to order Emma's doll soon if it was going to be here in time for her impending arrival. The plan is for Cooper to bring it to her at the hospital when he meets her. I'd like to share with you the verse we chose for Emma's doll. It seemed very appropriate for her.

"O Lord, You alone are my hope. I've trusted You, O Lord from childhood. Yes,
You have been with me from birth; from my mother's womb You have cared for me.
No wonder I am always praising You! My life is an example to many, because You
have been my strength and protection. That is why I can never stop praising You;
I declare Your glory all day long." -Psalm 71:5-8

Wordless Wednesday: 28 Weeks

Baby Emma: An Update

I had an appointment with my OB yesterday, to check my cervical length and do another fetal fibronection (fFN). She did the swab and asked about my contractions, all the while wearing the same worried look she had had ever since all this started almost 3 weeks ago. My contractions come and go, but for the past 2 days or so they have been increasingly painful, and I feel like I'm having a small panic attack during them (even the ones that don't hurt). I just can't breathe. With some of the smaller ones this is what alerts me to the fact I'm having one. Not long after the contraction is over the feeling goes away and I can breathe again. Still, its not a pleasant feeling. I mentioned this to her, and she said it was not unheard of and not something I should worry about. Whew, one less thing to worry about!

After I had my lovely shot, we proceeded to the ultrasound room. A cervical length measurement is taken best by vaginal ultrasound. Thankfully, this doesn't take long. While she was taking my cervical length she mentioned "oh, her head is right there." I immediately perked up and said "huh?? her head?? Are you sure?!" She said yes she thought was her head. Then we switched to the regular ultrasound to take quick a look at baby. Sure enough, Emma had finally gotten her head down where its supposed to be! She's not breech anymore!! I would have done a happy dance if I knew it would cause more contractions! After fighting with a very wiggly baby to get what she needed to see, the ultrasound was over and we went to my doctors office to wait to talk about the findings with her.

She came into the room reading my chart. I saw the worried look melt off her face when she read the ultrasound results. My cervix was 3.9 cm!! That is awesome! She even gave me a high five. She said she was "very reassured" and I could tell she was. Pending my fFN results which should be in sometime today, everything is stable right now. She also stated she was really doubtful that the fFN would be positive with my cervix looking this good.

Before I started taking the progesterone shots my contractions were shortening my cervix. Since I've been on the shot, yes I am still having contractions, but they don't seem to be affecting my cervix! I think that a positive result! So now I just keep taking the shots, and we monitor my cervical length and fFN. Its a waiting game, but atleast its looking a lot more positive now!

My Daughter is Making Me a Liar

In case you haven't noticed, I kind of suck at updating the blog in a timely manner. So again, if you want more timely updates, you can check my Twitter. A link is over there >>

Moving on, I went to the doctor last Monday, and she did a repeat cervical length by ultrasound. It was 4.6 and the funneling (where it was trying to open) was gone. This is a good thing!! However, I kept having the contractions off and on. Since I was still having contractions and my cervix is changing so much, my doctor and I decided it would be best if I start taking progesterone shots once a week. This is to help prevent preterm labor. I recieved the first one in the office on Tuesday and I go back this Tuesday for the second. I am going to try to give them to myself at home so I don't have to drive the hour to my doctor's office every week, but we will see how that goes. I'm not a fan of self-inflicted pain.

Wednesday night the contractions got a little to close for comfort so I decided to go to the hospital, just to make sure. And of course they stopped right after we got there. Emma looked good on the monitor, despite hating them and trying to kick them off the entire time. My cervix was closed, so they sent me home.

Last night (Saturday night) the contractions got very close, and very painful. They were 3-5 minutes apart and I was terrified. After attempting to make them go away by hydrating, I called the nurse on call and was told to go to the hospital right then. So we left. It takes an hour to get there. About half way there I noticed the contractions had slowed down significantly and they weren't near as painful. I called the nurse back and she said to still go. So we did. Once we got there we had to wait for them to get a room ready. While we were waiting, they stopped completely. So once again, after making sure Emma was looking ok, I was sent home.

This is a very frustrating waiting game. The contractions come and go, mostly coming at night. Most of the time they don't really hurt and stay atleast 10 minutes apart. I am hoping for no more trips to the hospital. We will see if she cooperates. The good news is the contractions are stopping on their own with no drugs. This is a good sign. I'm still a little annoyed that they only stop after we go to the hospital. That is going to get very expensive very fast. But I'd rather go and they go away than not go and it be real preterm labor. So, the short story is, now we wait. But, for now, things are pretty stable.