Rotating baby and allergies

Okay, N was head down for a couple of days. Breathing for me was much improved, which is good, because where we live, the pollen count outdoors has skyrocketed in the last week (lots of trees are blooming/flowering currently)! I am allergic to most tree pollens. However, N has spent most of today rotating! He seems to be breech and up in my my ribs again. So breathing is interesting again. . .

N has a few nicknames now, beyond what we call him, depending on who you talk to. A couple of coworkers of my husband have been calling our baby BB Junior (because my husband's initials are BB) and a couple of Asian friends of mine have started calling him Tiger because he will be born in the Year of the Tiger!

Dropped?

N has moved a lot this week. Three days ago, he was still definitely breech, and right up under my ribs. Two days ago he started moving a lot. I am quite sure now that he is head down, and and nowhere near my ribs. I look "less" pregnant than I did on Tuesday evening. I mean, N is kicking below my ribs, not in my ribs. In addition, for the last two nights, he's been moving actively at night between 10 pm and 1 am - and it is SO painful on my bladder - as if he is so low - and maybe on a nerve. I am almost 34.5 weeks. . . and he was measuring a week ahead, so. . .

What if I DOgo into labor before the date of the planned c-section?

We were surprised on Tuesday night - some friends gave us the angelcare movement monitor I'd been wanting! I am so grateful for good friends!

34 Weeks!

34 weeks -- Five weeks until my scheduled c-section! Oh, my!

The baby has thrown off MY sleep schedule quite a bit lately. Last night, I was up until 2 am, because he was moving so much, and sitting right on my bladder - to the point that I was in pain. No contractions at all, though. He seems to still really wake up between 8 pm and 2 am. I can't tell where his head is, versus his bottom, etc, anymore. I can just tell he's getting big and gaining weight!

I had a very small baby shower tonight. . . I really don't prefer to have a big, formal shower, because frankly, it would make me nervous. (We may have "meet the baby" party after he's born.) Some friends in my church handbell group had a small shower for me tonight after rehearsal. They are getting us a rocking chair (Or maybe a glider, not sure, actually)! This was one of the "larger" things on my list of wants! It will be here by Sunday. I am so excited!

I have another OB appt on Friday. We haven't done a NST yet. I wonder when those will start. Maybe I will ask if she doesn't bring it up.

Slight Panic Last Night

N is fine and moving today, but last night as I laid on my right side, I felt very rhythmic movement. My husband could feel it, too. N had the hiccups! Once upon a time, I might have thought that was cute. . . but I know now that for some people whose babies have been born still, their babies had the hiccups a lot in utero. It may have been sign of distress. So now I worry. This WAS the first time that I was aware that N had the hiccups. Maybe he's gotten them other times and I was not aware. So now I worry. Last night when I turned over to my left side, the hiccups stopped. It was a relief, frankly.

Today N is very active again! He's getting big, so I feel him a lot. I still don't "feel" as large as I did at this point with Sam, maybe because I had too much anmiotic fluid with Sam. I have a "normal" amount with this little one.

Sam's Hospital Records

We finally got copies of Sam's hospital records. They STILL did not send the genetic reports!! (Rather steamed about that, but I digress. . . )

I am reading the report of Sam's Cardiac Catherization done just two days before he died. Here is the "Final Diagnosis" from that report:

1) Double outlet right ventricle with mitral atresia, severely hypoplastic left ventricle, subaortic and aortic stenosis, coarctation of aorta and atretic right pulmonary veins.
2)Status post Norwood with Sano modification using a 6-mm Gore-Tex patch from the right ventricle to pulmonary arteries.
3) Chronic respiratory failure with ongoing hypercapnia with pCO2s at least in the 70s regardless of mode of ventilation.
4) Decreased oxygenation from combination of decreased pulmonary flow and increased pathology of the left lower lung, and nonfuctioning right lung.
5) Status post extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) support.
6) Occluded iliac veins bilaterally and probably the distal inferior vena cava.
7) Bilateral superior vena cava with no communicating vein.
8) Excellent right ventricular function and no coarctation of aorta.

So. . .
At least #8 was excellent. . . the rest sounds pretty grim, and it was.

I just want to cry.

Meeting with Pediatrician and Tired

I met with a pediatrician today, and so far I really like her. I think we'll probably go with her, too. She is perfectly fine with us holding off on the Hep B vaccine for the baby for at least the first few months, which is what I want to do.
She also highly recommended the book Baby 411. So I will probably buy the book eventually.

I am so tired today. I have had so much energy recently that this tiredness has me a little frustrated. I think I am hungry, too. I might sample a little supper, even if it means nuking some first.

I plan to put some of what I am making in the freezer, so when I am in the hospital my husband can bring it to me (if they can't make me food I can eat there).

32 Weeks (33??)

I am gestationally 32 weeks as of two days ago. However, at the fetal echo ultrasound yesterday, N was measuring at a 33-week size! He is approximately 4 lbs, 2 oz! So, if he follows the "normal" chart of growth, and is born at 39 (gestational age) weeks, he should be about 7.5 lbs, just like his older brother! I am personally guessing up a little, so maybe 8lbs.

The sonographer used the word "boring". N is boring which is wonderful! She said she loves to see "boringly normal" babies. I do, too!! Yay for N!! Boring is such a nice word to hear in our case!

N did keep moving and jiggling during the entire ultrasound. His head was up right under my sternum and his butt down on my bladder. Last night he was waking me up again with huge movements. This morning, I think his feet are in my left side.

This afternoon, I am interviewing a pediatrician that the pediatric cardiologist highly recommended. Tomorrow, I have my next OB appointment.

My DH is getting nervous. He wants to practice driving to the hospital where I am having the baby.