Doctor's Appointment

My appointment today was interesting. I went in and the doctor took my measurements and checked the baby's heart rate, after which she decided that I needed to be hooked up to monitors. The nurse came in 10 minutes later to check on me and said that the heart rate was low. She came back 10 minutes later and checked...no difference. She left and talked to the doctor and then came back and asked me to drink some "juice" which turned out to be the nasty orange stuff that they have you drink for your glucose test. I guess it was supposed to wake up the baby and get her moving, but all it seemed to do was make me sick. When the nurse came in again she had me move around and ultimately lay on my other side, but there was still no change. 10 minutes later the doctor came in and looked. She didn't seem overly concerned and said that the baby was just sleeping...which is interesting because normally the only time she really moves is when I am laying down. She said to try to keep track of the baby's movement and to call if there were any problems, but she said I was okay to go home.

I have come to the conclusion that worrying does more harm than help, so I am not going to worry until there is undeniable proof that there is something to worry about. As of right now, my uterus is still really small (the doctor made a comment today about how I don't look pregnant at all when I lay down), and I am down to the lowest weight I have been since I got pregnant. The baby is a good weight and length, but her heart rate is lower than desired...although I guess not low enough to really be concerned about. It is not the ideal situation, but it is also nothing to get too worked up about right now. I know that there are lots of people praying for Katie and I, and I am trusting that everything will be fine. With the close eye that the doctor is keeping on us, I am sure we will be fine. It was just an awkward appointment and a lot to process.

I know that there is a lot that I still need to do, but I think the best thing I can do today for Katie is to relax. I am going to try to eat something and then take a nap. You wouldn't think that this would be a challenge, but for me it is :-) Wish me luck!!

Marybeth

Nesting

I have definitely gone into my nesting phase, which isn't necessarily a bad thing since my house could really use the cleaning. For the first time since...well, probably since Matt and I got married, every single piece of clothing, towels, etc. is clean. I have even re-washed all of the baby clothes that we have. I vacuumed the living room twice yesterday, and even contemplated vacuuming the dog. You wouldn't think that he would shed that much, since he is a short-haired dog, but we have black hair everywhere. I have put up a baby gate in the nursery room doorway, so at least that has kept the dog hair our of the nursery. I have started brushing Miles everyday, so hopefully that will make a significant difference.

I have also started getting rid of EVERYTHING that I think I don't need anymore. Clothes, books, you name it. I just wish I went through this last week so I could have donated everything to the church garage sale. I am trying to free up as much room as possible for Katie. The funny thing is, Katie is going to end up with more room than Matt and I, which is stupid because she is really small and for a while will be in the same room as us almost 24/7. This, as well, is not necessarily a bad thing. Sometimes I have a hard time letting go of things, and Matt is more of a packrat than I am, so we really do need to get rid of things. For some reason I'm okay with getting rid of things now, I suppose because I know that Katie is more important.

So I've been thinking...this pregnancy has made me lose weight, get my house in order, and get rid of all of the stuff in my house that I don't need. This pregnancy may be the best thing to happen to me, even before Katie makes her arrival.


Marybeth

My First Blog

Well, I am not really sure about this whole blog thing. I've considered blogging for a while now, but I have always felt that my life wasn't interesting enough to write about. However, seeing as how Matt and I will have a new addition to our family in less than 2 months, maybe there will be more to write about. This also probably means that I won't have as much time to write about things, but we'll see. I guess I could start off by talking a little about how the pregnancy has been going.

We are having a girl, and we have decided to name her Katelyn Elizabeth Coen (although we will call her Katie). Right now I am 33 1/2 weeks along, with my due date being August 2nd. I suppose that you could say that this pregnancy has not exactly been a normal pregnancy. Like my mother, I have been sick ever single day since I got pregnant, and it's not just morning sickness...it's afternoon and evening sickness as well. The doctor has prescribed me some medicine to stop me from throwing up as often, but I still have a feeling of nausea. Funny thing about nausea, the definition is "sickness at the stomach, esp. when accompanied by a loathing for food and an involuntary impulse to vomit." I feel like I am the only pregnant woman to hate eating, but it's hard to want to eat when you feel sick all the time. I have been pregnant for 7 1/2 months and have lost 17 lbs. Now, I was overweight to begin with so I didn't need to gain as much as most, but losing weight while pregnant is never ideal.

In addition to the sickness thing, I have also had problems with the growth of my uterus. It is not growing like it should, so I don't look as pregnant as I should. I've got a little bit of a bump, but if you didn't know that I was pregnant you would probably guess that I'm just overweight. I would say that I look like I'm about 4 months pregnant. This lack of growth has caused concern for the baby, and I have had to have a sonogram every 2-3 weeks for several months now. They have been charting the baby's growth to make sure that she is growing steadily and consistently. So far she is 1 week smaller than she should be, but growing at a constant rate, so there's not a whole lot to worry about. Their concern is that as we get closer to the due date her growth will start to decrease. If this happens, they will have to induce labor immediately. As I said before, right now everything looks good and there is absolutely nothing I can do to change the situation. Right now we are just praying for a safe and healthy baby and trying not to worry.

Well, that's all the news I have for now about Katie. I hope my first blog wasn't too long or too boring.

Marybeth