Welcome to my journal

I went to my regular appointment today and everything looks great.  Dr. Rowe said he's more concerned with the chronic hypertension than the preeclampsia--sounds bad--but that's actually good news.  I asked him since we were for sure delivering at 37 weeks--could we go ahead and set a date to induce......so................

I have to check into the hospital at 5:30am on Wednesday, February 21st!!!

Isn't that exciting news?  Now I'm scared... it's finally hitting me that I'm giving birth to a baby in less than 2 weeks!  OMG!  Everyone say your prayers that she comes healthy and that everything will go great! 

I had a very busy day yesterday.  Dr. Rowe had me do another one of those 24 hour urine tests on Sunday--I had to get up extremely early and take that back to the lab and have bloodwork done.  After that I had another ultrasound.  Everything looks great!  Zoe's fetal movements are good and so is her diaphram--which means her lungs are developing just fine.  They said according to her measurements she now weighs about 6 lbs 10 oz!!!  I was really worried about her being a little "preemie size baby"---what a relief! 

I also had my regular doctors appointment yesterday.  He performed my Strep B Test and did my first cervical exam.  I am now dialated to 1cm.  I'm just waiting on the results from my urine test to see if there's anymore protein in there.  Hopefully it hasn't jumped too much... and if that looks good, we're still looking at another 2 weeks... if not, she may come a little sooner.  Whatever happens, I'm ok with now that I know she's at a good weight and her lung developement is good! 

Everything is finally coming to an end.  It won't be too much longer before little Zoe is here!!  I'm so excited to finally meet her.

Well, my rash has seemed to disappear... at least for now.  I still itch on occasion but not nearly as bad--thank God!

I'm going to the doctor twice a week now for fetal monitoring.  Everything looks great!  Dr. Rowe says Zoe is a "little performer".... I have to sit on that machine until they see about 5 or 6 good movements--it's supposed to take 30-45 minutes; I'm usually off in like 15-20.  I'll have to start my cervix exams next week   --I wonder if I've dialated at all???  I had to do another 24 hour urine test Monday (to test for protein) -- it came back slightly over 300.  I think 150 is normal.  He said not to worry though--it's most likely caused by my chronic hypertension (blood pressure). 

Actually my blood pressure has been rising a little lately... he put me on bedrest last Thursday.  Fun.  I'm already bored out of my mind, and it's only been a week.  Oh well, at least I know it's better for me and the baby.  Now I know how you feel, Steph!

Everything else is going fine.  We've finally finsihed the nursery--all I have left to do is boil the pacifiers and bottles and we'll be ready to rock and roll!  I can't wait to meet my precious baby girl!

I'm so ready to get this baby out of me.  I can barely walk.. and my PUPPPS (rash) is out of control.  It won't go away until Zoe is born--so I still have a good 4 weeks left of scratching myself silly.  I went back to the doctor Monday and he did a fetal monitoring thing called an NST (Non-Stress-Test) ; I get to go back every Monday and Thursday between now and the time Zoe comes to have that monitored.  Yah...  Oh well, I guess it's better safe than sorry. 

My blood pressure is about the same... swelling seems to be a little bit better; although maybe I'm just concentrating entirely on my itching, I haven't even been paying attention to the swelling. 

I had my baby shower last Saturday too.   It turned out really nice.  Not too many people came, considering the weather--but I received alot of nice things.  I thought I would never get her laundry finished on Sunday...  I'm glad to have that behind me.  I almost have her nursery complete, with the exception of a few minor things.  I'll try to take some pictures as soon as I get everything hung on the walls the way I like!  I also posted a few pictures of the shower up--so take a look at those!

I hope everyone is doing well--talk to you soon!

I went for another ultrasound on Monday, January 8th.  Zoe now weighs 4 lbs!! Isn't it amazing how much she has gained in a month?  I'm anxious to see what she's gonna weigh when she arrives??? 

My blood pressure is the same.  I'm still swelling like crazy--I'll be so happy to get Zoe here safely and return back to a normal size!  I'm starting to get really uncomfortable all the time now.  It's hard to sleep and it's a pain to try and roll out of bed every hour to go to the bathroom!  I don't think Braxton Hicks have started yet, if so, I can't tell because they don't hurt at all.  My stomach is getting really hard now.  I can definately tell when  her little butt is pressed up against my stomach!  It's such an amazing feeling when she moves around inside of me--and it's constant.  I swear she never sleeps!

I also now have a little rash on my stomach.  They call it "PUPPS".  Apparently 1/100 pregnant women get it and they have no idea what causes it.  I went to the doctor yesterday so he could look at it to see what was wrong.  He recommended I start taking Benadryl every 6 hours and I had to buy this super expensive body cream and soap made for sensitive skin.  It already looks a little better just in one day.. but the itching is out of control!  I wouldn't wish this upon my worst enemy!

I go back to the doctor on Monday to start the fetal movement testing?? Not sure exactly what that is, but I'll fill everyone in on Monday! 

Oh ya..... I think we're leaning towards delivering at 37 weeks for sure now, so rather than my due date being March 11th, it might be more like Feb. 19th or sometime shortly thereafter!  It's coming so fast!  Keep us in your prayers everyone!  Talk to you soon!