Baby Bump: Week 35

How far along? 35 weeks.... Is it really possible that as of today we only have 34 days left?

What's baby up to? Ella Paityn is weighing in at 5 pounds, 6 ounces (+/- 13 oz.).  That is crazy.  I cannot believe she is THAT BIG!  At this point, most of her development is complete and she is just putting on the pounds.  Please be kind, little girl :-)

Total weight gain: We shall see on Thursday.

Maternity clothes? Yes

Symptoms: Stuffy nose/congestion/nose bleeds, sore finger/toe joints

Sleep: Not too bad :-)

Food cravings: None!

Food aversions: Nope :-)

Movement?  Well.....I said last week that I was going to start tracking movement on whether she had turned or not.  I guess my pep-talks worked because we've got a head down baby!! 

Miss anything? Not really!

Best moment of the week: Being on break, relaxing, getting to do exactly what I want to do!  Getting our taxes DONE!!  They are officially turned in to our CPA :-)

Looking forward to:  Maternity pictures with our sweet friend and former neighbor, Bridgett, of Bridgett Baysden Photography.  We're heading out to downtown New Bern (maybe a little waterfront, myabe a little palace action), the Brock Mill Pond right here in JoCo, and one of our friend's wheat fields that is right down the road from our house.  Our doctor's appointment on Thursday-- We have high hopes that Ella Paityn will do exactly what she is supposed to do and get all 8 points.  Both my mom and Jacob are coming for this appointment. And, the Coastal Plains livestock show on Monday.  I love going to see the little ones show animals and it is even better because my sweet little Claire will be showing a goat for the first time ever!

* I had my Group B strep test this week.  Not fun at all....slightly violating! 
** Mandy also checked for progression this week for the first time. No dilation, no effacement. 

New Bern Baby Shower

Some highlights from my baby shower in New Bern on March 14!  My sweet friends Kim Barrett, Rebecca Scott, and Erin Morgan hosted this shower at Temple Baptist Church in the Living Room. The decorations, food, setup, and company were all more than I could have ever imagined.  Thank you so much to everyone who came to support me and Ella Paityn.  I love y'all!

Here is the invitation:

Click here to view these pictures larger

These prints were also hung on the wall as decorations, and have been transferred to the nursery:

Baby Bump: Week 34

How far along? 34 weeks

What's baby up to? While they can't give us a legnth measurement anymore, Ella Paityn is weighing in at 5 pounds, 6 ounces (+/- 13 oz.).  That is crazy.  I cannot believe she is THAT BIG!  

Total weight gain: Not a single pound since my last appointment!!!!  So I'm hanging tight at 17 pounds overall.

Maternity clothes? Yes

Symptoms: Stuffy nose/congestion, sore finger/toe joints

Sleep: Not too bad :-)

Food cravings: None!

Food aversions: Nope :-)

Movement?  Well.....I said last week that I was going to start tracking movement on whether she had turned or not.  I guess my pep-talks worked because we've got a head down baby!! 

Miss anything? Not really!

Best moment of the week: Hands down my baby shower in Greenville!  I was SO EXCITED to see everyone and even had some surprise guests that I didn't know would be there!!!  The food, decorations...just EVERYTHING....was amazing!  I am so thankful to Laura (my sis-in-law) for opening her home and also Mrs. Lydia (MIL) for helping host the shower.  We got tons of super fun gifts that were much needed.

Looking forward to:   SPRING BREAK!!  This Friday is a half day and I won't go back to school until Tuesday, April 7.  Getting some much needed work around the house done.....finishing the bedding/nursery, pressure washing, relaxing, etc.

Not looking forward to: Taxes.....no but really.  They are **almost** done and ready to take to our CPA.  They will be in her hands by Friday for sure.

BPP #1 (Week 34)

Well, this morning we went in for our first Biophysical Profile (BPP) ultrasound.  I had high hopes for a perfect score (8 points), but was still pretty nervous.  Our appointment was at 8:15 and it was our first time with a new ultrasound technician because our beloved Currie accepted a position with the Brody School of Medicine at East Carolina University.

The ultrasound lasted about 35-40 minutes because little Ella Paityn didn't cooperate quite the way that we had hoped.  Again, the ultrasound tech was looking for:

• Amniotic Fluid Volume (2 pts.)-- at least 1 pocket of AF that measured at least 2 cm
• I had at least 3 pockets of AF with 4-5+ cm
• Fetal Movements (2 pts.)- 3 body/limb movements
• She had achieved this in almost no time
• Fetal Tone (2 pts.)- 1 episode of active extension to flexion 
• She had several, but her first was a fist- to open hand- back to fist
• Fetal Breathing Movements (2 pts.)- 1 episode of FBM for at least 30 seconds in duration

Well, the fetal breathing movements is what docked us.  She showed 2 or 3 episodes of breathing movements, but they only lasted for 6-7 seconds maximum.  So, today we got a score of 6.  Not exactly what I was hoping for......

When we got called back to talk to Mandy, she had already asked her nurse (Michelle) to hook me up to the non-stress test (NST) for more data.  Not exactly sure what I was talking to Michelle about here, but you know I could talk the ears off a toad frog!

The NST looked just like this without the Uterine Contraction sensor.

The NST was supposed to last 20 minutes, but I was hooked up to the machine for about 25 minutes. The nurse brought me in some Cheez-Its and apple juice to eat to see if we could get baby going.  Her average heart rate was about 135 bpm.  When reading the NST, Mandy explained that she was looking for at least two instances of accelerated heart rate at least 1 standard deviation (sd) above the mean that last for at least 15 seconds before decelerating. If there is a deceleration in heart rate 1 sd below the mean, it discredits an acceleration.  Fortunately, Ella Paityn did not have any significant decelerations below the mean and had several accelerations. Here is a video of what it looked like when her heart rate was coming back down.

I was cracking Jacob up because at one point (the Cheez-Its and apple juice must have kicked in) Ella Paityn started going cray.  They give you this little sensor that you click when you feel movement and it looks just like the ones that the contestants use on Jeopardy.  I was pressing it away....you know trying to buzz in before anyone else beat me to the punch ;)

Please excuse the massive belly.

After 25 minutes, they took me off of the machine and Mandy came in to talk to me.  She was very optimistic and said that the NST looked great.  She explained that FBM are the most common thing to lose points on and that was why they do weekly monitoring.

Until next week, I'm choosing not to worry.... though it's hard and frightening.  God is in control of our situation and He knows exactly what is going on with Ella Paityn.  She is HIS child first and I have complete confidence and trust in Him.
   

Taking After Her Daddy

Growing up, my FIL's nickname for Jacob was "Hiccup" because he had incessant hiccups....or so I'm told!  So I am happy to report that Ella Paityn has already started taking after her Daddy.  On a typical day, she will have the hiccups 2-3 times and they can last anywhere from 8-15 minutes.  It can be slightly annoying because it is an incessant thumping that will not go away!  I've tried holding my breath, drinking water, and even scaring her.  Sadly, these things don't seem to work on babies in utero haha!

You can always feel her hiccuping and usually you can see her hiccuping too. This is just a mild case, but you can definitely see my belly twitching away.

Baby Bump: Week 33

How far along? 33 weeks

What's baby up to? Ella Paityn has passed the 17 inch mark and weighs over 4 pounds.  She is about the size of a pineapple.  Her skeleton is hardening and she is losing her wrinkled look.  We'll find out exactly what her measurements (length and weight) are at our next appointment. 

Total weight gain: 17 pounds at my appointment.  Yikes. 

Maternity clothes? For sure.  The only non-maternity clothes that I can still wear are t-shirts.....and that isn't so cute anymore!

Symptoms: Stuffy nose/congestion....I am hoping this goes away SOONER than later after pregnancy is over.  

Sleep: Not too bad :-)

Food cravings: None!

Food aversions: Nope :-)

Movement?  Lots of crazy kicks and rolls.  Now I'm going to start tracking movement based on if she has turned or not.  She was "breech" at our last appointment meaning not head down.  More specifically she was transverse lie position.  It is absolutely impossible to vaginally deliver a baby this way....so we really need Ella Paityn to get her act together and turn around :-)    


Miss anything? Not really!

Best moment of the week: My baby shower in New Bern hosted by Rebecca Scott, Kim Barrett, and Erin Morgan.  It was SO much fun.  I got to see tons of my friends (21 to be exact), eat yummy food, and we got some wonderful gifts!!!  Pictures and blog post to come soon :-)  I am also really enjoying the Zumba class that I have been going to :-)  It may not be as cute as it used to be....but hey, at least I'm out there!  My 

Looking forward to: My baby shower in Greenville that my sweet sister-in-law, Laura, and MIL, Mrs. Lydia, are hosting!  I can't wait for more fun and festivities. We have our first BPP (Biophysical Profile) appointment this Wednesday at 8:15, so be praying!  I am excited to see how much little Ella Paityn has grown, but...I am also a little nervous about how all of this works and what her score will be.  

Not looking forward to: Taxes.....we've been putting them off.  Bad.  Have we still not gotten our tax stuff to our CPA?  DANG!  Procrastination at its finest.  

What changed?

Why is this such a hard question to answer?  Well, when my mom asked me "what changed" in regards to a situation the other day, I was quick to develop an answer. Intrinsically, I knew what had changed.  And while there may have been other contributing factors, I still wasn't able to answer the question forthrightly.  Why is it so hard as humans to admit that we were wrong?

Instead, I dodged the question, and passed blame.  Oh, the other person's attitude changed.  Well, it must have been the medication.  And grasping for straws....I guess it was nothing short of a miracle! Don't laugh, I'm pretty sure that went through my head.  Why was it impossible for me to say, "I changed.  My attitude changed.  I have been praying for a revelation, patience, understanding, knowledge."  Well, that would be difficult to say because it would admit to others that I had it all wrong.


I can directly correlate the situational shift with traveling to work last Monday.  I almost got in a head on collision on the way to work.  An older man was on the way to work, his tire blew going 60 mph on a two-lane, and he crossed into my lane loosing control of his truck.  I slammed on breaks, he veered into a ditch to my right, skidded across the ditch, took out a road sign, and flipped onto his side in a ditch off of a side road.  Fortunately, when I turned around to check on him, we were all okay {let the random hugging of strangers commence}. My devotion that morning included the verses from Colossians 1:15-22:

¹⁵ Christ is the visible image of the invisible God.
    He existed before anything was created and is supreme over all creation,^[a]
16 for through him God created everything
    in the heavenly realms and on earth.
He made the things we can see
    and the things we can’t see—
such as thrones, kingdoms, rulers, and authorities in the unseen world.
    Everything was created through him and for him.
¹⁷ He existed before anything else,
    and he holds all creation together.
¹⁸ Christ is also the head of the church,
    which is his body.
He is the beginning,
    supreme over all who rise from the dead.^[b]
    So he is first in everything.
¹⁹ For God in all his fullness
    was pleased to live in Christ,
²⁰ and through him God reconciled
    everything to himself.
He made peace with everything in heaven and on earth
    by means of Christ’s blood on the cross.

²¹ This includes you who were once far away from God. You were his enemies, separated from him by your evil thoughts and actions. ²² Yet now he has reconciled you to himself through the death of Christ in his physical body. As a result, he has brought you into his own presence, and you are holy and blameless as you stand before him without a single fault.

All of these things, Christ did for me. Yet, I still get it wrong.  Maybe it is so hard to admit that we are wrong because Christ, in his very being, was/is perfect.  I strive to be a Christian, a little Christ, yet fall so short.  So, of course, it is much easier to pass blame on to others because that would then make the other person/people wrong, and me right.  Right? Fortunately, Christ has filled those gaps for me and reconciled me to him and I am allowed and expected to be wrong. Admitting, accepting responsibility, repenting, changing..... those are the things that set Christians apart.  So what changed? I can confidently say that it was me.

What's in a Name?

"What's in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet."
~William Shakespeare

And so, though the little one has been called "Baby Girl Morgan" up to this point, she finally has a name!

Ella

Over-popularized?  Probably.  But this name and I go back....all the way to 2007-2008.  It was my first year of teaching and I was fondly known as Miss Eller.  Well, until Rhianna's song Umbrella came out.  Then, my name shifted to "Miss Ella, Ella, Ella, {hey, hey, hey}" for some of my co-workers.  When we found out that we were having a girl, I really liked Ella, but swayed away from it because it had become extremely popular over the last few years.  In the end, we decided to go with our gut, because it was so similar to my maiden name!  The name Ella means (according to Urban Dictionary- yes I know.....very reliable!): "A very beautiful, nice and caring young lady. Loved by lots of people but hated for her looks. She is a great friend to all and forgives easily. She is very considerate and has a lot of empathy and never lies. "

Paityn

When we found out that we were having a girl, Jacob mentioned the name Paityn.  He even specified the way he liked it spelled.  The more I thought about it, the more I liked it! But, the thing I like the best is that her Daddy chose the name for her.  The name Paityn means (again, Urban Dictionary): "village warrior, and can also mean warrior of faith. Paityns generally protect ones they love and are angelic and beautiful. If you find a Paityn hold on to them because they are special and extremely rare to find."  

It seems like it took us forever to choose a name, but it was a very daunting task for us (well, probably more like me)!  I tend to be a little slow and indecisive when it comes to decisions that I know are permanent.  And, I knew that this name was representing a lot...something that we both had to like forever.  We're still not sure exactly what we're going to call her: Ella, Paityn, or Ella Paityn. We're thinking that we'll decide on that after she is born. But hey, we're one step closer than we were!

Because you screened positive...

We've heard those words A LOT during this pregnancy.  But, I will say that I am so glad to be in such good hands... of people who take my health and our baby's health very seriously. My midwife has been very conservative, taking every precaution since my positive AFP screening.

So in three weeks (around 34 weeks gestation), because I screened positive, I will begin getting ultrasounds every other week until I deliver.  It isn't technically used for an ultrasound, even though we will get to see our little girl.  It is a specific procedure called a BPP- Biophysical Profile.  A BPP is basically just a prenatal test done to check in on the baby's health/well-being. The BPP measures 5 different components as shown below, and then the baby is assigned a score.

FHR= Fetal Heart Rate
AFV= Amniotic Fluid Volume

A score of 8-10 is considered "Normal" and where you want to fall.  The baby has 30 minutes to achieve this score.  A score of 6 is considered "Equivocal" or indefinite.  Anything below a 6 is considered "Abnormal".  So, at my next appointment we will set a date for our first BPP.  My first inclination was to worry and question.  Is there something they aren't telling me?  Why would they need to do this if everything looks okay?  WHAT IF they find something or she doesn't live up to their points standard?  But now, I'm trying to see it as an opportunity to get to see our little one a few extra times before she makes her grand debut. And I see it as a reminder... that no matter what, this verse (from the Psalm that my Pappaw recommended us read frequently during this journey) will always hold true.

Baby Bump: Week 31

How far along? 31 weeks

What's baby up to? Baby Morgan weighs as much as a coconut. She is about 17 inches long and weighs about 3 1/3 pounds.  Did you know coconuts weigh that much?!  I sure didn't.  She can turn her head from side to side and her body is plumping up!  

Total weight gain: Exactly 14 pounds at my appointment.  Yikes. I have six pounds left to play around with if I want to stay at my 20 pound goal. We'll see if that actually happens.... Jacob said that at least half my weight has been put on in my chest- haha!  That doesn't make me feel any better though...

Maternity clothes? Pants, yes.  Shirts, not necessarily depending on the style.

Symptoms: Stuffy nose/congestion, more difficulty breathing than normal-- they say this is normal too because baby is taking up her share of my typical lung space....but it makes it even worse because my nose is always stuffed. 

Sleep: Ehh, it's okay.... A typical night is me getting up to pee about 4-5 times.  That doesn't make for good sleep.

Food cravings: None!

Food aversions: Nope :-)

Movement?  Every day....at this point it is not okay for her not to be moving every day.

Miss anything? Being able to move without grunting, groaning, and other funny noises.  Sitting down without my boobs resting on my belly, and my belly resting on my legs.  

Best moment of the week: Finishing the crib bumpers and order a super cool baby swing{ish} thing!  We are SUPER limited on space because of living in a single wide trailer :-)  Therefore, we were not going to register at all for a swing, and just do without.  We literally did not have room for the base, and forget about the actual clearance needed for it to swing.  But, then I found a Mamaroo on clearance for $150....regularly $260!!  I even managed to persuade my way into free shipping!!  You can see just how compact it is.  This will serve as our "swing" and bouncer. 


Looking forward to: Going to get our furniture this weekend, getting our Mamaroo in the mail!

Not looking forward to: Taxes.....we've been putting them off.  Bad. 

Oh yeah....how could I forget?!  We officially have a name!!  More to come ;)