Baby Menz Update

How far along? 33 Weeks

Total weight gain/loss: gain 22 lbs, yuck!
Maternity clothes? Yup.
Stretch marks? Nope - PTL. Still lathering myself up often!
Sleep: I’ve had some really great nights of sleep (only waking up to pee close to 7 AM on Saturday morning – success!) and some really, really crappy nights. The last two nights I woke up in the middle of the night and was up for 1 ½ hours. Not cool once morning, or afternoon, come
Best moment this week: getting asked for the 10,000,000 x whether we are truly naming our baby Petal. My Great-Aunt stopping my mum in Sam’s and having a “chat” with her about our choice of baby name. J Glad everyone is truly concerned for Petal’s sake, right?
Have you told family and friends: Word is definitely out.
Miss Anything? Sleep. Sushi. Beer. (not much changes here)
Movement: Constant.
Food cravings: I really, really wanted sorbet last week. Bought a small tub and it’s been yummy in my tummy ever since!
Anything making you queasy or sick: Nope.
Have you started to show yet: I feel ginormous!
Gender: Girl.
Labor Signs: No, well… not exactly. Braxton Hicks + blood pressure problems.
Belly Button in or out? Inny… yup, it’s still holding on!
Wedding rings on or off? On
Happy or Moody most of the time: …does sleepy count?
Looking forward to: Thanksgiving.

Well, we’ve reached our first glitch in Petal’s journey to our arms beyond being breech, which she is officially in the right position as of yesterday!. I had my doctor appointment yesterday and everything was great… with the exception of my blood pressure. It was 160/90 (WOAH). So, the doctor is pretty concerned. He told me “I don’t want you to have your baby for at least the next two weeks.” Did he think that would help my heart rate?????? I sat there for a half hour so they re-checked my blood pressure and it had gone down to 130/80 – which is still higher than they would like to see it at. I have one excuse, okay two, that I can think of for my heart rate to be soo high. 1. My co-worker had just said, “Holy cow, Thanksgiving is next week?!” Which caused me to have a mini major panic attack thinking how close to Petal’s arrival we are. 2. I’ve been highly stressed lately with lots of things; finances, maternity leave, Jeremy and my relationship, getting the nursery done, cleaning my terribly messy house, making time to tour the hospital if Jeremy would ever be home we could do this, we’re touring on Wednesday finally, etc… On a positive note, I do not have any other signs that usually go along with accelerated heart rate that complicate pregnancy; blurred vision, dizziness, abdominal pain, heart pain, numbness, etc… so I’m thankful for that.

So, your prayers are greatly appreciated and needed. Really, I would prefer to keep Petal to myself for the six more weeks of my pregnancy but I’ll take three more weeks at minimum. I’d love Petal to bake as long as possible, but 36 weeks is truly where I would feel more comfortable with her joining us. I’m really trying to look to God for His wisdom, healing touch and direction. This is something I struggle with anyway, but adding the element of my un-born child’s life and her arrival is much scarier and almost harder in a way, for me to trust. I go back to the doctor next week, earlier than usually scheduled, and we’ll have an update then. I’m thankful that I am not showing any other alarming signs that usually coincide with gestational hypertension. Unfortunately, I do have family history of hypertension (outside of pregnancy – neither my mum nor Cari experienced gestational hypertension). So, that is a bit of a cause for alarm with my doctor as well… anyways. I am believing for God’s best for Petal and the few remaining weeks of my pregnancy.