Weeks 35, 36 & 37: We're having a baby!?!

November 24-30, December 1-7 & December 8-14, 2008:

Ok, so I realize this posting's title could be a bit confusing. Yes, I am aware I am in fact pregnant, and therefore Jon and I are having a baby. However, during week 35 (meaning I'd just completed 34 weeks), I went in for my routine OB appointment, and my doctor heard the report on my CEP appointment. At that point, after examining me, she made two decisions: one, I would have a biophysical profile done on the baby, including fetal nonstress test and ultrasound, at my delivery hospital every week from that day on until I gave birth ... starting that afternoon. Wow, that's a lot of trips to the med center, except not as many as I thought, because two, she would induce me the day before completing 37 weeks (this would be the medical LMP determination of gestational age, but since I know when I actually conceived, the baby would technically be just barely more than 36 weeks). WHAT?! Essentially, the remainder of my pregnancy timeline just got cut in half, and my due date went from being six weeks away to being three weeks away. Ahhhh, snap.

I can't say I handled the idea well initially. I didn't like the idea of evicting my child; I worried about his or her development and growth and general readiness for the outside world. I also worried about my preparedness. I still had a lot I wanted to do -- I still had showers coming, which comes with taking stock of what we would have and still needed to purchase, and I wanted more alone time with Jon just the two of us, and I wanted to savor the unique experiences of pregnancy a bit more, and I had to figure out a birth plan, and I had more naps to take, and ... oh brother.

I also had concerns about the medication used to be induced. I wanted as drug-free a delivery as possible, including no epidurals or pain meds if I could stand it. What was I thinking? Fair question. Part of this ideal is that I wanted things to be as natural as possible. I don't see childbirth as an illness or even a procedure, and if everything is happening as it should, I wanted to let my body do its thing; since delivering a baby is part of its design, and since women do it all over the world every day, I knew it was possible to do so with as little interference as safety and reason would allow, even though I knew I'd have to have an in-hospital birth due to my medical condition and potential related problems (to prevent my hypotension from dangerous further drops and to prevent dehydration, hypoxia in the baby, etc.). In addition, epidurals can cause labor to last longer, and I certainly didn't want that. Also, epidurals can lower blood pressure, which could be a disaster for me. After researching Pitocin, which is actually the synthetic version of the labor-inducing human hormone Oxytocin, I found it is widely shown to increase intensity, frequency and length of contractions, resulting in significantly more painful and exhausting labors and therefore much higher likelihood of epidurals in the vast majority of patients. Ohhhh nooooo. I also found a lot of risks for both mom and baby accompanied the use of Pitocin, which I won't go in to here, but let's just say I was very anxious about the whole thing. This is why research-minded people like me ... and you journalist-and/or-science type folks know who you are ... have to be veeeeeerrrrry careful about what, where and how much you read. There's enough out there to make your brain's decision-making center flip-flop all over the place, so use your God-given filters of common sense and intuition, plus a lot of prayer for spiritual wisdom and guidance and self reflection to determine what you and your partner really want. These resources, along with a lot of chats with Jon and phone calls to our moms, helped me get through the coming weeks and arrive at a place of relative peace.

On the up side, I am sure to have my own doc available to deliver me, plus I could tell parents exactly when to arrive for the show. Jon was also excited, because not only does he have the looming possibility of sharing a birthday with his child removed (apparently, he wants his OWN birthday), but we also are guaranteed not to have a Christmas or New Year's Eve baby. Christmas would be hard for the kid, as if anytime in December isn't hard enough ... I mean, who can compete with Jesus, really?! And New Year's Eve would mean we'd feel guilty ever sticking the kid with a babysitter while we went out to enjoy adult parties. Wait ... is that selfish? Eh. It is what it is. Jon's main thrill, though, seemed to be that since the baby will come before the end of the year, we get the tax break in under the wire! Goody.

The other positive to the high-risk angle is all the ultrasound pics to make sure the baby is ready for takeoff! Oh, and guess what comes with weekly ultrasounds at the hospital? Hospital socks! You know, the soft, thick ones with the rubber no-slip bottoms. I do look forward to scoring those. Sure, make me lie uncomfortably on my back while a small, balled-up human being and a technician's wand simultaneously assault my bladder -- just gimme some of those socks! Yessssss. Totally worth it.

In truth, I do love the socks, and I love seeing the baby even more. Your turn to get in on the pics!

Here are my ultrasounds from the beginning of week 35 ...

The arrow is pointing to hair!

The following are a bunch of head shots; the baby is toward the camera (looks like it's on its side facing you, oriented with the top of the head on the right) with its right arm and hand up near the face. I have to say, after seeing these, I thought he or she had quite the mug and looked a little cave mannish, especially in the latter ones. Hmmmm. By the way, there's nothing wrong with you if you can't decipher these.
By the way, the test results looked pretty good, so they'll check us out again next week.

Part way into this week, Jon's middle brother, Jared, and Jared's wife, Dori, came to visit for the Thanksgiving holiday with their girls, Emi and Josie. We don't often have siblings make the trek to see us here in Houston, so we appreciated their efforts!

Here are Jared and Emi feeding the ducks near the pond in our neighborhood. These ducks are used to being fed, and therefore, they swarm. This seems like it could be pretty scary when the ducks are half your size, but the kids did great:

Apparently, Josie wants to fly like the ducks ... or perhaps escape them:

If you're a faithful reader, you've probably gathered from previous entries that I like strange creatures -- ones that are a bit off. This duck made me chuckle with his crazy-fluff 'do ... he looked like he could be in a Sesame Street "which one of these things is not like the other" sketch:

We went to the Kemah boardwalk during their visit, too, which was pretty out of sorts due to the hurricane. However, the ice-cream shop was still operational, so the children were happy! Josie sure can put down a frozen treat!

Here are Emi and Dori, all smiles after a scoop of yum!
Now, before I tell you something, you must understand that I'm publishing this blog retroactively. So, in truth, despite the publish date, which can be manipulated at the publisher's discretion, quite some time has passed between the events and my entries. I have meticulously recorded happenings on my calendar, which is how I can accurately retell stories -- plus, I have a pretty awesome memory. Anyway, I told you all that to tell you that during their stay, Dori asked to use one of my fancy digital pregnancy tests I had leftover from our L.I.F.E. study. That night, at dinner on the boardwalk, she announced to us she is pregnant with kiddo number 3 (didn't want you to think I found out and then went and published this info right away)! Of course, we're excited for them and the blessing of a baby, but I have to admit we got a chuckle out of this, because Dori had said earlier in the year that since the employment of natural family-planning methods resulted in two unplanned (but very celebrated and loved) children only just fewer than 15 months apart, her slogan was "celebate in 2008" (say it so it rhymes -- clever!). Turns out that's easier said than done! And, not long after, Jason's new wife, Michelle, announced her pregnancy with their second baby together -- fourth child overall (she's actually farther along than Dori). Soooo, all three Biggerstaff boys had pregnant wives at the same time! Wow. What a bunch of breeders. I can't believe our baby will be Biggerstaff grandbaby number 10 out of 12 in the year to come! I guess he or she will still have the coveted number-one spot in my family, though.

Of course, I had to be the only one who actually looked pregnant. And how! Here is my week 35 belly pic ... am I hiding the turkey under there?

Hmmm. Nope. Legitimate baby belly after all (or maybe I just ate the whole turkey -- I'll never tell):

Aaaand, the toe check. I have no words:

Jared and the fam went back to KC at the end of this week, and it was weird to think the next time we see them, we will be parents! Crazy.

The beginning of week 36 yielded the following ultrasounds:

Here, a foot is labeled (?):This is some kind of profile shot. It is freaky and birdlike in my opinion, but I told the baby I still love him or her no matter what he or she looks like ... gummi bear, snowman, T-Rex, caveman, bird, etc. I'm still super grateful for the sneak peaks, even when they're not aesthetically pleasing.

Here we have close ups of the nose and mouth, like he or she is smashed up against a window. You can see this more clearly in the second shot, which is also labeled. Glad to see better there is a nose and not a beak.
Back to a profile, but this one actually looks more like a human baby ... just a little ghostly and transparent.

I believe this was the appointment when there was some concern with the baby's heartrate during contractions, which have been plaguing me persistently. They said at this point, they wouldn't try to stop labor should I go into it since I just passed a full 35 weeks, and they held me in the hospital for a while to monitor how the kiddo was doing throughout testing. They also called my OB and reported the status, but after a couple of hours, they released me, because conditions stabilized, and I had another appointment with my OB tomorrow, so she could check me out again then.

To add to the adventure of the week, Nestle started doing very poorly after Thanksgiving. At 14 1/2 people years, he's very much a senior, but he's still pretty spry and has a good quality of life. Jon knows how much this dog means to me, as I purchased him in 8th grade, and he's been through so much with me in life. So, Jon was great about being understanding and indulging my need to do whatever it took to help him get better. The vet determined that between his age and the stress of the holiday (a lot of hubbub, new people in the house, children wanting to play with him and feeding him, etc.), his system had a shock that resulted in dehydration (via pukesplosions and poopsplosions -- not awesome to be bending over and cleaning up with my hulking belly and sensitive nose) and rapid weight loss (not good on an eight-pound dog). So, he had to be temporarily hospitalized and given an IV for fluid and nutrients. He came home that night with some medication, his catheter still in tact in case he needed to come back again, and a bill that could have replaced him a couple of times over. But the next day, Jon removed his cath, because he showed improvement, and the week to follow had him back in decent shape, though a full recovery at his age, the vet said, wasn't to be expected. I love my dog! Hang in there, Nes!

A first this week was the first complete stranger to touch my belly. I was at my OB appointment, and a woman rubbed my belly "for luck," though her luck or mine I don't know. Call me Bhudda, because that's every pregnant woman's aspiration. Whatever. Fortunately, I'm not one of those pregnant women who minds being touched, and since pregnancy really has made me feel more calm and zenlike, maybe feeling Bhuddaesque isn't such a bad thing.

A highlight of the week was a baby shower my friend Sabrina (yes, the one who drove me to the hospital in the rain after my no-fetal-movement scare -- what a phenomenal friend!) threw for me with a small group of church friends. It was a good time! Here I am with my cake ... she even remembered I love yellow cake with cream-cheese icing. Thanks, Sabrina!

Our weekend was pretty full. We had another class, "Life with Baby," at the hospital, which taught us some of the baby-care basics and gave suggestions on adjusting to new routines and lifestyles. Not bad. Then, we had an Exxon celebration at Minute Maid Park, where the Astros play; I think it was to thank us for getting through Hurricane Ike and all of the timing sacrifices that took on our families. Uh huh. So, we had lots of free food and drinks and novelty activities in which to partake. One such activity was the running of the bases, about which Jon was excited. Go ahead, Jon! Go! Look how pumped he is:

Wooo, hooooo! Outrun those elementary-aged children (and our other adult friend Spencer)!


Speaking of living the dream, we also went to a Rockband Party ... yes, as in the video game. In my state, I just chose to do a lot of eating and sitting, but Jon did an impressive job leading the band through many crowd-pleasing scores late into the night:

Wrapping up the weekend was a beautiful baby shower my dear friend Rochelle threw for me with some neighborhood friends and former coworkers. I made the mistake of telling her there were two rules: keep it gender neutral, and no monkeys (those of you who know me know my incredible monkey terror). So, in retaliation of my assumption she wouldn't know or respect my desires, she purposely broke the rules. If you look at the lovely diaper cake in the pic below, you'll see it is topped with a monkey ... and though you can't see it, you should be aware the monkey has a pink ribbon tied around its tail. Thanks, Ro. Lesson learned. Despite the rebellion, it was fantastic, and Nestle is enjoying his new monkey chew toy.

Here is the my belly pic for week 36 ... holy cow! Or should I say holy me? I'm feeling synonymous with a cow; maybe I should rethink the horizontal stripes:

Who am I kidding? Stripes or not, that is one giant belly. Truth be told, though, I still feel pretty good about myself. There's something inherently empowering and self-esteem boosting about carrying a baby. I have to say, I do love being pregnant -- even THIS pregnant:


In my toe check for week 36, I'm wondering if the camera viewfinder is shrinking ... unlikely, I guess, but the alternative is ... well, we all know the alternative. Man, I swore there used to be a rug in here:

Enter week 37 ... once I have completed this week, Jon and I will have our baby. Let's take a last in-utero look at the little bundle, shall we?

Here are a couple of profile shots similar to the previous week's view:

Now for the good stuff. During this ultrasound, the tech told me how cute the baby is. I looked surprised and told her I had a hard time seeing the adorable factor due to the fact the vast majority of pics have looked like pretty bizarre images to me, which is too bad, because it would be my final ultrasound. She looked at me and told me she could give me a better idea about how adorable the baby really is, but I needed to keep it on the down low ... then she flipped the 4D switch! Now, the 2D shows the baby in layers, so it's all distorted to the untrained eye and looks less humanlike, but it's best for diagnostics. Then, 3D shows the baby's exterior, more like a true fetal photograph. A 4D ultrasound shows the 3D image in real time, with action. I don't have a 4D video since she was doing me an improvisational favor, but here are some 3D images ...

Here the baby is sticking out its tongue and waving with its eyes shut:

Here the baby looks like it's laughing:
In the next two, the baby is sticking its tongue out and rubbing its right eye with its left eye open:

I felt much better after looking at these ultrasound shots ... I really do have a little person in there! And, he or she looks a lot like ... Jon. The fuller mouth, the chin ... hmmmm. Can't wait to show these off! What a neat experience; I'm so glad the tech let me see this. What a way to finish off my ultrasound pics!

The next day, I saw Dr. Wynne, my OB, and she explained the induction procedure. I'd call the hospital Sunday to see about availability. She said it was quite possible they may not have a vacancy for me due to spontaneous or emergency births, so I needed to be prepared to go in Monday or even Tuesday if necessary. So, I felt good I might buy myself a couple more days. She said once the hospital was ready for me, I'd go in, check in at admin (fortunately, I'd already done the preregister), and my nurse would see where I was in the labor process, and she would intervene as necessary to get things started. She would also set me up for monitoring and preventative steps to help stabilize me due to my condition. She would be in probably the next day to check in on me, and I could have the baby anywhere from that next day to a few days later, depending on my body's response. Ok. Sounds like a plan.

Midweek, our church lifegroup had a ladies' night with Christmas-cookie decorating. Mmmm. Count me in! Here we are in action:

Behold my delicious works of art:
Amazingly for Houston, we actually got some snow that night! It's an almost-Christmas miracle -- a true rarity in these parts. I saw it as a real blessing, because I was feeling a bit down about not going back to KC for Christmas since I was grounded due to the pregnancy. Houston, with its mild winter temps and subtropical plantlife, although nice, doesn't always feel very seasonal. So, it's like God sent me snow to make me feel at home:

Look how beautiful! I looooove snow! Being pregnant, I have an internal heater, so I could stand outside all night and watch it, except my back would start to hurt. If you just stand there at night and look up at the fluffy white flakes falling past you, it's like you're flying through a galaxy! Zoooooom!

Here I am looking down my Frosty-sized belly. Look, baby! Snow!

First of all, I'm sorry this is underlined. I can't figure out how to stop it, and my time is frankly too valuable to obsessively spend more time than I already have trying to fix this. By the way, the fact that I recognize that shows I've grown as a mature person. Anyway, my favorite plant in our front yard is my sago palm, which I've named Fry Guy, because it looks like one of those McDonald's creatures (speaking of growing into maturity). Here he is covered in a white coat!

Look how peaceful our place looks in the wintery weather:

Ahhh, the lovely quiet view of our back yard:

We took our final hospital course this week, too. We did an infant CPR and safety class just to be proactive on the better-safe-than-sorry approach to parenting. Jon is great in a crisis, but I'm part of the majority of the population whose brain can seize up in decision-making mode, constantly searching in a futile loop for information that can contribute to a solution, regardless of the information's actual presence, often resulting in a lack of immediate execution. I figured having a plan in place and actually having practice going through the motions might help should I ever -- God forbid -- be faced with such an emergency situation. Since I'm going to be home with the baby, I thought it at least couldn't hurt. Hope I don't have to find out!

Since the upcoming weekend also promised to be crazy, Friday we decided to get in one last just-the-two-of-us date night. We never did a babymoon (unless you count our Final Four trip in April, but pregnancy wasn't on our radar yet, so one could debate that), so we had to at least have dinner! I dressed up (thanks for the duds, Kerry!) and let Jon do all the planning, which is really what I prefer. Here I am, in all my glowing glory:

Jon picked a great little place called Dharma Cafe; it had an intimate ambience and delicious food, and since it was down town, it really felt like we were going out. The staff looked a little concerned that I might pop at any moment, but they were good sports about helping us enjoy and document our last moments of coupledom. Thanks for the lovely time, Jon!

The next night, we went to a White-Elephant Christmas party at the Wetzels' house (remember my crafty friend Sarah? Her place). Here are the gifts I brought -- both gifts from students. I'm not sure how my kiddos saw these and thought of me, but I'm ready to pass on these little blessings to spread the joy of the ceramic, rotating music-box chicken with the hollowed-out egg-embedded stomach and the porcelain-headed, fur-and-wire bodied cat figurine with a plastic-bead bracelet for a collar. Bye, little friends! Like Mary Poppins or Peter Pan, it's time you move on to the next people who need you!
So here I am with a couple of my gal pals, Emily and Sarah (yes, crafty hostess Sarah). These ladies are fabulous. Emily is looking superfine wedged between two preggies (Sarah is a few months behind me), although I think we have our own allure, but I'll leave that up to you to identify. Yuh-huh.

It was funny that as we were leaving, people were saying, "just think, 24 hours from now, you'll be in the hospital having a baby!" Hmmmmm. Wild.

So the next day, I had my last baby shower, which my friends (and Jon's coworkers) Kim and Dena threw for me for my Exxon wives girlfriends (and some of them are the other halves of Exxon power couples and/or work there themselves). Yes, I'm having a shower hours before going into the hospital, but why not? ... of course, at that point still haven't called the hospital to check availability because I'm stalling, but ... Anyway, the shower was scheduled before I knew about the induction, and I value followthrough.

Jon's folks drove the motor home and were scheduled to get in later that day, so I missed my mom-in-law, but my mom flew into Houston in time to make the shower, so that was pretty neat to be able to have her there. This shower, which I refer to as my Platinum Shower, was amazing. My hostesses had it at Dena's parents' house near Baytown, and although I got lost and was therefore late to my own shower, it was worth the wait. All aspects were pretty extravagant and exceeded anything I ever thought I'd experience at a party in my honor. They put together a lovely little photo album memory book for me, so I do have some great documentation, but here's the only pic I managed to take before I was otherwise engaged ... it's the cake, which is a beautiful replication of the invitations. Thank you bunches, ladies!

On my way home from the shower, I finally called the hospital to check availability. I had issues getting through to the right people, and since I was driving, I put mom to the task of figuring out what to do. Long story short, she found out from Jon that the hospital called and had me scheduled to come in around 7 or 8 p.m.! Argh! I really, really thought on some level they wouldn't have space for me, and I would have an additional day or two. Plans dashed! I'm not even packed! Plus, I'm not supposed to have had anything to eat for several hours prior to hospitalization ... oops. Come on medical profession, I was not going to deprive myself during my shower, so I decided I'd just have to pay for that later. Plus, as a woman about to give birth, I think a little energy (especially in the form of cake) is called for and well deserved. Let's not be ridiculous.

Upon my arrival home, my family flew into action. I was so glad to have my mom and my in-laws around me to help and be there to support me and Jon during the birth of our baby. I love these people so much, and it was such a blessing that they were willing to leave all they had going in their lives to sacrifice some time during this very important time for us. With everything going on, I didn't really think about taking my last belly pic, but fortunately, I had done so a little earlier in the week. I realized it was my last week of this pregnancy, and it was really a bittersweet moment.

So, submitted for your approval, bringing up the rear, my week-37 belly pics:
Week-37 toe-check finale:

When this all started, I waved goodbye to my flat tummy and slim waistline ... and here I'm a bit melancholy to be arriving on the other side of this great adventure, waving goodbye to the belly:

And soon, the baby I carry in my belly I'll cradle in my arms ...
What a beautiful and miraculously magical chapter is coming to a close, only to open a magnificent, rewarding, challenging and long-awaited new one. Sigh. Ok. Bring it on.

While getting ready, Jon pulled me aside and gave me a wonderful handwritten note professing his love, gratitude and pride regarding my role in this precious time in our lives, and he gave me a sweet "push present" (he didn't really know this, but apparently this is a new trend ... I approve) of some cozy and cute Victoria's Secret flannel boyfriend-style pajamas for me to wear post baby! Yay! They boasted the promise of sleep, but I knew better. At least I'd look decent at the ungodly hours I'd soon see!

And here I am, past my scheduled hospital-arrival time (don't rush me!), finally on my way out the door to the hospital ... Nes can't come, but he's in for a big surprise when I return! Fortunately, he has mom to hang out with in the evenings until then.

We made the 40-minute (no traffic) trek to the Woman's Hospital of Texas, where Jon and I would enter as two and exit as three. One of our classes came with a tour, so Jon knew where to go, and I'd familiarized myself well through the extra ultrasounds I'd had recently, so we didn't have much orientation anxiety. We checked in and went up to Labor and Delivery while our parents arranged our belongings. They also hung out with us while we got settled, which was nice.

Once in the L & D room, I got hooked up to all the fetal monitoring business and IVs for hydration purposes to keep up my blood pressure. At this point, I'm still sticking to my no-pain-med guns. I had a preliminary check up, wherein my nurse determined I was approximately 2.5 cm dilated. This was encouraging, because I'd done all I could think of to try to jumpstart spontaneous labor (still tried to avoid Pitocin 'til the end), but obviously, I still had a long way to go to get to 10. My nurse, who was a total sweetheart, was also preggers! Here we are ... I'm the one who looks like Santa Claus:

Check out my high-fashion gown! Soooo flattering.

After our parents left, Jon and I had some time to hang out and chat. At some point during our time together, the nurse gave me Cervadil (earmuffs ... eyemuffs? ... if you can't handle girl-repro-parts talk), which helps get the cervix ready for the big dance. Maybe some folks haven't thought about it, but the baby actually has to get through two openings; we know the final one, of course, which takes it from the birth canal into the big wide world. But it has to get from the womb into the canal. So, in the case of induction, if the cervix isn't geared up for the baby's exit, then Pitocin -- with all its contraction-inducing fury -- won't do much to help with labor progression, because all the contractions in the world can't squeeze out a baby if the kid can't get through the uterus's doorway, ya know? That may be over simplifying, or maybe it's too much, but either way, that's the way I had to think about it. So, I don't know when labor officially starts (I've been having contractions since my second trimester, so the start of contractions doesn't seem to fit the bill, but I don't know if Cervadil implantation is it or if the Pitocin introduction will be it or water breaking ... maybe it's a subjective thing), but regardless, it was on its way, and it was all becoming very real at that point.

Between the monitor alarms, tubing and wiring, contractions, the awkward hospital bed, hunger, bathroom breaks, size and excitement, I doubted I'd get much sleep, but the morning would bring the start of a long day, so I knew we had to try and tuck ourselves in for the night. Here we are ... the last photo of us as a family of two:

Can't wait for the next blog? Me neither. Baby Biggerstaff ahoy! Tune in next time ...