Update

Well, here we are a week away from Christmas - how did that happen?? Time is flying. And I'm still pregnant!! We're into the 30s now - 31 weeks! Just 3 more weeks until I am as far along as I was with Isaac, and just 5 more weeks until we are in the clear and I can go off meds and bed rest. I can't imagine making it that far, but it is possible! I know I haven't updated in a while, but there hasn't been much new to report lately, until now. I'm still holding pretty steady, though a few new difficulties have cropped up, but nothing major. Last Friday, I called in about some increased pelvic pressure and pain when Luke was moving around which was new for me. So, they sent me to the hospital again to be monitored. When I got there, I was having frequent regular contractions every 6 minutes or so (which is really nothing new for me and I don't even worry about it anymore), but of course that concerned the hospital staff and they immediately put me on IV fluids and upped my medication dosage to get them to stop. If I went in everytime I had contractions that frequent, I would be at the hospital every other day, but they just like to play it safe. The doctor came in and did an ultrasound to see what was causing my discomfort, and we found the cause. The little stinker had turned around in a breech position with his feet kicking me right in the pelvic and cervix area, which was very painful. We also discovered that I have dilated to 1cm, but the cervix is still thick, which is very good, so that isn't causing too much concern yet. Luckily, they discharged me as soon as the contractions slowed down, which only took a couple of hours.

On Monday, I had another more detailed ultrasound done to measure Luke's growth and the amount of amniotic fluid around him. My belly is measuring about a month behind where it should be, and I haven't been gaining any weight, so there was some concern. It appears that my fluid levels are indeed lower than they should be at this point, which we knew would be a possible side effect of the medication I am taking for contractions. Luke, however, is growing perfectly. His weight is estimated to be about 3.5 lbs at this point, and during the ultrasound we were able to see him practicing his breathing very well. Today, I went in for yet another ultrasound, and fluid is still pretty low. Really, all I can do is increase my water intake to help with that. But we will continue to monitor it weekly with ultrasounds and fetal non-stress tests which monitor Luke's heartrate and movements over a period of time to make sure he is not in distress. We also saw today that he is still in a breech position, although his feet have moved to the side, with his butt down, so he isn't torturing me quite as much as he was last week. The low fluid levels will make it a little more difficult for him to turn around, but as active as he is, I'm hoping he'll still find a way. If he does not turn before I go into labor, I will have to have a c-section, which I desperately do not want to do unless absolutely necessary. So we will just have to wait and see what happens.

I was hoping to get Christmas cards out this year, but it just doesn't seem to be happening. We usually do photo pictures, and we just haven't had the opportunity to get a good photo taken of all of us this year. It may still happen, but if you don't get a card from us this year, I'm sorry! This Christmas season has been much more difficult than usual, and it's so hard not being able to get out and do my shopping and wrap presents and all that fun stuff. So, if I don't get cards out, I want to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!!