The past few days.....

                                                  I was not allowed to move from this chair!

                                                              Dean is going to love this!

                                                                        Cupcakes!!!

                                                               Cupcakes by Shannon

                                                                   Me and my loot!

First off let me just say that I love my husband, because as I'm writing this he is in the kitchen cooking up a delicious dinner for us. He has totally stepped up to the plate when it comes to being the domesticated wife.  He cooks, he cleans, he does it all. I'm so lucky! It hasn't been easy for me to step back and let him do all these things, but to keep this baby cooking for as long as possible I have no choice.

                                                     Nick in the kitchen doing his thing

So this past Saturday was interesting for us. I started having those pesky braxton-hicks contractions again  however this time they were actually uncomfortable.  After having a few in a row I started timing them and sure enough they were every 5 minutes. I was feeling them in my abdomen and my back. I did everything I was supposed to do: hydrate, relax, take a hot shower but nothing was making them go away or space out. After a few hours of dealing with these, I decided that it wasn't normal to be feeling this uncomfortable at 31 weeks and we went to the hospital to be checked out. They put me on the monitors and determined that I was having contractions every 5 minutes. After awhile, the nurse checked to see if I was dilated and she told me that I was almost 1 centimeter and that she didn't have to reach very far to get to my cervix. So for all of you non L&D nurses, at this point in the pregnancy my cervix should be closed and very hard to reach. The nurse also performed another test to determine if I would deliver within the next week and luckily that came back negative. After about 4 hours of being in the hospital they determined that I was ok to go home and they sent me with medication to take if the contractions started back up. Before this all happened, I was beginning to think that just maybe the bedrest order could be modified since my blood pressures had been doing so well........not so much. It seems like the only thing that keeps me from having contractions is no activity.
The next day was supposed to be my baby shower. Originally it was to take place in Fresno, but with everything going on we moved it to Sacramento instead. After everything that happened on Saturday I
decided a baby shower was not the best idea. I really didn't want to be the "debbie downer" at my own party. My mom and best friend Joy drove up from Fresno anyways to spend the day with me and my sister-in-law, Shannon,  still brought over the amazing cupcakes that she made for the shower. (By the way, if anyone is planning a party and want cupcakes......call Shannon!!!!) Two friends from work, Mardi and Noelle, stopped by and we just spent the afternoon eating and opening all of my shower gifts. It was great! Everyone went out of their way to make the afternoon special for me and I appreciate all that they did. Baby Dean made out like a bandit and he's going to be the best dressed little guy in Sacramento :)
Since Saturday, I've really made an effort to stick to this bedrest routine. Again, it's definetley not easy, but now I know that it is truly necessary for me to do this in order for him to stay in there as long as possible. Nick and I have since dubbed him "Dean the Dictator". He's not even born yet and he's already calling the shots!! Such a little stinker, but we love him so much already!!!!

An Opihi is.....

"Opihi"

An Opihi is the Hawaiian name for a limpet or sea snail. Not that we think Dean is a little snail, but more like a cute little sea creature like this picture.
So let me just start this blog by saying how annoying Braxton-Hicks contractions are! For those of you that may not know what these are, they are non-painful "practice" contractions that women experience throughout the pregnancy. Some women experience them more than others. Well, I definetley experienced them the other night, not fun! I was having them about every 3-5 minutes and despite drinking tons of water and relaxing they were not going away. Finally at about midnight I called my doctor and she reassured me that as long as they weren't painful that I shouldn't worry too much. Needless to say I wasn't able to sleep well that night and was drained yesterday. If "practice" contractions drain me like that, then I'm starting to get scared for what the real thing is going to be like. It's one thing to have watched hundreds of women go through this, but it's another when you are the patient.
Dean is moving like crazy everyday. I know he's getting bigger and stronger just based on his kicks and jabs alone. Before his movements felt like little lovetaps just reminding me that he was in there. Now they're full on punches that shake my entire body.  Last Friday I had an ultrasound that estimated his weight at 3lbs. 1 oz., big boy! His weight and measurments are all where they should be, which is very reassuring. They say at this point in the pregnancy he should be gaining 1/2 pound a week. I can't even believe that! I keep telling him that as much as I want him to be big and strong, he can save that for after he comes out of me :)

My first blog!

Baby Dean at 10 weeks!

29 weeks & already a Packer fan!

Definetley a boy

Hi everyone! Well since I'm limited on what I can do, I thought it would be a good idea to chronicle these last few months before Baby Dean gets here.  I'm not the most creative person, and most days I probably won't have a lot of entertaining things to say, but at least I can share what I'm going through with everyone. Nick will probably post some blogs of his own I'm sure, and he's really good with the Go Pro camera so you might get to see some "baby dancing in the belly" videos!
This pregnancy has definetley taken me on a roller coaster ride of emotions. I knew going into it that it wasn't going to be a "normal, uncomplicated" pregnancy due to my Lupus. I had sort of a "the complications aren't going to happen to me" type of attitude, but that all changed very fast. At our 10-week appointment with the OB I learned that I would have to start giving myself blood-thinning shots in my abdomen twice a day to prevent blood clots and a miscarriage.  Even though I'm a nurse, the thought of poking myself was beyond my ability...........so Nick had to learn real quick! That first shot he gave me was so nervewracking, but I just closed my eyes and prayed that he wouldn't poke me too fast or even worse, too slow.  But to my surprise, I barely felt it and he did such a great job.  I've since taken over the job of injecting myself and I'm very used to it by now :)
At that same appointment, I also learned that I have gestational diabetes which meant more poking of my body parts, fun! Because they recently changed how and when they test women for this, I was diagnosed much sooner then if I had been pregnant 1 year ago.  This distressed me even more than having to give myself shots everyday just for the sheer fact of now having to watch what I eat. What the heck? I thought when you were pregnant you got to be a little more indulgent for the first time in your life????  Overall, I have to say that my blood sugars have been pretty well controlled and I have allowed myself the indulgences that I crave.  Having the diabetes probably has been a blessing in disguise and kept my sweets consumption in check, which is good for the scale!
From 10 weeks to 26 weeks, everything was going smoothly and I felt great. I was continuing to work my 3 12-hour shifts a week at the hospital and staying active with walking and prenatal yoga. I had thoughts that I was blessed with such an easy pregnancy! Then 27 weeks rolled around and everything just took a turn for the worse. My blood pressure out of nowhere spiked up and I had the worst headache I have ever had.  Of course being a labor and delivery nurse I knew that these were symptoms of a condition called Pre-ecclampsia. But being a labor and delivery nurse also means I ignore the symptoms and high blood pressure and deal with it. However, after multiple doses of extra-strength Tylenol and no relief in sight, I gave in and called the doctor who then told me to come into the hospital. When I got to the hospital my blood pressure was high (no surprise) and it took 2 doses of Norco to dull my headache. Luckily, my blood work came back normal but I was sent home with a jug to collect my urine for the next 24 hours to measure the amount of protein in it. When I returned to the hospital the next day, my doctor basically told me "no more work and bedrest until you deliver".  She was very concerned that I was on a downward spiral of worsening pre-ecclampsia and having to deliver the baby early. I was given a steroid shot that would help baby Dean's lungs mature much quicker in case he had to be delivered prematurely. Needless to say I walked out of that hospital feeling very defeated and scared. As an OB nurse I have seen it all throughout my years and the thought of not having a healthy term baby really upset me.
So here I sit on bedrest trying my best not to go crazy and drive my husband insane. To go from living a life that you can freely be out and about and go places as you wish to now being sort of a prisoner in your own house is really difficult. I enjoy my job and the people I work with and although it's weird to say it,  I actually do miss work.  As I write this I am 30 weeks pregnant and am doing much better. My blood pressure has stabilized, but due to some elevated lab work and the risk of the pre-ecclampsia worsening the bedrest order has not been lifted by the doctor.
In the meantime I'm finding different activities to keep me occupied, like writing this blog for instance. I've also learned how to crochet which I NEVER thought I would do. I'm also going to finally be able to tackle projects that I've been putting off for awhile like making a wedding and honeymooon album. Any other ideas that any of you have would be greatly appreciated!
The main goal here is to have a healthy full-term baby boy and I am willing to do whatever it takes to achieve that goal. I'm not saying it's going to be easy and I'm sure there will be some tantrums and hormonal meltdowns along the way, but in the end Nick and I will get the greatest gift of all :)
Thank you all for reading and I will update you soon!!

~Kristina