36 weeks

We had our 36 week Dr appointment and ultrasound on Wednesday. That was quite an adventure! The ultraound showed Casey measuring at 7 pounds, 7 ounces and 37 weeks 4 days. That's my big boy! We waited for the Dr to come interpret what this meant.....they were running behind, so it was a long wait! Dr. Smith came in and said his growth seems to be affected by the gestational diabetes, whereas before it wasn't. If he is over 9 pounds at the time of delivery, it will be a c-section, as it is safer on him and me. But, he said a bigger problem was that my amniotic fluid was low, and the ultrasound showed Casey's heart rate kept dropping. Fluid should be 12-20, mine was at a 7, and 5 or below means you emergency deliver immediately!! So he talked to the on-call Dr at the hospital and arranged to have me sent over for overnight heart rate monitoring, IV fluids and another ultrasound in the morning. We were told if his heart rate didn't stabilize or my fluids dropped anymore....Casey would be delivered ASAP, as they couldn't guarantee his safety. He estimated he would need to stay in the NICU a week if delivered that day or the next. We headed to the hospital, got checked in, and I called my Mom to let her know the update (effectively launching a large emergency planning committee on the west side of rearranging work schedules, baby-sitters etc, so my family could come over if he was on his way!!)

At the hospital, I was hooked up to the fetal and contraction monitors, and Casey's heart rate was holding steady, so the on-call Dr said he would watch it for 4 hours, and if it was okay, I could go home on bedrest. He stayed perfectly within range the entire time, and we were allowed to go home for the night, with strict bedrest instructions until Thursday at 2, when we would go back to the hospital for more monitoring and another ultrasound to check fluid levels. They really wanted to keep Casey inside for another week, or at least a few more days. The nurse told me not to expect going back to work until he was born.

We made it home about 9:30, made some lists of what we would need if Casey arrived this weekend and headed to bed. I did my bedrest Thursday morning, and thought I would definitely not make it a whole week on bedrest. The nurse had instructed me that bedrest did not mean laundry, or organizing baby's room or moving about the house.....it meant move as little as possible! I am not great at that. Poor Ryan.

Thursday we headed into the hospital earlier than requested, because I had not been feeling him nearly as much as usual. Once I got hooked up to the monitors, it looked like he was doing great and he started kicking more. We went to ultrasound and his fluid levels were 17.6!!! A huge difference! They said there was no way I could have increased that much overnight, so the fluid levels the day before must have just been a fluke. Bad reading. Bad pocket of fluid. We were told he was the best looking kid on the maternity ward, according to his heart rate readings, and I assured the nurse the same thing would be said when he was born....he would again be the best looking kid on the ward! I was sent home and told to resume being a "normal pregnant woman" (Ryan says there is no such thing) and could go back to work, back to prenatal water aerobics and back to life as usual.

We went shopping afterwards and bought lots of last minute necessities and are planning to pack our hospital bags, install the car seat and all that, so we are ready!! The Dr still thinks i will deliver at 37-38 weeks, due to his large size and the gestational diabetes...so that is really soon! We can't wait to meet Casey and be parents!