Week 33

Nando decided that he needed to be held right then.

He can't wait for his baby sister!!!! (he was yawning, but excitement seems more fun)

How far along?  33 weeks and 4 days (3 days in the picture)

Size of Baby? The size of a pineapple! Yum!

Maternity clothes?  Come on.

Sleep: This cough is ruining my life. It keeps me up pretty much all night, and the new joy is the extreme rib pain that happens each time I cough, which I can only assume is a pulled muscle. It is horribly painful and it a major bummer. I think I may have gotten about 7 hours last night, which is a victory!

Best moment this week: I got steroid shots this week to help with Mila's lung development, just in case I have to deliver her before 34 weeks. It was painful and awkward, as I had to get the shots in my BUTT, but Austin and I have a way of laughing through almost everything. She has been moving all over the place lately, which I love. And I am finally inching closer to finishing the nursery, which brings me a lot of joy!

Missing anything:  Life without a cough and rib pain.

Movement: ALL THE TIME. I love watching her swim around like a sea monster below my skin! Honestly, sometimes I still feel like this is not real and they are going to cut me open to reveal a giant burrito or a growth or something. So seeing her move and feeling her just reinforces that a little miss is headed our way very very shortly!

 Food cravings: Not really. Besides melon in the beginning, there really haven't been any cravings. I kinda think it might just be something women think they are supposed to do so they allow themselves to eat/want the foods they wanted anyway.

Anything making you queasy or sick:  I am so tired of tea and cough drops.

Gender: powerhouse woman

Labor Signs: Not at all. My boobs became ODDLY swollen and lumpy last night...but that's about it in terms of bodily changes.

Symptoms:  a bit bloated in the face, a bit swollen in the feet, round as a beach ball... otherwise, I am feeling great, not uncomfortable save for my painful rib.

Belly Button in or out?  FLAT. It has become a sight to see.

Happy or Moody most of the time:  Happy all the time!

Looking forward to: For one, Mila is coming in exactly four weeks from yesterday!!!! INSANE!!!! We are going bowling with friends this weekend-- it has been over two years and I am oddly excited about it! I am the worst bowler ever but LOVE to bowl!! I am also pumped about bowling food...mmm. We have been putting off bowling for months for fear that I would not be able to lift anything, but now feel totally comfortable with where I am in this pregnancy and with the previa. I am so excited!!

 I am also looking forward to finishing the nursery (my friend Courtney is coming over today to help out with the decor a bit as I learned that some crafts are a bit beyond me), not being sick anymore, and enjoying our last 3 weeks and 5 days sans baby!

Austin’s weekly reflection:

Sleep? It's alright, except for someone snoring and coughing. She has been doing better so I have actually gotten sleep for the past two nights!

Best moment of the week? Last night we had dinner with our friends, Amber and Ryan, and they made the best southern meal ever: chicken fried steak, fried okra, mashed potatoes, corn, sweet tea, and then homemade strawberry shortcake for dessert. Mmmm

Food cravings? Indian food, sushi, and dirty Chinese

Looking forward to: Sarah not being sick anymore. I want this lousy cough to go away.

Week 32

No normal chalkboard pic this week... I am not feeling too well and didn't feel like even trying to look normal/decent.

How far along?  32 weeks 6 days... I normally post pictures earlier in the week, but I was home in SD and then got sick so I have been EXHAUSTED. Deal with it. Also, this picture was taken at 32 weeks 1 day. In it, I look like I have a pulse, which is a vast improvement over reality right now.

Size of Baby? According to my TWO doctor appointments this week, BIG!

Maternity clothes?  most definitely. It will be very weird to go back to normal clothes because maternity is so comfy.

Sleep: HORRIBLE. Because I am sick, I am coughing all. night. long. Poor Austin! I feel horrible for him but I seriously can't stop. I also can't breathe. It sucks.

Best moment this week: I got to go home to San Diego, which is something I honestly wasn't sure I would get to do! When I had the bleed at week 23, everyone expected another (or several) which would have made travel impossible. But there has been nothing and I was thrilled to get to go home! I LOVED seeing my friends and family and had TWO awesome baby showers! Then, after coming back to Pullman, I had a major relief when we found out I do not have a placenta accreta and thus will not be at risk for having to have a hysterectomy!! AND, because we had to drive to Spokane to see a high-risk pregnancy specialist, we were surprised with some amazing 3-D photos of our little lady!

Missing anything:  breathing, sleeping.... in terms of pregnancy stuff, I miss being able to bend over easily. I learned this week that coughing while pregnant is actually really painful because of the flexing of muscles. Mila HATES it and goes bananas in the worst way every single time. No fun.

Movement: Oh yes. Still no hiccups but my belly looks like a sea monster is swimming just below the surface.

 Food cravings: I FINALLY got Mexican and Greek food, which was incredible. Otherwise, not really.

Anything making you queasy or sick:  Being sick.

Labor Signs: NO.

Symptoms:  I admit that, because of flying, I lost my ankles halfway through both travel days. They came back within a few hours. Also, I rocked heels through both showers-BOOM!

Belly Button in or out?  FLAT. Though, very interestingly, in the middle of my high-tech specialist ultrasound, my belly button reappeared! It was so weird.

Happy or Moody most of the time:  Happy!

Looking forward to: NOT BEING SICK!!!! Also, I have my last baby shower tomorrow so I am excited to hang out with some of my WSU grad school pals and eat delicious food...mmm. We are supposed to take maternity pictures Sunday so we will see if that actually happens (I look like death and it is rainy/stormy here)

Austin’s weekly reflection:

Sleep? Terrible. Someone keeps coughing and keeping me awake. Before that, it was alright.

Best moment of the week? Seeing my baby's face on the 3D ultrasound, finding out that the accreta is nonexistent, Sarah made it home safely (but sick) from her trip, I PASSED MY MATH CLASS!!!! And that's it.

Food cravings? Indian food that we never got (we had planned to get some in Spokane but the appointment was too early in the morning for it to make any sense)

Looking forward to: Bringing Mila home from the hospital, finishing the nursery, maybe getting some of the leftover food from Sarah's shower in Pullman tomorrow...

Showering in San Diego!!!

While home in San Diego, I was lucky enough to have TWO baby showers!!

The first was hosted by my dear friend Erin

and the second was hosted the next morning by my three surrogate moms: Patti, Sharon, and Betty

I felt so loved and had an amazing time!!! 

Here are some pics!!

#1 Picnic Fun!!

 Angie, being candid

 Erin was kind enough to not only host a shower, but also to give Angie and I clothes that her beautiful twins have already outgrown

 Kerry and Deanna

 My other Erin... I haven't seen her in years and was so thrilled to get some Erin/Sarah time!

 Me and Savannah

 Me and my darling Naomi

 Steph, me, and Raina

 a serious moment with Kimbra 

 I normally hate baby shower games, but Angie did an AWESOME job of picking ones that were super fun!

 Naomi (above) and Deanna (below) enjoying the smores! Mmmm

 I mean, come on! Naomi makes eating a smore look like a romantic photo shoot. Damn, girl!

 Gilmore Girls!!! (that was our college dorm)

 Stanley made a perfectly well-behaved appearance, of course

Everyone loved my ring!!

Naomi and her unintentionally racist Playdough creation

 Me with the beautiful and awesome hostess!

Thank you, Erin, for a PERFECT shower!!

#2 A Baby Book Brunch

 I had no voice and thus brought a white board to communicate...
However, it turns out that I can whisper a LOT faster than I can write

Cary, making a wish for Mila on a swaddle blanket

hand-gestured and smirks

Cassie and Jackie

My three bonus moms:
Patti, Sharon, and Betty

 I was allowing Cassie to worship me

Organic butt butter
It smelled so good

 My whole family decorated either diaper covers, onesies, or burp cloths!
This one is a diaper cover butt monster made by my oldest brother, Josh

My mom, the event photographer, kept getting distracted and chatted away...
This was me telling her to focus and not distract the rest of the class, I mean, group.

Me and my mama, the chatterbox

Me and the hostesses!

 I have known this girl since before I could talk/walk
We used to get into a LOT of trouble at daycare. A LOT.

 I love my mama

 

 It was an amazing visit home and I am so happy/thankful that I got to go!
I felt so loved and supported and could not have asked for better showers
or better friends/family, for that matter!

I love you all!!!

Hysterecto- NOT ME!!!!!!!

So, last week, just as I finished grading my students' final portfolios and was daydreaming about all of the delicious food I was going to cram in my face in San Diego, I got a call from my doctor.

Not good.

She was calling to let me know that there was an issue with my last ultrasound 

(done the day before).

Mila is healthy and is growing like a champ... but there should be a distinct line between my placenta and my uterus, and there wasn't.

This is called a placenta accreta.

We had talked about it before because, as another perk of placenta previa, I am at a higher risk of having it.

Placenta Accreta:

Basically, the placenta should be super easy to remove after birth. 

In vaginal births, it is the natural afterbirth. 

In c-sections, it should just kinda pop out.

This condition means, at its least severe form, that the placenta has grown INTO the uterine wall and requires surgery for removal.

At its most severe form, it can grow through the uterus and into other organs, which is incredibly freaky.

ANYWAY...

my doctor explained to me that an accreta generally means hemorrhaging, 

which can often only be fixed with a

 ... drum roll please...

HYSTERECTOMY!

 I would have to go to Spokane to see a specialist in high-risk pregnancies who could take a much more in-depth ultrasound and let me know for sure.

Needless to say, I was terrified and cried quite a bit.

For one, this damn previa is the shittiest thing ever. 

(I promised I would never cuss on this blog but oh well)

I constantly feel like a bomb about to explode. Every day, I am afraid of bleeding, going into early labor, exploding... I don't know... everything.

And the fact that it puts me at higher risk for all of these other crap conditions just sucks majorly.

And secondly, a hysterectomy????

I want to have more babies.

Austin and I want more babies.

The idea of having that taken from me is just so unfair.

And I know that I am beyond lucky to be able to have one, but I would be absolutely devastated to not even have a chance at a second.

I cried and cried and worried that I would not be able to enjoy my time in SD because of this.

But my mom, who is usually the harbinger of worst-case-scenarios was actually extremely helpful.

She pointed out a couple things that my doctor did not:

1.

 Until that specific ultrasound, the line was distinct. My doctor had noted this several times and my last ultrasound was only three weeks before. Accreta's can be detected at 15 weeks so it seemed pretty random for my placenta and uterus to decide to randomly merge so late in the game

2.

There are a LOT of surgical options for an accreta, including scraping out sections of the uterus, leaving tiny parts of the placenta to be reabsorbed into the uterus, etc.

Anyway, all I could do was wait for the specialist to call me, schedule an appointment, and then find out for sure.

Of course, the ONLY appointment available was for the morning after I got back into town. The next available appointment is a couple days before my c-section and, as the receptionist kept lovingly informing me, the chance of an accreta was extremely serious and I needed to get in ASAP!

I got home around midnight, got to bed around 1, could hardly sleep because of my coughing, and then Austin and I had to get up at 6am to drive to Spokane at 6:45 am in order to make our 8:30 appointment.

We had an insanely thorough ultrasound, which included 3D pictures of Mila's little face, and another hour's worth of pictures/angles/body parts, etc.

We expected to not hear anything for a couple days, but a specialist came in within 10 minutes of finishing the ultrasound and gave us the news:

"YOU HAVE A 0.001% CHANCE OF HAVING PLACENTA ACCRETA"

YES!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 

I am keeping my uterus!!!!!

One less thing that could kill me during labor!!!!

Horray!!!!!!

I was/am so relieved!!!

We are really hoping for smooth sailing from here on out until the birth

 (which is in just over 4 weeks... oh my god)

Happy Happy News!!

Our family keeps growing...

PLANTS!

Our garden is really coming along and we wanted to share some pics!!

 Here are our teeny tomatoes... there are so many blossoms and itty bitty baby tomatoes!

We are super pumped about our thriving snap peas! When we planted them, some just instantly died and the others really struggled for awhile. 

Then, BOOM, peas and cute little curls! 

We got some trellises for them to climb and they love it!

Below are our zucchini squashes! 

Honestly, we're not entirely sure what these are going to be, but we are pumped.

There are new blossoms every day, which then turn into these teeny zucchinis!

Is it a zucchini or is it a squash??

Oh the wild adventures of Austin and Sarah!

Walla Walla onions!!

And here is Austin's pride and joy!

Look at our tiny jalapenos! 

Are these not the cutest little peppers you have ever seen??