Hello All!
Well, 2012 has been good to us so far. Jason did not have to leave for three weeks after all. It is a good thing too because I have needed his help more than ever. It has been quite a task getting around. I have to say that looking back the road has not been as long as it once appeared to be. I have already (mostly)forgotten the nausea I experienced the first 24 weeks. As we approach the end of this journey, we are becoming excited to start the adventure of parenthood. We have taken several classes offered by the USMC and local hospital birthing center. Over the next couple of weeks, we will take our very last class in child birth. I am so fortunate to say that I feel adequate and ready to bring BC home and care for her. Jason has been so wonderful and I know he will be such a great partner in parenting. He has been giving me massages at my request, enduring my restless nights, and still working 12 to 14hr work days. Lately, he has been doing so much more around the house while I do less and less. I am so grateful God has blessed me with such a strong husband and a loving father for BC.
January was a great month. We had a visit from my brother, Artie, and his wife, Vanessa. We gave them a tour around Beaufort, Savannah, and Charleston. This was my brother's first trip to SC and it was very enjoyable. Of course, the visit was perfect timing because I could still get around with little discomfort. After their departure, I celebrated my 30th birthday a week later. It was very casual and we managed to play miniature golf, go to the movies, I received a manicure, and ended with a nice dinner and cake among friends. Around this time, I had started having increased pain in my right leg. It seems BC decided to park it on my sciatic nerve. So for the last six weeks, I have had shooting pains down my leg and lots of numbness. Pretty strange walking on a numb leg. Anyways, the week following my birthday, I had a baby shower thrown by the wives of Jason's unit. It was such a fun and sweet celebration. Not only was I expecting but so was the other guest of honor who happens to be a Marine. She is expecting a boy and I'm expecting a girl so it was a perfect balance of blue and pink. The gifts were very cute, the food was excellent, and the company was fabulous. Of course, what would a baby shower be without reminding the mother-to-be how big she is with a toilet paper roll and sniffing a diaper to determine the candy bar inside. It was a really good time! The last event of the month was an ultrasound. On January 26th, BC had a growth ultrasound to make sure she wasn't too large. She has made it quite clear that she likes her personal space and when she felt the ultrasound wand on my belly she gave it a jab. It was clearly seen on the screen. The ultrasound technician could not get a good view of her face. It seems she still favors being balled up. She had a fist in front of her face, an open hand, and a foot! At this appointment it was determined that she weighed 5lbs 6oz. The birth weight guesstimate is 6.5 to 7lbs. She still falls right in the middle of the fetal growth chart which means perfect.
So, lately I have been experiencing more contractions and she has dropped. All are good indications and normal. At 36 weeks, I have gained 5lbs and am convinced she has eaten a liver or kidney because it doesn't make much sense to me. The doctor says that he can't praise me enough on my weight gain and says that everything is perfect. My blood sugar levels have also been regulated and there are no problems there either. As of right now, I am scheduled to be induced on Feb. 27th at 4pm. The doctor says we'll have our baby on Feb. 28th. Whew, barely escaped leap year! Our little "year of the dragon" baby will be here almost two years after her Daddy walked away from a helicopter crash. What a blessing! I know she loves him so much already. Twice a week she is hooked up to a fetal monitoring device, and they monitor her heart rate to look for normal activity. She has a base line heart rate of 140 but they look for it to go up as high as 180 to indicate normal neurological activity. Not only have they been able to determine that everything looks textbook but also that she responds well to the contractions I have been experiencing. Jason popped in for one of these monitoring sessions and he bent down and started talking to her. Her little heart went from 140 to 170 and did not stop until he stopped talking. She proved to be really excited when she heard his voice. He made her heart beat faster every time he spoke to her. She has always calmed down when he places his hand on my stomach which is why it took so long for him to feel her move. I can't wait for them to finally meet. As for me, she has no problem giving me a punch or kick to back off. Ha ha! The other night I felt something poke through my stomach and when I grabbed it she didn't move away. I'm almost positive I had a tiny little fist in my hand. It was so cute. More good news, she is head down and is showing that she is practicing her breathing. We saw her diaphragm move on an ultrasound and she has the hiccups often. I know she is doing all her preparations as we are out here. This past weekend we set up the nursery, installed the car seat, and I have packed a bag. This upcoming weekend we plan to devote time to making as many meals as possible to freeze and store.
Well, look out for us next month when our little family becomes whole with the birth of our little girl. Until then I'll be on the sofa...
