Lily & Leo

I’m so proud of my little prince Leo, he has made it to 37 weeks gestation and is officially full term!!  This means that it is safe for him to be delivered any time now, but of course the longer he cooks, the better, but at least there are much fewer risks now than if he were to be born preterm!  My fetal diagnostic on Thursday went well, his heart rate is still on the low end but overall it looks good and amniotic fluids is 21cm, a bit high but still within the normal range.  It’s probably high cause he’s so small so there’s lots of extra room in there haha.  I’ve been getting crazy painful uncomfortable contractions at night but it’s not consistent enough to go in… So I just have to hang in there until it’s consistent, but even then if it calms down after a couple hours, my OB said it’s better to go in to be safe than sorry cause if I wait too long I might miss my window for the epidural.  Last night the contractions were so bad I was like on my hands and knees and that was the only position that sorta helped A LITTLE BIT…haha.  It was like that for half an hour.  It’s crazy how every pregnancy is different cause it was so not painful AT ALL with Lily until after they broke my water and I was in crazy pain for just 20 mins before the epidural kicked in.  I think maybe also this time around, I’m just more aware too, cause most of the time the contractions just feel like tightening of my stomach, which is totally manageable.  However, I think the other uncomfortable part for me is the acid reflux at night.  So I tend to stay up super late to the point where I’m totally wiped so that when I lay down to sleep, I just pass out right away, otherwise I’ll feel the burning acid reflux.  Lately I’ve been woken up randomly in the middle of the night and throw up a little…not very pleasant.  This happened with lily too, so this isn’t a new experience for me.  The end is approaching so I can endure it for a lil longer.  That’s what they’ll tell you in birthing classes too, that there is an end to all this madness haha.  So I just have to keep focus on my light, my Leo, at the end of the tunnel, it’ll all be worth it!

My OBGYN also said my belly measures 32cm, normally whatever wk you are, that’s how big it should be, so it should measure 37cm.  However, last wk I was 33cm so I lost a cm but she said it’s probably cause the baby dropped lower, so that’s another sign that my body is getting ready to delivery.  She didn’t measure my cervix today so I don’t know how much more dilated and effaced I am but she will measure it on Thursday at my next appt.  Effaced means how much of the cervix thinned out, 100% means it’s ready for baby to come out and last week I was 70%.  My dr also said I can’t get induced until 39 wks, so in two weeks, but I have to be at least 4cm dilated and over 50% effaced, so last wk I was 2cm dilated so I’m close but not there yet.  She did say it can happen any day though, especially since I’m getting so many contractions, so we just have to wait and see!  This past month and a half has been so crazy nerve wrecking because of my risk of having preterm labor, but it’s such a relief now that we made it to full term.  The unknown is always so scaring because it’s out of your control, out of your reach, and you can’t do anything but wait.  Even with Leo’s special condition, we still won’t know how severe his situation will be, so we just have to continue to wait and see.  What I find helpful during the waiting process is to just distract myself with little side hobby projects, and do things that makes me happy.  That includes seeing friends and family as well as fun little activities and playtime with Lily.  It’s best to fill the waiting space of anticipation with active happiness and love.  All and all, I’m very glad we’ve made it to full term!!  Leo will be here soon enough, when the moment is right, only he will know.

“Patience is not the ability to wait, but the ability to keep a good attitude while waiting.”

Journey to meet my prince Leo continues…