Molars Hurt!

Nadia now has eight teeth that have broken through. The thing that surprised me was that the 8th tooth wasn't on the bottom. She's had three on the bottom for several weeks. As of this week, she has five on the top as one of her molars broke through. When she was teething with the other seven teeth, her nighttime sleep wasn't interrupted too much. Molars must hurt more than the other teeth as last night she had a tough time sleeping. I gave her Tylenol at 9pm and rocked her for about 45 minutes before putting her back down. She woke up at 5:30am which thankfully hasn't been the norm lately.

Yesterday Nadia did really well with pointing to my nose, chin, cheek, and ear upon command. The word "up" is now her favorite word. Yesterday she was just using it correctly, but today she's also used it several times when really she meant "down." OOPS! She also can now follow two step commands such as "go get a book from your bookshelf and read it in your blue chair." It's so cute to see her sitting in her chair "reading." She uses that rocker/bouncer so much these days that I am worried about her sitting on top of her sibling if I put the baby in the bouncer. Maybe my idea to get a swing this time isn't a bad one. I might not be putting the baby in the bouncer. Of course Nadia didn't like the bouncer when she was little so who knows what her sibling will think of it anyhow at that stage.

Today I had my 17 week OB appt. I had been very nervous lately because I haven't felt the baby move in about 10 days. I kept reminding myself that I didn't start feeling Nadia move until my 20th week, and that it wasn't consistent until my 21st week. If I had never felt this baby move I wouldn't have been so worried, but to feel the baby kick and then not feel anything was terrifying. My worst fears were intensified during part of my appt as the OB searched and searched all over my belly and couldn't find the heartbeat. At my 13 week appt the midwife found the heartbeat as soon as she put the doppler on my belly. The doctor asked a nurse to bring in an ultrasound. While the ultrasound was coming, the doctor suggested maybe the problem was because they didn't have the table totally flat. She lowered the part of the table where my back was and tried again and thankfully did find the heartbeat - HUGE relief on my part! Since the nurse had already brought the u/s machine in, she did a really quick u/s and gave me a picture (just of the baby's head). So the bottom line is that baby is fine, and I will stop worrying about the fact I'm not feeling him/her move yet.

I gained 5 lbs over the last 4 weeks which is exactly how much I gained in between my 13 and 17 week appts with Nadia. I've gained 9lbs total since the egg retrieval. The difference is I started out a bit heavier this time around so I currently weigh 7 lbs more than I did at 17 weeks with Nadia. My b/p was higher than usual (although still fine), but that was probably due to my stress over whether baby was still alive or not. I have laid in bed so many times the last 10 days praying for the baby to kick me again, but it hadn't happened so I was really starting to believe I had lost another baby. I am very, very, very glad I was wrong!!!!!!!!!!!

The OB tried to talk me out of VBAC. She said that they wouldn't refuse to go that route with me although the one increased risk factor was the fact that the births are less than 2 years apart (which is evidently how long it takes for the uterus to completely heal after a c/s). She said however that she doesn't understand why I'd want to increase the risk of death for myself and baby. She said that although the risk might be small, if something does go wrong (uterine rupture) it usually means the death of mom and baby. She said it has happened to her before so she never recommends VBAC. She also emphasized the fact that Nadia was only 6lb, and if I had trouble delivering her, what if the next baby is bigger? I keep going back to the fact that the OB who delivered Nadia said she would see no reason I couldn't do VBAC if I got pregnant again (I asked her at my postpartum visit). However every single person I talk to these days (the midwife and OB at this clinic, the nursing professor at my university who teaches the maternity classes, etc.), strongly encourages me to go the route of a scheduled c-section. I really, really, really wanted to do a VBAC, but I have a feeling I'll end up with another c/s. If my membranes don't rupture on their own (like they did with Nadia), my c/s would be scheduled at 39 weeks. If my water breaks on its own again, she said they can do an c/s within 15 or 20 minutes. She said they would not use general anesthesia, but I would be in the recovery room for an hour before I could be with my baby. Bah humbug to that. Well anyhow pray for wisdom with this decision. Obviously I don't want to do anything that might lead to my death or the death of the baby. She kept emphasizing that this is a small hospital. I wanted to ask what does that have to do with it? Well how I give birth is not nearly as important as that I am giving birth again. I am very grateful that the Lord has sustained this little one thus far, and I can't wait to find out in 11 days if baby is a girl or a boy! I will be surprised if they tell me I have placenta previa this time. It seems like I am carrying the baby higher this time around.