First Parenting Lesson

It’s been a crazy last few weeks here.

If you know me you know I’m a planner.  I’m attached to my calendar, I make to do lists, I love knowing what to expect and what to prepare for.

However, sometimes life throws you a curveball.  I like to think my unborn child is already teaching me a valuable lesson.

I’ve been blessed with a wonderful pregnancy.  Besides the 18 weeks of morning sickness, I’ve felt pretty great.  My back doesn’t hurt, I sleep well, I haven’t gained that much weight while eating anything and everything I want, I could go on and on.  Health-wise every test has been perfect.  I planned on working up until June 9th which was the Friday before Soy Bean’s due date.  I was going to have everything set for the kids, all my meetings and IEP’s done, and I was going to use my remaining sick time for maternity leave.  Everything was planned out perfectly.

At 33 weeks I had a routine ultrasound.  Everything looked good except the baby’s amniotic fluid was a little low, it was within the normal range but on the lower end.  I was told to drink more fluids and come back for another ultrasound in about a week.  I wasn’t too concerned, drank my water and planned on everything being fine like it had always been at every other appointment.

At 35 weeks I went back for another ultrasound.  I might be the only mom that’s sick of ultrasounds by the way.  Soy Bean is frank breech (taking after his Mom), meaning he is head up and his feet are in front of his head.  It looks super uncomfortable and I haven’t seen a good shot of his adorable little face in so long because his feet are in the way.

I had my ultrasound and went in to see the doctor after.  He asked me if I was still working, and as soon as I replied yes he told me I was done and that I needed to be on bed rest.  Once he said “bed rest”, I don’t remember much after that.  I felt great (huge but great), everything had been going so well, how could I possibly have to go on bed rest?

Thankfully, my mother-in-law came to the appointment with me and he sat down with the both of us.  He reassured me that the baby was not in distress, but he needed to be closely monitored, I needed to go into the hospital several times a week for non-stress tests and have weekly ultrasounds to measure the baby’s amniotic fluid.

He scheduled me to have a level two ultrasound the following day to take a closer look at the fluid levels, depending on how that went we could be having the baby the day after.  That was of course when I really felt a sense of how serious everything was.  I could have never imagined having a baby at 35 weeks.  I have had friends who delivered healthy babies earlier than that and took them home from the hospital days later, but still hearing statistics about lung development and survival scared me.

We have been so lucky ever since.  While Soy Bean’s amniotic fluid levels are still low, he has been doing great.  The nurses always comment on how active he is during the non stress tests and he’s been perfectly on point with his growth.  His bladder and kidneys look good, which was a concern with the low fluid.

It’s been hard for me being out of the game early, but I’ve been so fortunate with everyone being so supportive and helpful at my job.  My husband has been an amazing help with cleaning, packing for our move, setting up everything we need for the baby, and cooking for his very hungry wife.  Our friends and families have supported us with visits, drives to appointments, meals, text messages, phone calls, groceries, and so much more.  I am forever grateful.

When everything happened my doctor said he hoped to get us to 36 weeks and I am 38 weeks today!  As long as everything continues to go well this week it looks like we will be welcoming Soy Bean either 6/5 or 6/7.  He’s certainly taught me so much these last few weeks and I’m sure he will have LOTS to teach me very soon. ❤