All about Reagan, Part V: The Third Trimester

Part I: Introduction
Part II: Conception
Part III: The First Trimester
Part IV: The Second Trimester

By the time I hit my third trimester, I think I finally started to relax a little. I could feel Reagan kicking like crazy and I had plenty of appointments to assure me everything was ok. I had a beautiful shower hosted by my friends Cristie and Shiela and everything was good.

Some pictures from the shower:




I should mention, the women on my mom's side have a history of medically necessary csections. We don't go into labor and even when forced by two days of pitocin, we don't dialate (my sister, Tara, can tell you all about that fun without an epidural). Even after evicition notices have been formally served to our babies, they still refuse to come out without the coaxing of surgically removing them.

So I wasn't worried about pre-term labor and knew I was probably going to have to have a csection too. I was prepared for that. My OB didn't want me to go later than 38 weeks, not because of fear of a huge baby, but because there is a much higher chance of having a stillborn baby for a diabetic when they get closer to full term. We scheduled the day; I actually put it into my Microsoft Project plan and worked everything backwards from there. I was leaving my job after the baby and wanted to leave everything wrapped up in a pretty bow and now I knew my date to work from. I was pretty excited that there was finally something in this pregnancy I seemed to have a little control over. I knew when she would arrive.

But then things like high blood pressure, carpal tunnel syndrome, round ligament pain, ongoing morning sickness, and finally preeclampsia set in and I was reminded I'm not in charge or control of anything, including the date. I was put on complete bed rest. I was allowed to get up every few hours to pee. Otherwise I had to be flat in bed. I continued to work with my headset on and my laptop balancing on my belly. Reagan protested my working by continuing to kick my laptop hard enough that she would often knock it off my belly altogether. I was glad I had taken care of the nursery and many of the details early enough so that I wasn't quite so worried about being on bedrest. I was just bored. Occasionally when I couldn't take the boredom anymore Bill would take me to the mall or to Babies-R-Us for a short trip in a wheel chair. It would be the highlight of my week.

Here are some pictures of Reagan's nursery. We actually moved again before it was all complete, but I had it mostly finished.










When I would go in for my appointments, I was monitored for my preeclampsia. It was remaining mild enough that as long as I laid completely flat, my blood pressure would stay ok and my protein levels weren't going too terribly high. I was swelling like crazy though. In one week I had gained over 10 lbs. I think it all went to my hands and feet. My OB warned me that there would probably be a time very soon when they would have to admit me for the preeclampsia and I would remain there until I had the baby.

I would also do a non-stress test (NST) several times a week. They would hook me up to a monitor to see if I was having any contractions and to see how Reagan responded. They would also do an ultrasound where they look for very specific things like fine and gross motor movement, fluid levels, etc. and come up with a total score. Reagan always did fine on the ultrasound, but the NSTs always took forever. She never really wanted to cooperate, bu eventually they would find the results they wanted and I was good for another few days.

This pattern continued for several weeks until I hit 36 weeks. I had gone into yet another appointment expecting to go home like I did every other time. At the worst, I figured I would finally be admitted to the hospital and have to ride it out there another few weeks. Never did I expect to go to a doctor's appointment feeling good, having no trouble, only to be told, "you're going to have a baby today, we'll be scheduling the surgery within the hour..."

To be continued...