36 weeks!

As of today I am 36 weeks 1 day pregnant! I am 8 weeks further along then when I delivered Ryan. That in itself is exciting but what's even more exciting is the fact that next Monday I will be considered Full Term! Of course I want to go THREE more weeks..until 39 weeks when they are planning on delivering by a repeat c-section.

3 weeks ago I started out having what I thought was just allergy symptoms of a sore throat and then a cough. Ryan got pneumonia during this time and my symptoms quickly got worse, to the point that one day I could hardly get out of bed and thought I had the flu. I was put on a 5 day z-pac but that did not help and ended up with bronchitis. My OB was concerned about my symptoms and sent me for a chest x-ray for pneumonia and luckily that was negative so I started on an inhaler. The next evening, I ended up in the ER because I felt like I had a cracked rib because I couldn’t breathe deeply and it was an intense sharp pain. After 8 hours and many tests, it was determined I had Pleurisy which is an inflammation of the lining of the lungs. Unfortunately, because I’m pregnant there is nothing I can take for it other than Tylenol. It’s been almost a week now and I am slowly getting better. My coughing has decreased to the point where I’m only using the inhaler once a day and my pain has lessened as well but I’m still short of breath when I walk only a few blocks. My OB group is still concerned that I could have what’s called Peripartum Cardiomyapathy, a heart condition that shows up in the late stages of pregnancy, therefore I’m having an EKG done next week. I don’t feel like it will show anything but I’m glad they are being proactive. My blood pressure has been elevated the past couple weeks so now they are monitoring me for Pre-Eclampsia which can be life threatening. Again, I only have elevated blood pressure and none of the other symptoms (swelling in the face & hands, protein in my urine) but I'm glad they are being proactive. I really have a good rapport with the Physician's Assistant whom I see every time I go plus the doctors. I have one main doctor but have seen several others in the practice.

As far as Baby Girl Perry is concerned, she is looking great. Today’s ultrasound she was being stubborn and laying on her tummy so they could only get a few measurements. But she was breathing really well and the heart looked good. At my last ultrasound 3 weeks ago, she was growing right on target. Today’s estimated weight was around 6 lbs. but again, that’s just an estimate since they could not get all the measurements. I will have another ultrasound in 2 weeks for growth and probably to get a final position of the baby. If all goes well and Baby Girl stays put, her Birth Day is scheduled for Monday, April 18th!

The office staff at work threw me a delightful baby shower last week and I (well, the baby) got lots of adorable outfits, blankets & basic necessities. The nursery is coming along and Ryan is talking so much about his "baby sister". He was so proud to help Dean out this past weekend, getting the crib put together and furniture moved around.

Hopefully, I can get some pictures posted on here some time soon. I just haven't had the energy or will to take any since being sick. I did take a video of Ryan but I'll update on him in another post later this week..after his speech therapy (I believe he might be released).