The update that really doesn't explain anything

So it's been about two weeks since my last preggo update.. in terms of me blogging, that's actually pretty good. In terms of updating family and friends, well, you have my apologies for taking so darned long.





It's been a busy couple of weeks. First off, the flu hit our family, which I thought was truly unfortunate. The kids both had it, then I got sick, and then Jackson was sick. No fun! I guess the upside to having the flu (if that's not a huge oxymoron) was that I was a SUPER good bed rest patient while being sick. I literally had zero energy, so that was a convenient cure for my restlessness. The other interesting thing was that during the days that I was sick, the baby's heart rate was actually up in a low-normal to normal range! So I was thinking that maybe all of my mandated resting was doing some good... until my fever broke and baby's heart rate went back to its "normal" aka low range. Odd? For sure.

Anyway, after being sick I had to get back into our normal(ish) routine of getting kids to school, Addy's therapies, feeding the small people, and general maintenance of la casa. Since the baby has been consistent and stable, they let me go in for monitoring every other day and put me on "modified bed rest," which gave me tons more freedom (including being able to drive.. yay!) I just have to be careful about how much time I'm standing/walking, no lifting over 10 lbs, and certain household chores are now off limits (and delegated to the five-year-old :) ..............................................
Oh, hush, I'm only joking. Sort of. She's a good vacuumer.)

Anyway, last week the doctors have been talking to me about when we're going to deliver this baby. My delivering doctor said our goal was 37 weeks (when the baby is considered "full term"), and started giving me potential dates. At that time I was at 35 weeks, and there's a chance I started panicking un poquito.

37 weeks was only TWO weeks away....and what did I have ready for this child? Well, I had bought a car seat. Check. Annnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnd that's it.

Our "baby room" was a quasi storage slash disaster room, and I certainly didn't have the foggiest idea about what, if any, clothes we would have for this little one. Diapers? Negative. Potential names picked out? Not a chance. What else is there again? I mean, this isn't my first baby, but, heck, the last one was 3 1/2 years ago. With this "pregnancy brain" I've got goin' on I can hardly remember what I made for dinner last night...much less what's good to have around for a newborn!

So I talked to the doc quite a bit about the difference for the baby developmentally in that 37/38 week time frame, the risks of waiting an extra week and delivering at 38 weeks instead (which he said he would do, but didn't think we should wait any later), and a bunch of things that were interesting to me but probably not so much to everyone else.

And then I went on a shopping spree.

A practical shopping spree... which is less fun, but more, well, practical.

And in the meantime I decided that if the babe was still looking good, I definitely wanted to wait until 38 weeks. This was due to wanting to give the baby more time to develop in utero. In that 37th week there are important neurological connections made and developments with the digestive and immune systems. These are important factors for me to consider, especially because this baby is at a greater risk for an autism spectrum disorder. (All of my children are just due to the fact that (1) I already have a child who was diagnosed, and (2) I have a gene mutation that can be passed down to my children predisposing them to a number of things -- including autism.) The digestive and immune systems are really key factors to kids with ASD, and so I wanted to give as much time as possible for the development of those two areas.

Then Friday I changed my mind.

It was in the afternoon, and I was just at the house doing house stuff when all of the sudden I had a very distinct thought that I hadn't felt the baby move in quite a while. It was a super strong feeling and kinda freaked me out a little bit. I decided to drink my ice-cold juice and lay down and do a kick count (something I'm really becoming a pro at). So I laid down and for 15 minutes I waited.... and felt nothing. This was pretty unusual, because when I do the kick count it's always only taken about 10 minutes or so to get all the movements in. Soooo... trying not to completely freak out I waited... and waited.. after 15 minutes I felt a movement, and FINALLY after 1 hour and 10 minutes I got all of the movements counted. It took a verrrrrrry long time.

I qualified that as definite decrease in fetal movement and called my doctor. They said to come in and do a non-stress test, so I packed up the girls and off we went to the baby doctor. Again.

Long story short (TOO LATE), Thursday's baseline heart rate was around 110-115 when I went in for my normal monitoring. Friday's baseline was 95. Quite a difference. We still had good variations, so the doc felt comfortable doing monitoring every day again and to "take it easy" until my appointment on Monday (today).



So the last couple of days of monitoring has shown the heart rate to steadily be in the 90s/low 100s, dropping down to the 80s, and increasing up to the 130s (and once up to 143). It's a change.

And now I'm thinking this baby should be born at 37 weeks.

We've still got two different opinions from two different doctors (one thinks we should take the baby at 37 weeks and the other thinks we should wait until 39), but I've really started feeling uneasy about waiting too much longer for this baby's birth day. Obviously, I've been praying lots and lots for this child, and I am a firm believer in going with what feels like the right thing to do. So even though philosophically I tend to agree with the doctor who thinks we should wait until 39 weeks for maximum development in utero, I feel like the right thing is to deliver at 37 weeks when this babe is officially considered full-term.



So that's where we're at. I am officially at 36 weeks, so this means that sometime within the next week/week and a half we will have a new addition to the fam!



The girls are super excited. Brylee keeps saying that the baby's "so cute," and Addy keeps listening to what the baby is "saying" to her. She'll tell me if the baby is hungry and gets really excited when the baby is kicking me. It's cute :) Addy is convinced we're having a little girl, and she's told me multiple times that she "doesn't like boys and only wants a girl baby." Brylee changes her mind about every time I ask her. Sometimes she wants a baby brother and other times she wants a baby girl.


There's our little Princess Cinderella and Princess Sleeping Beauty for Halloween.



The best of friends. The little sweethearts are more than I deserve for sure.

Oh, and the title of this post is regarding the fact that nobody has any idea why the baby's heart rate is so low. All of the tests they've run have not provided any answers. So it's quite the mystery.

"Gus, don't be the Mystery Mousketool."

Anyway, I appreciate all the support we've received from everyone. You rock. Thanks for reading.