33 Weeks & Picture Updates

I have been promising some pics for a while, not to mention we forgot in all the commotion last week to take a 32 week pic... But the pics in a minute. Let me catch up to date on "Is it Pre-E or Is It Not?"

Today was our 33 week appointment. This is also the first time we have actually spoken to Dr. S since going to L&D last week and being told to stay away from work. They were only running a little bit behind schedule today. Good thing, since we had a cooler in tow with the pee bucket inside! I think they felt sorry for us and let us go on back to the waiting room in the back with the ice chest. Luckily, we were put into a room promptly after that, just for the nurse to check vitals, but it got us out of the weird stares - I kept telling Dean I felt like we were transporting a liver or a heart or something. He kept putting it up to his ear asking if it was still beating...ugh - boys! Anyway, the vital check:

• weight check - down 3.5 lbs since since 2 weeks ago
• BP - initial 128/81; had me lay down for a few and it was 117/60. REALLY?
• baby HR - 138
• baby belly - measuring on schedule

Dr. S said looks like the resting was helping with the bp. We said wellllll....and proceeded to tell her about this crazy week and that the Monday after all that was done was the day I called the after hours line and had to go for BP monitoring. Her response? That high activity and stress have NOTHING to do with pre-e and that no one even knows the cause of pre-e. If someone did, they would win the Nobel Prize! HA! She said old school medicine said if you had high BP, protein in your urine, and swelling, then you had pre-e. Now swelling is not even considered a "symptom" of pre-e because almost every pregnant woman has some type of swelling. But the ONE POINT over the limit of protein and my BP not remaining high (it goes down after sitting or laying) means that I DO NOT HAVE PRE-E!!!!

WHOO HOO!!! She said she doesn't see me having pre-e or any other issues and to just take it easy. She even said I could go back to work if I wanted. I said I was more comfortable working from home because when I was getting those killer headaches, it was at work. I think (not that I have an MD, only from Go.ogle) that sitting up all day caused those. She said she was good with it either way. I spoke with my boss and she said she was ok with it too. Whatever it takes to keep Peanut incubating as long as possible! So I will continue working from home....however, my backup dude has asked for him to still be able to do my tasks and for me to just "supervise" him, given that we have been blessed with this extra time that I am available for questions. So....sounds like a cush job to me right? ;0) Not cush, just an awesome, understanding manager who only wants best for me and this baby. So UNLIKE my previous managers!!!

We also asked Dr. S what was up with the weight loss and she said a week of resting probably and then weight loss probably meant it was swelling weight that I lost. I didn't even realize I HAD swelling. I've been checking my legs and ankles and didn't see anything. She said it was probably all over swelling, just under the skin where I couldn't even tell.

So all in all, it was an AWESOME appointment. She doesn't expect any more issues for the rest of the pregnancy - THANK GOD. Hopefully we'll get the 2nd pee bucket results tomorrow and it will be normal again...

We learned lots of good info at Breastfeeding Part 1 last night. I am very glad we signed up for the class. I especially got a lot from the actual holding of the pretend babies and the pretend boob to know how to hold each and help the baby get a good latch. I am sure Part 2 will be just as informative! And I think Dean laughed only twice - once when they said the word "placenta" - for some reason that word just makes him hysterical - and another when they talked about not allowing the baby's nose to be smushed into the boob - he says "you'll suffocate him." HA very funny!

Ok, onto the pics....

This is a chrysalis that will be a butterfly soon. It is residing in the Butterfly Garden at the Children's Museum where we took the fam 2 weeks ago.

This is the fam at NASA - Adrien (daughter), Dean, Jody (son-in-law), prego and Catherine (granddaughter) in front.

If you look closely in the bubble up top, you can see Catherine waving to us! This was in the indoor playground at Space Center.

During our NASA tour of the astronaut training facilities, our tour guide noticed this thing was being taken out of the building so we all hauled it outside to watch it in motion. It's the new Mars Rover that will be used for our first Mars landing!

And finally....the 33 week belly pic! In my oh-so-attractive Men's XL sweat pants!