37 weeks and lots of hospital and doctor visits!

WEEK 37

Yay, 37 weeks!!! I am now officially considered "full term", and I really can't believe it. I know I've said this several times, but it feels so surreal. Paul and I are finally about 99.9% sure that we have come up with a name for our baby! PORTER!! Paul randomely suggested it one day and I LOVE it!! We are still tossing middle names back in forth but for now we are so happy we can start calling him by name!

So, our little guy now weighs approximately 6 1/2 pounds and is around 19 inches long. My appointment last week revealed that he is indeed head down and should stay there! I've definitely gotten a lot bigger. Everywhere I go, everyone makes comments like "You're ready to pop," or asks "Oh my, when are you due? Any day, right?" Even though I am indeed HUGE and getting pretty uncomfortable, I really think I will miss being pregnant, and will miss my pregnant belly.

Last Wednesday Paul and I went in for our weekly appointment. We found out that I am 2cm dialated and 50% effaced. I was so excited that I am at least starting the process. The doctor said that was pretty good since this is my first baby. The doctor then asked me how much I feel baby Porter moving, and (like it has been most of the pregnancy) not very much.. definitely not as much as I should be feeling him. The doctor then sent us right over to the American Fork hospital to check him just in case something was wrong. The hospital immediately hooked us up to the heart monitor and found our baby in a deep sleep (of course). The nurse buzzed him over and over and he woke up for a second and then fell right back asleep. While being monitored, we found out that I was having minor contractions (I couldn't feel anything) and that every time I contracted, baby Porters heart rate would drop abnormally low. In a 2 hour period, there was about 4 of these drops. They continued monitoring us for the next hour and I was then sent home, telling us that we needed to come back the next day. The next day Paul and I were at the hospital for a total of 5 hours but were fine because they brought us all kinds of cookies and crackers and juice. :)For some reason the dips in his heart rate continued happening and the nurses weren't sure why. They wanted to hook me up to an IV and give me fake contractions to see how the baby reacted to them, but then (thankfully) opted for 2 different ultrasounds instead which revealed that everything looked perfectly normal. They continued monitoring for about an hour after the ultrasounds and then sent us home telling us to come one more time (2 days later). The third time at the hospital I was so nervous that because of Porters heart rate, they would just take him through c-section.. thankfully that didn't happen. Again, we were hooked up to the monitors for about 2 hours. His heart rate dropped twice from his normal range of about 135-150 to below 100. One of those times showed me having a small contraction, and one of them didn't. The nurses had me switch sides that I was laying on and Porter must have liked the left side better because for the next hour his heart rate was perfectly normal. We then went home and were told to make sure that we pay attention to that he moves at least in the morning, noon and night, and if not.. to come right back to the hospital. Because we aren't sure how he will react once I start harder contractions, we were told to come right back with any sign of a contraction. It scares me being home because there is no way that I am able to tell if his heart rate is dipping or not. I will be so thankful when he is here and healthy!! Hopefully he comes early!! I can't even begin to describe how excited I am to meet my little boy!! I already have more love for him then I ever knew was even possible!! I get teary eyed when I think that in the next couple of weeks we will finally be able to bring him home! I can't wait to hold him and feed him and play with him! I can't wait to see what he looks like and to start seeing his little personality developing. I am praying so hard everyday that I will be able to be the kind of mom that he needs and that he deserves! WE LOVE YOU SO MUCH BABY PORTER AND CAN'T WAIT FOR YOUR BIRTH!!

Here are the ultrasound pictures we received from the hospital: ENJOY!