Week 36

Baby Mussetter is still about the size of a honeydew melon.  His skin is getting smooth and soft, his gums are rigid, his liver and kidneys are in working order, and his circulation and immune system are basically good to go.  His lungs are the only organs that still need to fully mature, but every day he gets a little closer to breathing on his own (according to thebump.com).

This week has been CRAZY!  I had an appointment on Monday with one of the midwives, Beverly, at my doctor's office.  I had been having contractions over the weekend, so I was anxious to see if I had dilated any.  Well, no such luck, but my cervix had thinned out to 80% and Brayden was at a 0 station in my pelvis - which means he is on his way out!  Beverly said that if I would have been dilated any she would have put me on bed rest because there is a HUGE difference between a baby born at 36 weeks and a baby born at 37 weeks.  She said I wanted a baby that could eat and breathe by himself and there would be a chance that at 36 weeks his lungs would not be fully matured.  Even though she didn't put me on bed rest, she did tell me to "take it easy."

I went to work on Tuesday, but I ended up leaving at noon because I was having contractions and I didn't feel well.  I had contractions throughout the night on Tuesday, so Wednesday morning I went to the doctor's office.  I saw Dr. Warren, because she was the on-call doctor.  I still hadn't dilated any, but she put me on bed rest anyways.  She told me I could get up to go to the bathroom or take a bath or fix something to eat, like a sandwich or a bowl of cereal.  Oh joy!  So after my appointment I went home and laid down.  At about 11am I started having sharp pains on my right side.  I took some Tylenol and put a heat pad on my side, but that didn't help with the pain.  So, I called back to the doctor's office and Dr. Warren said she wanted me to go to Labor and Delivery at the hospital to be monitored, so they could see what was going on.

At the hospital they hooked me up to the monitors and I was having contractions about every 7 minutes, but because they weren't changing my cervix they weren't too concerned.  Dr. Warren said it sounded like I might have a kidney stone or some sort of kidney, bladder, or urinary tract infection.  So they tested my urine for an infection and hooked me up to IV fluids.  Dr. Warren also wanted an ultrasound of my kidney and of the baby to see how much he weighed.  The ultrasound also showed that Brayden weighs about 7 lbs. 5 oz. (give or take a pound) and he measures at 38 weeks.  He is going to be a big boy!!!  The ultrasound showed that my right kidney was enlarged, but there were no kidney stones.  Apparently, the enlarged kidney (hydronephrosis) is very common in pregnancy because the baby presses down on the ureters which lead from the kidney to the bladder.  There isn't much they can do for the hydronephrosis except for have me drink lots of water.  There were no signs of a kidney, bladder, or urinary tract infection, so Dr. Warren just thinks I got really dehydrated.  She wanted me to stay overnight at the hospital, so they could keep an eye on my contractions and I could get some more IV fluids.  Luckily Jason went to Quizno's at got me something to eat for dinner, because this is what they were serving at the hospital:

They gave me some medicine for the kidney pain and a sleeping pill, so that I could rest.  But, I still couldn't rest because I was hurting so much in my kidney.  I finally got a shot of Demerol and that put me to sleep. :)  The worst part about being in the hospital was having to get up to go to the bathroom because I would have to call the nurses in to unhook me from the monitors and unplug the IV machine.  Eventually I just started unhooking myself so I didn't have to bother them.

On Thursday morning, Dr. Warren came in to check on me and tell me I could go home but to drink a lot of water and to stay in the bed.  The only other thing that they could do for the hydronephrosis is to do an IVP, which is where they inject dye into your veins and then use an x-ray to look at my kidney.  She said they would only do that as a last resort, because the radiation is bad for the baby.  She said that they would "consider" inducing me at 39 weeks if I was still uncomfortable.

I spent the rest of the day on Thursday in pain.  About the only thing that helped was to lay in the warm bathtub.  Thank goodness we have a well, because if not we would have a VERY HIGH water bill from the number of baths I had to take!  I ended up back at the doctor's office on Friday afternoon because I was still in so much pain in my kidney.  Dr. Miller is treating me for a urinary tract infection because there was blood and leukocytes (white blood cells) in my urine.  So, now I am on an antibiotic, some sort of medicine that numbs your urinary tract, and pain medicine.  I personally don't think that my kidney pain is from a UTI, I think it is from the hydronephrosis - but, what do I know.  I had an appointment scheduled for Monday so Dr. Miller told me to keep that appointment, but if I am feeling better I can reschedule it for Friday.  Hopefully I will start feeling better soon!!!

Here are this week's baby bump pictures:

Love ya!