Third Trimester - Izzie B

For those of you who haven't been on Facebook in the last 24 hours, Izzie B decided she couldn't wait for induction this Wednesday and decided she wanted to be born yesterday! A post with her birth story and pictures of her will be coming in the next few days as we settle in.  The most important thing is that both mom and baby are healthy and hope to be home Monday.  Since she wasn't supposed to come until Wednesday, I hadn't planned on writing about the third trimester until Tuesday with a final 39 week belly shot.  Now that she's here, I have no choice but to do without a most recent belly pic and will talk about the third trimester now, before moving on to her birth story.

The third trimester can be the longest trimester as it starts as 27 weeks and if you go overdue, you can make it to 42 weeks.  But on the other hand it can be the shortest if you have your baby early.  Most find it to be the most uncomfortable trimester with the added aches and pains that come with carrying an ever growing heavier baby.  During this trimester the baby puts on the most weight, growing from the size of a cauliflower (16.5 inches head to toe and 2.5lbs) to the size of a watermelon (ranging from 18-22 inches head to toe and between 6-9lbs) at birth.  Towards the last few months, babies are gaining on average half a pound per week. Most women grow the most impatient in the final trimester as they're so ready to meet their babies!

I can say that the third trimester has been fairly easy for me this pregnancy.  I had a much smaller belly than I did with Brady and Izzie never had the chance to drop, so she wasn't constantly in my pelvis.  I had little to no trouble sleeping at night (with the occasional bathroom run) and no back pain.  The third trimester also brought around several personal triumphs on my part.  The biggest one has been when it comes to weight gain.  I ended this pregnancy up only 32.5lbs, when I gained a total of 52lbs with Brady.  I'm thrilled things were much more under control this time and that I'll be able to get to pre-pregnancy weight so much sooner than with Brady (which took a full 16 months).  Another triumph, which is related to the lower weight gain is that a pair of maternity pajama pants that I had bought around 30 weeks with Brady that never fit, I was able to wear to the end this pregnancy and I still had tons of room in them.  I was able to keep my wedding bands on much longer this time.  With Brady, all of my rings were too tight by 29 weeks and it took a full nine months after he was born to get them back on.  I always felt like people would think I was an unwed mother when I'd take him out.  This time my wedding band lasted until 35 weeks, my engagement ring made it to 37 weeks, and my "place holder" engagement ring (the one Andy proposed with while we waited for mine to come in) made it all the way to delivery.  You're not supposed to wear any jewelry to the hospital in case you need emergency surgery, so I didn't even realize I still had the ring on when we got there.  The final triumph was that I walked away with ZERO new stretch marks!  I still have plenty from my teen years of being overweight and from Brady's pregnancy, but adding no new ones, is amazing.

28 weeks (right before Christmas)

32 weeks

34 weeks

36 weeks

The reason there are pics for 32, 34, and 36 weeks (instead of just doing every four weeks like before) is because I can only fit three per page in Izzie's scrapbook and each page covers a trimester.  In her scrapbook, I had intended to have 28, 34, and 39 weeks, but that won't work now.  I took the 32 and 36 because those are when you start a new month of pregnancy.  Above is the progression (from left to right) of 28 weeks, 32 weeks, and 36 weeks.  There is some growth you can see, but I was still so small at the end that I would get dirty looks when parking in expectant mother spots.

 

I've really enjoyed comparing the belly pics around the same gestational age between Brady and Izzie.  It's amazing how different they were, but I do have to take into account that they are different genders and I gained 20lbs more with Brady.  Above is Brady at 33 weeks (on the left) and Izzie B at 34 weeks (on the right).  It's crazy how much bigger I was with Brady.  I still wonder where I was hiding Izzie.

This one is both kids at 36 weeks (Brady on the left and Izzie on the right).  You can see the first signs of stretch marks with Brady and then with Izzie you can see those (and the ones that developed in the five weeks after that before he was born) faded.

The final compilation of all the belly pics that were taken over the entire pregnancy.  I can't believe it's over, but I couldn't be more overjoyed with my new baby girl.

30 Week Growth Scan - Izzie B

So far things have been going pretty well with Izzie and the pregnancy.  I was going to the doctor for check ups every four weeks until Christmas.  At that appointment, it was discovered that my uterus had not grown at all in the past four weeks.  For those who don't know, at every appointment, starting in the second trimester, they measure how high your uterus is (called fundal height) and it should correspond in centimeters with the number of weeks pregnant you are at that point.  I was 24 weeks at Thanksgiving and measured at 26cm (two weeks ahead), then at 28 weeks at Christmas, I was still measuring at 26cm (two weeks behind now).  It was determined that after the holidays I would come in and have a growth scan to measure baby and fluid levels to make sure things were fine.

This whole situation made me very nervous as I had always measured slightly ahead with Brady and there was never any concern.  Fortunately, from that point, we'd be coming in for appointments every two weeks, so I only had to wait until a few days after New Years for the scan.  Being home with family was a great distraction and we were back home before we knew it.  Of course, we got sick right when we got home and I was still a little iffy when we went to the scan.  I almost passed out during the middle of it and I was even lying down.

My biggest concern was low fluid and that meaning more constant monitoring and potentially having a preemie baby.  Fortunately, the scan went great. It was almost three weeks ago now, but at 30.5 weeks the tech double checked that she's still a girl (which she certainly is!), fluid levels were great, and Izzie B was measuring at 3lbs 14oz (60th percentile).  Since it's been three weeks and she should be gaining on average half a pound per week, she's likely close to 5lbs or over at this point (I'll be 34 weeks on Saturday).  She wasn't very cooperative to get any good 3D shots and all we got was the side of her head.  The top picture is her face in 2D.

I had a regular appointment with a doctor right after the scan and she was very pleased with the findings of the scan.  In the two weeks since my last appointment, the fundal height had increased from 26 to 29cm which was good (although almost two weeks behind still).  I had another appointment last week and right before that, I'd taken some belly shots.  Looking at the side-by-side comparisons from Thanksgiving, Christmas, and now, there was almost zero difference in my visible belly size.  That started to freak me out a bit, especially since I also compared the most recent one to Brady at the same point.  I was WAY bigger with him (although some people didn't assume I was pregnant most days).  My mom pointed out that I've gained so much less weight than I did with him and that might be a factor, but I was still so nervous that the fundal height was going to stay the same again.

When I got to the appointment, I was weighed and had only gained half a pound in two weeks.  That freaked me out because the baby should've gained almost a full pound in that time.  Of course, I had a ton of time to think about it as the doctor was running very behind and I was sitting waiting in the exam room for over half an hour.  Luckily, the fundal height had increased from 29 to 33cm and I was two days from hitting 33 weeks, so she was right on track.  We really have no idea where I'm hiding here, especially since I'm so short waisted.  I guess I should stop worrying and focus on the fact that I might escape stretch marks this time around (I didn't get any until 38 weeks with Brady and even then they weren't too bad).

Something I discovered after I had Brady was that I have Von Willebrand disease, which means I'm missing a clotting factor in my blood, making me more susceptible to bleeding.  Several of my immediately family members have it and complications after Brady's delivery, so it was enough to have me sent for the testing.  It was determined that I do have it, which means I need an IV of the clotting factor I'm missing during any surgery or procedure where there would be significant blood loss.  The doctor I saw decided that because of needing this IV, it would be best to induce before my due date and avoid me going into labor on my own (I was induced with Brady at 41 weeks and 1 day).  She said I could induce any day after I turned 39 weeks and suggested a Wednesday or Thursday as there would be a doctor in the hospital those days for the full day.  It was so surreal to think that I would get to choose my child's birthday and the same would go for any other children we have in the future.  It almost feels like a huge responsibility.

The scheduling lady called yesterday, and I went with Wednesday, March 6 (right between Brady's on Feb 19 and mine on March 11), which is only six weeks from today!  Eeek!  There's so much still to do.  With Brady I was ready to have him by this point, and this time I'm thinking we have to get a ton done and I hope there's enough time.  We are in the middle of painting her nursery, we need to dig out all the old baby gear from the basement, and of course Brady turning 3 and having his party.  Hopefully, she doesn't get any big ideas and decide to come early.  Of course, now I'm thinking because she'll be a little early, she'll be smaller than Brady (who was 8lbs 5oz) and need newborn clothes, which I purposely didn't buy many of because you  never know if bigger babies will fit in them.  I guess we'll have to wait and see.

Another great foot pic.

The arrow in this one is pointing to her calf.  The tech remarked at how toned it was.  She must take after Andy because I have cankles lol.

3D Ultrasound - Izzie B

Something we did when I was pregnant with Brady was a 3D ultrasound.  It's something that's elective and you pay out of pocket, but we thought it would be cool to take a peek at what he looked like.  They say you get the best pictures right around the beginning of the third trimester where the baby has some more fat on them, but before they get to a point where they're too crowded to get any good pictures.  Andy claims he could immediately tell what Brady would look like, but I couldn't.  We were excited to go this Monday and see if Izzie B looked at all like Brady (which was our hope).

She was far more cooperative than Brady was.  We have several shots of the back of his head.  She is active as always and was more than happy to play around for the camera.

You can see her sucking on her index finger in this one.  Guess I have another finger sucker on my hands.

Rubbing her eyes (which are now open and blinking).

While we were getting the ultrasound, neither of us could tell if she looked anything like Brady.  Once we put the two of them side-by-side, we were definitely able to see the resemblance.  I've shown this to a few people and they said if I hadn't told them, they'd have thought it was the very same baby (click on the image and it will become bigger).  We can't wait to meet her!  The biggest surprise will be what she'll have for a hair color.  I pictured Brady having red hair, but that didn't happen.  She could have any color from what we have in our families. 

An add-on when you get a 3D ultrasound is getting an animal with a recording of the baby's heartbeat inside.  We did this for Brady, so of course, we had to get one for Izzie.  This time it was extra special because Brady picked out her animal (his was a bear).