May 12, 2002: Caleb's Birth Day!

What a wonderful Mother's Day present (although I could have done without the pain)! Read all about it in Caleb's birth journal. He gives all of the gory details from start to finish.

May 10, 2002: My Due Date!

NOTE: Guys may want to turn away at this point cause it's gonna get a bit graphic. Yesterday I lost my mucus plug. That has never happened with any of my other pregnancies. It is really quite gross. So anyway, today I had a real watery discharge. I called the doctor's office and we thought maybe my water may have broken. So Necole took me to the hospital. I laid around and watched the baby's heartbeat on the monitor. They checked my fluid twice and it was not amniotic fluid. So back to work I went. But the nurse was sure that I would have the baby this weekend.

May 8, 2002: 40 Weeks (almost)

There is still no progress. She checked me and again I was only a fingertip. So maybe I will be able to hold out until next Wednesday (that is my goal). Everything else looked great and the heart beat was in the 130s.

May 1, 2002: 39 Weeks

I gained another two pounds this week, but Dr. Abernathy said that was good. I don't get her. Isn't two pounds in one week the same as gaining four pounds in two and a half week. I guess maybe that's why I don't have the M.D. after my name. She checked me for the first time. There is nothing going on down there. I was just barely a finger tip and still really thick. So I guess it wont be this week. The heart beat was 146.

April 22, 2002: 37 1/2 Weeks

Everything is looking great. The heart beat was 137 and I measured 36 cm this week. I gained another four pounds and got a little grief from the doctor for it. But as usually I have chosen to ignore her.

April 4, 2002: 35 Weeks

Tested my iron level again. This time it was at 9.6, so it went down even farther. Not good. So now I'm taking two iron pills a day. One in the morning, a prenatal vitamin in the afternoon and another iron pill before bed. My leg pain has gotten a lot better. Most days I don't notice any pain at all so I'm pretty excited about that. I'm still measuring right on at 35 cm and the heart rate was 132 at this visit. I got a little grief from my doctor because I gained 6 pounds since my last visit (which was only two weeks ago), so that's 33 pounds over all so far with 5 weeks to go. I'm not all that concerned about it. I gained 35 pounds with Keaton and was back in my regular clothes a week later. And I gained 65 pounds with Skyler & Spencer. It did take quite a few months to get back down to my normal weight after them, but I did it eventually with very little effort.

March 21, 2002: 33 Weeks

I'm going to the doctor every two weeks now. I gained 2 pounds since my last visit. I'm up to about 25 pounds now with 7 weeks to go. The heart rate was 156 this time and I am still measuring right on (33 cm). My leg is still really bothering me. The doctor checked and the baby is head down, so we are thinking the baby is laying on a nerve. I've also been having a lot of Braxton Hicks contractions. I had a lot when I was pregnant with Skyler & Spencer too. They aren't painful, just kind of uncomfortable. Even this late in my pregnancy the baby is still very, very active. The kicking in my ribs hurts, so I wish the baby would knock it off. But, all in all, everything is going quite well.

March 6, 2002: 31 Weeks

At today's visit I measured 31 cm so I am measuring right on. The baby's heart rate was 140, so no change there. I have been having a lot of pain in my left leg. The doctor checked to make sure there were no blood clots (which there were none) and she said that if it doesn't get better we may need to do an ultrasound on my leg just to be sure we aren't missing a blood clot.

February 1, 2002: 26 Weeks

I had my glucose tolerance test to check for gestational diabetes. They said they would call the next day if I failed the test and I didn't hear from them. So I assume no news is good news. I measured 27 cm so I am measuring about a week ahead. So far I have gained 21 pounds which seems like a lot to me considering I still have three months to go. But the nurse practitioner didn't seem to think it was that big of a deal. They also tested my hemoglobin. They prefer a hemoglobin reading to be above 12. Mine was at 10.5 so I am taking another iron vitamin every day from now on. That's no surprise though. I have had to take extra iron with every one of my pregnancies. The baby's heartbeat was 148. So everything is looking good.

January 2, 2002: 22 Weeks

All four kids came to the doctor with me this visit to hear the heartbeat. Ask them what the babies' heartbeat sounds like and they'll tell you. The rate was 140. Everything is looking great.

November 30, 2001: 17 Weeks

We did hear the heartbeat this visit, but we still couldn't get a very good reading. That is one wild and crazy baby in there. The heartbeat was in the 140s.

November 2, 2001: 13 Weeks

This was my first official OB visit. The nurse couldn't find the heartbeat. I was a little concerned because at 13 weeks I think you should be able to hear that. When Dr. Abernathy came in I asked her about it. She tried to blow it off, but I heard the heartbeat at the first visit with Keaton and Skyler & Spencer. So Dr. Abernathy checked for the heartbeat herself. The baby must have been moving around like crazy because she couldn't get a rate per minute. But we did hear the beating. So then I felt much much better.

October 17, 2001: 10 Weeks 6 Days

After my many subtle hints to the doctors I finally got an ultrasound. Lee was convinced with all the morning sickness I'd been having that we were having twins again. But as you can see, there is only one baby in there. (The pictures below are two different pictures of the same baby.) I got to see the baby's heart beating (around 165 beats per minute) and his/her legs and arms swinging around. The baby was moving around like crazy. So maybe my morning sickness is actually motion sickness. You can see on the bottom of the second picture that the baby is right on track as far as growth, measuring at 10 weeks and 6 days. That puts my due date at May 10, 2002.

September 6, 2001: 5 Weeks

The home pregnancy test I took the night before was positive, so today I took a blood test at the doctor's office. It was positive. I was just amazed. I just didn't feel pregnant. You'd think after birthing three children I would have a clue as to how that felt.