1 Step Forward, 3 Steps Back

Today was our appointment with our new doctor that will be taking over our "case" from my normal Dr (since his leave starts tomorrow).  I had actually seen him once before during Camdyn's pregnancy on a false  call.  He is a nice Dr but man he has huge hands.  So anyway, our appointment today :)  The Dr checked me out and did another ultrasound.  Reed's position was still in head down, however, he wasn't as far down as he had hoped.  He showed us on the ultrasound where his head was and where he felt it should be.  The space could still allow him to turn again- UGH!  That is really what we were hoping wasn't the case.  And in his exam we haven't progressed any further than we were yesterday.  So where does that bring us now?  I am told to do a lot of walking to try and get his head further down.  We will visit with the Dr again on Tuesday which is my due date.  We will take another look to see how we have progressed if any and to see his positioning.  He won't let us go past 41 weeks so I guess we are looking at Reed arriving regardless sometime between now and July 10th.  At this next appointment we will talk about the next and final trip to the hospital for his delivery and will probably decide on method that day.  This could all easily change if Reed decides that he is ready sooner than later.  So we wait, more and that is where we are at with the Dr.  I am still very very uncomfortable and having pain but some of the contractions seem to have slowed down, so who knows.  We will just take it day by day and do a lot of walking.

We hope that everyone is doing well.  Wish we had more exciting news...especially since we had so much family come up and do the drive this week for his arrival and have no baby to show.  We love you all and hope it won't be too much longer now till we have news to share. Till then..

Love,
Ben, Gabrielle, Camdyn, and Reed

A mind of his own...

Out little man has a mind of his own for sure!  We went to the hospital as planned, got checked in, started bloodwork, and then came ultrasound time.  Sure enough, Reed moved back into a head down anterior position.  Great news as this is what we were hoping would happen and wanting, bad news (can't lie) to know that this meant there was a huge chance that we wouldn't get to meet him today.  The nurse (who was absolutely amazing) called my Dr and he came to by to assess the situation and see what our next plan was.  We weren't sure if induction was going to be an option as we ideally wanted to let Reed come at his own pace, however, we didn't want the chance of him to turn back around to breech again.  

The Dr came in and checked everything out.  Sure enough, head down, anterior position (most ideal) with his head at a -2 station, 2 cm dilated.  Considering where we were two days ago and my honest belief that he turned during dinner last night, that is pretty good in my books for that short of time.  However, at this time we were not favorable for an induction.  Fortunately as well my Dr did not feel as though we were in much danger or risk of him turning again due to how his head was lodged so didn't even think that a c-section was necessary and recommended that we try and wait to see where we are next week.  So the last kicker of everything is that my Dr's last day is Saturday.  So he is turning my files over to another Dr and called him to set up an appointment with him.  We go in tomorrow morning between 9 and 10 to meet the new Dr and see how things are coming along, plan would be if I have not progressed more tomorrow we will see him again next week and reassess to see if I am ready for induction - if Reed even allows that.  

So we are home and waiting.  I started to contract at the hospital and have had some pretty rough ones at home since them so I am hoping that he will pull this through on his own.  Time will tell and we will definitely be keeping everyone updated.

It was a pretty long day so I think I am going to head off to bed.  More to come soon!  Fingers crossed it is sooner than later.

Love,

Ben, Gabrielle, Camdyn, and Reed  

Waiting for tomorrow

So by this time tomorrow we will have already been with our baby boy for a couple of hours.  Hard to believe.  We are in the process of just finishing up getting ready and making sure we have everything together before tomorrow.  I want to be able to try and relax as much as possible in the morning before we head out to the hospital. Unless we hear from my Dr's office we are supposed to head to the hospital around noon to get checked in and started up.  Surgery is scheduled for 2 but you know how that can go.  We had one more appointment with my Dr yesterday and Reed is still in his comfortable breech position.  So I guess this is it.  I must say that it feels weird this time knowing when he is coming and how.  With Camdyn the pregnancy seemed rather textbook with the suspense of when she would make her debut but this has been a little different with different emotions, but the one that is very similar is the excitement and of course the love we already feel.

We plan on updating as soon as we can!  We can't wait!

Love,
Ben, Gabrielle, Camdyn, and Reed

Thursday is the day

Our last Dr's appointment was on Thursday (the 21st).  Everything with Reed appears to be the same.  He is still in breech position (and looking quite comfortable at that) and my body is still not really progressing toward labor, which in his position is good.  So with that being said, we are definitely scheduled for the c-section this Thursday (the 28th) at 2 PM.  We have to be there around noon but the surgery is scheduled for 2.  They usually do them in the morning, however, with my Dr's schedule and the hospital's schedule that was the best they could do.  So that is what we are moving forward with.  We have another Dr's appointment Tuesday to do a final check before checking in on Thursday.  We had a good weekend though and enjoyed spending some good family time with the three of us.  It is hard to believe that this is our last weekend as a family of only 3  This time next weekend there will be 4 of us.  So that is our brief update.  Not sure what else there will be to report on Tuesday but we will definitely keep everyone posted and are looking forward to soon sharing the news of our addition with everyone!

Much love,
Ben, Gabrielle, Camdyn, and Reed

Slight Update

So the pain I was feeling over the weekend, never really went away so I decided to call my Dr's office and talk to one of the nurses.  She recommended that because of our situation it was best for me to just go to the hospital to get monitored and looked at.  So we did.  Turns out labor wise there isn't much going on, my body isn't doing much yet and I am actually not even contracting, which in all actuality with everything is a good thing right now.  So the change is that Reed has moved from a transverse position into a breech :(  With that being said, being 38 weeks tomorrow it seems fairly unlikely that he will move into a head down position.  It could happen but we are best to plan ahead as if he won't.  So we are looking more and more like we will be having the c-section on the 28th.  I still went to the chiropractor again today and even he felt it may be a long shot but we tried anyway, and will do again on Wednesday.  I did get to see my Dr at the hospital so that was a nice surprise.  He confirmed positioning and went over my plans again.  We will be back in his office on Thursday.  So with that being said unless we go into labor before then we can plan on the 28th- just 9 days...I think I can handle this pain and discomfort till then.  I have to say the best news of all today was seeing how good Reed is doing and how healthy his stats are.  He actually looked quite comfortable :)

So we just wanted to do a quick update.  We may do another one on Thursday after our appointment (or soon after).

Hope this finds you all well!

Love,
Ben, Gabrielle, Camdyn, and Reed

Dr Appointment- possible slight change in plans

So we had a Dr's appointment yesterday (37w2d) and I would be lying if I said it didn't go anywhere as expected.  Usually the visit itself is quite quick.  However, when it came to listening to Reed's heartbeat I could tell from my Dr's face something wasn't as usual as it had been.  So we heard the heart, and it sounded great so no big deal there but it was where he went to hear it from that seemed a bit odd.  He did a quick check after to see how I was progressing and then told me to go to the ultrasound room so we could double check Reed's position.  Somehow in the past 8 days (since our last appointment) Reed managed to move from a head down and ready position into a transverse one- so he is now sideways.  So there is an option that they can try and physically move him themselves, with a 60% success rate and of course potential issues/complications; we can see if he moves back on his own and if not do a scheduled c-section.  After some thought we have decided that we will see what we can do on our own and then go with the c-section if we are unsuccessful.  My Dr is working on keeping a "reservation" at the hospital for June 28th so if he doesn't turn by then we are set.  I am going to see what I can do here and even go to my chiropractor to see if he can help relax my body to make some room for Reed to turn on his own.  I know that the more time that passes the harder and less likely that will be but we will try.  At this point as well any slight thoughts that I may be in labor my Dr has told us to go straight to the hospital to be safe since at this point he wouldn't be able to come "naturally."

So that is where we are in a nutshell.  Things could still happen prior to the 28th but as of now that is the plan.  I have mixed thoughts on the whole thing but the biggest concern is his health and Reed is at least quite healthy and doing ok in that position.  I on the otherhand now have a better understanding for some of the extreme discomfort I have been feeling where I have been feeling it.  I know that some people may disagree with our option to not try and have them try and move him but we are comfortable with our plan, while it be a new plan.

We will keep everyone updated and hope that this finds you all well.

Love always,
Ben, Gabrielle, Camdyn, and Reed

Marshmallow man

That's pretty much what I feel like right now.  My legs are out of control swollen everyday.  I try to elevate them as much as I can but at work the position to get them up doesn't make it too easy for me to work at the same time.  Then by the time I can finally get my feet up at home, its usually 8 PM or so.  Even after a full night sleep lately they aren't going down too much.  It looks good with dresses :)  But with all that being said, our 36 week appointment this week went really well.  Reed is still on a good track, no progress yet, but good heartbeat and positioning.  Yup that is right though, I said 36 week appointment.  Holy cow!!  Reed will be with us soon!  We are quite excited for him to be joining our family.  We have finally made some progress on his room and now have Camdyn's new room set up.

Camdyn is doing great though!  She is such a big little girl now.  As part of her new furniture, we did buy her another convertible crib, however, we set it up as a toddler bed.  She has done so great in it and tonight at bed time just walked right into her bed and put herself down.  It was quite a moment, so proud of her to see her growing up yet so really sad at the same time that my baby is growing up.  All part of it I suppose.

Well I know this is short but I need to get to bed and try and get some more rest.  Hoping the weather cooperates to try and have another photo shoot this weekend and want to be in good shape for it :)  Before I go though, here are some of the pictures of their rooms that we wanted to share.

Talk to you soon.

Love,
Ben, Gabrielle, Camdyn, and Reed