34 weeks

Wow. All I have to say is "WOW". I have had so many emotions this past week that I don't even know where to start. I am so stinkin' excited to meet our William in less than 6 weeks (most likely but who knows).
Like I said, I'm having a hard time figuring out where to begin with this blog post so I guess Ill just start at a week ago...33 week standard check up. It was a wednesday, like today. I worked a full day and to the best of my ability tried to prop my feet up under my desk on an upside down garbage can. For those of you that have never tried to do this, - try to put your feet up AND reach your keyboard/mouse AND remain comfortable with a protruding belly. Its impossible. Needless to say I did the best I could with keeping my feet up at my lovely cubicle but by 3pm, I'm pretty sure my legs were the size of tree trunks.
I left work at 3:15 for a 3:30 appointment with Dr S (my primary OB). By the time I saw her, it was probably 4:15. She walked in the exam room and said "oh, you don't look good at all".
Well, I knew my face looked swollen because a few co-workers said something about how swollen I looked and I knew I felt kind of strange but I didn't think it was anything to worry about...just common swelling.
Turns out it was 3lbs!!!! of swelling. That's WAY too much water weight according to the doctor. AND...that was pretty much that. She put me on bed rest. :(
I know this is what is best for William so I'm not upset or anything like that. This just ruins the "plan" we had for after William arrives. Our plan was for me to start working part time in June just to be able to get some things done around the house I've been wanting to do (no longer possible), I was going to start my 6 month leave on July 1st which would mean I would have aprox 5 months with Will (assuming he came by July 20th, his due date). Now I may only have 4 months. I know this is more than most people I do feel very fortunate to have that time before I have to go back to work but I'm sure that extra month with our sweet boy would have been wonderful. Looks like Ill be going back December 1st versus January 1st at this point...unless the Dr decides its ok for me to come off of bed rest in a couple of weeks and then maybe I can go back to work for a couple of weeks before he comes? This is my wishful thinking! :)
At the 33 week appointment, my blood pressure was normal (something like 110/64) and they did a bunch of blood work (also came back normal). The funniest thing was that I had to take a 24 hour urine sample. I was given a jug and I had to start collecting my urine when I got up the next morning and continue to the same time the next day. I had that jug filled by 6pm!! So it was really only a 12 hour sample. ha. It was hilarious and that shows you how much water I drink!
I saw Dr S again on Friday (after having my feet up for 2 days) and she said I looked much better and she planned to keep me on bed rest. Brad went with me to that appointment. She said I couldn't go outside in the heat, couldn't go swimming (I'm MAJORLY bummed about this one) and I need to keep my feet up the majority of the day. She said I could go out to eat and walk around the house here & there.  I've been pretty bored. I've started reading some baby books (Ill have to blog about those another time, yeesh), watched some TV, played on the computer and chatted with some friends. My mom has also kept me entertained by stopping by and running some errands for me. Gotta love her. She's the best.
Today was our 34 week ultrasound. Brad and I have really been looking forward to this appointment for the past few weeks. We really wanted to know how much our little boy weighs and to see if everything looks ok. Brad has been so sweet, saying things like he "can't wait to meet William" and how excited and anxious he is for the next 6 weeks. I love it when he pays attention to Will in my belly & talks to him. Its the sweetest. My mom also attended the appointment this morning.
We learned that my amniotic fluid is on the low side of normal. Normal for the 3rd trimester is between 5-25cm and mine is 8.8 cm. William weighs approximately 5lbs 12 ounces! We (William & I) are "measuring" at 35 weeks although I'm technically 34. IF he stays in for 5-6 more weeks and gains the "average" 1/2 lb per week, our boy will be above 8lbs!!
The lack of amniotic fluid caused concern for the Dr I saw today, Dr Dark. She is much more conservative than Dr S but was still worried. She said that it could be caused by the gestational diabetes and the size of William. She mentioned admitting me to the hospital if it continues to decrease. She checked to see if I was leaking amniotic fluid - which I was not, thank you Jesus. Although soft, my cervix is still fully closed and I'm not having any contractions that were picked up on about 30 minutes on the fetal monitor. Also good news. Dr Dark said I should continue to take it easy and drink tons of water (which I already do). I go back to Dr S on Tuesday so until then, I will follow the instructions I've been given. I really want Will to stay put for at least 3 more weeks! I honestly think the bed rest will keep things from progressing too quickly and the doctors seem to feel the same way.

For some reason the ultrasound technician didn't give me very many photos on my CD?
Will wouldn't show his face so maybe that was the reason but there were still some pretty cool shots of his spine, head & belly. Oh well, she only gave us this photo of his boy parts. DEFINITELY still a boy! :) and there is a video of him having the hiccups. This happens a lot these days. He probably has the hiccups 4-5 times per day. I love it. Its so funny. The doctor says its how they practice breathing. He is taking in the amniotic fluid like he is supposed to so the hiccups are just another positive sign :)

This is a video of his belly. You can see his organs, including his heart and if you look at the top of the belly, you will see the hiccups. Not sure why the video is so short. Ugh. He had the hiccups for like 15 minutes this time! Sweet boy.