The latest and the greatest...

34 weeks 5 days belly pics (not quite the maternity pics huh)


All is going well over here- or at least I think so :)

It is funny- if you ask me, I would say I have had a pretty easy, simple, uneventful pregnancy (knock on wood). I feel great, I love being pregnant, it has been a lot of fun. And then I realize that I am categorized high risk, getting weekly NST's, have blood pressure issues, have had 9 medical ultrasounds to date, and suddenly I get scared.
Baby news- Lester must have switched positions to get some real bumping and a grinding going- I LOVE IT. It is not really kicks now, but stomach rolls and such- like in my video- it makes me happy to see and feel him/her.
NSTs- not going so great, I have had 3 and failed 2 of them- which then requires a BPP (biophysical profile ultrasound that checks the baby and gives a grade up to 8 for things like limb movement, fluid amount, diaphragm movement, and muscle tone. With the NST results it is out of a grade of 10. 2 points for each thing.
So anyway-since I have failed 2 NSTs and needed the BPP u/s, I kind of freaked out and talked to my Dr about it today. He asked how the NSTs were going and I said I am not sure- and he said if they let me walk out, then they are going well- and if there was any cause for concern I would not be allowed to leave. The NST is a small part- and if it goes well, it is a good sign, but if that part fails, then it just means they need to look further- not that something is wrong. You could fail b/c the monitor doesn't catch the heartrate, the baby is in a sleep cycle, the accelerations just barely miss, etc. So I feel better.

The rest of my appt went well- I was very happy to not have gained weight from my last appt. I don't know if I posted this, but last appt I was up 6 lbs. That may not sound too terrible- but when my weight gain prior to it had only been 8- 6 was a big number, especially since it was only after 2.5 weeks. So now that 6 lb gain is spread over 4.5 weeks and I feel better about it. Total weight gain- 14 lbs, and I feel good about that for 35 weeks pregnant.

My blood pressure has been weird- it has been great... Over the past 3 weeks it has been normal- not even hgih- and then today they said it was 140/80. On Monday it was 116/64. I asked them to take it again at the end and he said it wasn't necessary, I have had readings close to that, am consistent, etc. I wish I pushed it just to know if I would have had a diff reading- I did walk there from the bus and I don't think the girl today is so good at it (she pumps up the cuff, repumps a few times, it was super tight, i don't know)

And- the last thing that is going on - I call it- "The Great Debate"

Eric is Jewish, I am not. We decided to raise our children protestant. Of course we will celebrate the holidays with his family and all- but our children will grow up identifying themselves as Protestant (until they choose otherwise). This was discussed and mutually agreed upon before marriage.

So- his BFF just had a son- and the couple is Jewish. The boy had a bris, which got us talking about circumcision. We agree on circumcision - so that is good, however Eric got it into his head that we need to have a Mohel do it. For those who don't know- a Mohel is a Jewish rabbi or specialist who performs circumcisions during a Bris on the 8th day of life at home in a big party. I respect the religion greatly, but it was very weird for me to see this baby circumcised and then have a big meal served 10 minutes later on the same table.

So - Eric is all for the Mohel. He does not want one for religious reasons - when he brought it up he said as a nonsecular procdure. The reason he wants a Mohel is because of the 'experience' of the guy. He thinks for some reason that at the hospital it will be some intern or something and it will get botched. If you read up on bris on some Mohel's websites- they make it seem like the hospital is horrible and cruel to your son (they don't like the way they anesthetize, they don't like the kid being strapped down- um hello, I am not holding him, they say it takes them 2 minutes and the hospital 20, etc), so the more we look into this- the more Eric is convinced this is the way to go.

I am all for the hospital. Using a Mohel seems weird to me since we made our religious decisions. We even asked the Mohel at this recent Bris and he says he does do it for non-Jews, but always as a ritual so the child can choose to be Jewish later in life. I have no problem if my kid wants to be Jewish- but I do have a problem with having made a huge decision as a couple and then doing something like this- I can just imagine my MIL's reaction. That would be like baptising a Jewish kid so they had the choice later on. (i see it that way- b/c there is an alternative way to circumsize which most of the population does!). But that is just a small part of my reservation.
Anyway- in my mind, people get circumcised at hospitals all the time, I don't want it done at home, I want to be in the hospital so they can see it after the first day or so and know it is healing correctly, and I honestly don't want to be around the child while it happens- watching the mother turn away and cry was heartbreaking.

So that is the great debate- if it is a boy, who and where. I asked the doctor today and he said they have a circumcision team- himself and 2 other doctors at my practice rotate days on which they are attending physicians at the hospital- and every day at noon it is circumcision time. Whoever the attending physician is does it. I have to tell Eric this and the discussion will continue- so we shall see.


I will leave you with part 2 of shower pics

The only picture of me and Eric- I wish I was not making such an ugly face



look at all these gifts! Notice the snowman wrapping paper on the one gift- it cracked me up



My mother, sister and I!!!