A Little Bit of a Scare...

...and possibly a little too much information if you're squeamish, just a warning!

Tuesday afternoon I went to the bathroom and noticed a dime sized blood clot when I wiped. I wiped again and there was another. I immediately called my OB practice who had approximately six thousand questions to ask before deciding not to send me to the ER (I guess I passed!) but said that they would like to see me in the office this morning as a precaution.

So I had an appointment this morning at nine. I went in a little bit nervous, but expecting everything would be just fine, especially since I was having absolutely no other strange symptoms. They listened to Sofie's heart and measured my belly just like they always do...pass and pass. Then they did an internal exam to make sure that there was nothing unusual going on in my nether regions (and holy hell is that ever uncomfortable!) Unfortunately they discovered that I am starting to dilate. The midwife was able to put her entire (relatively small) finger through my cervix (and oy did I mention the discomfort?) So...that started a bit of an adventure.

They collected a swab to send in for a fetal fibronectin test, which is a test that can determine if there is an increased risk of starting labor within the next two weeks, and then they hooked me up to a monitor for awhile to make sure that Sofie was moving and sounding good and that I was not having regular contractions. They monitored me for about half an hour. Sofie bopped around as she always does and everything looked super. I did have one Braxton Hicks contraction, but nothing unusual, timeable or regular. So they sent me home with instructions to take it easy and told me they'd call when they got the results back from the swab.

So we spent a few hours tensely googling preterm labor, the benefits and risks of corticosteroids (used for maturing preemie lungs) and tocolytic agents (used for delaying labor) before the phone call that fantastically assured us that the test had come back negative. It is 99% accurate at predicting that I will not go into labor within the next two weeks. So that's a relief!

We don't know why I've started to dilate. It's possible that it's just a variation that is perfectly normal for my body. They'll keep a close eye on me, probably do more of those uncomfortable exams at my upcoming appointments and possibly repeat the fetal fibronectin test in a couple of weeks. In the meantime we are relieved not to be preparing ourselves for an early delivery and wondering if our little worm has a bit of a morbid sense of humor!

Sofie's Spot 28 Weeks!!

Oh my! Would someone please tell my bottom that it had better let a few pounds settle on it in order to balance the belly?! I'm officially part of the third trimester club and up another three pounds this month bringing my grand total to 28.5. This month I can see the bottom of my belly button, which is very strange. It hasn't popped out yet, but it is slowly becoming more and more shallow. I imagine by my 32 week post it will be a goner! Sofie continues to be a very active little booger and her movements are quite obvious now. I was really sick at the beginning of the week and I fell asleep spooning Ben. He said he couldn't believe that I could sleep through her constant kicking. He could feel it on his back! I had the dreaded glucose test at my appointment on Friday and it really wasn't so bad. I haven't heard the test results yet, but I'll just assume that no news is a good thing! My appointments are now scheduled for every two weeks until I hit 36 weeks at which point they will be weekly. I can't believe that in a mere 12 weeks we're going to meet this little individual. It seems like the time just keeps flying by.

On May 12th Ben graduated cum laude with two BA's, one in Psychology and one in Philosophy. It was so wonderful to see him finally accomplish such a big goal. He had been really looking forward to graduation for a very long time, and I was so happy to play the role of the proud wife grinning up in the nosebleed seats. Congratulations Pea-Pie! I'm so proud of you!

My clinic placement for next year, the final piece of my education puzzle, has finally been confirmed which is quite a relief! I'll start my first rotation on July 2nd and continue until Sofie decides it's time to greet us or August 17th, whichever comes first. Then I will have time off until October 15th at which time I will return three days a week until December when I will resume full-time status. It's going to be a crazy busy year, but it's also going to allow me to graduate on time with the rest of my class, and that means that Ben can pursue graduate studies next year if he chooses to, rather than waiting for two full years to continue. I have mixed feelings about the whole thing. I'm very excited about the placement. When I discovered I was pregnant I was convinced that I had spoiled my opportunity to go to this particular site. I'm thrilled that I was wrong and so grateful that they've been willing to work with me. I think it will be an excellent opportunity for me to learn so much, and will hopefully open some doors for me somewhere down the road. But I'm also very sad to be leaving Sofie at such a young age and working so many extra hours during a time when she is growing and changing so fast. It's a bittersweet decision and one that I hope I won't regret in the future.

I had a wonderful weekend catching up with some old friends. There's something about old friends that just can't be recreated with new ones. I had a great time reminiscing and it's always fun to hear about struggles and successes and realize just how far we've really come...how much we've grown up. I just can't believe I'm grown enough to be somebody's mama!

Ben has two interviews scheduled for tomorrow. Everyone please keep your fingers collectively crossed! One of the jobs would be an excellent place for him and would give him some great experience to put on his grad school applications. I'm afraid to get too excited about it. What are the chances of someone getting the first job that they interview for?!? But a girl can hope, right? If we can get all our ducks in a row we'd like to move before the end of June. Regardless of whether we're moving or staying put, we will be losing our internet service temporarily sometime in the next couple of weeks. I still have access to plenty of computers at the University, but if my posts are few and far between you'll understand why...

Bum Stories

I've been a little lax lately with the bum updates. It's finally getting warm outside and they're coming out of hibernation, migrating back from the warmer states if you will. We've had a couple of amusing run-ins with the bums lately.

First, the bums love to congregate behind our apartment where there is a little ledge. They hang out there, drink their beer and have a good old time. The other day Ben came down the back steps and spied a bum sitting there with his alcohol. The bum said, "You don't mind that we sit out here do you?" and Ben said, "Well actually, I kind of do, but don't worry about it." So the bum said, "Well, you want me to clean up? I'll clean up..." and proceeded to pick up the mountain of trash that has accumulated from their empty beer bottles and fast food bags (as if there wasn't a dumpster less than twenty feet away...ugh!) Ben wandered off muttering, "You don't have to do that, it's ok..." Seriously?! We should just start calling the police and get them arrested for open containers.

We've been working on packing up some "stuff" around here to make room for the baby. (Soon I'll have some before and after pictures to share with you from our computer room/closet space!) Today mom came up to take some of our boxes back down to her house to store in the basement. Unfortunately, not everything fit in the car, so we decided to pitch a chair that we weren't planning on keeping anyway. Very opportunely, a bum happened by and wanted to know how much we wanted for another chair we were trying to shove in the trunk. We told him that it wasn't for sale, but that he was welcome to have the rejected chair free. He was very pleased and proceeded to talk our ears off for a good fifteen minutes as we tried to escape. I even got suckered into hugging him.

I am incapable of stressing just how much we want to get out of this place before Sofie joins us. I can't even imagine the attention a new baby will attract, not to mention what an easy target we'll become. Ben's job search has still not produced any results yet. It is getting kicked into high gear now that he doesn't have any distractions. Cross your fingers that he finds something soon!!!

Of Nothing in Particular

So, guess what I did today...

I took my last final for my last semester class EVER!

Sure I still have one five week summer course, and I have to finish my research project and pass my written and oral comps, and then there's that whole year of externing...

...but somehow, this feels like a huge bittersweet milestone. I'm almost done folks!!!

In completely unrelated news, I went for an echocardiogram yesterday (before you freak out, it's really no big deal...I've been having some minor heart palpitations, and they are just being ridiculously and annoyingly thorough ruling out anything major) and the ultrasound tech unexpectedly let me take a little peek at Sofie! It was a very brief and very very unclear peek, but I did manage to surmise that she's looking an awful lot more scrunched these days than she did a month ago, and she was reflexively sucking, so that was kind of fun to see! My little inner cheerleader was going, "Woohoo Sofie! Keep on sucking...you'll be a champion breastfeeder in no time!" (It's embarrassing what kind of strange maternal thoughts have been creeping into my head lately!)

Ben and I had our first Bradley method class on Monday night, which was very interesting. I think we're going to learn a lot of useful information, and since one of the major tenets is relaxation I think Ben will be giving his fair share of massages these next few months. I've never been so excited to do my 'homework' in my entire life!

Lastly, my cell phone, er...actually a cheap old used replacement, is finally back in working order. After a couple of rather annoying incidents I decided it was time to rejoin the land of the connected. Unfortunately, I lost all of my contacts when my old phone decided to take a dump. So, if you ever want me to call you again, you'll need to give me a call and remind me what your phone number is. If, however, you'd prefer to remain in cell-phone hater mode and just continue to write e-mails instead, that is more than just alright by me!