32 week update

Here is my 32 week update:

Hi everyone!

As you may remember, my water broke at 20 weeks and I've been on strict bedrest in the hospital ever since.

I hit 32 weeks yesterday and I'm estatic. I'm still leaking a lot of fluid, but my fluid levels have been much higher the last month or so (from under 2 afi to over 4 & 5 afi every time).

I haven't really had any problems yet, no bleeding, cramping, infection, or pain. I still haven't had one contraction (knock on wood)!

The last 12 weeks I've been on strict bedrest with no bathroom privledges, but now I'm finally getting up. It was exhausting at first, my muscles were so weak, but already after a few days of getting up I have built back some muscle tone. I've even taken a shower and washed my hair! (With no conditioner though, it looked so horrible afterwards!) I need a serious trip to the salon - my roots are VERY dark (usually they lighten significantly in the sun) and sprinkled with quite a bit of grey! It's slightly depressing. I think the trip to my hairdresser will be one of my first outings!

Last week, at 31 weeks, the baby supposedly weighed 4 lbs 1 oz, which is in the 60th percentile. We hope he weighs 5 lbs or so when he's born! Hopefully this will limit the amount of time he spends in the NICU.

I had been having lots of eating problems recently. I'm a vegetarian which limits what I can eat already, plus I have a pregnancy-related gagging problem. Now, I've eaten the same food so often (and thrown it back up) that it literally makes me sick to think about eating it. Almost every time they bring me a tray of food I throw up. So, I've started having restaraunt food delivered to my room! It is expensive, but it is the only way I can eat. I usually can order enough that it will last me for lunch and dinner. And I figure I only have 13 or so days left (WOOO HOOOOO!!!) so it is worth it to spend the money.

The other problem I've had is a high heart rate. It goes up to 120 - 130 sometimes (once it was 145!). At first the thought it was hyperthyroidism or Grave's disease, but after having some blood tests they decided that's not it. So now they don't really know what's going on, but I think it is just that my heart is out of shape. I just want to try to keep the heart rate as low as possible so the doctor's don't freak out. A few times when my HR was high the spoke about delivery (thinking it might be an indicator of infection).

And, to top it all off, I think I'm getting allergies, or maybe a cold. My nose is running LIKE CRAZY and I'm coughing and sneezing a lot. They are going to give me some bendryl today and see if that helps. I hope something helps because I'm pretty miserable.

As to my medical care, we didn't do a second round of steroids (did one round at 24 weeks) because they thought I could make it to 32, and they said at 32 it wasn't as necessary. They don't plan on doing any lung maturity tests, they want to just deliver at 34 no matter what. I'm going to ask if they will do some lung maturit tests around 34, and see if I can wait a few more days if the lungs are NOT mature, but they've said no so far.

Anyway, that's about it! Just counting down the last 13 days!