Alexis Kate's Story- Part Ten

Almost 9 Months

Our Townhouse

Our trip half way across the USA began by sitting in an hours worth of traffic.  And when I say traffic- I don't mean the kind where there are lots and lots of cars traveling 15 mph, I mean the kind where you do not move.  Some of you know what I mean.  That made it really, really easy to leave Atlanta!  Our first stop was Nashville, TN where we spent the night and saw the sights.

 

I was sooooo tired!

Will enjoyed the hotel beds.

The next day we walked around Nashville and headed out to St. Louis!  A very cool city, where we visited the arch.

After St. Louis we traveled on to the final destination- Omaha, NE

Alexis, Me, and Will- our first picture with CORN!

Finally, after three days of travel we made it to Omaha.  The day after arriving I had an appointment with my midwife.  Unfortunately, the scale was part of each visit.  I was devastated after this weight check.  I had gained six pounds in three weeks!  That's a lot!  To make it even worse the midwife suggested that I make sure I ate healthy well balanced meals.  Thankfully, despite the weight gain, everything was just right with Alexis.  They checked her growth and her heartbeat.   It was all good and I was set to visit again in a week.

August 1st,  Cheyenne (aka Shiney) boarded her plane back to Atlanta.  That's when it hit me that I was totally alone and very pregnant in a place where I knew no one!  The very next day I solved that problem by booking an unexpected flight to visit Josh for the weekend.  I called up a "potential friend" who's contact info I got from a friend in Atlanta and set a lunch date.  Later that week I received a facebook message from someone in Marion, NC with another "potential friend's" info.

August 8, 2010

Even with all of that, I was not even close to being busy enough.  It was really frustrating to have a house to put together, but no stamina to get in there and get it done.  Many days I would start to do something and then end up on the couch for the rest of the afternoon to nap. 

I was lonely.  I looked so forward to the childbirth classes where at least I would see people.  I signed up for a knitting class at the local library for the sole purpose of seeing people.

One of the activities to keep me busy was a maternity photo shoot, which ended up being really fun!

9 1/2 Months

I began walking around a local lake with my new friend Kelley and her 2 month old baby boy.  Kelley is now a really good friend.  We see each other at MOPS,  for playdates, small group, and occasionally at church.

I had a couple of coffee dates with my other new friend Kari.  Kari introduced me to MOPS, she was our one and only visitor at the hospital, and she set up meals for two weeks after Alexis was born!

On August 11th, I went back to my mid wife and to our surprise I measured a month smaller than I had measured at the end of July.  She measured again and again to make sure, and then sent me up to have an ultrasound to check Lexie's growth.  According to the measurements Alexis weighed 5 lbs 6 oz.  A perfectly healthy weight, but it was concerning that I had slipped backward in size.  The midwife sent me home with strict instructions to eat a 2400 calorie diet rich in protein and come back in a week.  Those of you who really know me, know that I hated everything about those instructions.  But, I did it. 

The next week, I was back in the office for a 37 week ultrasound.  Despite all that eating and a 2 lb weight gain for myself, Alexis had only gained 4 ounces.  At this point babies should be gaining 8 ounces a week.  Yikes!  This is when I felt we had a serious problem.  I kept asking "why would I gain the weight, but not the baby?" 
From this point on I was at the hospital twice a week.  Once a week I would have an ultrasound and twice a week I would be hooked up to a baby heart rate/movement monitor. 
Week 38, Alexis had gained 3 ounces.  Week 39, just 3 more ounces.  She had slipped below the 10 percentile and the mid wife with the advice of a doctor determined that I would be induced.  We planned the induction for the day after Josh would arrive. 

I waited two more very, very long days for Josh to arrive.  On Wednesday, September 1st at 1:30am he finally flew in!

To Be Continued...