Pre-Term Labor

35 weeks today

What a day! And what an experience. I went into my weekly appointment this morning to get my Group B Test and for the doctors to do their weekly check up on little Gabrielle. To my surprise, when they hooked me up to the monitor, which tests her heart-rate and measures contractions, I was having contractions! Within 20 minutes I had 4 contractions. My mid-wife, Shelly, is amazing! I love how she interacts with me. She was surprised that I was handling the contractions as well as I was. She told me that since I needed to be examined for the Group B Strep, that she would check if I was dilating or not. And yet again, to my surprise, I was already dilated to 2 cm.

During this time, my fiance was at work and my mom was the only person with me. They emitted me to triage on the third floor so they could try and stop my contractions. They did inform me though, that if I was to have her now, that she would be fine. Her lungs are already operating great and her heart sounds wonderful. I was finally able to get a hold of my fiance and he made his was to the hospital to be with me and my mom. I can't explain how important he means to me. When he walked though the door, still in his work uniform and messy hair, he looked so beautiful. I was finally able to breathe. My baby was there by my side now.

I was hooked on a monitor and was given an IV for roughly two hours. The contractions never stopped, and still haven't. But the medication they sent me home with helps to keep them spaced out and not as long. As I'm typing this I've had one contraction and they're coming at about 12 minutes apart. Looks like I'll be having a little girl here soon! I'm so excited!

So if you're wondering what I felt I'll do my best to explain. As every other thing you will read about pregnancy, everyone is different and everybody experiences a different pain tolerance. For me, my contractions felt very normal. I didn't know I was having contractions, I thought i was just feeling her stretch inside and pushing up against me, making my belly tight. So the best way I can describe the feeling is a definite tightening of your stomach. My stomach will start getting really hard or tight and I have a shortness of breath. After about 30 seconds, I'll start to feel the tightness fade and then I go back to breathing normally.  If you're experiencing anything similar to what I said, contact your doctor.

Well I will keep everybody up to date. Hopefully I won't be rushing to the hospital anytime tonight. I need some rest!

34 Weeks, 4 days.

So I'm planning on getting some pictures taken. The one above is one of my favorites. It seems so elegant. Hopefully, I get some nice belly shots before she arrives.

Thursday will mark my 35 weeks! I can't believe in just 5 weeks I'll be term. It really is mind blowing. I have had a lot of worries. The fact that when I'm going into labor, there is no turning back. The best thing I've done to help me, is to educate myself. I received the book, What to Expect, When Expecting, in the first few weeks of my pregnancy and it is the best thing to get! Any and all of my questions I've ever had has been answered with that book. So for you young moms that read my blog, make sure you look into getting that book. I highly, highly recommend it.

We move into our new apartment this Saturday! It's been really bittersweet. The stress of getting packed up and making sure everything is just perfect for when the little one arrives, has put a lot on my shoulders. I'll definitly be letting you bloggers out there know how this moving thing progresses.

Again, let me know if you have any questions. I've been having lots of questions coming to my email. So don't be shy! :)

Questions?

So I thought that I might try to take this blog in a different direction.

I want to help others out there that are also in the same, or similar, position as I am. I don't know how many other teen moms are out there that read my blog, but maybe I can help other moms too. 

Ask me anything that you have questions about your pregnancy, and I'll research each of your questions to find the best answer. 

I'm trying to reach out to as many people as I can, and help as many people as I can.

Just leave a comment, or message me. And I promise, I will answer each and every one of your questions.

Hope this works! :)

Let me catch you up...

It sure has been a crazy few days. Jotting it all down helps me to just let it all go.

Tuesday Night: My poor fiance was having horrible abdominal pain since Tuesday morning. It was hard seeing him in so much pain. He would groan and hold his stomach. I told him, as long as a lot of the family, that he should go in and see a doctor. He, of course, said no that he was fine.

Wednesday: Wednesday morning me and my fiance had an appointment to go and sign the lease of the apartments we're interested in. After a long, pain filled night for my baby, and me up with him, we woke up at 9am and ended up signing a lease. We just had to wait until we were approved to know whether or not we got the apartment or not. Afterwords, we drove to my OB appointment. We got to listen to baby Gabby. Her heart sounds so good. Since my pregnancy is a high risk pregnancy, we get to listen to her heart for about 20-30 minutes weekly. During the appointment my fiance was still experiencing a lot of abdominal pain. I told him that we should just go to the ER since we were already at the hospital. He finally agreed. That was around 2:30. After having endless tests run, a lot of waiting around, a cat-scan, ultra-sound, and x-ray. We were released at 9:30. The doctors wanted to see him right away for an endoscopy and to take a sample of his stomach lining, which they found to be inflamed. My poor baby! We went back to his parents house. They gave him pain killers to try and ease the pain. They've worked a little bit but the pain still proceeds to really bother him.

Thursday: After another night of my fiance doubling over with abdominal pain, we went to the other ER that had the doctors to do the procedure. We checked in at 1:00. After many hours of waiting and watching all the sick people the waiting room was holding, we finally got called back. Because the results of the x-ray, ultra sound, and cat-scan was still at the first ER, they had to run  their own tests. He had to give blood and leave a stool sample. The results came back positive with blood in is stool and again, we were released (11:40pm) but with proper instruction with what to do the following day. 

A word of advise: If you absolutely don't have to go the Emergency Room, don't. The ER is an ALL DAY thing. 

Friday: Friday morning we received a call from the apartment people and found out that we were approved! The apartment is our come August 7th! At 4:00 pm we had yet another appointment with another doctor! This doctor informed us that he was going to get the results back from the first ER and take a look at them. From here, he would decided if an endoscopy is really what needs to happen next. So here we are now, I'm writing my blog and my fiance is sitting beside me playing video games. Tomorrow I have to call the doctor and meet him, to give him the results from the first ER. Until then, it's a long wait.

Other than all those problems, baby Gabrielle is doing fine! She's been moving a lot. Maybe she knows her mommy is worried about daddy.

Hope all you bloggers are doing better than we are. I'm going to try and get some much needed sleep!

Burger King Anyone...?

I have the best fiance in the world! Along with my consistent nagging of keeping things clean, my irritable moods, and the stress that comes along with moving-he's still doing my 2am Burger King Runs!

I guess it is true, you have cravings that you usually don't have. Up until my pregnancy I hated any fast food burgers. And I absolutely did not do Burger Kings and McDonalds.  But since little Gabby has been growing, my craving for Burger King's spicy chick'n'crisp and their onion rings has grown as well! My fiance tolerates my 2 o'clock in the morning late night runs. 

I love you baby!

And speaking about the apartment, we're signing all the papers in the morning! I can tell my fiance is excited. We keep talking about how we have to get the little things, like a toaster, coffee maker, bath towels, to laundry detergent. It's all a little overwhelming. Luckily we have a lot of support from our families and they're helping us out a lot!

THINGS TO GET:

• Bedroom furniture
• Kitchen Table
• Dishes
• Silverware
• Toaster
• Coffee Maker
• Glasses
• Couch
• Coffee Table
• T.V
• T.V stand
• Bathing Towels
• Bath Mats
• Shower Curtain
• Crib
• Diaper Changing Table
• Toy Box

• Gabrielle's Dresser

We're doing pretty good on our list. And it definitely helps the stress level to have some of the things crossed off. Hopefully we will be able to pull off the remainder of the list before little Gabby gets here. We'll just keep our fingers crossed and count our blessings.

Well that's all for now bloggers. I have an early morning!

Moving on up...

So I can happily say WE'RE MOVING!

My fiance and I have successfully found a "do-able" apartment, just minutes away from each of our parents house. Wednesday we're signing all the paper work and putting in our deposit. Both our parents are really happy for us. Gabrielle is going to be coming home to our home. I don't know how many times I've worried about hurting one family or the other when we decide on who's house she's going home to first. But now, I don't have that worry. Now it's a different worry!

How are we going to get all our furniture that we've collected, borrowed, been given, and manged to afford, on the third floor? I think I'm just going to sit back and let the boys handle it all! :)

I'm so thankful for what I have. My fiance has worked so hard over the span of my pregnancy and now he finally has something to show for it! I'm sure it makes him feel better! 

So for all you young moms and moms to be, it is possible to provide for your young one and do it on your own. Whether that be still living with your parents or getting a place on your own. It's going to take some hard work and some time, but it is possible. My fiance and I just want the best for our daughter, and we're finally getting that accomplished.

Enjoy your night :)

-Mommy-To-Be

Need a Break? YES PLEASE!

It's been a frustrating day, and I'm sure night to come. Listening to Jimi Hendrix- Castles Made of Sand...

You know, I'm at my most dangerous when I have time to actually sit here and think. Have you ever wondered when life will ever just give you a break? From trying to finish school, to juggling the stresses that come with living with mom and dad, and then, on top of it all, being 8 months pregnant? The only thing I find relief in, is being with my fiance. He gives so much support. I'm thankful for that. THANK YOU HUNNY!

I guess the truth is, you'll never get a 'break'. Life never stops. And that's the hard truth. So I'm here, living in this big world, trucking through this 'life' thing.

I think I'll get a big cup of coffee tonight and put my feet up!

So about little baby! She's been doing a lot of moving today. She loves her grandma's voice. I think it's the most recognizable to her now. She's getting a lot bigger! My belly has almost doubled the size it was just 3 weeks ago. Today, my dad's parents came up and we all wrote down what dates we think she'll be arriving on. Everyone, even the doctors, think she'll be here soon! SIGHHH- She'll be here before I know it I'm sure.

Hope everyone is doing good. You should all put your feet up tonight and attempt to take a break from life.

-Mommy-To-Be

32 Weeks, 1 Day

Hey everyone! So I'll let you guys know what I've been experiencing in the last 24 hours.

BRAXTON HICKS! Braxton Hick Contractions are the tightening of your uterus to help you prepare for labor. It definitely doesn't feel too pleasant. All night last night I was feeling these horrible things!

Just so everyone knows, if you experience 5-6 of these 'false labor' contractions within an hour call your practitioner! It may be hard for us to identify these fake labor pains from the real thing, so make sure you keep track of them and how long they last.

Has anybody else had any experience with these this early into the pregnancy? And if so, how did you cope with the pain?

Hope all is well with everyone out there!
-Mommy To Be

Young Mom

I guess being a "Young Mom" has a bad wrap that comes with the name. "We can't support our child", "We don't know what's best for our baby", "We are too young to have sex", etc. I guess to some extent they're right but we know what's true and we know what's false.

I'm 17 years old and I'm having my first child, a baby girl. I'm 32 weeks along and am more happy than I've ever been. I have such a great support system and my daughter's dad is my fiance. I've gone through up's and down's with this pregnancy from my parents, my fiance, my fiance's parents, and plenty of on-lookers. I thought by writing a blog I could help answer other young mom's questions and hopefully make a strong community of determined teens.

FINDING OUT I WAS PREGNANT:
When I found out I was pregnant I had a ton of emotions running through me. My fiance, at the time was my boyfriend of a year. And to be honest, we were going through some hard times. So having to tell him I was having his first child was really difficult. But luckily, he embraced me with hugs and told me that it wasn't a bad thing. Little did I know that in just a few weeks it was going to finally hit him and again, we had a rough patch. I truly felt alone and like I had nobody. That was when I made the choice to do it all on my own. I let my ego get the best of me. I wasn't going to tell me parents and I was going to make my boyfriend leave me. When it finally got too difficult emotionally, I gave in and told my parents. My boyfriend seemed to see how hard it was for me and he's been by my side since. He's supported every decision I've made and given me more love that I thought a person could give. As for my parents, they were very shocked and at first didn't know what to say. It took a while, but soon enough I had their full support.

KEEPING THE BABY OR NOT:
This was not a hard decision for me. I'm completely against abortion. And even though I knew I had adoption as an option, I could never find it in me to allow another family to raise my child. I knew that my boyfriend had a say in our plan for this baby as well. And after looking at our options we decided to keep the baby. Yes, we acknowledged how difficult it was going to be. At the time, my boyfriend wasn't working very much and I (still) didn't have a job. But we did have support and love from both sides of our family.

HOW PREGNANCY AFFECTED ME:
I've been on the A-B Honor Roll every year. When I found out I was pregnant I knew that I would be the new talk of the school, something that I was not looking forward to. I talked to my school counselor and my parents and decided that dropping out of school was NOT for me. School has always been a breeze for me so being in the 11th grade and then dropping out was pointless. I didn't want people to know about my pregnancy, so I decided to enroll on online school and finish it out that way. It's been a great choice, for me. My boyfriend, at the time, was a senior at a different school. He made the conscious decision of studying hard and taking his GED. We looked into this a lot and found out that if you scored high enough, you wouldn't receive a GED but a high school diploma instead. I helped him study and he ended up taking the test and receiving his high school diploma early. Now he was able to work more. Since he took this test in March, he's had more time to focus on working hard. He went from working 10-12 hours a week to now receiving two promotions and working almost 40 hours a week. Even though this was the best choice for our family, it may not be for the others of you reading this.

PREGNANCY SYMPTOMS:
The beginning of pregnancy was not enjoyable at all. I was constantly throwing up and not sleeping. Morning sickness hit me like a semi truck. My doctors told me that it would go away eventually and that this pregnancy would be enjoyable. Up until my 17th week I couldn't keep anything down. I was losing weight instead of gaining it and my doctors became very worried about me. I looked into ways of curing this and tried Chinese acupuncture. I can gladly say that I've not gotten sick since. :) At my 19th week I felt my baby kick. Me and my boyfriend were on vacation and on our way to go on a horse back riding trip. On our way there I felt the kick! It was so exciting! At 21 weeks my family and boyfriend were able to feel the baby.


FINDING OUT THE SEX:
Me and my boyfriend knew we couldn't wait. We wanted to find out what our little baby was. For some reason, I just knew that we were having a baby boy! I was even calling my little bump a 'him'. At my 22nd week appointment we went in for my second ultrasound. The OB asked if we wanted to find out and I said yes. When out OB put the picture up on the monitor our baby's legs were wide open and then we heard the words, "You're having a little girl!" My boyfriend and I looked at each other and were so surprised. I just knew I was pregnant and I just knew we were having a baby boy. Goes to show you how much I knew! :P

GOING FROM BOYFRIEND TO FIANCE:
My, now, fiance has been my best friend for awhile now. We started dating back in January '09. And if you're all wondering YES! we've had our up's and down's. And YES! we were having sex right away. We didn't wait long enough and we both regret that to this day. It would have been more special if we waited longer. My parents loved him right away and his parents accepted me like another daughter. We've been so lucky to have such a good support system. On June 22nd, 2010 we sat down and I asked him to promise himself to me and I would promise myself to him. We did and now wear rings. He calls me his fiancee and he's my fiance. I can't picture my life without him and I'm so glad that we're going through this together.

MORE ABOUT BABY:
We decided to name our daughter Gabrielle Joan-Louise. Her middle name is my fiance's grandmother and my grandmother's name combined. We're leaving it a surprise! :) Gabby is a jumping bean! She move's so much and keeps me up at night. She gets hiccups all the time now and recognizes her daddy's voice. My fiance also plays the guitar, so he'll put the guitar near my tummy and she'll move a lot. I haven't gained much weight, only putting on 14 lbs. extra. But little Gabby is gaining enough and is just fine!


Well this was my first blog and I'm planning on updating everyone every couple days! Please contact me with any questions!

-Mommy To Be :)