Because it had been a strange weekend having what I thought were contractions, I decided on Monday to go in for a quick check to make sure that everything was all right. It was not my scheduled week for my cervical check, but the office was able to get me in right away. I thought I better post a quick update since there were a lot of concerned people that perhaps I had done too much and everything was not ok.
I discovered that not only was everything fine, but my cervix was measuring at 2.9 cm in length, still within the ok range. (They usually check 3 separate times during each appointment and during the 3 checks it showed 2.8cm, 2.9cm and 3.1cm.) I did not have any funneling and although I felt like I was having a contraction at the precise moment they were doing the ultrasound, it wasn't a contraction at all. In fact, the ultrasound showed that it was the baby stretching and causing my stomach to get firm from the way he was positioned.
His head is still down in birth position, but he seems to prefer this position. I was told that it was normal at between 28 weeks and 32 weeks for babies to begin turning head down and he would likely attempt to reposition, but it wasn't cause for alarm that he is head down. At the last ultrasound his face was turned toward my backside, but at this ultrasound his head was turned toward my front side. The tech traced the outline of his little bottom on my belly to show me why I felt like I was having a contraction. If you can imagine this, his little bum is pushing quite hard on my belly which even now feels very hard. Between the anterior tilt of my uterus (it faces toward the front of my body) and the low lying placenta it all causes his movements to be very noticeable. In fact, if I lean slightly backwards I can see the outline of his body.
Although the doctor said I can ease up on modified bedrest, I have still been taking it easy. Well as easy as you can take it when you have a hyper 2 year old that never sleeps and a feisty 4 year old who lately has become a bit needy. Likely my 4 year old is a bit stressed over the impending birth of her brother as well as nervous about starting kindergarten next week. I think getting out of the house and getting to be around kids her age, even if for only part of the day, will tremendously help her and give her something of her own that she gets to do. It's hard thinking about her starting school already, but she's such an intelligent and bright young lady and she truly gets bored at home with mommy and her little sister.
We made the decision to take our 2 year old to a chiropractor last Saturday to see if perhaps he could help us figure out why she is not sleeping. After all, we had been to all of her specialists and no one seemed to have the answer. Several people over the last two years have suggested a chiropractor and we've resisted exhausting all other resources first. I'm proud to say she's had two adjustments so far and she has slept the last three nights. We eased up on the melatonin as the neurologist had her up to 4mg and it still wasn't working, so we thought we would see what would happen if she went back to 1mg with her treatments. Granted the last two nights she did wake up and crawl into bed with us at some point, but unlike most nights she actually fell back to sleep quickly and we got a full nights rest. She's had some extreme meltdowns during the day, but in the last four nights she has not woken up with a meltdown. You have no idea what a relief that has been. I don't think my body knows what to do with sleep. It feels strange since she's not slept well off and on for the last two years. And she is now acting like she's exhausted during the day and actually took a nap yesterday and today. So it seems to me that chiropractic is working for her.
Tomorrow is my 3D ultrasound and we are so excited! I will post the pictures once we have them. Thank you everyone for sharing in this journey with us and for sharing your stories, your excitement for us, and your concern when things seem scary. I will be 29 weeks on Friday and can't believe how far we've come.
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