Baby Borgman: due May 25th, 2002
Belly Pictures!

5/28/02 40 weeks, 3 days	Midwife appointment today: I'm exactly where I figured I'd be, past my due date. Can't say I'm too surprised. My appointment went well. Baby's heart rate was normal. My belly is 37 centimeters. I'm still 80% effaced but now 1 1/2 centimeters dilated and baby is still engaged. The midwife stripped my membranes and I took a bit of castor oil this afternoon. We all agree that I'm really close, based on my overall attitude and how prepared my body is. Throughtout the entire holiday weekend, I was getting lots of contractions. I never was one to get a lot of contractions so I have to think something is happening soon. Heck on Sunday I timed them for 2 hours and they were 5-10 minutes apart. They weren't painful, but at least it was something. I'm still feeling pretty crampy. I swear this baby has to be coming out soon!! Everything hurts. There's so much pressure. It hurts to walk, it hurts when I get up, it just hurts. I've had it.
5/22/02 39 weeks, 4 days	Midwife appointment today: Saturday is D-Day! Baby's heart rate was in the 130's. My belly is at 37 centimeters. Baby's estimated weight is 7 1/2 pounds. I'm 80% effaced, 1 centimeter dilated, and baby is at 0 station... so not much change since last week. I'm still having lots of tailbone pain, cramping, and swelling. It's been an interesting couple of days. On Sunday I started losing my mucus plug. The last 2 days have seen a four-fold increase in the number of... and this may be too much information for some of you but oh well... BM's I normally have. This is usually a good sign that the body is clearing itself out and preparing for labor. This morning I was really crampy. If I didn't know better, I'd say things were really starting to happen. But I'm trying not to get my hopes up. Geez I sound like an 80-year old woman talking about my health problems, but you have to realize how important these things are to a pregnant woman as she approaches her due date!
5/15/02 38 weeks, 4 days	Midwife appointment today: 10 days to go!! Baby's heart rate was in the 140's. It was really strong and loud through the fetascope. Sounds cool. My belly measured 35 centimeters. The midwife asked me if I thought baby dropped and my answer was a resounding yes. Indeed, baby has dropped. She checked my cervix. Baby went from -1 station to engaged over the last week. I'm still 75% effaced but am now dilated to 1 cm all the way through (before it was just 1 cm on the outer os but the inner os was closed). So, some progress has been made. The first centimeter is the hardest!! My list of symptoms and complaints: low back pain (around tailbone), menstrual-like cramps (quite common now), swelling, and carpal tunnel. Good news: Our car seat is just fine. I went to a clinic last week where I learned how to properly put baby in the seat as well as secure the seat to the car. We're all set now. Been driving around for a few days with an infant car seat in the back, all we need now is a baby to put in it. So, only 10 days to go. Sometimes (when I feel like complete crap - back pain, cramps, etc) I feel like it's going to be any day now. Then I start feeling better and it occurs to me that I'll probably go 10 days late. I just can't wait to meet this baby!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! And, well, geez... are you a BOY or GIRL?? I'm dying to know!!
5/8/02 37 weeks, 4 days	Midwife appointment today: Baby's heart rate was in the 130's to 150's and my belly measured 35 1/2 centimeters (2 cm increase in 1 week?). My weight gain is now 32 pounds. My cervix has not changed since my appointment on 4/24 (see below) but I did find out that baby is at a -1 station. Midwife's estimated baby size is 6 1/2 pounds. I'm still feeling decent most of the time. My common complaints include swelling and lower back pain. Pelvic pressure and (this is new) menstrual-like cramps are becoming more and more common, with today being the worst in recent memory. We bought a rocker today!!!!! Thanks Aaron's grandma and dad! So now we have everything. Our stroller/car seat combo ("travel system") arrived a few days ago but we're not sure if the car seat will work with our car. I'm headed to a car seat inspection clinic tomorrow to see what the deal is. The reason it doesn't fit well is because our back seat has a hump in the middle AND the seat belt in the middle of the back seat has a non-removable shoulder strap. We may have to return the dumb thing and get a different car seat. Grrrr... Our car is retarted. Someone that Aaron works with gave us some good baby stuff last Friday. We are now the proud owners of some really nice (barely?) used items like a high chair, bouncer, and play gym. Some day soon I'll post pictures of the nursery. It's probably as done as it'll ever get. I'm not happy with the comforter I made though and I'm not sure if I want to spend another $20 on fabric to try it again. Yeah yeah yeah, I know you're not supposed to use comforters because of SIDS, but this is more for when the kid gets older and the crib is converted into a toddler or junior bed. I'm going to need it then.
5/1/02 36 weeks, 4 days	No baby yet. Haha, I'm sure we still have a way to go. Midwife appointment today: Baby's heart rate was 160 and my belly measured 33 1/2 centimeters. I must be dropping; Generally decreased fundal height measurements, increased pelvic pressure, and increased amount of space between boobs and belly are good indicators of lightening. I've got all three. It's funny, the midwife that felt my belly had just finished her appointment with a girl who is due just a few days before me. Her belly is measuring much larger but our babies appear to be about the same. My weight gain is constant at 30 pounds and the swelling is still there. I was fortunate enough to be the recipient of yet another drawing on my belly. Click here to see how baby is positioned. Overall I feel pretty good. Some days the back pain gets me down and some days I feel great. We're just so excited to meet our little addition. It really could be any time now.
4/24/02 35 weeks, 5 days	Midwife appointment: Baby's heart rate was in the 150's and my belly measured 33 1/2 centimeters. I'm still a bit behind but baby is showing good growth. The midwife estimated size to be about 5 1/2 pounds... not that accurate I'm sure, but interesting nonetheless. Like I said in the previous update, it'll be a small baby. My total weight gain is 30 pounds. OUCH! Yes, that's right, 6 pounds in 2 weeks. I'm so swollen. I've been eating normally and drinking water almost obsessively but it doesn't seem to be helping. My blood pressure is fine and I have no other problems, so I guess the swelling is normal for me and I'll have to deal with it. Unfortunately, my fingers are so big and nasty that today is probably the last day I'll wear my wedding ring. I need to buy a chain so I can wear it around my neck... Baby is still head down. Yay! Cervix is very soft, about 75% effaced, and 1 cm on the outside (ectocervix) but completely closed on the inside (endocervix). So at least I'm making progress. Major complaints: almost constant lower back pain, pelvic pressure, and swelling. The nursery is getting there. I finally finished the crib bumper. I bought a lamp and covered the shade to match the theme. I sewed some curtains earlier in the week. Today I'm going to JoAnn's to buy fabric for a comforter. That's my next project. I think we're pretty much ready to have this baby! It has diapers, clothes, and a place to sleep. That's a good start in my book. Midwife appointment are weekly now. Wow, we're so close...
4/10/02 33 weeks, 5 days	Midwife appointment: Everything still looks good. Baby's heart rate was between the 160's and 180's (it was aerobicizing at that point) and my belly measured 31 1/2 centimeters. That puts me a little behind, but the midwife didn't seem too worried. I wouldn't be surprised if this was a small baby. Aaron was 3-something at 6 weeks early and I was 6 pounds, 2 ounces about a week late. I'd be very surprised if this kid was much over 7 pounds. What else? Oh, my total weight gain is 24 pounds. Baby continues to be in the vertex position! The midwife drew another picture of the baby's position on my belly. Click here to see it. Whatever I did to the muscles in my back (strained them?), it seems to have pretty much healed. I don't have too many physical complaints, other than I keep dropping things and I'm sick of having to pick them up!! Oh, and tieing shoes sucks! The nursery looks great. We have the crib all set up, and everything's in place except for a glider/rocker that I want but can't afford. I've washed all the baby clothes and put them away. I'm currently sewing the crib bumper. The room desperately needs some decorating, but there's plenty of time for that. I'll take some pictures when it's closer to being done. For now, at least the baby has a place to sleep and some clothes to wear. Next midwife appointment is in 2 weeks.
3/26/02 31 weeks, 4 days	Midwife appointment: Everything still looks good. Baby's heart rate was about 144 and my belly measured 30 1/2 or 31 centimeters. Usually they like to see about 1 cm per week and I was a little under that this time. However, the baby is showing good growth so the midwife thinks it may have dropped a little bit. Hmmm... that might make sense. I haven't had much rib pain or heartburn in the last two weeks. I've only gained a 1/2 pound this last 2 weeks bringing my total weight gain to 22 pounds. Baby is head down still!!! But I pretty much knew that. Babies at this stage are typically about 15 inches (head to toe) and since I'm so short, I'm guessing baby would have a hard time turning around. I'm not too worried about it going breech. Oh, the midwife drew a picture of the baby's position on my belly. Click here to see it. The back pain is getting me down. Every night for the last week (or more), my back has been killing me. The only relief comes from a hot bath or laying flat on my back. I feel like such an invalid. The nursery is looking like a nursery (sort of). The room is all painted and has new wall trim that I stained last week. We picked up a nice used dresser and night stand for $35 at a garage sale last weekend. That's been painted white. We picked up the crib but Aaron has yet to put it together. Next week's project is to start decorating. First I will make a crib bumper. Then I will sew some curtains. After that, it's anybody's guess. Next midwife appointment is in 2 weeks.
3/12/02 29 weeks, 4 days	We had another midwife appointment this morning. Everything looks good. Baby's heart rate was in the 150's and my belly measured 30 centimeters. I've only gained a pound and a half this last 2 weeks (whew) bringing my total weight gain to 21 1/2 pounds. Who knows exactly what the baby weighs but likely it's somewhere around 3 or 4 pounds. Baby is head down!!!!! I thought so. The other day I was feeling around and thought I was able to bobble a little head down there. Also, the kicks seemed to be a little bit higher. Fortunately, junior is sparing me the rib beatings! So the midwife verified it and baby is indeed head down and posterior (facing the front of my belly). We even felt a little knee! I'm still battling with the occasional bout of back pain and heartburn, but overall it's still tolerable. I'm enjoying being pregnant more or less. We'll see how I feel in a few more weeks however! The nursery is still coming along slowly. We finally ordered a crib. Thanks mom for the monetary input!! We just finished painting the new guest room, now we need to move the bed, computer, etc from the baby's room to the guest room so that we can finish baby's room (needs trim along the floor). So now we have some clothes and a crib to put in the nursery and that's about it. Good thing we still have about 10 weeks left! Although, they won't stop me if I go into labor at 36 weeks, so time is running out! Next midwife appointment is in 2 weeks.
2/27/02 28 weeks	3rd Trimester. YEAH! This morning we saw the midwife. Baby continues to thrive. Heartbeat was in the 140's and my belly measured 28 centimeters as it should. Eww, I've gained 20 pounds. Baby is breech, at least for now. He or she is big enough to hear the heartbeat with a fetascope (it's pretty similar to a regular stethoscope), but that's still pretty quiet so we also used the doppler. I took the glucose tolerance test ("GTT") to see if I have gestational diabetes - and I don't. I didn't figure I did, I have none of the symptoms of diabetes. I'm doing okay, more or less. I have my good days and my bad days. I've been having to deal with back pain, rib pain, and heartburn a lot in the last 2 weeks or so. Looks like my 3rd trimester discomforts are well on their way. At least I only have about 12 weeks to go! The nursery is, well, coming along slowly. I'm still trying to paint the other spare bedroom that we have so the guest bed and computer can go in there, thus making room for baby in the smaller room. A friend gave us a bunch of girl clothes and we have some other friends who are all set to give us boy clothes if a boy. I've ordered cloth diapers on they're on the their way. We still don't have a crib. Can't afford to buy a nice one so I've been looking in the paper for a good used one. No luck yet. We're going to be buying a car seat/stroller combo ("travel system") new but we need to save up a bit of money for that. I'd like a rocker glider but we'll have to see what the finances look like. I'm quitting my job next week so we won't have a whole lot of extra money to spend. I will be posting a new belly picture in the next couple days so stay tuned. We're getting pretty big! Next midwife appointment is in 2 weeks.
1/30/02 24 weeks	Today was our 3rd midwife appointment. I'm still healthy and so is the baby. Heartbeat was in the 150's to 160's and my belly measured 24 centimeters (right on). The midwife felt around and decided that the baby was laying sideways across my abdomen. We reviewed the ultrasound report and everything was normal. So NO I will not be getting another ultrasound. Our next appointment is on February 27th where I will be doing a test (the "GTT") to determine if I have gestational diabetes, even though I have no symptoms. After that appointment, I will be going in every other week since I will be in the 3rd Trimester. I posted a new belly picture. The baby has been growing quite a bit lately, as evidenced by the increased intensity of kicks and movement. Now, we can both not only feel kicks, but see my belly move as the baby rolls around. Neat!
1/4/02 20 weeks	Well it's a stubborn little bugger. The ultrasound technician tried and tried so hard to find out the sex, bless her heart. At the beginning she thought maybe she saw something that would indicate it was a boy, but she wasn't even remotely sure by any means. She said she'd check again later and wasn't confident in the least bit that it was actually a boy. Later came, and went. Baby had its legs crossed the whole time. She also said there was a lot of umbilical cord around the legs, so what she saw earlier may have been the cord too. I drank a full 12 ounces of Coke before I went in, hoping that would get the baby moving. It was moving alright, but apparently not enough. The tech tried pushing on my belly at all angles to get the baby to move but it would not budge. Well I have to say I'm pretty bummed. I've been holding out on buying clothing and stuff... but now I know what I need to get: a whole shit-load of gender neutral stuff. No, we will not be getting another ultrasound so this is it until the baby's born. On a happier note, everything checks out ok. We saw 4 chambers in the heart and it was beating away happily at about 142 bpm, she said. All organs appeared to be present and looking good. The big shocker was that the estimated weight was 1 pound, 11 ounces. OUCH! All my pregnancy calendars say it should still be under a pound... but maybe their estimate was off. That does, however, help explain my 6-pound weight gain in the last month. At any rate, all the measurements were normal and my due date remains unchanged. Ultrasound Pictures: Profile with head on the right, facing down (towards my back), spine clearly visible Large - 663x550 pixels / 66.1K Small - 332x250 pixels / 28.2K Leg (foot is on the right, pointing up) Large - 682x500 pixels / 68K Small - 341x250 pixels / 28.8K
12/28/01 19 weeks	Today was our 2nd midwife appointment. Learned some cool stuff and experienced a major bummer. The baby is growing well and my uterus is 2 fingers above the belly button. All of my vitals checked out. Baby's heartrate was fluctuating between about 135 and 155, which according to the midwife was excellent because it "shows good neurological activity in response to stimuli." The major bummer is that our insurance doesn't cover as much of the midwife fees as we thought. It never occured to us, but makes sense now, that a midwife would be an out-of-network provider. Therefore, our insurance only covers about 80% of the fees, after we fork over a $250 deductible. Midwife's fees are $4800, which is still pretty cheap compared to a hospital, but it means that we'll be paying $910 of that. Ug! This is money we hadn't planned on spending. *whine* (pity party donations will be accepted). Anyway, after getting over the initial shock, we decided it's not that bad of a price to pay to have the kind of birth experience we want. Oh, more good news: our next and probably last ultrasound is scheduled for next Friday, January 4th. Hopefully the baby will cooperate and reveal its gender.
12/21/01 18 weeks	Merry Christmas! I just wanted to say that this baby has everything figured out. It's kicking and punching all the time, I really wonder what it's up to! On a good day I'll feel the little one moving around at least once every hour and sometimes a kicking bout may last for a few minutes. It's really quite entertaining. I've noticed that it's gotten a little bit stronger over the last 2 weeks, but it still can't be felt from the outside. Poor Aaron, he'll have to take my word for it and wait his turn. We're really starting to get a tummy too. My uterus is right up to my belly button now and it won't be long before I'm sporting that huge, round pregnancy belly. I've been wearing maternity clothes for almost 2 weeks now and hey they don't look that silly! Next up: midwife appointment one week from today and hopefully we'll be scheduling an ultrasound sometime soon so we can figure out if this is Emma or some boy's name that we have yet to agree on.
12/9/01 16 weeks, 2 days	I've been holding off on this update until I was sure but now there's no question that I'm feeling the baby. It started a week ago when I was laying in bed with my hand on my belly. I felt two little thumps against my hand. The next morning I felt a rolling sensation against my hand. By that point I was pretty sure it was the baby but never having felt it before, one cannot be too sure. I didn't feel anything again for the next five days. I'm guessing it was due to a growth spurt because supposedly babies don't move much during growth spurts. I know we had a big growth spurt because I am actually start to show now and thinking seriously about wearing maternity clothes full-time. Anyway, two days ago I felt a couple more kicks, this time from the inside. It caught me off guard, I didn't have a hand on my belly and didn't expect to be feeling kicks from the inside. Several times yesterday I felt more kicks while watching TV, and they're usually in different spots. The same is true today. They're still not very strong yet, or predictable, but they're definitely happening more often. According to an online pregnancy calendar, the baby is about 5 1/2 inches (crown to rump) and weighs roughly 3 ounces. It can now suck, swallow, blink... and kick apparently.
11/29/01 14 weeks, 6 days	Well today was our 15-week appointment with the midwives at the birthing center. The midwives have my due date down for 5/25 but I think I'm going to stick with my original 5/26 calculation because my menstrual cycles are 30-32 days long. I'm doing really well. BP and protein/glucose in urine checks out ok. Baby's heartrate was "in the 150's". Uterus is 3 fingers below my belly button. Woah, and I'm not even 15 weeks! I didn't think it was supposed to be quite that high yet. But... I am short so maybe there just isn't much room there. That's cool, maybe I'll start showing soon. Baby was laying sideways in my abdomen. Judging from the spacing on the midwife's fingers, the baby looked to be about 4 inches long or so... which sounds about right. We will be getting an ultrasound. That will be ordered right after our next appt which will be Dec 28th at 19 wks. I'm so excited. The midwives said it was totally optional to have the ultrasound but I want to have it done just to make sure everything looks ok and of course to try and find out the sex. Yes, I'm going to cave... I've pretty much made up my mind. At first I didn't want to know but now I'd like to. I'm so impatient. I don't know what I was thinking... Aaron doesn't mind either way so it's up to me. I just love midwives. They are so personable. I got some great information too about the birthing center's success rates. Their c-section rate is 3%... hospital transfer rate is 4%.... they can only think of 3 instances where they weren't able to turn a breech baby. Apparently my midwife is so good, she can turn about 99% of babies around the 36th week. Whew. That eases my fears a bit. My odds of going natural as planned sound pretty good.
11/15/01 12 weeks, 6 days	Our fetal doppler arrived today! We are renting an ultrasound doppler from babybeat.com so that we can hear the baby's heartbeat at home. Since we're not feeling any movement and not showing yet, it's nice to have the reassurance that everything is ok. I tested out the machine right away and yes our baby is still alive! The heartbeat was about 155 bpm. I set up a microphone on the computer and recorded it. Neat! Here is the sound file I created: (you may have to turn up your speaker volume) 12w5d.wav 50 seconds long, 1.26 MB
11/15/01 12 weeks, 6 days	We made a big decision and transferred our prenatal care to a group of midwives at a birthing center. We took the grand tour (nice place!) and met the team of midwives. They are all so nice and helpful. The birthing center is right across the street from a hospital should anything happen, so that helped with the decision. It is also very homey; There are three birthing rooms, each decorated better than our own bedroom! They also have large tubs to help ease the pain of labor and facilitate delivery. Yes, we are going to try for the waterbirth. Our first prenatal visit is two weeks from today, at the birthing center, and we will keep going once a month until 28 weeks, when we will start going every 2 weeks. At our visit today the midwife checked the heartbeat and felt my abdomen for the top of my uterus... it was about 3 finger lengths above my public bone. Hey, we're starting to pop out!
11/8/01 11 weeks, 6 days	Went to the doctor today for the 12-week checkup. Actually we're 11 weeks and 5 days, but close enough. We discussed my lab work and everything came back normal. Most importantly, we got to hear the baby's heartbeat using a doppler! It was a strong 170 bpm... the doctor was able to find it right away. I was so relieved. Aaron thought it was pretty cool. I've been having some lower back pain and my abdominal muscles are achy, everything must be moving around to make way for the baby! By now, my uterus should be moving out of the pelvic cavity and expanding in all directions. I'm certainly not showing yet (give that another month or two at least) but my pants are getting pretty tight. By now, the baby is an estimated 2 1/2 inches and the 2nd Trimester is right around the corner.
10/31/01 10 weeks, 3 days	First ultrasound. The baby looks great! It was moving around and having a good old time. It measured at 10 weeks and 4 days, or 37 millimeters (about 1 1/2 inches), which is just about right. The heart rate was 188 bpm and very strong. Looks like we've got a keeper. Ultrasound Pictures: Photo from top of head looking down, baby's legs are crossed Large - 900x720 pixels / 66.1K Small - 450x360 pixels / 28.2K Photo from top of head looking down, hands are together Large - 900x700 pixels / 68K Small - 450x350 pixels / 28.8K Side profile, jaw bones are prominent (the light areas) Large - 900x720 pixels / 71.3K Small - 450x360 pixels / 30.3K Side profile, with hand by face Large - 900x600 pixels / 63.1K Small - 450x300 pixels / 26.8K
10/25/01 9 weeks, 6 days	First doctor visit, at 9 weeks and 5 days, everything looks great. My uterus is the size of an orange.
9/17/01 4 weeks, 3 days	Two positive home pregnancy tests!