V-Day (plus one)

I intended to write this post on the actual V-day, but I was busy turning my house upside down yesterday to clean it... So I'm a day late. (hence the plus one).

Yesterday was the day i've been looking forward to my entire pregnancy. Viability day. Some of you may know this, some of you may not, but there has to be a cut off point where NICU doctor's say, "Your baby is just too little, we can't do anything". Even though she only weighs approximately 1.5-2.2lbs, Baby S is now past that stage. Viability day was yesterday, @ 24 weeks (according to the doctor's due date).

It's really strange to think that if something had happened on Monday, they wouldn't have tried to save her (@ most hospitals). But Thursday comes, and BAM. We're "viable".

Now, we'd prefer if if she cooks another 16 weeks! Every week past this week is more weight for her to gain, more for her lungs (and other systems) to develop. Survival rate @ 24 weeks still isn't great... but it really wasn't all that long ago that people were losing babies @ 30 weeks! The technology that God has blessed us with is truly amazing.

I probably looked forward to this day more than the average pregnant person (and honestly, I held my breath till this day for my sister-in-law's pregnancy, as well as some of my good friends). I attribute this to being a labor and delivery nurse. I've seen too much for my own good. I won't go into gory detail, but i was working on a night when we had a patient come in and deliver @ 22 weeks. While there was no way that baby would have lived (even with medical technology as good as it is), he DID live for several hours. And he was a baby. Not a fetus. It was truly one of the worst days of my life. His face and tiny body are etched in my memory. I am so thankful to God that we've made it this far! Praise Jesus!

Another was when I delivered a lady whose baby had died in utero, 2 weeks before christmas. She was 38 weeks pregnant. There was nothing wrong with her beautiful baby girl...sometimes these things happen... I'm terrified of it happening to me! I often find myself remembering this delivery, which was heartwrenching. (Again I won't go into the details). I have to remind myself, that throughout my daughter's life (whoa, that's weird to be typing... I'm used to BEING a daughter, not HAVING one!), that God is in control. He isn't in MORE control now b/c she is inside me. He will be in JUST as much control when I'm parenting her. When I make mistakes, He is still in the SAME amount of control. We can rely on Him. For everything. He is there with her now, and He will be always. (Just as He is for me). When I remember to remind myself of this, I have so much more peace, and less worry. Thank you Jesus for your goodness, your love, your everlasting peace!

Update to Baby S movements...

There has been a new movement instilled in me this week (week 24 of pregnancy).

Slithery-Roo

This is sort of a combination of the "Twitch" and the "Jab", except for that instead of the movement seeming to be directed out (away from my insides) the slithery-roo's defining characteristic is that it is directed more towards my internal organs. While I still LOVE feeling her move, these movements are giving me the heebie-jeebies. It feels SO weird, like she is touching stuff that isn't meant to be touched!! I felt a little "rolling" this AM so I was hoping the slithery-roo was over and she had moved enough that it would be back to "normal". But alas, she is still doing the slithery-roo jig on my bladder, intestines and various other organs. Still isn't a painful movement, just incredibly weird!

:)

Movements of Baby S

I've been thinking about all the different movements that this lil one makes. This is probably NOT interesting to anyone besides me, but since I will one day feel nostalgic for pregnancy (supposedly) I figured I should type out these musings.

"The Twitch"

Ever have a random twitch in your thigh muscle? That is what this movement feels like. This is currently her most common movement. It is sort of fluttery, and this is what i feel, I'd say 80% of the time.

"The Roll"

@ least, that's what I assume this feeling is. Sometimes I will get this slow, hardening sensation (but i know it isn't a contraction b/c of the location) and then I will feel the "twitch" movement afterwards. I think she is rolling side to side or top to bottom when i feel this. This is currently the most rare movement.

"The Jab"

This is MUCH stronger than the "twitch". The Jab is much more likely to be felt by outside observers (so far, outside of myself of course, only B has experienced feeling any movements by baby S). In fact, there have been a few "Jab's" that were so strong they startled me! While I have been feeling the Jab for awhile now, it has been mainly fairly low. But in the last few days I've been feeling many more Jabs in my mid abdomen... so I think she has moved around some. I have a feeling as she gets bigger and the space around her gets smaller that the "Jab" will become the most frequent (and painful!) movement. But for now, this is about 15-20% of Baby S's movements.

Of course all of these movements have much more detailed subcategories, but I am not yet observant enough to define them. :)