the gong show

oh Uganda.

so I woke up this morning, armed with my plan to call the clinic that has done my ultrasounds before. unfortunately, Alice (the technician) wasn't in until 5pm today so I couldn't go into the clinic in time to get to my 11:30am appointment.
we decided to go to the hospital and pulled in at around 10am. I had called shortly before we left and was assured that I just needed to bring in my requisition and could get an ultrasound shortly thereafter.
when we got there, there was another (very) pregnant woman talking to a nurse and I could hear her saying something about something not being available.
I talked to the receptionist and she motioned that I also talk to this nurse. the nurse then told me that they had taken the ultrasound machine up to the NICU for an emergency and it was unavailable. but she assured me that I would be able to make my 11:30am appointment in time.
so we sat. about 5 minutes later we did see the ultrasound machine being wheeled back into the room.
I was pregnant lady #3 waiting.
eventually it was my turn and the technician was very nice and friendly and we joked about the size and lateness of this baby. he told me the baby's estimated weight was 8.5lbs but I think we all know he'll be bigger. but baby B looked good, the fluid levels looked good and he's head down and ready.
hooray!
this was great news and lovely to see my little man (all squished up in there!).
then we went over to the other part of the hospital to sign in to see the doctor (right at 11:30!) and after I had already paid and gone through triage (with HIGH blood pressure. sigh. the nurse didn't mention anything to me, though.) a nurse then decided to tell me that the doctor had been called into an emergency and was in "theater" (aka, surgery) and that he wouldn't be out until maybe around 1pm.
again, I was third on the list to see him. so Jamie and I decided to go out for lunch and come back around 1. it was a nice lunch out together and we got back to the hospital around 1:15pm.
at this point we're informed that the doctor has been called into another surgery and won't be out for maybe another 1.5 to 2 hours.
I opt to reschedule for tomorrow morning.
goodness.
so we know baby B is doing well.
which made all the driving around and everything else completely worth it.

and then...? well, Jamie and I decided to give it another shot (you know what I mean) so we put on a movie for the kids and gave them snacks and since about 5ish I've been having some mild contractions.
which is good.
but I'm not assuming anything is going to happen. but it's (again) encouraging to me to know that my body is doing something to get this kid out!

so that's the update. my appointment with the doctor is 7:30am tomorrow morning - or sooner if things actually start happening!

41 weeks

one gorgeous week overdue.
I admit. I went through many phases this week. acceptance. grouchiness. anger. frustration. desperation.
I've walked up and down our gigantic hill in our compound a bunch of times. I ate bowls of pineapple. I've paced and swayed and had lovely hot showers and crawled around on my hands and knees. I've done the "needful" with jamie.

if you don't like words like "mucus" and "blood" stop reading now. you've been warned.

I was getting a bit discouraged because unlike my other two pregnancies, I hadn't lost my mucus plug yet or lost much mucus at all. with noah I lost my mucus plug 4 days before he was born. with jude I think it was 2 days. to me, it's been somewhat of a "sign" that things are happening. so to not see it is discouraging.
this morning I've lost a bit of mucus which is a good thing. hopefully things will pick up.

right now there's a student meeting/retreat going on in our living room today; I can hear the clapping and singing and laughter and it makes me smile. baby B may not show up today, but if he does, he'll have a warm reception, that's for sure.

my latest plan that will likely not come to fruition;
if I am still pregnant on Monday, I will go to the hospital a couple hours early, get my ultrasound scan done and then meet with my doctor for my appointment with him at 11:30. as long as all is well with me and baby B I am going to push for the doctor to give me a stretch and sweep, since I've completed my full dosage of antibiotics {as he was concerned that I was GBS+ and didn't want to possibly push any bacteria further up and infect baby B}. I'm also going to push that I am not induced by any drugs until at least 42 weeks, as long as baby is okay. and depending on which dates he is going by, this could be either next Saturday (the 15th) or as late as the following Wednesday (the 19th!) depending on which dates my doctor is going by.

But let's all hope and pray that I announce the arrival of baby B before Monday at 11:30!

some disappointment and some good stuff

So Jamie and I met with Dr. B today. After waiting over an hour to see him {and hoping it's my last appointment before we meet baby B} we finally sat down across from him in his office.
My blood pressure was high from when the nurse took it, so he took it again. When the nurse took it, it was 148/90 and then when the doctor took it, it was 130/80. The top number was slightly high for him so he said I need to get my blood pressure taken again next week and then we'll see where we go from there. In hindsight I shouldn't have had that cup of coffee this morning.

So no more caffeine for me, cutting back on sugar and trying to just take lots of deep breaths when my boys are both yelling at each other and me at the same time and I'm about to blow a gasket.
Hopefully that will help.

He didn't really have the doppler turned up so we couldn't really hear baby B's heartbeat very loudly, but he did keep moving it around as I knew B was moving quite a bit prior to the appointment.
He said the baby's head is down and engaged {hooray!} and he's more to my left side, than my right, but not posterior anymore {I figured he wouldn't be as he moves SO MUCH!}.

He said he could prescribe me some oral antibiotics to take care of the GBS so I don't have to get hooked up to an IV - hooray! That was definite good news and relieves some of the pressure I was feeling about getting to the hospital ASAP. I took my first pill tonight.

Unfortunately when I inquired about possibly getting a stretch and sweep he declined due to me being GBS+. I didn't want to be one of those know-it-all pregnant women and say that my midwives did 3 on me when I was pregnant and GBS+ with Jude. It's his prerogative and he just didn't feel like it was a good option with the GBS and the possibility of the bacteria creeping further up or being spread around or something. Now I'm just praying that God makes this baby come in good time and that I don't need any interventions.

He also prescribed me iron supplements which of course the pharmacy didn't have at the hospital so I'll have to get Jamie to pick me up some at another pharmacy. Hopefully tomorrow so I can start taking them.

And then I found out he's not counting my due date as September 1st!!! He's going by the day of my last period {as opposed to the ultrasound scan} which would put me at September 5th being my due date. WHAT?!? Psh. I'm still going by the 1st.
Anyway, so he mentioned at September 15th as a possible induction date {yech.} but if I'm still pregnant by September 15th I'll give myself a stretch and sweep.

Anyway so we booked my next appointment with him for the 10th and I told him I hope to meet him in the labour ward the next time I see him and not his office.

So I secretly was hoping for a stretch and sweep today, but no dice.
But I am encouraged to know that B's head is down and ready.

Oh and the doctor also asked how big my last baby was and said that this one is going to be a bigger one as well. My personal thoughts are that he's going to be 8lbs something, but I'm praying no more than that. I just think I was so much bigger when I was pregnant with Jude! But maybe I'll weigh myself after this because I'm pretty sure I have put on {or baby B has, at least!} more weight in the last couple weeks.

Anyway, so that's that. My 39 week + 3 day appointment. Or if you're going by the doctor's calculations, my 38 week + 6 day appointment. Psh.

THIRTY NINE

sorry about the white on white. makes it hard to tell how big the "bump" is. but holy moley! 39 weeks! how did i get here!?

also I'm trying to get creative with my outfits. my t-shirt options are limited as I don't really want to be showing off "under belly" or be constantly pulling down my shirt. so I've been rotating through about 4 or 5 shirts.
my scarf I purchased in Spain and I love it. It's often cool enough in the morning for trousers and a scarf, although this morning went straight to shorts (or short-pants as they're often called here) as I usually end up changing into shorts or a skirt by mid-day anyway.

I've been feeling lots of movement still! a few twinges earlier this week, but nothing since. my legs and feet feel heavy by the end of the days but thankfully no noticeable swelling - hooray! this is my first pregnancy that neither my feet nor my hands have swollen. absolutely amazing.
sleep has been a bit harder to come by, but once I'm asleep, I'm usually good until the morning.
I've been feeling quite a bit more tired during the later afternoon/evening but then often toss and turn once I go to bed. I must be still clocking about 6ish hours of sleep, though. which is more than I will be in a week or so.
I'm feeling fine with waiting until Mr. Uganda arrives on his own - although I am seeing my doctor on Tuesday and may inquire into a stretch and sweep as I had multiple (2.5!) s&s with Jude and that seemed to help things along.
I haven't lost my mucous plug (sorry if that's TMI) yet so I'm taking that as a sign that this baby is hanging in there 'til at least my due date. Jamie keeps hoping he'll arrive earlier. I feel confident that he won't. but whatevs.
I've been following a handful of bloggers who are also pregnant (or were pregnant) and due right around this time and it's been fun and exciting reading their birth stories (the ones who have had their babies recently) and making me excited for what's to come!
not much else is new other than I'm glad Nick is here so that if Jamie and I need to go to the hospital, we've got someone here to watch the boys. and Lisa arrives tomorrow morning so that's two people to help with the boys (which at this point is probably the thing I'm most anxious/concerned about) while I deliver at the hospital.
everything is coming together.

will update after my Tuesday appointment with more details of how that all goes.

again...

So I heard back from Dr. B.
Unfortunately I have low iron and am GBS+. Again.
And he wants to see me tomorrow (but despite my text asking him when tomorrow, I haven't heard back, so it might be deferred until my appointment with him next week? not sure.) so in the meantime I'm probably going to get onto iron supplements which is not going to help with the C-train that I've been riding off and on for the last couple weeks. Boo.
Fiber is my new best friend.

But I'm still getting tons of movement from Mr. Uganda (as our friend James refers to him which I think is hilarious). And yesterday and today I had a couple bouts of some pretty intense "twinges". I hesitate to call them contractions as I don't want to make you think that labour is imminent, but more that my body is just getting ready. Makes me wonder if I'll go pretty fast once he does decide to come. At one point I put my head on the back of the couch, stuck my butt out, and swayed back and forth for a minute or two.

Jude and Noah wanted to know what I was doing. They thought I was being funny. Perhaps I did look it.

It also made me think that I needed to talk more to them about what will happen when Jamie and I go to the hospital, but I don't want them to think I'm going to the hospital every time I walk out the door (which they already do and Noah thought I was telling him because tomorrow I'm going to the hospital to have the baby).  But we went through what would happen if we had to leave in the middle of the night and how Nick/Lisa would be staying with them and helping them with getting dressed and eating breakfast/lunch/dinner, etc.

I even made "Big Brother Bags" last night for fun and put in a few snacks, stickers and a new card game for each of them (Memory for Jude and Crazy 8's for Noah) which they'll get at some point - either once we're gone or if they come to visit us in the hospital (depending on how long I'm there for).

A couple nights ago I lay in bed thinking, "I'm not ready!" Not that I'm scared, but more just a realization of how far along I am already! I'm 38.5 weeks! How did I get here so quickly?!?
But the bassinet/pack 'n play is set up and my bags are packed and Nick is here, so...I guess it's just a matter of time although I'm fully expecting to go over due again and not feeling so grumpy about waiting as I was with Jude.

There's the update! Today was our one year anniversary of living in Uganda. We all went out for breakfast. I had a delicious latte and a waffle with ice cream. Ya that's right. Ice cream for breakfast. Boo yah.

38 weeks

Well I may or may not be experiencing a sugar high/coma due to inhaling two glazed donut muffins that I made this morning. Whoo, someone's got the shakes.

Anyway, so I'm 38 weeks! My bags are packed. I've got some fun ideas to make up small little "fun" bags for both the boys to either enjoy at the hospital {if we're stuck there for awhile. Please Lord, no.} or at home before or after we get back.
Nick arrives on Monday morning and then we'll have our built-in person to watch the boys when we need to go to the hospital. I'll breathe a sigh of relief when he does arrive.

What else? I'm actually feeling quite well. Not feeling too impatient although in the evenings I'm feeling pretty tired {I looked at the clock at 8:45pm last night because I felt so tired and wondered what time it was! I did end up going to be around 9:30ish.}. I wake up to pee lots at night but usually can fall right back to sleep.

I'm happy to wait until this baby shows up on his own time. Not feeling so grumpy and expecting that he'll come early like I felt with Jude {which made being even more overdue than Noah exceptionally more of a letdown.}. Just content to wait - a bit because I'm slightly nervous of the labour/birth in a hospital and would rather just skip over that part and meet baby B already.
But it's good.

Oh I texted Dr. B again {yes. I have his cell phone number and he told me to text him for the lab results.} and haven't yet heard back about the GBS or the iron levels {correction on last time's post. apparently my hemoglobin levels were low but he hadn't heard back about my iron? I don't really know the difference, but whatever.}, so I'll just wait and see and maybe I'll hear back sometime this weekend.

No weight gain lately. Still hovering around the 16lb mark as total weight gain. Hoping for a regular sized baby this time around. No behemoths, please.

Okay, I should eat a piece of cheese or something to combat these sugar shakes!

test results

I sent Dr. Busingye a text today asking if he had received my lab results.

Low iron. Boo. 

He hasn't received any of the other results yet {like the GBS or urine analysis}. 

So we'll see. 

I'll probably have to go on some sort of iron supplements, but in the meantime, I should probably be more diligent to take my prenatal vitamins, yes? Yes. 

My bad.

appointment with Dr. B

So I met up with Dr. Busingye today. I waited for a bit, but was eventually able to see him about 30 minutes after the appointment was set.
While I was waiting, I could hear a woman moaning and crying out and screaming in pain - I didn't actually see her - likely she was in labour on her way up to the maternity ward? It kinda made me smile and kinda made me freak out. As if I need or want to hear anyone else in labour...sigh. Another reason to be a bit sad that I'll not be having a home birth.

But anyway, the appointment went fine. He seems nice, he went through my birth plan with me and re-took my blood pressure; the numbers had gone down from when the nurse took it so that seemed more acceptable to him.
Now I've never had a male doctor since I was little and no men {apart from my husband of course} have ever seen my nether regions but he did a swab to test for GBS and was very professional about it all. I guess it was bound to happen eventually if he's going to be delivering my baby!

Baby's heartbeat sounded good. I'm measuring at 37 inches (cm? I think it's inches) which is right on for 37 weeks and his head is down although he's slightly off-center though Dr. B said that's nothing to be concerned about. He moves a heckuva lot anyway so I'm not worried.

Afterward I went to the lab to get my blood work done {to test for HIV - apparently it's routine here, my iron levels and something else which I forget} as well as urine testing for my sugar levels I think and to take the swab in for testing. Unfortunately I hadn't brought enough cash with me so I had to leave and come back. Thankfully I didn't have to wait and was able to just go in and get it done right after.
There are definitely times I miss using my debit card to pay directly but for the most part, paying in cash is fine. As long as you have enough.

I got the updated price list for how much it costs to deliver at the hospital. We'll pay up front but then our insurance will reimburse us. 1.9 million shillings sounds like a lot, right? It's not. $775. To have a baby! That's crazy. And that's one of the pricier hospitals here in Kampala. When I think of my American friends who pay thousands of dollars to have their baby in the hospital, several hundred dollars is chump change. Sorta.

Now I need to lie down and rest. It's been a decent but slightly stressful morning - my first appointment that I drove myself to! I feel so independent. Ha.

thirtySEVEN

full-term! I can't hardly believe it! it feels so good to get to full-term. it's like i've really done it. i'm pregnant and having my baby in africa. crazy. but oh-so-good.

I've got heartburn {so thankful for the super sized package of TUMs my mother-in-law brought over for me} and this little guy moves SO MUCH {like he was keeping me awake with his crazy antics!}. i don't remember the other two moving so much and so late in the pregnancy, but really? i'm not complaining. it's reassuring that he's there and okay and very much an active, healthy little guy. and that is a good thing.

I love this sundress. I bought another just like it from the craft market a few months ago. you really can't go wrong with a dress for less than $10! and so.stinkin.comfy.

and the earrings are my newest purchase made by the young ladies of an organization here called Girl Child supporting young girls who are at risk for abuse and prostitution.

I have my first appointment with Dr. Busingye on Tuesday and will probably do the GBS test/swab then as well as getting more blood work done to see how my iron levels are. here's hoping that I don't test positive for GBS this time around, but even if I do, I'll be in the hospital regardless so getting the antibiotics are less of an issue than they were when I was planning on a home birth for Jude. still, I'd like to avoid an IV if at all possible. that was probably my least favourite part of Jude's birth!

my weight gain is about 16lbs so far so I'm quite pleased. here's hoping it'll come off pretty easily {although I'm not counting on it with me being older and it being my third baby, but ya never know!}.

off to MishMash's farmer's market again to buy another baby present and peruse the produce selection.

**pelvic pain has lessened. I have to be careful about my movements and ease into things, but it's not excruciating at this point. just uncomfortable. which is mostly to be expected.

***the fruit at 37 weeks is called a winter melon - apparently.

35 week appointment

Today was my last appointment with Michele. It was supposed to have been at 9am this morning but at 7:15am I got a text saying she was attending the birth of a woman who had gone into early labour and if I could just wait for her text to come in.
So at around mid-day (noon) I got a text asking if I'd prefer 2:30pm today or 10:30am tomorrow. We went for the 2:30 slot and arrived shortly after 2:30 due to massive rain storms and just being late in leaving the house.
Classic.
Everything looks and sounds good. The heartbeat sounds good - no ectopic beats today but we'll keep an eye/ear out for things there.
My blood pressure was (of course) a little higher than she likes to see, but I think it's just me being in Uganda - higher elevation levels? I have no idea. I'm personally not worried, but we'll keep an eye on things to be sure.
I'm measuring 33 inches so as big as I feel, I am still smaller than I've been with both other pregnancies so here's hoping for a smaller baby! He's not small by any means, but I'm hoping this means that I can expect an under 9lb baby. *crossed fingers*
We talked about where I go when I am coming in to deliver, how long they'll let me go over due (there's no rush but will likely book a 41 week physiological scan if no baby has arrived by then) and then a crazy lady walked into our room and interrupted our conversation. Awesome. Michele escorted her out and found a nurse to keep an eye out for her.
My thoughts on everything is that it may just be better to have my baby at a hospital here rather than a hospital in Canada. They seem a bit more laid back, less likely to administer or push drugs or a C-section and as I tend to be more of an independent labour-er the doctor will just be there for the end of things while the nurses/midwives will do routine checks on me (if I'm in the hospital with enough time to be labouring instead of pushing out a baby!).
So I've got my next appointment with the doctor in 2 weeks and we'll see how he is, how the appointment goes and I'm just trusting that God's plan is best and it's yet another opportunity to trust in Him to take care of me and this baby.
And now to submit my receipts (oh how I miss "free" healthcare - sure it all gets refunded back to us, but we have to pay up front here and then submit paperwork to our insurance. ugh. I hate paperwork.).

35 weeks

Whew. I'm feeling it. Last night I noticed the swelling has begun. It's just minor but it's there. I can feel it and only just barely see it. So here we go. Putting the feet up. Making extra sure to drink lots of water.

Yesterday at the craft market I was sitting in the shade with Noah & Jude and another little {white} boy came up to us and started playing with the boys. Instant friendship. Eventually I got talking to his dad and found out that this family of 2 boys and a baby girl live in Gulu. The mother just had a home birth a week ago with a midwife and had a fantastic experience! I was so encouraged {and a wee bit jealous} to hear about it! I was also encouraged to hear that while they were in Kampala, she was receiving care from Dr. Busingye - the same doctor I will have. The father had nothing but good things to say about him which was so reassuring and such a sweet blessing to my heart. {thank you, Jesus!}

I got a new pair of earrings at the urging of my friend Kelly who was also at the craft market but you can't see them in the above picture, so I made Jamie take a picture so I could show them off to you.

Lovely mint green. I love 'em.

Right now there's another party next door so we can count on blasting loud music with some sweet bass until at least 11pm tonight. Good times!

Well, we're off with Jamie's family to MishMash at yet another attempt for me to buy tortilla chips and bagels. Still no luck.
Tomorrow is Jude's birthday party and I'll be making the cake later on today and possibly some of the other food that I can prep ahead of time.
Baby B is a butternut squash! Can't wait to meet this little guy.