Hernandez Happenings: From the bed of Jessica Hernandez

So here is the latest news on the growing baby girl. At my doctor's appointment on September 28th, not much had changed with my cervix so the doc released me to try going to work for a week to see what happens. So on the 29th, I returned to work. It was nice to get up, put on my nice work clothes, drive to work and enjoy some time with co-workers that I missed o-so-much. Thrusday and Friday passed without any issues. The weekend came and went. On Monday, while I was at work something felt "off." I'll spare you the details of what exactly I was feeling but it ws enough to alarm me and spark me to call my doc. He had me come in that afternoon for a quick check on things. Good news was that my cervix hadn't gotten any shorter but the bad news is that it had started to funnel.

What does that mean exactly? Basically that my cervix had started to dilate or "open" on the uterine side (where baby girl's head is at). So the the "closed" portion of my cervix is shorter but the overall length of it was about the same as it has been (around 2.2mm). Make sense? I know... there is a lot to take in. So, the outcome of the visit is that after only 3 days of being at work, doc took me off. And instead of the doctor's note saying "bed rest for a week" it stated "bed rest for the next 8 to 10 weeks" which is pretty much the rest of my pregnancy. Booooo!

So that was Monday the 3rd of October. Continuing with the weekly adventures to the doc (sadly enough they are the highlight of my week) this past Monday we got a bit of decent news. NOTHING HAS CHANGED! And in the world I am currently living in, that is great news. The funneling is still there, the cervix is still short but it is all the same as it was last week. The doc actually sounded optimistic and positive during this visit. He said that at week 19 (when we first discovered this issue) he would have hoped to get to the point that we are at now with the measurements we have now. We are still shooting to make it to 30 weeks, which is 4 weeks away, before we feel a real sense of relief. He said if I continue to take it easy, that he can see everything being okay. But he is also a realist and says that he cannot predict the future but he feels pretty good about things. He said I can be a little more active throughout the day but just to make sure I don't over do it.

I still have to see him every week for a couple of more weeks but if all continues the same then he may only need to see me every 2 weeks instead. Woo-hoo! We still have an issue with weight gain. I have gained weight but I am still about 3 lbs under from where I started during my first doc appointment. According to him, I should have gained about 14 lbs at this point but I have only gained about 8. I promised him I most definitely have been eating. Like every 2 hours.

Planning my baby shower (with the help of my incredible and crafty friend, Jennifer) has kept me busy the past couple of weeks. It's going to be on the 13th of November (invites should be leaving here today) and I'm super excited. Due to me being chained to my bed for the past 8 weeks I originally registered online at amazon.com and babiesrus.com but I think I will venture out of my home this weekend to finish up my registry at the Babies R Us store. It will be my outing for the week. With talks of the baby shower happening, people have really started to ask more often for the baby's name. As tempted as I am to share the beautiful name we have picked out for our princess, we are still keeping it under wraps. If anyone would like to purchase a personalized item for her, they can do it with her initials, JAH or it can wait until after she is born. :)

Here are some pics of what's been going on around the Hernandez home.

Putting on daddy's shoes. He almost got them on right.

Drawing on the back porch.

Hanging out watching Cars.

Here recently when it's time for bed, Alec has to take some of his toys with him and keep them in bed while he sleeps. The other day for nap time, he chose 3 of his toy cars to sleep with. About 20 minutes after I laid him down for bed I went to check on him and this is what I found...