This is a scan of the sonogram from 1/21/00, about 8 weeks LMP, 6 weeks gestation!
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January 27th
So far I'm doing great, a few bouts of morning sickness,
occasional vomiting but not really bad...serious fatigue, though! Oh,
and I've noticed a definite change in my body...so much for having a
nice wardrobe! It's time to get stretchy clothes! More updates will be
posted here as they become available :)
January 29th
I guess I have to take that back about no bad morning sickness. Yesterday
I threw up six times, argh. I have obtained some new clothes already but
today Michael and I went and looked around a maternity store and saw all
kinds of really cute stuff. I think it's still too early, though. Anyway,
I'm still doing ok, although I'm very tired all the time. Walking around
short distances leaves me breathless and I feel very out of shape! The
doctor says it is hormones making my respiratory muscles
relax. Whatever. At least the baby is warm inside my uterus during all
this cold weather we're having!
February 1st
Still hanging in there with our little "spud" as we have started calling
it :). Michael took some pictures of my little "baby belly" but I think
they just make me look fat, not pregnant :(
I'm not noticing any new signs of pregnancy...just the usual constant
peeing, major hunger interspersed with nausea, and extreme fatigue. This
neurology rotation I start tomorrow is really going to be tiring so I am
not looking forward to it. I heard from my OB that all of my bloodwork is
normal, so that's good. I'm toxoplasma negative though so I have to be
extra-careful not to get infected during the pregnancy! What else? Oh -
DREAMS! I've had two crazy pregnancy dreams. First, I had this weird dream
that the baby was born and everything was great but the baby looked just
like a laboratory RAT, and we got it mixed up with one for a
while!!! Then, I also dreamed that we took the baby home and put it down
for a nap and forgot about it for like a whole day, and hadn't fed it or
anything :(. I guess my subconscious is worried about all the new
responsibility or something. It was a rather unpleasant dream. Hopefully I
will stop having these vivid, disturbing dreams sooner rather than later!
February 3rd
Oh, by the way - Michael also had a baby dream - he dreamt we had 8 boys
and 2 girls, and I had to feed them all, and no one would help
us! ARGH! What a nightmare! Today was not such a bad day; I was really
feeling queasy at the bus stop but felt better after I got to school. I
fell asleep during neuro rounds - oops. I had to walk home from the bus
stop through an unexpected snow shower!
February 6th
So I'm about 10 weeks along and still feeling pretty tired and sometimes
dizzy and queasy...but overall pretty good.
Yesterday we were "outed" when we ran into someone from the place we both
used to work for - we were looking at books of baby names at Barnes and
Noble! It was funny to see the look on Steve's face. Yesterday I also went
out and bought two pairs of pants to accomodate my little belly, and a big
shirt to cover the ever-growing you-know-whats. I worry that I'm growing
fatter and not growing baby, but those who should know disagree. So I
guess I will try to stop worrying about that. It's not like I can fight
the hunger anyway -- when it comes, I have to EAT NOW and nobody better
get in my way!!! I just don't want to be hugely fat after the baby comes!
February 9th
February 13
February 14
February 16
February 18
February 22
February 25
February 27
March 1
March 2
March 3
March 5th
March 10
March 12
March 14
March 19
March 25
March 30
April 6th
April 11
April 12th
April 19th
April 25
April 30
May 7
May 11
May 14
May 15
May 24
May 29 - Memorial Day
June 1
June 13
June 18 June 30 July 10
July 17
July 21
July 31
August 2
August 2
August 6
August 13
August 16
August 17th
August 22
August 23
August 26th
August 27
August 29 Later the same day...:
September 2nd
September 3
September 5
September 6th
September 8th
4 pm and all is...weird. I've felt kind of gross all day but went shopping
with Lisa, I had to get out of the house, and I thought walking around
might be useful, in getting labor going. I think maybe it was because on
the way home, at about 2 pm or so, I was having funny feelings in my
abdomen, that I thought maybe, just maybe, were contractions. I didn't
feel what they call a "tightening" or a "hardening" though - I just felt a
diffuse lower abdominal pain coming and going. Now, I've been home about
an hour and a half and I tried to lie down for a nap, but I'm still having
intermittent pain AND I've passed some blood-tinged mucus. So I think this
is probably early labor. I keep having hot flashes, too, which are very
uncomfortable. I'm a little excited and also a little scared. I hope I can
take it, I really don't feel good right now and I know the throes of labor
won't feel even this tolerable. I hope this is the start of the real
thing, though. I don't want to wait around a few more days...
September 16th
There were some post birth issues - Jacob was hypoglycemic at birth. They
told me his glucose was 21 and I couldn't believe it. His APGARs were 9
and 9, he was vigourous and yelling his head off. He appeared to everyone
present to be a completely normal healthy baby (who weighed 8 lbs, 15 oz
and was 20 3/4 inches long!) I said "could that be lab error? Wouldn't be
be passing out or seizuring?" They said sometimes in babies this happens
and they don't show clinical signs (I didn't really believe them though).
To make a long story short, I fed him an ounce of formula to get them not
to take him to the NICU and start a dextrose IV. They basically refused to
allow me to breastfeed him at that time and I didn't argue much because I
did want to treat his hypoglycemia, and not waste time in that, so I
figured it was better to give him the formula right away rather than some
colostrum after an hour of arguing. They rechecked him after he ate an
ounce of formula - 27. I asked them to check again on a different machine
- so then it was 35. Well, normal in a newborn is apparently 40+. So they
insisted on taking him to the nursery for close monitoring and rechecking
until he had 3 normal readings. They brought him back to me at 6 am, and
he was all sluggish and sleepy and somnolent - and wouldn't nurse. I've
since been told that extreme somnolence is very normal in a newborn for
the first 24 hours, but at the time I was slightly concerned about this.
His nose was very very stuffed up and the few times he DID wake up enough
to try to latch on, he couldn't breathe well enough. So I ended up pumping
and bottle feeding him colostrum all day Saturday. By Saturday night,
though, he figured it out and was nursing like a champ. Boy can he suck!
We are thinking of sending him to Hoover for research purposes (just
kidding). Seriously, the whole "rooming in" thing they do at hospitals now
with babies being able to stay in mom's room is really great. It was
wonderful being able to get used to Jacob and his routines and preferences
while I was still in the hospital with nurses just a call button away.
Sunday went by pretty quickly in the hospital - we were told that we'd be
able to go home Monday morning before 11 am. Then, at 12:30 Monday morning
(that is to say, just after midnight, when of course I was there alone
with no one for moral support) some insensitive pediatrician came in and
notified me that, in her opinion, we needed a genetics consult to rule out
Downs Syndrome, because Jacob has a "simian crease" on the palm of his
right hand. She explicitly said that he could still be affected even
though he doesn't show the other more obvious signs such as mongoloid
eyes, low set ears, etc. She couldn't or wouldn't offer any information as
far as prevalence of this "simian crease" in the general population or
what percentage of people who have the crease also have Downs or some
other genetic anomaly. In fact, when I tried to question her about these
things she just kept saying that these were questions for the specialist,
and that she was very sorry to give me the bad news but that really I
would have to talk to the genetics people to get the details. Suffice it
to say I was up all night crying. Thankfully, when morning rolled around,
a rapid succession of nurses, med students, obstetricians, pediatric nurse
practicioners, and pediatricians came through and told us that there's no
way this kid has Downs. Apparently, he's too strong and vigorous and
advanced! :). What topped it off was when the head of genetics at
Children's Hospital called and told my nurse that he was refusing to send
a geneticist over to check out Jacob as per the other doctor's request,
because there was no reason to do the consult based on the single finding
of a simian crease in one hand. That made me feel a lot better, even
though the whole rigamarole ended up causing us to stay in the hospital an
extra 5 or 6 hours.
Jacob has been doing exceedingly well at home. He's still nursing like a
champ and has already gained back 4 ounces from his discharge weight of 8
lbs, 15 oz so he's almost back to birth weight! He's pretty yellow still,
and we're going back to the pediatrician tomorrow to recheck his bilirubin
(which was 12.6 at the time of discharge, and was 14.6 today) to make sure
he doesn't need phototherapy, but since he's gaining weight so well and
he's so active, we're not particularly concerned. [update: just got back
from the pediatrician again on 9/13 - he gained another ounce and they
think he looks fabulous :)]
The Bottom Line: we're overjoyed and amazed. We of course just love our
son to pieces and can't get over the fact that we created him, and that
just a few days ago he was INSIDE MY BODY! It seems so sci-fi :). We have
gained a whole new appreciation for our parents and the jobs they did
raising us (thanks, mom and dad!). We're hoping to be up to the task!
Photos are available at photopoint.
And it just keeps going on, just like the books all say :). Today I felt
really queasy all day, almost lost it at the bus stop, but of course now
that I'm home safe and sound I'm perfectly fine. If I have to be ill, why
can't it be at home?
Oy. I thought I was tired before but some SERIOUS fatigue set in about the
middle of last week. I fell asleep during rounds several times in a
row. On Thursday, we were (amazingly enough) let out early, at 2:30 PM. I
got home at about 3:15 and fell asleep til about 7:30 PM! Then I was up
long enough to watch Friends and ER, then I fell right back to sleep. The
fatigue is just overwhelming. I mean, I rested all day yesterday. Today, I
got up at about 7 AM (to pee, of course) and then I went to sleep again
for another hour, then I got up for two hours and just sat on the couch
reading, and then I had to take another one hour nap before leaving for
brunch. We met the family for brunch, and then afterwards Michael and I
went out shopping for about an hour, and then came home, and I am totally
ready for another nap. But since I can only go for about 2 hours maximum
without running to the bathroom, it impedes any serious sleep activity
:). THANK GOD I am just starting a two week vacation. I mean, I have some
job interviews (ack) set up, and a doctor's appointment and stuff, but I
should be able to take it pretty easy during this time and hopefully I'll
feel better when I start my ES rotation in March. One can only hope...
I got some more exciting news yesterday but I've been sworn to
secrecy. That said, I'm sooooo happy about it! :)
I also got an email today from a friend's mom (Hi, Mrs. Shore!) who just
found out about our little spud by reading my web page (hee hee) and
wanted to congratulate us. That was so nice! One of the nice parts of
being pregnant is how everyone keeps congratulating you and telling you
all these wonderful things about how great it is to have a new baby. Of
course, then there are the other people who start in immediately with the
tales of their aunt Bessie's 76 hour, excruciatingly painful labor which
culminated in a 4th degree tear and a horrible hemorrhage due to some
doctor's horrible incompetence. THAT'S what every pregnant woman wants to
hear (NOT!!!). Luckily, there are some very informative websites out there
with lots of birth stories on them, and while some of them do list a lot
of terrible stories about painful difficult labors, there are also a lot
of stories about nice normal uneventful labors, so I take comfort in that.
Let's see, what else is new....Oh, today is Valentine's day! Our last one
without a little baby hanging around :). We exchanged cards and gifts this
morning and will go out to dinner tonight. Perhaps I will have a sip of
champagne, what the heck :). I feel pretty good today, although not very
energetic. I don't know if I'll make it off the couch before dinner. We'll
see!
No changes to report...I went on a practice visit today, to a potential
job site :). It was fun! I observed some appointments and surgeries, and
met the "house dog" and all of the staff. Then I sat down with the
practice owner for a chat. I hadn't yet told them about the pregnancy so I
was a little nervous, but it went really well, and she told me she'd be
willing to offer a part time, full time, or combination position to me! I
have some other interviews lined up so I will be calling her back in a
couple of weeks to discuss it further, but she definitely was interested
in hiring me so it was a real confidence booster. Plus, everyone there was
really nice. I'm tired this afternoon, so I'm just hanging out on the
couch watching "A Baby Story" on TLC :)
ACK! I'm turning 30 tomorrow. How old do I feel??
I saw the OB this morning. It was a fun visit. The nurse remarked that
last time I was there it had just snowed, and today it was snowing
too! All of my tests from
the last visit came back within normal limits. We chatted briefly about
whether or not I want the triple
screening test done, to look at my risk for having a baby with neural
tube defects or Downs syndrome. Michael is pretty much decided that I
should have the test down and think about it later; I don't know. The
thing is, about 5% of women in my age group will have "positive" tests
(that is to say, tests that show an increased risk). But with this test,
only about 1 baby out of 50 "positives" is actually affected. The rest are
normal. You'd need an amniocentesis to set your mind at rest. The amnio
has a risk of miscarriage with it; that risk is probably higher than the
risk of having an affected baby...
So, we also talked
about FOOD. I'm surrounded by back seat
eaters! :). The doctor ok'd rare steak (I'm probably immune to anything it
could give me by now), he ok'd basically everything except unpasteurized
dairy products. We talked about listeria and how rare it is. I know most
of that stuff from my public health classes. Then we talked about my
concern about exposure to the volatile anesthetic gases - he said he
personally wouldn't worry. There are no studies suggesting that vets
have increased risk due to exposure; the only studies showing a problem
are the ones about OR nurse anesthetists who work during their
pregnancy - they have an increased risk of miscarriage in the first
trimester. So the doc believes that the minimal exposure I will get in
the 2nd and 3rd trimester will not be problematic. Of course, there is
always the "no one knows for sure" factor, but I think I can live with
that. I mean, I could get hit by a car tomorrow, right? Anyway, the most
exciting part of
the visit was that we got to hear the baby's heartbeat! Funny thing is, I
thought it sounded SLOW because I'm used to hearing cat hearts going at
200-220 bpm, and this was only going at about 160. But then he moved the
probe over my abdominal aorta to compare, and my pulse was only about half
the speed of the baby's, so I guess it was pretty fast after
all! Michael was very excited to hear the heartbeat :) :). Doc said
that the pregnancy seemed to be right on schedule, everything looked
great, he fully expected us to have no problems...it was very
encouraging. Oh, and I only gained about 1 kg since my last visit, which
is also good :) (of course, I *do* have this poochy belly...)
As we were walking out I remembered about the insurance hassle. I told him
I needed a letter to give my insurance company, to prove that prenatal
vitamins are medically necessary. He said "you're kidding, right?" I said
"nope." The doctor was pretty peeved but they are writing the letter for
me.
When we got home, I filled out some paperwork to register for
our childbirth education class - it's a special one for patients of this
particular practice, it's run by Stork Educators. We'll do that in one day
at about week 33. I also am signing us up for "how to take care of
baby" and "how to breastfeed" classes at Pennsylvania Hospital, as well as
a tour of the L&D floor. Hopefully by the time the spud arrives, we'll
have some kind of clue...right? RIGHT??? :) :)
OK, I've prattled on long enough. I'll leave it at that for now!
OK, so now I'm 30. I don't feel that different but someone asked me how
old I was yesterday and I felt very strange saying "30!" Anyway, things
are much the same. I had a big birthday party on Saturday at Mom's house -
it was a lot of fun, overall. Yesterday I had to go to school for the day
and that was lame, but I'm home today. I didn't sleep well at ALL last
night. I had *severe* pain in my - er, in my -
Grrr. I'm totally exhausted tonight and I didn't DO anything today. I'm
very grouchy today because my health insurance company is horrible and I
hate them. They FINALLY contacted me after about a month of my trying to
reach them. They were reading me a list of stuff that they won't cover and
they said that Tay Sach's testing wasn't covered. I said it was in fact
medically necessary for Jewish people and the guy said "well, we don't
cover it for normal people so you'll have to get a letter saying it is
necessary, from your doctor." I flipped out. Not covered for NORMAL
people? He apologized and told me he was Chinese and he didn't mean to
offend. Whatever. I'm still offended and grouchy. I'm going to bed.
A pretty good weekend after the blechiness of Friday. We spent the weekend
taking care of Regis at my parents' house - and his friend, Chloe. I
wasn't sick at all, although I was tired. We went to the mall Saturday and
I got a pair of maternity pants which I think I will really need very
soon! Today, I got dressed in a pair of blue pants that I just got last
month because I needed some "big" pants, and they are already too
tight! Michael says my belly doesn't look different today but it sure
feels different. We'll see how it goes but I bet in a couple of weeks I'm
going to need all new clothes.
Busy past couple of days....but I caught up on my sleep last night,
finally! Unfortunately, morning sickness returned with a vengeance
today. I can't believe it, my mom NEVER had a minute of it, and it just
keeps coming back to me! Bleah bleah bleah. I'm lucky that I'm on ES this
rotation; I've been wearing scrubs this week instead of regular pants, and
that has been pretty good but today I notice that the front of these
scrubs is a bit tight across my belly! Yikes! These are mediums, though,
and I think I have some larges somewhere lying around, too, so hopefully
I'll be able to wear them a while longer ;). Oh, something funny happened
the other day - I saw someone I hadn't seen since around Xmas time, and
she said to me "Oh wow, your breasts got really big!" Hehehehehe. I
thought that was pretty funny. I guess they are still more obvious than my
belly, although to me the belly is really obvious. I guess in a few
months, everyone will find it obvious :). In other news, we saw a couple
of movies recently - we saw The Whole Nine Yards (very funny) and Hanging
Up (not as funny). It's nice to get out and see a movie now and then, just
to be able to not think about all the things going on in my life! ah, the
joys of escapism :)
Hey! I just realized, the second trimester started today, or yesterday,
depending on how you count! I mean, 40 weeks divided by 3 trimesters is
13.333 weeks per trimester, and 0.33 weeks is 2.3 days, so 13 weeks, 2
days has to be the last day of the first trimester, yes? That was
yesterday! Woo hoo :). I think it's sort of funny I finished the first
trimester and put the 100,000th mile on the car on the same day :)
I can't believe we're 1/3 the way through this pregnancy. When this
amount of time passes twice more, we'll have a BABY!!! I found out today
that at www.gap.com they have some maternity clothes - I think they are
pretty nice :). Oh, another funny thing. I had this weird dream last night
that I went to the doctor (it wasn't my actual doctor) and he insisted on
giving me Depo-provera shots to prevent something bad from happening to
the baby. I was very worried about the hormonal influences and was certain
that the baby would be born with a hypospadia. I don't know why I had this
dream, and have no idea if exposure to this drug during pregnancy would
cause this defect in actuality, but I was damn certain of it in the
dream!! What else to report? Oh, I got the letter from my Dr about the
genetic testing being necessary, so I am preparing some paperwork to fax
to the schmuck at the insurance company. We also got the address to mail
the receipts for the vitamins to - it's so annoying to deal with this
paperwork. Bleah. Oh well. Oh, to top it off, the insurance company sent
me new insurance cards today - in the name of "HR Gorman." They KNOW my
name. I do not know why they keep screwing up or being such a pain in the
ass. ah, beaurocracy.
Today was a good day! We walked around the city and I found a cool new
store to buy
stuff from :) It's called soapbox - and they have a web page, too. I got some really
wonderful smelling new soap and a bath fizzy. The owner/manager told me
they are coming out with a new line of baby products soon! Yay! So, in
pregnancy news, I have had some annoying new symptoms. I sometimes feel
like all of my internal organs are being painfully squooshed up against my
diaphragm. That's really annoying. I'm sure that will only get worse! I've
also been having some headaches, and some stuffiness when I wake up in the
morning. I guess that's all there is to report. Oh, well, I guess I can
report that in a surprise move, the insurance guy completely and utterly
failed to follow through on getting back to me. SIGH. But otherwise it was
a very good day!
I forgot to mention something - the other day we were watching the
unexpurgated version of American Pie on DVD and in the scene where the
party guy pukes, the mere sight of it made me almost lose it completely. I
guess I just have a lower puking threshold than I normally do. Today when
I was getting ready to go to school I was also feeling very very queasy
and when I got to the emergency room all the smells REALLY bothered me. I
feel a bit better now (almost noon), though. Yesterday I went wedding
dress shopping with Jamie - that was fun. Her dress is SO beautiful. I
also went later to JC Penney's, and got a LOT of really really cute
maternity clothes! I really like them all, and can't wait to have a chance
to wear them :). Ta ta for now!
I'm 14 weeks, 4 days, and counting! 25 weeks and 3 days to go until Labor
Day! :) :) :). I've had a busy but really educational week in the
emergency room this week. I'm really enjoying myself there. Of course, one
fun night we had a slowdown during which the clinician tried to do a
sonogram on me. "I think that's the head. wait, no no, maybe that's the
uterus over there..." :) it was funny but really we did see the baby
moving around, we just couldn't tell what part was what very
well. Pregnancy symptoms....haven't had one of those horrible nausea
episodes in about a week, which is great, but I've had some sciatica and
occasional numbness in the lateral digits of my left foot too, which is a
little disturbing. I'm having a REAL problem getting a decent quality of
sleep - but at least I'm not so tired during the day that I can't
function. So that's basically it. I can't wait to feel the baby
move! In other news, Michael went to visit some friends so it's just me
and the spud here with Kanga and Rufus. We're sort of lonely.
YAY! Michael is home!!!! Today I had to work in the ES but when I got
home, he was here waiting for me. We weren't so busy today at school so
that was good, I had time to do a sonogram and saw the spud sucking its
thumb!!
Well, we're at 15 weeks, 1 day. Two days into a surgery rotation and
nervous. I didn't do so hot yesterday, I got queasy during a cystotomy and
had to scrub out. They said it was ok but I know they judged me for it and
it upset me greatly. But there's nothing I can do about it - I really was
going to vomit! I'm anxious now about lasting through surgery tomorrow. I
get these hot flashes where I feel really hot and sweaty and the gowns we
wear in the OR make it much worse. Then I get dizzy and queasy. I hope I
do ok, I don't want them to think I'm not interested in surgery and I
could really use all the experience I can get as I near graduation!
My belly is getting huge. OK, not huge but really it seems huge from here!
It started itching today, I think it's stretching. Also, today I felt more
bubbly feelings that may or may not be baby moving. I think it's not, I
mean, that is the only reason I think it might be is because I keep
feeling this odd sensation in the same exact spot. I can't really tell
what it is. I am still having a hard time sleeping, I'm sort of top-heavy
and I get really uncomfortable when I lie down :(
The good news is
that I didn't get called in at all Monday night when I was on call. That
was a huge relief. I have a hectic schedule for the next week and a half,
but after this busy time it should be smooth sailing through til
graduation! We have a doctor's appointment Friday - I hope I remember to
ask all my questions!!
OK, made it through another week! Tomorrow starts week 16 of this
pregnancy! Woo. We had a nother doctor's appointment two days ago - we
heard the heartbeat again and I asked a lot of questions. I found out that
it is apparently normal for arms to fall asleep randomly during pregnancy
due to "increased nerve sensitivity" (??) and it is also normal to have
basically all the other weird things I have. He offerred a referral to a
physical therapist for the sciatica, which was nice. Now if I could find
time to go to a physical therapist, we'd be set. Sigh. Also last week an
ultrasonographer friend of mine scanned me when Michael was with me and we
saw the spud sucking its thumb again, and then I redirected the probe to
find the heart because she couldn't find it, and I found it and saw it
beating. I like to see that part, it's a comfort. She printed out a few
pictures on a piece of x-ray film for us. Let's see, what else? Oh, for
the past 10 days or so I was REALLY incredibly craving a steak. So Friday
night we went to the Palm (Michael's wonderful idea) and I had a double
cut prime rib and yes, I ate the WHOLE thing. It was excellent. Friday was
a good day overall, actually, because it was our spay day and I'd been
very worried that I'd feel sick in surgery again but actually I was able
to spay a 6 year old bitch who'd had at least two previous litters and I
made it through the whole thing. BOY did I have to go to the bathroom
after that, though! And then, talk about nerve-wracking, I had to neuter a
classmate's cat while she watched! Yikes! But I did that too, and didn't
feel sick or pass out or anything. Thank goodness. In fact, I haven't felt
any real nausea since last Tuesday (today is Sunday.) Maybe, maybe it's
gone for good?? I cleaned out my closet upstairs today and put all the
clothes that will not fit for the rest of the pregnancy, for sure, into
bags to store elsewhere. Then I put into the closet the maternity clothes
I bought. That made me feel better. The other pregnancy news I have is
that I am starting to feel these little flutterings in my lower abdomen
when I lie down to go to bed at night. I'm still not 100% sure it's baby
versus peristalsis or whatever, but it does feel consistently unusual and
I think it might really be baby. The next few weeks are sure to bring more
definite findings, though!! Oh, and also, the skin on my belly has gotten
sort of dry and itchy. We have increased the cocoa butter belly massages
:). Bye for now!
Almost 17 weeks and I'm still not 100% sure that I've felt the baby
move. The itching has increased and been accompanied by a new development
- SEVERELY PAINFUL FEET. I soak them, put them up...Michael rubs
them...but they still hurt. Argh. My school schedule has been grueling
with way too much in the way of standing around in the OR. Thankfully this
rotation ends tomorrow (after this 4-midnight shift) and I will only have
oncology, derm/behavior, and radiology left - none of which are so bad. My
belly is getting bigger day by day and people are noticing. A bunch of
people at school have come up to me and asked about it in the past
week! Luckily, despite all the stress, I'm still feeling reasonably good
- no major problems at this time. I wish I could feel kicks or something
though. I am still worrying a lot.
Well into the 17th week and still no DEFINITIVE movements. I have still
felt a lot of this fluttering stuff that I think MIGHT be baby but which I
can't say for sure isn't GI peristalsis or something. I've been sitting
more and my feet are a bit better although really they still are painful
at times. Another couple of people "just found out" about my pregnancy and
it was funny to see their faces. One of my clinicians on the oncology
service was so surprised when she realized! It depends what I'm wearing
how much I show. So anyway, about all of my worrying -- it was really
dragging me down so today I had a really quick/short scan and saw the
fetal heart beating and the legs moving and I feel SO much better! It
makes me feel a lot more comfortable, that's all. I have a new sense of
joy about the whole pregnancy!! Otherwise, I have been
feeling great, although the fatigue of early pregnancy has been replaced
with...the fatigue of the middle of pregnancy! :) :) Seriously, I do get
very tired and am finding myself sleeping more and more. I also cry more
and more. I cried during HUP oncology rounds the other day when the
presenter talked about patients who fail chemotherapy and go home to make
scrapbooks or write letters to their children...I cried today when a
client talked about deciding to put her cat to sleep...I cried the other
day watching Ally McBeal, for heavens' sake! Oh well, it's hormones :)
In other news, Michael has been very solicitous. He makes sure I eat ok
and he gets me treats like apple pie or low-fat Starbucks Latte ice cream,
and he rubs my feet at the end of the day with the special foot cream I
have. What a guy.
So, most of the way through week 18 and still hanging in there! We've had
some HUGE news - we bought a new house! So I
have a lot of stuff to do now
- pack up all nonessentials and take them away so we can make this house
presentable and sell it! On the pregnancy front -- The past few days have
been awkward. I think the spud is having a growth spurt. My belly is
definitely visibly larger and I have been feeling uncomfortable. I can't
sleep very well at all. I develop pain in my "down" shoulder and hip after
about an hour or two and it hurts SO much I have to get up and walk around
til it goes away - just turning over isn't good enough. I am going to see
if I can find my old featherbed - I think it might help. Last night, I was
sooo uncomfortable - I had a bad headache and couldn't get into a good
position. Michael packed pillows under my belly and stuff and got me all
situated, and then rubbed my head - I fell right to sleep - but then I
woke up in two hours...
19 weeks, 2 days and we had our ultrasound today...everything looked
great! We got new pix which we'll scan in soon. We didn't find any
problems of any sort (although I've gained 22 entire pounds! yikes! Dr
M. says that's perfectly fine, though, so I guess it is ok. He says tall
people lose the weight afterwards faster....). I've been using the
featherbed, by the way, and it has helped a bit. I also got a body
pillow. I'm not sure if I will keep using these things because it makes
me feel so distant from Michael! There's all this stuff between us!
I think I have found a job, which is exciting. I go on Sunday for a final
discussion with the boss to work out the details. That's about all I have
to report!
OK, finally got the u/s pix scanned in! You can see a side view or a frontal view of the face :)
The 20th week is going fine! It was so cool the other day when I realized
I was 20 weeks - exactly half way! Now I'm MORE than halfway - which is
exciting but a little sad, too. Not to mention the frightening part! I got
a lot more tired this week - I've been going to bed at about 8 pm!!! and
falling asleep during school again. It's just a soft, pillowy fatigue that
surrounds me. I've also gotten larger and that's probably why my back
started hurting while we were packing the other day. It got worse
overnight and now I can't bend over - argh. I'm trying to be very very
nice to my back so it doesn't get worse!! Beyond that, things are
fine. I'm thinking of getting a Tshirt made that says "fine,
thanks; September 4th; sex unknown" because people keep asking "how do you
feel? when are you do? is it a boy or a girl?" - I'm sure it will get old
FAST! Tata for now.
Into week 21....still tired a lot, fell asleep yesterday while restraining
a cat for an ultrasound. My back got better from before -- but it has been
hurting again for about two days :(. I'm trying to do some exercises and
stretching to make it feel better. I've been feeling little kicks every
day, but never as strongly or as many as that one day when Michael felt it
too! That's kind of strange but I guess it has to do with
positioning. Anyway, that's all for now, it's past my bedtime!
I forgot to mention this weird morning sickness I've been having. Some
time between 9 and 11 am I get very nauseated and even throw up. I spoke
to the nurse at the OBs and she told me I had a bug or virus and it wasn't
morning sickness but I've had it a few weeks now...
*SIGH* What a week. The stress is almost painful at times. Honestly, I
have been feeling like things are going so very well that something
horrible is about to happen - and that's a very weird way to
feel. Yesterday I had a painful experience with a potential future
employer (should get feedback in a few days, all extremities are crossed
in anticipation - it may turn out that this was the bad thing
waiting to happen). It's been extremely hot outside and I'm starting to
worry about the summer. I've also had a lot of worries about dying during
childbirth, which I know is stupid but there it is. *SIGH*. Oh, I've also
continued to have occasional morning puking, which makes it even more
clear to me that it isn't "some bug going around." But I see the OB in
three days so we'll talk about it then. I got a couple of cute new
maternity sundresses for the summer, but I'm still looking for the perfect
thing to wear to graduation. Michael thinks I'm being silly and I don't
need anythign special, but I can't help thinking I should look
spectacular, it's going to be the last time I get all the attention! :)
Oh, another thing I forgot to mention - the baby seems to like
Tchaikovsky, just like me. It always moves around a lot when we play the
1812 Overture! :) :) :)
Well, we had our 23 week appointment yesterday and all is well! The spud
is growing right on target and I have gained
My first Mothers' Day! Yay! Michael got me a gift set of Clinique Happy
products and a really sweet card. We went out for brunch with the family,
and the hostess gave roses to all the mothers, and included me! How
exciting :). More news, folks. Yesterday we had a momentous occasion - I
was lying in bed in the morning and feeling the spud move -- and then we
SAW my abdomen moving along with the baby's movements! Today it happened
again! It's so weird, but really cool! I had another milestone of sorts
last night which isn't as nifty - I had a really REALLY bad leg cramp in
the middle of the night. BOY did it hurt. I was nearly in tears. Also last
night I had a terrible nightmare that some guy was after me, and he
pointed a gun right at my bladder. I woke up really really really having
to pee at about 3:30 AM. heh. I think that's all the news for
now. Later!
24 weeks and all is well :)
I forgot to mention, a couple of days ago I got rid of a lot of
stress. The job thing seems to be settled - the stressful situation is
basically over. I'm pretty sure I will be working part time at a nice
practice a little further from home than I'd like, but with excellent
hours :). I should be finalizing this today. That's all for now...
May 19
OK, I keep forgetting to mention this I think...the HEARTBURN has been
really unpleasant for a while now. At least three weeks ago I started to
have significant reflux, although I never felt any burning sensation, it
was more of a really unpleasant esophageal fullness. But for the past
week, I have felt burning and it's been bad. I mean, really bad. Like, I
take a sip of water and then feel all this stuff bubbling up the esophagus
to my pharynx. BLECH! So yesterday I had a killer headache all
afternoon. I had to go to a meeting at 6 pm and I barely made it
through. After the meeting Michael and I stopped to pick up a few things
at the store and went home. He made me a plate of spaghetti and I tried to
eat it - took a few bites and then puked my guts out and went right to
bed.
Well, I'm a VMD now! Woo! Got through graduation ok although sitting up
there in the chair on the stage, SOMEONE was kicking my abdominal wall and
my tailbone was aching a lot. The past couple of days have been pretty
much a blur, as I have been trying to ensure that all of my licensure
stuff is happening per SOP. Today I had a pretty good day until this
evening when I started having some severe abdominal pain - like, I had to
stop and sit down while walking home from two blocks away. It feels a lot
better now that I am lying on the couch. I am keeping my fingers crossed
and hoping for the best. I do feel some kicking, so I know the spud is
doing ok for now!
So today I found out that dry eyes are a pregnancy-related condition - and
I've had that for about a month now! Ack! I should have figured
Yesterday I had a maternity massage - boy was that nice. The baby was
moving a lot during it, and has been moving a lot ever since! I mean, a
LOT! I spent 20 minutes last night watching my belly move around on its
own! Michael hasn't been feeling well - he has a bad cold or something, so
we've been staying close to home. Today the spud woke up when our burglar
alarm went off at 6 am - and it has been kicking me ever since! what is UP
in there?? I like it. It's comforting. Oh, I had another charley horse - I
was stretching out in bed, and suddenly my leg cramped up really
badly. Ugh. That and the heartburn are the worst things about this
pregnancy. I really like how Michael keeps asking about how the baby is
doing though - he comes home and says "so how is the baby doing today? Is
it moving around? Did you have any good discussions with it?" It's so
cute :).
Week 28 and all is well! Well, mostly all is well. The heartburn is CRAZY
bad! ACK! Work is going well and I am very happy that my shifts are only
about 3 hours long, because after standing around for that long my feet
are tired, and the rest of me is tired, and I want to go home and veg
out. Interestingly, just the other night i had another very bad leg
cramp. I think the leg cramps are what remind me to write up a new entry
here! :) My last doctor's appointment went very well. I had the glucose
tolerance test, which I guess was fine because they haven't called me and
it's been 5 days. They also re-drew blood for a rubella titer because the
lab lost the original sample - nice, huh? Dr. M. said I looked fine,
everything seemed normal, and the heartbeat was nice and steady and
loud. I'm feeling ok aside from the heartburn, the back pain, and the
ligamentous pelvic pain. I'm starting to have real mobility issues, though
- it's hard to get out of the car, or out of chairs, or to roll over in
bed. Bleah.
Almost week 29! Today is Fathers' Day! Michael says he isn't a father yet
but the spud and I are giving him a card, anyway :). Guess what? Leg
cramps again last night - BOTH legs, bad enought that I woke Michael up
with my cries of pain. He rubbed them and they got better really fast, so
that was good. He doesn't remember it this morning but I still have aches
from them. Figures! I am continuing to have that pelvic pain I alluded to
before - it's actually more like the feeling of having been kicked in the
crotch and badly badly bruised. I hate it. I've been singing all kinds of
songs to the spud, but no lullabyes or anything. I suppose I should get
some baby songs to learn or something sometime soon. That will be the next
project!
June 25
Tomorrow starts week 30 - that's just 10 weeks from the big day! Well, not
that I think the due date is carved in stone, but it's a good landmark
anyway. I have had some stuff going on that I should mention. I went
swimming at Kitty and Joe's house about a week or so ago and got to wear
that cute maternity bathing suit I have :) - it was fun. I also have
finally developed that "always hot" symptom of pregnancy. That is to say,
I can't go outside in our >80 F, >90% humidity weather without feeling
like I'm going to keel over. I still need a light sweater in those
overly-airconditioned movie theaters, though :). Let's see, what
else... Oh, the neck. Two days ago I woke up with neck pain from hell. The
doctor says I can only take acetaminophen, no really good NSAIDs or muscle
relaxants. Sigh. That does nothing. So Emily took me to her trainer and he
showed Michael how to massage it. It helped a bit. At least it is getting
better, although I still can't get comfortable at all lying down or turn
my head when driving, etc. Sigh. Oh, more news - the night before last,
apparently, Michael couldn't sleep because my tummy was up against him and
something kept hitting him. He turned around and said "cut that out" and I
woke up and said "what?" and he said "I'm not talking to you, go back to
sleep." Apparently, the spud was very active and was kicking so hard
Michael felt it on his back. Hehehehehehe. I thought that was pretty
funny. Also, I've checked my blood pressure a few times at the CVS where
they have a machine, and it is generally low - like 95/65! I'm not at all
surprised; I have been more surprised at the "normal" readings at the OB
because normally I have some "white coat hypertension." I guess I have
that pregnancy induced hypotension that some people get. I'm not dizzy or
passing out so I suppose it isn't a big deal but I will mention it to my
OB. I guess there isn't much else to report. I still have heartburn
although not as constant as a few weeks ago. Oh, I have to pee like every
hour and a half again. Ack. I'm nervous about moving to the new house, but
it's exciting. Maybe my next update will be from there, we'll see!
We ordered the baby furniture today! This was very exciting. We chose a
crib, dressers, changing table, a really cute rug and bedding set. We hope
it is available for delivery at about the same time as the baby is, but it
might not be! Apparently it takes 12-14 weeks to get baby furniture. Who
knew? Sigh. Anyway, in other news...my last OB appointment was fine - no
problems. A funny thing happened, though - he asked me to reposition on
the exam table and as I did that, my foot popped out in front of me and my
toes felt something sort of soft and then he said, in a strained voice,
"you don't have to kick me in the balls, you know." Oops. I was dying. I
mean, I felt terrible but I certainly didn't mean to do it! But then we
heard the hearbeat and that was exciting and we were all happy again
;)
One thing that kind of bugged me was that I weighed in at
Phew, long break from writing -s o much going on! We moved on 7/3 and
don't have our DSL back up yet so internet stuf is on the back burner. We
"matched" with an au pair named colleen, that's very exciting. We can't
wait to meet her. We've had a couple of sad things happen - Michael and I
each have a friend who lost a mom in the past couple of weeks. So we have
been out on the funeral circuit, unfortunately. Being pregnant at a
funeral feels odd - I mean, I feel like such a "symbol" of life, it is
almost embarrassing to be in the presence of the bereft. But I guess
that's my own personal problem. As far as the pregnancy goes, no news is
good news and nothing bad has happened in that respect. The baby movement
seems to have slowed down - I guess because the fetus has less room in the
uterus these days. The need to urinate has become even MORE constant, if
you can believe that. Sleeping is actually a little better these days,
probably because I'm just so worn out that I sleep despite the pains. My
feet have been getting really sore again, just like they were early in the
pregnancy during my surgery rotations. I rub them and elevate them a
lot. I don't stand that much so I don't know why they hurt like this but
worse things have happened so I'm not complaining too much :). The weather
is HOT and I'm really starting to feel it. Water ice is my best
friend! Yay, Rita's! :) :)
Short entry today: just wanted to mention that I forgot to mention one new
pregnancy symptom - falling down! I have fallen down at least four or five
times in the past two weeks. I just trip and down I go. Today I fell in
the driveway and skinned my knees and they really hurt. I don't like this
part of pregnancy at all.
Ack! The OB says the spud now weighs in at about 5.5 lbs, and is
head down! That's HUGE! No wonder my back hurts so much; no
wonder I'm such a klutzy moose. Sheesh. I'm also almost up to
200 lbs which is very scary but again, the OB specifically said
my weight was absolutely fine. I hope he knows what he's talking
about. We bought more furniture yesterday. It is an addiction. I
hope some of it shows up before the spud arrives!
35 weeks, and all is well :)
I thought I had problems sleeping before! Well, let me tell you something
- sleep is but a fond memory these days. Honestly, I toss and turn so much
poor Michael is getting battered and bruised. And then I try to get out of
bed only to feel these horrible pains that I think are separation of my
pubic symphysis. Bleah. We had a busy weekend - we had a visiting
photographer come to the house to take some "pregnancy photos" which we
hope will be fun to have in the future. We also had Sharon come to visit
from California which was great, as always :). We had a party at Mark's
house at which I was so tired I just sat in a chair for a while and then
we left pretty early....oh, and we took our photographer friend down to
Old City to see all the historical sites, hoping no one would think we
were there for the Republican Convention! What else did we cram into our
busy weekend? Um, Oh! I went to a baby shower for Joy, and someone
actually brought ME a present! Tee hee! That was a nice surprise. Anyway,
not too much to report that is directly related to pregnancy. Stretch
marks are present and accounted for, by the way.... beyond that, well -
still hanging in, hoping for some furniture to arrive, hoping for us to
get some baby stuff ordered and ready to go for when baby gets here,
hoping to get nursery redone...all in 35 days to go before our due
date! Yikes!!
OK, this is getting ridiculous! Not last night, but the night before, I
had a Very Bad Nightmare that lasted all night. I kept waking up, quaking
in fear, unable to sleep - and then I'd go back to sleep and dream more of
the same dream, which was about some serial killer who was coming to get
me, and kept singing some creepy song to me. It was horrible and it kept
me up a long time, but after Michael got up at 6:30 and comforted me, I
was able to go back to sleep for about 3 hours of uninterrupted,
non-nightmare-infested sleep. I was tired all day yesterday and thought
I'd sleep well last night but - well - more tossing and turning. No
nightmares, but this stupid left hip thing that's been plaguing me the
whole pregnancy has progressed into a situation where really just 3
minutes of lying on my left side results in numbness followed by an hour
of shooting pains over the lateral aspect of my left hip. So I try to
avoid lying on that side but sometimes in my sleep I roll onto it and then
I end up being up for an hour. ARGH! To top it off, I woke up at about
4:30 to pee and couldn't get back to sleep at all. It's about 6:30 right
now, and I've been downstairs since 5:30 when I decided to come down for
some graham crackers and milk (my new favorite snack, by the way :)). At
least it's peaceful down here. Kanga is sitting with me.
I forgot to mention something from before - about the time we were moving,
I took my rings off my finger and put them on a chain around my neck, just
because they were feeling a little bit tight. I was at the time still able
to put them on. As of this past weekend, my wedding ring really won't go
onto my finger - or, that is, I COULD get it on but I don't think I'd be
able to get it off easily so I'm afraid to force it on :(. Also, in the
mornings when I get up, my feet are swollen, and it feels weird to walk on
them. After I walk around a little bit, the fluid moves out of my feet and
it feels better. We have a doctor's appointment today at 9:30 AM so
hopefully I'll remember to talk to him about all this stuff!
Went to the doctor today...all is well! We had the group B strep culture
done today so we'll know in a week or so about whether I'll need
antibiotics during labor. I hope not. Dr. M says the baby is now about 6
lbs, 5 oz! Woo! He estimates it will grow to about 8 and a half lbs before
it's born. We'll see! So far no dilation or anything, which is good. I
weighed in at
Yesterday, Michael and my dad painted the baby's room a nice yellow
color. It looks really really good! My mom also got a "going home
outfit" for the baby - although I'm making her keep it at her house, I
don't want it sitting around here! It's really cute, with little teddy
bears all over it, and a matching hat and blanket :). I spent most of the
past two days at the mall walking around and BOY is that painful
sometimes! I mean, my pubic bone is just aching and aching. The only time
I really feel comfy is in the bathtub, but I'm turning into a
prune! Ack!
So...last week's appointment went well - no signs of impending labor, so I
was able to go to my USDA seminar in Harrisburg; also Dr. M. estimated
fetal weight at 7 lbs! The rest of the week was reasonably
uneventful. Yesterday was fun, though - we went with our moms and Emily to
Kids 'N Cribs out in Wayne, and ordered tons of stuff - a car seat, a
stroller, a boppy-type pillow, a breast pump, some bassinet sheets - I
don't even remember what all of it was, but we put it all in a big pile,
and when I go into labor someone will go get it :). On the way back from
there, I noticed that I have pitting edema in my ankles. Bleah. It is
really gross. My legs do hurt more lately. My mom keeps telling me to cut
salt out of my diet because she doesn't understand that that will not
help. The problem isn't related to my sodium levels. Oh well, she means
well. I am feeling a LOT more awkward lately, and a lot of pelvic
pressure. The baby is still kicking but not moving around as much as it
was a couple of weeks ago - it's probably running out of room! I'm very
tired all the time and a lot of it probably has to do with the ever
increasing discomfort when I lie down to go to sleep. I sure wish we had a
recliner or something I could try to sleep in instead of the bed. That
might be a lot better. Oh well. We don't. Michael scared me the other day
and told me my belly button looked like it was about to pop out. I don't
think it's THAT close to popping out, but it is starting to flatten. I
REALLY hope it doesn't evert! That will really freak me out. Bleah.
Oh, also, I forgot to mention, the strep culture from last week came back
negative, so that's good - no antibiotics required during labor. Phew.
Today's appointment went well. Spud is up to 7 lbs, 6 oz according to
Dr. M. I'm still weighing in at 204 (ARGH) which is, I admit, same as last
week - although we're CERTAIN that 4 of those pounds are edema. Anyway,
Dr. M makes a pretty precise fetal weight measurement by abdominal
palpation, I think! We'll see how close he ends up being :) Still
no signs of impending labor. Today I was out and about with Lisa almost
all day, running all kinds of errands, and BOY does my back hurt now. I
feel like the baby is trying to escape from my abdominal wall, and it
hurts in my pelvis, back, and lower abdomen when I walk. It's not
good. I'm hoping I feel better tomorrow. My ankles still still have
pitting edema, too, but that probably won't go away til the baby's born.
In other news, our kitchen stools that we ordered are here! They look
great next to our counter but will look even better after the rest of the
kitchen furniture arrives. That's pretty much all the news I have to
report, so more later.
Nothing really new to report except that I got a couple of tops on sale at
Sears today - certainly my last "maternity clothes" purchases for a
while! I also got a nightgown and robe to take to the hospital - also on
sale at sears, with nursing slits in the gown. Tee hee. I've started a
"hospital pile" and hopefully we'll pack the bag this week. If I can get
motivated. It's still painful to move around but I don't want to be too
sedentary, that can't be good for me. I've had this dull backache since
yesterday, too, that worries me a little - UTI vs early labor vs DJD... my
differential list isn't that optimistic.
Yesterday was our first wedding anniversary, and we had a great day! We
had to get up pretty early to make it to a 9 am appointment with an estate
attorney, so it was also a very LONG day, but I got to sleep in today so
that was ok :).
First thing we did was - I gave Michael the present I
got for him - a wine lover's cookbook, which he really liked, and a card
with heartfelt sentiments expressed inside, which of course he also
enjoyed :). My poor husband has not had five minutes to himself to prepare
his gift for me, so he's planning to give it to me later this week, which
is fine, because then I will get an extra surprise later :). Besides,
spending the day with me instead of going to work should count as a gift,
IMO.
So first we headed out to the main post office in Philadelphia
to pick up a package, which had been erroneously delivered to our old
house, whose new owners had called to notify us about the notification
they found on their door when they got back from vacation. It turned out
to be two free sample bottles of Similac infant formula! Weird. What a
waste of time. But it was amusing at the time. THen we went to see the
estate attorney about drawing up wills. That was sort of depressing, as
the attorney was very thorough and talked about things like what could
happen if Michael died, and I remarried someone his family didn't like,
and had a falling out with them, and how this could affect my financial
stability...I mean, who wants to think about that, especially on their
anniversary? But we got it all dealt with and out of the way and in some
way, I think it was a good thing to do on our anniversary because it made
us really think about our relationship and committment to each other and
stuff. Not that we don't think about it anyway, but you know what I mean.
So, after that, we took a walk back to our old neighborhood in
Philly, ran some banking errands, hung out at Barnes and Noble's cafe (my
old haunt) where I bought some books to pack in my hospital bag (laugh if
you must, but I guarantee you that yes, I WILL at some point want to read
some trashy novel no matter how tired or busy I am!). We saw the daughter
of the new owners of our old house on the street and said hello :).
Eventually, it was time for us to go to lunch - we had reservations at Le
Bec Fin
After lunch, we managed to pick
ourselves up out of those comfy chairs and go for a nice walk. It was a
beautiful day in Philly yesterday! Cool for August, since we had sunny
skies and a high of about 76 or 78 F (that's about 24-26 C I think). For
those who know Philly we walked from about 16th and Walnut down to about
6th and Chestnut, through the Jeweler's Row area, to look at a jewelry
store where they had some bracelets my dear husband had heard about and
wanted to check out :) :) :). We browsed there for a little bit, and I had
a glass of water given to me by the nice saleswoman who felt just horrible
for me when she noticed that my fingers by this time had swollen up like
little sausages (they were in fact starting to really bother me).
Then we walked over to one of Philly's art movie houses - the Ritz - where
we saw a very funny movie called "but I'm a cheerleader." See
http://www.butimacheerleader.com for more on that. It's about a teenage
girl who, unbeknownst to herself, is a lesbian, and whose parents and
friends figure it out first and send her to a training camp to become
heterosexual. Riotously funny movie! Plus, I got to relax in a nice air
conditioned movie house with soft cushy seats and I even sneakily put my
feet up (I never do that, I know it's not polite, but my ankles were very
swollen and I figured for all the times I have been to the movies and
dealt with chair arms dirty from other people's feet, I was entitled this
one time!). By the time we were out of there, my fingers were back to
their normal size (well, not normal, but normal for 38 weeks!) and I was
feeling fine.
From there, we went back to our old neighborhood and
met a friend of ours (Vern) in the park (Rittenhouse Square). We went back
into the same Barnes and Noble cafe to have some iced tea and chat with
our pal about his work (he works for the veterinary school; he's one of
the sysadmins for the network there) and mutual acquaintances and so on.
After a while, we realized it was 10 minutes before our dinner reservation
at the Brasserie Perrier
After all of
that, we headed home - allegedly we were going to eat a (very very small
piece of!) our anniversary cake together, but we were so tired we forgot!
So we'll have to have some today. It'll have to be a whole week long
anniversary celebration :)
I'm just grateful that we were able to
spend such a wonderful day together and that everything (the weather, our
friend, the restaurants, and of course the baby!) cooperated to allow us
to do so. It was really great.
I'm spending today dealing with more
home-oriented administrative tasks, and also packing the hospital bag!
Saw the OB again today and got the usual response... "looks great; see you
next week!" ACK! No changes or signs of impending labor. Sigh. The spud is
now estimated to weigh in at about 8 lbs. Sheesh. No WONDER my back hurts
so much these days! Aside from the backache and the pain in my hips and
pelvis when I try to walk around, really I'm doing ok I guess. I sure am
tired a lot, and I've been having mood swings - actually, thinking about
it now, I'm pretty sure that the past few major crying jags were
completely due to pregnancy, rather than being due to what they seemed to
be due to at the time (stupid stuff).
I've packed a lot of stuff for the hospital; still need to throw in a pair
of slippers. I hope we remember to grab some Frozfruits to bring with us
when we go, I know I will really want one! Some people think that
preparing the bag is going to make it take longer for me to go into labor
:) I hope not but I figure whatever, I may as well be as prepared as
possible anyway.
So after the OB appt today I came home to deal with the plumber, who was
supposed to be installing a sink for us in the kitchen. In actuality, he
took out the old sink but couldn't put in the new one because it turned
out to have a small defect no one had noticed before. Argh. So I have to
go return that and have a hole in the kitchen instead of a sink for the
rest of the week while we wait for a new sink. The other thing I have to
do is go deal with MOtherhood Maternity - I bought some underwear there
and it came in a fourpack. Well, 2 pairs fit fine, and 2 were so tiny they
ripped when I put them on! They say all underwear sales are final but this
is absurd. So I have to go to the store with the underwear and show them
and get them to give me two new pairs ;) I guess that's about all there is
to report today.
So, I woke up today (Saturday) at 4 am and couldn't get back to sleep, so
at about 5 I had some breakfast, then went back upstairs at about 6:30 and
took a shower, then crawled back into bed at about 7:30 hoping to catch a
few z's - accidentally woke up Michael, though, but did still get about
one hour of sleep before we had to get up and go meet Kitty at the local
window/carpet place to look at window treatments. We chose blinds and
stuff for 8 rooms in our house, which took a couple of hours, and then we
went out to lunch at a pizza place with the slowest service on earth (it's
normally not so bad, no idea what happened today). Then we went to
Kellmers so Kitty could get Emily's watch fixed...and while we were
there, Michael got me a beautiful bracelet for an anniversary present! :)
Then we went home and got ready for this party we had to go to tonight. It
was interesting. This party was about an hour away in south NJ. It was a
surprise birthday party, a 50th birthday party, for one of the guys who
drives one of the trucks for Michael's family's business.
The DJ was playing a great mix of Sinatra,
oldies, and newer music... at one point they made the birthday boy do a
Chubby Checker imitation so I was doing the Twist, which I think made a
lot of people laugh, but I can't sit out a Twist. They also played that
Eminem song "Slim Shady," and I think the baby thinks it is the real Slim
Shady because it kept trying to stand up - at least it felt like it. I
also danced to YMCA (Village People!) and that old song "do a little
dance, make a little love, get down tonight!" whatever it is actually
called. I couldn't get Michael to do any real dancing with me, he likes to
hold me close for that and really it isn't possible. We did do the cha cha
together when they played "Hot hot hot!" though :) Now it is almost
midnight and I'm completely exhausted. Why am I posting
this now? Oh, because otherwise I will just forget the entire thing and I
don't really want to do that, so :).
Yet another update...just writing to say that darn it, I woke up early
again this morning. It must be some kind of early training my body is
doing to get me used to lack of sleep. The spud is bouncing around like
a maniac in there, too. I don't know what we're going to do
today; hopefully we can put together our new gas grill and get it set
up. Then maybe we could barbecue..although since we still have no kitchen
sink, that might be a pain in the butt. We'll see. I can't believe I have
to go to work tomorrow. I'm thinking that could be really
uncomfortable.
Just a quick note - I can't believe this. I just got home from my last day
of work! Today was a Tuesday and my patients were all friendly and
everything went pretty well (even the followup on that Chihuahua with the
corneal ulcer I was worried about!) - and now all that's left for me to do
is HAVE THE BABY!!! I mean, it's a whole change in identity. It feels
weird!
OK, so, the "large and in charge" thing is getting seriously old...
I went to work this morning for the last time as a childless woman (unless
by some really bizarre chance I end up having to go in again to see one of
my patients before I have this baby, which I seriously doubt will happen).
I was there for three whole hours and I think I had to pee after every
single appointment I saw...
So, I DID see the OB on August 30th as planned, and yeah, he said "see you
next week." No throttling occurred, however. I wussed out on that
one. Basically he said everything was still fine, the baby was over 8 lbs
now (and I was 208, ack ack ack ack ack! But I can tell a lot of it is
edema.) I'm scheduled for a non-stress test on Wednesday the 6th if I
haven't delivered by then. They called it in to the prenatal testing folks
as an "NST for post-dates." Sheesh. That's only 2 days later. They do call
it "estimated" date of delivery for a reason, right? Well. Anyway. Last
night we went to the Pearl Jam concert in Camden. You know, it just HAD to
be the hottest night all week, didn't it? Ugh. It was humid and hot and I
got all swollen up - even my sandals felt tight for the first time this
summer! The music was great (well, Pearl Jam was. Sonic Youth, who opened
for them, completely sucked). The baby really danced around to the music
the whole time :). I had to keep going to the bathroom during the concert,
and once the line was really really really huge and I just went right to
the front and cut in front of like 150 people or something - I really
couldn't have waited :). Then when I was going back into the seating area
one
time, the ticket guy said "hold on, you need another ticket, ma'am." I got
confused and started to explain that I'd already been seated, and had just
gone to the bathroom, and that the stub I had was in fact correct, when I
realized that he was telling me I needed an extra ticket for the baby. Har
dee har har. Everyone's a comedian these days!
I haven't mentioned it, but for the past 2 or 3 days, I've had this back
pain that's really uncomfortable. It feels like disc pain, very similar to
what I felt when I had the prolapsed disc the summer before vet
school. It's not constant now like it was then, but when I'm having it,
every step I take I get a knifelike pain in my spine. Urk. Yesterday I
*finally* organized the master bathroom and I think I overdid things a
little bit with respect to moving things from shelf to cabinet and such,
and that didn't help my back at all either.
Michael was very cute yesterday - he's getting all excited about the baby
and when I got up out of bed in the morning he said "don't leave, you have
my baby, don't take it away!" - so I got back into bed for a while :)
I still have no signs of actual impending labor, as far as I can tell. The
spud is moving around and seems fine, it's just not ready to come out I
guess. I think *I* am the only one who is ready around here. I just want
my fingers and toes and feet and legs to stop feeling so swollen and
gross! Any time now!!
No baby yet! Yet another sleepless night, too....up at 2, 4 and 6 just to
go pee...and then feeling sort of weird so I couldn't really sleep well in
between. I kept feeling like the right side of my belly was being pushed
in on or something weird. I walked around a little bit at about 4 am and
it went away for a while. Now I'm up, waiting for all kinds of contractors
to come by again. I guess we WILL get our refrigerator before we get the
baby after all, since the fridge is scheduled for delivery today!
Yesterday was sort of disappointing. I mean, I knew the baby wasn't likely
to be born ON the due date, but still. I woke up yesterday with a low
backache that felt more diffuse than the disc pain I have, and I thought
maybe...but it went away with a little massage. And nothing since then
suggests to me that labor is starting any time soon. Sigh sigh sigh.
Well, I had the non stress test today - everything looked great, it was
"reactive" with plenty of fetal movement and good heartbeat, and I saw a
couple of uterine contractions on the monitor but didn't feel them (guess
that's the best kind of contraction, huh?). Dr. M told me I'm 1 cm dilated
and 70% effaced. So there's been a little bit of progress! We have a
tentative appointment for Monday the 11th for a biophysical
profile. Hopefully, we won't have to use the appointment....
Less happily, I've gained SIX more pounds - which the doctor believes is
all edema fluid. Bleah. The spud is estimated to be 8 lbs, 6 oz. We'll
see...
September 7th
I'm still pregnant, Mom!!! :). Sheesh, it seems like the whole world
thinks I'm going to have the baby in secret and not tell anyone about
it. Listen, folks - you DO NOT HAVE TO CALL every couple of hours. If you
MUST call, you do not have to leave messages like "call me if the baby is
born" or "hope you aren't on the way to the hospital but forgot to call
me" or whatever it is that seems amusing at the time!! It's really NOT
NECESSARY AT ALL!!!!
But yes, I *am* still pregnant, and feeling relatively crappy. None of my
shoes fit anymore. Not even the big stretchy sandals I have been wearing
for the past month - they hurt my poor swollen feet! Several of my
maternity items are looking seriously small on me, too. It's not good. I
have to have this baby soon or I'll end up having to sit home naked all
day because nothing fits...
When I walk, I feel like I'm put together by rubber bands instead of
ligaments and other fibrous connective tissues. My pelvis pops and cracks
when I move my legs, it feels like it is going to fall apart any
minute. My lower back disc pain is a little better since I spent some time
in the bathtub last night sort of approximating the position of lying on
my stomach as best as I could without drowning myself. I'm still achy,
though. My *knees* are starting to wear out, too - must be all this extra
weight, but they really burn when I rise from a sitting position.
Ok, enough complaining. I just wish that things would move a little
faster, that's all. Is that wrong of me?
Update as of noon...I've noticed the appearance of small amounts of
mucus...hopefully, this means things are still progressing in the right
direction!
Sigh. Still pregnant. I woke up at quarter til 5 this morning feeling
yucky and crampy. I got up and came downstairs for breakfast after about
half an hour of trying to go back to sleep. I once again had a bad
backache, til I got out of bed, now it's gone... I'm starting to think
this baby just doesn't want to be born or something. Michael and I spent a
while last night trying to tell it how much we want to see it and hold it
and give it hugs and that we promise to take good care of it when it comes
out - we'll feed it and clean it and massage it and dress it and carry it
around and stuff, just like we do now sort of, but it has to COME OUT
first! It didn't listen...
well, he was born!! I guess that is not a surprise, given my last entry
;) Here's his story:
The story of Jacob Samuel Israeli
Warning: this is long and somewhat graphic.
So, Friday I wasn't feeling so hot most of the day, and I started having
serious contractions some time around 3 PM. If you talk to Lisa she'll
tell you I was having them when we were out shopping in the early
afternoon - but in my book, the earliest thing I now can definitely say
was a contraction was what felt like a sharp abdominal pain through my
lower abdomen at about 2 pm when I was driving home from lunch :). At
about 3:30 or so I had a rough time when I felt like I was in the throes
of some horrible food poisoning or something - but that only lasted about
10 minutes and then I felt much better. During that time, I lost the mucus
plug, though. Anyway, I called Michael at about 4 and told him not to be
late coming home from work because I thought I "might" be "starting labor
soon." Little did I know! By 5:30 PM I was having painful contractions
ever 3 to 7 minutes, we called to talk to the doctor who said we could go
to the hospital to get checked if we felt like it, or we could wait - it
was up to us. I decided to wait, but then another contraction came and I
decided to go :). We ended up getting there at about 7:15 PM, and when
they checked I was 4 cm dilated and fully effaced - so they sent me to the
labor and delivery room!
I was excited to be having the baby but was noticing the contractions
getting very close and developing more "full body" effects. They weren't
getting more painful necessarily, but they were accompanied by hot
flashes, feelings of nausea and dizziness, and a generally unpleasant full
body sensation of being close to an agonizing death. This started
happening shortly after we got to the delivery room - I was in the
bathroom and it seemed so hot and stuffy in there I ripped off my hospital
gown and threw it across the room. Then I ripped off my watch, and threw
it to Michael. I briefly considered, but rejected, the idea of ripping off
my bra and throwing it somewhere, too :). I thought about a shower but the
idea of being all wet didn't appeal. So I went to the bed and tried to
getcomfy - not possible. Not on my back, not on my side, not on all fours
-
not with Michael rubbing my back or my feet - I did not like it, Sam I am!
So, at some point (it seemed like only 5 minutes after we'd arrived!) I
asked for an epidural. I just couldn't accept the idea of having to deal
with the horrible sensations I was having any longer, no matter how much I
tried - and I did try. I had been vocalizing with contractions, focusing
on a focal point, doing breathing exercises, trying to relax my whole body
- basically all the stuff they teach you about, and it all helped, don't
get me wrong - but not enough. And then I vomited a large amount and poor
Michael cleaned it up and I thought I might feel better after that, but I
didn't... I also was trembling, so that must have already been transition
I guess. I remember telling Michael I just couldn't take it any more, that
I had to have the epidural, and feeling really bad about it. I knew we'd
already gone more than halfway without it and I was worried that I'd miss
out on something by numbing myself up. But Michael was encouraging and he
said that he could tell from my face that I was going through something
very intense and that if I really thought I needed relief, I should have
it. So the OB came back to check me and I was at 6.5 cm already, and they
said that was great, I was going at about 2 cm an hour, pretty fast. Dr.
Debbs said that since my water hadn't broken, he would like to break it,
to reduce the risk of the impending epidural causing my labor to slow
down. I gave him permission to do that and then, as he was unwrapping the
AmniHook, my water broke! So he didn't have to break it after all. So they
got everything set up and started some fluids (after a brief period of
difficulty with the IV catheter which, by the way, I am SO glad I let them
put in early - I could NOT have sat still for it at that point) and let me
tell you, after the epidural was in everything seemed MUCH better. I could
still feel contractions and move my legs and everything - I just didn't
feel pain but only pressure and tightening sensations. I think some of the
narcotic from the epidural got into my systemic circulation too because I
felt a transient mild euphoria :).
Shortly after this a nice med student named Steve came in and was chatting
me up and was showing Michael how to read the monitors and stuff. The
monitors weren't picking up my contractions well at all, though - they
were worried that maybe the epidural had slowed my labor, but I told them
I was feeling the contractions very regularly and then we were playing
"find the contraction" on the monitor strip for a while :) Steve was
pretty nice and we talked about veterinary medicine vs human medicine and
so forth. He explained to me how I might know when I was ready to push,
and I thought that maybe I was feeling that way, but I wasn't sure. We had
a little debate about the difference between rectal pressure and perineal
pressure at this time - ah, the things that seem important at times like
this....but seriously, I was being told that I should feel rectal
pressure. I was feeling perineal pressure. Why I felt it necessary to have
a discussion about this is beyond me but we did talk about it - this was
about 11 pm, I think - and finally even though I didn't have the requisite
rectal pressure, one of the nurses decided to go get the doctor to check
me again. Thinking back, I now realize that I should have just been more
assertive and said that yes, I felt the urge to push - but at the time,
well - I just couldn't commit to saying I felt ready to push because I
kind of thought maybe they'd check and say I wasn't ready and then I'd
feel stupid. How stupid is that? Well, by the time he checked, he
couldn't assess cervical dilation because the head was practically
crowning and the doctor said "you're not ready, you're past ready! You'll
have it out in two pushes!" When he told the nurse to set up the delivery
tray, I got really really excited! I was also pleased as punch when Dr.
Debbs told me he didn't believe in cutting and that I wouldn't be having
an episiotomy. This was the one thing I'd disagreed with my regular doctor
about.
So, the pushing phase was pretty intense - that is some seriously hard
work! I remember telling Michael to shut up a couple of times, and I
remember shouting out to the doctor, after he said "push, push" at one
point, "do you realize how absurd it sounds when you tell me to push? Of
COURSE I'm pushing!" And I was! Then the doctor told me to stop pushing
because he realized it was an anterior presentation - he had me pant and
he reached in and put his finger behind the baby's ear, and turned him
around! Boy did that feel weird. And it wasn't long before they told me
"reach down and feel your baby's head" which was a big relief, because I
thought ok, the head is the worst part - and you thought I'd be numb from
the epidural, right? No. The "ring of fire" is true - the head coming out
was very painful. After that I thought I was home free - I'd never
considered the shoulders! This time when they told me to push, I remember
I yelled out "but it feels like I'm being split in half!" and then I
remember the doctor said "no, you're not, you're doing great" and then a
minute later, I felt a big sense of relief as the baby was completely
born! Then I wanted to know immediately if it was a boy or a girl and I
asked several times until finally Michael took it upon himself to look at
the baby, and proclaim "it's a boy, we have a son!" - and then we said
"Hi, Jacob!" and well - the rest is history :). They stiched up my small
tear (half the size of an episiotomy, so there!) and I would like the
record to reflect that although the epidural was still in place, the right
side of the torn tissue was NOT numb. I declined a local, though - I hate
that stinging, I figured I could just deal with a few needle sticks for
the suturing and I was right.
