Update from 2/17/11 ob/gyn appt.

Just got in from my doctor's appointment.  She said everything is fine.  No comments about my weight this time, so I seem to be ok there again.

Blood pressure amazingly good - especially for a pregnant gal.  Head still down where it should be, so she's ready to go when the time comes.  (She's been like that for over a month now, apparently.)  Heartbeat is at 150 today when she measured, and the tape measure up my belly was right where it should be.  She said 34 cm, but I swear, last time she said 37, so I have no idea what that means unless the baby settles in as you get towards the end, and the measurement actually goes down a little?  Either way, she said it's "right on."

I mentioned that I want to do a VBAC (vaginal birth after cesarian) and she fully backs that choice.  She's stayed neutral until now, but now that I've made up my mind, she's voicing her opinion and says that's a great idea.

Also, I asked about some other specifics that are out of the ordinary that could help prolong my non-drugged labor, and she said that was fine.  Last time I was given the epidural because I had pain every time they had me get up to urinate - not because of contractions.  She said I could have a catheter this time if it helped get me past needing an epidural too soon.  I had no idea that was an option last time, so didn't know to even ask.  Hopefully I don't get freakish bladder pain this time, and hopefully if I do, a catheter will buy me some un-drugged time to allow labor to progress.

Next appointment is in 2 weeks and she will start twice weekly monitoring at that point.  What that means is since I'm over 40, she wants to hook me up to a fetal monitor for about 30 minutes, twice a week until the baby comes.  After next week's appointment, I also go to once a week for my regular appointments.  So, I get monitored twice a week and I see her once a week until go time.

She also said first babies are, on the average, about a week late and, once again, on the average, second babies are about 3 days late. 

That's pretty much it from today's visit.

Freaky Wake Up

Last night I woke up choking!

I think the baby kicked me in the stomach and sent some stuff up my throat.  I went from "do do do, sleeping, sleeping..." to "HOLY CRAP!  WHAT IS HAPPENING TO ME?!?!?" in about 3 seconds flat.

Of course, I stood up so I could barf somewhere more appropriate than my pillow and realized I had NO idea where I was.  I saw the light of the hall light on the wood floor out there and was about to make a run for that (for lack of a better surface in my confusion and stupor) when I remembered where I was.  Luckily, I was able to make it to the bathroom sink in time to... realize I wasn't really going to throw up.

Huh?

Whatever, I'll take it!

A couple weeks ago, Marti moved the glider chair into our room when I started getting heartburn pretty regularly.  "It was time."  I thought that was sweet and thoughtful!  It's right next to my side of the bed so I can get into the chair in the middle of the night and do my best at continuing to sleep without having to move my alarm and all that stuff like I've had to do before.

With last night's development, it might be time to start sleeping upright soon.

It's Like Running the Gauntlet

Call me crazy, but I really, REALLY don't want this baby to share a birthday with anyone.  Well, I KNOW there will be SOMEONE born on her birthday somewhere in the world, but we have SO many family birthdays around this time and that's what I want to avoid.

We made it through this weekend, easily avoiding my mother and my father's birthdays.  Prior to that was her paternal great grandmother, Sadie's, birthday, but she would have had to have been REALLY early to have hit any of those.

My maternal grandmother, Irene's, birthday is coming up, then come some in-laws and and an uncle, a few friends, followed by a cousin and a departed great-great grandmother.

Honestly, it's going to be hard NOT to hit someone's birthday if you think about it!

I've been going back and forth this whole pregnancy between scheduling a C-section and letting nature take its course.  This is just one more small notch on the "pro" side for C-section.  (KIDDING!!!!  I would never schedule a C-section just to pick a certain date!!!!)

So, I prefer her to have her own birthday, but the whole "running the gauntlet" idea IS a bit extreme, I know.  It wouldn't be THAT bad, I guess, if she had to share her day.

I guess my problem is that I don't see birthdays as a big deal.  (And at this point, you're probably asking yourself, "so what's your problem??")  Since I don't like making a big deal of birthdays, I guess I'm afraid that the little enthusiasm I already have for such occasions would get spread too thin between those that DO put a greater importance on such occasions.  Of course CHILDREN love birthdays, but my philosophy is that once you reach 12 or so, I couldn't really give a shit unless it's a HUGE milestone birthday, like 16 to drive, 18 to vote and whatnot, 21 to drink (woo hoo!), or the big decade birthdays when you're older, like 40 when your significant other has to make you a handmade birthday present even if he's not in the least bit handy.

Some of you may remember that prank.  Thanks again to all that helped make that happen!  If you don't know what I'm talking about, it's a long story, but I somehow convinced Marti when I turned 40 that he had to MAKE me a present by hand, and I had all his friends and even some of his clientele and strangers playing it up for effect!!!  It was awesome, and in the end, I got a handmade bird house that hung in my favorite tree until the elements finally got the best of it.  The best part was watching him sweat it out in the months between our 40th birthdays.  (We are about 2 months apart.)

And, just because I'm "that way," here's a picture of the bird house in all its glory.  I LOVE YOU, HONEY! 

PS - Happy Valentine's Day, or whatever...  ;)

A Sort of Post Script to the Last Update

I forgot to add to the last update that the doctor also said I need to gain weight.  Go figure.  I know I gained more with Abby, but I chalk that up to having the feeling of being entitled to eat whatever I wanted to because I was pregnant – not because I NEEDED it.  It’s that whole “eating for two” syndrome that is so easy to fall into – especially with a first baby.

Now that I’ve been there, done that, I felt more like just doing what felt natural instead of being a bit of a glutton.  It seems to have worked so far.  She’s been happy with my weight at every appointment until now.

I should note that when she measures my belly, it’s always spot on, if not a little bit more than what it should be, so she says the baby is growing.  It’s not like I’m starving her.  And, coincidentally, I happen to feel like eating more this week anyway.  I think my body knows what to do and is telling me what to do just fine.  (And that’s not supposed to be read in a snarky tone.  It’s just me simply saying that things seem to be working properly, so I’m going with it.)

However, even though she’s growing, I do need to make sure she’s getting proper nutrition, so it’s time to up the caloric intake and hope for about a pound a week at this point.  I went OFF yesterday and ate more Mexican food than should have been allowed – yet I lost weight on my weight chart after that binge!  (I didn’t escape the feeling of squished stomach and massive heartburn though, so there was a price to be paid!)

Not like tacos and beans are the most nutritious thing I could have picked at this point, but, it’s what I felt like, so I went with it.  I told Marti that I heard nerve cells need fat to form, and there was plenty of fat dripping down my hands as I ate those tacos!  My baby’s going to be BRILLIANT!!!!  Ha ha!

Oh, and there was lettuce.  That’s healthy, right?  So what if it was soaked in grease and covered in cheese.  You got a problem with that?

And, I have been taking my prenatals religiously for years now.  Even when we were in phases when we were not trying, there were always leftover prenatals to be used up, so by default, I’ve been on them forever.  And once I got pregnant, the DHA was added to the mix.  So, somehow, there is SOME good stuff making its way into my little one.  And it’s not like I followed some nutrition Bible with Abby and she came out fine.  I always joke that she’s 90% Lucky Charms since that’s about all I could choke down later in my pregnancy with her. 

At least with this one, what I DO eat is varied.  I haven’t really had cravings to speak of, nor have I had the aversions I had with Abby.  Sometimes I didn’t even FEEL pregnant for the most part.  I can’t say that now because she’s always kicking me.  If it wasn’t so dark in the room the other night, I was going to film my belly again.  From the feel of it, it HAD to have been epic squirming going on in there!  I should film her jumping around again before it gets so cramped that she settles down and I miss it.  Stay tuned…

More Updates

First of all, the drama:  I had to go home early from work yesterday!  I was sitting at my desk not doing much of anything, so I don’t know what I could have done to bring it on.  I had some serious cramping/pinching on one side really low in my abdomen.  It was so bad that I couldn’t stand up straight.

I ended up going home and Marti had to help me out of my car by the time I got there, as it had gotten worse.  Of course, this is all about lunch time and the doctor is not in the office to consult yet.

I made my way in to the house, hobbling like Quasimodo, and found my way to the sofa where I was able to lie down for a while.  After calling the doctor and explaining exactly what it felt like, I was assured that it was probably just a pulled muscle and I should take some Tylenol and drink lots of water.  The usual, “If it gets worse or persists, then go to the hospital tonight” was enough to keep me on edge, but I did alright.  The baby has been SUPER busy in there, so I think she was aggravating everything and that caused it to be worse than it needed to be.

Long story short, I was fine in the morning and felt so good it was as if I had made the whole thing up!

So, that’s the extent of the drama so far.

In other news, my doc told me at my last January appointment that the baby has turned and her head is down now.  She of course followed that up with, “But there’s plenty of time for that to get screwed up…”  Gotta love her sarcastic sense of humor!

The heartbeat is in the 140s and, as stated before, she is VERY ACTIVE!  I don’t bother with kick counts.  Ten kicks in a 2 hour period is laughable for this little one!  She probably kicks me 1000 times a day, so I’m very aware of her activities:  morning, noon, and night!

Since I’m over 40 (42 to be exact), I will have to sit for twice-weekly monitoring of the baby starting at 36 weeks.  This should last about a half hour each time and she thinks Mondays and Thursdays would be best.  (ARGH!!!  So much for trying to keep up my hours at work!!!  That’s going to be a day breaker!!!!!)

It is kind of funny when she tries to get the heartbeat with the Doppler and she giggles because the baby won’t hold still.  I wonder how that’s going to affect their monitoring?  That is all new to me, as I didn’t have to do that with Abby.  I was a “mother of advanced maternal age” with Abby, but now the doc is throwing around phrases like, “Increased risk of fetal demise in utero.”

Uh.

Shut up with the “fetal demise” stuff, would ya?  A simple “increased risk” would suffice, thank you.

A friend asked me Tuesday if I’m excited.  It’s funny, but I had to answer, “No.”  I wouldn’t use the term “excited” to describe what I feel right now.  Believe it or not, it still doesn’t seem quite real.  SO MUCH has happened through the years and I’ve been told, “NO BABY FOR YOU” by fate so many times that I just can’t believe how easy THIS was.  Now of all times…

So, no, I’m not excited.  I’m still in a little bit of shock.  It’s not a bad shock.  Don’t get me wrong.  But it’s just like it’s too good to be true still.  I keep waiting for the rug to be yanked out from under me, I guess.

“Happy.”  I CAN say I’m happy.  And I hope that’s good enough for everyone trying to measure my mood.

“Overwelmed.”  There is still so much to do!  We went through the bits of baby stuff that survived the purge in April, and there is WAY less than I had even imagined!  I thought I had a FEW more baby clothes that I had set aside in case of babysitting emergencies.  However, that was a smaller box than I had remembered setting aside, and not even close to being full.

Now that we have all the furniture in the nursery, we can look at filling up the drawers and sorting things out that we’ll need now, as opposed to setting stuff aside that we can use later.  Other than a few basics for other people’s kids that I set aside, the clothes of Abby’s that I saved were sentimental, but for older babies.

Once I realized this, I had to make a run for Babies-R-Us and get a few basics.  It’s funny – as I was perusing the aisles, I actually realized that I have forgotten what I actually will need!  It’s like starting all over in SO many ways!  The best I could do was grab a multi pack of onesies and promise myself to figure it out later.

Marti and I are still working opposite schedules, so we see each other so seldom that we just have a hard time making time for these basic conversations.  He’s probably stressing more than I am about the situation and I know he’s making mental lists of things that haven’t even occurred to me yet.  (Such as gathering up info for tax season so we don’t have to do that with a screaming infant and no sleep!)  I love that he thinks ahead about some of these things!

Oh, and the minor catastrophe of the week is that I realized I cannot get the extra base to the infant carrier for the second car at Babies-R-Us!!!  I was going to get one and add one to the registry so my mom would know which one to get if she wants one again and realized they don’t even carry this brand!  EEEP!  It was a gift, for which we are grateful, but now I have to find out where to get spare bases for the cars.  (Shhhh!  Don’t tell Marti!  He thought we were all set there and this will make him into a Nervous Nellie again!  Ha ha!  PS – he reads here, so I’m totally kidding about keeping it a secret.)

That’s pretty much it except that I don’t know if I’m going to try a traditional birth or go with the C-section again.  I can’t bear the thought of 39 hours of unproductive labor just to have it end in surgery again.  But part of me thinks that I should let nature take its course before giving up on “how it’s supposed to work.”  While having this discussion with a coworker, I was told to watch The Business of Being Born. Hmmmmm….  Saw it.  Lots of food for thought!  (And lots of naked women in every vulnerable stage of delivery, so don’t rent it if you are uneasy about au natural birth situations!!)