Thursday I had a headache all day, and I felt like someone had taken all the air out of my tires. Around 4 pm I got up (for pretty much the first time all day) to fold some laundry. Half a load in I felt really bad, so I took my blood pressure. It was 158/92. I laid down and took it again ten minutes later, and it was still high, so I called BJ, my dad, and the midwife's office. The midwife sent me to the hospital for monitoring.
It took us a while to get everyone together. We finally arrived at the hospital around 6 pm. I honestly thought I was being a big dork, and that they'd send me home and tell me to quit bugging them on Thursdays. They got us to the L&D floor and into a labor room, which was a little surprising, since we'd had the tour and we knew that they had monitoring rooms up there. I got gowned, they started the IV and did all the tests, and they put me on monitors and started taking my BP regularly. It stayed high, even though I was laying down and calm and not doing anything it was still in the 150s over 90s. I'll admit that I was a bit relieved that I wasn't just being a hypochondriac, at that point. My midwife came in and we all decided to induce.
At that point BJ and I called my mom and sister and told them to head down. My dad was still with the kids, and he didn't have to work that night, so that worked out nicely. We called his parents and told them what was going on. It was all very surreal. We couldn't quite believe that we were having a baby that night!
They started the Pitocin at 10 pm. If you have the choice between Pitocin and Cytotec, take the Pitocin. The baby did not come shooting out of me like a midget out of a cannon the way Claire did (when I was induced with Cytotec). Things were much more calm and controlled. I was in labor for about 3-1/2 hours, total. The first 2 hours were very easy and manageable. We laughed and talked and joked and made guesses as to when the baby would be born and what his measurements would be. Things started to get real around midnight or so. I kind of went "inside myself," which is the best I can do to describe what it's like to give birth. I kept my eyes shut and concentrated on BJ's voice. I said "ok" a lot. I told everyone that this was a bad idea and we should go home and try again tomorrow. At one point the midwife was wiping off my cheeks, and I said, "I forgot to take off my mascara. I'll bet I look like the guy from KISS," and I stuck out my tongue.
I only pushed for about ten minutes. I distinctly remember pushing, and feeling something emerge, experiencing a great deal of relief, and thinking it was over. Well, I must have just delivered his head at that point, because BJ said, "I can see the head!" and I thought, "WHAT? Where's the rest of him? I thought I was DONE!" It made me so mad that I pushed him the rest of the way out on the next contraction.
My sister said she almost missed the birth because it was so quiet, she didn't realize that it was happening right then. It was very much a calmer birth than my birth with Claire. The midwife stayed with us the entire time, which was really nice. She didn't check me unless I asked to be checked. I asked her if I should push, and she said to do what my body told me to do. Labor makes me shake like crazy (probably from the adrenaline) so I didn't get to try standing up, but I was kind of seated upright in the bed, and they lowered the bottom half of the bed so they could catch the baby. Being upright with my feet on the lower part of the bed below me, as opposed to being on my back with my knees held up, really helped.
Jack weighed 7 pounds, 7 ounces, and was 20.25 inches long at birth. He's lost a bit of weight, of course. His face is all bruised from coming out so fast, but it's getting better. So far he has a little jaundice, but not much. We expected quite a bit with all the bruising. He's nursing like a champ.
I ended up having to stay in the hospital until today because my blood pressure wouldn't cooperate and come down, but we're home now. The girls are over the moon. I kind of hope the newness wears off a bit this week, because they're a little too enthusiastic - fighting over who gets to help me change dirty diapers and stuff. We're working on "safety tips" for how to take care of the baby. I got the idea from a book we have called "Officer Buckle and Gloria" - Officer Buckle gives safety tip speeches to schools, and Gloria is his police dog. The tips are things like, "Tip #52 - Never stand on a swivel chair!" So ours is "Safety Tip #1 - Never leave toys on the floor where someone could trip and drop baby." We hope that by including the kids in making the rules, and by making it fun, we'll make them more likely to be followed. We'll do some more Safety Tips tomorrow.
We had a little birthday party for Jack at home this afternoon, with cake and balloons. His sisters helped him blow out his little "0" candle. He slept through most of it.
My aunt Julie and her family stopped on their way home for a little while, too. We don't see them often, so that was really nice. They're coming back next week to celebrate Christmas with us, too.
Jack has slept all day, so he'll probably be up all night. I should definitely go rest while I can. I may be light on the text for the next few weeks, but I'll try to keep up with the pictures. Thanks so much for your well wishes on the previous posts, and all the awesome comments on Facebook! They mean so much to me.
Showing posts with label Gozer. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Gozer. Show all posts
Sunday, December 19, 2010
Saturday, December 11, 2010
New Christmas Song
To the tune of Baby It's Cold Outside
(Baby's voice - Mommy's voice)
I want to be born - Baby it's cold outside
So get on the horn - Baby it's cold outside
Gestation has been - Been hoping that you'd drop in
So very nice - But please don't fall out on the ice!
My mother will start to worry - Beautiful, what's your hurry?
My father will be pacing the floor - Listen to the ambulance roar
So really I'd better scurry - Beautiful, please don't hurry
Well maybe just one hour more - Get the bags, let's get out the door!
The neighbors might think - Baby, it's bad out there
I'm blue or I'm pink - No cabs to be had out there
I wish I knew how - Please God, send the snowplow now!
To slow things more - A blizzard is no good time to be born!
I ought to say no, no, no, sir - Contractions are getting closer
At least I'm gonna say that I tried - Why is it such a long ****ing ride?
I really can't stay - Baby don't come out
Baby it's cold outside
I simply must go - Baby, it's cold outside
The answer is no - Ooh baby, it's cold outside
This welcome has been - Not lucky the weather's grim
So nice and warm - Look out the window at that storm
My sisters will be suspicious - Road birth is against my wishes
My midwife will be there at the door - Wait till we get to the 5th floor
I know that labor is vicious - This birth could be more auspicious
Well maybe just a half an hour more - Never such a blizzard before.
I've got to come out - Oh, baby, you'll freeze out here
So Mommy don't shout - It's up to my knees out here
You've really been grand - Stay in, my child, I command
But don't you see - How can you do this thing to me?
There's bound to be talk tomorrow - Making my life long sorrow
If you have me on the hospital ride - If you caught pneumonia and died *
I really can't stay - So baby don't come out
Baby it's cold outside
*That's in the original song - I'm not being morbid. No one's going to die, even if there is a blizzard.
Thursday, December 9, 2010
It could be a long month...
My Uncle Doug called me today, for no particular reason, just cause he was thinking about me. He mentioned that he thought today might be The Big Day.
I didn't tell him that I had passed some mucus earlier in the day, because uncles don't want to hear about mucus (now that I think about it, you probably don't either... I promise that's the last time I'll mention it). I also didn't mention that I'd been having some interesting tightenings - not necessarily real contractions because they weren't painful, but they were making it hard to breathe. And I'd been super emotional all day. And my back hurt like crazy last night, and I made BJ rub it forever...
Hmmm...
Around 2:30 pm I started paying a bit more attention to these tightenings. I noticed that they were coming at even intervals - about every 12 minutes. I chatted to BJ, "ummmm... I think maybe you should come home..." He took a wait and see approach. When I was able to predict when it would happen within 2 minutes based on the timing of the last two, I said, "do you think you should come home?" "I'm already gathering my stuff," he said.
I called the midwife's office and described everything that had been happening. "Can you get here by 3:30?" they said. "Yes, I can make that happen..."
I called my friend Karen, but she didn't answer her phone, so I called our friends down the street and they agreed to take the kids for us. I started gathering my hospital bag, my make up bag, my "oh shit, we're having this baby on the highway" bag (which contains a blanket, a shower curtain, two towels, and two receiving blankets), the cord blood collection kit (we're donating our cord blood for Huntington's Disease research), and my purse. I even remembered the camera and the charger - there's a first time for everything! I grabbed my cell phone charger just as our neighbor arrived to get the girls and BJ got home a few minutes after that.
We called BJ's mom and my mom and sister from the road and told them to be on high alert. We made it to the midwife's office in excellent time, without a police escort and/or paramedics.
The midwife checked me.
No change since Tuesday.
Still at 3 cm and 80%.
I'm trying not to feel silly, because I did have several good reasons to think things might be happening, and because it's better to get checked and be sent home than to have the baby unassisted at home (actually, our friend down the street - the one who took the kids - is a postpartum nurse, so she's totally qualified to help me birth this baby if it comes down to it). It was an excellent dress rehearsal. I stayed remarkably calm in the face of what I thought might be imminent labor and a couple of things-that-didn't-go-according-to-plan. BJ stayed calm too, but he's always calm.
It was a good trial run. There's no reason to feel silly.
But it's going to be a long month.
I didn't tell him that I had passed some mucus earlier in the day, because uncles don't want to hear about mucus (now that I think about it, you probably don't either... I promise that's the last time I'll mention it). I also didn't mention that I'd been having some interesting tightenings - not necessarily real contractions because they weren't painful, but they were making it hard to breathe. And I'd been super emotional all day. And my back hurt like crazy last night, and I made BJ rub it forever...
Hmmm...
Around 2:30 pm I started paying a bit more attention to these tightenings. I noticed that they were coming at even intervals - about every 12 minutes. I chatted to BJ, "ummmm... I think maybe you should come home..." He took a wait and see approach. When I was able to predict when it would happen within 2 minutes based on the timing of the last two, I said, "do you think you should come home?" "I'm already gathering my stuff," he said.
I called the midwife's office and described everything that had been happening. "Can you get here by 3:30?" they said. "Yes, I can make that happen..."
I called my friend Karen, but she didn't answer her phone, so I called our friends down the street and they agreed to take the kids for us. I started gathering my hospital bag, my make up bag, my "oh shit, we're having this baby on the highway" bag (which contains a blanket, a shower curtain, two towels, and two receiving blankets), the cord blood collection kit (we're donating our cord blood for Huntington's Disease research), and my purse. I even remembered the camera and the charger - there's a first time for everything! I grabbed my cell phone charger just as our neighbor arrived to get the girls and BJ got home a few minutes after that.
We called BJ's mom and my mom and sister from the road and told them to be on high alert. We made it to the midwife's office in excellent time, without a police escort and/or paramedics.
The midwife checked me.
No change since Tuesday.
Still at 3 cm and 80%.
I'm trying not to feel silly, because I did have several good reasons to think things might be happening, and because it's better to get checked and be sent home than to have the baby unassisted at home (actually, our friend down the street - the one who took the kids - is a postpartum nurse, so she's totally qualified to help me birth this baby if it comes down to it). It was an excellent dress rehearsal. I stayed remarkably calm in the face of what I thought might be imminent labor and a couple of things-that-didn't-go-according-to-plan. BJ stayed calm too, but he's always calm.
It was a good trial run. There's no reason to feel silly.
But it's going to be a long month.
Wednesday, December 8, 2010
Baby, it's cold outside
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| via Wikimedia Commons |
The extended forecast for our area is calling for 5.5 inches of snow on Saturday, and an additional 1.5 inches of snow on Sunday.
HAHAHAHAHAHA!
Guess who just made an extra appointment to get checked late Friday.
Does anyone have any polar camping gear? Maybe I should just set up a tent in the parking lot of the hospital.
Tuesday, December 7, 2010
Grounded
36 weeks tomorrow. I went to see my midwife today. She did the Group B Strep test and checked me (why not, as long as I'm already in the stirrups?) and I'm 3 cm dilated and 80% effaced.
There go all my plans to go to out of town parties between now and baby.
If I had ever been in labor for more than 4 hours, I might take the chance, but since I have rocket powered babies, I'm going to be staying close to home. If it weren't so cold, I'd just camp out in the field next to the hospital.
I know that it's not predictive, especially in a 3rd pregnancy, of when I'll go into labor. I could totally walk around and not dilate any more than this for the next month... Or I could go into labor in 5 minutes. Not knowing is hard.
Anyone want to revise their guesstimate?
There go all my plans to go to out of town parties between now and baby.
If I had ever been in labor for more than 4 hours, I might take the chance, but since I have rocket powered babies, I'm going to be staying close to home. If it weren't so cold, I'd just camp out in the field next to the hospital.
I know that it's not predictive, especially in a 3rd pregnancy, of when I'll go into labor. I could totally walk around and not dilate any more than this for the next month... Or I could go into labor in 5 minutes. Not knowing is hard.
Anyone want to revise their guesstimate?
Wednesday, November 24, 2010
Expectations
I went to the midwife on Monday, and everything's fine with the baby and me (heart rate: 144, measuring 34 centimeters at 34 weeks, my blood pressure was great, I gained another pound - total 17)... but I was so upset by something that I haven't been able to write about it until now. Actually, I spent most of Monday night and Tuesday morning in tears.
The OB who delivered the girls isn't practicing in our town right now. He left the group of physicians he was with, and had a covenant not to compete, so he can't practice here until April of next year. I considered driving about an hour to Illinois, where he is practicing, to continue to see him - he still takes my insurance - but I decided that it would be too inconvenient, especially with my fast labors.
So when we saw the midwife for the first time, I said, "Here's the deal - with my first I had preeclampsia, was on bedrest for a week, and delivered naturally at 39 weeks in 3 hours and 45 minutes. With my second I had preeclampsia again, I also had ICP, and I was induced at 36 weeks. My labor was only an hour and 9 minutes. In light of all that, and since ICP has a 60-90% chance of coming back, I want to be induced at 37 weeks. If you can't do that, or deal with all these complications as a midwife, I'll find someone who can." I wasn't hostile about it, I was just putting my preferences and expectations out there right up front.
She said, "Well, we don't know that the preeclampsia will come back - after all you've lost 50 pounds since then. And there's a 10-40% chance that the ICP won't come back. We normally induce for precipitous labor at 38 weeks."
"I can live with that," I said.
On Monday I said something about 38 weeks, and she said, "39 weeks." Apparently (according to BJ's cousin's wife who is an L&D nurse) the rules changed about two months ago. Of course I didn't know that at the time. I was too stunned to even question her much. I've gotten VERY comfortable with 38 weeks over the past 7 months, and I felt like she had pulled the rug right out from under me. Part of my disappointment was that I felt like she'd lied to me. That part went away when I found out that the guidelines had changed. (In fact, some insurance companies are refusing to pay for some inductions which they deem "too early," which just makes me want to spit nails).
Part of it was that 38 weeks is 12/22 - 39 is 12/29. It's the difference between being enormously pregnant and uncomfortable on Christmas and having a new baby at home on Christmas. It's the difference between having BJ home for 12 days after the baby's born, and having BJ home for 5 days after the baby's born. It's the difference between having my mom here for a while after the baby's born, and Mom going back to Florida. I'd gotten really, really invested in the idea of having the baby by Christmas. More than I realized, actually.
One of these days I'm going to learn that when I have expectations, I inevitably end up disappointed. I sometimes wish that I couldn't think in the future tense at all. I get these ideas in my head about how things are going to be, and then the reality is never what I had imagined, and even if the reality is better than what I imagined, I get all upset over the loss of the imagined reality.
But the main component of my 'tude about the change in plans is that I'm deeply, deeply afraid of having this baby at home. Remember all that anxiety I've been battling? It all came right back in spades. I cried a lot on Monday night. Mary Grace heard us talking and said, "Mommy, if I can come along (to the hospital) I can protect you and keep you from being afraid," and I felt horrible enough for worrying her that I was able to suck it up for a while. I had nightmares on Monday night, and lost a lot of sleep. Then Tuesday I cried some more. I didn't sleep well last night, either. The last two days have sucked.
Even though I wanted a homebirth with MG (BJ said, "No freaking way," though), the idea of a homebirth terrifies me now. (I also was adamantly against being induced with MG, and now I want to be induced. I'm like the Ziggy of childbirth). For one thing, we have new carpet and a new mattress. For another, what would we do with the kids? Or the dog?? For a third, who is going to clean it up? What if there's a blizzard and the EMTs can't get to our house?
The midwife's answer to all of this was to get a shower curtain (to protect the bed), and to visualize having the baby in a calm, controlled, normal length of time. I'm trying, but I really don't think I can visualize my way out of this. And a shower curtain isn't going to do diddly squat if the baby doesn't breathe (pneumothorax is a complication of precipitous labor - it means collapsed lung), or if I bleed to death, or if I have a cervical tear, or if something else tears, or if the baby is brain damaged, or any of the other bad things that can happen with precipitous labor that I'm not making up.
I feel marginally better today (mainly due to finding out that the midwife didn't lie when she said 38 weeks initially), but I might just be exhausted. I'm trying to convince myself that Claire's labor was so fast because they induced me with Cytotec, and that I shouldn't expect this labor to be that fast again if I go into labor naturally. I'm also trying to convince myself that the 4 hours between when they put in the Cytotec and when they broke my water "count" as labor, even though they didn't hurt and I've never thought of them as labor - I was mainly just hanging out in the hospital wondering if that twinge might have been a contraction. I can totally get to the hospital in 5 hours and 9 minutes, or 3 hours and 45 minutes. It's the less-than-an-hour scenario that scares me. I'm hoping that my friend Tammy, who dreams about babies with surprising accuracy, is right when she predicts that I'll go into labor on my own on 12/15 and have a boy (12/15 is 37 weeks - the leading edge of "term"). I'm trying to remember that I have a chance of going into labor before Christmas on my own, and if not, I'm trying to get excited about a different reality for Christmas this year - mainly not having to miss all the parties leading up to Christmas. After all, if she's not concerned enough to induce me, and if going to labor before 39 weeks on my own is so rare, then there's no reason for me to sit at home all month not having a baby. We'll just take our shower curtain with us.
I know this is a stupid reason to be upset. The baby is healthy. I've been healthier than anyone expected me to be throughout the pregnancy. I'm trying really, really hard to count my blessings. And I'm trying to let go of all my expectations.
The OB who delivered the girls isn't practicing in our town right now. He left the group of physicians he was with, and had a covenant not to compete, so he can't practice here until April of next year. I considered driving about an hour to Illinois, where he is practicing, to continue to see him - he still takes my insurance - but I decided that it would be too inconvenient, especially with my fast labors.
So when we saw the midwife for the first time, I said, "Here's the deal - with my first I had preeclampsia, was on bedrest for a week, and delivered naturally at 39 weeks in 3 hours and 45 minutes. With my second I had preeclampsia again, I also had ICP, and I was induced at 36 weeks. My labor was only an hour and 9 minutes. In light of all that, and since ICP has a 60-90% chance of coming back, I want to be induced at 37 weeks. If you can't do that, or deal with all these complications as a midwife, I'll find someone who can." I wasn't hostile about it, I was just putting my preferences and expectations out there right up front.
She said, "Well, we don't know that the preeclampsia will come back - after all you've lost 50 pounds since then. And there's a 10-40% chance that the ICP won't come back. We normally induce for precipitous labor at 38 weeks."
"I can live with that," I said.
On Monday I said something about 38 weeks, and she said, "39 weeks." Apparently (according to BJ's cousin's wife who is an L&D nurse) the rules changed about two months ago. Of course I didn't know that at the time. I was too stunned to even question her much. I've gotten VERY comfortable with 38 weeks over the past 7 months, and I felt like she had pulled the rug right out from under me. Part of my disappointment was that I felt like she'd lied to me. That part went away when I found out that the guidelines had changed. (In fact, some insurance companies are refusing to pay for some inductions which they deem "too early," which just makes me want to spit nails).
Part of it was that 38 weeks is 12/22 - 39 is 12/29. It's the difference between being enormously pregnant and uncomfortable on Christmas and having a new baby at home on Christmas. It's the difference between having BJ home for 12 days after the baby's born, and having BJ home for 5 days after the baby's born. It's the difference between having my mom here for a while after the baby's born, and Mom going back to Florida. I'd gotten really, really invested in the idea of having the baby by Christmas. More than I realized, actually.
One of these days I'm going to learn that when I have expectations, I inevitably end up disappointed. I sometimes wish that I couldn't think in the future tense at all. I get these ideas in my head about how things are going to be, and then the reality is never what I had imagined, and even if the reality is better than what I imagined, I get all upset over the loss of the imagined reality.
But the main component of my 'tude about the change in plans is that I'm deeply, deeply afraid of having this baby at home. Remember all that anxiety I've been battling? It all came right back in spades. I cried a lot on Monday night. Mary Grace heard us talking and said, "Mommy, if I can come along (to the hospital) I can protect you and keep you from being afraid," and I felt horrible enough for worrying her that I was able to suck it up for a while. I had nightmares on Monday night, and lost a lot of sleep. Then Tuesday I cried some more. I didn't sleep well last night, either. The last two days have sucked.
 |
| From comics.dp.cx |
The midwife's answer to all of this was to get a shower curtain (to protect the bed), and to visualize having the baby in a calm, controlled, normal length of time. I'm trying, but I really don't think I can visualize my way out of this. And a shower curtain isn't going to do diddly squat if the baby doesn't breathe (pneumothorax is a complication of precipitous labor - it means collapsed lung), or if I bleed to death, or if I have a cervical tear, or if something else tears, or if the baby is brain damaged, or any of the other bad things that can happen with precipitous labor that I'm not making up.
I feel marginally better today (mainly due to finding out that the midwife didn't lie when she said 38 weeks initially), but I might just be exhausted. I'm trying to convince myself that Claire's labor was so fast because they induced me with Cytotec, and that I shouldn't expect this labor to be that fast again if I go into labor naturally. I'm also trying to convince myself that the 4 hours between when they put in the Cytotec and when they broke my water "count" as labor, even though they didn't hurt and I've never thought of them as labor - I was mainly just hanging out in the hospital wondering if that twinge might have been a contraction. I can totally get to the hospital in 5 hours and 9 minutes, or 3 hours and 45 minutes. It's the less-than-an-hour scenario that scares me. I'm hoping that my friend Tammy, who dreams about babies with surprising accuracy, is right when she predicts that I'll go into labor on my own on 12/15 and have a boy (12/15 is 37 weeks - the leading edge of "term"). I'm trying to remember that I have a chance of going into labor before Christmas on my own, and if not, I'm trying to get excited about a different reality for Christmas this year - mainly not having to miss all the parties leading up to Christmas. After all, if she's not concerned enough to induce me, and if going to labor before 39 weeks on my own is so rare, then there's no reason for me to sit at home all month not having a baby. We'll just take our shower curtain with us.
I know this is a stupid reason to be upset. The baby is healthy. I've been healthier than anyone expected me to be throughout the pregnancy. I'm trying really, really hard to count my blessings. And I'm trying to let go of all my expectations.
Wednesday, November 17, 2010
Sign the Petition!
I know you're getting bored with the TSA posts - after all, this blog is about the pretty babies, but I really believe that this issue is important for all children - especially after seeing that video of the 3 year old getting patted down while she screamed.
HERE is a petition you can sign to make your voice heard if you agree.
(In non-TSA news, I actually bought a few things for the baby, and I got out the baby clothes from the girls, separated out all the gender-neutral stuff, and it's in the washer now. That sounds like progress to me! I needed to stop living in denial - we've only got 4 or 5 weeks to go!! Also, I'm having a TON of Braxton-Hicks contractions yesterday and today, a few that actually hurt which is a little troubling. I really don't want to go into labor at home. That would be bad. At least it isn't snowing yet.)
HERE is a petition you can sign to make your voice heard if you agree.
(In non-TSA news, I actually bought a few things for the baby, and I got out the baby clothes from the girls, separated out all the gender-neutral stuff, and it's in the washer now. That sounds like progress to me! I needed to stop living in denial - we've only got 4 or 5 weeks to go!! Also, I'm having a TON of Braxton-Hicks contractions yesterday and today, a few that actually hurt which is a little troubling. I really don't want to go into labor at home. That would be bad. At least it isn't snowing yet.)
Thursday, November 11, 2010
Fever
It's approaching 4 am. I've been awake off and on all night - mostly on since about 2:30. I hear a thud and then shuffling, unsteady footsteps on the floor upstairs. Someone's up, and something sounds wrong.
Seconds later, before I can even heave myself to my left side and get out of the bed, I hear crying. "Mommy," she says, "Mommy, I'm sick." She crawls into bed with me, warm as toast. Too warm. 101 warm.
Tylenol, of course, and some water. We make a cozy nest on the couch so that BJ can go back to sleep and we won't wake Claire.
"Shhhh... I'm here, I'll stay with you."
It's quiet, and I can feel her relax into me. Half an hour later, I feel the fever break, and hear her breathing change from a fast pant to the comfortable pace that indicates a normal body temperature. I relax a bit and try to get comfortable enough, half sitting, to sleep.
I close my eyes and think about how weird it is that I feel most like a "real mother" when my kids are sick - when I can offer them the unique comfort of my body - my cold hands on their warm foreheads, a gentle backrub, a cuddle. I wonder if it's weird that a part of me enjoys these moments, even as my heart breaks over their discomfort. I wonder if it's strange to be the tiniest bit grateful for the excuse to slow down, clear the calendar, and just be quietly together in our jammies watching cartoons and sipping tea for a day or two.
She shifts and moans a little in her sleep, and even though I know she won't hear me, I whisper, "It's ok, Mommy's here."
***
Baby update: At 32 weeks I've gained only 15 pounds (4 of those in the last week - time to lay off the cheese balls!). Blood pressure was awesome. Baby's heart rate was around 130. I had blood drawn a couple of days ago to check my liver, and the hepatic panel looked great. The bile salts test won't be back for a few more days. Everything looks awesome, and the anxiety is a lot better than it was before.
Seconds later, before I can even heave myself to my left side and get out of the bed, I hear crying. "Mommy," she says, "Mommy, I'm sick." She crawls into bed with me, warm as toast. Too warm. 101 warm.
Tylenol, of course, and some water. We make a cozy nest on the couch so that BJ can go back to sleep and we won't wake Claire.
"Shhhh... I'm here, I'll stay with you."
It's quiet, and I can feel her relax into me. Half an hour later, I feel the fever break, and hear her breathing change from a fast pant to the comfortable pace that indicates a normal body temperature. I relax a bit and try to get comfortable enough, half sitting, to sleep.
I close my eyes and think about how weird it is that I feel most like a "real mother" when my kids are sick - when I can offer them the unique comfort of my body - my cold hands on their warm foreheads, a gentle backrub, a cuddle. I wonder if it's weird that a part of me enjoys these moments, even as my heart breaks over their discomfort. I wonder if it's strange to be the tiniest bit grateful for the excuse to slow down, clear the calendar, and just be quietly together in our jammies watching cartoons and sipping tea for a day or two.
She shifts and moans a little in her sleep, and even though I know she won't hear me, I whisper, "It's ok, Mommy's here."
***
Baby update: At 32 weeks I've gained only 15 pounds (4 of those in the last week - time to lay off the cheese balls!). Blood pressure was awesome. Baby's heart rate was around 130. I had blood drawn a couple of days ago to check my liver, and the hepatic panel looked great. The bile salts test won't be back for a few more days. Everything looks awesome, and the anxiety is a lot better than it was before.
Saturday, November 6, 2010
Slowing Down
Yesterday was absurdly busy. I worked in the morning while the kids were at school, as usual. While I was there I actually managed to wrap up a big ongoing nightmare, so that was nice. I picked up the girls, then we went back to the office for a bit, then out for lunch with BJ. We went to the drug store. We spent two hours at the university doing a language study, came home for 20 minutes, then BJ called and we decided to take the kids to Dave and Busters down in Indianapolis, because BJ likes the kids like video games.
By the time we got home, around 9:30 or 10 pm, I was pooped.
Poopedness notwithstanding, I was awake from 4 am until 6 or 6:30 this morning. I got up to use the restroom and couldn't get back to sleep. My stomach was crampy and I felt really sick. I actually walked around the house a bit thinking I might be in labor (!!!) before things settled down. (Note: the reason I walked around is because practice contractions will stop when you change position, while real contractions just laugh at you when you change positions in an effort to get them to stop. I knew that if I walked around and they quit, it was false labor, also known as indigestion). Women in the 3rd trimester should avoid nachos. Why hasn't anyone thought to put that into the pregnancy handbook?
I haven't done a whole lot of anything productive today. I suppose if I can count making breakfast, lunch, snack and dinner and cleaning them up, that's something. And I helped the kids with cleaning the playroom. I managed to get the rest of the non-baby stuff out of the baby's room (except for a couple of things that are too heavy - BJ will have to get those. He was working on the siding). I tried to chase down a stray dog that I hope was a boxer and not a pit bull (because the kids were playing outside, and if someone's going to get bitten I'd rather it be me - yes, I realize the flaw in that logic), but he got away. He ran off into the woods. That was about it for exercise. Otherwise, I spent most of the day on the couch with my feet up. I even took a short nap after lunch.
Even though I know that I'm supposed to be resting and conserving energy now, and I know that growing a person is hard work, I feel guilty. It's hard to let myself slow down. But I know that I needed the rest, especially after such a busy day yesterday and a long night. It's extremely frustrating to be awake half the night knowing that it's going to impede my ability to be functional the next day. It's frustrating to have to slow down when there's so much I want and need to get done (the baby's room, and OMFG CHRISTMAS!!!). Have I mentioned that I'm cooking Thanksgiving? Hahaha! We may have Chinese. Turkey Lo Mein, anyone? Stir fried cranberries? Kung Pao Sweet Potatoes?
I really do feel good compared with how I felt at this point in my previous pregnancies. I've had very little back pain and ligament pain (knock on wood). I have no swelling in my ankles and feet. I have a lot of heartburn, but Mary Grace and Claire are made of at least 50% Tums, and they turned out fine. It's really a wonder they didn't come out pink and chalky, and that they didn't dissolve during their first baths. None of my offspring ever have to worry about bone density, that's for sure. They got enough calcium prenatally to last until they're well over 100.
I'm trying not to be the whiny pregnant person. And I'm trying not to be a total slug. But it's 8:30 now, and no one's going to judge me if I go to bed, right?
By the time we got home, around 9:30 or 10 pm, I was pooped.
Poopedness notwithstanding, I was awake from 4 am until 6 or 6:30 this morning. I got up to use the restroom and couldn't get back to sleep. My stomach was crampy and I felt really sick. I actually walked around the house a bit thinking I might be in labor (!!!) before things settled down. (Note: the reason I walked around is because practice contractions will stop when you change position, while real contractions just laugh at you when you change positions in an effort to get them to stop. I knew that if I walked around and they quit, it was false labor, also known as indigestion). Women in the 3rd trimester should avoid nachos. Why hasn't anyone thought to put that into the pregnancy handbook?
I haven't done a whole lot of anything productive today. I suppose if I can count making breakfast, lunch, snack and dinner and cleaning them up, that's something. And I helped the kids with cleaning the playroom. I managed to get the rest of the non-baby stuff out of the baby's room (except for a couple of things that are too heavy - BJ will have to get those. He was working on the siding). I tried to chase down a stray dog that I hope was a boxer and not a pit bull (because the kids were playing outside, and if someone's going to get bitten I'd rather it be me - yes, I realize the flaw in that logic), but he got away. He ran off into the woods. That was about it for exercise. Otherwise, I spent most of the day on the couch with my feet up. I even took a short nap after lunch.
Even though I know that I'm supposed to be resting and conserving energy now, and I know that growing a person is hard work, I feel guilty. It's hard to let myself slow down. But I know that I needed the rest, especially after such a busy day yesterday and a long night. It's extremely frustrating to be awake half the night knowing that it's going to impede my ability to be functional the next day. It's frustrating to have to slow down when there's so much I want and need to get done (the baby's room, and OMFG CHRISTMAS!!!). Have I mentioned that I'm cooking Thanksgiving? Hahaha! We may have Chinese. Turkey Lo Mein, anyone? Stir fried cranberries? Kung Pao Sweet Potatoes?
I really do feel good compared with how I felt at this point in my previous pregnancies. I've had very little back pain and ligament pain (knock on wood). I have no swelling in my ankles and feet. I have a lot of heartburn, but Mary Grace and Claire are made of at least 50% Tums, and they turned out fine. It's really a wonder they didn't come out pink and chalky, and that they didn't dissolve during their first baths. None of my offspring ever have to worry about bone density, that's for sure. They got enough calcium prenatally to last until they're well over 100.
I'm trying not to be the whiny pregnant person. And I'm trying not to be a total slug. But it's 8:30 now, and no one's going to judge me if I go to bed, right?
Thursday, November 4, 2010
Still Waiting on that Other Shoe
When I was 31 weeks pregnant with Mary Grace, my blood pressure was 168/90. Thanks to Gmail, I can easily go back and look through the email I sent at the time. I took my blood pressure this morning, at 31 weeks pregnant with Gozer it was 116/78.
Every time I get a headache, every time I get dizzy, every time I see a spot I take my blood pressure. It's almost silly. And it hasn't been over 130/90 at any point throughout this pregnancy.
So why can't I relax and trust that it'll continue to stay healthy?
It's similar with the ICP. I went back through my email and found that I came down with that at 32 weeks pregnant with Claire. Guess who is having blood drawn next week to check on her liver.
If I get all the way to the end of this pregnancy and nothing goes wrong, I'm going to feel pretty silly for spending all of this time worrying.
I'm also going to feel very relieved and grateful.
Every time I get a headache, every time I get dizzy, every time I see a spot I take my blood pressure. It's almost silly. And it hasn't been over 130/90 at any point throughout this pregnancy.
So why can't I relax and trust that it'll continue to stay healthy?
It's similar with the ICP. I went back through my email and found that I came down with that at 32 weeks pregnant with Claire. Guess who is having blood drawn next week to check on her liver.
If I get all the way to the end of this pregnancy and nothing goes wrong, I'm going to feel pretty silly for spending all of this time worrying.
I'm also going to feel very relieved and grateful.
Friday, October 29, 2010
30 Week Baby Update
The only specific number I remember from yesterday's trip to the midwife is 1 - that's the number of pounds I gained, bringing my total up to 11. Woo hoo!
My blood pressure was great, baby's heart rate was great, I'm measuring right where I should be. Everything looks super.
We're going to re-run the liver panel and the bile salts test in 2 weeks. I came down with ICP with Claire at 32 weeks. You can imagine how much the anxiety level is increasing as we get closer to that milestone. I'm working on it.
This visit was fun. Mary Grace has been worrying about the baby and me, so I e-mailed my midwife and said, "Can I bring her to meet you?" and my awesome midwife said, "Let's reschedule your appointment for 1 pm so that I have more time to visit with her." Wow! So, we showed MG the little models of babies at various stages, and Sharon explained how the baby is stuck inside and isn't going to just "fall out" (in spite of the jokes Mommy makes), and we listened to the baby's heartbeat... She was so little when I was pregnant with Claire that she didn't really "get it." Claire's 3-1/2 now and she doesn't even really "get it," and MG was only 19 months old when Claire was born. It's neat to be able to include her this time, and to see her excitement. She can hardly wait to be a "double big sister."
Eight more weeks. Wow.
My blood pressure was great, baby's heart rate was great, I'm measuring right where I should be. Everything looks super.
We're going to re-run the liver panel and the bile salts test in 2 weeks. I came down with ICP with Claire at 32 weeks. You can imagine how much the anxiety level is increasing as we get closer to that milestone. I'm working on it.
This visit was fun. Mary Grace has been worrying about the baby and me, so I e-mailed my midwife and said, "Can I bring her to meet you?" and my awesome midwife said, "Let's reschedule your appointment for 1 pm so that I have more time to visit with her." Wow! So, we showed MG the little models of babies at various stages, and Sharon explained how the baby is stuck inside and isn't going to just "fall out" (in spite of the jokes Mommy makes), and we listened to the baby's heartbeat... She was so little when I was pregnant with Claire that she didn't really "get it." Claire's 3-1/2 now and she doesn't even really "get it," and MG was only 19 months old when Claire was born. It's neat to be able to include her this time, and to see her excitement. She can hardly wait to be a "double big sister."
Eight more weeks. Wow.
Sunday, September 12, 2010
Upstairs, Downstairs
My five year old still doesn't sleep through the night, and I'm about at the end of my rope.
Our Cape Cod Style house has four bedrooms, but two of them are upstairs and two are downstairs. When we moved in we never expected to have three kids in this house. It was supposed to be our "starter house" in which we'd build "sweat equity" so that we could build our "forever house" after about 5 years. Well, with the way the housing market is, we should have the money to build our "forever house" right around the time that Baby Gozer leaves for college.
So when we moved in, we took the largest bedroom (upstairs). When Mary Grace was born, the second upstairs bedroom became hers. The downstairs two have been an office (in the front) and a guest room where BJ has kept his stationary bike and weights (in the back). When Claire was born, we decided that she and MG should share, and that's worked just fine, but now that Gozer's coming, we've reached critical bedroom mass. We can't have three kids with three beds and three sleep schedules in the same small bedroom.
After kicking around every possible combination of people in rooms, we finally decided to leave the girls in their room, to put the office and the exercise room in our old upstairs room, we took the downstairs front bedroom, and Gozer will be in the downstairs back bedroom. Guests will have the option to sleep on the couch in the family room or at the Motel 6.
We figure this makes the most sense, because Gozer's going to (hopefully!) sleep during the day, so I won't constantly be running up and down the stairs to put him or her to bed, or to get him or her up. I'll be on the main floor where the kids are playing so I'll be able to listen to them while I'm nursing Gozer to sleep. Also, it eliminates having to go up and down the stairs with the baby in the middle of the night. I remember several times finding the girls in my bed, knowing they couldn't walk yet, but having no idea how they got there. I don't want to sleepwalk up and down 13 steep stairs with the baby.
We started the process of moving the rooms last weekend (which is why things have been quiet, blog-wise, for a while). It's amazing how much stuff (and how much dust!) we have. It honestly would have been easier to move to a new house, but we would barely break even if we sold right now, considering the nearly-identical house that's for sale in our neighborhood right now for $10,000 less than we bought ours for 7-1/2 years ago!
You know those puzzles with 25 squares, and one is empty, and you have to slide around all the squares to get them in numerical order or to make a picture? That's pretty much what we've been doing.
Our new bed was delivered yesterday - the king we had wouldn't fit down here, so we had to get a queen. We're working on the closet today. I'll post pictures, eventually, when we get it all done, so expect those in 2023 or so.
The biggest problem in this whole process has been that Mary Grace is not at all happy with Mom and Dad being downstairs while she and her sister are upstairs. We stay upstairs with them until they fall asleep, and most mornings BJ is up there exercising when they wake up, but she has taken it upon herself to wake up at 3 or 4 am every night to come talk to me about how unhappy she is with the new sleeping arrangement.
Claire's fine, because her Big Sister makes her feel safe (and she's been a better sleeper from day 1). Big Sister, however, doesn't have anyone bigger to make her feel safe, so she comes downstairs to register her complaint whenever she happens to fall awake during the night.
This is not cool. I am very tired and very grumpy with her. It takes me forever to fall back asleep when she wakes me up. I tried bribing her - and she stayed in her bed all night the two nights that she knew she'd get a cupcake if she stayed upstairs, but when the cupcakes ran out, she ran right back downstairs! I'm not going to give her a cupcake every day for the next 13 years.
We've explained to her that she can come downstairs if she's sick or hurt, if she smells smoke or hears the smoke detector go off, or if Claire is sick or hurt, but she can't just come down to "snuggle" at 3 am.
She's not allowed to watch TV all day as a punishment for waking me up. She may never be allowed to watch TV again at the rate we're going.
Suggestions welcome.
Our Cape Cod Style house has four bedrooms, but two of them are upstairs and two are downstairs. When we moved in we never expected to have three kids in this house. It was supposed to be our "starter house" in which we'd build "sweat equity" so that we could build our "forever house" after about 5 years. Well, with the way the housing market is, we should have the money to build our "forever house" right around the time that Baby Gozer leaves for college.
So when we moved in, we took the largest bedroom (upstairs). When Mary Grace was born, the second upstairs bedroom became hers. The downstairs two have been an office (in the front) and a guest room where BJ has kept his stationary bike and weights (in the back). When Claire was born, we decided that she and MG should share, and that's worked just fine, but now that Gozer's coming, we've reached critical bedroom mass. We can't have three kids with three beds and three sleep schedules in the same small bedroom.
After kicking around every possible combination of people in rooms, we finally decided to leave the girls in their room, to put the office and the exercise room in our old upstairs room, we took the downstairs front bedroom, and Gozer will be in the downstairs back bedroom. Guests will have the option to sleep on the couch in the family room or at the Motel 6.
We figure this makes the most sense, because Gozer's going to (hopefully!) sleep during the day, so I won't constantly be running up and down the stairs to put him or her to bed, or to get him or her up. I'll be on the main floor where the kids are playing so I'll be able to listen to them while I'm nursing Gozer to sleep. Also, it eliminates having to go up and down the stairs with the baby in the middle of the night. I remember several times finding the girls in my bed, knowing they couldn't walk yet, but having no idea how they got there. I don't want to sleepwalk up and down 13 steep stairs with the baby.
We started the process of moving the rooms last weekend (which is why things have been quiet, blog-wise, for a while). It's amazing how much stuff (and how much dust!) we have. It honestly would have been easier to move to a new house, but we would barely break even if we sold right now, considering the nearly-identical house that's for sale in our neighborhood right now for $10,000 less than we bought ours for 7-1/2 years ago!
You know those puzzles with 25 squares, and one is empty, and you have to slide around all the squares to get them in numerical order or to make a picture? That's pretty much what we've been doing.
Our new bed was delivered yesterday - the king we had wouldn't fit down here, so we had to get a queen. We're working on the closet today. I'll post pictures, eventually, when we get it all done, so expect those in 2023 or so.
The biggest problem in this whole process has been that Mary Grace is not at all happy with Mom and Dad being downstairs while she and her sister are upstairs. We stay upstairs with them until they fall asleep, and most mornings BJ is up there exercising when they wake up, but she has taken it upon herself to wake up at 3 or 4 am every night to come talk to me about how unhappy she is with the new sleeping arrangement.
Claire's fine, because her Big Sister makes her feel safe (and she's been a better sleeper from day 1). Big Sister, however, doesn't have anyone bigger to make her feel safe, so she comes downstairs to register her complaint whenever she happens to fall awake during the night.
This is not cool. I am very tired and very grumpy with her. It takes me forever to fall back asleep when she wakes me up. I tried bribing her - and she stayed in her bed all night the two nights that she knew she'd get a cupcake if she stayed upstairs, but when the cupcakes ran out, she ran right back downstairs! I'm not going to give her a cupcake every day for the next 13 years.
We've explained to her that she can come downstairs if she's sick or hurt, if she smells smoke or hears the smoke detector go off, or if Claire is sick or hurt, but she can't just come down to "snuggle" at 3 am.
She's not allowed to watch TV all day as a punishment for waking me up. She may never be allowed to watch TV again at the rate we're going.
Suggestions welcome.
Monday, August 30, 2010
Better
I woke up slowly this morning, and took inventory.
Stomach = not rolling.
Cough = quieter.
Nose = still not perfect, but not as miserable as before.
Aches & pains = not so bad.
And I let go of the breath I'd been holding, and came downstairs to look for food.
Yesterday was pretty miserable. I felt queasy Saturday night. I was able to sleep (hooray Benadryl!) but I woke up still queasy. I had a piece of toast and a little coffee for breakfast. I tried to hold very still for most of the morning. I couldn't finish my lunch of leftover beef stroganoff. I realized mid-afternoon that I'd have to cancel dinner with my aunt and uncle who were coming down from Grammaland. It was a good thing I did, too, because the queasiness got a lot more real around 4 pm, if you know what I mean.
Right after I got sick I got pretty scared, "This isn't good for the baby! I need to call the midwife!!" (Funny how these things always happen on the weekend...) But BJ calmly reminded me that plenty of women are sick through their entire pregnancies, and their babies turn out fine. One day isn't going to matter, much, in the great scheme of things. Of course he was right. What would I do without him? No one else can calm me down the way he can.
After that, I stayed upstairs, mainly to prevent transmission to the kids if I could. BJ brought hot tea (no sense puking on an empty stomach, and I was trying to stay hydrated), and my favorite movie. I laid in bed, wide awake, but trying to stay very still. I listened intently to the baby, making sure I felt an acceptable number of lumps and bumps from my little ninja.
The kids were fantastic. They stayed downstairs with Daddy all day and didn't bother me at all while I was resting. When did they get so big?
At some point I put all my symptoms into WebMD and it told me that I might be pregnant. Uhhhh... thanks. Hahah!
Anyway, we'll probably still take it easy today, just to be cautious. But things are looking up.
Stomach = not rolling.
Cough = quieter.
Nose = still not perfect, but not as miserable as before.
Aches & pains = not so bad.
And I let go of the breath I'd been holding, and came downstairs to look for food.
Yesterday was pretty miserable. I felt queasy Saturday night. I was able to sleep (hooray Benadryl!) but I woke up still queasy. I had a piece of toast and a little coffee for breakfast. I tried to hold very still for most of the morning. I couldn't finish my lunch of leftover beef stroganoff. I realized mid-afternoon that I'd have to cancel dinner with my aunt and uncle who were coming down from Grammaland. It was a good thing I did, too, because the queasiness got a lot more real around 4 pm, if you know what I mean.
Right after I got sick I got pretty scared, "This isn't good for the baby! I need to call the midwife!!" (Funny how these things always happen on the weekend...) But BJ calmly reminded me that plenty of women are sick through their entire pregnancies, and their babies turn out fine. One day isn't going to matter, much, in the great scheme of things. Of course he was right. What would I do without him? No one else can calm me down the way he can.
After that, I stayed upstairs, mainly to prevent transmission to the kids if I could. BJ brought hot tea (no sense puking on an empty stomach, and I was trying to stay hydrated), and my favorite movie. I laid in bed, wide awake, but trying to stay very still. I listened intently to the baby, making sure I felt an acceptable number of lumps and bumps from my little ninja.
The kids were fantastic. They stayed downstairs with Daddy all day and didn't bother me at all while I was resting. When did they get so big?
At some point I put all my symptoms into WebMD and it told me that I might be pregnant. Uhhhh... thanks. Hahah!
Anyway, we'll probably still take it easy today, just to be cautious. But things are looking up.
Tuesday, August 24, 2010
Vampire Virus, Part Deux (New Moon?)
I caught the vampire virus from Claire. It's no big surprise. The trouble is that I can't think of anything to write about that isn't whining.
If you don't normally read the comments, then you missed the last time I was actually funny. Maggie said that she didn't think there was a germ or illness that could live for two days on plastic teeth. I replied, in the comments, "Maggie, it's a VAMPIRE virus! They're immortal!!"
I'll be here all week, try the veal.
The bad news is that, like Bella's mutant half-human half-vampire baby in that stupid book, this virus grows really quickly. I was absolutely fine on Sunday... We had people over, I cleaned out some closets... By the time we put the kids to bed I was feeling a little crummy, but I thought it was probably just from the dust in the closets. A few hours later when we went to bed it was clear that I was really sick.
I saw my doctor yesterday and he gave me a Z-pack. He's concerned about it going deeper into my lungs, which would be bad with the pregnancy. Any infection carries a risk of preterm labor, which is not something we want to mess with, especially at only 21 weeks. He said it's probably viral, so the antibiotics probably won't do any good, but at least they'll (hopefully) prevent further infection.
The good news is that I talked the nurse into getting rid of the plastic vampire teeth when the doctor wasn't looking. Mooo-wah-hah-hah!
The other good news is that Baby Gozer is still kicking away in there, and other than a few elbows to my liver, to indicate that s/he is not at all thrilled with all the coughing, s/he doesn't seem phased by the vampire virus.
Hopefully his or her teeth won't be unusually pointy.
If you don't normally read the comments, then you missed the last time I was actually funny. Maggie said that she didn't think there was a germ or illness that could live for two days on plastic teeth. I replied, in the comments, "Maggie, it's a VAMPIRE virus! They're immortal!!"
The bad news is that, like Bella's mutant half-human half-vampire baby in that stupid book, this virus grows really quickly. I was absolutely fine on Sunday... We had people over, I cleaned out some closets... By the time we put the kids to bed I was feeling a little crummy, but I thought it was probably just from the dust in the closets. A few hours later when we went to bed it was clear that I was really sick.
I saw my doctor yesterday and he gave me a Z-pack. He's concerned about it going deeper into my lungs, which would be bad with the pregnancy. Any infection carries a risk of preterm labor, which is not something we want to mess with, especially at only 21 weeks. He said it's probably viral, so the antibiotics probably won't do any good, but at least they'll (hopefully) prevent further infection.
The good news is that I talked the nurse into getting rid of the plastic vampire teeth when the doctor wasn't looking. Mooo-wah-hah-hah!
The other good news is that Baby Gozer is still kicking away in there, and other than a few elbows to my liver, to indicate that s/he is not at all thrilled with all the coughing, s/he doesn't seem phased by the vampire virus.
Hopefully his or her teeth won't be unusually pointy.
Thursday, August 19, 2010
Welcome New Readers!
I picked up a few new feed subscribers and "followers" yesterday after that whole ugly episode with you-know-who about the you-know-what.
Hi new readers!
A part of me feels a lot of pressure to impress you all with my wit and my deep understanding of... something. Another part of me had a long day and is really sleepy, and doesn't want to post at all. But I can't disappoint all the new readers! So here it is, today's post.
Claire (3-1/2 years old) says "melodade" instead of "lemonade" and it cracks me up.
No no, I'm kidding. I mean, she says that, but that isn't today's post... Calm down. I wouldn't want everyone to click "unsubscribe!" at once. We might break the internet.
My midwife's husband wrote a beautiful article about her in a national magazine, but I can't link to it because it gives away my hometown which is Against Editorial Policy. You'll just have to trust me when I tell you that the article was amazing and made me cry, and it made me so grateful that I've found my midwife, Sharon. I loved my OB and mourned when he left town, but I couldn't be happier with the care I'm getting right now.
I'm halfway through my third pregnancy, new readers. 20 weeks yesterday, in fact. But as we all know, the second half is longer than the first half. For one thing, you're not even pregnant for a couple weeks of the first half, which is totally cheating. For another, everything takes longer when you can't see your own feet. The baby will come around Christmas. We don't know if it's a boy or a girl.
A bunch of people are peeved with me for not finding out the baby's gender. I tried explaining my reasoning to Jen tonight on the phone, and I'm going to see if I can summarize it here. When you find out what you're having at 20 weeks, you have 20 more weeks to mourn the baby you're not having. If you want a boy but you're having a girl, you have to say goodbye to all the snips and snails and puppy dog tails. You pass cute little blue outfits in the store, and get a little wistful that you won't be able to see your little imaginary man in those cute outfits. Of course, it's exactly the same if you want a girl and you're having a boy, except with sugar and spice and pink outfits.
However, when you find out at the birth, you don't mourn the baby you're not having. You're so enthralled with the real baby that's in your arms, that you just pushed into the world, that you don't care if it's not the gender you were hoping to have.
So since BJ and I honestly do not have any preference, we decided not to find out.
Of course, that's only part of the reason - it's also part of the experience, for us, to hear, "It's a _____!" at that first moment. There's also superstition - it's bad luck to name a baby before he or she is born!
Sometimes it's just fun to not know, and to let life unfold the way it's going to. We don't have many mysteries in this life, anymore, and it's nice to let this baby remain a mystery until we can hold him or her.
If you're new, leave a comment and say hi!
Hi new readers!
A part of me feels a lot of pressure to impress you all with my wit and my deep understanding of... something. Another part of me had a long day and is really sleepy, and doesn't want to post at all. But I can't disappoint all the new readers! So here it is, today's post.
Claire (3-1/2 years old) says "melodade" instead of "lemonade" and it cracks me up.
No no, I'm kidding. I mean, she says that, but that isn't today's post... Calm down. I wouldn't want everyone to click "unsubscribe!" at once. We might break the internet.
My midwife's husband wrote a beautiful article about her in a national magazine, but I can't link to it because it gives away my hometown which is Against Editorial Policy. You'll just have to trust me when I tell you that the article was amazing and made me cry, and it made me so grateful that I've found my midwife, Sharon. I loved my OB and mourned when he left town, but I couldn't be happier with the care I'm getting right now.
I'm halfway through my third pregnancy, new readers. 20 weeks yesterday, in fact. But as we all know, the second half is longer than the first half. For one thing, you're not even pregnant for a couple weeks of the first half, which is totally cheating. For another, everything takes longer when you can't see your own feet. The baby will come around Christmas. We don't know if it's a boy or a girl.
A bunch of people are peeved with me for not finding out the baby's gender. I tried explaining my reasoning to Jen tonight on the phone, and I'm going to see if I can summarize it here. When you find out what you're having at 20 weeks, you have 20 more weeks to mourn the baby you're not having. If you want a boy but you're having a girl, you have to say goodbye to all the snips and snails and puppy dog tails. You pass cute little blue outfits in the store, and get a little wistful that you won't be able to see your little imaginary man in those cute outfits. Of course, it's exactly the same if you want a girl and you're having a boy, except with sugar and spice and pink outfits.
However, when you find out at the birth, you don't mourn the baby you're not having. You're so enthralled with the real baby that's in your arms, that you just pushed into the world, that you don't care if it's not the gender you were hoping to have.
So since BJ and I honestly do not have any preference, we decided not to find out.
Of course, that's only part of the reason - it's also part of the experience, for us, to hear, "It's a _____!" at that first moment. There's also superstition - it's bad luck to name a baby before he or she is born!
Sometimes it's just fun to not know, and to let life unfold the way it's going to. We don't have many mysteries in this life, anymore, and it's nice to let this baby remain a mystery until we can hold him or her.
If you're new, leave a comment and say hi!
Tuesday, August 17, 2010
Post-Ultrasound Baby Update
Mom's Blood Pressure - still excellent, but trending slowly upward
Mom's Weight Gain - 2 pounds total (midwife says I shouldn't panic if it's 8 pounds at my next visit, that I'm overdue for a growth spurt)
Fundal Height - not measured, but right at my belly button which is where it should be
Baby's Heart Rate - 153 bpm
Baby's Anatomy Scan - looks great! Nothing of concern was detected!
Baby's First Picture - suitable for framing:
Mom's Weight Gain - 2 pounds total (midwife says I shouldn't panic if it's 8 pounds at my next visit, that I'm overdue for a growth spurt)
Fundal Height - not measured, but right at my belly button which is where it should be
Baby's Heart Rate - 153 bpm
Baby's Anatomy Scan - looks great! Nothing of concern was detected!
Baby's First Picture - suitable for framing:
Friday, August 6, 2010
Blame the Baby
When I'm pregnant, I have the attention span of a ... oh look! Something shiny!
(Hope this explains the profound lack of posts... :) )
(Hope this explains the profound lack of posts... :) )
Wednesday, August 4, 2010
Brief Baby Update
My blood pressure - 108/64 (excellent)
Fundal height - 18 cm (which is exactly what it should be)
Heart rate - 160 (another girl? Too soon to tell...)
Fetal movement (while trying to find the heartbeat) - lots
My weight gain - ONE POUND, 5.5 ounces of which is baby! I'm thrilled about that!
Urinalysis - negative for everything bad
So far so good! The anatomy scan is in 2 weeks!
Fundal height - 18 cm (which is exactly what it should be)
Heart rate - 160 (another girl? Too soon to tell...)
Fetal movement (while trying to find the heartbeat) - lots
My weight gain - ONE POUND, 5.5 ounces of which is baby! I'm thrilled about that!
Urinalysis - negative for everything bad
So far so good! The anatomy scan is in 2 weeks!
Friday, July 9, 2010
A Very Medical Day
I had my second prenatal appointment with my midwife yesterday. Everything is great. I've actually lost a pound (not that I'm trying - I'm eating when I'm hungry, and I'm eating whatever sounds good, it's just how things have worked out). My blood pressure was an unprecedented 104/58. The baby's heartrate was 160 bpm. Old wives will tell you that means it's another girl, but I don't know. This pregnancy has been so different from the other two, I'm thinking boy.
We'll find out in December.
Here's a tip - don't wear a dress to a prenatal appointment. Normally when you wear pants (or a skirt) and a shirt, they just lift your shirt to listen to the heart. Um, duh. How many dozen prenatal visits have I been to? But I swore off of pants (everything squeezes and makes me want to throw up - or it's too big and they fall off) and have been wearing dresses almost exclusively, and it made the whole heartbeat-listening part a little awkward.
I really, really like my midwife. Do you know anyone who just makes you feel calm without saying a word? She has that quality. It'll be good for me during the birth, because I tend to be high strung (I know this comes as a complete shock to most of you). I'm really excited about having a midwife this time. So far she's on board with all of our preferences (inducing but otherwise a natural birth, leaving the hospital after 12 hours if the baby and I are both fine, etc.). I told BJ that I just don't want to spend the whole pregnancy fighting, and it doesn't look like I'll have to, which is a big relief.
We're donating the baby's umbilical cord blood for Huntington's disease research (and if you're pregnant or thinking about becoming pregnant, by all means e-mail me and I will give you more information about it). We did this with Claire's too. Mary Grace was born too quickly, and we ended up leaving the collection kit in the car (I was HUGELY disappointed).
BJ took my car yesterday and I took his, because he had the kids. I had left the paperwork for the donation in my car, though, so it wasn't where I was. After I picked the kids up from school I ran it back down to the midwife's office (ALLLLL the way across town near the hospital). I could've waited, I mean, we have 5 months, but I didn't want to lose it in the 8 weeks between now and when I see my midwife again (next time I'll see my backup OB).
So everything proceeded pretty normally, I went into my usual afternoon coma and the kids watched a movie. Then, just after dinner, Claire stuck a bead up her nose. I tried to get it out with a Q-tip, but I could barely see it and I was terribly afraid to push it in farther, so we went to the ER. She was freaking out at home, but calmed down enough to fall asleep in the car (told you it was allllll the way across town). Sleep was exactly what she needed, though, because as we were standing at the desk talking to the admitting nurses, I saw a bit of the bead peeking out of her nostril. I held the other side of her nose and she blew and out it came - before we paid for the ER visit! HOORAY!! She must have relaxed and stopped crying long enough for the tissue swelling around the bead to go down.
Right after she blew it out I grabbed our insurance card off of the counter and said, "Quick, let's get out of here before they charge us!" Heee...
We managed to get the kids back home and to bed only a little bit later than usual.
That was our first ER visit since MG had rotavirus in February of 2007. Not bad for a family with small kids.
What have your kids stuck in their noses?
We'll find out in December.
Here's a tip - don't wear a dress to a prenatal appointment. Normally when you wear pants (or a skirt) and a shirt, they just lift your shirt to listen to the heart. Um, duh. How many dozen prenatal visits have I been to? But I swore off of pants (everything squeezes and makes me want to throw up - or it's too big and they fall off) and have been wearing dresses almost exclusively, and it made the whole heartbeat-listening part a little awkward.
I really, really like my midwife. Do you know anyone who just makes you feel calm without saying a word? She has that quality. It'll be good for me during the birth, because I tend to be high strung (I know this comes as a complete shock to most of you). I'm really excited about having a midwife this time. So far she's on board with all of our preferences (inducing but otherwise a natural birth, leaving the hospital after 12 hours if the baby and I are both fine, etc.). I told BJ that I just don't want to spend the whole pregnancy fighting, and it doesn't look like I'll have to, which is a big relief.
We're donating the baby's umbilical cord blood for Huntington's disease research (and if you're pregnant or thinking about becoming pregnant, by all means e-mail me and I will give you more information about it). We did this with Claire's too. Mary Grace was born too quickly, and we ended up leaving the collection kit in the car (I was HUGELY disappointed).
BJ took my car yesterday and I took his, because he had the kids. I had left the paperwork for the donation in my car, though, so it wasn't where I was. After I picked the kids up from school I ran it back down to the midwife's office (ALLLLL the way across town near the hospital). I could've waited, I mean, we have 5 months, but I didn't want to lose it in the 8 weeks between now and when I see my midwife again (next time I'll see my backup OB).
So everything proceeded pretty normally, I went into my usual afternoon coma and the kids watched a movie. Then, just after dinner, Claire stuck a bead up her nose. I tried to get it out with a Q-tip, but I could barely see it and I was terribly afraid to push it in farther, so we went to the ER. She was freaking out at home, but calmed down enough to fall asleep in the car (told you it was allllll the way across town). Sleep was exactly what she needed, though, because as we were standing at the desk talking to the admitting nurses, I saw a bit of the bead peeking out of her nostril. I held the other side of her nose and she blew and out it came - before we paid for the ER visit! HOORAY!! She must have relaxed and stopped crying long enough for the tissue swelling around the bead to go down.
Right after she blew it out I grabbed our insurance card off of the counter and said, "Quick, let's get out of here before they charge us!" Heee...
We managed to get the kids back home and to bed only a little bit later than usual.
That was our first ER visit since MG had rotavirus in February of 2007. Not bad for a family with small kids.
What have your kids stuck in their noses?
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