7/31/02 - Our baby girl has arrived! Her birth story is online, or you can read Daddy's version.
7/26/02 - The night before Kayla's due date, and still no baby. No promising labor signs, either. Oh, sure, a few contractions here and there, but nothing to get excited about.
OB visit yesterday went well. Weight's up a pound, blood pressure is just about exactly what it was at our last OB visit, her heartrate is fine, too. I described our week (including the trip to the hospital) to Dr. Parsons, and he said it sounds like things are progressing. He jokingly promised it wouldn't be more than two days now. Ha. Ha. He opted not to do a cervical exam since, without the presence of contractions, it doesn't tell us anything useful. Sure, I could know how many centimeters I was dilated and how effaced, but big whoop! No labor is still no labor. He mentioned the "i" word and said we should probably think about setting a date for when that happens, if things don't move along on their own. I told him that last time we went 10 days over before inducing, and I was having blood pressure issues at the time, so we wanted to wait at least a week. He said ok, then teased me, "You want to wait a week??" I snapped, "I don't WANT to wait another second. I'd just as soon have her out right now, but I don't want to induce, either." No, I wasn't mean about it, I'm just trying to remind myself that's still the plan. So we go back on Wednesday, if we haven't gone back before.
7/21/02 - Well, we made the obligatory (for me, anyway) abortive trip to the hospital last night. I had been having contractions all afternoon, and finally found that they had settled into a frequency (2-5 minutes apart, about a minute long) that I thought warranted a trip to the hospital. So we said our good-byes (Adam was shockingly ok with everything - "Mommy Daddy go hospital see Doctor P"), packed what little bit of things needed to go with us, and left. Got to the hospital, gave a urine sample and got settled into the fetal monitor, and the contractions had slowed. Not stopped, but slowed.
Dr. Mellor, who was on call, said we'd monitor it for an hour and see what happened. An hour turned into over two hours, and while the contractions got harder and more regular for a time, they eventually slowed to more than 10 minutes apart. The nurses were completely useless (the "good" nurse was just ending her shift as we left) - they never checked on us unless Mike went looking for them, they didn't have a clue how to get the fetal monitor reset (which is a problem, because I kept having to get up to pee), one of them tried to cut off the circulation to my arm with her ineptitude with the blood pressure cuff. It was a nightmare. Suffice to say, I'll now be hoping Tammy AND Dr. P are on call when (if??) we ever go into labor.
Stats: I was 50% effaced when I got there, dilated to "1, maybe 1 and a half". When I left, I was 80% effaced and dilated to 2. And really, really discouraged. After I got home, I noticed some bloody show on my clothes. It was bright red. As the night wore on, I actually had a few smallish clots. I continued the bloody show through this afternoon, and it has gradually gotten darker and darker, and less abundant. Mike thinks this is the rest of my mucous plug. I think it at least started because of irritation from the cervical exams.
7/17/02 - Doctor visit today. Weight up 1 1/2 pounds (that puts me at 35 1/2 over the course of the pregnancy), blood pressure 120/68 (woohoo!!), urine showing a trace of protein, as it has all along. Doc confirmed that the baby has dropped even further, which I could feel over the course of the past couple of days. You see, she's been staying up all night, moving. Not just squirming, but full-on moving. Very painful, prohibits sleeping. Anyway, her heart rate is good, so we made another appointment for next week. Our next appointment is 2 days before she's term, so I'll guess that if we make it to that point, we'll start talking about "our options". I don't want options. I want to cancel that appointment, from my hospital bed, as I hold my baby girl.
Only other thing of note that happened is the doc suggested I take some stool softeners. You see, I've been seriously constipated for a month or more, and my best efforts at staying hydrated haven't helped much. Oh, and if you think that's TMI (too much information), you probably shouldn't be reading this journal in the first place. ;)
7/10/02 - Another OB visit yesterday. Weight up 2 1/2 pounds, blood pressure 122/70, urine fine (and even urine-colored this time). By the way, I wish I had recorded here the blood pressure readings from my last pregnancy, so that I'd have them to compare to this time. Oh, well.
I talked to Dr. Parsons about the stuff that's been going on pregnancy-wise since the last time, and he asked if I wanted him to do a cervical exam, to satisfy my curiosity. I said yes, then was disappointed to learn I was only 50% effaced and not dilated at all. I go back again in (what else?) another week.
7/7/02 - For the past few days I've been having these weird pelvic pressure pains that I couldn't explain. I'd have 2 or 3 of them an hour, followed by a few hours of nothing. Yesterday, however, I had lots of them, including about two hours with pretty constant pressure. I was baffled and frightened by this, so I called the hospital. Dr. P is on call this weekend, and after I told the OB nurse she said she'd call me back with his recommendation. She had asked me if there was any bloody show or fluid leakage (no, and no). When she called me back, she said both she and Dr. P agreed I could come in and get checked "if it would make me feel better", but it wasn't required. I asked what he thought it was, and she said it was probably just the baby moving around to get into birthing position. I decided to just stay home, unless something more substantial happened. After awhile, the pains stopped.
Later, I looked back into this journal from last pregnancy, and found that, five days after my due date, I reported the exact same thing. I was surprised! I had completely forgotten about it. I guess it's a good thing I chronicle things here, since memory is so faulty. To that end, I should report that I've also had intermittent chest pains late in this pregnancy. Mike and I *think* we had the same thing last time, but we can't remember, and I didn't mention it in the journal, so we're unsure.
7/4/02 - Another OB visit yesterday. My weight's down a pound, and blood pressure is at 122/75. The doc scolded me after glancing at my color. "Nice color," he said (it was neon orange). I kinda blushed and said, "Yeah, I'm sorta dehydrated." He said, "You're pregnant! What are you doing dehydrated??? So I'm on orders to rest and drink more water. *sigh* The rest thing is because yesterday I was having trouble (again) with my sacroiliac joint on the left side. This is a recurring thing, and pregnancy seems to make it worse. I told him I thought the baby had dropped, and a fundal measurement confirmed this. I also told him that she seemed to be lying funny, so he did an ultrasound and we found that she was very firmly head-down and enaged (I'd be surprised if I weren't starting to dilate, frankly). So everything still seems to be a go, and we go back next week. Oh, and I asked if he was on vacation anytime soon. He said no, but that he was going to be out of town taking the boards next weekend, so he'll be gone from Thursday night until Saturday night. I'll just have to cross those days off of Kayla's social calendar, I guess. :)
6/29/02 - I thought my water broke Wednesday night, but it didn't. I won't elaborate on what it was, but it wasn't ruptured membranes.
Had another OB check on Thursday. Weight up another two pounds, blood pressure 130/74. I was a little worried about that, but the nurse didn't seem to mind, and the doctor didn't say a word about it. I had been using one arm to get Adam into my lap (with a little struggling), so that may have been it. I hope so, because if my blood pressure goes up again this time, even after I've been trying to do so well with lowering salt intake, I may give up, drive myself over to Pullman, and eat a large deep-dish meat-lover's pizza from Pizza Hut. I mean, if nothing I do makes any difference, why not indulge? We'll see what the reading says next week.
Baby dropped today! I had a few contractions that were pretty uncomfortable, so I went to take a bath. By the time I got out, it was noticeable how much lower she is. Mike can even tell by looking, and he's usually pretty indifferent to this kind of thing (visually, I mean).
I finished washing, folding, and putting away the gifts I was given at my baby shower. I've taken pictures of them and will upload them to the appropriate page, all in due time. (Hey, we're in the middle of a Mall Crawl here!)
6/25/02 - More mucus yesterday, but still no sign of impending labor. A few contractions here and there, but nothing to get very excited about.
6/24/02 - I think I lost my mucus plug yesterday. I have had no vaginal discharge for the past several days, then yesterday there was a big, stringy glop when I went to the bathroom (no bloody tinging, though), and then no mucus since then. I keep doubting myself, thinking maybe it was just an increase in regular vaginal discharge, but then I realize that if that were the case, I'd probably still be having it. I called my doctor today, and he was non-plussed. He said even if I *did* lose the mucus plug, it was ok, because I'm almost 36 weeks. His two comments were: "You can lose the plug and still be a long way from delivery" and "We can't put it back!" Heh.
I'm still having contractions, though they aren't very hard, for the most part. I have had a little burst of nesting activity - weeding the strawberries, washing some dishes and laundry, doing lots of filing, and then yesterday - a sudden urge to clean out the silverware drawer (I didn't). But who knows? I'm not sure I give a lot of credence to the whole nesting-as-a-sign-of-labor thing, anyway. The loss of the plug, though (and our subsequent reading that it could be a sign of labor starting) did get Mike to go running around and finishing his end of the packing (I finished my end a few days ago). At least, he's *mostly* finish. There are a few niggly details left, but basically if I had to go *right now* it would be ok.
Mike's parents are planning on being here for the delivery. I think they're planning on arriving a couple of weeks before the due date. Obviously, I got a little panicky yesterday, wondering what we'd do with Adam if Kayla decided to show up before the in-laws did. I talked to a few of my friends and we worked out an alternate plan. One of the women (Liz) who was at my baby shower lives in Cheney, about an hour from here, and she says she'd meet us at the hospital and take Adam off our hands for as long as we needed. So now I feel much-relieved. :)
6/19/02 - Another OB check today. For the most part everything was normal - weight's up two pounds from the last visit, blood pressure's at 112/66. Urine's normal, fetal heartbeat is normal, and the doc says I "look good". The only notable thing that happened was toward the end of the visit, when the doctor helped me up from lying down. He held out his hand, which I took, and as he pulled upward something not-good happened. I don't really know how to explain it, except that I felt some very painful pressure on my abdomen, left of midline, on the southern hemisphere of the globe.. errr.. belly. It took my breath away, and I kind of fell backward. Mike says I "yelped". It took me a few minutes to recover, and the doctor kept asking if I was ok. I couldn't really explain the feeling, but as best I can tell some of her bones pushed against some of mine. I may have been contracting at the time, and pulling on my (now non-existent) stomach muscles was enough to do me in. Dr. P suggested we schedule our next visit in one week instead of two (I miscalculated, and technically I could have gotten away with another two-week-er), and to "call me if you need to." I kind of shakily smiled and said, "Don't worry; we will!"
6/5/02 - We had an OB check today, and another on the 22nd of May. Both were, not surprisingly, completely uneventful. In the last one, I had actually lost a half-pound, and this one I gained six-and-a-half. The doctor didn't seem overly concerned about it, and just said we'd watch it. More importantly, my blood pressure this week was down to 112/56 from 122/82. That has me very pleased, since it was high blood pressure that caused me to be induced last time. It rather makes all the self-imposed salt-deprivation worthwhile, somehow. Not enjoyable, by any means, but worthwhile. We go back again for another visit in 2 weeks, then start going every week.
I still haven't packed the hospital bags, though it's on my to-do-in-the-near-future list. I have gotten around to updating the list (with the benefit of prior experience) and printing it out, now I just need to track down some bags and figure out what outfits to put in them. I still haven't located a baby book I'm happy with, which has me somewhat worried (I want to get her footprints recorded in it, if nothing else), but I'm not going to stress over it. If worst comes to worst, we'll buy one in the hospital gift shop last minute.
5/20/02 - I'm beginning to wonder when, if ever, this kid is going to sleep for awhile. She seems to be awake for really looooong stretches of time - like, four hours or so. She moves and wiggles and turns, so of course she's dreadfully healthy, but my goodness, that kinda stuff can exhaust you! Still having lots of contractions, too - another energy sapper. Luckily I don't have any marathons scheduled or anything. I do whatever household work I plan to do first thing in the morning after breakfast and email check, when I still have some energy, then just veg the rest of the day.
5/16/02 - Got the results back from the glucose test earlier this week - 75 fasting glucose level, 77 after an hour and a sugar-shot, so my body's processing sugar just fine. Yay! I also forgot to mention in my last entry that I'm supposed to start going to the doctor every two weeks, so there may be more updates to this page now. Or... Maybe not... I make no promises.
I've begun having Braxton-Hicks contractions. At first I was worried that it was too soon, but from what I can tell (after reading a bit and asking friends), it's perfectly normal to have them at this stage. One woman told me she contracted throughout her entire pregnancies. Yikes! The hard part really isn't the contractions, per se, but the way Kayla fights back at the uterus afterward. Its like having two errant children in there, duking it out!
5/9/02 - We had another doctor's visit today. I had to get up extra early for this one, because we were supposed to be there at 8AM. I intentionally scheduled it for that early because it was the glucose test, and you have to fast from midnight the night before until you take the test, and I didn't want to be fasting for very long. We'll get the results back from the test, most likely at our next visit. It'll be in two weeks, since we've reached the more-frequent-visits part of the pregnancy.
4/6/02 - Adam is going to be the world's best big brother. He is very caring about "Kayda" (yes, he says her name now!), petting, kissing, hugging, feeding, diapering, and otherwise looking after her. Last night he demanded "Baby open!" So I exposed my belly to him, and he kissed and hugged his sister (guess he missed her, too), then demanded "Baby warm!" so I covered my belly back up. It's very, very sweet.
3/25/02 - Kayla has gotten way more active in the last two days. Either that, or I can feel it a lot easier. I'm still trying to figure out her schedule, but as far as I can tell, her "schedule" is to be awake all of the time. She's Mama's sweet angel, but I could do with some quiet time so I could, oh, I dunno, get some sleep!
Adam has gotten a lot more interested in the baby since he felt her kick the other night. I had told Mike to try to feel for her kicks, and after Adam saw Daddy do it he wanted to try, too, so he put his little hand on my belly, and sure enough, she whacked him. His eyes got kinda big, and he grinned sheepishly. I think that did it; he knows there's a baby in there now. He kisses and hugs her, tries to feed her food, and tries to feel her move a lot. It's really quite touching. I'm looking forward to seeing how they interact together.
3/9/02 - Ahem. Time to get back to updating this one again, as we're expecting our second baby this summer. As I'm sure you've guessed from the background color of this page, this time around, it's a GIRL. We just found out this information Thursday. I'm thrilled, and the (as Mike calls it) "working name" is Kayla Reese Gunderloy. So far she appears to be healthy as a horse and doing well, growing appropriately (whatever that is). I'm healthy and feeling good most days (though today I seem to be having some wicked bad gas that is Not Fun), so that's a good thing. Honestly, I'll be very surprised if I'm able to keep these pages anything like as up to date as I did when pregnant with Adam, because (1) I have a toddler now, and (2) I have an online business to run. But I will try. Ooooh, trivia point - I gained 5 pounds in a week. Whee.
8/18/00 - Well, I'm not pregnant anymore. Adam Charles Gunderloy arrived in this world on August 14th, 2000, at 11:55PM. He weighed in at 8 lbs. 4 1/2 oz. and was 21 1/2 inches long. His head circumference was 34 cm. So this will be the last entry in this pregnancy diary. To read his birth story, click here.
8/9/00 - Wow, two doctor's appointments in as many days. Our regular appointment was yesterday. My blood pressure was sort of high, and I had some swelling, but other than that everything was normal. The doc asked us to come back on Monday. He said if things hadn't progressed on their own then we'd probably induce, using oral prostaglandin. Basically, that's a pill (or part of a pill) that you hold in your mouth to ripen the cervix and induce contractions. If the contractions start to come too fast (a risk with this method) you take it out of your mouth and they slow again. It's supposed to be pretty effective, with fewer risks than Pitocin. Of course, if it doesn't have the desired effect, we can always "up the ante" to a Pit-drip. Anyway, I made the earliest appointment available for Monday - 8:30 - on the theory that it's best to get the labor started early so it might not have to run through to some god-awful hour in the wee morning. Other than that, he just said I should cut down on my salt intake and get plenty of rest.
Last night, I had some kind of weird pains. They were *almost* like contractions, but not. There was no abdominal tightening. It just felt like he was ramming his head into my pelvis, maybe turning his head, trying to fit through. Apparently, this is completely normal, even without the water having broken. Some of the pains were pretty sharp, so today I called the doctor's office. Oh, yeah, I was also having some very frequent urination, even for a pregnant woman. The doctor said I could come in and they'd check me, so they did. They did another cervical exam. I'm still effaced to about 70%, I'm at a -1/-2 station, dilated to 1, water still intact. So basically, no physical changes since almost three weeks ago. But here's the kicker - I have a bladder infection! Also common in pregnant women. So I'm on Macrobid for five days - 100 mg twice a day. My blood pressure was consistent with yesterday's reading. So other than adding a prescription, there's really nothing new to add. This is all very frustrating, but I'm trying to handle it as well as I can. Poor Mike is low on sleep and is subsisting on chips and coffee during the day. He's having to do lots of fetch-and-carry, since having a baby's head (oh, yeah, the doc felt his head, and said it was coned.. lol) down in your pelvis makes things like bending and picking up and walking pretty painful. Go figure! Anyway, Mike's long overdue for some TLC, and has been an incredible source of support throughout this whole thing. And they keep TELLING me it's almost over, so maybe soon he won't have to do so much.
8/5/00 - I decided to just reprint part of what I wrote to a mailing list, as an update on how things are going.
I'M SICK OF BEING PREGNANT. Adam's due date was yesterday, and it feels like he should've been out weeks ago. I've been having contractions for a month now, and it's been 3 weeks to the day since we made the false trip to the hospital. Tonight we had more contractions, fairly regular, harder than they have been, and I was stupid enough to let myself actually think the thought, "Hey, this is really it!" Now it's 10:45 at night, I haven't had any contractions in hours, and there's NO SIGN of an impending delivery. I'm sick, sick, sick of being so pregnant. It's been in the 90's here for two weeks, and we don't have air conditioning. We open the windows at night and close them during the day, drawing the shades, to try to keep in whatever sense of cool we can, but at 9+ months pregnant it's always uncomfortable. I'm tired of looking "like you swallowed a watermelon" or "you're about to pop" or all the other asinine things people say when you're VERY pregnant. I'm tired of walking around smelling like urine all the time because I have lost some control over my bladder (I feel like an old, incontinent cat). Despite Mike's best efforts, I feel very, very unsexy, and I'm tired of that, too. I'm tired of my pelvic joints rubbing together and against his (Adam's) head and causing me excruciating pain and making me walk like Daffy Duck. I'm tired of back pains and headaches and insomnia and going to the bathroom every hour. I'm SICK TO DEATH of being cooped up in the house because of the heat and the fact that I can't go out alone anymore (part of living in the sticks) and I'm tired of being the only one who sleeps during the day and stays awake at night. I'm tired of people offering well-meaning advice about how to start labor, from herbs to beans to every conceivable variant of the castor oil theorem you can imagine. I'm tired of CRAVING Pitocin. We go back to the doctor on Tuesday and I'm tired of telling him there's nothing to tell. And I'm REALLY tired of him telling me it's all normal. It doesn't freaking FEEL normal!!!
Most of all, I'm tired of not being able to hold and nurse and cuddle my baby, and being separated from him by this stupid, belligerent, uncooperative, non-calendar-reading UTERUS that refuses to get to work and stay there. <sigh> Please tell me I'll grow to like my body again. Please tell me this DOES end because, as ludicrous as it sounds, I'm starting to contemplate my future as a pregnant person for the rest of my life; it just doesn't feel like it'll ever happen!! I'm at my wit's end, and I don't know what to do.
8/2/00 - Went to visit the doctor in Colfax yesterday. He's back from his camping trip (he was gone from Wednesday to Sunday) and the first thing he said was, "You made it!" He said he hoped I didn't go into labor while he was gone, cuz, "I want to be there!" Well, we didn't. Not even close. Not even any real serious contractions. Blood pressure was down from last time, which was good. I didn't look at weight; it's gotten too depressing. He didn't mention the urine, which usually means there's nothing to say. Baby's heart rate is normal, but it sounds slower to me than it has. I mentioned this, and Dr. P said, "He's getting bigger." Uterine measurement was still "good". Basically, all vitals are good and there's still nothing to do but wait. Mike asked at what point we start considering induction. Dr. P said usually a week after due date is when we start "talking seriously" about it. Well, my due date is Friday, and my next doctor's appointment is next Tuesday, so if I haven't delivered by then I guess we'll discuss it. That doesn't mean he'll induce, of course, but he'll start looking at whether inducement is a good or bad thing for us. Of course, I'll keep you posted.
7/25/00 - Doctor's appointment again yesterday. Of course, this means there is still no baby on the outside. The doc says since they've established my cervix is "ripe", they don't want to keep checking for dilation and effacement progress until I'm in actual labor. Blood pressure and urine are about where they were last time, uterus still measures good, and his heart rate is still good. So now, it's just a waiting game. I've had contractions off and on now for a week and a half, but nothing substantial. Usually a few hours a day, with others "peppered" throughout the day. It's gotten to be pretty old hat. We don't even record them all anymore; it's rather tedious.
7/20/00 - Good news and bad news. Good news - I went to a doctor's appointment yesterday and I'm effaced to 70%. Bad news - there's still no baby, and I went into the hospital yesterday thinking I was going to give birth, only to have contractions go from regular 2-3 minutes apart to absolutely nothing. Maybe I should back up. I've been having contractions (small ones) since Saturday. They were off and on, irregular, no certain consistency, not painful, easy to talk and walk through. We went to our doctor's appointment and after a cervical exam, I'm 70% effaced. We did some more errands-running around town and it was not real easy. I was sure I had finished effacing and was starting to dilate. I wasn't contracting, exactly, just feeling a lot of pressure from Adam's head. We came home, and contractions didn't pick up. I took a nap, and then contractions picked up again after dinner (I insisted on a squat-walk to the driveway.. walk, walk, squat if a contraction comes on, walk, walk). They got very regular (all from 2-4 minutes apart) and all between 60-90 seconds in duration. They weren't really hard, but we thought maybe I was one of those lucky women who breezes through labor, so we went to the hospital. Contractions continued all the way to the hospital, I mean right up to the door. I got out of the truck, started walking into the hospital, and they completely stopped. Went down to the OB station, got strapped into the monitor, and NOTHING. Not even one contraction. I decided maybe the reclining position was the problem, so I got unstrapped and we walked around the hospital. I had 3 or 4 contractions, so we came back to the OB room. Got strapped back in, and nothing again. <sigh> So they did a pelvic exam and found that I was dilated to 1 cm. While that's progress, it's not considered "real labor" so we came home. No contractions since. I'm bummed.
7/12/00 - Another doctor's appointment yesterday. The group B strep culture was negative (yay!) so there's nothing to do about that. The baby has, indeed, dropped. His heart rate has also slowed to 130 bpm from the 150 bpm it's been at for the last 4 or 5 visits. All indicators of the birth's getting closer. Everything else was normal, of course, and we go back again next Wednesday. On the home front, I'm having an almost impossible time sleeping on our bed these days. It's just too hard, and my joints are too loose. It feels like sleeping on concrete. So Mike and Mike's Dad are going to try to move the RV's air mattress into the house some time soon, since I sleep much better on it (I take my naps in the RV now). I hope that helps, since I'm already doing my zombie impression half of the time.
7/6/00 - I'm almost certain the baby has dropped. My fundus (the top of my uterus) now feels lower, or at least the top part feels "squishier", and his head feels like it's about to fall out of me. This makes it much harder to walk, of course, so getting around town has become quite comical, not to mention slow. I don't know if this is going to be a permanent drop or just a testing-the-waters drop, but it's definitely a drop.
7/5/00 - Another doctor's appointment today - the last of our two-weekers. Now we'll be going every week. As usual, everything was normal. We did a test today - a cotton swab test for group B streptococcus. Dr. P says I'm very low-risk for it, but better safe than sorry. We did get the news that Dr. P has some vacation scheduled. He leaves for 5 days starting tomorrow, then is back for 4 days, then is gone for 4 days. After that, he's back for good. So I've been sending "don't come out" signals to the baby all day, since I really want OUR doctor to deliver him. Mom & Dad came into the room with us when it got to be fetal heart listening time. They kind of grinned during. I'm still amazed that *people* can grow inside of other *people*. How in the world can it possibly work?? Anyway, the only other thing of note that happened was we saw a picture of Sola Brooke, Dr. P's daughter. She's a beautiful little girl, almost 5 months old. She's got these huge, beautiful blue eyes, and looks just like the Gerber baby with this sweet little curly-Q on top of her head. Mike says he thinks Dr. and Mrs. P taped it on there. :) In the picture, she was sticking her little tongue out. Too cute.
After the doctor visit, we went to tour the birthing and recovery rooms again. We saw them back when we were taking prenatal classes, but that was 4 or 5 months ago, and we had a few more specific questions this time. We also saw the operating room and OR recovery room, where we'd have to go in case of a C-section. I'm really glad I got to see them before "time", and Christie, Kate, and Pat (OB and OR nurses) were wonderful. Very informative and helpful. Last thing we did at the hospital was pre-register. It didn't take long, and I got to sign my first form as Adam's Mother. Mike also signed a consent form as his Father. Also, this is the first official documentation of "Gunderloy, Baby". Awwww....
6/27/00 - The Braxton-Hicks contractions I started identifying a few days ago are coming more often now, and harder. Still not regular, of course, but I definitely know when they're happening. I have 6-10 a day, I think. So far, I haven't had four in an hour, which is when I'm supposed to call the doc. We go back to see him again in a week, and I'm sort of wondering if he'll be at all concerned about this development. Probably not; he's been pretty laid back about everything else so far. Oops.. having one now.. they don't hurt, really. Mike asked if they hurt or were uncomfortable. The answer is - neither. Well, ok, sometimes they're uncomfortable, but mostly they just feel very STRANGE. It's almost like you were doing a stomach crunch without having to move a muscle on your own. Very odd.
6/21/00 - Another doctor's check! As usual, everything's normal. I've gained 3 pounds in the last two weeks, my blood pressure is 130/70 (normal for me), urine test was fine, womb measurement was perfect, Adam's heart rate is perfect, and there's really not much else to report! Adam's head-down, although his back is on the opposite side from where it was a few weeks ago when we had the ultrasound. We go back again on July 5th, then we start going every week. I can't believe it - as of tomorrow I'm going to be 34 weeks pregnant. For those that don't know, that's VERY pregnant. Only six weeks to go until the due date, so it could be anywhere from 3 to 9 weeks from now. The thought that we could have a baby here in 3 weeks terrifies me. Well, sometimes it terrifies me.. sometimes I get really excited about it.
6/19/00 - Please let me say that I love baths. No, I mean that I really, _really_ love baths. Sometimes they're the only things that save me from driving myself to the doctor and demanding pitocin at gunpoint. I'm getting very uncomfortable in this body; it's too crowded and there are too many of us IN it. I only have 6 1/2 weeks to go until my due date, and that seems too long. (Sometimes it seems too short, too, but that's not this morning's rant.) His Highness is doing well, I guess, but I can't say the same for me. I wake up more and more mornings cranky, irritable, tired, sore, grumpy, and a complete bitch to live with. Just ask Mike. My patience level is about this long: - . The cats drive me out of my mind, and Pepper's yowl is so piercing he should be drafted as some sort of super-secret torture device for the CIA or something. Like everyone else on this place, he finds Mike a calming influence which is (for him) a very good thing, because I've considered running my own Darwinian experiments with him as the subject on more than one occasion. ("Let's see.. can a cat who has lived in a house all its life outrun a coyote...?") If you can't tell, I'm in a pissy mood, and the only thing that has me THIS cheerful is my bath.
6/15/00 - We've sort of settled into a semi-routine for sleeping. It doesn't always work, but this is how it usually happens - I wake up sometime in the morning, usually FAR too early (like 4:30 or 5) and stay awake, checking email and munching on breakfast, until sleepiness creeps back up on me, usually around 8 or so. So, I head back to bed and sleep til 11 or 12. This sounds like a lot of time sleeping, but it's not, since I also don't fall asleep until 1:30, and then I sleep fitfully. I'm not tired, since I'm able to catnap this way during the day, but it makes me REALLY grateful I don't have to work during the day. I honestly don't think I could manage it if I had to work.
6/12/00 - I either had a contraction this morning, or a very vivid dream about one - I'm honestly not sure which. If it happened, it happened just as I was waking up. I didn't hurt; it felt like squeezing at the top of my uterus. Anyway, it was only one (if that many) and I'm not really worried about it.
6/7/00 - It dawned on me (after scanning this page for typos) that I never posted the results of the glucose screening test. Shame on me! It went well - my fasting blood glucose level (BGL) was 67. After I drank the orange fizzy stuff and waited an hour, it was at 75. All well within normal parameters.
6/6/00 - Another day, another OB check. All in all, it was pretty uneventful. Weight gain is "on the normal curve", blood pressure is normal, urine test was normal. Heart rate is normal, symptoms are normal, I'm normal, you're normal, he's normal, she's normal, everything's normal, normal, normal. I only SOUND like I'm complaining, really. That was our last four-week visit; now we start going every two weeks. We did get to hear his heartbeat. Made me fall in love all over again, which is (what else?) - normal.
Oh, one thing of note here is that we stopped at the grocery store before we came home, and looked at Dreft, the baby detergent. We couldn't really tell anything from their packaging that would make them better than any other detergent (other than "this is the detergent for babies") so we decided to just go with the regular stuff. It's EXPENSIVE, too. If anyone knows of good reasons why you should use baby detergent, please let me know.
6/1/00 - I think I misdiagnosed myself in my last post. Probably from reading too many pregnancy books about what "might" be happening now. Anyway, I don't think I'm lightening, because the heavy feeling isn't constant. (For the record, I _still_ think "lightening" is a stupid word.) He seems to drift down that way, do a couple of breakdance-style headspins on my pelvic bone, then drift back up to midway where he seems to spend most of his time. He does have a new trick - back twinges. It happens when he's particularly low and kicks or "swirls" in a particular way. Ever crack your tailbone? I've bruised mine... it hurts a BIT worse than these back twinges. They're extremely brief - lasting only a second - but they sure snap you to attention when they happen. I'll have about an hour or so of them, then go take a warm bath and I'm good to go again. Poor Mike, he's gotten very few relaxing baths these last few weeks - I've been monopolizing it. We need a hot tub (yes, yes, I know - I couldn't get in a hot tub now if we _did_ have one, but HE could!) or a jacuzzi.
We've started packing for our trip to the hospital. It's kind of mind-boggling how much stuff you need for basically a two-day stay. I'm packing a little at a time, so that I don't have to try to get everything done at once. Besides, we don't have any baby detergent, so we haven't been able to wash his clothes or cloth diapers yet, and that has to be done before they can be packed. It's on the shopping list, though. Of course, we had to add a few things to the standard list - laptop, digital camera, phone line (we're going to TRY to broadcast webpage updates, if labor allows).
5/24/00 - In the last few days, Adam has begun lightening. Now, please, allow me a brief bit of latitude in discussing how STUPID that term is. You have this 3-4 pound child, along with placenta and assorted fluids, making their way DOWN, into your pelvis (as if he wasn't down far enough to begin with), pressing quite heavily onto your bladder (current capacity - about 2 teaspoons) and pelvic bone. That's right, folks, it's this sensation that some genius decided to call "LIGHTENing". Grrrr... (rantoff) Other than that, we're both doing exceptionally well. Energy level isn't too bad (although naps are my BEST friends), and his activity has been.. um.. abundant. :) He's "definitely a mover" (so sayeth Dr. Parsons). I'm still growing, as evidenced by some of the newest pics on the pregnancy images page. In fact, while at quilt camp, someone took a pic of me and Amanda back-to-back. When I looked at it, I was absolutely stunned. I had no idea I was showing so much. Someone at quilt camp commented, "My, Dana, you sure are blossoming." Burgeoning is more like it. But still no swelling to speak of, no nausea, no real food aversions, no muscle cramps (unless you count abdominal tightness and backaches when I stand too long). I'm really being blessed with an easy pregnancy.
5/10/00 - Well, we went in to the doc today for an OB check. We're at 27 weeks and 5 days.
First, they drew blood from me, then gave me the orange fizzy stuff to drink (glucose screening test). It really wasn't all that awful. The doc came in to talk to Mike about some bloodwork he wanted done and a couple of labor questions we had, then sent us off for an hour. Mike went to the bank and I went to the fabric shop, then we headed back to the hospital to have more blood drawn to see if I "passed" the test. We should know tomorrow or so. Hopefully, my body's processing sugar well enough not to have to do a 3-hour version of this test. Keep fingers crossed! Mike also had some blood drawn for bloodwork, including a cholesterol test. Keep more fingers crossed!
Then we did another ultrasound. This one we taped. :) It came out pretty well, especially considering Mike basically aimed it at the screen and shot it that way. A little fuzzy, but pretty good. He's doing really well - heartbeat is good, movement is good, position (head-down) is good.. there's only one small (ha!) problem - he's HUGE. LOL Mike gets irritated with me when I say that, but really.. I mean, we're at 27W5D and this kid is measuring between 29W3D and 31W3D. That's including head measurements, chest radius, leg bone (femur?) length.. everything that was measured shows he's going to be a LARGE baby. The doctor jokingly (?) suggested we skip the newborn clothes and go straight to 12 months. The nurse said to hope he's early. We saw his cute little face, and even got a printout of it. I'll get that scanned in and uploaded soon. Also, Mike has a toy that lets you take stills from VCR tapes and upload them; once he plays with that, we'll upload some of those, too.
Besides that, we just did weight and blood pressure. I've gained 4 more pounds in 4 weeks, and my blood pressure is fine. The doctor told me not to get all worried about my bp (one of the 3 readings today was kind of high), as long as I was gaining well, wasn't retaining water, and didn't "feel weird". :) I like this doctor.
5/5/00 - I have crossed a magic threshold. I am no longer in the blissful "middle ground" - I am now safely into the hellish third trimester. I am no longer showing - I am now blatantly and obnoxiously pregnant. If you don't believe me, look at the latest pregnancy photo. His kicks are getting stronger, and they are now at the point where they can both wake me up in the middle of a restful sleep and KEEP me from falling immediately asleep. The net result is fatigue. I can no longer sleep all night - I have to take these little mini-naps all day. Between that and the frequent potty breaks, I'm really getting quite cranky. Feel free to send sympathy mail to Mike.
That said, I'll bring you up to date on the baby news. We had an appointment on April 11th. Mike had a physical while we were there (everything looks great). All we did for me was the urine sample (of course) and heartbeat check. Between my last checkup and the April one, I had gained 8 pounds - 13 pounds overall. The doctor didn't seem concerned, but I was a little disappointed. Maybe I should wear lighter shoes next time. ;) He said our next appointment, which is scheduled for May 10th, will consist of a glucose screening test. This is just to make sure my body is processing sugar ok and I'm not at risk of contracting gestational diabetes. We told him that we hadn't had luck taping the last sonogram, and asked if he'd do another. He agreed! Wahoo!! So we're going to take the camcorder and just kind of hold it up to the monitor. Better than nothing. :) Then I can make copies for the grandparents.
3/17/00 - I'm officially showing now. I say this because I had my very first instance (ever, I'm proud to add) of a complete and utter stranger asking me when the baby was due. It happened tonight at a grocery store in Moscow, Idaho. I was buying 3 boxes of cereal and some milk, so it's not like anything in my shopping habits tipped her off, either. I was stunned. I still think it's a gutsy thing to ask. After I recovered (only a second or two) I smiled and said August. She smiled and nodded and asked if I needed help out. LOL. With 3 boxes of cereal and a gallon of milk?? I think I can manage, thanks.
3/16/00 - Well, he's a he. :) We had our ultrasound Tuesday and LB definitely stands for Little Boy now. Some things there's just no mistaking, if you know what I mean. The doctor did all of the measurements he needed to do (I think the ultrasound lasted about 45 minutes) and so far, Adam Charles is doing fabulously. Everything is measuring almost exactly in alignment with our due date, too, so nothing has changed. Just one thing you might be interested in - he is a WIGGLY little baby. Dr. P had several moments of frustration when he almost got the perfect shot and Adam just wiggled right away. Dr. P called him "Mr. Mobile". One really amazing part of the u/s was when the doc just rested the sensor for a minute and you could see the little arms moving around. He clasped his hands in front of him, he seemed to suck his thumb, he played with his ear. At one point, we thought we might not be able to "sex" him because he was being coy. First he had his legs closed. Then the doctor said he thought he had a guess of the sex, but wasn't sure. Then he said, "He has his hand down in his crotch!" We all made the obvious joke about how that proved it was a boy. But then we got the all-telling "Winky Shot". Later, we got an even more blatant Winky Shot. I couldn't make out any facial features myself, but Dr. P assures me he has 2 eyes and 2 ears, a nose, "several" fingers, and that all of his parts appear to be in good working order. We got a really good look at the heart. Dr. P measured the heartbeat and called it "perfect" - 153 bpm. My blood pressure is great, weight is progressing normally (don't you dare ask), and this appears to be an all-around uneventful pregnancy so far, thank goodness.
3/7/00 - We went to our final baby class last night. It ran long, because there was some material that just didn't fit in to the 6 nights. Surprisingly, we did an exercise (mental, not physical) that almost made me cry right there in front of everyone. She handed out these cards to everyone with birth procedures on them. They'd have one procedure on the front, another on the back. One card said "No pain meds" on one side and "Pain meds" on the other; another card said "Episiotomy" on one side and "No episiotomy" on the other. We were told to lay the cards out with the side facing up that we wanted to happen in our ideal pregnancy. That was the easy part. Then she said, "Uh-oh! Things didn't go perfectly. You have to choose 4 cards to turn over." That was really tough. We picked "IV" (over "No IV"), "Delivery by other than primary doctor", "Long Labor" (as opposed to short), and "Delayed breastfeeding" (as opposed to immediate). She said, "Uh-oh! NIGHTMARE. You have to turn over 4 more cards." That was rough. We only had 10 cards. The only things we got to "keep" were "Healthy baby" and "Vaginal delivery". When I looked down at our theoretical "birth", it involved things like "Epidural", "Pain meds", "Confined to bed" and I just started bawling. I realize it may have to happen like that, but I just do NOT want it to. I was over-emotional all day yesterday as it was (just ask Mike) and that just sent me almost right over the edge. I gathered the cards up and said, "I don't want to play this game anymore." Then we split up into guys and girls and were told to make lists of things that will change when the baby comes. The lists were very long, and very negative. LOL. Things like "No sleep.. no sex.. no money... no social life..." Nowhere on the list did anybody list "We'll feel so fulfilled.. we'll have an added source of joy in our lives.." Nothing like that. Then we looked at signs of a healthy newborn, including reflexes and procedures that might occur. Lastly, we discussed breastfeeding over bottlefeeding. That was about it!
3/4/00 - Baby's newest trick: giving mommy leg cramps. :( They last all day long and cannot be relieved by stretching, hot baths, hot showers, or anything else. They just ARE. Also, I officially start my fifth month today. :) That seems incredible to me, but you can definitely see the difference in my expanding waistline. We had another childbirth class. The details are on my regular diary.
2/22/00 - **WARNING -- This diary entry is going to be unusually long.** It's been a busy week, again, for LB (MB, if you listen to Aunty Cindy <see below>). I'll start with today and work my way back. We had another OB checkup today. It was reasonably abbreviated, with most of the time spent talking. Today was the day they had wanted to draw blood for the MSAFP test (maternal blood test for fetal birth disorders, including Down's syndrome and spina bifida). After doing lots of research and soul-searching, we opted out of this test. We explained to Dr. P that we were uncomfortable with the high rate of false positives the test generates (for statistics, see Mike's Family Page), and that even if the test proved positive, we wouldn't abort unless the baby had anencephaly. Many of the things the test screens for will show up on subsequent ultrasounds anyway, and our risks are relatively low, so we decided not to do it. Dr. P basically confirmed what we had said about false positives, low risk, and u/s sensitivity, so we skipped the test. Then we talked about our fear of having to do a Cesarean, and found that his take on them was akin to ours - only when medically necessary, not when convenient. He said his C-section rate was about 15%, which is about 10% lower than the national average, so we were reassured. Of course, he can't promise us a vaginal delivery, but at least we're all on the same page. The last thing we did was listen to the fetal heart again. This time it was WAY easier to find, and unless my imagination deceives me (it happens), it was slower this time than last time we heard it. So the little one is still in there, thumping and growing away. Our next appointment is on March 14th, at which time we will do the extended u/s (measurements, etc.) and will hopefully find out the sex of LB.
Now we go back in time to this morning, about 2 hours before we left for the doctor's appointment. I've been anxious lately to feel the baby move. Quickening usually happens somewhere between the 16th and 20th weeks in first pregnancies, and I'm 16 1/2 weeks. There had been a couple of times when I thought I *might* have felt it, but was unsure. Well, this morning I decided I was going to lie on the couch perfectly still until I felt it move. I lay there for about 20 minutes, absolutely still, eyes closed, focused on my body. After 20 minutes, I felt this little *thump* about mid-belly ("belly", as used here, is defined as the area between the belly button and the line between the tops of the pelvic bones). It was one of those "Well, that *might* have been it" thumps, then I felt three quick, successive *thump, thump, thumps* that absolutely was NOT gas. It was LB, flipping around inside of me!! I was overjoyed. I screamed at Mike (who was working away on his computer across the room) "I felt it! That was it, really, that was really it! I'm sure about it!" He just smiled this dopey smile at me, came across the room and kissed my cheek. It was very sweet. Incidentally, on the drive home he asked himself outloud, "I wonder how long before the Daddy gets to feel it?" <VBG>
OK, now flash-back to last night, where we had another childbirth class. The beginning part was pretty much like the end of the last one - practicing more labor positions. We found a few more that were comfortable to us. Because Mike is shorter than me, and I weigh so much more, alot of the "coach-supported" standing positions don't work, but we found a few leaning/lying down ones that did. (Fascinating, isn't it? LOL) The second half of the class was *supposed* to be a tour of the hospital's delivery room and recovery rooms, but lo and behold, the hospital had a "rush" and had 2 deliveries while we were there. One was in progress when class started, and finished, but a second one came in while we were in class. A third lady had her baby yesterday, so this very rural hospital had 3 births in a matter of about 36 hours, which is almost unheard of here! We'll try again next time for the tour. Since those plans were cancelled, we spent the rest of class reviewing C-sections and watching the C-section film. Necessary procedure for many couples, but I'm really hoping we're not one of them. If you're the praying type, prayers of vaginal delivery would be much-appreciated.
2/16/00 - Childbirth class was Monday night. I got much more out of this one than I did any of the previous classes. We saw the film with four births (the film has 5 but she skipped the Cesarean section one) and talked about each of them after we had seen it. What they did right, what they did "wrong", etc. We practiced various birthing/laboring positions and from time to time Mike and I will practice them at home to see what feels right. We've pretty much ruled out any of the "hanging" ones because I'm just too much taller than him. I'd have to squat down so far to really be "hanging" (eg. from his neck) that it feels very uncomfortable and awkward for me. The squatting ones seem to work well for us, as well as the one where you lie on your side and your coach holds your leg up in the air and you can push against him. My, that sounded very attractive, didn't it? Since then, there's been no real baby news. We go back for a doctor's appointment on Tuesday, and they're going to do some bloodwork and hopefully we'll get to hear the heartbeat again.
2/13/00 - We've gone to two childbirth classes so far. They meet on Monday nights. There are 3 other couples in the class besides us. All are much more pregnant than we are (the closest is about 6 1/2 months along). There hasn't been much to report because, quite frankly, not a whole lot has happened in those classes. In the first one, we talked about pain management for the most part. In the second one, we talked about the stages of labor and did some relaxation breathing and exercises. The next one (to be held on Valentine's Day, whee!) is supposed to include the birthing film, so hopefully that will be more interesting. She says the film has 4 births. The hospital appears to be as accommodating as we'd hoped for - you can labor how you want (they even provide a rocking chair and shower, for example, for laboring moms) you can deliver how you want (for example, on your knees) as long as the doc can catch the baby. Of course, I have no idea how I'll want to labor, or how I'll want to deliver, but it sure is nice to have choices. We've decided several things we want to occur (and not occur) about the delivery. (1) I want to nurse immediately after the birth, (2) we don't want the baby removed from the delivery/recovery room I'm in for any reason at all, unless he/she is in distress (in those unlikely events Daddy Mike will be along to see what happens and comment appropriately), (3) we don't want the baby to sleep in a bassinet/crib thingy but to sleep in the bed with me (this is going to be how we do it at home, so best to start off on the right foot), (4) we don't want the baby to ever be introduced to a bottle for any reason while at the hospital. I plan on breastfeeding exclusively as long as the little dear will have me, and I don't want it mucked up by a bottle at the hospital. If they have to give him/her medicine or something, they can do it with an eyedropper. Yes, the further we get into this thing the more opinionated we get about everything. Those who know us won't be at all surprised. ;-)
1/25/00 - We went to my third o/b appointment today. Let me start by saying that I have the most coolest, awesomest doctor in the whole wide world. And he has the coolest, most awesomest nurses, too. They're all so chipper, and they remember who you are, and they always ask how you're doing (and not just in the "clinical" sense). I don't know how long Dr. Parsons has been practicing at Whitman County Hospital, but he delivered my friend's grandbaby almost 2 years ago. She said he was good, and he is. I was a little apprehensive in the beginning about going to a male doctor, but WCH only has male doctors for general practitioners (or that's all that was in their book) so I honestly just picked one at random. I picked a good 'un! Now, in all fairness, I've only seen one other doc at this hospital (Dr. Mellor) and only saw him once, so I don't know if I have the greatest frame of reference or not. All I know is I'm really happy with my choice. :) Anyway - the appointment. Took my weight & blood pressure (have gained 4 1/2 pounds, plus or minus shoes, and bp is 136/72) then got to go pee in the cup (when you're pg and NEEDING to go that's a good thing! lol). Saw Dr. Parsons on the way to my room and he was friendly, as always. He came right in (I almost never have to wait) and told me today we were going to do the Pap (wheee!) and pelvic, so I needed to get undressed and put on my little open-back gown thingie. "You can leave on your socks.. and your headband." LOL. So I did. Have never done a Pap with my husband in the room, but he says "things were carefully positioned" so that he couldn't see anything anyway. Dr. P came back in the room along with a nurse (Dory?) and he did a breast exam, a heartbeat and breathing check, and looked in my ears & mouth. Then we got to the fun stuff - the Pap. I won't gross you out with the details (I don't know any, anyway - I'm on the unseeing end of the whole deal) but it was over reasonably quickly and they even had the grace to warm up the speculum. Then he did the pelvic (my uterus is growing, but is still lying sort of flat and hasn't grown up off my bladder yet - no surprise there!) and tried to measure the fundus (still too small to measure). Then came the REALLY fun part!! The DOPPLER. :) I had been hoping he'd do it, but wasn't sure. He put some of the ultrasound goo on my belly, and started looking for a heartbeat. At first there was nothing, then I hear this "Thump... Thump... Thump..." My eyes got all wide and Dr. P says calmly, "That's you. The baby's is much faster than that." Eyes go back to normal size and I start listening again.. Nothing for awhile, and we were starting to think we wouldn't get lucky, then all of a sudden "thumpathumpathumpathumpathumpa". "That's it!" he said, and I started hyperventilating. My belly was jumping around so much he lost the hb for a second and had to remind me to be still. He found it again pretty quickly the next time. It's really amazing. It's so FAST!!! It was all I could do not to start bawling. It's really there!! Dr. P says we'll get to do another one next time. :) That's about it - he says my pregnancy is going well, I'm doing good, and everything looks fine. I was just so excited to hear the hb; every time I think about it I squeal. :)
1/20/00 - It's very weird the things you crave when you're pregnant. Many of them you never even liked "before" (that's another thing - all time and space is divided into "before" you got pregnant and "after"). For me, it's mostly been Indian food (admittedly a pre-preggers favorite). One day my craving for Indian food was so bad I actually cried. Don't worry - I cry over anything these days. Ever watch A Baby Story on TLC? It's always made me cry, but "after" - forGET it!! The sound of a baby crying does it to me, too. WAHHHHHHH (that's me, not the baby). Oh, wait.. my inability to concentrate and remember things is showing through - this was supposed to be about food cravings.. ok.. back on track. Besides Indian food (curry... yummmm) I'm also craving pickles (the obvious) and french fries. But not just any french fries. Have you ever been to the State Fair of Texas? Now, I'm not sure about this, but I think they have a patent on some kind of special grease that can only be used at fair time.. it makes the french fries crisp and yummy and greasy and they seem to stay warm.. and you smear ketchup all over them and they serve them in a cup and they are so GOOD. No fries like them anywhere _I've_ ever been. I'm craving them. And fair's not til October (wah!) ... AND it's all the way back in Texas!! (bigger wah!)