Went out for lunch at an English pub in a nearby village today with some friends of ours. Love the pub, the landlord & landlady are very friendly and talkative (from South London) and the food is good too. After a long lunch we went to buy a filing cabinet for G's office (thrill a minute) and I'm now exhausted. I find that full days of activity really seem to take it out of me more & more. At least the weather is perking up, a whopping 11 degrees celcius today, lots of meltage of the ice, and possible to wear a t-shirt :-)
Last night I went to bed and was immediately hit by an excrutiating attack of heartburn. I ate 4 TUMS and they did absolutely nothing, so I had to take a Zantac which I don't really like to do during pregnancy but it could not be avoided as I was in agony. They're not unsafe, there's been no instances of any harm caused by them either in animals or human beings, but they don't *do* studies on pregnant women therefore these and most drugs remain in Category 'B' when pregnant... which means 'we can't guarantee that they're safe because we can't really study it, so only take them if you really need to'. Anyhow, Zantac worked, and after an hour I was able to sleep comfortably.
After a couple of days stuck indoors with D being ill, today was a perfect opportunity to get out and cheer myself up by spending money! D is alot better so we went out to the mall and bought a ton of clothes including this rather nice spring jacket/coat from Banana Republic and a ton of new Maternity stuff ; 2 new bra's for my rapidly expanding chest, new jeans and new undies! Now I'm after some new shoes... but was too exhausted to shop any more than I did -- woe what a hard life ;-) Also had a nice lunch out at a restaurant. All in all, a rather pleasant day - helped enormously by a change in the weather to glorious sunshine.
I am calling right now to make an appointment for an ultrasound at this place.
G and I were just talking and although I've felt a little dubious about these scans in the past (will it take some of the surprise away?) we decided we would actually rather like one! I figure sooner or later everyone is going to be getting 3D Ultrasounds, and as this is almost certainly the last pregnancy that I'm going to experience I would like to have the opportunity to do this while I can. I imagine it'll be an amazing sight!
D still struggling with illness. Last night he woke several times in the night to be sick. He's such a stoical child when it comes to being sick, but it still breaks your heart to see him in such discomfort.
As a consequence to 2 days of his being ill, I'm feeling pretty exhausted myself, not least because of the interrupted sleep last night. Hoping that I don't catch whatever this bug he's had - can do without vomiting and fever during pregnancy. I've had a migraine for 2 days which has been horrid, but I've coped thanks to a couple of Tylenol 3's.
I think the 'nesting' instinct is beginning to kick in. Yesterday I spent the morning cleaning out the linen closet and tidying it. I'm so NOT the kind of person to enjoy a task like this so I surprised myself by infact wanting to do it at all, and then feeling quite satisfied when it was done. I found all D's old crib linens which we'll obviously need, although I think I'm going to have to replace the fitted sheets for it as they look a bit used.
Also, when we have finally had this scan (can you tell i'm antsy about getting it done!) and hopefully know what the sex of the baby is, I'm looking forward to making a start on decorating the nursery! Having said that, we have visitors coming in April, so I can't really do anything with that room until after that as someone will be sleeping in there. I can, at least, go out and buy a few baby things though which I'm looking forward to doing!
There's not a great deal we need; we need to furnish and decorate the nursery with the exception of a crib which we have already. I need to buy a new mattress for it, a baby monitor, new bottles, and not much else. If it is a girl we'll have to get a whole new wardrobe of clothes, if it's a boy we hopefully won't! Although having said that, baby clothes are used for such a short period of time as they grow, and D was born in the winter so I suspect much of his stuff will be the wrong size for the time of year!
Very much in the forefront of my mind right now is what it will be like to make the transition from a family of 3, to a family of 4.
D's been an only child for 5 years, and has been thoroughly adored and worshipped since the moment he was born. I love him so much that it almost feels like self indulgence, that nobody should possibly be allowed to love their child to this extent and that I really ought to get a grip! In turn, he's the most loving and adoring child who loves nothing more than to spend time with us. To go from being the sole apple of our eye to having to share me with a baby, is going to be very difficult and different for him, especially as he's had us to himself for so long.
When the baby is born, my dad is going to be here to make a fuss of D and watch him while we're doing the hospital thing. G is going to take 6 weeks off work to be with us, important especially as I'm having a c-section and won't be able to do any driving or lifting, and also to make sure D gets a good summer full of activity at the beach & similar that I might not be able to do. I'm glad, in a way , that the baby is coming in the summer so that we're all around and can give D lots of attention and focus. If he were at school he might feel more 'ousted' as he is sent out of the door while we're ogling the baby. We really need to be sure that D gets tons of love and attention when the baby comes, and not to focus on the baby too closely.
In other news, poor D is sick today, his little body wracked with fever half the night. So it's a day at home full of rest for us both.
I found out that if you are on LMWHeparin shots for any extended period they get more and more painful. So that is why every night when G gives me an injection I am hurting *alot*. Blah, and it's only going to get worse as the days progress. It's already almost bringing tears to my eyes it's that hurty!
In other more embarassing news I've got serious *gas* issues. I've been suffering this all along but it seems to be getting worse. I don't know if I've eaten something more likely to cause it during the last couple of days, but they've been terrible!!
Surprisingly, the 2 gallons of blood I had taken from my arm this afternoon didn't cause me to bleed very much at all, despite the Fragmin. The vein is more bruised than it might usually be, but I'm pleasantly surprised by the entire lack of gushing blood that I expected. Obviously this Fragmin is very different to the daily pill dose of Warfarin/Coumadin that used to make me bleed like a stuck pig every time I so much as looked at a sharp object.
There were 2 brand new babies, both 6 days old, in the lab this afternoon awaiting some kind of jaundice test. One was big and reminded me of Dylan, and the other, a girl, was so tiny she was barely peeking through the newborn clothes. Both of them made me go 'awwww' and want my own immediately and not have to wait another 5 months! To my surprise the mother of the boy asked the desk if it was OK to breastfeed (meaning, would it have any adverse effect on the blood test the child was about to have) and the receptionist very quickly and loudly said no, that's not appropriate here. I wouldn't personally have even thought to have asked, and I'm very amazed at the attitude she received in response. There was a woman breastfeeding at the GP's yesterday and she also looked extremely uncomfortable to be doing it in public, hiding both her chest and her baby under a large blanket. Sod that, if I manage to breastfeed this time I'll do exactly as before and lop them out anytime and anywhere (with the exception of the dinner table because I do remember feeling pretty grossed out by a large veiny breast and dripping nipple which put me off my food entirely when a family member did it a few yrs ago).
Which leads me to a posting on a message board I read yesterday which made me rather cross. A woman posted that she was expecting her 4th child, and would 'be formula feeding because my breasts only produce water', which is slightly hard to believe anyway, but let's assume she was telling the truth....... she then went on to say that she could not afford formula and would be making her own out of eggs and stuff. ERRR, surely this is NOT A GOOD IDEA. Babies are not supposed to have eggs until they're a year old for one thing, formula in place of breastmilk is packed full of vitamins and minerals and essential nutrients for the baby, and another is that if you cannot afford formula, cannot breastfeed, and cannot even nourish a child properly, what the hell are you doing bringing one into the world? This was a planned child for her, some people are absolutely unbelievable.!!!
One last thing.......I've also been getting a few Braxton Hicks contractions already, which is surprising but apparently not all that unusual as many other July-Due-Mothers are reporting. I don't recall having them this early with D, but maybe it's a 2nd baby thing. Last night I could barely move off the couch as my stomach felt very uncomfortable, but today it's back to 'normal'.
17 Weeks today. My stomach has very definitely grown, and I'm feeling the baby move at least once or twice every day.
I'm quite liking the being pregnant thing at the moment. I don't know why, I just feel quite calm and positive about it. When I had Dylan I was a nervous wreck the whole way through, and that's odd given there is alot more to consider this time. Daily shots of Fragmin, 4 x daily blood sugar tests, sugar low's, fortnightly jaunts to the hospital, an impending c-section, the list goes on, but none of it is concerning me too much........ yet. Of course the little paranoid voice in my ear is thinking that as this is all going so well something HAS to go wrong either during the pregnancy or with the baby.... blah.
In my quest to avoid all the scary 'this could go wrong' propaganda which is everywhere, in every pregnancy book and web site, I am beginning to worry, a little, that I'm not actually going to be prepared for this baby! With Dylan I read everything I could get my hands on & I was an "expert" on everything by the time he was born. This time I'm not really reading anything, and I have a fear that the baby will come out and I'll be totally unprepared both emotionally and otherwise!
I'm also really getting desperate for this next Ultrasound which is 2 weeks and 2 days away (and counting). I want to know that all looks well with the baby,
And, I have to go to the hospital for 2 blood tests this week - the follow up to the IPS tests, and a CBC (blood count) to check for some rare disorder which can happen as a result of the Fragmin. Not really looking forward to these given that my fingertips bleed for 10 mins every time I test my blood sugar, so a syringe into a vein on my arm is likely to bleed alot longer than that!
So that's basically where we're at right now. Having a good time emotionally bar a few concerns in the back of my mind, keen to get the Ultrasound out of the way, and coping well with all the medical attention which is mostly reassuring rather than irritating.
D proudly announced he knew a bad word ... 'the O word'. "What is the O Word?" I asked him, puzzled. "OH SHIT"! he replied. Too funny.
Have done very little today. Went to IKEA this morning to get some new coat hangers - they sell some really nice wooden ones at 8 for 8 bucks (bargain). Our walk-in closet, which we considered, 3 years ago, to be gigantic and more than enough for our needs.... is busting to the seams and there is nowhere to hang the maternity garb I keep purchasing.
Sausage & Mash for supper. Every time someone visits and goes back it leaves us a little homesick for the UK so some traditional English fare for tea feels like a good idea! My dad while he was here insisted that he had identified a stereotypical Canadian 'face'. I'm not convinced by it but I am going to study people more carefully and see if he's right.
These f'ing 2nd Trimester headaches are getting me down. I've been taking 1 x Tylenol 3 for the migraine pain which I always feel guilty about, but is apparently safe.
Had another blood sugar low today - did lots this morning and had a late lunch, and by the time the food came it was 3.4 and I was feeling quite bad. Didn't fully recover for the rest of the day, and my head is pounding still.
My dad has just left to go back to the UK, worse luck! It's been a really nice visit, we've hung out and relaxed, and he's helped out alot with Dylan. The whole support system is something we generally do without having moved to Canada, so it's really appreciated when it is around!
My stomach seems to have suddenly 'popped' out and has begun to look enormous! A friend of mine is 27 wks pregnant (compared to my almost 17 wks) and I look more pregnant that she does. I guess this is what happened with D too, but it's weird to look big so suddenly. I'm torn between being unhappy (or rather, wishful for a nice small tight bump) about it, and enjoying the obvious visible fact that there's a baby in there.
Another appointment this morning at the High Risk Clinic. Saw the Endocrinologist and told him about my sugar lows and got the 'eat more often' response that I expected. Blood Pressure, Urine, and all that, are fine. Go again in 2 weeks time.
Got my car fixed yesterday, had to have a new exhaust and something was up in the engine too - it now runs like a dream and quietly instead of making nasty grinding noises. Also only cost me 100 bucks for the service which was marvellous, it's still under warranty despite being almost 3 years old.
Having serious issues with my blood sugar going low again. I think this is mainly due to being slightly off the usual routine with having my dad here and being out & about, but last night I had a major low and had to go and lie down until I felt better, an hour or so later. Could not eat as a result, forced some down me, felt sick, ill, horrid. Happened again this lunch time. Need to be regimental with my eating habits I think. I guess because I'm doing more than usual I'm expending more energy, I don't know, but it's annoying. I do wonder if this is an indication that I am definitely suffering with the diabetes?? I mean, this doesn't happen to *normal* people, does it? What's it all about? Anyone?
16 weeks this week, and my tummy is definitely protruding more & more.
I found out this morning that my cousin Jo is 12 weeks pregnant, due on my birthday (August 29th) which is just brilliant. She and her husband Robin came over in October and we were both in the process of trying for a baby so it is excellent that we've both managed it only a handful of weeks apart from each other! It's a shame that we live so far apart, when we were growing up we spent alot of time together and we've always had a strong bond.
Taking Dad down to the Chiropractor this morning to see to his shoulder. I haven't been in ages so I'll probably get some funny looks from them! I am a bit paranoid about the idea of having anything bruised or bumped internally right now as the chance of excess bleeding or bruising from the Fragmin is high.
The WB have announced that ANGELs current and fifth season
will be its last. The show may return as a movie next year.
:-(
Stupid washing machine blew up yesterday - which was probably my fault for overloading it with a king size duvet. So we had to take a trip to Leons today and buy a new one - it is good to have a dad around when these problems arise ;-)
Also went for a long walk this morning with the dog, and then to Square One Mall this afternoon to check out Old Navy Maternity clothes - cheap and cheerful, they've some very nice Capri style pants for the summer which I'll definitely be getting. Meanwhile I got a couple of little tops and a zip up hooded thing which are nice.
Andy tells me he's found some webcam software for the phone; streamed video of the birth anyone? No? :-)
On the Diabetes front, not mentioned for a while, I'm having issues with bruising on my fingertips since I started the Fragmin shots. My fingers are bleeding more and when they do heal it leaves a slightly sore small bruise. Of course there isn't a great deal of space on the end of ones fingers anyway so one or two bruises renders that particular finger useless until it's healed, which is irritating. My glucometer supposedly allows me to test on my forearm but I don't fancy it much.
On the Fragmin front, last night we discovered that the best way to inject is slowly. It's been stinging quite badly until now and it seems to be if the solution is injected quickly. Slowly allows it, I suppose, to distribute more as it enters my body, and therefore doesn't sting / burn so much.
Anyway, I am off as I'm just having yet another tidy-up as Dad arrives today. He hasn't been in a while and D is looking forward to him coming very much, as am I.
Why is it that these lovely little angels who peer up through soft dewy eyelashes and politely say hello when accompanied by their parents, turn into absolute monsters as soon as they are left to their own devices? 10 of Dylans friends (yes, 10 x 5 yr olds - I am mad) attended his party this afternoon, and it was like World War 3 in our house for a non stop and very long 2 hours.
Fortunately we did have Checkers The Clown to entertain them for the most part; with a bouncy castle, a train, a roller coaster, face painting, balloons & a magic show (!) but they still required monitoring as they attempted to beat the living daylights out of each other whenever our backs were turned, or instead of staying in the basement where we wanted them, running riot over the entire house throwing cushions off couches and spilling drinks and cake everywhere. G's previous comments about D's friends - such as 'Oh so & so is such a lovely little boy' rapidly changed to 'Bloody Hell that child is a demon' and by the time they were all collected at 4pm we were both totally and absolutely wiped out.
Next year he has a party somewhere else other than at home, it's far too exhausting for words! He did enjoy it which is the main thing, but oh my it is tiring. One of the parents was saying she would never have her son's party at home, although her daughter's parties were girly and fine and involved doing hair and make up. After seeing a couple of the girls invited today sit nicely and eat daintily and not throw space hoppers at each other or push each other off the bouncy castle, this has made G all the more determined that this next baby is going to be a girl!
Happy Valentines Day. My day has started off rather spectacularly after being showered with diamonds from G, how wonderful! He's bought me a lovely diamond heart shaped necklace and I'm absolutely thrilled with it :-) In return I made him a rather complicated heart shaped cake. Being as I'm not a great chef this was a rather large project for me, and has taken me the best part of 2 days to complete. First I made a heart shaped sponge, then covered it with butter icing, then with a pink fondant icing, then put white chocolate buttons around the edge, and finally wrote on it with some white icing and surrounded it with paper hearts of different shapes and sizes. I figured that it would be a thoughtful present as really there's not alot of a romantic nature you can get a bloke on Valentines Day. Anyway he likes it alot :-) Who says romance is dead!
This afternoon we have D's birthday party to look forward to (!). My attempt at cleaning the house yesterday afternoon failed spectacularly after falling asleep on the sofa for 3 hours, so it has to be done this morning and I can't get out of it. Bum. Then I have a house full of screaming 5 year olds for 2 hours. Argh.
I had to go down to Wal Mart (urghhhh) this morning to grab a present for one of D's little friends as he's going to a party this afternoon. I loathe it there. Once again the 'law' which dictates that whenever I go there I will be waiting in line to pay because the person infront of me will have something without a tag on which involves delaying me by at least 20 mins came into effect and by the time I left I was not a happy bunny. *SO* infuriating.
The last couple of days I've been suffering with the 2nd Trimester Migraine attacks similar to those I had with Dylan. Really bad pain. I determined from research on the web that Tylenol 3's (paracetamol + 30mg codeine, prescription only narcotics) are considered safe in pregnancy so I've given in and had one, both yesterday and the day before which has gone a long way to curing the pain. Problem with them is that they stop being as effective the more you take them so I don't want to have to take them very often at all.
Yep, one of those again. Yesterday was fairly busy with D's birthday, lots of running around to be done. Then out last night until fairly late. I just about collapsed into bed last night and I definitely did not want to wake up this morning. After taking D to the school bus I have just managed to grab an extra hours sleep on the sofa.
G gave me my first shot of Fragmin last night. The pharmacist had recommended doing the shots just under my rib area, starting on the one side, then each day moving an inch or so toward the other side, down an inch, and back. She said by then the original site will have no bruising left. Yeah, OK, but what she didn't tell me was that if you inject that high up (as opposed to around the hip area which we've done before) it bloody hurts. Very stingy and sore after the shot. Tonight we go lower!
Comparing my stomach to this time during my pregnancy with Dylan I don't think I'm nearly as big. My stomach isn't small anyways as it got stretched to the limits with D and I've never been able to get rid of all of that excess, but I distinctly remember being 4 months pregnant with D and going on holiday to bro-in-law's villa in Menorca and looking very pregnant indeed. This time, although I'm no longer able to hold it in and zip my stomach away behind regular jeans, the baby part isn't anything like as big. It is, however, pushing the excess stomach out further, so I feel fat more than anything. Cue lots of long baggy shirts.
I did the wedding ring on a hair over the tummy trick last night and it moved from side to side which apparently indicates a girl.
I desperately need to clean up the house in preparation for D's party on Saturday and also for my dad arriving on Sunday. But I'm too tired.
It's hard to believe my little man is 5 today. 5 yrs ago almost to the minute I write this, I was in St Thomas's hospital, London, and overwhelmed with emotion as I laid eyes on the most perfect little boy for the first time. The last 5 years have flown by, and what a big grown up boy he has become in that short period of time. He's reading, he's writing, he's extremely bright, funny, loving, and I have no idea how we managed to produce such a wonderful little person! I only hope the next one will be half as lovely!
We're having a little tea party for him after school today and it's very hard to keep him from wanting to open his presents until then! His party is on Saturday so he'll have the main celebration then.
In other news - G nearly totalled his car yesterday. I got a phone call from him as he'd gone to fetch D from school. "Err, can you come and get us, we've had a crash". After establishing everyone was OK, I drove to find them and found his car practically on it's side in a 4ft deep ditch full of snow. He'd hit some ice while driving up the road and plowed straight into the ditch. We transferred Dylan into my car and G was going to stay to call a tow-truck when miraculously one appeared. "Just driving around looking for people like you mate - 60 bucks OK?". Brilliant. It actually took them a long time to get him out of the ditch. The Durango is not the lightest of vehicles, I suspect as heavy as the tow truck itself. We didn't think it was going to make it, but finally they did manage to get it out of there. The guy said they really should call the police (stupid Canadian law whereby you have to call the police for every bump or scratch and they give you tickets for your accidents) but after a quick examination and realising there wasn't even a scratch on the Durango (lucky!) they were happy to have cash in hand and avoid the paperwork.
I've just been for my appointment with the Haematologist down at the hospital to get started on the Fragmin injections. It's a depressing place, the Oncology Clinic. I assume most people are there with serious cancer-type illnesses and I feel as though I shouldn't be there, too happy or too not ill or something. The staff are very nice though, and I saw a different Dr than the last time, who inspired confidence none the less.
He explained that my dosage of Fragmin will be low, and the bleeding risks are less than they used to be as it's an 'improved' drug from the old style Heparin. It's called a 'prophylactic' dose - preventative. He asked me to go to my family doctor in a couple of weeks and get a CBC blood test done to make sure that I don't suffer with a rare side effect of my platelet count going too low, but other than that I should be fine as long as I take care not to bruise / cut myself. They want me back in June to discuss the delivery of the baby. He explained that they'll ask me to stop injecting the Fragmin around 24 hours before it, and that they'll start me back on it within 12 hours of the c-section. He said the time frame of not being on it is too small to worry about developing another clot. He also said that after the birth I'll be started back on Warfarin / Coumadin for a couple of months to prevent any further clotting. He handed me a prescription for 6 mths worth of Fragmin and I left.
Took the prescription to Shoppers Drug Mart and they, as expected, didn't have any stock, but they'll get some in for tomorrow. They had some half the strength I require but I turned those down because I really don't want to be giving myself 2 injections per day, 1 creates enough bruising thank you!
Today marks 15 weeks of pregnancy, although it certainly feels alot longer than that.
In the last week I've been feeling the baby move alot more, it seems to be dancing and doing back flips fairly often now, which is lovely! Yesterday I had a warm bath and the baby seemed to really enjoy that - wiggling around non stop.
D went to a party at the Cinema for one of his school friends yesterday and was out for around 3 hours in the afternoon, so G and I had a wander around a few shops preparing for his birthday which is on Wednesday. I think I have everything now, with the exception of a little cake to celebrate the actual day (Wednesday) and not just the party day (Saturday).
Tomorrow I have an appointment at the Oncology Clinic which will herald the beginning of the Fragmin (heparin) injections. So today is my last day of injectable freedom!
Been a bit slack for the last couple of days. Haven't tested my blood sugar since Thursday night (fancied a weekend off from sore fingers), although have continued to eat properly, except for last night when I had a forbidden piece of birthday cake. We had gone out for dinner and it seemed rude to refuse. It was delicious too. Ahhh, sweet memories. And this morning along with my usual cup of tea, I had a cup of coffee. Ahhhh, lovely. All this being good with the diet is very tiresome indeed. The problem is once I have cheated the one time I know that I'll be tempted to do so again. Must make a mental resolution to not do so. Infact I've not missed sugar really, at all. Coffee I've just got the taste back for, but until now have been having the odd cup of decaf. This mornings was G-Strength loaded with caffeine and bloody lovely.
I've been feeling very tired for the last couple of days, and consequently pretty grumpy. I get a wave of exhaustion sometime mid-afternoon and then don't seem to perk up at all for the remainder of the waking hours. In the evenings I've been feeling bloated and uncomfortable and horribly thirsty. Night times I am not sleeping very well, and as a result of drinking eleventy pints of water before bed, need to get up to go to the loo every 10 mins. I'm also feeling hot and bothered despite cold temperatures outside - today I was wearing a t-shirt in the car with all the heating off and the window down until G & D yelled at me that it was absolutely bloody freezing. I don't know if my body is fighting off some kind of bug or if this is pregnancy related but I really don't feel 100%. During the afternoon I often feel as though my blood sugar is low (when it isn't), a bit nauseous and exhausted.
Last night Dylan paid his usual visit to our bedroom from which there is no return and for the 2nd time I ended up going to sleep in his bedroom where I could have some space, not be kicked repetitively, and not have to listen to G snore. Usually I will sleep contentedly through just about anything but right now I'm not sleeping very well and if something wakes me (which it inevitably does) I am awake for an hour or so before I can doze off again. Away from the pair of them I managed to sleep well, only waking once to go to the loo. I have a feeling we're going to have to tackle the issue of Dylan coming to our room. He can be such an insecure little boy and when he comes in if you try to suggest him going back to his room there are heartbroken sobs and he's genuinely scared to go back. But I can't take another 6 months of this, particularly as my stomach grows and requires more & more space in the bed. Plus when the baby comes he'll really need to be in his own room or face being woken every 10 mins while the baby cries for feeds and I don't much fancy dealing with 2 kids at once during the dead of the night.
I had a very vivid dream last night that we were having an Ultrasound and the technician said 'It's a boy'. In the dream G and I were both a little disappointed and faked a smile. This is because, I think, everyone keeps telling me I'm going to have a girl so I'm almost believing it. Reality is that I'd love another little boy, but it was a weird dream with weird emotion involved that has stuck with me today.
Still coming to terms with the news from yesterday. I really did not want to have to have another c-section. I wanted to experience childbirth. I feel, in some ways, cheated out of the experience that most women will have in their lifetimes. Overall, I do understand that the most important thing is to keep the baby and I safe and that no matter how the baby is born, we'll still have a lovely baby. It's mild disappointment.
Other news from the hospital visit yesterday is minor. My Blood Pressure is good, I'm actually wondering if it borders on the too-low side, which would go some way to explaining some of the dizzy, swimmy head spells I've been having. Apparently increasing your salt intake can help if your BP is too low so I might endeavour to consume more of the stuff somehow. There's no weirdness in my wee. My weight gain is perfect, 2lb since the last visit which is on track. The OB was quite nice although she informed me that she'll be leaving to move to Switzerland in June. Her replacement will be a Perinatologist which is good news, I suppose, for my 'high risk' status. He or She will be the person to deliver this baby. The OB also said that we'd book an appointment with the anaesthetist prior to the birth to discuss the risk factors with the heparin considerations. However, I should be able to have a Spinal Epidural and be awake (a mixed blessing to be awake while someone cuts your stomach open after sticking a long needle in your spine versus not being mentally present) for the birth.
In other news, G has been the most ill person who ever walked the planet and I was fearing that we'd have to call an ambulance, but he finally went to the Dr yesterday and got some antibiotics for his Strep Throat. (Quite). For you Europeans - Strep Throat is a N. American invention to make a sore throat sound worse than it is and give you an excuse to mope around in a pathetic manner and take time off work.
Poor D had a nasty accident yesterday. We were in Quiznos getting subs for supper as I was too tired to cook, and he was sitting up on a bar stool while we waited for our order. He then fell off, face first, and blood was pouring out of his nose :-( I'm so useless in those situations, I get as upset as he is to see harm having come to my baby boy. G retained presence of mind though, and managed to get a ton of napkins to D's face quickly. Fortunately the blood stopped flowing pretty quickly and all that remained to deal with was one very upset little boy. A couple of hours of cuddles and he soon perked up back to normal.
This is supposedly a blog for solely pregnancy & baby related things but:
Last night was the 100th Episode of Angel.
Spoilers below.
Something that Angel has been lacking this season is, with the exception of a few good lines from Spike, the Joss Whedon brand of humour that I for one have come to know and love. With Cordelia resurrected from her coma we finally saw some of those fabulous one liners and come backs that she was so brilliant at, reminiscent of the Buffy days, and that none of the others quite seem to pull off. Also present - Lindsay McDonald, former Wolfram & Hart lawyer in all his gorgeous glory. It was a great old styleeee episode.
I had a feeling that something was going to happen to Cordelia. She hadn't had her contract renewed this season and was only, apparently, appearing as a one off. How were they going to explain her leaving? They couldn't have her walk off into the sunset could they... so, yes, I'm sorry to say, she died. What a waste of an excellent character. Not to mention being extremely sad viewing!! I read an interview with her where she says she was absolutely gutted not to have been signed up for another season of Angel and that it came as a complete surprise to her. What a waste.
I have to have another c-section. I'm disappointed too, I thought there was a chance that I could deliver naturally, but it seems not.
The OB told me that with a VBAC (vaginal birth after caesarian), studies done in the last 18 months have shown that the risk of Uterine Rupture (v bad) is not 1 in 1000 as they'd previously thought, but 1 in 200. In otherwise, significantly higher. And induction is a complete no-no, the risk is just too big for me. Also because they have to schedule the birth early, taking me off the Heparin and not for too long, it's a no-no. So I will be scheduled for a c-section at 38 weeks. Bum.
She also told me that they have started to have you up and out of bed within 8 hours of delivery (as opposed to nearly 24 when I had Dylan), and home within 3 days (as opposed to 5). This increases the recovery rate and reduces risk of clotting.
I ate lunch yesterday as usual, then pottered around doing some stuff and eventually decided at 3.15pm to have a little nap because my head was aching. I woke up at 5pm feeling absolutely awful, dizzy, head swimming, sick. I figured my sugar was perhaps low as I'd not eaten in 5 hours, so I tested it but it wasn't too low - 4.0. I didn't even feel like eating but forced myself to do so, and it didn't improve matters much. It wasn't until around 8pm that I started to feel much better, and even then not 100%.
D woke me last night at some ungodly hour wanting a drink, and I managed to turn over just that bit wrongly and wrench something in my stomach. Pain. Still feels a bit dodgy this morning. Also this morning I'm still feeling a bit crappy.
:-(
Just what we need, another bucket load of snow currently coming down.
Yesterday, apparently, was 'Groundhog Day', a ridiculous notion that I didn't know actually existed beyond that movie but apparently is alive and kicking. The 'prediction' is that it'll be another 6 weeks of Winter. Right.
Physically I'm feeling fine. Seem to have shaken off this cold. Went to the Doc yesterday about this stupidly itchy arm and got some new cream for it - fingers crossed that it will work.
A new 'milestone' today - 14 weeks, and with it what I am sincerely hoping is not the onset of the continuous '2nd Trimester' Migraines that I suffered with Dylan.
I have a hope that last time the migraines were, if not caused, aggravated by my random and copious intake of sugar which I'm obviously not doing this time. Having said that, I woke up at 3.30am with the most awful pain in my head. I'm seeing my GP this morning about the skin irritation on my arm, and I might ask him if there's anything I can please, please, take to cure the pain which is stronger than rubbish Tylenol. Having said that, the only thing that ever seems to cure migraine for me is Tylenol 3's (which include 30mg Codeine) and I doubt they're particularly safe in pregnancy unless I want a narcotic addict for a baby!
Just been sledging at Heart Lake.... weather a little warmer today (minus 10 or so) and sunny skies. D absolutely loved it, and I hope the rather bracing air will have blown a few germs and cobwebs away! G and D sailed down the slopes together while I stood with the dog supplying Kleenex for runny noses.
Had a very bad nights sleep last night, found I couldn't go to sleep, felt crappy, hot, cold, bothered, dehydrated so drinking lots which in turn made me, with my pregnant belly, need the loo every 5 mins. Also my itchy arm (which I've had for months and it will not go away) itched like mad and was keeping me awake. Then D showed up in our room around 2am and at that point I gave up entirely as him and D took up 95% of the bed and were both snoring. I realised sleep wasn't going to happen, so I took myself off to D's bedroom with a book. 10 mins later I was dead to the world.