Thread: Motherhood and More

Getting ready to leave for my (hopefully last) perinatal appt. He will do an u/s to check for abnormalities and to see if everything looks healthy. My OB commented that this will be the "money" appointment. For a split second I thought he was saying that the perinatologist would make a LOT of money off of this appointment. Then I realized he was just saying that this would be the appt that would reveal the most (so far) about whether or not the baby was healthy. Hopefully everything will look good and I won't have to see the perinatologist again. I hope and pray that everything is healthy (as much as you can tell in utero, anyway) with the baby, and that I have a healthy, boring, uneventful pregnancy from here on out.

Thought I would update on my u/s Wednesday with the perinatologist. DH and I took the opportunity to eat lunch together (a rare treat) before the appt, so that was cool. At the appt, the sonographer looked at everything...the baby's brain, the kidneys, bladder, stomach, heart, femur, etc. Although, the child was apparently having a party in there- she was rolling and kicking and flailing about so the poor lady was having to move quick to get the shots she needed. The tech kept saying, "wow, this is crazy!" She couldn't believe how much the kid was moving around. She asked me if the baby is always this active, or had we just eaten lunch or something, and I told her that yeah, we had just eaten and I had some sweet tea. The tech said, "yeah, that'll do it." But I don't really know if it was that or just that the baby hated the u/s wand so much...'cause I didn't feel her moving until the u/s started.

Anyway, she quieted down after it was over. Then the doc came in and said he liked my Mickey Mouse shirt that I was wearing. I swear, this guy is a trip. He proceeded to tell us a story about when he was 10 and they went to Disney World and he got an infection in his leg and ended up having to be in a wheelchair for most of the trip, and how his family rented a Gremlin and drove to the beach. Whew! He is pretty wild, I've never had a doctor like that before! Anyway, the dr. did an u/s too, and all the measurements looked great and he said everything looks very healthy. Soooo thankful! He checked between the legs and still nothing there! So she's still a "she". The dr. wants me to come back at 24 weeks for another u/s just to check again, but he said everything looks good at this point. He said the upper lip is intact, meaning no cleft lip. I asked him if he saw any holes in the heart and he said he didn't, but he will check again at my next u/s.

My mom & I went shopping Thursday and I bought my first purchases for the baby. I will have to post a pic once I get it downloaded. Austin wanted to buy some things for the baby, although he's much more into accessories than clothes, ha ha. He picked out some hair bows and some sandals and some socks.

Oh my gosh, it's hot. I know I complain about it all the time (in my head, anyway) but wow. I seriously think I have that seasonal disorder where you get depressed due to the weather, only mine is in the summertime instead of the winter. ha! I dread this season every year. I think if we were getting rain, it might make things a bit more bearable, but rain is scant and well, pretty much non-existent at this point. Ahh, nothing to do, I guess, except just keep trucking along. It's got to get cooler sometime.

Baby kicked me HARD one night last week. She is normally pretty active, but this is the first time she got violent, lol. I was sitting watching TV after supper and all of a sudden felt a karate kick to the middle of my stomach. I involuntarily said "Ouch" out loud because it hurt so bad.

I had some pretty bad menstrual-type cramping last Wed. night. I lay down and drank a bunch of water, but they still wouldn't go away. I took a Tylenol and slept (not very well) but finally when I woke up Thurs. morning, they were gone. I was concerned and mentioned it to the NP at my appt on Friday, and asked if they would do a test for UTI because the cramping felt similar to when I had the last UTI. She tested my urine and said there was a just a little speck of blood but it would be best to start me on antibiotics since I am pregnant. So I am on antibiotics AGAIN. I am a little worried since I just came off some a couple of weeks ago for a sinus infection. This makes 3 times in the past 10 weeks I've been on them. I hope it doesn't affect the baby adversely. I had a little more cramping this afternoon but it seems to have subsided now. My stomach has been feeling very tight lately too...I'm not sure if this is due to growing, if it's normal, or what. I hate feeling this way. It makes me nutty.

22 weeks today! I am so excited to have hit this point in my pregnancy!

Still on the antibiotics for the "UTI". I feel better - no more cramping. I am just so sleepy lately, not sure why. It's not like I do anything strenuous...Austin and I have been pretty much staying in the house since it's like 108 degrees outside. And I have been getting plenty of sleep at night- but it's like, every day I need a nap by 2:00pm. Thank goodness Austin will still nap so I can. Although he doesn't really NEED one anymore...he does just fine without one, and in fact, it's kinda nice when he doesn't take one, because we can put him to bed earlier at bedtime. But right now I am sacrificing that bedtime "me" time for a daytime nap. LOL And it's kind of nice to snuggle up with my snuggle bug- Austin and I both pile up in my big king-size bed and snooze for an hour or two in the afternoon. I know these days are limited. One of these days soon, hopefully, we will bring home a little lady and then our world (and naps) will change completely. And then next year he will go off to kindergarten.

He is growing up so fast. In a couple of weeks he will start his last year of preschool (Pre-K). It is so hard for me to believe that a little over 4 years ago we were bringing him home from the hospital. These 4 years have flown by. He is growing and changing and getting so sassy, and I swear the kid is smarter than me sometimes.

Hey Kim I am sorry to hijack your journal. I read that you have had heart palpatations with this pregnancy. I am TOTALLY experiencing them right now and I never did with my previous two term pregnancies. They are driving me BONKERS! I would really be nervous had I not had a stress echo in February where my heart was perfectly normal and fine. Anyway...have your palps stopped? Mine just started up this week. I get a lot of them in the first part of the day, not so much the evening. Once I am settled in bed I don't get them but it seems any activity I do I get them. UGH! Just glad to see I am not alone in this!

Hi Jen! I'm so sorry you are having the palpitations...they are horrible! Yes, mine finally went away around the 14th week or so - about the same time my m/s went away, so I'm not sure if mine were hormone related or what. Crossing fingers they don't come back! I still get 2-3 palps per day but that is NOTHING like what they were before. I seriously hate them and wouldn't wish them on anyone. Although I felt better about them once I knew that my heart was healthy after I had the echo. Hopefully yours go away for good soon! I would def. tell your dr. that you are having them but if they are benign, there is really no cause for worry, they are more of a nuisance than anything.

Thanks Kim! I'm SO happy for you, can't wait to see pics of you with that precious baby girl in your arms.

Thanks Jen, that means a lot to me! I am so happy for you as well.

Well, here we are...counting down the days until Fall. Ha! I guess we are on the downward slope now, which is good. Austin starts pre-K next Monday, sniff sniff. His last year before Kindergarten. I have lots of emotions and thoughts swirling around about that right about now.

It is still hard for me to grasp the concept that I will (hopefully) bring home a newborn in a few months. Less than 3 1/2, to be exact. I still find myself thinking that it's a faraway dream, one that might not happen. It just seems so foreign to me. It seems somewhat presumptuous of me to assume that we will bring home a healthy baby. I still wrestle daily with thoughts of anxiety about my water breaking early, or going into pre-term labor, although I haven't had any indications that those might happen, thank goodness. I was happy to get to 24 weeks because that means she might have a fighting chance of survival, if she were to be born right now. It is strange because while I certainly don't want her to be born right now, I am wishing for the next few months to go quickly because I am anxious for her to be on the outside where I won't have to worry so much. I'm not sure if that makes sense. This is the hardest part for me, being pregnant and putting all of the anxiety and concern into making sure my body doesn't fail. I can't help it. Thank goodness I feel pretty good physically right now. And when I start to worry, I just have to remember to put all of my worries and anxiety on God.

Will write more later.

Oh boy. Our A/C went out last night - not a good thing when it's supposed to get to 105 today. yipes! It has turned out okay, though. Last night was fine, we made it fine with just the fans we normally have on anyway. Then this morning it hasn't been too hot so far. And the A/C guy has already been here and fixed it...well, temporarily patched it. He is supposed to order a new coil and he will be back on Monday or Tuesday to put it in. But he put some new freon in the unit to get us through and we are cool as a cucumber right now!

I have been feeling BG (Baby Girl) hiccup the last couple of days! I first felt it a couple of nights ago, and then again last night. So cool! I love that little part of pregnancy.

I forgot to update on my appt (ultrasound) with the perinatologist last week. BG was a bit stubborn for the tech- she was face down and would NOT show her face no matter what. hee hee! So the tech didn't get any facial shots, but apparently BG liked the dr. because when he came in and started his u/s, she showed a full facial shot. The doc concluded that everything looks great. Everything was measuring just fine (inc. my cervix), and he said all of the organs look great, so he said I didn't need to see him again! I was so happy to hear that. Now unless I go into pre-term labor or something, I just have my regular OB appts from here on out.

I have my 25 week appt tomorrow and I have to do the GD test. Seems early to me- normally I'm used to doing it at 28 weeks, but oh well. At least I get it over with. I sure hope I pass, 'cause I don't know how I would survive without my sweets for the next 3 months. I guess I would do whatever I had to, though. I do have some questions for the dr...hope I remember them. I need to ask about when he will do the c-section, and if he can do a tubal at the same time. I still haven't decided for sure that is what I want to do, but I still want to ask him about it. I also want to ask about my Colace consumption...TMI, I have had some issues with constipation/hemorrhoids lately so I have upped my Colace to 2 per day, I hope that's okay, because that is what is helping. ha!

Not a whole lot else going on. Still deciding what we want to do with BG and nursery/room arrangements, etc. I think we are going to order some new carpet for the LR and Master BR today, so YAY! Our carpet is horrible! It is still the original carpet from when the house was built in 1992, so to say it is a little worse for wear is an understatement.

Better go!

Wow, lots going on. Within the last 2 weeks:
1. Austin started preschool
2. A/C guys came and fixed our a/c (hopefully for a good long while, this time)
3. Ordered new carpet for living room and master bedroom, and a new tile backsplash for my kitchen (should be installed this coming Tuesday! )
4. DH has been on vacation this week and is re-doing our hall bath - so far, he has repainted the walls, installed a new faucet, took up the toilet and reworked the area around it, fixed the shower rod that was crooked and bothering me, removed the old vinyl tiles and stripped the floors, and now he is installing ceramic tile. It is going to look great!
5. I had my 25 week appt with my OB. Passed the 1-hour GD test, thank goodness, and my iron levels were normal, so no anemia.
6. BG has the hiccups a LOT. And moves a LOT. I told DH she is the most active one yet. His response: "Great." (sarcasm) I told him she may be a wild child. haha! Most of the time they are not small movements, they are "Mama, I'm HEEEERREE!" kicks and rolls, and some of the time, they hurt! DH says that she and I are starting our mother/daughter conflict early...hmmm. Maybe she is just a drama queen, or maybe she really wants out of there. I love her anyway.
7. I think we have figured out the room situation for Austin and BG. I think we are going to move Austin to the back bedroom (currently our guest room) and put BG in Austin's old room. It will require some cleaning out of closets and some furniture and such, but I am not going to go there until the chaos/mess from the bathroom renovation and the carpet/backsplash installation is done.

Oh, yeah, a pretty scary moment last Friday. Austin and I were in the checkout line at Walmart getting groceries, and I felt a big gush down below. I frrrrreaked out, thinking my water had broken. I started shaking so badly and getting light-headed because I was so scared. I started throwing things in the cart and as soon as we paid, I rushed to the bathroom. It looked like the normal type of discharge I get on the pantiliner, but there was just a lot of it (TMI, sorry!). When we got home, I tried to call the dr's office but they were at lunch. When I finally got ahold of them, the receptionist told me that my dr. was already gone for the day, and just to head over to L&D so they could check me. So I met DH at the hospital so he could pick up Austin (poor DH was really scared...I felt so bad- by this time I was pretty sure it was just normal stuff b/c I hadn't had any more gushes, but DH said it's better to be safe than sorry). So anyway, went up to L&D and they checked me for amniotic fluid (negative) and put me on the fetal monitor for about an hour to check for contractions and BG's movements. BG was fine (I think she knew she was being monitored b/c she was having a party the whole time, even had the hiccups- I could feel them AND hear them on the monitor- that made me smile). I didn't have any contractions, just a couple of instances of what they call "irritability" so they said everything was fine and sent me home. It was kind of traumatic, being back in the hospital like that... it brought up old memories of the last time I was in the hospital, with Jake. And it was a scary feeling, not knowing if everything was ok, but I'm so glad everything was fine.