Postpartumness pt. 3

Growing cutie!

Just had my 6 week check up with the OBGYN and saw my primary doc 2 weeks ago.  The fun never ends when it comes to my health issues.

Primary doc was sooo happy that I finally had a baby! I’ve seen him since I was 12.  He knows my parents very well.  When I first starting having fertility problems, he was there ordering labs and tests and helping to get to the bottom of it. When I suffered from postpartum depression after the loss of my twins, he ordered the “get happy pills.”  When my RE said I had a thyroid issue and wouldn’t do the IUI until it was fixed, this doc gave me my prescription to fix it.  I gave him a birth announcement and a hug for being so helpful. Turns out he has a new grandson as well! I told him about my postpartum preeclampsia/pulmonary edema episode and he ordered follow up labs as well as keeping me on my meds to stay normal.  Labs came back fine, except for maybe a UTI, culture pending.

My GYN appointment was with Dr. P, who delivered MeMe.  My new problem of the month: Dysfunctional Uterine Bleeding.  I have had my period for over 2 weeks and it’s not stopping.  The lochia stuff stopped after 3 weeks and then my period started at 4 weeks after delivery.  Here I am at almost 7 weeks and I’m just continuously bleeding and bleeding and bleeding.  IT REALLY SUCKS!  Apparently, the mini pill that I’m taking for contraception is doing it’s job too well.  It’s made my uterine lining too unstable, but not only that, I can’t really get my groove on with all this bleeding going on so there is a 100% chance of not getting pregnant, any time soon ha ha. I have some options and I was just soo pissed that I always seem to have some kind of problem or end up in that small percentage of people that gets screwed. I have some options:

• Stop the mini pill, get an IUD
• Stop the mini pill, use condoms
• Stop the mini pill and switch to the combination pills, but no more breastfeeding
• Or maybe the bleeding will stop on its own and I can stay on the mini pill

Crap!  I loved pumping and giving MeMe the boob juice because I know it’s best for her.    I hate to have to give that up now. I just feel so guilty to stop the boob juice.  But the main thing is that she is here and is healthy.  She’ll be fine on formula alone.  What I don’t want is to become anemic from all this damn bleeding or have a uterus too jacked up to have any more babies. I’ve given myself until Monday to see if the bleeding stops. Then switch to the combo pill.   

Another thing, boy did my vagina muscles contract back up.  Doesn’t even seem like I popped out a baby a few weeks ago.  The speculum was awful!  She had to use the little one to do my pelvic exam.   I’m a born-again virgin.  Eek! I didn’t like being one the first time around.

Just started getting on the treadmill.  These pounds need to come off.

Other things on my mind other than my uterus and cooch is going back to work.  I have this packet of skills to review. I also realized how cool it would be to review cardiac rhythm strips so I found an awesome website that runs a strip and explains what it is or you can quiz yourself.  Just needed to refresh my memory.  I haven’t had to do that since April. I really need to get back to work, staying around the house all the time has lost its coolness.  I need to use my brain like it’s been trained to do.  I need to have random conversations with coworkers and laugh and bitch about our husbands.  I need to show off pictures of MeMe and talk about babies growing up fast. 

I will miss being with MeMe, but mom and I have currently been sharing baby care duties.    Mom will watch for a few hours and then hand her back to me. So when I go to work, it won’t be like I feel like I’m leaving her for the first time.

Still waiting out our time in escrow. I really hate how all information is funnelled through my husb and then he forwards me the emails whenever he feels like it.  He swears that I stress or fixate on certain things or freak out when its not necessary, which isn’t true.  I’m a practical realist, he’s a dreamer.  He’s thinks “everything is fine”  and that stuff should happen on his terms, but when shit needs to be done and there’s no time to playing power games.  The loan officer wanted some info back on Thursday and he still hasn’t given it to her.  He’ll just wait till Monday.  Why wait, he could’ve done it on Friday at the latest.  If escrow doesn’t close on time, it’s his fault.

Postpartumness Pt. 2

MeMe is almost 2 weeks old. Amazing!  She has longer periods of wakefulness and she gets all smiley when you pick her up.  She still only cries when really hungry or uncomfortable, but once that’s solved, she’s right as rain.  She is having fun exploring her hands and can now turn herself onto her side from being on her back when awake.

Cutie @ 10 days old!

Overall feeling fine. Still kinda sore all over like I got beat up, but am able to walk up and down the stairs with no problem. I really hate the question “how are you doing” even more than I did when I was pregnant.  If I was having a problem, I would say so.  My husb is obsessed with my blood pressures and asks daily what it is.  It’s been in the 130’s/70-80’s so it’s okay.  Better than what it was.  My feet are still a little puffy.  Everyday is less and less.  The scale shows I’ve lost 8 lbs over the course of 5 days.  Sweet!

My ob-gyn visit was fine, but since my mom was working that night, we had to take MeMe with us.  Of course we had to wait awhile so I made sure to pack lots of stuff and two bottles of formula/boob juice to keep her tummy full.  I saw Dr G who is still baffled by my severe preeclampsia/toxemia.  Nothing about my case was textbook and it came on all of a sudden.  Nothing in my prenatal visits showed that it was gonna get THAT bad.  Too much fluid + high bp + low heart rate+ 1 glass of wine = trip to the hospital.  Go figure. And as quick as it came, it resolved quickly.  I am to see my primary doc in a month, but any problems go through the ob-gyns for right now.

So after the visit, we took MeMe to Babies-r-us, courtesy of my play-auntie who is awesome.  She is the mom of my closest friend who came to visit me while pregnant a couple of times.  Her husband died last November and her eldest son took me to Prom.  She was one of the many visitors that dropped by that first week home.  She and my friend wanted to throw me a baby shower, but I said no thanks.  So instead, she bought MeMe some cute little outfits and a gift card worth $500.  Yay! My mom’s sister really hooked us up with a check for $200, a digital picture frame that plays music, an electric breast pump, extra car-seat base, and another playard (we returned it because she didn’t know we already had it). Thanks auntie! We’ve received cards and well wishes and some more clothes/toys from some of my coworkers.  The only thing that is kinda bothering me is that my in-laws haven’t sent anything! No card, no nothing!  They call and say congrats, but a card is always cool too. The always send stuff for Dom, so I thought it was kinda weird that it’s been 2 weeks now.  Even my brother in Atlanta sent a card and he’s further away!

When we first came home from the hospital, there were a few things we needed to buy right away because we hadn’t thought of it before: a drying rack for the bottles, b0ppy pillow for my comfort, room monitor, and an ottoman to put my feet on when feeding. It would’ve been great to use the gift card!

So we went on a super shopping spree at Babies-r-us and it was wonderful!  Almost used the whole card because husb kept throwing things into the cart. I learned now being a mom that you can’t always be cheap about stuff you need.  I’ll admit, I penny pinch pretty badly, to the point that it pisses husb off sometimes.  But it’s enabled us to save $.  Now with MeMe, I buy whatever I think she/I/we need, I just read the box more carefully to make sure it’s a good buy.

The things I thought I didn’t need, but absolutely love!

• Electric bottle warmer
• B0ppy pillow – regular pillows warp to easily
• Electric breast pump early on – baby gets too fussy at the breast & won’t latch most of the time(lactation folks tried to help with a nipple shield) and the pump allows me a little more freedom with feeding times. 
• More cans of ready-made formula

Modern Convenience! I’m sure there is more, but I can’t think of it right now.

We finally ordered some baby announcements from Shutterfly dot com and they should arrive sometime this up coming week.  They are soooo cute, can’t wait to mail them out!

Overall, this last week was a good one. 

 

 

Awesome Ultrasound, awesome day

Got to see Miss MeMe and my cervix this morning.  She has baby fat and hair! Yay!  The tech didn’t say how much she weighed, but her measurements averaged 33w1d but I am 33w4d based on LMP.  She has consistently measured a few days behind because I ovulated later than the average 14 days rule, so it’s all good.  Due date doesn’t change for a handful of days!   Defintitely still a girl! We got some awesome pictures of her cute little baby face.  The tech let us watch her yawn and stick her tongue out.  We could see her practice breathing and trying to move in her crammed space.  She has plenty of amniotic fluid and the placenta is still good.  My cervix is a comfortable 3 cm, so not too worried there either. 

I think she has my nose, but mom and husb say she’s gonna look like him.  She has his forehead and overall shape of face.  We won’t really know until she comes out.  Either way, she’s my cutie! 

Our stroller/carseat came today and it’s gorgeous!  Husb took it out of the box and we were so giddy, it almost made us late for the appointment.  Playard is in transit, being shipped from Ohio according to the tracking #.  Should be here next week.

We have a date for the Cerclage Removal….drum roll please…….Sept 15th @ 0930.  Super yay!  MeMe’s shackles are coming off and she will be free to leave the premises! So just gotta hang out these next 3 weeks.  Soooo excited! 

The only thing that made the day suck was that it’s sooo freaking hot! I thought my skin was melting!

Another fabulous appointment (32w4d)

Yesterday, I had a pretty good doctor’s appointment with Dr. M’s office.  We had to wait 1.5 hours to be seen because the doc I was  assigned to was stuck doing an emergency C-section.  They were going to reschedule me for another day, but husb was pushy and insisted I be seen since I was “high-risk.”  So they managed to squeeze me in.  I told him not to act like that when I’m hospitalized! But I gotta hand it to him, he gets results.

My bp was good, mostly because I told the MA to give me a second to let my heart rate go down.  Belly is measuring on target and my urine was fine. Up 3 pounds in 2 weeks.  Been lazy and hungry! 

Doc wants me to get a US to check my cervical length and see how MeMe is growing.  Fantastic!  I haven’t seen her in 4 weeks! Then we asked about the Cerclage Removal and we found out it will be on L&D  at my hospital since it’s more sterile and I can be monitored for contractions. They will call me with the date that it will be scheduled but I should expect sometime after Sept 14th (36w1d).  Yay! Hopefully I’ll dilate right away and only have like a week or two until labor starts.  Mom thinks and dreamed that I’ll deliver on her birthday, Sept 24th.  Another Libra in the house!

We got some info on local pediatricians and the form to pre-register for the hospital. The new doc trained with Dr. S. way back in the day and she was pretty sharp on addressing any concerns. We’ll see another doc at my 34 wk appointment.

We also just bought MeMe’s stroller and carseat on +arget.com and it should be delivered to our house sometime next week.  After it arrives, then I’ll get the pack-n-play that she’ll be sleeping in.  It matches the travel system and has music/vibrations to help soothe her. It has a changing station built in, napper, and bassinet along with the playyard on the bottom.  We thought it was pretty cool when we first saw it, but now it’s no longer in the stores and we have to buy it online.  You would think that if it was being discontinued, it should be on sale! It’s a freakin’ clearance item.  Oh well. I just want it here by stitch cutting time.

I’ve been working on the Outdooring Party.  I find it more exciting to figure out.  Everyday I try to discuss it my mom or husb and I think they’re tired of me already! Can’t really plan for the baby anymore since a lot of it is learning on the spot.  So at least now that I have plenty of time, I can start the prep for the party.  I know when MeMe comes and I’ll be focusing on her that the thought of planning and organizing a party will be the last thing on my mind.  Mom and I planned the food and invite list just last night. We’ll have lots of ladies helping on the day of the party.

29 weeks and switching

My insurance ends today, but I didn’t get my notice until yesterday.  How lame is that?  So I had to call my husb’s insurace company to make them aware so that they don’t act like they don’t have to pay for anything because they think I still have the other insurance.  I found out the specialist is covered and I don’t need authorization to see him since it is a PPO.  But I want to see my regular OB.  Even the lady on the phone asked if I had a doc that will deliver me because the peri won’t do it.  Then I realized, I really need to get back in touch with Dr M.  This is nuts that I’m like almost 10 weeks away from my due date, 7 weeks from stitch cutting and my OB has no idea what’s going on with me.  Just didn’t seem right. So I made an appointment with her for Monday, when I’ll be 30w1d.  I also have to make sure my chart gets to her office.  I’ll put Dr. S on the backburner for now. I figure, my cervix has been pretty stable for months now.  The stitches haven’t fallen out into the toilet,  no bleeding (a sign of cervical changes), no regular contractions, and baby is moving around alot.  If trouble comes, I’ll probably be on total bedrest.

I know I have been very blessed to have not had any more issues since the cerclage surgery and to have had the opportunity to see a peri, but he’s like rain on my parade. He comes in the room all serious with a kinda “so what are we doing today” attitude. I’m just a patient, but I think you should check the baby and my cervix.  Then he’s like, “everything’s okay….for now.  Come in 2 or 3 weeks, whatever you’re comfortable with.” It’s up to me because it’s like he doesn’t care either way.   He’s nothing like my other peri who called me “darling” every time he saw me and was just an dynamic character.  His bedside manner was unbelievable.  He made the worst days of my life more bearable. 

Oh Dr S, parting is such sweet sorrow.

No GD for me

My mom and I went to my appointment with Dr S and I’m in the clear for GD. My glucose tolerance test came back at 112. Swwweet! My bp is still good and weight up 5 lbs. I need to quit being so lazy and start walking in the neighborhood. Husb has put on some lbs too so I think we’ll walk together. I’m surprised my bp is so great. I am prone to higher pressures especially when stressed. With pcos I know the risks for preeclampsia and GD are high. So I keep thinking I’m gonna get it. So far so good.

My cervix is closed and 3 cm long. Stitches are still in place and doing their job.

MeMe has a big ol’ head and she’s still head down. No cute profile shot this time and her legs were crossed. I asked the doc if she was growing okay and he said she looked fine but ordered another ultrasound at the fetal care center to more accurately check her growth. Do I really need that? I doubt it. I’m still on the fence about the U/S. Plus my HMO at work is going to cut off in a week because it lasts for 12 weeks if you aren’t actively working.

I’m covered under husb’s PPO, but it won’t kick in until I get the letter saying my HMO kicked me off. I don’t know if the PPO will cover the specialized care anymore without reauthorization blah blah blah. If not, plan is to stop seeing the peri, no U/S, and go back to Dr M until I give birth. I would rather have her as my doc anyway. Her bedside manner is awesome!

We’ll see. Next appt should be at 30 weeks.

Symptoms: insomnia, fatigue, shortness of breath with stairs, hunger, big baby movements, indigestion, random uterine tighting.

25 weeks and counting…

Last week was a busy one, my husband’s cousin was coming to town for business but wanted to hang with us for a few days.  So we had a hell-of-a time getting the guest room ready for her.  The house was a mess for like 2 days trying to go through what we don’t need and reorganize.  Since we’re renting rooms from my folks, it doesn’t always make for lots of space to put our things.  My parents have been great letting us save tons of $ for our infertility treatments and our future dream home. Anyway, I was packing stuff in big plastic bins and my husb had to put them in storage.  I think I packed at least 6 bins full.  But the guest room was beautiful when finished and there’s tons of space for MeMe now.  Also, pops was painting the kitchen and left the downstairs a mess, so thankfully mom cleaned that for me. 

We took our cousin shopping and to the County Fair to walk around and get some of that yummy fair food.  Very fun! But all that walking made me almost need to be carried home!  My feet were burning. Husb was walking too fast at times and I had to yell at him to slow down. He calls me “roley poley” and said that while I was walking, it was the first time I really looked pregnant.  He was soooo proud and keeps rubbing my tummy. Cousin said I still look heavier than normal, but could get away with not looking pregnant.  The only thing is that I wish I got something personalized like engraving or airbrushing, but there’s always next year.

I had an appt. with Dr. S.  on Monday, this time I went by myself.  BP great with weight up 4 lbs in 4 weeks (I weigh as much now as I weighed at 16 weeks with the twins). Dr. S. checked MeMe’s heartbeat via US and she gave us another shot of her bottom.  Definitely a girl.  He left it up to me to check my cervix.  Yes, please.  So he used the coochie-cam and could see it’s still long and closed measuring a good 4 cm.  He’s very pleased at my progress and told me to continue light activity.  I asked if I could go back to my regular OB after 28 weeks and he said that at this point there is less chance of complications and that it’s totally up to me.  He is comfortable letting me go.  I’m going to have one more appt. on 7/23 at 28w4d and do another 1 hr glucose screen, which I passed the first time.  Dr S is awesome, but these appts are boring and the drive down there is not fun, especially if I’m gonna be doing it every 2 weeks until the stitches are cut. I’d rather see Dr M and know that I will deliver at the hospital I work at which is very close to the house. If I stay with Dr S, I would have to go to a hospital like 45 miles down south where I had my cerclage done.  I only want to go there if I deliver super early (like between now and 30w). 

So with all this cleaning and painting, it got me and husb really wanting to set down some roots and buy a house.  I want us to move northeast where the houses are big and cheap, but he wants to stay here by the beach.  If we move up and out, I would have a 30-35 mile commute and can always drop MeMe off here so mom could watch her.  If we stay here, my commute is like 5 minutes and the convenience of seeing grandma and grandpa all the time is great.  But I think we can still drive down here on the weekends or they can come see us since it’s not like we’ll be 2 hrs away.  I will need my mom to watch the baby at least once a week due to my and husb’s work schedules.  So, I’ve been daydreaming and drooling over these fabulous houses and husb wants to keep checking around here where the houses are smaller, older, and expensive.  Boo! 

Husb finally b0ught his plane ticket, but he’s going alone.  He decided it was best to leave Dom behind with his mom, especially if he might be sick.  But I also think it’s because he wants one last freedom-trip before baby comes.  As long as he doesn’t do anything stupid that will cost us $$, then I’m cool with it.  He’ll be gone for 10 days.  During the time he’s gone, my aunt is coming to stay here and I’ll be doing some driving tours with her.  This is her first time in the U.S and in California, so it’ll be fun taking her around. Plus I don’t think she knows I’m pregnant so she’ll get a nice surprise.  My mom has been tight lipped about it, but finally told 2 of her friends at work.

One last thing, mom gave me my 17-P shot yesterday and hit a blood vessel.  I bled all over my new white/grey dress.  She freaked out, but it finally stopped. It was the first time she’s done that in years so I think it hurt her pride.  It’s okay, the medicine is in and that’s all that matters.

Anatomy scan… Another milestone!

We had our Anatomy scan for the baby at 19w2d (5/19/09) and baby is doing great. Gummy bear is measuring on target and everything looks in order. The sonographer was awesome in showing us all the different structures and carefully measuring things. She was so thorough it was amazing! Our little blob at 6w5d is now a whole being with a brain, 2 kidneys, vertebrae, heart with atria and ventricles. Just amazing! We never got to this point with the twins, so this was a HUGE milestone. Now we feel like we’re halfway home. My cervix measured at 3.1 cm, so it’s steady holding for now.  The baby’s pics were reviewed by the one of the perinatologists and he came in and was like “your baby looks good! Congrats!” That’s it. We’ll take that and go with it.

We got to see a shot of gummy bear’s privates…..

 

(look, she’s one of Rainbow Brite’s homegirls!)

Go Team Pink!!! The sonographer was pretty sure about it with a clear picture. How do we know, you ask? We could see the 3 bright parallel lines that look like a bun.  No hot dog in sight. 

We told the whole family and everyone is excited. I finally got to buy a little dress for her, not someone else.  My husb has settled on her name and isn’t gonna change his mind, instead we can just add names to it.  He says “call her what you want, but that’s gonna be her name on paper.” Okay fine…my family is just gonna call her by her Ghanaian name anyway.

Officially disabled

My disability claim kicked in as of 5/8/09 so I’m glad all the paper work-n-stuff is done.  I was supposed to go back to work tonight.  I did make the mistake of taking a mandatory class yesterday and got scolded by the disability specialist at work for doing that.  My bad…I got a threatening letter saying I would be terminated if I didn’t take the class so I figured I better take it now while I can.  It wasn’t bad, I spent a lot of idle time sitting down and taking pressure off my cervix.  I was done with the class quickly and was certified.  I saw a lot of coworkers that I am cool with taking another class so I was nosy to see what they were doing.  I didn’t get to talk to them, but I at least waved hi.  I texted one lady and she told me to get on facebook to keep in touch. 

Anyway, saw Dr. S. on 5/11 and he did an abdominal u/s to see baby and my cervix.  We got some great shots of baby looking at the “camera” and posing.  Such a cutie!  He could see the stiches glowing at the bottom of the screen so he knows they are still in place, my cervix is still closed and that the baby’s sac  is not bulging down.  He wanted my cervix to heal more before he goes poking around with the coochcam. He promises he’ll measure it next visit and gave me the option to come in 2, 3 or 4 weeks.  We opted for 3 weeks so next visit is 6/1.  Next week is the level 2 ultrasound on 5/19.  Hopefully baby will cooperate and show us the goods!  My husb. has been a nervous wreck wanting to know the gender, he’s driving me and the doc crazy!

I think his problem is that Dom’s mom had her baby on 5/8 and it was a girl.  So Dom has a little sis that he’ll be sharing birthdays with, kinda sucks but it’s not our problem.  His b-day was 5/10.  We bought him a Wii for great family entertainment!  He usually spends some of his birthdays or the weekend before his birthday with us.  We haven’t let him know about my baking gummy bear. My husb told him about the twins right away and then had to explain to him that they died.  How do you discuss that with a 6 yr old?  He did it without me and I didn’t feel comfortable discussing that with Dom.  This time, lips are sealed about the new baby, but I think my husb wants to know the gender so he can tell Dom he’s gonna have a new baby _____ during the holidays.

I think baby is coming in September.  Once those stiches get cut, it’s open season.

17 weeks….and counting

We had an appointment yesterday to see the nurse practitioner at the perinatology center. Kinda like the initial visit I had with OB where she checks the baby’s heartbeat and then hands me tons of papers and booklets on pregnancy. Duh, it’s not like I didn’t have prenatal care before my care was transferred so she didn’t tell me anything I didn’t already know.

The new stuff was that I had need to do an early gestational diabetes screen since diabetes runs in the family. They finally ordered the level 2 ultrasound, but because of the stupid HMO, I have to wait a week to schedule it. Fine, whatever, just get it done. Then the NP was pushing the quad screen on us like it was something we HAD to do. My husb. said “isn’t that optional?” and she was like “yes, but most of our moms want to know if there is a problem so we can all be prepared.” She gave this long speech on how great it is to know. Sorry honey but we ain’t buyin what your sellin. I don’t want to add any unnecessary worries to the worries I already have. Everyday I have to worry about contracting or busting through my stitches. The last thing I need is some test telling me there MIGHT be something wrong with the baby that I’ve fought so hard to keep. I sure as hell don’t want an amnio to confirm it either. If a deformity shows up on the ultrasound we’ll deal with it as it occurs, but none of this other crap. We’ve had tons of medical intervention with this pregnancy, I just want to minimize whatever I can. Women have been having babies for centuries without these tests, it is that crucial? Nope.

Only good thing about this visit was seeing gummy bear again. Getting big in there and baby was sleeping again! I think s/he kicked a foot and that was it.

Next appointment to see Dr. S on 5/11 so he can check my cervix and then I do the glucose test. Until then, I’m eating all the cake and cookies I can find.