After today I have, hopefully, only two appointments left with my doctor. Got there today and stepped on the scale to find I had lost another pound. This is the biggest head scratcher for me since I gained weight with Pnut, but with Cashew it would seem that he wants everything and there is no excess. Could be a good thing. Blood pressure is good. When the doctor came in and asked how things were going all my answers are in the affirmative.
No issues? Nope.
Baby moving regularly? Yep
Taking vitamins? Yep
My surgery date seems to be set, my preop appointment is set. Things are progressing and it is kind of crazy that it is finally close to being here.
Cashew's heartrate has increased. I learned today that that is a good thing. Doctor said that when heartrates don't increase over time then it can be a concern. Good to know. Ultrasound showed that he is still head down and in the words of the doctor "has long legs." Not surprising either seeing as his sister broke the 4 foot mark before she turned 6.
Ah, Pnut. She is a character. Loving one moment, stubborn and immoveable the next. She got a haircut recently and looks so grown up with her short little "bob". She is swimming regularly and we have been going to Soak City, which is nice for me because she gets worn out playing and I move from the water, to the lounger, repeat. She is excited for her brother to come, and I truly pray that she continues to love him as much as she seems to outside of the womb as inside it. It will definitely be an experience with the transition from 3 to 4. We have been 3 for so long it is a little scary to think about.
33 weeks and 3 days gone. Time takes time to be sure, but it is very close.
Monday, July 18, 2011
Thursday, June 23, 2011
It's getter closer, and it feels great
When I had Pnut I went through a real hard time afterwards feeling like I had been cheated. I had had a beautiful pregnancy with her. I had absolutely no complications at all. Labor and Delivery were another story. My initial labor started on a Saturday, but I wasn't admitted until Tuesday. I spent all day in the hospital and my body stalled, not necessarily my contractions. With Pnut's heartrate dropping on a regular basis, and my body resisting medications designed to help me relax we finally went in for a C-section. Even that did not go as planned as Pnut's heartrate kept dropping to the 70s and 80s while they prepped me and the spinal did not take effect fast enough for everyone's comfort level. So, I was put under general anesthetic and when I woke up, it was to a quiet room. I was quickly reassured that Pnut was fine and beautiful and with D. Which she was.
I had felt like I missed the big event. You watch the baby shows on TV and see the joy and excitement when you see the baby for the first time. I didn't have that. So needless to say watching those shows afterwards were quite frustrating and to be honest, anger inducing.
Well, with Cashew, I am feeling a bit more reassured. I discussed my last delivery with my doctor who reassured me that since we are doing a planned C-section this time around we have more time to let the medication take effect, there is no hurry and no distress on Cashew to worry about.
I can also watch the baby shows on TV again. I respect women that give birth naturally, I respect women even more that can do it without medication. I tried, my body failed me, I had medication and those failed me too, Once Bitten, Twice Shy. I am excited to meet Cashew. Pnut is drawing our new family all the time including Cashew. She accepts his name finally! That was a chore. She wants to have input on his middle name, but unfortunately all the names she has been exposed to are Hispanic. The one that sticks out is "Cashew" Lopez. It is just hilarious what she comes up with. She also wanted Jose #3 since there was a #1 and #2 in her class this year.
She cracks me up. My expected surgery date is August 26th and it can't come fast enough!
I had felt like I missed the big event. You watch the baby shows on TV and see the joy and excitement when you see the baby for the first time. I didn't have that. So needless to say watching those shows afterwards were quite frustrating and to be honest, anger inducing.
Well, with Cashew, I am feeling a bit more reassured. I discussed my last delivery with my doctor who reassured me that since we are doing a planned C-section this time around we have more time to let the medication take effect, there is no hurry and no distress on Cashew to worry about.
I can also watch the baby shows on TV again. I respect women that give birth naturally, I respect women even more that can do it without medication. I tried, my body failed me, I had medication and those failed me too, Once Bitten, Twice Shy. I am excited to meet Cashew. Pnut is drawing our new family all the time including Cashew. She accepts his name finally! That was a chore. She wants to have input on his middle name, but unfortunately all the names she has been exposed to are Hispanic. The one that sticks out is "Cashew" Lopez. It is just hilarious what she comes up with. She also wanted Jose #3 since there was a #1 and #2 in her class this year.
She cracks me up. My expected surgery date is August 26th and it can't come fast enough!
Sunday, June 12, 2011
Feeling Full and weird scientific
28 weeks and 3 days. Roughly 9 1/2 weeks left. Wow.
I completed another school year Friday and am so excited for this summer. There are so many things happening, yet so much time to relax at the same time.
Yesterday I had my first real gripe about being pregnant. The hip and tail bone pain is annoying, but I can deal; the pinched nerve is painful at times, but I can get over it. No, yesterday as I walked from one end of my house to another I was so winded that I felt like I had just jogged on a full stomach and wanted to pant like a dog to recover. My guess is I have a baby head or rump pushing up into my diaphram. After laying down and actually being able to breath it got better. I don't mind the painful things, I can get through those. I do mind being limited in my ability to walk 50 feet. That is not ok. Despite that I am still getting excited for the end of summer and the arrival of Cashew.
Pnut has 4 more days of school and then our journey for the summer begins. I love my kid, she is just a little stubborn sometimes, so I hope I can keep busy with her, but not wear myself out at the same time.
On Friday I also had my Rhogam shot. It is interesting to explain this to people because not all of them understand. Essentially it is a shot that prevents me from rejecting any foreign blood cells that may enter my system from the baby. Why is this necessary? Well, because I am Rh negative and D is Rh positive. If you remember science from school and if you remember punnent (?) squares for blood typing, they would show how two people with different blood types can have x,y,z types of children usually with a 4 square grid. Well, we had a 25% chance of having a child with positive Rh and that is what Pnut is. Now with Cashew we will see if he ends up with a positive or negative Rh at birth. If he is negative cool, if he is positive I get another shot. I get a little geeky with this because I think it is kind of cool. Especially when I tell people that both of my parents were Rh positive and I am the negative (or that 25% chance) child. D and I have 75% chance of having a Rh negative kid and Pnut was the 25% chance kid.
See completely geeky, ignore my moment. :) I will have interesting examples for middle school science.
My Rhogam is just another stepping stone to Cashew's arrival. Soon the appts every two weeks start, and then suddenly it will be Pnut's 6th birthday, and Cashew will be right around the corner. Oh, with D and my 10th anniversary thrown in there too. Lots to come this summer!
I completed another school year Friday and am so excited for this summer. There are so many things happening, yet so much time to relax at the same time.
Yesterday I had my first real gripe about being pregnant. The hip and tail bone pain is annoying, but I can deal; the pinched nerve is painful at times, but I can get over it. No, yesterday as I walked from one end of my house to another I was so winded that I felt like I had just jogged on a full stomach and wanted to pant like a dog to recover. My guess is I have a baby head or rump pushing up into my diaphram. After laying down and actually being able to breath it got better. I don't mind the painful things, I can get through those. I do mind being limited in my ability to walk 50 feet. That is not ok. Despite that I am still getting excited for the end of summer and the arrival of Cashew.
Pnut has 4 more days of school and then our journey for the summer begins. I love my kid, she is just a little stubborn sometimes, so I hope I can keep busy with her, but not wear myself out at the same time.
On Friday I also had my Rhogam shot. It is interesting to explain this to people because not all of them understand. Essentially it is a shot that prevents me from rejecting any foreign blood cells that may enter my system from the baby. Why is this necessary? Well, because I am Rh negative and D is Rh positive. If you remember science from school and if you remember punnent (?) squares for blood typing, they would show how two people with different blood types can have x,y,z types of children usually with a 4 square grid. Well, we had a 25% chance of having a child with positive Rh and that is what Pnut is. Now with Cashew we will see if he ends up with a positive or negative Rh at birth. If he is negative cool, if he is positive I get another shot. I get a little geeky with this because I think it is kind of cool. Especially when I tell people that both of my parents were Rh positive and I am the negative (or that 25% chance) child. D and I have 75% chance of having a Rh negative kid and Pnut was the 25% chance kid.
See completely geeky, ignore my moment. :) I will have interesting examples for middle school science.
My Rhogam is just another stepping stone to Cashew's arrival. Soon the appts every two weeks start, and then suddenly it will be Pnut's 6th birthday, and Cashew will be right around the corner. Oh, with D and my 10th anniversary thrown in there too. Lots to come this summer!
Wednesday, June 1, 2011
Just the right size :)
I went to have my follow up ultrasound today and I am happy to say that everything appears to be fine with the baby.
I got there on time and had drank my water like I was supposed to . . . and almost died when I wasn't called until 20 minutes after my appointment time. Thankfully I had a wonderful tech who let me use the restroom first and would take the pictures needed at the end. Amen!
Cashew was automatically found to be head down and the tech said that the best measurement they use for size is the abdomen. Which measured 26 weeks 4 days. Spot on for due date since today I am 26 weeks 5 days. The tech had also asked if I was sure of my LMP, which I was! I saw once again that Cashew is a he, and then the scan continued. His femur (upper leg bone) measured 27 weeks 4 days, and his head measured around 28 weeks. It was so nice to see his little face 8 weeks older. I got a frontal picture of his face and you can see the beginnings of cheeks, it looks like he and Pnut will share the same chin, and his frontal view reminded me of the picture I am going to change my FB profile picture to. It is of Pnut at 2 days old and home from the hospital.
At the end of the scan I asked the tech how much Cashew weighs and he is estimated to be around 2 pounds 4 oz. Everything I read for 27 weeks is around 1.9 pounds so he is over. I guess I was right and I am not the one gaining the weight, Cashew is :). I like to ask my ultrasound techs their years of experience just for fun. Not only was my tech male (and probably the nicest, most cooperative, and informative man EVER), but he had been doing scans for 30 years. Score! He made me laugh because he said that he didn't know how my dr. could have gotten 32 weeks from 25, but that he has told doctors to throw the tape measures away. He listened to me when I mentioned that Cashew had been breech, which is sometimes a cause of larger fundal heights. He measured my fluid and it is still within normal range as well.
So for now, I am a happy mama. I got to see my young man's face and he is just the right size.
I got there on time and had drank my water like I was supposed to . . . and almost died when I wasn't called until 20 minutes after my appointment time. Thankfully I had a wonderful tech who let me use the restroom first and would take the pictures needed at the end. Amen!
Cashew was automatically found to be head down and the tech said that the best measurement they use for size is the abdomen. Which measured 26 weeks 4 days. Spot on for due date since today I am 26 weeks 5 days. The tech had also asked if I was sure of my LMP, which I was! I saw once again that Cashew is a he, and then the scan continued. His femur (upper leg bone) measured 27 weeks 4 days, and his head measured around 28 weeks. It was so nice to see his little face 8 weeks older. I got a frontal picture of his face and you can see the beginnings of cheeks, it looks like he and Pnut will share the same chin, and his frontal view reminded me of the picture I am going to change my FB profile picture to. It is of Pnut at 2 days old and home from the hospital.
At the end of the scan I asked the tech how much Cashew weighs and he is estimated to be around 2 pounds 4 oz. Everything I read for 27 weeks is around 1.9 pounds so he is over. I guess I was right and I am not the one gaining the weight, Cashew is :). I like to ask my ultrasound techs their years of experience just for fun. Not only was my tech male (and probably the nicest, most cooperative, and informative man EVER), but he had been doing scans for 30 years. Score! He made me laugh because he said that he didn't know how my dr. could have gotten 32 weeks from 25, but that he has told doctors to throw the tape measures away. He listened to me when I mentioned that Cashew had been breech, which is sometimes a cause of larger fundal heights. He measured my fluid and it is still within normal range as well.
So for now, I am a happy mama. I got to see my young man's face and he is just the right size.
Monday, May 23, 2011
25 week check
So I finally gained about 3 pounds with Cashew, and I am 25 wks 3 days along. I had my doctor's appt today and everything seemed great. My blood pressure was nice, Cashew's heartbeat was about 140. It all seemed great. Then the doctor measured my fundal height (size of uterus) Yeah, I'm 25 weeks 3 days, but measuring 33. My doctor who is always quick to reassure said that this is just an estimate. But, last month he couldn't find the top of my uterus easily, and this month I'm measuring 8 weeks ahead. No bueno.
As a result I am off to another diagnostic ultrasound on June 1st to check on Cashew's growth. The doctor didnt' give me any indication of what we would be looking for so let's hope everything is normal and my uterus is just in a higher position than normal, but he is measuring the right size.
Another fun fact about Cashew is that he is breech. Which explains why I am constantly feeling like I am being kicked in the cervix. He also has asleep and awake patterns that are pretty spot on my schedule so that is nice too.
Hopefully I will know more next week, good news would be nice and not a moment to ruin my birthday the next day :)
As a result I am off to another diagnostic ultrasound on June 1st to check on Cashew's growth. The doctor didnt' give me any indication of what we would be looking for so let's hope everything is normal and my uterus is just in a higher position than normal, but he is measuring the right size.
Another fun fact about Cashew is that he is breech. Which explains why I am constantly feeling like I am being kicked in the cervix. He also has asleep and awake patterns that are pretty spot on my schedule so that is nice too.
Hopefully I will know more next week, good news would be nice and not a moment to ruin my birthday the next day :)
Friday, April 29, 2011
It has started :)
The little flutters and flips of movement that only I could feel got bigger yesterday. I had a feeling Cashew was going to be more stubborn than Pnut was in utero. At least with Pnut I could feel her move all the time. The moment anyone else would lay hands on my belly she would stop moving (in spite I believe)
With Cashew when I felt movement and placed hands on my own belly nothing would happen. It was quite frustrating. But yesterday, I had movement for over half an hour and about 3 good kicks to my hand. It makes me happy. It soothes my nerves that still sit and wonder with the percentage of issues out there for women who are pregnant if everything is ok in there. You would have thought that during my first pregnancy I would have been this paranoid. Nope, I think becoming a mom has made me more paranoid.
If you know me at all you will realize this behavior shouldn't be surprising. Shh . . .I'm a micromanager! If I can't control a situation it's shocking I don't break out into hives. The reason we get the gender determined in our pregnancies is so that I can be in control. So with Cashew, I'm skeptical of my ultrasound still. I hesitate to refer to Cashew as a "he" yet. 4d ultrasounds are being priced and researched - JUST IN CASE. I would hate to have a baby girl all in blues and greens if there was a cord instead of a --- you know :P
For now, I am just happy to feel movement. I'm also happy that Cashew seems to have a sleep pattern right now that fits with my day wonderfully. I start to feel movement around 7am and it stops around 9pm. Can we say routine?? Let's hope our days and nights don't get mixed up as time passes.
With Cashew when I felt movement and placed hands on my own belly nothing would happen. It was quite frustrating. But yesterday, I had movement for over half an hour and about 3 good kicks to my hand. It makes me happy. It soothes my nerves that still sit and wonder with the percentage of issues out there for women who are pregnant if everything is ok in there. You would have thought that during my first pregnancy I would have been this paranoid. Nope, I think becoming a mom has made me more paranoid.
If you know me at all you will realize this behavior shouldn't be surprising. Shh . . .I'm a micromanager! If I can't control a situation it's shocking I don't break out into hives. The reason we get the gender determined in our pregnancies is so that I can be in control. So with Cashew, I'm skeptical of my ultrasound still. I hesitate to refer to Cashew as a "he" yet. 4d ultrasounds are being priced and researched - JUST IN CASE. I would hate to have a baby girl all in blues and greens if there was a cord instead of a --- you know :P
For now, I am just happy to feel movement. I'm also happy that Cashew seems to have a sleep pattern right now that fits with my day wonderfully. I start to feel movement around 7am and it stops around 9pm. Can we say routine?? Let's hope our days and nights don't get mixed up as time passes.
Sunday, April 24, 2011
Interesting comparisons
I can remember waking up on Easter morning and getting the traditional basket filled with jelly beans, malted eggs, and a chocolate bunny. David and I were talking and realized we are interesting basket givers for Pnut. My mom has been awesome at giving her grandkids kid-friendly baskets with eggs filled with goldfish, peanuts, m&m's, etc. My MIL gives her candy, maybe a movie, and a few times has given her an outfit.
When my MIL gave Pnut an outfit for the first time I realized that there is a looooonnngg space of time from Christmas to Pnut's birthday and Easter is a great time to fill in a gap. So, we try and give her little toys, clothes, or things that she needs at Easter too in lieu of candy. This year her basket included: a chocolate bunny (we caved for the first time on this, but it is small), fruit roll-ups, a go-fish card game, a new 100 piece puzzle, flower seeds to plant (safe in the place we all live *grin*) an LED glow stick for the desert, and some pencils. According to Pnut this morning the Easter bunny is AWESOME. This was before she saw the note at the bottom of her bucket to go look in the garage. We used some of her leftover birthday money and got her a bigger bike. It still has training wheels, but she is super close to having the confidence to take them off. She states she wants a skateboard, but we have convinced her to learn to master two wheeled bikes first.
Happy Easter for the last time from our family of three!
When my MIL gave Pnut an outfit for the first time I realized that there is a looooonnngg space of time from Christmas to Pnut's birthday and Easter is a great time to fill in a gap. So, we try and give her little toys, clothes, or things that she needs at Easter too in lieu of candy. This year her basket included: a chocolate bunny (we caved for the first time on this, but it is small), fruit roll-ups, a go-fish card game, a new 100 piece puzzle, flower seeds to plant (safe in the place we all live *grin*) an LED glow stick for the desert, and some pencils. According to Pnut this morning the Easter bunny is AWESOME. This was before she saw the note at the bottom of her bucket to go look in the garage. We used some of her leftover birthday money and got her a bigger bike. It still has training wheels, but she is super close to having the confidence to take them off. She states she wants a skateboard, but we have convinced her to learn to master two wheeled bikes first.
Happy Easter for the last time from our family of three!
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