Off to the Canada cottage this weekend, y'all! With three kids! Whee! (No, I'm not counting the one in mah belly. We're bringing along a cousin to help entertain the kiddos.) I'm pretty excited, though, despite the fact that kids will outnumber adults AND there will be a complete absence of wine spritzers or rum and Cokes in the afternoon.
And frankly, anything that involves busyness and activity is going to be a good thing for me right now even if it's not all fun and relaxation, 'cause I am so dang HEPPED UP about the ultrasound on Tuesday. Cannot wait. And I keep randomly worrying, too, that something will be wrong or whatevs. Weirdly I never worried about that with the other two, but now I keep thinking we'll go in and it'll turn out the kid has three arms or something. You know. Rational.
You know what is also not rational, or fair, not even one little bit? Lately caffeine either gives me a headache or makes me awake for about half an hour and then more sleepy than ever the rest of the day. I've been dabbling with caffeine consumption a little more than usual the last week, with iced coffee being my poison of choice. (Just the homemade kind, not the nasty syrupy McDonalds kind, lest you were judging me!) And while it tastes ever so heavenly going down, it isn't really working for me in the long run. Even the 200 mg or whatever it is you're allowed to have a day while pregnant seems to be too much of a shock to my system now that I'm used to having none at all. Boo double boo. Decaf just doesn't taste the same, it DOESN'T.
Friday, May 28, 2010
Wednesday, May 26, 2010
I'm Not Even Going To Try To Title This. Or Spell Check It, Apparently.
Arrg. Am I ever going to feel like writing again? (Answer: yes, as soon as the baby comes and I have 1) lots of adorable newborn pictures, 2) blow-by-blow Epic Five Page Birth Story, 3) some level of postpartum depression, 4) lots of panic/sleep deprivation/funny stories about how overwhelmed I am and how trashed our house is and how I haven't showered in two days.)
So until then, when things are relatively fine and I feel relatively fine and everything is calm and bright and all that jazz, I just don't seem to have much to say. Or it could be that this pregnancy has rendered me, while generally happy, utterly brain dead. Example:
Jim, last night while catching up on 24 episodes together: You know, we haven't played a game together in about four months.
Me, sprawled on couch, staring at TV: Yeah, I'm just always so tired and kind of mentally out of it by the time the kids are in bed.
Jim: Actually, that's why I brought it up. You had a REALLY brain dead look on your face just now. Like you were awake but really asleep.
I have been sick with stupid sinus/cough stuff again, though, so there's that excuse. Over a week now, and still not all the way gone. Also, there's some family stuff going on taking up most of my precious, carefully rationed mental energy, so for all I know I could be writing incomprehensible gibberish right now that just SOUNDS okay to me because I am operating on the level of a fifth grader writer right now. I am sorry, guys. I am very sorry. And my marriage blog! How it languishes! And I haven't even started the baby blog I was planning on! And worst of all, I've only written in my pregnancy journal ONCE! I am so lame.
But I'm also almost twenty weeks pregnant! I am getting super excited for that ultrasound next Tuesday. You're going to have to talk me off a serious ledge if for some reason they're unable to tell us the sex of this baby.
Oh, also, quick question before I go: do you guys think it would be totally stupid to switch practicioners this late in the game? Because I just found out there's a new OB practice in a neighboring town just about twenty minutes from our house, and they have two MIDWIVES! Which is what I've wanted ever since Eli's birth, but our town now has a grand total of zero so I thought I was SOL and just chose the OB practice that was all female. Is it worth at least talking to the midwives to see if their pregnancy/birth philosophies are really that much different and more in line with mine? Or is it just going to confuse everything way too much? I've already started paying on my overall OB bill for the delivery and everything, so that part would be a total mess, plus everyone at that office knows my medical history and everything, and they're really nice, even if they are prescription happy. Help!
So until then, when things are relatively fine and I feel relatively fine and everything is calm and bright and all that jazz, I just don't seem to have much to say. Or it could be that this pregnancy has rendered me, while generally happy, utterly brain dead. Example:
Jim, last night while catching up on 24 episodes together: You know, we haven't played a game together in about four months.
Me, sprawled on couch, staring at TV: Yeah, I'm just always so tired and kind of mentally out of it by the time the kids are in bed.
Jim: Actually, that's why I brought it up. You had a REALLY brain dead look on your face just now. Like you were awake but really asleep.
I have been sick with stupid sinus/cough stuff again, though, so there's that excuse. Over a week now, and still not all the way gone. Also, there's some family stuff going on taking up most of my precious, carefully rationed mental energy, so for all I know I could be writing incomprehensible gibberish right now that just SOUNDS okay to me because I am operating on the level of a fifth grader writer right now. I am sorry, guys. I am very sorry. And my marriage blog! How it languishes! And I haven't even started the baby blog I was planning on! And worst of all, I've only written in my pregnancy journal ONCE! I am so lame.
But I'm also almost twenty weeks pregnant! I am getting super excited for that ultrasound next Tuesday. You're going to have to talk me off a serious ledge if for some reason they're unable to tell us the sex of this baby.
Oh, also, quick question before I go: do you guys think it would be totally stupid to switch practicioners this late in the game? Because I just found out there's a new OB practice in a neighboring town just about twenty minutes from our house, and they have two MIDWIVES! Which is what I've wanted ever since Eli's birth, but our town now has a grand total of zero so I thought I was SOL and just chose the OB practice that was all female. Is it worth at least talking to the midwives to see if their pregnancy/birth philosophies are really that much different and more in line with mine? Or is it just going to confuse everything way too much? I've already started paying on my overall OB bill for the delivery and everything, so that part would be a total mess, plus everyone at that office knows my medical history and everything, and they're really nice, even if they are prescription happy. Help!
Tuesday, May 18, 2010
600. Not Nearly As Awesome As The Cast Of 300.
Hey! This is my six hundredth post. How have I managed to write six hundred times and not yet say anything earth shaking or award winning? Who knew there was so very much banality floating around in my head, just waiting to escape into Teh Internetz?
For instance, this: last night I had a weird dream (I was dating an affluent young Vanderbilt who was also a drug dealer on the side, and who was beating me up every time I confronted him about the stash hidden under his bed. His younger brother, who was the black sheep of the family, witnessed one of these encounters and rescued me from evil boyfriend, and then spent the latter half of the dream basically stroking my hair and telling me how wonderful I was and how he and I would ride off into the sunset together as soon as I felt like climbing out of his arms and ending his monologue of sweet nothings.) WEIRD. But the end part left me feeling all warm and fuzzy, and then I woke up and realized there's a kid with a pee diaper in my bed, it's still raining and gloomy outside, my throat still hurts and tries to choke me every time I swallow or yawn, the house is still covered in toys, the dishwasher still needs filled, and there's a load of cold, wrinkly clothes in the dryer to be put away.
It's so stupid, but those few moments of coming out of a dream and into reality, especially if a dream was romantic (albeit bizarrely) and reality is fairly tedious, can leave me in a funk that lasts for HOURS. Please tell me other people have this problem. Slash MENTAL ISSUE.
Wow, I can't believe this is what I'm writing about on my six hundredth post. I should be doing a list of six hundred awesome! facts about me, or something, since I never got around to doing it for post one hundred, as is tradition. Hmm. How about six awesome! and/or kind of sad and random facts about me? (Hey, I'm sick and uncaffeinated. Random is all I can manage.)
1. I've watched Sense and Sensibility, Pride and Prejudice and Emma more times than I can count. I've watched almost of the different versions of them, too, though my favorites remain as follows: the Sense and Sensibility with Emma Thompson and Kate Winslet, the BBC Pride and Prejudice with Colin Firth, and the Emma with Gwyneth Paltrow. I also own and love Becoming Jane, the movie based on the life of the author of these novels. I have not, however, managed to finish even a single Jane Austen novel. And I like to read. I have no explanation for this, for it cannot be that I just really don't like her books. OBVIOUSLY I like the stories, so... what's the problem?
2. I was the editor of the school yearbook my senior year. This, uh, is far less impressive than it sounds. It was a small school, and pretty much no one else even wanted to do it. Nor did I, by the end of the year.
3. When I was little I was totally compulsive about certain things, like making my bed. It had to be perfect, and if anything or anyone messed it up before bedtime, I would cry and flip out because I just knew I would never get it so PERFECT ever again. Ditto about the arrangement of stuff on my dresser. I dusted it every day, then spent probably twenty minutes making sure it was exactly as it had been the day before. If I was unable to do this to my satisfaction, I would sometimes sneak up at night and start fixing it again. I also had to wash my face like four times a day, and then if anyone touched my face, I had to wash it again because their evil oils would no doubt make me break out! Hmm. Reading all this is making me wonder how on earth I ever got over it. Having kids, I guess. Because now I can't really think of anything I'm helplessly compulsive about, though there's plenty of things that I wish I were more compulsive about if only I had the energy.
4. I used to swear that my first boy and girl's names would be Dante and Felicity. Or possibly Genevieve, it depended on the day. But Dante was written in stone.
5. I much prefer baths to showers, as long as I know for a fact that the tub is clean. This is mainly because I am nearly incapable of shaving my legs without cutting them unless I'm in the bath. I don't really know why this is, but it is a definite fact. Just the other day I gave myself a truly gruesome, two-inch long flesh wound on my thigh, all while shaving ever so carefully. It might have been the generic razor, it might be the extra-strong leg hairs from those darn prenatal vitamins, but it also might just be that I'm practically handicapped when it comes to handling sharp objects. I fantasize about the day when I can afford electrolysis.
6. I sucked my thumb at night until I was nine. That's NINE (9) years old. I also slept with stuffed animals until I was about ten. I actually thought that their feelings would be hurt if I didn't take them to bed with me, even though for the last couple of years I didn't even want them in there. So yeah... I felt guilty about inanimate objects.
Well, that was fun! Join us in another hundred posts for "Seven Fun Facts"!
Oh yeah! Shelly from Scenic Overlook won my contest last post, so email me, Shelly, and you'll soon be the proud owner ofa box full of junk some awesome and enviable prizes!
For instance, this: last night I had a weird dream (I was dating an affluent young Vanderbilt who was also a drug dealer on the side, and who was beating me up every time I confronted him about the stash hidden under his bed. His younger brother, who was the black sheep of the family, witnessed one of these encounters and rescued me from evil boyfriend, and then spent the latter half of the dream basically stroking my hair and telling me how wonderful I was and how he and I would ride off into the sunset together as soon as I felt like climbing out of his arms and ending his monologue of sweet nothings.) WEIRD. But the end part left me feeling all warm and fuzzy, and then I woke up and realized there's a kid with a pee diaper in my bed, it's still raining and gloomy outside, my throat still hurts and tries to choke me every time I swallow or yawn, the house is still covered in toys, the dishwasher still needs filled, and there's a load of cold, wrinkly clothes in the dryer to be put away.
It's so stupid, but those few moments of coming out of a dream and into reality, especially if a dream was romantic (albeit bizarrely) and reality is fairly tedious, can leave me in a funk that lasts for HOURS. Please tell me other people have this problem. Slash MENTAL ISSUE.
Wow, I can't believe this is what I'm writing about on my six hundredth post. I should be doing a list of six hundred awesome! facts about me, or something, since I never got around to doing it for post one hundred, as is tradition. Hmm. How about six awesome! and/or kind of sad and random facts about me? (Hey, I'm sick and uncaffeinated. Random is all I can manage.)
1. I've watched Sense and Sensibility, Pride and Prejudice and Emma more times than I can count. I've watched almost of the different versions of them, too, though my favorites remain as follows: the Sense and Sensibility with Emma Thompson and Kate Winslet, the BBC Pride and Prejudice with Colin Firth, and the Emma with Gwyneth Paltrow. I also own and love Becoming Jane, the movie based on the life of the author of these novels. I have not, however, managed to finish even a single Jane Austen novel. And I like to read. I have no explanation for this, for it cannot be that I just really don't like her books. OBVIOUSLY I like the stories, so... what's the problem?
2. I was the editor of the school yearbook my senior year. This, uh, is far less impressive than it sounds. It was a small school, and pretty much no one else even wanted to do it. Nor did I, by the end of the year.
3. When I was little I was totally compulsive about certain things, like making my bed. It had to be perfect, and if anything or anyone messed it up before bedtime, I would cry and flip out because I just knew I would never get it so PERFECT ever again. Ditto about the arrangement of stuff on my dresser. I dusted it every day, then spent probably twenty minutes making sure it was exactly as it had been the day before. If I was unable to do this to my satisfaction, I would sometimes sneak up at night and start fixing it again. I also had to wash my face like four times a day, and then if anyone touched my face, I had to wash it again because their evil oils would no doubt make me break out! Hmm. Reading all this is making me wonder how on earth I ever got over it. Having kids, I guess. Because now I can't really think of anything I'm helplessly compulsive about, though there's plenty of things that I wish I were more compulsive about if only I had the energy.
4. I used to swear that my first boy and girl's names would be Dante and Felicity. Or possibly Genevieve, it depended on the day. But Dante was written in stone.
5. I much prefer baths to showers, as long as I know for a fact that the tub is clean. This is mainly because I am nearly incapable of shaving my legs without cutting them unless I'm in the bath. I don't really know why this is, but it is a definite fact. Just the other day I gave myself a truly gruesome, two-inch long flesh wound on my thigh, all while shaving ever so carefully. It might have been the generic razor, it might be the extra-strong leg hairs from those darn prenatal vitamins, but it also might just be that I'm practically handicapped when it comes to handling sharp objects. I fantasize about the day when I can afford electrolysis.
6. I sucked my thumb at night until I was nine. That's NINE (9) years old. I also slept with stuffed animals until I was about ten. I actually thought that their feelings would be hurt if I didn't take them to bed with me, even though for the last couple of years I didn't even want them in there. So yeah... I felt guilty about inanimate objects.
Well, that was fun! Join us in another hundred posts for "Seven Fun Facts"!
Oh yeah! Shelly from Scenic Overlook won my contest last post, so email me, Shelly, and you'll soon be the proud owner of
Friday, May 14, 2010
Pictures! Contest! Lack of Cohesive Paragraphs!
Well, it's only been a week since I posted, so this isn't a horrible blogging break just yet, right? Yet it feels like it's been a hundred years or so. This week has been very busy! Mother's Day was great (but busy) and my secret sneaky gift to my mom a big success, so yay! (Commissioned black and white sketch of an old photo of my sisters and me as little girls in tutus, thank you very much.) Addy's dance recital is tomorrow, so this week has been full of practices and late classes and last minute shopping trips for un-snagged white tights. Also, our sixth anniversary is tomorrow, not that we'll notice it much in between TWO three-hour shows... most of which our poor preschooler has to sit through in a back room with a coloring book and juice box and fourteen other hyper little girls in sequins.
(This was taken at the dress rehearsal yesterday.)
AND. I'll be eighteen weeks along tomorrow, which means only two more weeks until we know if it's a boy or girl. (OMGOMGOMG!!! YAYAYAYYY!) You know, not that I care that much, since I am overall a very zen and patient person, and hey, if they can't tell, it won't bother me one bit. Ahem. (Please please please show off your business for a few minutes, baby. Consider it your late Mother's Day gift to me, and I'll call it even when weighed against the hip pain and heartburn.) Now then, focus on belly ONLY here and disregard thighs, nightgown, and various imperfections in house, mkay?
It occurs to me that I never posted any pictures of the kids in their adorable Easter outfits, so here's this, apropos of nothing:
Our Easter candy buzz has worn off and left us with a stabby hangover.
A slightly less agressive moment (other than Eli):
Devan's lovely gift package, which I won in her Earth Day contest, arrived early this week. (Or was it last week already? Time has become a bit of a blur lately.) Anyways, the theme was recycled, so it was all stuff of hers she had already read/used or didn't want personally and passed on to me. There were three awesome books, one of which was Gods in Alabama, which I have always meant to get around to reading. I was not disappointed, either, though the laundry situation got quite precarious while I devoured the book! Another was a nice hardback book of cake decorating, which the kids have been paging through like it's a storybook. There was also a baby hat, a baby book, an empty baby girl scrapbook starter (so cute) a baby picture frame, and a package of brand new pot holders and oven mitts. Quite a haul! A haul that I of course forgot to photograph and now everything is scattered more or less in its place and it seems too tiring to go photograph it ALL, but here's a shot of the baby scrapbook starter:
It was so fun that I think I'll follow suit. Leave me a comment re: any of these totally random paragraphs in here and you will be entered in a contest for a box of goodies I have either previously used or was given and don't personally care for. But who knows? Maybe you WILL like it! And if not, pass it along.
Now then... what else? Oh I know! Two rants about annoyances, which I think we can all agree this blog has been sadly lacking. Item the first: the prenatal water aerobics class which I took with both other summer pregnancies and loved, isn't starting this year until September. When I'll already be nearly thirty six weeks pregnant and, let's face it, very possibly on bedrest. Humph. Why wouldn't you hold a WATER aerobics class in the SUMMER when it is HOT??? I have remained cross about this for two weeks solid now. My prenatal yoga DVD is just not quite the same inducement to exercise.
Item the second: People need to stop telling me scary stories about pregnant women dying of blood clots. People also need to stop looking at me like I am certifiable when I say that yes, this was a planned pregnancy, and yes, I even think I'd like one more, and yes, I (so far) try to give birth with minimal intervention. Those people should really be careful when they discuss ALL THREE of those topics with me in a fifteen minute span, and end up wandering away from me in disgust. I KNOW WHERE YOU LIVE, eyebrow-raisers.
(This was taken at the dress rehearsal yesterday.)
AND. I'll be eighteen weeks along tomorrow, which means only two more weeks until we know if it's a boy or girl. (OMGOMGOMG!!! YAYAYAYYY!) You know, not that I care that much, since I am overall a very zen and patient person, and hey, if they can't tell, it won't bother me one bit. Ahem. (Please please please show off your business for a few minutes, baby. Consider it your late Mother's Day gift to me, and I'll call it even when weighed against the hip pain and heartburn.) Now then, focus on belly ONLY here and disregard thighs, nightgown, and various imperfections in house, mkay?
It occurs to me that I never posted any pictures of the kids in their adorable Easter outfits, so here's this, apropos of nothing:
Our Easter candy buzz has worn off and left us with a stabby hangover.
A slightly less agressive moment (other than Eli):
Devan's lovely gift package, which I won in her Earth Day contest, arrived early this week. (Or was it last week already? Time has become a bit of a blur lately.) Anyways, the theme was recycled, so it was all stuff of hers she had already read/used or didn't want personally and passed on to me. There were three awesome books, one of which was Gods in Alabama, which I have always meant to get around to reading. I was not disappointed, either, though the laundry situation got quite precarious while I devoured the book! Another was a nice hardback book of cake decorating, which the kids have been paging through like it's a storybook. There was also a baby hat, a baby book, an empty baby girl scrapbook starter (so cute) a baby picture frame, and a package of brand new pot holders and oven mitts. Quite a haul! A haul that I of course forgot to photograph and now everything is scattered more or less in its place and it seems too tiring to go photograph it ALL, but here's a shot of the baby scrapbook starter:
It was so fun that I think I'll follow suit. Leave me a comment re: any of these totally random paragraphs in here and you will be entered in a contest for a box of goodies I have either previously used or was given and don't personally care for. But who knows? Maybe you WILL like it! And if not, pass it along.
Now then... what else? Oh I know! Two rants about annoyances, which I think we can all agree this blog has been sadly lacking. Item the first: the prenatal water aerobics class which I took with both other summer pregnancies and loved, isn't starting this year until September. When I'll already be nearly thirty six weeks pregnant and, let's face it, very possibly on bedrest. Humph. Why wouldn't you hold a WATER aerobics class in the SUMMER when it is HOT??? I have remained cross about this for two weeks solid now. My prenatal yoga DVD is just not quite the same inducement to exercise.
Item the second: People need to stop telling me scary stories about pregnant women dying of blood clots. People also need to stop looking at me like I am certifiable when I say that yes, this was a planned pregnancy, and yes, I even think I'd like one more, and yes, I (so far) try to give birth with minimal intervention. Those people should really be careful when they discuss ALL THREE of those topics with me in a fifteen minute span, and end up wandering away from me in disgust. I KNOW WHERE YOU LIVE, eyebrow-raisers.
Friday, May 07, 2010
Items of Note
1. Yesterday for Jim's birthday, I fulfilled his wish for a Greek meal by buying and preparing lamb, vegetable skewers, couscous, pita bread and hummus and of course Greek salad. And when I say "prepare" lamb I mean marinade the meat, attempt to chop it up for shish kebabs, find meat to be both revolting and incredibly tough, give up, and declare that lamb is just as delectable on the bone as on a shish kebab. So we had lamb chops. Which in fact didn't even make it to the grill, as the grill ran out of propane almost as soon as it was fired up. My kitchen was a flurry of activity for awhile as my MIL quickly broiled the meat and roasted the veggie skewers in the oven instead, while the rest of us, weak with hunger, propped against counters and ate our weight in pita and hummus while we waited for the meal. I'm really glad someone took over, 'cause I had no idea what to do- my suggestion was going to be to cover everything with foil and head down to the nearest Pizza Hut instead. Anyhoo, it turned out deliciously, and I think it was another successful meal in the end. I continue to be on a cooking roll!
2. A few hours before Jim's birthday meal, Eli came sauntering down the hallway into the bathroom to inform me his diaper was falling off. It sure was- leaving poop remnants in his wake, all over his lower half, all over the inside of his shorts, and all over his feet, which had been making some firm contact with the floors and the bathroom rug. Addy was currently in the bathtub at the time, and began freaking out at the sight of him. As did I. I don't even want to relive to you the whole sequence of events involved in getting the floors and my child back to a sanitary state, but it was very not pretty, involved a lot of muttering and hissing and exaggerated sighing, and ended with Addy telling me plaintively that I was too grumpy and that she "was going to find somewhere else to live." And I was all, "Kiddo, if you find a place, take me too!"
3. Also yesterday afternoon, my mom was outside planting all the flowers and plants she got me for Mother's Day (I know, I know, she's MY mom, not the other way around. Don't ask- I continue to receive gifts, and I'm not going to start DEBATING whether or not it's strictly in keeping with the spirit of the holiday.) Part of the gift was the rearranging of what I previously had in my beds, almost all of which were not appropriate for the type of sun they were receiving, and as a result were barely clinging to life. So I'm super excited to see how my landscaping looks in a few weeks when everything takes off! Thanks Mom!
4. Ever since his swim class ended, Eli has been begging on a daily basis to go swimming again. Today, following a total stroke of genius, I took the kids "swimming" in my mom and dad's giant (heart-shaped!) jet tub. I just put them in their bathing suits, filled the tub extra full of lukewarm water, and announced that it was a swimming pool. They totally ate it up and played happily for over an hour.
5. I'm still debating about the progesterone injections. Turns out they're not nearly as expensive as I'd thought they were (try ten dollars per shot, not a hundred,) and while I had initially thought they were mainly useful in preventing PROM (premature rupture of membranes)- which I've never had a problem with- there are several differing studies and opinions on why exactly progesterone is useful. It is known that there is a significant drop in maternal progesterone immediately prior to the onset of labor, including premature labor contractions/dilation, but it's not yet known what triggers it. So I don't know... I still feel hesitant, since I've made it this far in the pregnancy without taking hormones, and since progesterone never seemed to help me before, but on the other hand, if it could keep me off bedrest and the baby in my tummy, it seems worth the expense (and residual hip bruising.) It's just such a new treatment, still, and not always effective. On the other hand, I was willing to take Zofran, which is also fairly new and not always effective. Arrgh. I don't know I don't know I don't know.
2. A few hours before Jim's birthday meal, Eli came sauntering down the hallway into the bathroom to inform me his diaper was falling off. It sure was- leaving poop remnants in his wake, all over his lower half, all over the inside of his shorts, and all over his feet, which had been making some firm contact with the floors and the bathroom rug. Addy was currently in the bathtub at the time, and began freaking out at the sight of him. As did I. I don't even want to relive to you the whole sequence of events involved in getting the floors and my child back to a sanitary state, but it was very not pretty, involved a lot of muttering and hissing and exaggerated sighing, and ended with Addy telling me plaintively that I was too grumpy and that she "was going to find somewhere else to live." And I was all, "Kiddo, if you find a place, take me too!"
3. Also yesterday afternoon, my mom was outside planting all the flowers and plants she got me for Mother's Day (I know, I know, she's MY mom, not the other way around. Don't ask- I continue to receive gifts, and I'm not going to start DEBATING whether or not it's strictly in keeping with the spirit of the holiday.) Part of the gift was the rearranging of what I previously had in my beds, almost all of which were not appropriate for the type of sun they were receiving, and as a result were barely clinging to life. So I'm super excited to see how my landscaping looks in a few weeks when everything takes off! Thanks Mom!
4. Ever since his swim class ended, Eli has been begging on a daily basis to go swimming again. Today, following a total stroke of genius, I took the kids "swimming" in my mom and dad's giant (heart-shaped!) jet tub. I just put them in their bathing suits, filled the tub extra full of lukewarm water, and announced that it was a swimming pool. They totally ate it up and played happily for over an hour.
5. I'm still debating about the progesterone injections. Turns out they're not nearly as expensive as I'd thought they were (try ten dollars per shot, not a hundred,) and while I had initially thought they were mainly useful in preventing PROM (premature rupture of membranes)- which I've never had a problem with- there are several differing studies and opinions on why exactly progesterone is useful. It is known that there is a significant drop in maternal progesterone immediately prior to the onset of labor, including premature labor contractions/dilation, but it's not yet known what triggers it. So I don't know... I still feel hesitant, since I've made it this far in the pregnancy without taking hormones, and since progesterone never seemed to help me before, but on the other hand, if it could keep me off bedrest and the baby in my tummy, it seems worth the expense (and residual hip bruising.) It's just such a new treatment, still, and not always effective. On the other hand, I was willing to take Zofran, which is also fairly new and not always effective. Arrgh. I don't know I don't know I don't know.
Monday, May 03, 2010
Adendum
Arrgh. Well, my legs are fine, which is relieving- like Devan, blood clots have always been one of my secret irrational pregnancy fears- right after getting a knot in the umbilical cord!- so it's nice to know that despite sore legs, there appears to be no circulation issues going on.
HOWEVER. My doctor prescribed Diflucan in addition to the antibiotic to deal with the whole, eh, yeast situation. But when I got online and researched it, almost every single site says to avoid this medication when pregnant if there are any alternatives because it has been linked, though inconclusively, with birth defects, some very serious and even fatal. And I know that there are alternatives, they're just messy and annoying, creams and such, because that's what the doctor originally started to prescribe. Then she stopped midsentence and said, "Well, a pill is much easier. And you should be far enough along that it'll be ok." Which is exactly why I took note and looked it up, because, hello! What does that mean... "You're far enough along that it'll be ok" ?! So now I'm kind of mad at her, and thinking she has some secret, Diflucan pushing drug rep or something.
I should probably call and tell her I want something different, huh? And now I'll REALLY be That Patient.
HOWEVER. My doctor prescribed Diflucan in addition to the antibiotic to deal with the whole, eh, yeast situation. But when I got online and researched it, almost every single site says to avoid this medication when pregnant if there are any alternatives because it has been linked, though inconclusively, with birth defects, some very serious and even fatal. And I know that there are alternatives, they're just messy and annoying, creams and such, because that's what the doctor originally started to prescribe. Then she stopped midsentence and said, "Well, a pill is much easier. And you should be far enough along that it'll be ok." Which is exactly why I took note and looked it up, because, hello! What does that mean... "You're far enough along that it'll be ok" ?! So now I'm kind of mad at her, and thinking she has some secret, Diflucan pushing drug rep or something.
I should probably call and tell her I want something different, huh? And now I'll REALLY be That Patient.
Antibiotics and Dopplers and Injections! Yet Oddly No Stress!
This morning was my sixteen week check up, and I was totally a high maintenance patient, coming in with a whole list of questions/concerns. Nine in total. The doctor was really nice and took all the time I wanted, fortunately. I always feel bad hemming around, all, "Well, sometimes my heart races for no reason? And I have this weird heat rash on my chest? And I'm worried I'm gaining weight too fast? And...." I apologized for being That Person, with her itemized list of worries, but the doctor just laughed at me. She said, "My dear, (she always calls me "my dear:" offensive or cute?) you've never really had a smooth pregnancy yet, so you're allowed to be That Patient."
Overall it was a reassuring visit, though. And hearing the baby's heartbeat is fun, for sure. Also, it was relieving to get a possible explanation for why I haven't felt much movement the last few weeks: based on where the doctor finally found the heartbeat, the baby seems to have flipped to head down position already (whereas before the baby's feet were down, on top of my bladder, essentially. Which is... sensitive to movement.)
Also got a (kind of gross) explanation for all the cramping and general discomfort. Let me think of a subtle way to phrase this so as not to ick the boys out... Hmm. Let's just say it's an ailment common in pregnancy and has to do with an ingredient very important to bread making. M'kay? So a round of antibiotics and I should be feeling better.
The only thing at all worrisome is that I have been having a lot of calf pain through the backs of my legs the last week or so, and even though there are no visible clots or varicose veins, the doctor was worried. I guess DVT (deep vein thrombosis, the scary kind of clots) can sometimes just present with pain, and not necessarily be visible, so since I'm supposedly prone to clots, I have to go to the hospital this afternoon for a doppler scan of my legs to make sure no clots are hiding in there.
This sounds like no fun, and super boring, but I'm all for ruling out hidden clots which can be potentially fatal, so. Off I go.
Oh and also! I'm supposed to start doing weekly progesterone shots in the next week or two. Apparently several studies suggest that weekly progesterone therapy in the second and third trimesters can improve the odds of avoiding bedrest/premature labor for women who are at risk for such things, and that low maternal progesterone is one of the risk factors for preterm labor. I feel kind of iffy, since progesterone therapy hasn't seemed to really affect my hormone levels in a helpful way when I've tried it previously. However, there is also no substantiated research that progesterone therapy helps AT ALL to prevent miscarriage, which is why I was taking it then, and there IS research suggesting that it can help at the end of pregnancy, so... I don't know. Any advise/experience re: this? Keep in mind these shots are a hundred bucks a pop, every week until thirty six weeks, I think, and they're fairly painful. I'm still not sure if insurance will help with them or not. And I have to do them MYSELF, unless I want to come in to the office with two kids every week to have the nurse do them.
Overall it was a reassuring visit, though. And hearing the baby's heartbeat is fun, for sure. Also, it was relieving to get a possible explanation for why I haven't felt much movement the last few weeks: based on where the doctor finally found the heartbeat, the baby seems to have flipped to head down position already (whereas before the baby's feet were down, on top of my bladder, essentially. Which is... sensitive to movement.)
Also got a (kind of gross) explanation for all the cramping and general discomfort. Let me think of a subtle way to phrase this so as not to ick the boys out... Hmm. Let's just say it's an ailment common in pregnancy and has to do with an ingredient very important to bread making. M'kay? So a round of antibiotics and I should be feeling better.
The only thing at all worrisome is that I have been having a lot of calf pain through the backs of my legs the last week or so, and even though there are no visible clots or varicose veins, the doctor was worried. I guess DVT (deep vein thrombosis, the scary kind of clots) can sometimes just present with pain, and not necessarily be visible, so since I'm supposedly prone to clots, I have to go to the hospital this afternoon for a doppler scan of my legs to make sure no clots are hiding in there.
This sounds like no fun, and super boring, but I'm all for ruling out hidden clots which can be potentially fatal, so. Off I go.
Oh and also! I'm supposed to start doing weekly progesterone shots in the next week or two. Apparently several studies suggest that weekly progesterone therapy in the second and third trimesters can improve the odds of avoiding bedrest/premature labor for women who are at risk for such things, and that low maternal progesterone is one of the risk factors for preterm labor. I feel kind of iffy, since progesterone therapy hasn't seemed to really affect my hormone levels in a helpful way when I've tried it previously. However, there is also no substantiated research that progesterone therapy helps AT ALL to prevent miscarriage, which is why I was taking it then, and there IS research suggesting that it can help at the end of pregnancy, so... I don't know. Any advise/experience re: this? Keep in mind these shots are a hundred bucks a pop, every week until thirty six weeks, I think, and they're fairly painful. I'm still not sure if insurance will help with them or not. And I have to do them MYSELF, unless I want to come in to the office with two kids every week to have the nurse do them.
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