Tyler has a new nickname for me, and it's hilarious.
Tyler has learned the meanings of big, medium, and little. Most often this is used to describe his dump trucks (he has three, one in each size.)
A few days ago he comes over and climbs up by me, puts his hands on my shoulders and declares "BIIIIIIIIG Mom-Mom!" This morning he did it again. What makes it really funny is the way he stresses the word "big" with excitement and a masculine (as much as he can at 2 years of age) oomph to his voice, like he does about the dump truck or diggers in his books.
"BIIIIIG Mom-Mom!"
Thursday, November 15, 2007
Wednesday, November 14, 2007
Mild Concern About Breech Position
This morning I laid in bed for an hour feeling the baby move around. It was actually a little painful. "She" climbed around, and went sideways, and seemed to flip with the feet kicking my stomach, which is where they should get to. But baby didn't stay there. I was sore, and she was very very quiet for a while afterward. I'm wondering whether there's any issue, such as a too-short umbilical cord, which might restrict movement while the placenta is at the top of the uterus. Doctors these days don't like to deliver breech, even tho it can be and has been done. If we have to have a c-section I will want someone to hold my hand once Ben goes off with the baby. But we'll see. I'm being premature, and a future ultrasound will answer this later on.
Tuesday, November 13, 2007
32-Week Update Ultrasound
My new doctor wanted an ultrasound to check growth and position. The baby is still breech, but there's still time to turn around. (The placenta is up high.) Growth is normal.
The heartbeat is 144 per minute. At this stage the baby should be about 11 inches long and 4-1/2 lbs, tho I didn't get exact measurements. I asked tho for pictures of the feet. See my next entry for those!
Then I had a non-stress test (or an NST) where they strap on a belt and record the heartbeat in squigglies on graph paper and you lie there and doze. The heartbeat is so strong! And the baby kicked constantly!
Instead of dozing, I read an article in Entertainment Weekly about the negotiations between New Line Cinema and Peter Jackson over the possible making of The Hobbit (which I totally stole). I have my fingers and toes crossed that PJ gets to direct, and brings with him Weta Digital and Weta Workshop special effects, and art consultants Alan Lee and John Howe, again. Can you imagine Lucasfilm sucking the soul out of it? Or Sam Ramie turning it into a Spiderman blockbuster? I shudder to think!
I visited with the doctor and asked him about the heart-pounding and dizzy spells I've been getting, plus a ringing in my ears. He says it's all related. I can't make as much sense here as he did, but I was impressed again by his bedside manner. I told him it didn't feel normal but he said that he really didn't mean to sound like he was dismissing my feelings, but that it is "normal"--which is a good thing--that this is something that can happen more often in second pregnancies. My blood has doubled, and my abdominal/pelvic floor muscles that were stretched with the first pregnancy are not as strong. So what happens is that when I lay back, slouch, or lean back in the glider w/ Tyler on my lap, the uterus presses on a couple of essential arteries and my heart, which is already working harder than usual, has an even harder time, and my blood pressure drops. This explains how I got dizzy just singing songs to Tyler to put him to bed. The ringing in the ears is part of a related phenomenon that's not uncommon, sometimes I can hear my blood pumping in my ears, too. Unlike other doctors before him, he reviewed positions I've been in and how to alter them to take the pressure off. For instance, I've been laying on the couch feeling faint a lot, but I should be on my side instead. Salt makes it worse. More water makes it better. This is somthing I have to manage.
Next week I meet another of the practice who may be on-call when I deliver. And get another NST.
P.S. My old doctor's office never sent my medical records over. So now I have to go through the awkward discomfort of calling them up to explain and possibly picking them up in person--yuck!
The heartbeat is 144 per minute. At this stage the baby should be about 11 inches long and 4-1/2 lbs, tho I didn't get exact measurements. I asked tho for pictures of the feet. See my next entry for those!
Then I had a non-stress test (or an NST) where they strap on a belt and record the heartbeat in squigglies on graph paper and you lie there and doze. The heartbeat is so strong! And the baby kicked constantly!
Instead of dozing, I read an article in Entertainment Weekly about the negotiations between New Line Cinema and Peter Jackson over the possible making of The Hobbit (which I totally stole). I have my fingers and toes crossed that PJ gets to direct, and brings with him Weta Digital and Weta Workshop special effects, and art consultants Alan Lee and John Howe, again. Can you imagine Lucasfilm sucking the soul out of it? Or Sam Ramie turning it into a Spiderman blockbuster? I shudder to think!
I visited with the doctor and asked him about the heart-pounding and dizzy spells I've been getting, plus a ringing in my ears. He says it's all related. I can't make as much sense here as he did, but I was impressed again by his bedside manner. I told him it didn't feel normal but he said that he really didn't mean to sound like he was dismissing my feelings, but that it is "normal"--which is a good thing--that this is something that can happen more often in second pregnancies. My blood has doubled, and my abdominal/pelvic floor muscles that were stretched with the first pregnancy are not as strong. So what happens is that when I lay back, slouch, or lean back in the glider w/ Tyler on my lap, the uterus presses on a couple of essential arteries and my heart, which is already working harder than usual, has an even harder time, and my blood pressure drops. This explains how I got dizzy just singing songs to Tyler to put him to bed. The ringing in the ears is part of a related phenomenon that's not uncommon, sometimes I can hear my blood pumping in my ears, too. Unlike other doctors before him, he reviewed positions I've been in and how to alter them to take the pressure off. For instance, I've been laying on the couch feeling faint a lot, but I should be on my side instead. Salt makes it worse. More water makes it better. This is somthing I have to manage.
Next week I meet another of the practice who may be on-call when I deliver. And get another NST.
P.S. My old doctor's office never sent my medical records over. So now I have to go through the awkward discomfort of calling them up to explain and possibly picking them up in person--yuck!
32-Week Update Ultrasound Photos
1st photo: Baby's feet! Taken from the bottom of the feet, one overlapping the other. Can you see it? If not, proceed to...
2nd photo: Here the feet are outlined, thanks to publishing technology (copy machine and a sharpy!). Go back and forth and see if you can make out the feet without help.
3rd photo (below): This is a teaser! The feet again, and the baby's butt is visible below them. Can you tell the gender??? Yeah, me neither!
4th photo (below): Brains! Kinda creepy!
5th photo (below): a blurry face and hands up by the chest.
2nd photo: Here the feet are outlined, thanks to publishing technology (copy machine and a sharpy!). Go back and forth and see if you can make out the feet without help.
3rd photo (below): This is a teaser! The feet again, and the baby's butt is visible below them. Can you tell the gender??? Yeah, me neither!
4th photo (below): Brains! Kinda creepy!
5th photo (below): a blurry face and hands up by the chest.
Wednesday, November 7, 2007
Tyler Makes Request of Scumby
So Tyler and I were lounging, (we are both getting over colds) and he pulled up my shirt to say "hello Scumby!", pat my belly (a little too exhuberantly) and make "aaaah" sounds with his mouth on the belly (his version of a raspberry).
Next, he surprised me by saying "Hellooooo, Scumby! I love you! Come out!" followed by giving Scumby a good few wacks!
Next, he surprised me by saying "Hellooooo, Scumby! I love you! Come out!" followed by giving Scumby a good few wacks!
Tuesday, November 6, 2007
We Have a New Doctor!!!
This will come as a big relief not just to me and Ben but especially to my mom and mother-in-law: We've chosen a new doctor. He comes recommended by both a surgeon and a pregnant woman, both friendly patrons at the library where Ben works. We think Dr. Arof is really great, and he's already started working on my case. My records are being transfered over today. I have an appointment next week for a 32-week ultrasound and a non-stress test, and he wants to see me weekly.
We were impressed right away by the friendliness of all the staff, from receptionist to nurses, and the homey environment of the waiting room and exam rooms. The exam room also had a consulting desk and cabinets in wood, and shelves with family photos, and the walls had four boards filled with pictures of the doctor with various newborn babies and parents. I've never seen anything like it. There are only five doctors in the practice (instead of the multitudes at the other practices we've seen) and I can meet them all personally before the birth so that I know whoever might be on call before labor, which is really good. Dr. Arof has a great bedside manner, and while he didn't actually say anything different in the end from what the other doctors we've seen have said (he doesn't want me to go beyond the due date and may induce if I do, etc.) he said it differently. The last doc at Prentice we saw was all disclaimers and anxiety, but this doc was relaxed and communicative. And said he would try to help me have a different birth experience than I had last time. And while the last doc we saw wouldn't examine me unless she had my records "for legal reasons," this doc gave me a full exam and talked in depth about the care I could receive from here on out. Also, you might be surprised that I've chosen a man and not a woman doctor. Well, when rotating through the various doctors the three days I was in labor with Tyler, the one who impressed me most, the one who made them let me walk the halls with my IV pole and ordered real food for me, was a man. He was so nice. So I abandoned my rule about only women Ob/Gyn docs. In theory it's a good basis; a woman doc for women's issues. But not necessarily a guiding principle anymore. We are really impressed with this doctor.
This also means that I'm having the baby at Prentice Women's Hospital in Chicago, in the new building, which we toured recently (and I reported on in this blog last month). As Ben says, and he wants credit for this quote, "This is the most shi-shi, frou-frou, la-la hospital in the Chicagoland area we could possibly find!" And he's right. I'm going to schedule a tour for my parents and maybe drag along a friend. It's a very impressive facility, and the entire building is focused on women's health and there are no scary back hospital hall mazes to wind through to find the L&D unit, you enter the front door like a queen. Or a five-star hotel guest. Check out: http://www.grandhopening.org/tour-slideshow.html
I'm excited now about giving birth, and am really interested to see how the experience goes, and feel more awake and involved than I have been--much more "up." Dr. Arof also connected me immediately with a gestational diabetes expert to help me get a handle on my blood sugar levels and nutrition (a consulting doctor associate) and I'm very pleased to have some guidance in that area. I feel energized, and am ready to attend La Leche League meetings now before the birth, and find and schedule a lactation consultant to do a house call after the birth. I can cross reference the list of references from La Leche with the list from Prentice's on-staff lactation consultants. And Ben and I are very seriously considering a doula, and I have a handful of leads already on that score. Though, this will be expensive! The hospital is expensive, the parking is killer, the lactation consultant won't be cheap and a doula can run up to a thousand, tho I've heard of discount rates for doula's in training, as low as $400. But honestly, I'd pay anything to ensure a better experience, and especially to get the breastfeeding latch right this time around. You know, I'm a list-maker, and next I will make a shorter bullet-point birth plan (easier to refer to than last time), and make a list of what to pack for the hospital, and all that. Woo woo! Let's go!
We were impressed right away by the friendliness of all the staff, from receptionist to nurses, and the homey environment of the waiting room and exam rooms. The exam room also had a consulting desk and cabinets in wood, and shelves with family photos, and the walls had four boards filled with pictures of the doctor with various newborn babies and parents. I've never seen anything like it. There are only five doctors in the practice (instead of the multitudes at the other practices we've seen) and I can meet them all personally before the birth so that I know whoever might be on call before labor, which is really good. Dr. Arof has a great bedside manner, and while he didn't actually say anything different in the end from what the other doctors we've seen have said (he doesn't want me to go beyond the due date and may induce if I do, etc.) he said it differently. The last doc at Prentice we saw was all disclaimers and anxiety, but this doc was relaxed and communicative. And said he would try to help me have a different birth experience than I had last time. And while the last doc we saw wouldn't examine me unless she had my records "for legal reasons," this doc gave me a full exam and talked in depth about the care I could receive from here on out. Also, you might be surprised that I've chosen a man and not a woman doctor. Well, when rotating through the various doctors the three days I was in labor with Tyler, the one who impressed me most, the one who made them let me walk the halls with my IV pole and ordered real food for me, was a man. He was so nice. So I abandoned my rule about only women Ob/Gyn docs. In theory it's a good basis; a woman doc for women's issues. But not necessarily a guiding principle anymore. We are really impressed with this doctor.
This also means that I'm having the baby at Prentice Women's Hospital in Chicago, in the new building, which we toured recently (and I reported on in this blog last month). As Ben says, and he wants credit for this quote, "This is the most shi-shi, frou-frou, la-la hospital in the Chicagoland area we could possibly find!" And he's right. I'm going to schedule a tour for my parents and maybe drag along a friend. It's a very impressive facility, and the entire building is focused on women's health and there are no scary back hospital hall mazes to wind through to find the L&D unit, you enter the front door like a queen. Or a five-star hotel guest. Check out: http://www.grandhopening.org/tour-slideshow.html
I'm excited now about giving birth, and am really interested to see how the experience goes, and feel more awake and involved than I have been--much more "up." Dr. Arof also connected me immediately with a gestational diabetes expert to help me get a handle on my blood sugar levels and nutrition (a consulting doctor associate) and I'm very pleased to have some guidance in that area. I feel energized, and am ready to attend La Leche League meetings now before the birth, and find and schedule a lactation consultant to do a house call after the birth. I can cross reference the list of references from La Leche with the list from Prentice's on-staff lactation consultants. And Ben and I are very seriously considering a doula, and I have a handful of leads already on that score. Though, this will be expensive! The hospital is expensive, the parking is killer, the lactation consultant won't be cheap and a doula can run up to a thousand, tho I've heard of discount rates for doula's in training, as low as $400. But honestly, I'd pay anything to ensure a better experience, and especially to get the breastfeeding latch right this time around. You know, I'm a list-maker, and next I will make a shorter bullet-point birth plan (easier to refer to than last time), and make a list of what to pack for the hospital, and all that. Woo woo! Let's go!
Sunday, November 4, 2007
Dreaming of Labor
Over the weekend I dreamed that I was going into labor, and Ben and both my parents were for some reason coming with me. I didn't have a doctor yet and we went into the city to Prentice to try to get in anyway. The bottom floor was an elaborate, rich mall with futuristic elevators that were tubes. We tried to sweet-talk our way past a receptionist, and at that moment all the receptionists went on strike. I talked her into giving us a free pass to ride the tube elevator up before she left. Getting up there was a little harrowing as the tube was small, then I was climbing up a vertical slope with small hand-holds to skip a long line, but just when I thought I would fall Ben pulled me the rest of the way up! Then we were in a hallway and I had a gurney but no room yet. And the hall was full of elderly patients on gurneys, and I thought it was a bad idea to deliver there in the hall. The labor was really hurting now and I was seen by a nice male, Indian doctor. Then I snuck into the L&D unit but again found a bed in a row of beds in an outer area where there were like 6 of us giving birth simultaneously. Mom brought me a stuffed animal.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
