May 23, 2008

So, today I started with a sharp pain in my side. It felt like a stitch - my guess is trapped gas or twisted ligaments. It went away when I laid down on a hot pack. It did come back a few times, but never as bad or for as long.

Boo has been super active lately, and regularly feels like he/she is trying to push out through my side, a la Frighteners. The pain from the pushing actually woke me up last night!

I've had multiple bowel movements today. I hope this is just my body regulating itself after all those antibiotics and not things clearing out in preparation for labour. Oh, and my hemorrhoid is sprouting friends. Yay!

I've been having dizzy spells. They don't last long, but they seem to pop up out of no where. Add to this heart palpitations, and I'm not safe on stairs by myself!

After bragging to another prego friend earlier this week that I've been really lucky to not have heartburn this time around, I've had it for the last 3 days.

Very tired. I'm napping each day and really not being that active when I'm awake... but I'm still exhausted.

I haven't had any leg cramps yet (knocks on wood)... but my calf muscles have been twitching for weeks now. I'm taking my cal/mag before bed and stretching... but I'm worried that my luck might be running out!

My hips/upper thighs have been going numb in the night. I usually rotisserie myself all night long - sleep on one side until the pain gets too bad then rotate. I can keep this up until about 5am, but then it doesn't matter how I sleep, everything hurts.

May 18, 2008

My water broke just before 6pm on Wednesday the 14th. I was out walking with a friend. We went to her house, she kept Elliot and her hubby drove me to the hospital. There was blood mixed with the fluid, so I didn't want to take any chances. I was really counting on them telling me I peed myself or had a bladder infection... but no. The ferning was unmistakable and it was my water. The admitted me and hooked me up to an IV. I had a steroid shot.

Things have been fine, though... no more leaking, Boo is looking wonderful - u/s on Thursday showed lots of fluid still left and Boo is measuring 31 weeks. (3lbs 11 oz, too!) No contractions or cramping or signs of infection, so they *might* actually release me - still on strict bedrest - later this week if nothing else changes.

The drs and nurses are all starting to think it resealed. This is such a huge relief!!!!!! No one seemed to be able to tell where the leak came from, though - I asked if the u/s showed anything high or low but either they didn't understand what I was asking or they didn't check or it wasn't obvious. One thing my nurse mentioned this morning is that sometimes in situations like this, they like to induce between 36-37 weeks. Not sure why, but I'm of the mind that I want this baby to bake as long as possible!!!!!

I'm home from the hospital on a daypass right now. It's wonderful. I'm headed back in within a few minutes. I've been cramping a bit, with some lower back and upper thigh pain that makes me nervous... hopefully it's just because I've been moving around a bit more today than I have over the last few days. Not feeling any leaking, but there is a certain wetness. Ugh. Please keep us in your thoughts!!!

It was awesome to be home today. Jay bought a wheelchair at a yard sale last year. I teased him about it. But he took me around the block in it today, which was nice.

May 13, 2008

I've been having cramps off and on today. I'm sure it's just gas and/or stretching related, but someone on another board told another mom-to-be (who's as far along as me) that she really should go get checked asap because when it happened to her it was preterm labour.

And so now that's in the back of my mind.

I feel fine, otherwise. Well, other than exhaustion and Boo being in a really bad position and my ribs hurt.

March 16, 2008

My back is killing me! And I've been having BH contractions all day (nothing regular, so I'm not worried, but that combined with the sore back is making me cranky and achy.)

Saw my chiro a week ago and she said I was a mess. And said I should come back in 1-2 weeks at the most. So I booked an appointment for 2 weeks, as that's what matched my schedule best. But now I wish I'd booked it for tomorrow.

I get bad sciatica when pregnant. My pelvis has a tendency to rotate when I'm not pregnant, so it's just a joy when there's this extra growth pulling on it.

I've been sleeping with a snoogle pillow at night which is heavenly for my upper back and belly, but does nothing for my low back and knees. Ugh. Can't find a good compromise! A regular pillow between my knees and under my head is only slightly better for my low back, but then everything else hurts!!!

Guess I'll be sitting on the exercise ball and soaking in the tub a lot over the next few days.


Plus, Elliot (aka Octobaby) decided to get creative and finger-paint with his own shit during a diaper change for the first time ever. And that was in the 30 minutes I took to run out to the mall to buy some maternity tights so Jay got to deal with it (YAY!) But now Jay is so cranky he doesn't even want to look at Elliot, so I just took him for a walk and am trying to soothe my back and entertain him while Jay stews (and works) in the basement.

Oh yes, and I did ALL the dishes, cleaned out the fridge, did 2 loads of laundry (including a load of diapers that went through twice), swept the downstairs and had a play date with a sweet little girl that Elliot kept hitting. I'm done for the day, ok?! Please???


Oops, didn't mean for this to turn into a rant, just a vent about my sore back!!!

January 15, 2008

Baby Boo was fluttering all around with a heart reat of 148. I've gained back 2 lbs of the 10 I lost in the first trimester. I have also developed a goiter - lovely, huh?! I have to go for blood work to check my thyroid and she's also booking me in for a u/s of my thyroid to check it out. It's probably normal pregnancy stuff, but it could be symptoms of a larger problem, resulting in me needing supplements or surgery.

A goiter resembles, in very plain terms an Adam's apple, but on a woman. Mine isn't very big, but I can see it. It's a swelling of my throat (of my thyroid, actually). It feels a bit like I'm constantly wearing a turtleneck.

It's common in pregnancy for the thyroid to enlarge due to the hormone (HCG) levels. But, the predisposition to enlarge due to normal prego stuff can be because of an underlying issue, which they will check me out for.

I go for my maternal serum testing in mid-February and will have the 20 week u/s (no gender determinations or pictures) in early March.

12/18/07

First appointment with the baby doctor today! I got called in right away - I was in the loo leaving a sample, actually. Was in the office for nearly an hour. She took my history again (mostly was able to copy from last time!) And she weighed me - 149 lbs.

She tells me it's now strongly encouraged for preggers women (at any stage of the pregnancy) to get the flu shot. I've never had one before and don't really want to, but told her I'd think about it. She didn't pressure me, but said that it was a good idea to have it. And one for Elliot as well. Not sure how I feel about it.

She was also surprised that I'm still nursing and said it's recommended to stop. I told her I'd researched it and was comfortable continuing, but she said that it couldn't be determined how many nutrients were going to the developing baby (and to myself) if I was nauseous and throwing up AND nursing a toddler, even if it's only 3-4 times per day. She's also a bit concerned because I've lost 10 lbs so far... of course she won't truly be concerned until/unless I lose more by the next appointment. Which I don't think is going to happen... but we'll see. I'm sure that if I've lost more weight by the next one and am still nursing, she won't be impressed.

But otherwise, a good appointment. No dating ultrasound, but she said we'd just go with my last period date for now and if the 20 week scan shows a smaller baby, then we'll assume I did ovulate late and push back the due date. As of now, I'm due July 19th. (The Fertility Friend software says the 17th. It had also calculated Elliot's due date as Sept. 18 and she said Sept 16th... I think there's a leap year coming up which is throwing off the dates a bit. Oh well...close enough!)

We tried to listen for the heart beat, but we both knew it was really early. We did hear placental sounds, so that's encouraging! My next appt is mid Jan, so we'll be able to hear something then for sure. And hopefully you can come, too!

Then we went to the library and to Woozles and then for sushi. (Elliot ate 3 veggie rolls. Including the seaweed on 2 of them!!) And then to Starbucks. Elliot fell asleep in the stroller after lunch (around 12:30, I think) and slept until I got home just before 2. Good boy!

November 13, 2007

I'm debating whether to wean or tandem nurse. I want to do both, which isn't exactly possible. We're only nursing 3-4 times per day now - but one of those times is in the night. My supply is adequate at the moment. He takes whole milk in a sippy or bottle as well, but only in small amounts at a time (1-2 oz).

He's so rough that I'm not sure how easy it would be to nurse as this pregnancy progresses. I also am concerned how he will react to a new baby, especially one who is drinking HIS milk.

But I enjoy nursing. I don't want to loose the benefits or the closeness of it. But I can see how it will get more difficult as time passes.

I guess I should wait it out, see how my milk holds up... or I could drop that 4th nursing session (afternoon) and see how he does, gradually getting him down to twice per day (am & pm) and then waiting out the milk supply.

But what if I wean and then regret it? Re-lactation while prego can't be easy, and reintroducing it once the new baby arrives poses all kinds of other problems and questions.

*sigh*

Can someone just tell me what to do, please???

November 12, 2007

Looooong day!


Elliot was up at 3:15. I nursed him back to sleep but he wouldn't stay asleep. He was babbling and playing. I tried nursing him again around4 and it seemed to settle him a bit... he finally fell silent around 4:45 and I woke up to check on him at 5:05. Then we got up together at 7:15.

While waiting for him to go to sleep, I took another test - yep, still preggers!

Got up, had breakfast (scrambled eggs and blueberry/cranberry muffins) and then got super bundled up and headed to the grocery store. (It was minus 3 here). Came home, big poop and had a nap. 45 minutes later, he was crying. i rocked him and he fell asleep again and slept for another hour and a half - he didn't get up until 1!

While he was asleep, I made lasagna.

Around 12:45, your dad came over. Last night, the living room light stopped working, so I used this opportunity to get your dad's help - we replaced the bulbs, but that wasn't the problem. We turned off the power and removed the plate and checked the wiring - that wasn't the problem. Turns out, the switch itself was faulty and broken.

Got home just before 5, put the lasagna in to bake and your dad fixed the light. All the bulbs are in it now and it's so bright in there! It's a slightly different switch - it turns on and off instead of pushing, but it still has the dimmer. They left by 5:15 and J and D showed up by 5:25.

I asked J if he could change the cat litter because I wasn't allowed - he looked at my funny and then D jumps in with "You're pregnant??!" They're both very excited. (I didn't tell anyone else, well, just M. And M. And E. And my message board girls. But everyone knows it's a secret for now.)

Went to class. Got a 90.5 on my exam - I'm pleased. The questions I guessed at, I pretty much got wrong. And a few others. This gives me a 93.3 course average so far. We started computerized stuff tonight. I'm good at it - once we finished the questions, we could leave. I was out of there by 8 and home by 8:15. Sweet!

There. That's our whole day.

November 11, 2007

Oh yes, it happened late, probably on Halloween. Silly body! But whatever, it freakin' worked! I'm still in shock. And pregnant!

Tested positive yesterday!

November 11, 2007

Went to bed at 9:30 last night. Elliot had me up for an hour at midnight - he wouldn't go back to sleep without nursing. I slept restless, but got a lot of it - I was up to check on the boy at 3 am - he had that croupy cough again. Then he was up for milk at 5am and actually fell back to sleep so I peed on another stick (positive!) and went back to bed until 7!

~~~

CRAP! i typed out the whole rest of our day and must not have hit "save", although I swear i did.... now it's all gone!!!!! BOOOOOO!!!!!

Ok... I'll do it all again.

Elliot napped from 10:30 to 12. I washed all the dishes and swept the floors. We played for a bit when he woke up then had lunch (avocado, soup, grapes, milk, water) and then played with blocks and made muffins and I rearranged our bedroom (pushed the bed over to the far wall, moved the little dresser into the guest room for now, moved the long dresser on the other side of the bed... this opened up a great play space for Elliot between the bed and the window.

My Tupperware lady came to visit - we had to go over plans for the party in 2 weeks. She took the busted green bowl with her and will replace it!!! Elliot helped me clean up all the toys and then we had supper - cheese noodles, carrots, peas, rice, milk, juice, water and applesauce. Then Elliot helped take out the recycling and green bin. Then we went up for a bath.

We washed his hair and soaped him up and afterwards put him in a cloth diaper - it's the third night and so far, so good! No leaks and he seems to be fine with the bulk. He went to sleep very well. I made myself grilled cheese sandwiches for supper and am now about to curl up on the couch and watch some tv before going to bed at another ridiculously early hour.

Oh - the movie from last night - My Super Ex Girlfriend? Not so good. Not funny, offensive to women... written for teenage boys, basically! But kinda stupidly entertaining and so i watched the whole thing. Waste of time, really.

November 10, 2007

Ugh. We've been up since 5 again today! Hopefully he'll have a good nap in another hour or so. He's watching Lunar Jim right now and then we'll have breakfast.

On the agenda for today:

Shopping at the mall


I put the diapers in to wash, we had breakfast - pear, cheerios, milk, juice, had a big poop then both went for a nap. M called at 10 to say he'd be here around noon. I got up and showered, then came down to put the diapers through again.

And, OH YEAH! did I forget to mention the positive pregnancy test at 5am!!!

I can't get any good pics of it, they come out blurry or too dark or too white or whatever. But there's very definitely a line there! It's an IC (internet cheapie) test, so i needed to dip it in a collected specimen... it can take 10-20 minutes to get the results. At the 10 minute mark, the bottom of the test area started turning pink again like it did when i first dunked it. After 10 more minutes, all the new pink had faded away, except for the second line. YAY!!!! Scary and thrilling, huh!


~~

7pm

I am soooooo tired!!!

Elliot woke up from his nap around 11. He played and then had lunch - soup, yogurt, avocado, milk, water - and then we waited for M to get here.

We were in the car by 1 and headed over the bridge. There was a lot of traffic. The bridge was moving, but it was slow. The guy 2 cars ahead of us set off the buzzer at the tolls. So he stops a couple car lengths past the gate and waited. The car ahead of us zoomed around him. He got out and started walking back to the booth. We carefully pulled out around him (there were cars streaming through on both sides!) Another car stopped in the middle of the street while trying to do a left turn. There was a HUGE line of cars waiting to go who didn't look pleased. At the lights where we turn onto that road that goes to the mall (by the ball fields) traffic was pretty much crawling. It took a long time to get to the mall. The parking lot was FULL. Sure enough, it was their tax-free midnight madness sale today. The lines were insane. We looked around, but left without buying anything. All I wanted at toysrus was a toilet guard, but the line stretch all the way back to electronics. So we left.

We came home at 3 and I tried to get a very cranky Elliot to nap - had to sing to him the whole way home! Well, of course he refused to nap so I got him back up. We went to Swiss Chalet. Elliot was a good boy, but i did have to sing to him a lot. He's really liking "If You're Happy and You Know It..." and does all the actions I can think up. I'll try to get a video tomorrow.

Oh yeah... it's also SNOWING here tonight! It started raining this afternoon and by 3 is was wispy and by 5 it was outright snowing. The roads are still clear because it's a wet snow and not at the freezing point yet. But who knows what will happen over night. The lights flickered a bit during bath time... it's not amounting to much, but there is a film of slush over everything.

We got home from supper around 5:30. Elliot played/stumbled around for about 20 minutes and I gave him a bit more supper - cheese, rice, yogurt, milk & water (he had chicken and rice noodles and french fries and cucumber sticks at SC). And then we headed up for a very early bath just after 6. He was asleep by 6:40 and I'm thinking I'll watch a bit of TV (I recorded My Super-Ex Girlfriend last night) and then I'll turn in myself. I'm very sleepy. Hopefully the boy doesn't get up too early tomorrow!!!

Ultrasound!

Going for our first ultrasound this morning. We're leaving in a few minutes. Can't wait! We'll be able to see our little bean somewhat, and the heartbeat. I'm 9 weeks today, so it might be a bit early to actually hear the heartbeat, but I'm hoping to!

Working my way through 24oz of water, thankfully I've already thrown up this morning, or it might not be going down as well.


UPDATE:

Saw the baby, saw the heartbeat. VERY cool. It made everything so real. It was amazing what they could see. She started first by locating and measuring my ovaries. It seems that my left is slightly larger than the right, but the tech didn't comment or seem concerned. We could definitely see the baby, it sort of resembled a turtle. A little head-like appendage with 4 little stumpy appendages coming out. And a fluttering heartbeat.

They don't measure the heart rate until we can actually hear the heartbeat and that won't be until 12 weeks (at my next pre-natal on March 10.)

Managed to get my appointments rescheduled last week - moved the ultrasound to today and the prenatal got pushed back by 15 minutes. That was rather uneventful. She took my medical history - it all gets consolidated onto one form. She took my blood pressure, which was great, and weighed me. (138lbs)

Earlier in the week, I went to see my naturopath. She also did my blood pressure and got me to pee in a cup so she could test for proteins, blood & sugar. Which all came back normal.

Wow - we're going to have a bay, we're going to be somebody's parents!!!

Still preggers

8 weeks today. Nausea turned into full-fledged morning sickness about a week and a half ago - throwing up every morning (like clockwork, between 9-10!)

Have a prenatal and an ultrasound scheduled fro Friday, both at the same time on different sides of the city, so one needs to be rescheduled and no one is returning my calls! Quite frustrating. Hopefully someone will get back to me soon as this is quite ridiculous.

We're telling a few people now, just friends, though. We'll tell family in another 2-3 weeks... seems odd to tell some friends first, but we see our friends more often than family, so it's sort of like telling family, I guess.

My stomach is being fussy. I've been surviving on bread, yogurt, cheese & grapes for several weeks now. I gotta get real food in me soon!

My belly, just above the pubic bone is starting to get really hard. MY uterus is the size of a softball now - not a huge growth, since pre-preg size it's like a closed fist.

Still pretty cool!

January 24, 2006

Still pregnant!

6 weeks and 1 day. The levels so far have been awesome: 50 at 11 days past ovulation, 254 at 15 days and 10,692 at 24 days.

I'm getting nauseous a lot - no vomiting yet, but it's been close. I go from starving to very nauseated in a matter of minutes, if not seconds. Today was particularly rough, as I felt ill for most of it. Turns out avocados and lentils with curry are big no-nos for me now!

WE'RE HAVING A BABY!!!!!!!

Waiting for an ultrasound. Should get the call within 2 weeks. I'm far enough along that we'll be able to see a heartbeat!! How cool is that!!

First pre-natal appointment with Dr L is on Feburary 10 - should be able to HEAR the heartbeat.

The likelihood of a miscarriage drops to 5-6% once you see the heartbeat compared to 25% beforehand.

I haven't grown any bigger yet, but I'm battling bloat - many clothes don't fit anymore!

Aside from the nausea, I'm loving being pregnant. The little bean is the size of an apple seed right now and so much has developed already.

January 10. 2006

I'm sitting in the waiting room at the hospital for blood collection. This is the second test, to see if the levels are rising. At this point, I believe they will be - I feel too pregnant for them not to!

January 8, 2006

Well, it seems we are super fertile, as I'm already pregnant again!!

Dr H says it *might* be a false positive, though, due to my HcG levels not dropping after the miscarriage last month. I went for blood work on Friday and I'll go go again this week to see if the levels are rising, then it's for real!

The lower part of my abdomen is starting to feel hard, just above my pubic bone. I have a much better feel with this pregnancy already.

Stick, baby stick! We can't wait to meet you!

December 10, 2005

Baby's first snow!

I don't know how much is out there, but they were calling for 15-25 cm... it's pretty! Everything is blanketed. Jay will have to go out and shovel it all. I would, but I'm going to work at the shoe store today. They're picking me up in an hour so I won't be walking in it.

We went for groceries last night just as it was starting. The roads & sidewalks were slippery, even in winter boots. Nerve-wracking. Kept expecting to fall.

I woke up this morning and I had been sleeping on my stomach. I immediately worried I'd dislodged the baby.

There was what MIGHT have been a bit of spotting after I went to the bathroom. There was a bit of cramping, but I feel ok. The 'spotting' could have been pee as it's dark in the morning. Even if it was true spotting, a bit is normal.

I'll try not to worry about it. Pregnancy is a natural process. The body was designed this way and I'll have to trust that it's doing it's job.

H guessed the other night. We were out for dinner and I was really thirsty and only ordered water. She said something like "You're pregnant!!!" and before I could help it, I had a huge grin on my face and said 'No." Very unconvincingly. The I told her that in theory, I 'could' be pregnant. Then of course we started talking about it. So she knows, and that means probably her sister knows, as H is staying with her right now.

The swelling in Jay's face has gone down a lot and he looks almost like himself again. Poor guy!

I have a dr's appointment on the 13th with Dr. L, the dr my regular dr referred me to. Dr. H doesn't deliver, so I get to meet Dr. L! Not sure what to expect at that appointment - probably a PAP/internal exam, more bloodwork, etc. Could just be a meeting, I suppose.

4w5d

Turns out we're further along that I thought! I guess the number of weeks is determined byt he first day of your last period (which doesn't make sense to me - I would think last day of last period would be more accurate!) So I'm 4 weeks and 5 days along right now.

Scary and awesome!

5am

I'm pretty sure we're pregnant! The line is still faint, but darker than before.

I'll make a dr's appointment asap to confirm via blood test, but Jay and I are both pretty happy!

He talked to the baby - I woke him up at 4am after I tested - and we snuggled together and read from 'What to Expect While You're Expecting' and then he got close to my belly and kissed it and welcomed the baby aboard.

Wow. Stunned. Pretty cool!

In disbelief.