Picture Post

5 Months

Yesterday was Zach's 5 month birthday! Amazing how quickly these months have flown by. Zach is really starting to get personable. He smiles so much now and has eeked out a giggle or two. He rolled over for the first time on 11/8.

His nursing strike has continued now for 3 weeks and we are starting to supplement with formula. My goal had been to breastfeed for at least 6 months. We almost made it! He is still nursing, but he is now getting 2-3 bottles a day of formula. It has cut down on his frustration and my frustration, too!  We've also started feeding Zach rice cereal, although "feed" is a stretch.  We put it in his mouth, he looks at us like we are torturing him, and he spits it back out.  It is a messy and amusing process so far.

We are headed to Wisconsin for a week for Thanksgiving. It is rather chilly there right now and it will be Zach's first time seeing snow!

Here is his 5 month video:

Some more firsts!

Zach has had a few new firsts this week. On Saturday he rolled over back to front for the first time. (At least, the first time we've seen. Not sure if he "rolled" when he fell off the couch...) Today he giggled for the first time!!! Video perhaps to follow...

4 Month Video

4 Months!

Zach turned 4 months old on Sunday! There will be video to follow - just have to download it from the video camera.

He had his 4 month checkup on Monday and got his shots. All went well... He screamed like a banshee for about 10 minutes after the shots and had a mild fever for the next day or so. His height and head circumference are 50th percentile and his weight is 25th percentile. I'm not concerned about the weight - breastfed babies weigh less than formula fed and the charts include formula fed babies.

Zach also had an eye check-up on Monday. I'd been noticing his eyes crossing slightly and the pediatrician felt it would be best to have him checked out. We found out he is farsighted, but that it could correct over the next few months. His eyes look healthy and we're just supposed to keep an eye on the eyes crossing. Overall good news!

Today we are having a new furnace installed. We had a really cold day about a week ago and our furnace refused to turn on. We had a technician out and basically the old furnace was toast and a carbon monoxide risk. Scary, especially since the attic access to the furnace is in Zach's room. I'm very thankful it didn't turn on and we are replacing it. They are having to cut apart the old furnace to get it out.

It seems just about every day we are noticing new developments with Zach's personality and interactions. Last night he started taking the binky in and out of his mouth on his own. He is sort of in this in-between stage of not quite realizing his hands are attached to him, but he is starting to do things with them. It is fun to see the progress he is making!

Bebe Pod

Zach has just started holding his head up enough for us to use the Bebe Pod.  Here is video of him in it today.  He's also "playing" with a toy for the first time!  I think it wore him out.  After I took him out, he nursed for a bit then went down for a nap in no time!

A weekend of firsts

This was definitely a weekend of firsts.  Zach's paternal grandfather was in town and we went for our first hike with Zach!  We went to Castle Rock State Park and did a short 1.6 mile hike.  I continue to be amazed at how out of shape I am, but I made it through the hike ok.  It has rekindled my desire to get back out and explore the trails in the area.  Zach seemed to enjoy himself.  He looked around a bit, but mostly he slept.

Our next big first of the weekend was leaving Zach with a sitter!  In this instance, the sitter was my cousin Corinne.  We had plans for an evening on the town in San Francisco.  We left Zach with Corinne around 3pm.

I was surprised that when I handed Zach over to Corinne, I got a bit choked up.  Once we were in the car and headed into the city I was ok, but for a moment I thought I might actually cry!  

I'm proud to say I didn't call to check on Zach once!  Of course, I didn't have to...  Corinne was awesome and provided pictures and text messages to my cell phone throughout the evening.  It was great!  Zach was never far from my mind the entire evening and it was fun to get the updates.  

One surprise we had was how much Zach ate!  I prepared two 4.5 ounce bottles of expressed milk, thinking that would be plenty.  I thought we'd have a few ounces leftover.  Zach downed those and went on to eat another 6 ounces of formula!  Perhaps he knew how much mom and dad were drinking and he wanted in on the fun...

Here is the progression of pictures Corinne sent me.  

We picked up Zach around 10pm.  He was completely zonked and he slept until 4 this morning.  Thank you so much to Corinne for providing a fantastic evening of babysitting!  

Like father, like son.

Zach snores.

Zach's Birth

When Zach was born, I really wanted to sit down and write about the experience so I wouldn't forget anything that happened. Life got in the way of that plan and I am just now sitting down, 3 months later, to document my memories of Zach's birth.

It was no secret to anyone how uncomfortable I was getting towards the end of the pregnancy. I was diagnosed with placenta previa fairly early in the pregnancy. As we got towards the end, the previa continued, which led to me being on a modified bedrest. I didn't take to that too well. On June 17 I noticed a difference with my pregnancy, went to see the OB and she confirmed that my body had started down the path towards labor. One last ultrasound indicated the previa was still not resolved and thus I was scheduled for a c-section a day and a half later, on June 19th. Zach's due date was July 20th. My nervousness about having Zach a month early was overshadowed by the excitement that I was finally going to meet him.

I spent the next day and a half in bed, in a daze. I researched what I could about having a child arrive a month early. Surprisingly, I didn't find out too much. The OB had said Zach might have some problems breathing. In hindsight, I really wish I'd pressed the OB for more information and also for alternative routes we could have taken. However, ultimately we have a beautiful, healthy baby boy.

The night before the c-section, the anesthesiologist called to go over my medical history. I tried to joke around a bit on the phone, but my attempts at humor fell on deaf ears - a sign of things to come! The morning of the c-section I awoke early to have my last meal before the surgery --- I think I ate two bagels and had some water. (Bagels were about all I was keeping down towards the end - morning sickness can indeed come back in the third trimester.) Trying to get back to sleep was next to impossible. I kept saying things like "In 8 hours I'm going to meet my son!" Our house was still under construction and the work crew showed up at 7am. Tom and I were pretty much already packed, so we spent the morning trying to keep ourselves busy. I remember sitting on the couch with Tom, just willing the time to pass so we could leave for the hospital. Coincidentally, the day of c-section, Tom's mother was scheduled to visit us. She was out here teaching and had arranged to visit us for a few days before flying back to Wisconsin. I think she got a bit more of an exciting visit than she had anticipated! When she arrived at our house, we threw her bags in the car and left for the hospital. My parents were driving up from San Diego and would meet us at the hospital.

Zach was born in a small community hospital about 2 miles from our house. We had been to the hospital's maternity ward twice before - once when I had preterm labor in my 2nd trimester, and just a few days earlier in the week for a nonstress test. When we showed up for the c-section I went up to the desk and said "Hi, I'm here to have a baby". They knew who I was and immediately whisked me into a labor and delivery room. It was a nice large room, bright and warm. My parents showed up shortly after we did and there was much excitement. I was prepped for surgery, which seemed to involve more paperwork than anything else. Tom, who has vasal vega, had to leave the room for the insertion of the IV. While he was out of the room I warned the nurse and the anesthesiologist that I was concerned about Tom passing out during the operation. The anesthesiologist, who was this elderly, gruff doctor, tried to tell me that Tom shouldn't be in the room. I ignored him.

Once all the preparations were done, it was time to move to the surgical suite. I said goodbye to everyone and the nurse walked me to the operating room. I went from this excited, happy environment to a cold, sterile one. I hadn't ever stopped to think about the actual c-section - what it would involve, etc. The moment we walked into the operating room I was washed in absolute dread and fear. The nurse helped me up on the table and then left. All around me were people prepping for the surgery, but it was like I wasn't even there. A nurse came over to hold me while the spinal block was administered. She put her hands on my shoulders and pushed against me to keep me steady. I admit I was absolutely terrified. I told her I was ok, but I kept thinking over and over that I could die during the surgery. Had I actually stopped to think about the surgery beforehand, I don't think this is the reaction I would have imagined having. The anesthesiologist, as I mentioned, was pretty gruff. He kept shoving my back and ended up poking needles into my spine 5 times. He seemed somewhat unorganized - kept asking for a nurse to bring him stuff out of his cart that he had forgotten. To me, it seemed like getting the spinal block took a lot longer than necessary. Each needle into my spine was an excruciating sensation. However, once the drugs started to flow I immediately was numb from the waist down. I couldn't even swing my legs onto the table - they had to do that for me. Once they had me laying down on the table, I started to get very dizzy. I yelled out to someone, anyone, that I felt ill. The anesthesiologist administered some medicine into my IV. It was several minutes before the dizziness passed. My doctor came over to me and said something about me finally getting the color back in my face. I hadn't even realized she was in the room.

They put the blue curtain up and away they went. I kept craning my neck to the door, looking for Tom. I think I mumbled something asking where my husband was. He finally appeared and I remember just being so worried he was going to pass out. (He has passed out on me twice before - once getting a tetanus shot and another time at the gym.) I remember being completely focused on his not passing out, and not paying much attention to the fact that I was having a baby! Tom took some photos of us while they were operating on me. After what seemed like forever, I heard my OB say something about our baby possibly being a redhead. A few seconds later I heard this very gurgly cry and someone saying it was a boy. I was still looking at Tom and he got a huge smile on his face. I started to feel panicked again - Zach's gurgly cries sounded like he was drowning.

Because Zach was premature, there was a neonatologist in the delivery room. She immediately took Zach and assessed him. After a few minutes they invited Tom over to meet Zach. He walked over, being very careful not to look anywhere near my abdomen for fear of what he would see!

Tom was off in the corner with the baby and the doctors were busy finishing up my surgery. I remember feeling lonely - I wanted to meet my son and I was scared because I wasn't hearing him cry. I asked the anesthesiologist if my son was ok and he very gruffly said "Yeah, he's fine". No warm fuzzies there.

The neonatologist brought Zach over to me for about 20 seconds. I got to kiss him, say hello and tell him I loved him, then they whisked him off to the NICU. Tom told me he was going with the baby and off they went. For what seemed like forever I was in the operating room by myself, with the doctors. Before, during and after the operation I remember hearing people counting over and over. They were counting tools and sponges. There were 17 items. Every time one person would reach 17, another person would start counting. There were 3 counters. And they did a LOT of counting. I remember that more vividly than just about any other aspect of the surgery.

As my OB was sewing me back up, she was talking to the assistant surgeon about assembling Ikea furniture. This struck me as absolutely surreal. To them, it was just another day at the office --- chitchat included. (It did strike a bit of fear in my heart that these people were rearranging my innards, yet they were discussing how challenging Ikea furniture is to assemble.) The asst surgeon and the anesthesiologist discussed their ages - the asst was 73 and the anesthesiologist was 75.

My doctor told me the placenta previa was "as advertised", meaning the placenta was covering the cervix. She advised me to have a c-section for any future babies.

Next I was wheeled into recovery. I was the only person there. The nurse who had been with me all day was back and monitoring me. I could not stop shaking - my whole body was shaking uncontrollably and she kept piling blankets on me. This can be a normal reaction to the surgery. Apparently, though, I was forgetting to breathe and she kept reminding me to do so. My blood pressure went down to 50/30 and the anesthesiologist shot me with epinephrine 3 times to try to get my blood pressure back up. Tom said it was actually a faulty blood pressure cuff - when they changed it out, my blood pressure was actually 160 over something, from all the epinephrine. To me, I was in recovery for about 20 minutes or so. Several weeks after the surgery, Tom told me it was actually 3-4 hours. This still boggles my mind. I do remember Tom, my parents, Tom's mom and some friends stopping by. Tom showed me pictures of Zach on our camera. Also, once everyone was gathered I told the group what we named the baby. (This had been our big secret.) I spoke with my sister and some friends on the phone, all of which I vaguely remember. I asked over and over again to see my baby.

Zach, during all of this, was in the NICU. They had put him on an oxygen hood in an isolette. That wasn't getting enough oxygen into him, so they put him on a ventilator. He also had an IV in his foot. Over the course of the next day they were able to wean him off the ventilator. When the neonatologist came in to check on him, Zach had removed the ventilator from his nose and was holding it in his hand. Since no alarms had gone off, they decided he no longer needed it.

While in recovery, I remember at one point looking up and seeing my parents, Tom and Tom's mom all staring at me. I told them all to go and eat. While they were at dinner, I was moved from recovery to my postpartum room. I kept asking to see Zach and they told me he was in the NICU. The nurse arranged for me to see him through the NICU window as I was wheeled to my room. They set up a mirror so I could see him in the isolette. Between the ventilator and all the wires, all I could really see was this pink blob with some feet sticking out. It was so hard not to be able to hold him.

During my surgery, a pain pump had been put in to deliver pain medicine continually to the incision. However, when the spinal wore off, I was in intense pain. The nurses gave me morphine shots every 20 minutes, all the while telling me I shouldn't be in pain. After several hours and considerable pain, someone thought to check the pain pump. It apparently hadn't been switched on. Once they switched it on, the pain disappeared.

Later that night, after several requests to see Zach, I was finally allowed to go to the NICU. I had feeling back in my legs, so I could move into a wheelchair. We made it down to the NICU and seeing Zach in the isolette was so scary. He looked so small, even though he was 7 pounds 1 ounce! There was a sign on his isolette warning that he couldn't handle any stimuli. I asked his nurse if I could touch him and she pretty much said no. After a few minutes of staring at him through the isolette I just couldn't resist any more and I opened one of the side doors and put a finger on him. He started shaking, just from that touch. It was so hard not to be able to hold him. We gazed at him for a while longer, then they gently kicked us out.

I was terrified while Zach was in the NICU --- what if something was permanently wrong with him because he came early? I kept thinking what if they'd just admitted me to the hospital and delayed the c-section a week to give him more time to grow? It was exhausting and draining not knowing when he'd come home. Tom dealt with this much better than I did. I knew we weren't in nearly the dire circumstances that many parents face, but this was my baby, my situation and it felt overwhelming. I wanted someone to tell us Zach was fine.

Over the next week, Zach got stronger and stronger. The first time I held him I was so scared of hurting him, but I never wanted to put him down. At first he was getting all his nourishment via the IV. I started pumping the night he was born and in a few days my milk came in. We would feed him whatever I pumped, attempt to breastfeed and then supplement the rest with formula. I very much wanted to breastfeed and all the books make it sound like if your baby ever has formula he will never eat breastmilk again. However, due to his premature arrival, he wasn't strong enough yet to feed entirely at the breast. The requirements for his discharge were for him to maintain his own temperature (he did that almost immediately), gain weight (that took a bit of work) and eat at least 2 ounces of formula in less than half an hour. Every three hours Tom and I would go to the NICU to feed him. We'd start out with me attempting to breasfteed, then Tom would feed him the prepared formula. Looking back, I think they held Zach longer than necessary. It felt like we were force feeding him the bottles. In their 2 ounce calculation, they never took in to account whatever breastmilk he was getting from me.

After the first few days in the hospital, I became really upset that Zach wasn't in the room with me, like all the other moms in the hospital. I hated having to get up every 3 hours and go to the NICU. I just wanted him in the room with us. I wanted to hold him, have him fall asleep in my arms, feed him in private, etc. It was really hard, emotionally, to be separated from him so much. A few nights postpartum, everyone was out to dinner. I had said that was fine, because I was looking forward to a moment or two to myself. I got myself into the bathroom to take my first shower since the surgery. I turned on the shower and the most pathetic little drops of water started coming out. This was as good as it got. I got in the shower and realized I couldn't even wash my hair because the water pressure was so low. I burst into tears and just stood there in the shower, sobbing. I couldn't make the tears stop. The post-pregnancy hormones, combined with Zach being in the NICU and the uncertainty of not knowing when he'd be released, led me to just lose it. I got out of the shower and called Tom and told him I needed him to come back to be with me.

The day after Zach was born I remember being completely stunned when one of his nurses told me he would need to eat every 3 hours. I'm SURE I learned this in one of the classes we took. How this never sunk in is beyond me. It felt like we would wake up, go to the NICU, change and feed Zach, go back to our hospital room and have to do it all over again in less than 2 hours. It was exhausting.

After 6 days the neonatologist said Zach could stay another night or go home, it was really our decision. The night before, Zach had briefly desatted, so she said they'd keep him another day, just to be sure. That evening we went out with my parents for a little celebratory dinner. (I had been released from the hospital. However, since Zach was still in the NICU they let me stay in my hospital room for free, so I could feed him every 3 hours. This was an amazing service the hospital offered. They even gave me free meals.) While we were out to dinner, Zach's nurse called saying she needed us back at the hospital ASAP. We rushed back and she said there had been some confusion about Zach's eating schedule and we had to feed him immediately. She went on to tell us that Zach might need to get a feeding tube. We went from elation that he was finally coming home, to terror that something was wrong with him. I cried so much that night and barely slept. Tom and I were on pins and needles the next day, waiting for the neonatologist. She stopped into our room midmorning and said Zach was ready to go home. We were stunned. We asked about the feeding tube and she had no idea what we were talking about. We told her what the nurse said and she told us the nurse was mistaken. Zach was cleared to go home.

I'm not sure a hospital room has ever been packed up so quickly. Our bags were packed and in the car within moments and we just waited for Zach to be released. I was positively giddy when we went to get him from the NICU. He looked dwarfed in his carseat, but he was finally coming home! It was a slow drive home, but we finally had our son, who aside from being a month early, is a happy, healthy and beautiful boy!

Starting a new blog!

It has been a little over 3 months since Zach arrived and what a whirlwind experience it has been! Ever since Zach arrived, I've been meaning to write about our adventures, so here is our new blog. And true to the past 3 months, I'm dog-tired and will write more later...

Birthday Babymoon

Well, it looks like we are in the final stretch!  It is starting to feel like I've been pregnant forever.  It looks like Baby Stanis may be greeting us around July 10th or 11th.  We go back for our final placenta previa check a week from Monday.  The doctor isn't hopeful that there will be any change.  If that is the case, then we will most likely schedule the c-section on July 10th or 11th.  

It has been really warm the past few days and that has been really hard for me.  I'm exhausted and hot most of the time.  Two days ago I started having contractions brought on by heat/dehydration.  Fortunately, after drinking a few jugs of water and laying down for a few hours, the contractions stopped.  Tom and I were just about ready to go to the hospital, though.

Last weekend Tom treated me to an extra special birthday present --- two nights away from the noise and chaos of our remodel!  It was my Birthday Babymoon...  We stayed at a spa resort in Los Gatos, which is just a few minutes from our home.  On my birthday I got a massage and a pedicure and felt positively spoiled.  It was great!  We were able to stop back home and check on the construction and then escape back to the hotel.  We enjoyed breakfast in our room each morning, several wonderful meals out, and even made time for a jaunt to Lowe's to buy yet more stuff for the remodel!  :)

Car Seats and Nesting

Not too much new on the baby front these days.  I've been "nesting", aka organizing, our little area in preparation for Baby Stanis' arrival.  Tom put the car seat in the car this weekend.  It is still weird to see it there.  We have a little bunny strapped in to it for now.  I tried to stop by the fire station yesterday to see if we had the car seat installed correctly.  For everyone saying "just stop by the fire station", it just isn't that simple.  They don't do it at our fire station, so they sent me to the Sheriff's office.  (Saratoga doesn't have a police force - we are covered under the county sheriff's office.)  Once there I was told I had to call someone to set up an appointment to get the car seat checked.  I left a message yesterday but have yet to hear back.  I found a list online of local inspection sites.  The first one I called, a local Audi dealership, no longer does inspections.  The second place referred me to another number, etc, etc, etc.  This seems entirely more complicated than it needs to be...

Over the weekend I was moving stuff from one closet to another, to make room for all the baby stuff.  While putting some empty binders on a shelf, I gashed my finger on a piece of our old cast iron bathtub.  It was actually fairly grotesque and quite bloody.  Tom and I ended up in the emergency room a few hours later when I started to get tingling in the finger.  A few stitches later we were on our way.  We were actually amazed that we were in and out of the ER in an hour.  Don't know if we just lucked out, or if the ER up here has shorter wait times than LA.

Friday is an important milestone for Baby Stanis.  I'll be 34 weeks along and at that point the OB said it is ok to go to the hospital where we plan on delivering.  Before then, we need to go to the "bigger" hospital that has a more advanced neonatal center.

Tonight we have an infant CPR class.  Last week we had a breastfeeding class.  I can't say I'm getting much out of these classes.  The breastfeeding class had about 20 minutes of info spread across 3 hours.  And I got to practice latching a fake baby to a fake foam breast in front of the class.  That was fun.  It seems like we'll get more information during the one-on-one with the nurses in the hospital than we got in the class.  Many of the nurses are lactation consultants and they have a very pro-breastfeeding program at the hospital.  After our disappointment with the basic baby care and breastfeeding classes, we decided to cancel our Childbirth Prep class.  We're most likely looking at a c-section, anyway.

Baby Update

It has been a while since my last post.  I've just been gestating away...  This past Saturday baby Stanis had quite a fantastic baby shower!  He now has a wardrobe that rivals both mine and Tom's put together!  I was truly blown away by everyone's generosity.  We have so many great items for the baby!

Today we had our ultrasound to check on the placenta previa.  My parents, who were in town for the shower, joined us and got to see their first ultrasound.  Baby Stanis wasn't terribly cooperative and they didn't get to see too many things that were recognizably body parts.  However, I think they still enjoyed a glimpse of the baby and hearing the heartbeat.  Baby Stanis is measuring about 4 pounds 2 ounces.

Unfortunately, the placenta previa has not resolved itself and the OB thinks we are most likely headed for a c section.  She wants to check it again in a month.  At that point we'd be about a week away from the c section, so we're really bringing this one down to the wire!

In other news, Tom set up the bassinet a few weeks ago.  My big trip today was to Target to buy diapers. We're going to get the car seat this weekend.  Slowly, we're getting everything ready for the baby.  We have a very limited amount of space to work in because of the remodel, but I don't think the baby is going to mind!

In other news, we celebrated our 1 year anniversary yesterday!  What a year it has been and what an exciting year we have ahead of us!!!

Ultrasound Update April

Today we had our ultrasound checkup to see if the marginal placenta previa had cleared up.  Unfortunately, it is still present, although the doctor thinks there is still time for it to resolve.  However, she has placed me on "disability" and told me I have to stop working.  I guess this means any ambition I had to run out and get a job in my third trimester is gone.  HA!  I have so little energy right now, I can barely function.  

The intestinal distress hung around for about a week and a half, which was not much fun.  I was worried about the baby, but all indications are good and they didn't find anything in my labs to indicate an infection.  I never thought I'd get sick of eating bread, but after a week of bread and rice, I was craving protein like nobody's business!  We had a few more scares with the contractions - at one point they were happening every 5 minutes.  However, we found that if I drank a bunch of water and laid down on the couch, they went away.

We interviewed another pediatrician last week.  We liked her better than the first one, but she didn't have much of a sense of humor.  We're going to interview one more doctor.  

This past weekend all of our worldly possessions were packed up and moved into the garage.  We start demolition for our remodel this Thursday.   We have two rooms and a bathroom in the house that we will be living in for the next 4 months.  It will definitely be an adventure!!!

The video we took today has a good image of the baby's face and profile.  Enjoy!

Dehydration

We had quite a scare yesterday.  I've had "intestinal distress" since Friday night and was planning on calling the OB today if it didn't clear up.  Yesterday morning I woke up around 7 and started having contractions.  I was in bed and started counting them.  I got to 5 in 45 minutes and somehow drifted back to sleep.  When I woke up a few hours later I shook it off as me being paranoid and got out of bed.  On my way down the stairs I was struck with a particularly painful contraction and yelled out to Tom that we needed to go to the hospital.  (In the back of my mind was the info diarrhea + contractions = preterm labor.)  A quick call to the doctor confirmed this and off we went.

The whole way there I was telling Tom I thought I was over-reacting, that they were just going to tell us to go home, that everything was fine.  Meanwhile, I was still having contractions.  We got to the labor and delivery floor, spoke to a nurse, and were put in a delivery room.  They hooked me up to a fetal heart monitor and contraction monitor.  I was having contractions every 10 minutes.  These weren't gut-wrenching painful, but they were still painful.  They took a urine and blood sample and started me on an IV.  Apparently, I was dehydrated from the diarrhea and that triggered the contractions.  I didn't feel dehydrated.  However, after a few hours on the IV the contractions slowed down to every 20 minutes, then every half hour, then every hour, then gone!!  After a few hours without contractions they sent me home.  The nurse told me they get a lot of women during the summer who go into preterm labor because of dehydration.  I feel we were really lucky to get to the hospital early enough to stop the contractions.  And yes, I'm now drinking water by the gallon.

Gestational Diabetes

Every woman is checked for gestational diabetes between 24 and 28 weeks.  Gestational diabetes only occurs during pregnancy (hence the name) and can result in anything from a large baby to a stillborn.  Most often, gestational diabetes goes away once the baby is born, and both mom and baby are fine.  However, having gestational diabetes puts the mom at a 50% risk of developing diabetes later in life.  GD is managed during pregnancy with diet, exercise and possibly daily insulin injections.

Two weeks ago I had the gestational diabetes test - the glucose tolerance test.  This involves drinking 10 ounces of glucose watery stuff.  It was pretty gross and made me nauseous.  An hour later your blood is drawn.  Sadly, I failed that test.  The next step is the expanded glucose tolerance test which I had this past Tuesday.  This time I had to fast for 12 hours, show up at 8 am, have my blood drawn and drink a glucose drink that had twice the sugar concentration of the previous one.  I almost vomited while drinking it.  I guess that isn't too uncommon.  Try downing 10 ounces of corn syrup sometimes.  Or rather, don't.  At this point you are held hostage for the next 3 hours so they can draw your blood hourly.  So, I sat in the waiting room.  And got bored.  So I bothered the font desk people with a question -- "I haven't felt the baby move as often in the past two days - is that normal?"  Next thing I knew I was whisked back to an exam room, my weight and blood pressure measured, told to pee in a cup, and then had a PA come in with a doppler to check the baby.  She told me movement isn't reliable until 32 weeks - after that point if I notice a change in baby activity they do get worried.  However, since I was there (and being held hostage) they were happy to check on the baby for me.  She put the doppler goo on my tummy and went to work finding the heartbeat.  Baby Stanis was probably on the most intense sugar high of his short life and every time she put the doppler on my tummy he kicked it.  She told me I have a feisty baby.  However, we did listen to the heartbeat, kicks aside, and it sounded great.  She said he had good blood flow.  That's my boy!  :)  This diversion passed a half hour of my captivity.  Four blood draws later I was free to go.

I got the test results today.  NO GESTATIONAL DIABETES!!!!

Pediatrician

There have been several, several things about being pregnant that have surprised me.  I think I had some vague notion that two lines showed up on the pregnancy test and then 9 months later a baby popped out.  And yes, that is what is supposed to happen, but there is just so much else that has to be done in between.  Ultrasounds, peeing in cups, getting blood drawn, baby kicking, circumcise or not, breastfeed or not, choosing baby gear, interviewing pediatricians, etc, etc, etc.  That last item - interviewing pediatricians - would NEVER have occurred to me.  However, within 24 hours of the baby being born, he is checked out by the pediatrician.  Hence, a series of "prenatal" pediatrician interviews are now in our future.  We had the first one today.

I don't know exactly what I expected, but the person we interviewed did not meet my ideals of a pediatrician.  Tom called him a "baby mechanic".  To me it seemed like he was tired, burned out and not terribly interested in being a pediatrician.  I don't expect the pediatrician to think my child is the greatest gift to mankind, but this guy made it seem like caring for a child was like working an assembly line.  Not quite the warm, fuzzy feeling I was hoping for.  We have the next interview in a few weeks.  Let's hope that one is better!

Ultrasound Update

Today we had an ultrasound to check the status of the placenta previa. Baby Qbert is doing well, but the placenta is still blocking the cervix. I am no longer allowed to travel and have to avoid anything strenuous. We have to watch out for bleeding and if that happens, it is off to the hospital we go. We were able to confirm that Qbert is still, in fact, a boy. He is currently 1 pound 12 ounces and his size places him in the 70th percentile, which means he's at the larger end of the spectrum for his gestational age. I got the lovely sugar drink for the glucose tolerance test. I'll most likely try to get that done tomorrow morning.

I'm feeling a bit immobilized by the "nothing strenuous" warning. Is carrying groceries in from the car strenuous? How about packing boxes for our upcoming remodel? Perhaps I'll ponder about this while I relax on the sofa for a bit...

23.5 weeks!

It has been a while since my last update and so much has happened with baby Qbert. A few weeks ago I was reading in bed around 11pm when I felt something poke my bladder from above. I thought it an interesting feeling and then it happened again. I sprung out of bed (well, as much as one can spring when 20 weeks pregnant) and ran to tell Tom. It happened two more times that night. It took me a few days to determine that this was, in fact, Qbert saying hello and not, say, last night's dinner saying hello. Since then Qbert has exhibited his future career as an Olympic track star by running mini-marathons on my bladder. At times it actually gets really uncomfortable. However, it is so exciting to finally feel the little guy!

Last week I had my monthly prenatal checkup. She informed me my uterus is in the right place (good to know I didn't stash it behind a kidney). One of the ways they judge the progress of the pregnancy is by where your uterus is - each week it should be in a certain range. My uterus, apparently, is complying. We also listened to the baby's heartbeat.... ahhhh... so much fun to hear! It always makes me grin like an idiot. The last few times they've had to chase the baby around my tummy because he just moves so much! Next week we go in for an ultrasound to see if the placenta has raised up at all.

A few weeks ago I was having some pretty bad heart palpitations, which can be normal during pregnancy. However, I was getting dizzy afterwards, so my OB referred me to a cardiologist. They put me on a Holter monitor for 24 hours. They said they would call if there were any problems, and I haven't heard a thing, so I assume all is well with my heart. I have a follow-up with the cardiologist at the end of next week. I think stress got the better of me with the palpitations. However, I've been trying to drink more water, which seems to have helped with the dizziness.

When we found out we were pregnant, it jump-started our plans for remodeling the house. After a few months of design work, we finally submitted our plans to the city of Saratoga last Tuesday. I waddled in with the contractor, hoping to play the pregnant card and get our plans pushed through a bit faster. In the process of talking with the building inspector, we found out the previous 1100 sf addition put on our house by the previous owners was never permitted. Or, rather, the permit expired and was never finaled. So, technically, half of our house is illegal in the eyes of the city. We're now trying to get the previous owner to provide copies of the finalized permits, which they say they have. My dreams of having our remodel finished before the baby gets here are quickly vaporizing... We also decided over the weekend to rip the upper deck off the house, as we don't see ourselves really using it, and it is likely to cost about $20,000 to rebuild. It is currently unsafe and possibly causing problems with the 2nd floor cantilever.

However, the one room Tom and I are remodeling ourselves is the nursery! We've spent the past three weekends working on it. The previous owners used the room as a framing studio, so we had a lot of work to do. We ripped out a huge shelf along one wall, painted the walls, tore out the old trim, and partially installed the new trim. The room was a light purple with hideous dark purple trim. We're working on removing the linoleum and we have the hardwood to install. There are also pipes in the room, so we're going to put in a vanity with a little sink. It has been a lot of work, but it is fun seeing it all come together.

Finally, we went Friday night to set up our baby registry. After the fun we had with the wedding registry, we approached this with a mix of excitement, apprehension and dread... After getting our scanning gun, we started in the first aisle, which was bottles. We came prepared with two books and a few emails from friends. We almost went in to meltdown just on the bottles. 20 minutes later we decided it really was going to depend entirely on what the baby decides he likes, so we registered for a bottle set that seemed good... We referred to our books and emails a few times, but generally we picked things we thought would work well... All in all, we were done in 2 hours! Tom said it was more fun than the wedding registry. I wasn't so sure --- choosing nipple pads vs china patterns? Tough call. :)

Some pics from the nursery in progress:

The nursery before we started:

Tom removing the giant shelf (notice the lovely purple moulding around the wood beams):

Working on the room (notice the lovely new white moulding) The door and trim around the sliding door had been deep purple:

Yay power tools!

Part of the 150 feet of trim we painted:

The old linoleum floor:
Tom unloading 66 boxes of hardwood flooring, at 62 pounds a box:

Sad Weekend

Tom and I flew to San Diego this past weekend for a party that my parents, together with my great aunt and uncle, Don and Daryl, throw every few years.  We had a great time at the party on Friday night.  Saturday we stopped over to Don and Daryl's to return some items from the party and visited with them for a while.  After we left, Don sat down to read for a bit, fell asleep, and never woke up.  Daryl tried to wake him for dinner, but he had passed away.  We are so sad and devastated by this.  Don had had some serious medical issues, but it seemed like he was doing much better and gave no indication he wasn't feeling well.  We had a fun visit with him on Saturday and he was in good spirits.  This has come as a huge shock to the family.

I have so many memories of Don, all the way from their home in Washington DC, and being a flower girl in their daughter's wedding 25ish years ago, through to dancing with him at my own wedding this past summer.  Don had been in a wheelchair and I kept telling him I was going to dance with him at my wedding.  He would laugh at me like I was a crazy person, but as he recovered his strength and ability to walk, I became more and more insistent that we would, indeed, have that dance.  At the wedding, Don asked me to dance and we had a wonderful time of it!  It meant so much to me.

I know it will take more time for it to sink in that Don is gone.  He led a fascinating and exciting life and I am sad it was cut short all too soon.

IT'S A ...

We had our big ultrasound today and found out Qbert's gender! Watch the big reveal here:

Week 17 Prenatal Visit

Today we had our monthly prenatal visit.  Typically they check the baby's heartbeat with a doppler machine.  At our last monthly visit she couldn't find the heartbeat with the doppler so we had an ultrasound.  We were really hoping the same would happen today so that we could get a glimpse of the baby's sex, but the doctor found the heartbeat in about half a second.  She said it was a good, strong heartbeat and we all listened to it for a bit. Even with all the physical changes with my body, it is still reassuring to hear confirmation that there is a baby in there!

On Tuesday I slipped on our wood stairs and fell down the staircase.  I spoke to the OB on the phone and she assured me the baby would be ok.  Based on the subsequent headache, vomiting and bump on my head, I think I probably had a minor concussion from the fall.  Despite the OB saying the baby was fine, it still made me feel a lot better to hear the heartbeat today!  I'm sporting a 3 inch bruise on my bum and it hurts to sit, but otherwise I think I'm doing ok.  

At today's visit I also had blood drawn for the quad screen.  This is a set of tests that look for genetic defects, such as Down's Syndrome.  I assumed this test was done as a matter of course, but we were given the choice to have it or not.  We saw no reason not to have the test, so we signed the consent form.  The OB said if the results are positive we'll hear in about 3-4 days.  She said otherwise it takes weeks to get the results.

Our next visit is on Feb 19th, for the big 20 week ultrasound.  This is when we'll find out the sex of the baby, assuming Qbert is cooperating and presents the appropriate pose!  Don't forget to vote in our poll in the upper left corner of the page!

Prenatal Massage

Here we are in our 17th week and my body is starting to feel out of sorts.  After a few weeks of contemplating how nice a massage would be, I finally went today to get a prenatal massage.  The cost was daunting, but my back has been crying out for some TLC.  I really didn't know what to expect --- I envisioned a massage table with a big hole in the center where the baby bump goes.  Needless to say, this is not how they do it.  Instead, I was propped up on a myriad of pillows and just sank into them on my side.  The massage felt great.  The massage therapist taught me how to "roll under" when I want to flip sides during the night.  Instead of heaving the baby over you by rolling onto your back, you get on all fours and then shift to the other side.  I'll have to try that tonight and see how it works.  For the final portion of the massage she had me on my back, lying on two wedges.  This felt incredible.  She said I could sleep this way at home, but I'm not sure I could get myself out of the wedges on my own.  The only part of the massage I didn't really enjoy was when she said it was time to massage the baby and she started massage my bump (and, ahem, maternal fat stores).  I think she noticed I tensed up.  This was partly due to the fact that she was putting pressure on my bladder, which hadn't been emptied for at least 30 minutes.  She quickly moved on to other areas.  I think I'll definitely go back, as budget allows, for additional massages.

We received our first onesie and bib today!  A few weeks ago I went to Tom's office for lunch and they were having a health fair.  We wandered around and found a booth with baby stuff on display.  His company contracts with this company to provide a myriad of services - health care referrals, financial/legal referrals, etc.  They also offer a pack of books for pregnant couples.  The pack arrived today --- 4 pregnancy books, the onesie and bib.  I've been having to hold myself back from buying cute baby clothes, so it is fun to finally have *something* that is baby-sized!

Prenatal Massage

Here we are in our 17th week and my body is starting to feel out of sorts.  After a few weeks of contemplating how nice a massage would be, I finally went today to get a prenatal massage.  The cost was daunting, but my back has been crying out for some TLC.  I really didn't know what to expect --- I envisioned a massage table with a big hole in the center where the baby bump goes.  Needless to say, this is not how they do it.  Instead, I was propped up on a myriad of pillows and just sank into them on my side.  The massage felt great.  The massage therapist taught me how to "roll under" when I want to flip sides during the night.  Instead of heaving the baby over you by rolling onto your back, you get on all fours and then shift to the other side.  I'll have to try that tonight and see how it works.  For the final portion of the massage she had me on my back, lying on two wedges.  This felt incredible.  She said I could sleep this way at home, but I'm not sure I could get myself out of the wedges on my own.  The only part of the massage I didn't really enjoy was when she said it was time to massage the baby and she started massage my bump (and, ahem, maternal fat stores).  I think she noticed I tensed up.  This was partly due to the fact that she was putting pressure on my bladder, which hadn't been emptied for at least 30 minutes.  She quickly moved on to other areas.  I think I'll definitely go back, as budget allows, for additional massages.

We received our first onesie and bib today!  A few weeks ago I went to Tom's office for lunch and they were having a health fair.  We wandered around and found a booth with baby stuff on display.  His company contracts with this company to provide a myriad of services - health care referrals, financial/legal referrals, etc.  They also offer a pack of books for pregnant couples.  The pack arrived today --- 4 pregnancy books, the onesie and bib.  I've been having to hold myself back from buying cute baby clothes, so it is fun to finally have *something* that is baby-sized!

Week 15

As of today we are 15 weeks pregnant, starting our 16th week.  We are 3/8 of the way there!  There hasn't been too much to report --- my belly "popped" over the weekend, or so I think.  My waistline has vanished.  I'm starting to waddle ever so slightly, which has me concerned.  It seems entirely too early to be waddling!

I was looking through old pictures and realized I never posted our home pregnancy test photos.  We actually took 5 tests.  The first one had the faintest, faintest, faintest line on it.  Subsequent tests taken over the next few days continued to show light lines, so we finally went the digital route.  It was after the digital confirmation that I pounced on Tom at some ridiculously early hour, screaming "We're pregnant!!!!".  Despite 5 tests, he still didn't believe it!  :)

We've settled on a rough design for our home remodel.  I am ever so hopeful it will be done before the baby is.  Hope springs eternal.  Tom and I are remodeling the nursery ourselves.  Tom demolished the built in sink and cabinets over the weekend.  We have yet to order new ones, but we still have 6 months to go.  I started ripping up the linoleum, although we're holding off on that until we have the new floor to put down.

Don't forget to vote in the boy/girl poll in the upper left of the page!!

For a better start in life...

"Laboratory tests over the last few years have proven that babies who start drinking soda during that early formative period have a much higher chance of gaining acceptance and 'fitting in' during those awkward pre-teen and teen years. So, do yourself a favor. Do your child a favor. Start them on a strict regimen of sodas and other sugary carbonated beverages right now, for a lifetime of guaranteed happiness."

So why won't my OB/GYN let me drink more than 1 diet soda a day???

Week 13 Checkup

We had our monthly prenatal checkup today. They couldn't find the baby's heartbeat using the Doppler machine so we had an ultrasound instead. This was our first abdominal ultrasound and it was certainly more comfortable than the transvaginal ones. Qbert was dancing up a storm in there! S/he waved to us at one point which was just awesome to see! The heartbeat was strong. Apparently the placenta is low-lying which could correct itself in time, we just have to wait and see. If it does not correct, it could lead to placenta previa. The doctor told us she wasn't telling us this to worry us, that it could correct on its own. Right, like I'm not going to worry... We should know more at our 20 week ultrasound.

Still, it was great to see the baby again and watch him/her move around!

2nd Trimester

Well, we've just about done it.  Or we have already done it.  Or we're in the middle of doing it.  It all depends on what method you use.  However you slice it, we're somewhere near the 2nd trimester.  I tried an online calculator to tell me when the 2nd trimester begins and it gave me the following answer - second trimester begins either Jan 3, Jan 13 or Jan 22, depending on if we're calculating by development, gestation, or conception.  Well, that clears things up.  However, we hit a big milestone over the weekend - 12 weeks!  This is the point when the risk of miscarriage falls considerably.  After our early scare at about 5 weeks this is an exciting benchmark.  We have a regular prenatal appointment on Thursday.  There won't be an ultrasound but instead we get to hear the baby's heartbeat via Doppler.  After that appointment, Tom is going to announce to his work that we're expecting, so it is a pretty big appointment for us.

We went to another baby store yesterday, "Baby Super".  It isn't as flashy as Babies R Us, but they seem to have a huge selection of furniture and strollers.  We really liked the quality of their cribs.  I read some online reviews that said they can take forever to ship furniture, so we'll probably have to pick something soon.  We did find a bedding pattern that we (meaning me) love.  Tom seems agreeable to the bedding pattern...  I think he's more focused on the cool features in the strollers.  My main concern with a stroller is that I can lift it into the car without putting out my back.

Here's the bedding pattern:

 

In other news, I exercised for the first time since the morning sickness started.  I finally felt well enough to go for a 3.5 mile walk.  I'm sure I'm going to crash this afternoon, though.

This evening we're signing the design contract for our home renovation.  I'm sure the contractor is going to laugh when I tell him I want everything done before the baby arrives.  Ah well, a woman can dream...

Disturbing Crib

Not much new on the baby front this week. Still having nausea, but it is getting better. I'm still exhausted most of the time and climbing the stairs completely winds me.

I looked at cribs online today and saw the most disturbing crib. It looks like the cages they use at the animal shelter for poor homeless critters. It is designed to hold 4 babies:
It is baby prison! This just seems wrong on so many levels.