the most unrelaxing day ever...

Long story made somewhat short.....Here's the scoop on my "relaxing" Friday - aka the first day of my maternity leave. I wrote this out originally in an email to a few friends, and now I share if with you...

We had doctor and a 41 week sonogram at the hospital on Friday
I'm 2 cm dilated, 40% effaced.
We were at the hospital FOREVER....ok, 4 hours.
We went for the sonogram, which was fine - we have enough fluid and things look good. Before that I had a non-stress test, and the doctor wanted me on it for more time, so we did more time, then after the sonogram he came down and said he "wasn't happy" with it and sent me upstairs for more monitoring. It was the doctor at the hospital, not MY doctor, and he didn't give much of an explanation as to what he wasn't happy with.

We went upstairs, which is actually labor and delivery, and into big area with about 8 curtained off spaced full of women getting the same test. Some intern said things looked fine and tried to give me a vaginal exam, which i refused. I said "I just had one at 1:30" and she was fine with us skipping it. Phew! I've received some advise about interns and trying to avoid them giving you vaginal exams. I really don't need 2 in one day thank you very much. They let us go, saying things were good. Phew.

Earlier in the day, my normal doctor also wanted to strip my membranes, which I denied. Said we'd wait until next week for that! Our next visit to the doctor is on Monday, but hopefully I won't make it until then BECAUSE...on the monitor it looked like I was having somewhat regular contractions! I could barely feel them - like a mild cramp - but they continued last night, but now they are gone. Maybe Braxton-Hicks? Either way, things seem to be moving along.

We also walked from the doctor to the hospital, which was 30 blocks in Central Park! It was 44 degrees yesterday, so a lovely time....and I had hot thai food for dinner.
Fingers crossed for some action soon.

anxious!

My due date is now a mere 18 days away and it could really happen at any time! I'm excited and nervous and generally I have an undercurrent of excitement, nervousness and anxiety running through me at all times. It's always in the back of my mind - the question of "Oh my....what is this pain - is this a contraction?" with every ache and pain. However, the baby hasn't dropped yet (I don't think), so I don't think it's happening any time soon. My bowels have become a little looser though (I know T.M.I), but I can blame that on eating Christmas food maybe. Our next doctor's appointment is on Wednesday and it's the big 37 week appointment that I have been waiting for. We will get to see it, and they will do a vaginal exam, so I will know if I'm dilated or anything. The non-stress test will happen again and that will tell me if I am having any contractions, which as of last week I was not. So....these days I really look forward to going to the doctor! We've been going to dinner and going on dates - 2 movies and the ballet (Nutcracker - magical) as to take advantage of the fact that I am in NYC and I don't have to work right now, so that is an added bonus. Fingers crossed! I'd like to make it to close to the due date. I want a 2009 baby - and I like the idea of Jan 20th...inauguration day! That would be cool.

I passed the 2nd glucose test! yay me!

Good news! I "passed" the 3-hour glucose test! YAY! I thought that would be the case. The day before the first test, I had a LOT of sugar. Someone sent us delicious cupcakes and word got out that I was an icing fiend, so I had my cupcake + the icing from 2 other cupcakes. It wasn't until after I ingested all this sugar that I said to myself "whoops - I have the glucose test tomorrow"! So I am not surprised with the results of the first one. I am happy, but I still need to watch my sugar intake, and this is a HORRIBLE week to do that with Halloween and all. Plus, we're having people over for a baby shower/open house this weekend and there will be plenty of tasty treats to eat! Anyway - I must remember to eat healthy. Also, I am at 2 week doctor's appointments now. Whoa....getting closer! I'm 28 weeks and officially in my 3rd trimester. Time flies!

glucose test results

I failed the glucose test! My results came back "high". Bummer, but apparently a lot of people fail this one and have to do the extended one. I just made my appointment for 8am on Thursday (Argh!!!) and for that one I have to fast as of midnight the night before, then get my blood taken, and then drink the drink, then have it taken after the 1st, 2nd and 3rd hours. I guess I'm not totally upset about this, as I don't think I have it. I eat pretty healthy, I don't eat too many carbs as it is, and I have been working hard on getting more protein into my diet. I think if you get diagnosed with gestational diabetes, you then are sort of on the atkins diet...low carb, low sugar, high protein. It would be good for me to have some structure - but I would rather not have it. My blood test also came back with the news that I am slightly anemic. I am RELIEVED to hear that, as it explains why I am tired all the time. Before I was pregnant I was taking an iron supplement, and I stopped when I became pregnant. Now I am on it again and hopefully in a couple of days I'll have some good energy!

glucola

Today I had a doctor's visit, and it was the dreaded glucose test! This involved me being asked to drink a orange drink - I think it's called "Glucola" - and then wait an hour and have blood taken to test for gestational diabetes. Here is the official wording according to the American Pregnancy Association: The test evaluates how your body processes sugar. A high level in your blood may indicate that your body is not processing sugar effectively (positive test). If the results of this screen are positive, the woman may have the Glucose Tolerance Test performed. It is important to note that not all women who test positive for the Glucose Challenge Screening test are found to have diabetes upon further diagnosis.

I wasn't sure what to expect from this drink, and it really wasn't bad at all. It was just like flat orange soda. It went down the hatch and then I saw the doctor for my normal checkup. This was Dr.Brown - the 4th in my practice, and the only one I had yet to meet. She was quite lovely and informative and friendly. She felt around and we listened to the heartbeat and everything seemed normal! I go back in 2 weeks for the Rogam shot (because I have B- blood type, and my husband is B+) and another checkup. I don't know if I am going in 2 weeks just for the shot, or if this is when the more frequent appointment starts. I didn't ask. Anyway - all is well in babyland!

general update

I am almost 6 months pregnant! Holy crap. I don't know why, but that feels SO far along....I guess because it is! It's funny though. I am 23 weeks, and 20 weeks is the halfway mark, and that doesn't seem as far as 6 months...anyway. I am still feeling good and feeling more kicking also! I don't think I am showing as much as I could be, and I can't decide if that is a good thing or a weird thing. I am not yet at the point where I am obviously pregnant, unless you already know - but strangers don't seem to be aware. I am wearing maternity pants full-time, which is lovely. My husband is jealous of them and their stretching abilities! I am working with my friends to sort out plans for a baby shower, and I have started registering! We had a doctor's appt last week and she listened to the heartbeat and said that it's strong and that it sounds good, and confirmed that all our test results (anatomy scan, spina bifida etc) are fine....so...things seem to be progressing well and I am happy!

what a week!

Phew!!! What a week. I went to Chicago for work - no problems there, fine time, great town, and then I came back and it was labor day weekend! That meant a quick 2 night trip to Long Island to see the in-laws and my sister and brother in law and my godson, and it was a busy weekend! Thank god I had Monday off, and yesterday was my 20 week anatomy scan! YAYAYAY! That took place at the hospital I will deliver at, St.Lukes-Roosevelt in Manhattan which provided us with a great opportunity to get our bearings, as thankfully I have never been to a hospital in NYC. It seemed like a nice clean place, and I really only saw the fetal maternity ward or whatever you call it, and not the actual maternity ward. For that I need to schedule a tour (note to self: schedule tour!

Anyway - we filled out a piece of paper, waited in the waiting room (bring a magazine or book if you're going, there were NONE there), and then went into a room with a nice gal who was the ultrasound technician. I pulled my pants and undies to just below my pubic bone and off they went! It was about 25-30 minutes and she looked at pretty much all aspects of the growing baby...the head, arms, legs, feet, hands, heart, spine, you name it! She spent a lot of time on the heart, which I guess because it's important to watch it work and make sure things are working well. We told her we didn't want to know the sex, and she said "ok, I'll let you know when I get to that area and you can look away", but she didn't - or didn't tell us to look away and we were none the wiser, which makes me think it's a girl - because maybe there's nothing to see - at least nothing resembling a penis! Ha! After she was done, she gave us 3 photos and then a doctor came in and reviewed everything super fast and said everything was fine and that they would send results to my doctor. And that was that! Painless and supposedly normal! I'll call the doc on Friday to check in about the results anyway.

PS> I'm 20 weeks!

doctor

We went to the doctor yesterday afternoon for an 18 week checkup. We met another doctor in the practice and she was very nice. There are 4 doctors and we're at the point where we start rotating in order to get to know them all, since you never know who will be on when it's time to deliver!

Again, no ultrasound, but we did hear the heartbeat - which is always nice....to know that it's still there and doing well! The rate was 130bpm, which is good. Thing were smooth at the doctor. Not much to report. They took blood for the spina bifida test, since that wasn't included in the CVS testing. Good news about that, is that I didn't pass out. The nurse that took my blood said "I remember you.." in a worried/snarky tone.

I am most looking forward to our 20 week anatomy scan, which is on 9/2. That will be the first time we've seen the baby in about 2 months!

I'm still feeling good, trying to drink a ton of water, since I do have constipation as always. I am showing a bit more, but I haven't "popped" yet. I don't exactly know what that means, but from what I hear I will wake up one morning and magically not be able to do up my pants. People that tell me this swear that they aren't exaggerating, but I don't believe them, so we'll see!

In other news, I THINK I am feeling some movement. It feels like occasional fluttering, and I think that's what it is, but it's so faint that it's hard to tell. The doc said in 2 weeks I will know it for sure...cool!!!

CVS - done!

I'll be 12 weeks tomorrow! What a milestone - YAY!

OK...so yesterday was the big CVS test. I managed to get an appointment with one Dr. Wapner. My genetic counselor said he was the "guru" of CVS tests and she doubted I would even be able to get an appointment with him, but get an appointment I did.

So yesterday my hubby and I headed to Columbia Presbyterian East-side and arrived at their fancy offices. I filled out miles of paperwork again....oh, and an aside - why on earth isn't there a national healthcare database so I don't have to keep filling out all this junk! SO annoying. Anyway - the people there were all SO nice. I finished the paperwork and then a genetic counselor saw us, yes - again, but that is their protocol. It was good though, because my husband had been unable to come to the previous session I had with a counselor. That was fine, but she made me a little nervous by disagreeing with my doctor and the previous counselor about the jewish screenings. She thought I should be tested for the whole panel, which would mean they would take 4 tubes of blood, and we didn't want to do the CVS and take more blood on the same day since we know what happens to me when my blood is taken. Anyway - I think I'm going to call my doc on Monday to discuss having more blood taken and if it's necessary.

After the session, we were brought to a room and I was given 2 gowns to put on. Then a super nice lady came to bring us to the procedure room where she did an ultrasound on me. This was our first one, so it was super exciting, especially since hubby didn't get to see the baby squirming around last time. She was doing the ultrasound to determine a bunch of stuff I guess, but most importantly if they were going to do the test vaginally or through my stomach. Since my placenta is attached from the front, they determined I would have the needle through the stomach. I was actually hoping for that since it seemed less invasive than the catheter through the vag and then a needle through the catheter. That seems like trouble.

The doctor came in we got started. First, tons of bactine on my stomach. I mean a lot. Then he stuck the needle in, with the ultrasound guiding the whole thing. It went by quickly. I felt a pinch - well, a continual pinch and then some strangeness in my back/rectal area which they said would happen due to some nerve thing. I was squeezing my hubby's hand HARD the whole time, and it took about a minute and it was done. Then I got a shot of Rogam, which was apparently necessary since my blood type is RH- and that shot will ensure that if my baby's blood type is a positive one, that my blood won't fight it if things get at all mixed up during the test. I then got dressed, wiped the bactine off and went home! I rested the rest of the day and napped and my husband took care of me. They recommend resting for about 48 hours. No aeorobic activity, baths, sex, etc. I am well rested, and feeling 100%. No problems, spotting etc. I look forward to Tuesday when we will hopefully get our initial news...and ideally it will be good. We will have full results in about 2 weeks.

bigtime ups and downs

I'm 11 weeks! YAY!

Last Friday I had another doctor's appointment and it definitely had it's ups and downs. First of all, we drove there - and parking was a bitch. My husband dropped me off and continued to look for a spot, and because of that - he missed the sonogram. I apparently had the first appointment that day, and unlike our last appointment, where we waited for about 20 minutes, this time I was whisked right in. Anyway - I think I lost a pound, which I guess is ok - she didn't say anything. The sonogram was amazing. It was SO different than last time. Last time it was a blob, and this time I could definitely see a tiny baby inside of me, and it even moved! It was pretty monumental and I was sad my hubby couldn't be there. He made it in just as the doctor's appointment was ending, and just as it was my turn to give blood....A LOT of blood.

I'm pretty sure that there were about 10-12 test tubes lined up. This was the blood for all the tests like Tay-Sacks, Fragile-X, etc. This is where things went downhill. I sat down and they started taking the blood. About halfway through, I started getting woozy, so I asked if it was almost done and she said "yes, just let me know when you can't take it anymore". I did. I said I felt sick and then I said I was going to pass out, as if you've ever passed out before, you know when you're going down. SO....pass out I sure did, and they had gotten my husband who helped me walk, but I couldn't walk, so I kind of fell and he caught me and he and the 2 nurses worked together to somehow get my dead weight into an exam room to sit or lay down. I sat, and then came to. I felt fine, but they made me lay down for a while and gave me some apple juice in a juice box. My husband was telling me what happened and said he came in and I was catatonic - I guess I had mostly passed out, but my eyes remained open, which freaked him out a bit. So that was a big downer. I wasn't surprised, as when I was in 12th grade I tried to give blood and they told me to never try again as it resulted in me feeling woozy, but I don't think I passed out - I just had to lay down, drink ginger ale and eat cookies until I felt better. I guess some people just react differently when a lot of blood is taken. I don't have a fear of needles or blood, still I choose not to look, and I haven't had a problem in almost 20 years, but then again, no one since then has tried to take that much of my blood! SO........it was a BIG day!

This will be a big week, as I have a CVS test on Thursday with Dr.Wapner, who apparently is the "guru" of CVS tests, and was instrumental in the development of said test! Hopefully the removal of that fluid will go better than the removal of the blood! I hear that many people are so distracted by watching the ultrasound used to navigate the tools, that they barely notice the procedure. I'm hoping for that!

CVS consult

Oh to be be a bad blogger!

Well, really there isn't THAT much to report. I had a CVS counseling appointment on Monday with a lovely lady named Anita. She fully educated me on the ins and outs of amnio vs. cvs. I had done my own research, but it was nice to be talking about it with a real person and have her answer my minimal questions. I am leaning - no - I am GETTING a CVS test. I told my BF co-worker about my pregnancy today and she had a CVS test, which was good to know. I haven't spoken to anyone that has had one, and she and I share the same Ob/Gyn, so I appreciated what she had to say about it which was that it was relatively painless and just fine. We will surely speak more of it in the coming days as Anita will be calling me with an appointment time surely in the next couple of weeks. I have another doctor's appointment on Friday, and I am looking forward to that. Otherwise, I sometimes don't feel pregnant, except for when I pee a lot, when I look at my boobs and today when I had some pain in my stomach area that I think is just ligaments being stretched. Otherwise, hopefully all is well! I am a little over 10 weeks now!

The First doctor's visit!

Here's a play by play. After I filled out multitudes of forms and then went in, my blood pressure was taken by a nurse and then she told me how to pee in a cup. Then I changed into a gown with the opening facing front of course. My lovely doctor came in and said congrats and we talked for a while and then she went to town. First a pap, then a breast exam - standard OBGYN checkup stuff since I was about due for that anyway. Then she felt the uterus with her fingers....yikes....awkward! Then she stuck what looked like a thin dildo in my snatch and that was a sonogram. It went in and somehow showed my uterus, where we saw a little blob that had a heartbeat that was beating fast! Everything's looked good....not much to see, not a distinguishable baby that is, but at least I know it's not a phantom pregnancy and the tests I took were right! Yay! I go back in 2 weeks for some blood tests, and in the meantime I need to choose between a CVS test and an amniocentesis, since my hubby and I have determined that since I am 36, we would like to do som testing to make sure nothing is wrong. OK! Any advice between those 2 tests would be welcomed.

About all this....

I'm 36 and I'm about 6 weeks pregnant with my first child. My husband knows, my best friend knows and my parents know. He told 2 friends + 3 acquaintances. I haven't been on the pill for ages, so we weren't not trying, but we weren't really trying either. We just figured if it happened it happened, and we would deal with it. So here we are....coming to terms with being parents. I am hoping I don't miscarry, and he wants to tell everyone about it. I don't. We fight about that a few times a week.

I missed my period, but thought it was coming, as I had a few days of implantation bleeding. I wore a tampon, my boobs hurt, all PMS. But NO.....! My period never came, and my booms remained sore, and I had some very minor cramps. Now when I get my period, my cramps are horrible, and it's very heavy so I knew something was up. I had been talking about this to my best friend, telling her I felt weird, and my period was weird and she said I should go to the doctor. I figured there was no point in that. Either I would get my period and that would be that, or I wouldn't and I would be pregnant. That day, I spoke with my husband and told him my suspicions. He asked if I wanted him to buy me a pregnancy test and I said (with some hemming and hawing) YES.

I got home, relaxed, watched some TV and was sort of putting it off. I figured there was no way! Well, 20 percent of me thought that and 80% thought I was indeed pregnant, but I was blocking that 80% out. Not that it would be such a band thing, it would just be a shocker. So I was talking to my best friend on the phone, and said before I hung up "fuck it, I'm just going to take the damn test and get this over with". I hung up, peed on the stick and BLAM. + sign. My husband came in and saw what I was doing, and that I had already done it, and I knew + meant pregnant, and he didn't - so he took the instructions away and came back seconds later and we both started laughing. The test came with 3 tests, so I took the 2nd one too - this one was digital. It immediately said "pregnant" - no doubt about that! He peed on the 3rd one as a control. HAHA! So it's been a few weeks since then, and we're settling into the idea of this. My first doctor's appt isn't for about 2 weeks, so it doesn't quite seem real until a professional tells me yes, there is something growing inside of you. So hopefully that will be a fine appointment and all will be well. Anyway - I have much more to say about my first weeks of pregnancy, so more soon!

PS> Yes, that is the actual photo from my actual pregnancy test!