Friday, February 28, 2014

OB Follow Up after ER Visit

Today was the follow up appointment from the ER visit.  J and I are recovered for the most part from the Noro virus.

The only difficulty today was in getting to be seen at the OB by the proper folks.  I had an appt. time set for 1115 hrs with the COB doctors.  The receptionist insisted I didn't have an appt. and sent me through triage.  I was then seen by a medical student that went into great detail on my exam and questioning.  He then wanted to know, because he saw in the computer that I had an appt. for that day with COB, why I was being seen in triage.

Face to palm and big UGH!

At 1300 hrs the doctor I was supposed to see at 1115 hrs arrives in my room and asks me why I was being seen in triage and not in the other corridor where her office is.  I explained again like I did to med student and to the receptionist and I blamed the receptionist who dared to argue with me.

As if I really like spending two hours of my day in an exam room having to lower, raise, lower and raise my drawers for nurse, med student, and doctor.

All is well with the baby.

fetal heart rate: 147

My weight:  down 2.2 pounds since last week Friday at the last OB appt.

Blood pressure: 136/62

On Monday at the ER baby was measuring two days ahead.  Today it took three tries by two different nurses to get the fetal heart rate.

Try # 1 battery died

Try # 2 baby refused to hold still

Try # 3 with different nurse almost instantaneously the heart beat was heard.

They are considering me already in my 19 week of pregnancy.  Oh goody, now just when am I going to gain a baby bump to match all the rest of those in the OB waiting room that are the same week?

Still wearing my size 16 jeans since I seem to have plenty of room in them.  I want to put on the maternity clothing but I don't want to embarrass myself in public by having them fall off me.  Hopefully by the baby shower, two weeks away, I'll be fitting into them without having to think about accessorizing with a belt or suspenders.

Tuesday, February 25, 2014

Orange

My pee since last night has been coming out orange.  I know exactly why too.  It was the four potassium tablets that they gave me in the Emergency Department last night.  Why was I there?  I'll fill you in.

Saturday J and I went to a birthday party for a one year old at 1400 hrs.  1900 hrs we attended a baby shower for a friend.  Within 24 hours of those outings, hey I try to stay away from public as I DON'T WANT TO GET SICK, we were both vomiting and had diarrhea.

Even the zofran wouldn't keep it down.  J was able to eat and drink a bit yesterday.  I couldn't eat or drink.  I ended up dehydrated and in the emergency department with an IV in my arm.  I was tachycardic  with edema in my legs.  I've had the edema in the legs for years but my PCM chooses to ignore rather than address the issue any time I've brought it up in the past or so I told the cardiac doc attending to me.  The cardiac doctor asked me if I might have congestive heart failure.  Warning bells went off in my head.  He asked me if I had been to the cath lab yet.  Yikes!  My father has congestive heart failure.

The doctors attending to me asked a plethora of questions that neither J nor I could answer fully as we were both exhausted.  Before I reached the ED yes I was running a fever of 100.8.  Yes I had been vomiting and yes it had changed from the normal vomit color to red to brown because we know I have stomach ulcer issues.

My reason for going to the ED was because I was worried about the sickness affecting the baby.  The fever alone was reason enough to go in my book.  They couldn't find their fetal tones monitor so they opted to do an ultrasound.  J missed the last two ultrasounds so he was literally agape and gasped when he saw how much the baby had changed.  He was totally amused with the nice spine curve that he got to see.  Yes the tech could tell the sex but wouldn't tell us when she saw the rump because she isn't allowed to tell.  But she did hover it there long enough that if we knew what we were looking at, the screen was at a really bad angle for me we could have had our guess.

After three blood draws the doctor came back with potassium tablets.  That jogged my memory when they mentioned it.  I have hypokalemia I told him and I often forget I have it because I take potassium supplements daily with my vitamins.  He said that yes the potassium was extremely low.

Sighs...I'm going to be okay.  I'm eating today.  Just half a bagel with some watered down juice to see if I can keep it down.

I have a follow up appointment at OB on Friday.

I told J  he can tell them at work that I won't be making cookies for them this week.  Not as punishment for getting me sick, if it was someone at work that he picked it up from, but because I was told 3-4 days before I'll be feeling up to doing anything like that.  I agree.  I feel like a wet rag rung out to dry.

Oh and this wasn't the flu.  There is a bad, can you believe this, COLD that is going around that cause nausea and vomiting.  I had my flu shot in September and this years seems to have been the strain they needed to cover the flu bug.  But seriously a cold that causes flu like symptoms?  This is just crazy!!!

Friday, February 21, 2014

17 weeks 5 days OB Appointment

All went well.

BP 129/59  Woot!
Fundal height: 18 cm
weight: -1.2 lbs from last appt.
Fetal heart rate: varied between 150-151 baby kept moving around.  Yes it is ALIVE!

Was asked if I had a maternity pillow.  Not yet.
Was told I should go buy one.  LOL  will do that soon.

Asked if I could get a maternity belt prescribed.
Was given script and sent over to the brace room.  Scheduled appointment for the 7th to have one fitted.

Addressed the left ovary pain issue and it was noted on chart.  Will be watched.

Will do thyroid blood draw on Monday as that will be closest to the two week mark from last draw.

Next follow up is scheduled for the 12th of March with OB.

All genetic blood testing came back perfectly fine with little to no risk of trisomy and Down's syndrome.

Anatomy scan is scheduled for the 14th to make sure the rest of everything with baby is good.  Might find out gender that day but if we don't I'm still okay with team green.

Called my mom and told her how the appointment went.  She said, "you know you are allowed to gain weight!".  Last week she was saying I shouldn't gain weight.  Make up my mind Mom!  Explained to my mom that the doctor was okay with my weight loss as I am eating a good diet and I'm only allowed to gain 11-15 pounds anyways.

I'm guessing I'll start gaining weight when I have to eat fast food during the PCS to the East Coast.  I won't be able to drink as much water as I'd like to in order to flush out the salts since bathrooms aren't that plentiful on the trip.

Sad note:
The jeans I'm wearing now have another hole in them.  I fixed the last hole in the leg by taking them in as they are lose enough to take off without undoing the zipper or button; a size 16.  But alas I can't fix every hole.  I'll be down to 2 pair of non maternity jeans at the end of the day.  No big deal.  I'm actually looking forward to showing off my small bump soon with maternity clothes.  I can proudly say that my belly isn't fat but just baby with the amount of weight I've lost in this pregnancy.  I'm not being smug but I am a fat girl and it is so nice to see my hourglass figure in the mirror again; at least for a few more weeks that is.

Thursday, February 20, 2014

February ICLW

Welcome to all those from ICLW!

Tomorrow is my OB check up where they will be doing a thyroid blood draw and fetal heart monitoring.  I am currently 17 weeks and 4 days.

Hoping that baby is still alive tomorrow.  Yes I'm just that paranoid.

Yesterday I noticed that I'm having troubles walking and talking.  I end up breathless.  Most likely it is because of the increased mucus and my asthma.

It is also getting to be increasingly hard to bend over without the round ligament letting me know that is it there and quite cranky.  I'll be asking my OB tomorrow about getting a maternity belt since I went into this pregnancy with back issues.

Lying down on my sides to sleep isn't easy.  The spinal stenosis makes for a very uncomfortable sleep.  I'm getting used to the chronic neck pain and arm pain.  As if having carpal tunnel in both hands wasn't enough to deal with before pregnancy.  But yes I was forewarned that with all of my medical conditions pregnancy would be rough on my body.

The puking up has stopped for the most part.  The last two nights I had a brief bout of it when I went to lie down for the evening.  I still have some nausea.

I guess I'm lucky with the weight gain but I don't feel lucky.  I feel worried.  That 0.6 lbs I had gained is gone again.  I'll be weighing in tomorrow with less weight.  I never knew gaining weight would be so hard because I swear before I got pregnant all I had to do was look at something full of fat and calories and I would gain weight.

I'm still wearing the same size 16 jeans I was last year and the year before.  I am starting to have a bump but not a pronounced "oh shit look out she is going to blow" type bump.  My bump is more of a subtle roundness to my abdomen that makes it look like I'm just fat.  However, I can tell you it isn't jiggly fat any longer.  My lower abdomen is hard.

Weird movements.  Not really feeling the baby kick much this week.  I do feel and sometimes watch it move to the other side of my uterus.  Most likely it is just gravity pulling it along as I switch positions for sleeping.  Wishing baby would just kick a bit to let me know that it indeed is alive.  Yes, again I am that afraid that I'm carrying a dead baby.  If you have gone through what I've gone through I'm sure you felt or will be feeling just as paranoid.  Repeat loss messes you up for a happy pregnancy.

So that is where I sit for today.  Hope none of you fell asleep reading this bit of a blog post.

Tuesday, February 18, 2014

Weekend Blurr

J actually had a four day weekend this weekend.  Well okay it started out that way but we had a bit of work in-between of which since I'm really tired I didn't mind him having to go for a bit to work.

Friday, wow I really can't remember what happened Friday.  Is that a problem?  No I think not.

Saturday we managed to get in a little shopping at the PX and Commissary.  J got his Taylor ham pork roll from the commissary which was nice because this way I didn't have to order it for him on line for Valentine's Day.  Usually that is where I have to get it.  If you've been to Jersey you might just have had Taylor ham and you'll know why he loves it so much.

Saturday afternoon he received a phone call from one of his soldiers.  She is med boarding because she had fibromyalgia.  I can understand how she feels with the pain and fatigue.  Somehow she ended up on the staff duty list.  There is no way with fibromyalgia a soldier can pull a 24 hour shift and stay awake too.  J and one of his other soldiers split the remaining 12 hours of her shift so she could go back to her barracks for rest.  J took the first 7 hours leaving his other soldier the last 5 hours as that is what they had agreed upon.

Sunday I went shopping for a few party favors and decorations for my baby shower.  I swear throwing my own shower is getting expensive and I'm trying to go as cheap as possible.  I know I'll have racked up at least a $500 bill with food, drinks, favors and decorations by the time that day is over.  Will the guest appreciate it?  I hope so because I'm dog tired today.

Monday I went shopping for the flowers for the tables for the baby shower.  After shopping J took me out to a local chowder house to celebrate Valentine's day a bit late.  I was fine with that since the place and idea were mine to begin with.

After lunch we headed home so I could start making the centerpieces.
These are just a few of the centerpieces that I made yesterday.  I tried to stick with neutral colors but yet spring time as by the time the shower rolls around the gender may or may not be known.  I'm still on the fence about finding out.

On the bump front:  still can't be seen from a standing position.  Baby Hiccup decided to move to the left side yesterday and has so far stayed there.  My nipples are on fire and hurt so bad that I hold them and make keening noises.  Wishing there was an anesthetic I could apply topically to them.

Saturday, February 15, 2014

Prayers For The Stolen

What I'm about to write about is a touchy subject and not for those that would rather not think about what could happen to a child.  With that said I apologize if I trigger memories of anyone's prior abuse as a child.

Children are a blessing so I've been told but what happens when a child is born to a parent that would rather not have that child just because of their gender?  Oh I'm sure some would love to have a little girl, I know I would, but what if having that little girl meant that she would have a life of hardship?  A life where she might get raped?

Where I grew up girls were treated much like boys unless you had parents that decided one gender was better than the other just because it has genitals that are on the outside of the body.  At times I grew up wishing I were a boy just to please my parents.  Later when I was an adult I often wished I were a boy just because fewer boys get raped.

As a young girl I would dress in jeans and t-shirts just like my brother did and more often than not they were his hand-me-downs.  Why would I wear a dress to swing from a pine tree only to have it ruined by pine sap?  I wouldn't so I didn't care how I dressed when I went out to play with the boys in the neighborhood.

For me I didn't have to worry about making myself ugly as I was usually covered in dirt and smelled like one of the boys.  I was protected enough until I went to school and had to wash up and don a dress.  It was then that I became vulnerable to those that prey on children.

I was just four years old the first time I was molested.  Yes, I was wearing a dress.  No I didn't tell my parents for fear of being hurt by the much older teenage boys who attacked me.

The second incident was just three years later when I was seven years old.  I was playing outside with my brother and a babysitter's son.  I was dressed as a boy and we were throwing dirt and rocks in our little war.  I got hit in the chest.  At age seven I was already developing breasts.  The older boy told me to remove my shirt of which I didn't think anything of and he began to feel me up.  I was mortified.  I was upset.  Again I didn't tell my parents.  Later, many months later, the molestation culminated in me being forced to perform oral sex on the boy that had felt me up.

It didn't matter in the book and it sure as heck didn't matter in my real life how I dressed.  If someone wants to take something from you and is determined to do it at all costs it doesn't matter how it is dressed up.

This post was inspired by the novel Prayers for the Stolen by Jennifer Clement.  Ladydi was grew up in rural Mexico, where being a girl is a dangerous thing.She and other girls were “made ugly” to keep protect them from drug traffickers and criminal groups. Join From Left to Write on February 18 we discuss Prayers for the Stolen. As a member, I received a copy of the book for review purposes.

Wednesday, February 12, 2014

Milk and Cookies

Today I'm making a normal sized batch of oatmeal raisin cookies for J to take to work tomorrow to share with the other soldiers.

I broke down and decided to take a 16 week bump shot today.  Honestly there is just nothing to see because I had lost weight and finally gained only 0.6 lbs back.  However that roll of fat I used to have in front is no longer fat but a nice hard abdomen from the occupant.

Look away if you don't want to see the photo.


Even with putting my hand below the bump I have no real bump.  I blame the inherited wide hips I got from my mom.

But yes, I have plans tonight of cutting the tags off the maternity clothes.  First washing them and seeing how much they shrink before hemming the pants of course as I've made the mistake of hemming a garment first then washing it and well it was horrible.

Last night, the milk part of the title, J and I went to a breast feeding class.  I found that I do have one of the suggested manual pumps on my registry but I also added in the electric ones they suggested.  For those of you with experience with pumping what do you recommend?

Now for the real milk and cookies.  I have a recipe to share with the ladies that want to improve their milk production.  This is a recipe that a gal created to help with her lactation.

Lactation Cookies
makes 5 dozen.  suggested 4 cookies per day

1 cup butter
1 cup sugar
1 cup brown sugar
4 TBSP water
2 TBSP flaxseed meal (no substitutions)
2 large eggs
1 tsp. vanilla
2 cups flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
3 cups thick cut oats
1 cup chocolate chips
2 TBSP brewers yeast (no substitutions)

Preheat oven to 375

Mix 2 TBSP of flaxseed meal and water, set aside 3-5 minutes.
Cream together butter and sugar.
Add eggs.
Stir flaxseed mix into butter mix and add vanilla.
Beat until well blended.
Sift: dry ingredients, except oats and chocolate chips.
Add butter mix to dry ingredients.
Stir in the oats and then the chocolate chips.
Drop on parchment paper on baking sheet.
Bake 8-12 minutes.

Try substituting white chocolate chips
May add 3/4 cup unsweetened coconut

I threatened to make these today for the soldiers where J works and he dared me.  Alas I'd rather not want to feel responsible for odd things happening to the guys.

Tuesday, February 11, 2014

16 week OB Appointment

No ultrasound was done today so no fear of me posting photos.

24 hour urine test was done to establish a baseline due to my blood pressure problem.  Test came back within normal limits.

Thyroid test was normal so the 75 mcg I'm on will continue to stay the same dose.  Next thyroid test is in two weeks when I see the OB again.

OB looked over my chart before seeing me.  He noticed that the ovarian cyst is to be watched but wasn't too concerned today.  No ultrasound was warranted.

I'm 16 weeks 2 day today according to the last period on 20 Oct.   New estimated due date the doctor put on the chart was 27 July.  Why the change from 30 July?

My fundal height is measuring 18 cm.   Maybe that is why there is a change in EDD?

Heart beat was 150

Blood pressure was 140/70

I have finally gained 0.6 pounds!  Doctor is pleased with my diet and told me to continue to eat a high protein diet.  He agreed with the 11-15 weight gain only.

Next OB appointment is scheduled for 2 weeks out.  Why so soon?  Well I am moving hopefully soon and the fact that I'm a complicated obstetrical patient.  They want to make sure the rise in bp from last time isn't indicative of placental issues since I am measuring ahead in fundal height.

Just feels weird to have my uterus at the naval already.  I now have no choice while sitting at the computer but to unbutton the top button on my jeans.  I guess I'll have to cut the tags off the maternity clothes this week, hem the dress pants and wash all the clothing.  I was hoping to put it off until 20 weeks but BH (baby hiccup) has other plans.

Monday, February 10, 2014

Bit of a Scare

Well this is pelvic news so if you don't want to read it I advise you to click away from the page now.

Some of you will recall that I have a 9 cm cyst on my left ovary.  I'm also pregnant.

I've been having a lot of cramping the last four days and I thought it was most likely just the uterus growing as I reached 16 weeks yesterday.

Well last night the pain was horrible.  It felt like I had a steel rod rammed up my bum and out through my pelvis on the left side.  I'm guessing the cyst is crabby.

This morning I passed some bloody tissue and had a minor amount of pink spotting.  Yes I freaked out a bit.  But I gave myself a pep talk because I wasn't gushing blood.

Tomorrow is my scheduled OB check up of which I will ask if they can ultrasound the pelvis to check on the status of the ovarian cyst.  Hoping they comply with my request.

I'll let all of you know how it goes after the appointment.

Friday, February 7, 2014

Homecoming

J came home yesterday.  So good to see him.  He didn't make me jump when I heard his voice behind me as I kind of felt his presence in the room.  I was restrained and dignified in my homecoming welcome to him with a brief kiss on the lips then it was back to work for me.

Work?  Three other spouses and I were busy at the food tables making sure the homecoming soldiers had hot food and coffee.  Most of us arrived at or before 0800 hrs to set up the food and drinks.  The first buses arrived around 0900 hrs and the one my husband was on arrived at 1000 hrs.

I believe that we did a wonderful job in welcoming home the nearly 200 soldiers to our unit.  We stayed quite busy plating danish and burritos, adding in chili to the crockpots and making fresh coffee.

The only draw back was that a few spouses with their passel of children decided to eat the food meant for the soldiers.  They heard that we were having food for the soldier's only but it didn't stop them.  It wasn't a family picnic!  I guess what was truly annoying is that they would make up plates of food for their kids and then the kids wouldn't eat it.  They only wanted the sweets!  Then the rude spouses wouldn't even trash their own plates or the plates of their children so I had to ask nicely if they were done and I'd take the plates the 20 feet to the garbage can for them.  It takes only a few spouses to ruin an event and give us all a bad name.  I put these few women in the bon bon dependapotamous category.  The ones that civilians often think most of us belong to but the majority of us aren't like them.

So yes the soldiers were kept for a long period of time even after weapons turn in for their debriefing and to check the hand receipts again.  I think we were all released by 1430 hrs.  Not really bad because we had plenty of time to clean up our tables.

My food contribution wasn't the initial 24 dozen cookies that I had thought to make as some spouses volunteered to make some and just drop them off.  I went with 8 dozen chocolate mint chip cookies instead.  As it was Thursday the soldiers were also wondering if I would have made cookies and were actually looking for them.  Since I had put my last name on the box the cookies went fast!  Thinking I'll make oatmeal raisin ones next week.

I did have to take a quick break to sit when I had a bad dizzy spell.  Luckily one of the spouse that was also helping out was there for me to latch on to when I felt like I was going to collapse.  It wasn't because of my sugar because I had brought with me and eaten two of my 10 gram protein bars.  I had also made sure I kept my 24 ounce water bottle latched to my belt loop as to remind myself to drink fluids often.  I think it was just because the uterus was having another growth spurt.

So quick update on the ute...I think it might be growing too fast.  It is less than an inch from my navel right now.  But I will be 16 weeks on Sunday and I have an anteverted uterus so maybe it is normal?  Any one have a clue?  I'm still wearing my normal clothes and wished I had a belt for my pants yesterday with all the squatting I did.

J took me out to burger king for a whopper yesterday.  I splurged and still didn't gain weight.  No I didn't eat but about 5 fries, I find them too salty.  I did however really splurge on a small chocolate shake. I paid for it later with a gas attack from the shake and the onions on the burger.  Oh man did my stomach swell!

When we got home from his work place yesterday I go in the house first and call to Bugsy.  The cat took his lazy time coming to the utility room area.  That is until J called him, then the cat ran to him and rubbed his legs all over.  J picked him up and the cat put one paw on either side of J's neck and hugged him while rubbing his face into J's.  True Love!!!  I think I actually saw a tear well up in J's eyes.  He thought for sure the cat wouldn't remember him.

Sleeping with J and Bugsy last night was rather interesting.  Bugsy had taken over J's pillow a few weeks back and decided that he might be willing to share it with J or might not if he couldn't have 3/4 of it.  J conceded, since he loves that cat, and rolled to his side to give Bugsy most of the pillow.




Tuesday, February 4, 2014

Pregnant Women Annoy Me

Yeah I know I'm pregnant but seriously pregnant women annoy the crap out of me.

1) if you are an infertile be nice and don't change your fb photo to the ultrasound photo.  I mean would you want to see an ultrasound still photo of say a hernia?  Remember you were once in the trenches too and posting those photos as your avatar will hurt others that are still trying.

2)  Don't go telling me what to eat because I'm fluffy in physique and then go stuff your pregnant face with junk food!  That is just mean especially after telling me every bite counts.

3)  Don't make every blog post about your baby's progress.  We all know you are pregnant because you made the big announcement already.  We know you still have a brain and have a life until the baby is born so what else have you been doing besides staring at your pelvic region?

4)  Just because you are pregnant it doesn't give you the right to park in handicapped parking unless you are in possession of a legal handicap tag prescribe to you by your doctor and certified by the state.

5)  If you made promises to friends you need to keep them or call them up and let them know you can't keep them.  I find it annoying to be sitting there all day waiting.

6)  Pregnancy is a temporary condition so the friends you have pissed off aren't necessarily going to forgive you for taking advantage of their good graces.  You aren't dying you are pregnant.  In the event that your pregnancy does kill you we will mourn your death of course.

7)  Bragging about your pregnancy isn't going to win you any favors and instead it might just get you the shit end of the stick from an infertile.  It is the same as bragging about all the money you have in the bank; someone is going to get pissed that you have something they want.

8) Other than in a blog meant to spill your guts we don't want to hear about your every gas attack, vomiting issue, leaking from orifices, and the fact you can't go poo.  Ladies it is TMI when in public!

9) You aren't the only female to ever get pregnant!

10) The world doesn't stop and listen every time you speak.  Not everyone wants to go to your shower.  Just like when you got married not everyone wanted to be there either.


I did write this because I don't want to become one of those annoying women and I'm afraid I'm already headed down that path.  Now that I've made my list of ten things I don't want done to me I hope that I remember to not do them to others during the duration of my pregnancy.

If you have anything you'd like to add to my list of "annoying things pregnant women do" please put it in the comments below.


Sunday, February 2, 2014

15 weeks

I feel blah!  Maybe because I'm so tired?

Or possibly because I'm so darn bored with being alone.  I just have to remind myself not much longer until he gets home.

On the cookie front:  several other ladies have volunteered to make cookies at their respective homes so I won't have to make 24 dozen!  YAY!  I can get away with making my normal 5 dozen.

Not sure but I think I see the slightest of bumps starting to form.  I know that when I'm horizontal on the bed I can feel a huge lump where the baby is located...off to my right hip.  I wonder if the baby is situating itself to the right hip area because of the 9 cm cyst thingy on the left ovary area?  Any clue?

I think I've lost a few brain cells this week.  I cracked open a book I got as a gift for my last birthday, Fifty Shades of Grey, and well it just isn't quality reading.  After three days I'm still not to page 200.  First day I got to page 128 but now it is so trite that I'm tempted to just put it down.  I swear it is like Twilight but with sex and lots of it minus the vampires and wolves of course.  But the whole innocent female falling for the dangerous male and willingly is just so yucky!  My MIL said she read the first one then had to read all three to find out what happened to their relationship.  Since I'm the type that gets sucked into a series I can see it happening to me too.  UGH!

Still the same weight as last week.  No gain, no loss.  I'm hoping that by the third trimester I'll actually have a bump and maybe a few pounds gained.  But I'm not to worry because I am eating healthy.  Speaking of which I need to go make some lunch here soon.  Mostly I'll make an egg salad sandwich.