The short version

I always hate being gone from my blog for an extended period of time.  It is so hard to get back into the swing of things.  I have this nagging guilty feeling that I need to fill you in on each and every thing that's happened since I last posted.  But I know that will take forever and if I wait until I actually take the time to sit down and write all of that, then you'll never get a new post from me. 

So here's the Reader's Digest version... (by the way, does anyone still read Reader's Digest?  I don't remember where I used to read that as a kid, maybe my mom had a subscription or something.  But I loved it.  I always loved the quirky little antedotes that people sent in.)

I went out on Short Term Disability leave at the beginning of May.  I was vomiting so often that I couldn't gain any weight in my pregnancy and was actually starting to lose weight.  I was out sick all the time.  I wasn't a reliable employee and I think it was easier for my boss if she just knew I wasn't around to be counted on. 

Besides the horrible vomiting, my pregnancy was very healthy.  But I lost quite a bit of weight.  At my lowest I was down 15 lbs from my pre-pregnancy weight.  I was on a zofran pump for awhile but it didn't help much and was more pain than benefit so I gave it up and just suffered quietly.  I had monthly check-ins at a high risk obstetrician to make sure that baby was growing okay.  Baby was fine but on the small side.  At one point baby was measuring just barely above what they consider "at-risk".  Finally at around 35 weeks I started to gain weight.  It was all water weight.  My feet were HUGE.  My ankles and calves were so swollen that they hurt.  I could feel the swelling pushing my skin outward.  I just wanted to take a pin and prick them to let the water drain out.  Of course, that's not how it works.  Once the swelling set in, I was basically done physically.  I had to spend much of the day with my legs elevated and drinking lots of water.  The only good thing about it was that I finally managed to put some weight back on. 

I made it to my scheduled c-section at 39 weeks.  The day I entered the hospital I had gained exactly two (2) pounds over my pre-pregnancy weight.  And that was approximately 17 lbs of water.

And finally, on September 3 at 12:30 pm we welcomed this little guy into the world...

Pregnancy Update - Week 17

Now that I am approaching the half-way mark it’s probably about time to give an update on this pregnancy:

Weeks: 17 weeks, 5 days

Symptoms: Vomiting.  Lots and lots of it.  Daily.  Sometimes nausea that goes along with it.  Random stomach cramps but nothing alarming.  Dry, dry skin

Medications Tried: So far just Zofran.  I’ve been on oral zofran for awhile now.  I was using a zofran pump (that I named Maggie) for a few weeks but it was more hassle than it was help so I gave it up.  For now, I’m just using the oral zofran occasionally when the nausea gets really bad.  Other than that I’ve given up on all the regular medical interventions.

Weight Gain: -4 lbs.  Normal weight gain at this point should be 3-10 lbs.  But baby is measuring right on track so it’s only me that is suffering from lack of nutrients.

Movement: I felt baby kicking for the first time yesterday.  Before that I had felt little flutters but not actual movement.  This was for real.  Very exciting!

Pregnancy Update - 25 Weeks

It's been a crazy couple of weeks for me. I've posted a little of the strange symptoms I've been having but it's probably time for a complete recap.

Starting about 2.5 weeks ago I was having this intense upper abdominal pressure and feeling short of breath. The reality was that I was breathing just fine and taking in plenty of oxygen but I felt like I couldn't breath. Given the location of the pressure and the location of baby I knew it wasn't really baby pressing into my abdomen. It was happening only sporadically - not every day and not all day when it happened. It got so bad that last week I took a day off work on Tuesday to try to rest and see if it went away. Here's how the week has gone since then.

Tuesday
Took the day off to rest. The rest didn't really seem to help. I suspected that maybe anemia was causing my crazy symptoms so I bought some iron pills to try to get my iron levels up. I called the nurse at the OBs office because I wasn't feeling well at all and wondered if the problem was that I was not getting enough oxygen. She referred me to me regular doctor. I went in and they tested my pulse-oxidation (amount of oxygen in my blood) and it looked fine. They tested my lung function (also fine) and sent me for some blood work - a CBC (complete blood count) and TSH (thyroid check). One possibility the doctor mentioned was pulmonary embolism but she also said that it was very, very unlikely.

Wednesday
I felt better on Wednesday during the day and went to work. No crazy symptoms. But that afternoon I started feeling a cold coming on. And since there's been a significant amount of crud going around at work, I decided to take off on Thursday for another day of rest, orange juice, and benedryl to try to kick whatever was coming on before it got too bad.

Thursday
Stayed home with my OJ and benedryl and tried to rest. By mid-day my heart was racing - around 120 bpm while I was just lying on the couch. Now your pulse does increase in pregnancy because there's lots of extra blood. 90 is normal, 100 is fine, even 110 can be okay (according to my doc) but 120 is pretty worrisome. Called the OB and spoke to the oncall doctor. She said it was high but not concerning enough for an ER visit unless it got worse. She advised me to come in on Friday for a check-up

Friday
Still feeling a little crazy so I sent Allison to daycare even though it was my "off" Friday. I went into the OB (not my usual one - it was her day off) because my heart was still really fast. At the OB my blood pressure was up (higher than normal but not alarming) and my pulse was 126 bpm. The OB referred me to a perinatologist (high-risk OB) and I saw him in the afternoon. Perinatologist wants to get a reading of my heart to see what's really going on and rule out pulmonary embolism. They did an ultrasound of baby and everything looks GREAT. Baby is measuring right on track for a July 9 due date. They also tried to look at my heart with the ultrasound (weren't able to) but found something else fun... a gallstone! Great - just another fun thing to add to the list. Fortunately, the gall ducts look good and I'm not having any gall bladder symptoms (RUQ pain) for now. But since this is my 2nd incident with the gall bladder I think it will becoming out once baby arrives. Perinatologist referred my to a cardiologist for a monitor and to a ultrasounds place for a leg ultrasound to rule out the blood clots that could cause a PE.
The one thing the Perinatologist said that made a lot of sense to me is that some women are just much more sensitive to the changes in hormones during pregnancy. I have good reason to believe that I'm one of those extrasensitive types - the unrelenting morning sickness is one good sign. My body just has a very strong reaction to pregnancy hormones.

Saturday & Sunday
I felt decent over the weekend. Strange pulse increases but nothing sustained.

Monday
Appointment with my regular OB. She said she was definitely concerned about the crazy heartrate and was glad I was seeing a cardiologist. Overall, feeling better. We discussed that there might be something going on with me that isn't really related to the pregnancy at all but that pregnancy, since it puts such an extra strain on your body, could just be exacerbating the problem to the point that I'm noticing it.

Tuesday
Met with the cardiologist and got hooked up with a Holter Monitor. I've got 5 leads attached to my chest and a monitor that records my heart activity. I have to wear it for 48 hours and keep a log of any strange symptoms I'm feeling. Of course, since I got it, I've felt relatively normal. Isn't that always the way.

That brings us to today. I'm actually feeling pretty good. I slept well without getting woken up with crazy heart activity. Even Allison slept in until 6am. Let's hope that the crazy heart stuff was just a phase and that it's all behind me now. But we'll see.

We have a climber!

Happy St Patrick's Day!

We had some big achievements over the weekend. On Friday afternoon, we were excited to see the beginnings of "cruising" - walking from one piece of furniture to another. Allison was happily playing on her activity table and cautiously made her way around the table and grabbed onto the ottoman and switched to playing with toys there. Not long now until she's really moving.

As if that wasn't enough... last night she was playing at the stairs - a favorite spot. Out of the corner of my eye I see her and think "that doesn't look right." Upon a closer look I discover she is actually standing on the first step! There can be no more delay in getting that baby gate up. Because while she has figured out how to get up the steps, coming down without taking a major tumble is still beyond her. Come back tomorrow for pictures.

Today's Pregnancy Symptoms...
lack of oxygen - I feel like I cannot take in enough air. I keep yawning. And no matter how deeply I breathe I just feel like I'm not getting enough oxygen to my lungs. I think baby might be pushing up into my diaphram.

Finally sleep!

Today's Pregnancy Symptoms:

• floaters (I had these with Allison too) - just showed up for the first time today on the way to work
• back contractions - happening every time I do something pseudo-strenuous (like climb a flight of stairs)

Allison has been suffering from a sinus infection and her two front teeth are starting to cut through. So she's been feeling pretty crummy and our whole house has been paying for it with sleepless nights. Tuesday night was the worst - she cried from about 12:30 - 6:30. There wasn't much that would soothe her. But finally last night she slept through from 6pm - 7am. I think her little body must have just gotten beyond tired and needed the rest. Plus the antibiotics are kicking in and doing their job. It was nice to finally get basically a full night of sleep. She did wake with a loud cry about 3 am but it must have been in her sleep because it was just the one. Of course, it woke me up and I couldn't get back to sleep for an hour. But I'll take it over the rough nights we've been having lately.