Uh-Mazing!

Costa Rica was amazing! We had such a fun, relaxing vacation with M's family. If you haven't been, it is the most lush, green, tropical country and the people there are so friendly! I had a chance to brush up on my very limited Spanish, and loved listening to the natives "Ticos" speak. Overall (minus the mosquitoes and humidity), a fabulous trip!!! We feel so fortunate to have been able to go.

Traveling in my seventh month proved to be more difficult than I anticipated, but M was such a champ in helping me out. He was so attentive and caring to my needs and limitations, which made the trip infinitely easier. Third tri exhaustion has definitely set in, and I am now taking daily naps (siestas!) to cope with the fatigue.

I have a peri appointment on Thursday to see if Elfie's arrhythmia has gotten any better. Keeping fingers crossed that it has!

Here are some pic from the trip...

Some Relief

The appointment this morning went well. This doctor is, by far, the best I have ever been to in terms of his bedside manner and attention to detail. I know he works primarily with high-risk pregnancies, so it's his job to be uber-sensitive to hormonal pregnant women..it is my impression that he is certainly in the right profession!

We started out with a full anatomy scan of Elfie. Boy, is he growing! He is now measuring 13 days ahead of schedule, and is an astonishing 3 pounds. I was shocked! We got some great pics that I'll scan and post later.

The doctor was a bit concerned that he is so big. I hadn't been worried (until today!) because M is a big guy and was 11 pounds at birth. We just always expected to have a big baby. So my instructions are to reduce my carb intake...uggh! That's a hard assignment, since that what I crave the most besides fruit! Oh well, small price to pay for Elfie's health.

And then on to the goods:

After an extremely detailed look at the heart, the doctor determined there aren't any structural abnormalities. We did see and hear the irregular beats, and he explained to us that it is not uncommon for them to resolve themselves. I was instructed to eliminate ALL sources of caffeine from my diet, including chocolate and (get this!) my cocoa butter stretch mark cream! Apparently, unbeknownst to me, I've been feeding my baby caffeine through my belly every morning! So there goes that.

Oh yes, and one more set of instructions: "Have a great time in Costa Rica!"

I left feeling much better, but of course it's going to be in the back of my mind until it's gone or we know more. I have a follow-up appointment in two weeks. If the arrhythmia is still there I will be monitored weekly with this perinatologists until I deliver. He also did mention that there is an increased chance that, if the arrhythmia persists, I'll be recommended for c-section, as they prefer to not put the baby in a stressful labor situation under these circumstances.


For now, I'm just taking my kick counts, relaxing as much as possible, and PACKING! We leave early Saturday morning and return the following Sunday, do I probably won't be blogging until at least then. I hope you all continue to enjoy June!

The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly.

Good news first:

I did, indeed, pass my glucose test, although the number (115) was not as low as I thought it would be judging by my "almost passing out" experience!

Bad news second:

M and I are involved in a worker's comp nightmare (really just filling out the paperwork, knowing whom to send it to, waiting for calls to be returned, etc, etc.). This is regarding the $2600 hospital stay I had as a result of the soccerball to the uterus at school. Uggh. I hate this.

And now, the Ugly:

My appointment with Dr. D this morning revealed the Elfie has a cardiac arrhythmia. As soon as he put that doppler on my belly I knew that the beats were not right. His little heart would beat 3 or 4 times and then skip one or two; wash, rinse, repeat. Dr. D is sending me to the perinatologist on Thursday morning to have him check the chambers and valves of my little guy's heart. I am freaking out, but know that there is nothing I can do to make it better right now except wait and pray. I am reassured with the fact that Elfie is extremely active (which the Dr. said is an excellent thing), but just can't help but be apprehensive.

Obviously, if we find an abnormality, our trip to Costa Rica is out of the question. My own heart feels so fragile right now...I'm asking for lost of prayers and support if you can lend it.

Classes, Cankles, and Costa Rica!

27 weeks.

Hey people!

I can't believe how long it's been since I posted. I am really busy lately, and can't seem to find the energy to sit down and spill everything...although I feel as though so much is happening that I want to share!

So, to start, I haven't heard back about my glucose test, which leads me to believe that I passed. I have an appt. with Dr. D on Monday so I'll double check with him because I'm curious about the number!

I recently took a fabulous trip to Southern Cal with my M, my mom, and my stepdad. It was so nice to relax in the sun and talk about our plans when the little man arrives. Mom and I went shopping, and Elfie ended up with more clothes than I did! I bought a cute bikini though, and am pleasantly surprised at how comfortable I am sporting the bare belly bump. My friend E and I saw SATC 2 (because we are big fans and saw the first one together)...and it was okay. I laughed, but didn't think is was as good as the first movie...and certainly not as good as the series.

I am definitely starting to feel more fatigued lately, and it comes in the form of really sore feet at the end of the day, and a sore back after standing/walking too long. I am also the lucky recipient of EDEMA....a.k.a. CANKLES. It's pretty shocking and disgusting, really. I look down at my feet and can't even see my ankle bones. I'm noticing quite a bit of water retention in my legs as well. Walking has gotten better since I've slowed my pace, so I'm at least still getting some exercise.

Elfie's movements are changing also. Well, it's probably not his movements so much as how I they feel to me. With his increasing size I can actually follow body parts (most likely feet or knees) as they move across my belly. CRAZY COOL. Sometimes he'll get me on the side of my tummy and it tickles like crazy. I love it!

I changed my background in preparation of our LAST HURRAH! In 9 days we are leaving for Costa Rica!!! I will be 28.5 weeks when we leave and 29.5 when we return. Needless to say, this will be it for us in terms of traveling before the birth. We will be doing it up big! M's whole family will be there to celebrate his parents' 45th wedding anniversary. He has three brothers who each have 2 kids, so it'll be a full house but tons of fun. I, of course, will be living in the pool (and the kitchen!).

When we return we have our baby shower to look forward to. After that we have an all-day childbirth class in addition to two evening classes (one is a breastfeeding class and the other is infant basics). Then we're in the home stretch! It's so hard to believe how incredibly fast this pregnancy is flying by, and how soon we will be meeting our son.

I'm leaving you with some pics of my time away with the fam..

Glucose

I had my glucose screening this morning. That meant I had to to fast (i.e. not eat or drink anything this morning before the appt). So of course I showed up at 6:45 am STARVING. Luckily, I was able to get the sugary drink quickly (did I mention I was really, really hungry??). I drank that sucker down and felt so much better with some "sugar energy." Unfortunately, my sugar high lasted only about 40 minutes. At 7:45 I started getting very light-headed..similar to this experience, and thought I'd either pass out or throw up. I went to the back of the lab to lie down, which made me feel better for the remaining 20 minutes. I was so determined to not throw up because I knew that would void the test! They were able to get the blood, and the nice lab tech sent me home with a few crackers so I didn't crash my car. Phew! Another bullet dodged.

Looking back at that experience, it doesn't surprise me much. I have always had issues with low blood sugar levels (M calls it the "Low Blood Sugar Monster"), and benefit from smaller, more frequent meals to keep my blood levels even. Even pre-pregnancy I needed to eat breakfast AS SOON AS I got up in the morning. The lab people told me it's not that uncommon for preggers to experience it. Has anyone else had this happen to them??

I will be surprised and dismayed if I flunk that test! I don't think I'd survive the 3-hour torture!

Hospital Stay

24w3d

Well.

We've had an eventful few days.

On Friday at school I took the class out for PE. They picked soccer that day, and really didn't think too much of it. About 10 minutes into the game, as I had turned my head to yell at the girls who thought PE was social time, I took a soccer ball to the uterus. Hard, fast, and painful.

Freaking out commenced.

I called my doctor and he told me to come to Labor and Delivery to be checked out. I was scared to begin with, but once I heard this, I was REALLY concerned. Most especially because I wasn't feeling Elfie move. My MIL met me halfway to the hospital and drove the rest of the way...I was so glad to have her with me!

We got there and checked in, and they set me up in a room, had me put a gown on, and strapped a heartbeat monitor and contraction monitor around my belly. It was such a relief to hear my little guy's strong little heart pounding away, I started crying!! My doctor (whom I saw briefly as he was between deliveries) told me they were going to monitor be and baby for a few hours. Soon after, they took me down to get an ultrasound. Apparently, the u/s tech was looking for any placental abruption or tears that could cause baby to lose blood. M showed up in time to see the ultrasound.

The ultrasound looked really good, with no abnormalities. Elfie was moving around a lot, and he was SO BIG! I couldn't believe how much he'd grown in 5 weeks! It was such an emotional sight for me, I was just mesmerized by my son's body and movement.

M and I thought that since things seemed to look good that we'd be heading home. I was STARVING, and wanted to get the heck out of there. My doctor came in and informed us that we just had one more thing to do before they could release us. They were going to take blood to check for any fetal cells in my blood. M and I were pretty confident everything would be okay, but this meant more waiting around...

..and then we got the results of the bloodwork. They found Elfie's cells in my blood. This, as it was explained to us, was most likely a result of the abdominal trauma, since it's not a common thing to see at this gestational age. They told us they were going to keep me overnight for monitoring, and that I would see a perinatologist in the morning for a detailed u/s of Elfie's brain and blood flow.

This is where I lost it.

First, imagine a hungry, tired, hormonal pregnant woman. Then, add on top of that the possibility that there's something wrong with the baby it took her almost two years and $10,000 to conceive. Next, take her husband away from her for a night. The result is almost always going to be less that beautiful. Downright ugly, in fact. I was SO NOT happy at this point.

I think pretty much the only thing that kept me sane was hearing and seeing Elfie's hb staying strong, not to mention the hard swift kicks he was giving me. It was a long, long night...(remember, I was in the LABOR and DELIVERY ward?)...as I was kept awake by nurses talking loudly outside my room and ladies LABORING (screaming, crying, grunting), and the resulting wail of newborns taking their first breaths. Under any other circumstances, I'm sure I would have been so excited to see and hear such thing staking place. However, I felt that it was way too close to home. I was NOT supposed to be there! I wanted to get myself and Elfie back home so he could bake another 3 months!!!!

Unfortunately, I slept a total of about 4 hours that night. I thought the perinatologist would be showing up in the morning and then we'd be outta there! Anyone who has ever stayed in a hospital knows that this is not how things work. EVERYTHING is longer and slower than you'd like. They definitely weren't operating on "Katie time." The doctor didn't show up until 1:30 p.m. Talk about a long, excruciating wait.

SO...the ultrasound with the new doc was simply fascinating. He was there, basically, to measure Elfie's bloodflow to determine if he was anemic (had a low blood count), which would indicate that he was losing blood. He did this by targeting very specific arteries and measuring the volume and directionality of blood. He spent a long time looking at each chamber of the heart and then he isolated an artery in Elfie's brain. M and I were just speechless watching him take his measurements.

After all was said and done, the perinatologist determined that everything looked good with Elfie. He wasn't able to detect any abnormalities in the placenta, no hematomas, or anything else that would concern him. We were so relieved, and I WAS SO READY TO GET HOME! He sent us home with orders to monitor Elfie's movement. He told us that if we pay close attention in the morning and at night that we should be able to get at least 5 kicks in an hour. Apparently, he doesn't know out little boy because I get 10 kicks in a 10 minute period! But of course, I will be more mindful of counting his movements.

So..I guess for now we have avoided disaster. I have a soccerball-sized bruise smack dab in the middle of my belly, but that's small potatoes knowing that it could have been so much worse. I am an extremely grateful lady right now, and will definitely be staying OFF of the soccer field!

Cheer up, Charlie!

23 weeks!

Just checking in to report that Elfie and I are just plugging along, growing bigger every day and experiencing some of the not-so-joys of pregnancy! Lately, I have had quite a bit of pain and pressure in my lower abdomen, mainly triggered by walking long distances. Unfortunately, the longest distance my body seems to be okay with is to the park down the street from our house. In my book, this is just not nearly enough exercise. Oh yes, and the back pain and heartburn? They're still hanging around too! I don't worry about it too much since most of my pain is relieved the minute I sit down and relax, but will definitely be bringing it up to Dr. D at my appointment on Monday. I'm guessing it is just par for the course, and most likely ligament stretching...Has anyone else experienced this or something similar?

The nursery is coming along steadily. We are going to start our furniture shopping soon, and then it will really start to come together (!). Charlie (our canine "baby") has been moping around the house since I've become increasingly less mobile...but last Friday I found one way to cheer him up:

He loves to feel Elfie kicking away at my belly button! This is in the nursery..as you can see, I decided to get crafty with some canvasses, paint, and stencils. Funny that I have those done, but still need the majority of my furniture!!!