We had our official appointment with Kaiser yesterday. Everything is looking good. The heartbeat was good - in the 140s. The baby is still head down and is measuring right on schedule at 36cm. The midwife estimated that the baby weighs about 6 lbs. My blood pressure is staying down at 120/70. That is higher than it has been at past appointments, but still good. I gained three pounds since Friday!!
She didn't do a vaginal exam, saying that they would probably do one next week. Since next week we will be in the safe zone, I will probably refuse all vaginal exams until I feel the urge to push. I don't want to hear how I'm "progressing" since you can be 6cm dilated and still not have the baby for two weeks (as Sweta showed with Vijay). I'm down to appointments every week now with Kaiser, so it is going to be harder and harder to fit all these appointments in.
I am GBS positive, which complicates things a little. I talked to the homebirth midwife, and she didn't seem at all concerned about it. She said that the antibiotics that they give through the IV at the hospital don't work 100% of the time anyway and that the baby could be allergic to it, which would lead to more complications. She said she's had plenty of women who are GBS positive that she's delivered without the antibiotics and their babies were just fine. We will do a rinse before the birth to cleanse the area. She also wants me to take a strong probiotic until then.
The homevisit is next week, so I'm getting all the supplies ready for her to check. I'm getting excited. Four more days until we're in the safe zone for a homebirth!
Wednesday, July 28, 2010
Monday, July 26, 2010
GBS+
This pregnancy has gone from awesome to bad to worse.
I got my test results back from the doctor's visit on Friday. It turns out I'm GBS positive. That means if I deliver at the hospital, I will have to have an IV so I can get antibiotics. That also means that if I deliver at home, we will have to watch the baby very closely for signs of strep. Strep has no affect on momma, but can be deadly for baby.
I am going to call the homebirth midwife today to see what she thinks about the situtation and if we are going to have to change our plans any.
I also had Braxton-Hicks contractions all weekend. They don't ever seem to happen at night when I'm in bed, but anytime I'm sitting or standing, they happen. Yesterday, Sherry and I started timing them. They were about 20 minutes apart. I think they were more frequent on the monitor on Friday, so perhaps I am missing some in between thinking they are just the baby pushing up at me.
This morning he looks even lower than yesterday, and my brests and nipples look like they grew overnight. I can put my whole hand between my brests and the top of my uterus, and it is very difficult for me to close my legs anymore.
Tuesday we have our regularly scheduled appointment with Kaiser, so I'm sure they will check me again. I want to find out if all those Braxton-Hicks contractions that I've been having are actually doing something. After that appointment, though, I will refuse all internal exams until I actually go into labor. Once I hit 37 weeks, I don't care how I'm progressing because it will be safe for the baby to come out at any time.
Six more days until I'll be 37 weeks. Let's see if Baby Simon can stay in that long.
I got my test results back from the doctor's visit on Friday. It turns out I'm GBS positive. That means if I deliver at the hospital, I will have to have an IV so I can get antibiotics. That also means that if I deliver at home, we will have to watch the baby very closely for signs of strep. Strep has no affect on momma, but can be deadly for baby.
I am going to call the homebirth midwife today to see what she thinks about the situtation and if we are going to have to change our plans any.
I also had Braxton-Hicks contractions all weekend. They don't ever seem to happen at night when I'm in bed, but anytime I'm sitting or standing, they happen. Yesterday, Sherry and I started timing them. They were about 20 minutes apart. I think they were more frequent on the monitor on Friday, so perhaps I am missing some in between thinking they are just the baby pushing up at me.
This morning he looks even lower than yesterday, and my brests and nipples look like they grew overnight. I can put my whole hand between my brests and the top of my uterus, and it is very difficult for me to close my legs anymore.
Tuesday we have our regularly scheduled appointment with Kaiser, so I'm sure they will check me again. I want to find out if all those Braxton-Hicks contractions that I've been having are actually doing something. After that appointment, though, I will refuse all internal exams until I actually go into labor. Once I hit 37 weeks, I don't care how I'm progressing because it will be safe for the baby to come out at any time.
Six more days until I'll be 37 weeks. Let's see if Baby Simon can stay in that long.
Friday, July 23, 2010
Making Progress a Little Too Soon
I am 35w 5d today. Because of the cramping that I had yesterday and the fact that tomorrow is a weekend, I decided to stop by the Kaiser office after work today to discuss the cramping/blood clumps and make sure everything is okay.
The nurse asked me my symptoms and discussed them with the doctor, and apparently I "earned myself an appointment." I checked in, did the peeing in a cup thing, and they took my vitals. I haven't gained any weight since my last appointment over two weeks ago, but the rest of my vital signs were good.
Since they were going to do my Group B Strep test anyway at next Tuesday's appointment, they decided to go ahead and do it today. The midwife also decided to do a vaginal exam and check my progress due to the cramping and bleeding. Apparently, I am 1 cm dilated, 50% effaced, and at -1 station right now. She said that is a lot of progress for a first-time mom.
They decided to hook me up to the monitor to see what was going on with the cramping. The baby was sleeping at first, with a very steady heartbeat of between 125 and 130 bmp. The monitor showed that I was indeed contracting, although they are probably Braxton-Hicks contractions since there is not a pattern and they don't hurt at all.
They had to wake the baby up so they could get him to move for the monitor and see his heartbeat during the movements and contractions. The nurse used a little device that makes a noise and vibrates the waterbag. It worked, and he woke up and started moving. His heartbeat would go up to 160 when he was moving. It never dipped below 125 during any of the contractions.
When the midwife saw the results of the monitor (that the baby was doing well, but I was having several contractions), she instructed me to drink lots of water and stay off my feet as much as possible. She also gave me an update to my chart and some instructions in case I go into active labor this weekend. She said since the baby isn't at term yet, I shouldn't wait too long to get to the hospital, in case he needs to go to the NICU. She also said that she doubts that I will get to 40 weeks, but really wants me to make it at least 9 more days.
So, my plans of vacuuming, dusting, and scrubbing the floors has been put on hold. I won't be running this weekend either. I really don't want to go into labor until August 1st anyway, because I want to have the homebirth. I would prefer to wait until after August 4th, which is the home visit with the homebirth midwife. And if I can make it to August 9th, that would be the best ever!
The nurse asked me my symptoms and discussed them with the doctor, and apparently I "earned myself an appointment." I checked in, did the peeing in a cup thing, and they took my vitals. I haven't gained any weight since my last appointment over two weeks ago, but the rest of my vital signs were good.
Since they were going to do my Group B Strep test anyway at next Tuesday's appointment, they decided to go ahead and do it today. The midwife also decided to do a vaginal exam and check my progress due to the cramping and bleeding. Apparently, I am 1 cm dilated, 50% effaced, and at -1 station right now. She said that is a lot of progress for a first-time mom.
They decided to hook me up to the monitor to see what was going on with the cramping. The baby was sleeping at first, with a very steady heartbeat of between 125 and 130 bmp. The monitor showed that I was indeed contracting, although they are probably Braxton-Hicks contractions since there is not a pattern and they don't hurt at all.
They had to wake the baby up so they could get him to move for the monitor and see his heartbeat during the movements and contractions. The nurse used a little device that makes a noise and vibrates the waterbag. It worked, and he woke up and started moving. His heartbeat would go up to 160 when he was moving. It never dipped below 125 during any of the contractions.
When the midwife saw the results of the monitor (that the baby was doing well, but I was having several contractions), she instructed me to drink lots of water and stay off my feet as much as possible. She also gave me an update to my chart and some instructions in case I go into active labor this weekend. She said since the baby isn't at term yet, I shouldn't wait too long to get to the hospital, in case he needs to go to the NICU. She also said that she doubts that I will get to 40 weeks, but really wants me to make it at least 9 more days.
So, my plans of vacuuming, dusting, and scrubbing the floors has been put on hold. I won't be running this weekend either. I really don't want to go into labor until August 1st anyway, because I want to have the homebirth. I would prefer to wait until after August 4th, which is the home visit with the homebirth midwife. And if I can make it to August 9th, that would be the best ever!
Cramps
First of all, if you do not want to hear about gross pregnancy stuff, stop reading now. This is not the blog for you.
The past two days I've been having cramps. They feel a little like the major gas pains I had toward the beginning of my pregnancy, where I had to lay down and have Nacho or Rob push on my stomach. The cramps are sharp pains right at the bottom of the baby bump near my pelvic bone. They don't last more than a few seconds and then are gone. So far, they've only happened when I'm standing up or walking around. I don't get them when I'm sitting down.
I decided yesterday to try to go to the bathroom and see if they would go away. Well, not much happened in the gas department, but I did have some pea-sized clumps of blood come out instead. Along with them, my toilet paper was streaked with blood when I wiped. This could possibly have been due to my straining to try to get any "gas" out.
The rest of the night, while Sherry and I were watching a movie, I was having Braxton-Hicks contractions. Very uncomfortable and annoying.
I called the advice line at Kaiser, and the nurse that called me back didn't seem too concerned about the blood clumps. She said that if I had heavy bleeding that soaked a pad to call back. I didn't have any more bleeding or spotting after the blood clumps came out, so I suppose I'm fine.
One of my facebook friends has been having cramps too, and her doctor said it was just her cervix softening. If it's the same thing with me, that's just fine. As long as my cervix doesn't soften enough for the baby to come out before August 1st. I'm determined to have an August baby. No NICU for him!
The past two days I've been having cramps. They feel a little like the major gas pains I had toward the beginning of my pregnancy, where I had to lay down and have Nacho or Rob push on my stomach. The cramps are sharp pains right at the bottom of the baby bump near my pelvic bone. They don't last more than a few seconds and then are gone. So far, they've only happened when I'm standing up or walking around. I don't get them when I'm sitting down.
I decided yesterday to try to go to the bathroom and see if they would go away. Well, not much happened in the gas department, but I did have some pea-sized clumps of blood come out instead. Along with them, my toilet paper was streaked with blood when I wiped. This could possibly have been due to my straining to try to get any "gas" out.
The rest of the night, while Sherry and I were watching a movie, I was having Braxton-Hicks contractions. Very uncomfortable and annoying.
I called the advice line at Kaiser, and the nurse that called me back didn't seem too concerned about the blood clumps. She said that if I had heavy bleeding that soaked a pad to call back. I didn't have any more bleeding or spotting after the blood clumps came out, so I suppose I'm fine.
One of my facebook friends has been having cramps too, and her doctor said it was just her cervix softening. If it's the same thing with me, that's just fine. As long as my cervix doesn't soften enough for the baby to come out before August 1st. I'm determined to have an August baby. No NICU for him!
Thursday, July 22, 2010
Irrational Fear of the Swimming Pool
I have never been a competitive swimmer, but I've never been afraid of swimming either. When we were growing up, we would go to Lake Erie and go swimming. It was really more like splashing around at that point, but I never had problems with the water. I was home schooled in seventh grade, and we took swimming lessons at the YMCA for our PE class. I didn't have any problems then. When my grandparents got a pool, I would spend hours swimming around, diving down for pool toys, etc. When I went to Phoenix for an E&Y project a few years ago, I would go running in the morning and then change into my bathing suit and swim some laps in the pool to cool off. When I took a girls trip to Hawaii, I was the "strong swimmer" of the group and took Sweta and Sherry out to go snorkeling nearly every day we were there.
And all of this time, I have never had a fear of the water. I don't like getting water in my eyes, so most of the times mentioned above, I was wearing goggles or a mask or something and a nose plug to help me breathe better. But I was never afraid.
Rob has been saying that I should utilize the pool at K-C because it's supposed to be good for pregnancy. So yesterday, I brought my suit with me and after work went to the pool. The pool we have is an Olympic length, five lane lap pool. It was 3:00, so no one was there except me. I put my goggles and nose plug on and got into the pool. I went under to get myself wet and get used to the slightly cooler water. Then I looked down the length of the pool and started freaking out. I was just standing there, head above water in the 3 foot section, freaking out. I didn't even push off to try to swim. After about a minute or so, I just got out and went back in the locker room to change.
I don't know what has gotten into me. It has been awhile since I've been in a pool (other than just sitting dangling my feet in or the very short time I was in the pool in Daytona), but there has been no event that would have triggered this ridiculous fear.
Maybe it was because I was the only one there, in a huge box of water that got as much as 7 feet deep. If something had happened, no one would be there to help.
Maybe it was because the water was slightly colder than I would have liked. But I'm sure I would have warmed up when I was swimming.
Maybe I do have some subconscious fear of drowning the baby, which is ridiculous because the baby is already floating in a big bag of water.
I don't know. It's actually quite frustrating, and completely irrational.
And all of this time, I have never had a fear of the water. I don't like getting water in my eyes, so most of the times mentioned above, I was wearing goggles or a mask or something and a nose plug to help me breathe better. But I was never afraid.
Rob has been saying that I should utilize the pool at K-C because it's supposed to be good for pregnancy. So yesterday, I brought my suit with me and after work went to the pool. The pool we have is an Olympic length, five lane lap pool. It was 3:00, so no one was there except me. I put my goggles and nose plug on and got into the pool. I went under to get myself wet and get used to the slightly cooler water. Then I looked down the length of the pool and started freaking out. I was just standing there, head above water in the 3 foot section, freaking out. I didn't even push off to try to swim. After about a minute or so, I just got out and went back in the locker room to change.
I don't know what has gotten into me. It has been awhile since I've been in a pool (other than just sitting dangling my feet in or the very short time I was in the pool in Daytona), but there has been no event that would have triggered this ridiculous fear.
Maybe it was because I was the only one there, in a huge box of water that got as much as 7 feet deep. If something had happened, no one would be there to help.
Maybe it was because the water was slightly colder than I would have liked. But I'm sure I would have warmed up when I was swimming.
Maybe I do have some subconscious fear of drowning the baby, which is ridiculous because the baby is already floating in a big bag of water.
I don't know. It's actually quite frustrating, and completely irrational.
Tuesday, July 20, 2010
First Appointment in Two Weeks
We had our appointment with the midwife yesterday. It was the first appointment in two weeks, as we had last week off. After having an appointment with either Kaiser or the homebirth midwife every week for the past month, it was a little weird to have a week off.
What did we do with our week off? We visited three daycares and interviewed a pediatrician. I believe we have decided on a pediatrician. The one we interviewed last week was very nice, and does circumcisions. We will probably do our first office visit with him and have Baby Simon circumcised around the first week of life. After that, we will probably go with the other pediatrician we interviewed, simply because he is closer to home than this last one.
As far as daycares, WOW! They are expensive! The cheapest one we found is $1015/month for one newborn child, and they don't offer part time (3 days/week). The other two do offer part time for a little cheaper, but it really isn't much cheaper (about $200 or so) because they still have to hold the space. Each infant has their own crib that they don't share with anyone else for sanitation purposes. So even if they are only watching the baby three days a week, they still can't accept any other babies during the off days.
I found a couple of home daycares on craigslist, so we are going to look at one of them next week. One of our neighbors also mentioned possibly getting some people together and getting a shared nanny. We will probably look into that also.
Anyway, back to the appointment yesterday. It went very well. I'm measuring about a week behind at 34 cm for height. I weighed 148lbs, so based on my very first prenatal appointment, I've gained 26lbs so far. The baby is still in a good position - head down, anterior. And the heartrate was 122 bpm. My blood pressure was also very good at 122/65 - even through I drove to the appointment (Rob usually drives) and was a little stressed about making it on time. My pulse was also low 60s. Our next appointment with her will be our homevisit on August 4th at 37 weeks and 3 days.
My next Kaiser appointment is scheduled for next Tuesday. I should be getting the Group B Strep test done at that appointment. That will be the last major test I'll have done before labor.
What did we do with our week off? We visited three daycares and interviewed a pediatrician. I believe we have decided on a pediatrician. The one we interviewed last week was very nice, and does circumcisions. We will probably do our first office visit with him and have Baby Simon circumcised around the first week of life. After that, we will probably go with the other pediatrician we interviewed, simply because he is closer to home than this last one.
As far as daycares, WOW! They are expensive! The cheapest one we found is $1015/month for one newborn child, and they don't offer part time (3 days/week). The other two do offer part time for a little cheaper, but it really isn't much cheaper (about $200 or so) because they still have to hold the space. Each infant has their own crib that they don't share with anyone else for sanitation purposes. So even if they are only watching the baby three days a week, they still can't accept any other babies during the off days.
I found a couple of home daycares on craigslist, so we are going to look at one of them next week. One of our neighbors also mentioned possibly getting some people together and getting a shared nanny. We will probably look into that also.
Anyway, back to the appointment yesterday. It went very well. I'm measuring about a week behind at 34 cm for height. I weighed 148lbs, so based on my very first prenatal appointment, I've gained 26lbs so far. The baby is still in a good position - head down, anterior. And the heartrate was 122 bpm. My blood pressure was also very good at 122/65 - even through I drove to the appointment (Rob usually drives) and was a little stressed about making it on time. My pulse was also low 60s. Our next appointment with her will be our homevisit on August 4th at 37 weeks and 3 days.
My next Kaiser appointment is scheduled for next Tuesday. I should be getting the Group B Strep test done at that appointment. That will be the last major test I'll have done before labor.
Monday, July 19, 2010
Good Days and Bad Days
Saturday was a bad day, in the running department. We had a baby class to go to at Northside at 9am, so I didn't have time to go out to the trail. Instead, I decided to attempt 8 miles on the treadmill. I ran 1.5 miles and then had to stop for a bathroom break. I noticed a significant amount of spotting, so I decided to just walk the remaining time I had available. My full distance was still 6 miles, but it is frustrating that I couldn't even run more than 1.5 miles without the spotting.
The spotting stopped Saturday night. I didn't have any yesterday. Today I decided I would try running again and see if I bled again. I ran 1.5 miles as I had on Saturday before a bathroom break. This time - no spotting! Yay! So today was a good day. I finished my normal 3 mile weekday run without any incidents.
The midwife mentioned at our last appointment that my placenta is fairly low - only 2.3 cm above my cervix - which could be the cause for some of the spotting. If the baby moved or kicked at it too hard, I could easily spot. She also said that this will probably mean a lot of bleeding during delivery, but not enough to worry about. She's delivered others with similar situations in the past.
We have our next appointment with her today.
The spotting stopped Saturday night. I didn't have any yesterday. Today I decided I would try running again and see if I bled again. I ran 1.5 miles as I had on Saturday before a bathroom break. This time - no spotting! Yay! So today was a good day. I finished my normal 3 mile weekday run without any incidents.
The midwife mentioned at our last appointment that my placenta is fairly low - only 2.3 cm above my cervix - which could be the cause for some of the spotting. If the baby moved or kicked at it too hard, I could easily spot. She also said that this will probably mean a lot of bleeding during delivery, but not enough to worry about. She's delivered others with similar situations in the past.
We have our next appointment with her today.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)