Non-stress test #2

I had my second NST today, this time at the hospital (which is where I will have them twice a week for the duration of my pregnancy). I got there early, about 15 minutes and asked the lady at check-in if they were going to need a urine sample because I needed to go, and she didn't think so. Since I was early and she said they were running late, I ran down and got myself a milk at the cafe and shh...don't tell anyone, but a cookie too. ;) When I got back upstairs, I only waited about another 5 minutes.

The nurse took me to my bed and asked me questions like if I had any symptoms of preeclampsia. I told her about the stars and the swelling but she wasn't too worried at this point...said most of what I was describing was fairly normal. She asked if I had been having headaches. I have had a couple headaches the past couple days so I said yes, but they haven't been horrible throbbing headaches so again she was OK with that. She asked if I were on bedrest and I told her No and that I was hoping not to be put on bedrest. She tried to hook up the fetal monitor but the baby was so not cooperating. She tried for about 15 minutes or more and then got really frustrated and asked another nurse to try. She got it in place in about 5 minutes. I was hooked up to the monitors for about 30 minutes with 3 blood pressure readings (all top numbers in the 140-142 range, bottom numbers ranged from 66-78).

When she came back to evaluate she said she was a little worried about low amniotic fluid levels. I told her that the perinatologist had mentioned the same thing on Thursday and asked why she thought that. Apparently the concern is when there are big swings in the heart rate, in this case I know that I saw a dip to in the 90s and back up to the 150s. She said that can sometimes indicate that there isn't enough fluid and that the baby moves and compresses the umbilical cord until they panic and move away...freaky. Hope she is OK in there...

In light of the slight concern, she wanted to find the on call OB before releasing me. Unfortunately, he was first visiting with a patient and then snuck out without her knowing..so it took about another 30 minutes (maybe more) to get him back. He released me after confirming that I have another ultrasound to check fluid levels in two weeks and reminded me to keep my twice weekly NST appointments.

OK, that was as long as I can rest...must get back to cleaning my bedroom and the extra bedroom...

Housecleaning

Oh, why can't I inherently be a good housekeeper? I am just exhausted...I know that most of the exhaustion is due to being pregnant, but I am just so overwhelmed with cleaning...and all I want to do is clean my bedroom (and the extra bedroom though that one is not nearly as bad) enough that the housekeepers coming tomorrow can vacuum and dust...LOL. Seriously...my bedroom looks like it did when I was back in junior high with mounds and mounds of things on the floor..in this case, clothes, and I don't know what to do with them all..ugh.

Hypertension clinic

I went to the hypertension clinic today. My appointment was at 10:00, so I left the school at 9:00 and had to have two teachers cover the rest of my classes (it was a half day for students so we ended at 10:20). I had been late to the clinic one time so was quite worried about getting there on time, but I actually got there about 9:45. A lot of good it did me...I waited for an hour before I was seen. At one point, I thought I was going to pass out, so I ended up running down to the cafeteria and buying a banana and a chocolate milk to tide me over.

Finally, just before 11:00, I was called in for my first appointment..the nonstress test. She hooked up one monitor to my belly to listen for the baby's heartbeat. Then she hooked up another high up on the belly to gage contractions (I didn't have any), put an automatic blood pressure cuff on my arm and started it and then realized that I was lying on top of the pulsometer for my finger and had me moving and contorting myself to get at it while the blood pressure monitor was doing its thing...I suspect she is not too accustomed to the automatic cuffs to know how painful it is and that moving around, does NOT help LOL.

My blood pressure was good 126/68 or something like that. I expressed how surprised I was since it had bene so high at the other appointments...she decided to do it again. SHe turned on the machine and it did its thing, only this time it started beeping...I started panicking thinking something was wrong with the baby, but it was actually me..my lower number was 44 and the machine was freaking out...

The nonstress test continued..about 20 minutes. The baby was fine, but the nurse wasn't happy enough and decided to "wake" her with this loud thing on my belly...baby kicked back, made a big move, and then settled right down again. LOL. I guess the nurse gave up.;)

Then, it was back to the waiting room...for another 20 minutes. I was called in to do the ultracom/ultrasound of my heart/arteries etc. It seemed much faster than other times and my blood pressure was checked again...still in the 120s/60s.

Back to the waiting room...Luckily, this last wait was much faster. Another nurse called me in and we went over my numbers. My cardiac output, while still high, had come down from the last visit. She said that generally it should be peaking at its highest now and was seemed happy with the results. Another nurse came and took my blood presure for the last time...still in the 120s but over 70something this time.

Finally, the perinatologist came in. She seemed happy with all the results of my blood pressure, checked my legs (which weren't nearly as swollen as they are in the afternoon/evening), and decided that it wouldn't hurt to increase one of my meds, the diuretic. She also said that if I was consistently getting readings in the 130s at the OBs, that she would recommend he increase the other blood pressure med. On the diabetes front, she was not pleased with the switch to all insulin. She firmly believes I need the Metformin to help my body use the insulin and that increasing the amount of insulin is not going to help...but, she doesn't want to change it herself...she is going to write a letter to both my OB and the other perinatologist (her colleague) recommending this.

In the meantime, my OBs office has increased my fast acting insulin with breakfast and added some with supper in response to my phone call to them yesterday with my high high numbers. It appears that the perinatologist is right...more insulin does not necessarily mean better control for me...in fact, I was pretty well controlled before we switched to all insulin...my A1C was an incredibly 4.7, that is better than many(if not most) nondiabetics!

OB visit, and my prediction

I had my OB appointment this afternoon...you know, the one where we switched to all insulin. He was not convinced that that was the best thing to do, but decided to try it since it was suggested by the perinatologist. My weight is up, not a whole lot in total, but quite a bit in a couple weeks, he thinks it is due to my water retention, which I would agree since my legs are really starting to swell these days. For those who are curious, my total weight gain right now is 10 pounds. My blood pressure is still up higher than I am used to, it was 138/74. The OB thinks the hypertension clinic will increase my meds, again, I concur. My weekly nonstress tests that are to start this week have been increased to twice a week...

As you can see, there was very little "good news" at this appointment. The baby's heartrate was good though at 142 bpm.

Now, I promised a prediction in my title. Unfortunately, it is not a good prediction. The last piece of information I got at the OB visit was that my 24 hour urine collection resulted in 253 mg protein. The "normal range" is 0-150. While the OB told me it was "still low", I was not able to see the results at that time and just believed him. But then he gave me the printout so that I could take it to the hypertension clinic (and he wrote on there my blood pressure from today as well as the dosage on the long acting insulin I am adding with breakfast and at night time). On the sheet, it shows the "normal range". What was he thinking??? How is that "still low"??? I googled and found that 0-150 is indeed the normal range...and then I googled preeclampsia...300 and up is considered mild preeclampsia.

Therefore, with my blood pressure rising, my legs swelling, and the protein in my urine increasing, my sad prediction is that I suspect I will be put on bedrest sometime in February....let's keep praying that I am wrong.

23w0d Ultrasound

23w0d Ultrasound
Originally uploaded by kajohn345.

This one was from November, 23w0d. What a difference a month made, huh?

31w6d Ultrasound

31w6d Ultrasound
Originally uploaded by kajohn345.

And this was this week's ultrasound (I didn't include the December ultrasound pic because all I got was a picture of the back of the head and the spine...). Looks to me like she's got some chubby cheeks. :)

18w3d ultrasound

18w3d ultrasound
Originally uploaded by kajohn345.

Not sure why they are so blurry..but I know I haven't posted ultrasound pics in a long while. This one was from October...18w3d.

Crib

Jan 22, 2006 nursery 004
Originally uploaded by kajohn345.

And the crib!

Nursery in progress

Jan 22, 2006 nursery 006
Originally uploaded by kajohn345.

And the stroller! It was a busy day!

Jan 22, 2006 nursery 002

Jan 22, 2006 nursery 002
Originally uploaded by kajohn345.

The nursery is obviously still in progress. Here is the dresser and glider.

Oh my goodness...

Oh my goodness, you do not realize how often you pee until you have to grab the bottle from the fridge to collect it for 24 hours...

I'm just saying...ugh..only 10 more hours to go..

(probably only women who have had high risk pregnancies have any idea what I am talking about LOL)

In much, much better news, my awesome uncle just called and we are going to pick up all the furniture tomorrow!! WOOHOO!

The crib is in!

So, as I said in my post a couple hours ago, I went to Babies R Us this afternoon to once again try and order the crib. As I walked over to the furniture desk, the girl who has helped me all three previous times says "are you to here pick up your crib?". I looked at her like she was from Mars and told her, no, I am here to try and order it for the fouth time...

Apparently, as soon as I left on Wednesday (or was it Tuesday?), the crib arrived in the store. One crib, just for me, because the very first time she had put in a rain check so I guess that is kinda like ordering it? I don't know. In any case, they called me apparently, and even more oddly, I called them back LOL...odd, because I never received a phone call, and even stranger because the phone number was totally wrong but the phone number on the dresser (ordered the same day I first tried to order the crib and got the rain check) was correct...When I called (but it wasn't me), I said that they had the wrong number but no problem because they had told me, but they didn't...

What a long story. LOL. In any case, the crib is in and I have emailed my awesome uncle and asked for yet another favour to help me pick up all the furniture that is currently sitting at my local BRU with tags on it with three different dates of arrivals saying "delayed pickup" and my name. Perfect timing for furniture to arrive now that the carpets are cleaned and pretty...

On a totally unrelated note, I am exhausted. I am really starting to lose energy these days. Yesterday, I had a visit from a friend, her husband and two kids. We had a wonderful time. She brought me my peanut butter and I was happy as a clam! She also brought some bags of baby girl clothes, awesome! After visiting a bit at home while the kids played, I mentioned there was a party store having a sale because she wanted some party supplies...we decided to go there and then hit Chuck E Cheese since it was nearby. I can so see myself taking my little one(s) there...LOL. It was fun to watch the people and the kids and I think her kids had a great time. In any case, they left at like 8:45, I sat on the couch for about 45 minutes with my legs up ebcause they were REALLY swollen, and then went to bed....and slept, and slept, and slept..until after 8:00 am. Of course, I got up to pee numerous times, but I slept for about 11 hours! And I am still tired! good grief, where is this second wind you are supposed to get, with the nesting feeling that makes you clean, I need it now! LOL

Preparations...

I have been trying to get ready for this little girl to make her grand appearance in the next 8 weeks (or less!). I just can not believe how fast time is flying...have you looked at the counter lately???? 55 days it says...and of course it could always be sooner (or later..but I really have the impression the doctors won't allow me to go late).

Today, I had the carpets cleaned in the nursery..they look so much better. The previous owners had left quite a few stains (noticeable stains) on the rug and all but on came out with the cleaning today. The room was painted before Christmas holidays and things have really been piling up in the closet...not just clothes, though those are piling up too, but also toys, bottles, towels, breast pump, cosleeper thingy, and so much more.

At the beginning of my pregnancy I was sure I would have to buy so much stuff, but people have been so generous with giving me things they no longer need or just had too much of...people I know well like a former college roommate of mine, people I know pretty well but have never met! (thanks Debbie!!) and people I barely know like a woman from church who is giving me a cradle.

I have ordered my dresser a couple weeks ago. I got a combo dresser in the end, I found one that didn't have the stupid weird double drawer that most of them had...I also purchased a glider on clearance at the same time. I am still waiting to order my crib (going to head into BRU again today to see if I can order it yet), but my other things are in so I may have to give in and ask my uncle very kindly to make two trips for me..to pick up the stuff there now and then back again when the crib arrives. If I can't order my crib this weekend, I am considering waiting until my mom comes on the 2nd as I am sure she would enjoy crib shopping with me...I am definitely looking forward to having the dresser so I can start sorting through the clothes by ages/sizes, wash them and start putting them away.

Yep, things are well underway and as the carpet cleaning guy said on his way out today, "have fun with the rest of your preparations, they last for the next 18 years or so!". :)

Looking good!

So, I had my monthly growth check ultrasound and appointment with the perinatologist today. Baby is looking good. Her head, arms and legs are all slightly bigger than my date (I am 31w6d and those were measuring in the 33weeks..), her belly is a couple days behind (oh wouldn't it be lovely if my child did not inherit my short and round genes LOL and was instead tall and lean!), and her weight is estimated at 4 pounds 8 ounces right now, about the 69th percentile. She is finally heads down...her head sitting right on top of my cervix which explains the uncomfortableness at times...And for the very first time, the sonographer said "definitely a girl" and showed me a very clear picture. No more worries from me that I will find out otherwise in a couple weeks! LOL

The perinatologist thinks that there could be some changes in the near future in my meds. He would like to see me stopping the Metformin and glyburide and moving to insulin four times a day. He said he would write a letter to my OB about that and that hopefully the OB will make that change on Monday (I am pretty ambivalent about it...would probably prefer the pills because we are talking about adding 3 more needles a day...currently I take two, but I would need two different needles with breakfast, one with lunch, one with dinner and one before bed). He also thinks that the hypertension clinic may change my blood pressure meds when I go in next week. My blood pressure was still up, though the lower number was quite low for me. My blood pressure was 142/66. The nurse thought it was a bit strange so she even did it twice...He is also keeping an eye on the swelling in my legs and his first comment when I told him I was swelling was, "Are you still teaching?" I told him yes and that I hoped to continue to teach until March 1st. Thankfully he didn't say I couldn't but urged me to put up my legs at least during lunch.

In all, things are looking good. He told me that he was very happy with the baby's measurements. :)

The other home day care

Well, I visited the other home day care this afternoon, the one that is 200 less a month than the first.

Things I liked:
- it was clean
- there are only 4 kids
- it is cheap (hey, that does have to factor in to some extent)

Things I didn't like:
- there doesn't seem to be any "curriculum", it is more like having a babysitter
- not as organized/informative as others (for example, I would not receive a menu so that I could supplement if I didn't want my child eating something...like a possible allergen or something)
- no budging on summer payments

So, I don't know what to do still. I am leaning towards using this lady for the first year. Not having a curriculum will be fine for an infant, but after that I will probably move on. Plus, I would probably use her until June, cancel for the summer and then reevaluate and find somewhere with a bit more of academic substance...Anyway, those are my thoughts right now. But I have not made any firm decisions...Still open to advice :)

The childcare visit

So, I visited the home day care today. It is easily accessible from school and the freeway. The woman seems nice and there is a nice mix of ages of the kids. Of course, today was a holiday so not all the kids were there.

Things I liked:
- the baby was held most of the time I was there until they put him down for a nap.
- they have a schedule and include kids of all different ages in things like circle time and projects
- they celebrate birthdays and try and include a variety of holidays

Things I didn't like:
- when they put the baby down to nap (in another room but it is open..no walls so not a big deal), they turned on some music and in my opinion it was too loud...
- the kids ate snack while working on a project using glue...as far as I could tell no child ate glue, but it could have easily happened...

After leaving there, I thought I had better call some other places as well. So, I called the day care centre that was on the list given to me by the childcare resource service and which I passed on the way to this day care home. Their fee is way more than I want to pay, but I did go and take a tour. I also called one other centre that was even more expensive.

When I got home, I called the other day care homes on my list..three don't anticipate infant spots, one insists I pay for summers, and one was not home.

So, I switched to calling about places near my home as opposed to near my work. The day care centres are much more reasonably priced here. Just slightly more than the home day care I visited this morning (like 5 dollars a week more...). I tried two home day cares but received no answer and left messages.

What do I do? I thought I wanted near school in case there was a problem, but maybe near home isn't so bad...It seems to be cheaper than the city I work in (which is also why I can't afford to live in that city!). I can't decide if the home day care I visited today was acceptable for me or not...I was quite bothered by the eating while gluing...but maybe that was just because they were distracted with me there? I don't know...Any opinions?

Edited to add: I received a call back from someone I called this afternoon. Another home day care, near the school, and 200/month cheaper than the other home day care...LOL. Now why is this one so cheap? Who knows..but I will visit her tomorrow afternoon. Also, she only has 4 kids..I like that there are less kids.

Positive self-talk

"You are going to finish your first draft of your assignments today."

"You will finish. You will finish the whole thing before the baby comes."

"You can do it."

OK, back to work...1 down, two to go.

Update:

Hallelujah!! The assignments are in! Of course, I am sure there will be editing involved...but they are in! they are in! they are in! Now if only my bedroom would clean itself, I would be the happiest camper alive. :)

Childcare

Months and months ago, I tried to get in with this one child care provider that comes highly recommended...no can do since one of her current parents is pregnant with another child which will take up the infant spot she has coming open...I was very very disappointed, but at least I know how this person is now and I like her so I guess I can't be too mad;)

Then, I got some names to call from said provider but had no luck at all finding an opening. Well, that is not entirely true, there was one woman who was quite sure to have an opening but I wasn't completely thrilled with her...mostly what I didn't like I think was that there seemed to be no budging and no compromise on summers (as a teacher I won't need child care during the summer).

I took a break. A very long break. LOL.

In December, aroudn the time I realized I really had to hire my doula (who I am meeting with tomorrow to write my birth plan and to practice labour positions), I contacted this place called Child Care resource referral or something or other, and got a list of names within a 2 mile radius of my house and of my work. I didn't do anything with it for a while, but finally decided it was time. I called the first lady on the list tonight and lo and behold, she has an infant spot! She doesn't charge for summers because she can get school age kids to take my child's place in the summer! So far, I am quite happy. She charges a bit more than I had hoped..20-30/week more than other places I have researched (online or when I made my calls back in October), but I think that not paying for summers (possibly even other breaks like spring break too if she can find an older kid needing my spot) will make up that. I have made an appointment to visit the place on Monday.

Anyway, since I was impressed, I hemmed and hawed over calling more places on the lists, including two actual day care centres as opposed to home day cares like this one, but I didn't. Hopefully this place is the answer!

Back from the OB

The OB didn't seem concerned about the stars, told me that they really only worry about that at the end of pregnancy (though I do not think that is necessarily the case...I think the hypertension clinic may think differently). My blood pressure was definitely up, but again, he wasn't too worried. It was 142/78. He increased my insulin with meals, but made no changes with my blood pressure meds.

I see the perinatologist next week (and I am hoping either my blood pressure is down or he will take it a bit more seriously...), and the OB and the hypertension clinic the following week...I have moved to every two week appointments and I start my nonstress tests in 2 weeks...For now, all appears to be OK, according to him. From my point of view, things are definitely starting to change, like my blood sugars are unstable and my blood pressure rising, but hopefully he knows what he is doing! (or at least the perinatologist will next week!)

Yuck!

I know I have no right to complain as I have had it sooooooo much easier than most women. But, I woke up about 15 minutes ago JUST IN TIME before I threw up all over my pillow...yuck. (to clarify, I have actually not thrown up other than in my mouth...which is icky enough for me...) Afraid to go back to bed right now...

Thanks and Advice needed..Now updated

First, thanks for sending guesses on my baby poll, keep them coming! (although I fear Beth is trying to kill me with that big big baby;) LOL).

Now, I need a bit of advice..I have been drilled repeatedly about the symptoms of preeclampsia because I have all (or at least most) of the risk factors: first pregnancy, diabetic, chronic hypertension and my mother had major problems with high blood pressure when pregnant (nowadays she would have been told she had preeclampsia but then, they said because she had only 3 of the 4 symptoms she didn't...)

Anyway, today I am starting to freak out a bit because I am definitely not ready to have this baby, and of all things that worry me, the worst is that my house is a mess LOL and my parents are planning to stay with me for a couple weeks around the baby's birth...Another big concern are these stupid STUPID professional certification assignments which I must must MUST finish unless I want to take the whole stupid thing over again while taking care of an infant..but my plans at least (but you know how bad of a procrastinator I am...) are to do two of the assignments today..leaving just one last one...anyway...

Which brings me to why I am freaking out a bit. I have definitely noticed swelling in my legs this week, but nothing as serious as I expected, honestly, I have had worse swelling during hot summers. But more importantly, today, very briefly, I "Saw stars" which was one of the symptoms I was to watch for. I figure maybe I just got up too quickly or something, it only lasted about 30 seconds, but should I be worried? Do I call the doctor (which isn't open on the weekends I don't think so I don't know how to do it...)?

Thanks for any advice!

Edited to add: I do have an appointment scheduled Monday afternoon with the OB, just a regular check-up. I tried calling the office now to see if I could talk to someone, but as suspected, they are closed on Saturdays..

Update: After having some lunch, I did call back and pressed 1 to go to the answering service. They were about to put me through to the on call OB when she asked how far along I was and when I said 30 weeks, she said, let me put you through to triage. So I spoke with a nurse at the hospital and she said I am OK to wait for my regular OB appointment Monday afternoon as long as it doesn't happen again or any new symptoms. She said to be sure to tell the OB about the swelling (which i am not too concerned about..), the stars (which concerned me the most) and heartburn. I had no idea I was supposed to be watching out for heartburn but it has definitely gotten much much worse this past week or so...

Guess the stats on my baby!