I actually am 35 weeks now, but I'll post with the "happenings" of week 34. I had another appt. with the "less desirable" specialist doctor on Monday. He didn't seem to be checking for much that day because it was too soon to see if Baby has gained weight since my last appointment a week before. They did do an ultrasound to check heart rate and movement though and she had a good heartbeat, but wasn't moving AT ALL! They had to eventually bring out a little buzzer thing that kind of vibrated and buzzed loudly over my belly to see if that would make her move. She did a little, but still not as much as they wanted. When the doctor came in, he asked when I last ate and I told him I had eaten lunch around 12. (I left school for my appt. at 2). "THREE HOURS AGO?! Three hours is TOO long for the baby to go without food. I know that while you're teaching it's hard to take care of yourself, but you really need to be eating something every couple of hours." OK... so there's another thing I am apparently doing wrong. He decided to hook me up to a monitor for a fetal stress test after they gave me some juice to drink. That supposedly showed that the baby is doing fine (although Sean and I really didn't know what was going on during the test).
On Thursday at work, I started having Braxton Hicks contractions that were long-lasting and a very steady 3 - 4 min. apart ALL day. I waited until after lunch to call the doctor just to ask what I should do about it since sitting/standing/walking/etc. weren't changing anything. When the nurse called back, they asked me to come in right away. So yet another frantic afternoon making sure someone could cover my classroom (so glad for supportive staff members!) and a speed-demon drive all the way back out to the doctor... they checked and I'm still not dilated, but they hooked me up to monitor the contractions and sure enough I was having around 5-6 per hour (of course I was lying down while being monitored so they has slowed a little since earlier that day). Since the contractions weren't causing any changes to the cervix, I was sent home with instructions to be "done as soon as the school day is done". So I am supposed to leave work as soon as I can at the end of the day and stay off my feet once I get home at night. On Friday, I had the same issue though of constant contractions all day long!
Friday after school, I had my staff baby shower which was awesome! I got some great things for Baby and enjoyed visiting with co-workers outside of school. This weekend, I washed all of her new stuff and put it away. I also got to put some sheets on her bed and get the changing table set up since we got the changing pad and cover for it. It's looking cute in there! Now we just can't wait until we have a baby to put in there, too!
Tomorrow I go back to the specialist to measure Baby again and see if she's gained enough weight. I have been really loading up on protein like he suggested, so I hope she's gotten bigger! I'll post later this week to tell how things go. I don't have an appointment with the midwives again until next week, so hopefully I won't have any reason to go in and see them until that point!
Sunday, January 30, 2011
Thursday, January 20, 2011
Week 33
Another eventful week here at the Miglini house! Let's see if I can even begin to keep it brief... I had a scheduled appointment with the midwife on Monday this week after school and I brought up some concerns I'd had about the number of and length of the contractions I'd been having whenever I'd been on my feet at school or out running errands. A new thing that started though was some awful cramps down low and a feeling of pressure along with the contractions. She did an exam and ran some tests to see if there was any bacterial infection (there wasn't) but thought it might feel like the cervix was thinning. Since this could be a sign of preterm labor and she wanted to ensure that I at least got to the 34 week mark, she ordered me to stay home the following day and she scheduled an ultrasound (again) to check on the cervix (see if it was starting to thin out) and any other signs of preterm labor. So I went in the next morning for the ultrasound and luckily, the cervix was measuring normally, but she noticed that I didn't seem to have much amniotic fluid (sound familiar from 2 weeks ago?!) If you remember form an earlier post, I had a fluid measurement of 7.3 which was a little low, and another one 2 days later measured at 13 (normal range). Well, now it was 6. So she sent me back down to the midwife and she was now concerned about a high slow leak of amniotic fluid and told me I would need to stay home from work for the rest of this week with everything that had been happening. She sent me to a high risk OB upstairs to determine whether or not there was, in fact, a slow leak. So I went to that appt. and had another ultrasound. They measured everything and looked at the placenta and cord. This time (only a few hours after the previous ultrasound), the fluid levels were 11. Apparently, it can change depending on who does the ultrasound. I am not sure why THIS particular doctor's measurements are the only RIGHT ones, but that's basically what he said. (What, so he was saying that the ultrasound techs. downstairs in the same building with lots of experience are dumb and don't do their job right?) Anyway, he said everything looked good and asked me what problems I'd been having. As I started to explain about the contractions, cramping, and pressure, he interrupted me to tell me, "Oh well that's normal because the baby is low." Well... my midwives have known for a couple weeks that the baby is very low already and were still concerned about how much discomfort I'd had. After an exam to make sure there wasn't a leak of fluid (that came back negative), he went on to say that he's very concerned about the baby's weight. She's 4lbs. 3oz. He then informed me that I am not eating well enough and need to load up on protein to help her gain some weight. I asked him about how he felt about me working even with the problems I have every afternoon at school and he said it was no big deal - that I could just sit more. (Duh! I sit as much as I possibly can already, but hello, I am an elementary school teacher!) Needless to say, I left this appointment extremely frustrated because I didn't get any answers about the pain I've had (except that it's not preterm labor which is good news) and now had something totally different to be concerned with. I checked back with my midwife and asked if she could write a note to allow me back to work since this other doctor seemed unconcerned. She asked how I felt about it and since I'd rather save as many sick days as possible for after the baby is here, I told her I'd prefer to work and just take it as easy as I can. So she wrote me a note and I went back yesterday. Then today, I was feeling awful from the moment I got to work and ended up taking the afternoon off. I'll go back tomorrow though. I just can't seem to be on my feet at all without starting to have at least 4 - 6 contractions every hour that last quite awhile. While I'm having them, it's impossible to concentrate on anything else because they can get so uncomfortable and make it harder to breathe. That doesn't mix well with trying to teach 25 fourth graders! Maybe next week will be uneventful... we'll see!!!
Wednesday, January 12, 2011
Week 32
Week 32 has been full of SNOW! Let me rewind first to last week which was eventful (not in a good way). I had a 3rd (yes, 3rd) attempt at a 3D ultrasound on Tuesday last week and the tech. kept mentioning that it didn't seem like I had a lot of fluid around the baby. I asked her to measure it and she measured 7.2 cm. (I think it was measured in cm anyway...)
On Wednesday, I had a scheduled appointment with the midwives and mentioned the 7.2 measurement. She said that they like to see it at 10, so I was advised to really focus on hydrating (which I felt I had been anyway) and that we would schedule another ultrasound in 2 weeks just to measure fluid amounts. So I made the appointment and went on my way - drinking plenty of water over the next 24 hours.
The following day, back at school after Christmas break, I was working in my classroom when I felt a significant gush of fluid... gross, but true. So at lunch time I called the triage nurse and let her know what was going on and to call back as soon as she could. I wasn't too worried, but more was just wondering what I should or should not be doing. She called back quickly and asked me for more info. about what was happening and said she'd get back with me once she had talked to my midwife. So ALL afternoon we were playing phone tag. My phone would vibrate in my pocket, I'd make up some quick excuse to run out of the classroom real quickly, only to answer my phone just as she hung up. Finally at 3:30, she got a hold of me. Of course 3:30 is also when I had an important parent meeting scheduled that I really needed to lead. Well at 3:30, the nurse said that I needed to come in immediately for an emergency ultrasound! AND I had to get there BY 4:00! So I grabbed my things and stopped the principal and explained what was going on (while bursting into tears) and he assured me that they could hold the meeting without me and let me get going.
Once I got to the doctor and Sean met me there, they started an ultrasound and of course the fluid measurements looked fine! Thank goodness they were in the normal range, but man! What a worry for nothing! I guess it's always better to get things checked and have them be fine than not to and have complications. Anyway, I am still supposed to make sure I stay hydrated, which I have been.
Then, this Sunday we got a good amount of snow and they cancelled school for Monday :) I spent the day cleaning, putting together the baby's bouncer and swing, and getting most of her laundry washed and put away. While cleaning though, I was getting some pretty uncomfortable contractions. I have had them quite a lot lately, so I guess I'll just mention it next time I go to the doctor. In fact, I'm having them as I type this! Yikes! They feel very weird and uncomfortable, but not painful. They sort of make you feel strained to breathe for a few seconds though. On Monday night, we got another surprise... another snow day for Tuesday!!! On Tuesday I stayed pretty lazy. I made adjustments to my registries online and made lists of things to pack for the hospital and a list of things to stock up on for when we are home from the hospital. That way, I can get a little at a time over the next few weeks so we're prepared.
Last night we began our Prepared Childbirth class at the hospital. It's 6 weeks, 2 hours each week. My favorite part was when she announced that our husbands should be taking 30 min. to an hour at least 3 times per week to massage our backs :) I could definitely use that! Other than that, I knew most of last night's material, but it's still good to hear it from someone rather than just read it in all the books I suppose. I'm sure there will be some info. that comes up that I haven't already read about.
Today I had to go back to school and it was very tiring after so many days off. Being on my feet all day is hard work now! Plus bending down to work with kids at their desks and everything is pretty tough. But man, only about 6 more weeks that I'll be at school it look like! That's crazy! Somehow during that time, I have to get all 25 kids prepared and ready to pass the state writing assessment. That's my main goal before maternity leave. I also have to hold separate parent teacher conferences for my class since school conferences aren't held until a week after my due date. I plan on doing those about 1 month from now.
Hopefully my 33 week post won't need to be quite so long, but a lot has happened in the past week and a half! I also hope these darn contractions stop happening so much. I think I've had 3 since I started typing this post. Well, adios until next week :)
On Wednesday, I had a scheduled appointment with the midwives and mentioned the 7.2 measurement. She said that they like to see it at 10, so I was advised to really focus on hydrating (which I felt I had been anyway) and that we would schedule another ultrasound in 2 weeks just to measure fluid amounts. So I made the appointment and went on my way - drinking plenty of water over the next 24 hours.
The following day, back at school after Christmas break, I was working in my classroom when I felt a significant gush of fluid... gross, but true. So at lunch time I called the triage nurse and let her know what was going on and to call back as soon as she could. I wasn't too worried, but more was just wondering what I should or should not be doing. She called back quickly and asked me for more info. about what was happening and said she'd get back with me once she had talked to my midwife. So ALL afternoon we were playing phone tag. My phone would vibrate in my pocket, I'd make up some quick excuse to run out of the classroom real quickly, only to answer my phone just as she hung up. Finally at 3:30, she got a hold of me. Of course 3:30 is also when I had an important parent meeting scheduled that I really needed to lead. Well at 3:30, the nurse said that I needed to come in immediately for an emergency ultrasound! AND I had to get there BY 4:00! So I grabbed my things and stopped the principal and explained what was going on (while bursting into tears) and he assured me that they could hold the meeting without me and let me get going.
Once I got to the doctor and Sean met me there, they started an ultrasound and of course the fluid measurements looked fine! Thank goodness they were in the normal range, but man! What a worry for nothing! I guess it's always better to get things checked and have them be fine than not to and have complications. Anyway, I am still supposed to make sure I stay hydrated, which I have been.
Then, this Sunday we got a good amount of snow and they cancelled school for Monday :) I spent the day cleaning, putting together the baby's bouncer and swing, and getting most of her laundry washed and put away. While cleaning though, I was getting some pretty uncomfortable contractions. I have had them quite a lot lately, so I guess I'll just mention it next time I go to the doctor. In fact, I'm having them as I type this! Yikes! They feel very weird and uncomfortable, but not painful. They sort of make you feel strained to breathe for a few seconds though. On Monday night, we got another surprise... another snow day for Tuesday!!! On Tuesday I stayed pretty lazy. I made adjustments to my registries online and made lists of things to pack for the hospital and a list of things to stock up on for when we are home from the hospital. That way, I can get a little at a time over the next few weeks so we're prepared.
Last night we began our Prepared Childbirth class at the hospital. It's 6 weeks, 2 hours each week. My favorite part was when she announced that our husbands should be taking 30 min. to an hour at least 3 times per week to massage our backs :) I could definitely use that! Other than that, I knew most of last night's material, but it's still good to hear it from someone rather than just read it in all the books I suppose. I'm sure there will be some info. that comes up that I haven't already read about.
Today I had to go back to school and it was very tiring after so many days off. Being on my feet all day is hard work now! Plus bending down to work with kids at their desks and everything is pretty tough. But man, only about 6 more weeks that I'll be at school it look like! That's crazy! Somehow during that time, I have to get all 25 kids prepared and ready to pass the state writing assessment. That's my main goal before maternity leave. I also have to hold separate parent teacher conferences for my class since school conferences aren't held until a week after my due date. I plan on doing those about 1 month from now.
Hopefully my 33 week post won't need to be quite so long, but a lot has happened in the past week and a half! I also hope these darn contractions stop happening so much. I think I've had 3 since I started typing this post. Well, adios until next week :)
Monday, January 3, 2011
Saturday, January 1, 2011
Week 31
I thought I'd post more over break, but I've been kind of busy. Busy getting things done around here. I haven't quite gotten around to cleaning out the closet in the baby room yet, but we did get all of the wall decorations up! I'll have to post some pictures later on. We got the car seat ordered and on its way, registered in the Target store, found a pediatrician, got the Christmas stuff taken down, joined Costco, among many other things!
Christmas was great, but went by so quickly! I got some awesome gifts such as a Flip video camera, tickets to Rascall Flatts in January, a few pairs of shoes, some scrapbooking software for when I have baby pictures, a portable hard drive, gift cards, etc. And the baby got some cute clothes, some feeding supplies, and a giant stuffed panda bear which will be much bigger than her for about 3 years :) I'm still looking at photographers, but I think I found one that will work. I'm planning on doing maternity photos as well with our wedding photographer who will do the session for free since we used her for our wedding. I just don't think I have anything cute to wear for the maternity photos. I'll have to scour photographer websites to see what looks best on other people.
In the meantime, I am just now starting to get extremely uncomfortable. I cannot stay in one position for more than a few minutes, lying on my back is now very uncomfortable, I always feel out of breath, and I'm starting to feel like I'm getting heartburn which is no fun. But I still enjoy watching my belly move all over when the baby is awake! I think these next 2 months back at school are going to be tough as far as comfort goes, but if I can hold out till the beginning of March, I'll be so much happier NOT having to worry about leaving the baby for a few days or weeks in May to go back to work. Even though she'd be with family, I know that I'm not going to want to leave her all day. I have a few more days left of break and plan to relax as much as possible in that time before things get crazy again!
Christmas was great, but went by so quickly! I got some awesome gifts such as a Flip video camera, tickets to Rascall Flatts in January, a few pairs of shoes, some scrapbooking software for when I have baby pictures, a portable hard drive, gift cards, etc. And the baby got some cute clothes, some feeding supplies, and a giant stuffed panda bear which will be much bigger than her for about 3 years :) I'm still looking at photographers, but I think I found one that will work. I'm planning on doing maternity photos as well with our wedding photographer who will do the session for free since we used her for our wedding. I just don't think I have anything cute to wear for the maternity photos. I'll have to scour photographer websites to see what looks best on other people.
In the meantime, I am just now starting to get extremely uncomfortable. I cannot stay in one position for more than a few minutes, lying on my back is now very uncomfortable, I always feel out of breath, and I'm starting to feel like I'm getting heartburn which is no fun. But I still enjoy watching my belly move all over when the baby is awake! I think these next 2 months back at school are going to be tough as far as comfort goes, but if I can hold out till the beginning of March, I'll be so much happier NOT having to worry about leaving the baby for a few days or weeks in May to go back to work. Even though she'd be with family, I know that I'm not going to want to leave her all day. I have a few more days left of break and plan to relax as much as possible in that time before things get crazy again!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)