I had an OB appointment today. They did an ultrasound to check the level of amniotic fluid and Greg's estimated size. It's common with this practice. Anyway, Greg is a little on the large side. He is currently estimated at 7 lbs 2 oz. He also has a lot of amniotic fluid, which while not a HUGE deal, could cause "cord issues" because he has more room to maneuver.
So, Greg and I will be going in for non-stress tests every Monday and Thursday to make sure that he's doing OK. Then, I have a scheduled induction on February 9. That's a Tuesday. That's TWELVE DAYS from now.
Yeesh!!
Thursday, January 28, 2010
Wednesday, January 27, 2010
Flakes of the World, Unite!
On a day when I REALLY needed a laugh, I stumbled upon this:
The Complete Flake's Guide to Getting Things Done
The first few paragraphs are what made me laugh, because it describes me perfectly. Anyway, enjoy if you're a flake or love someone who is a flake.
The Complete Flake's Guide to Getting Things Done
The first few paragraphs are what made me laugh, because it describes me perfectly. Anyway, enjoy if you're a flake or love someone who is a flake.
Thursday, January 21, 2010
Same Mommy, Different Pregnancies
In general, I've found my pregnancy with Greg to be much, much easier than my pregnancy with Susanna. There are a few possible reasons for this. First, I've carried him mostly through the fall and winter and not in the heat of summer. Second, I have less stress in my life this time around (I'm not a pastor and while my grandmother's death at week eight made me sad for a while, it affected me less than Bill's death did when I was 24 weeks pregnant). Here's a breakdown of what's different and the same with my pregnancies so far:
Different:
-Greg made me throw up for most of the first trimester. With Susanna, I only threw up twice; the rest of the time I was simply nauseous.
-I've only gained 17 lbs so far with Greg, so anticipate my total weight gain to be somewhere around 20-22 lbs. With Susanna, I gained probably close to 40 lbs. Of course, I wasn't chasing around a two-year-old then.
-My blood pressure has stayed well within normal range this time. With Susanna, I had elevated blood pressure from week 20 on, and I'm pretty sure that I was borderline pre-ecclampsia towards the end.
-No swelling whatsoever with Greg (knock on wood), but with Susanna EVERYTHING was swollen (ankles, feet, hands) from the third trimester onward. Again, I think the heat had something to do with it.
-I had to take the three-hour gestational diabetes test with Susanna, and it was VERY CLOSE to being positive. With Greg, my one-hour test was well within normal limits.
-I feel less cumbersome and have more energy this time than with Susanna, although I think the weather is a big factor.
-I think I'm carrying Greg lower than I did Susanna. Or at least differently. Maternity pants that fit fine last time don't really fit this time...they pretty much fall down. On the other hand, my pair of "fat pants" still fits...at 35 weeks. It's hard to describe, but it's been sort of frustrating, because I have about three pairs of pants that I am comfortable in, and the rest require constant adjustment.
-I have now had two UTI's with Greg, and had none with Susanna.
Similarities:
-I had bronchitis in the third trimester with both of them.
-I was exhausted during the first trimester with both of them.
-I'm craving corn nuggets and other nutritious food (HAHA) with both.
-Tons of Braxton-Hicks contractions from about 26 weeks onward.
It will be interesting to see how Greg's labor compares with Susanna's!
Different:
-Greg made me throw up for most of the first trimester. With Susanna, I only threw up twice; the rest of the time I was simply nauseous.
-I've only gained 17 lbs so far with Greg, so anticipate my total weight gain to be somewhere around 20-22 lbs. With Susanna, I gained probably close to 40 lbs. Of course, I wasn't chasing around a two-year-old then.
-My blood pressure has stayed well within normal range this time. With Susanna, I had elevated blood pressure from week 20 on, and I'm pretty sure that I was borderline pre-ecclampsia towards the end.
-No swelling whatsoever with Greg (knock on wood), but with Susanna EVERYTHING was swollen (ankles, feet, hands) from the third trimester onward. Again, I think the heat had something to do with it.
-I had to take the three-hour gestational diabetes test with Susanna, and it was VERY CLOSE to being positive. With Greg, my one-hour test was well within normal limits.
-I feel less cumbersome and have more energy this time than with Susanna, although I think the weather is a big factor.
-I think I'm carrying Greg lower than I did Susanna. Or at least differently. Maternity pants that fit fine last time don't really fit this time...they pretty much fall down. On the other hand, my pair of "fat pants" still fits...at 35 weeks. It's hard to describe, but it's been sort of frustrating, because I have about three pairs of pants that I am comfortable in, and the rest require constant adjustment.
-I have now had two UTI's with Greg, and had none with Susanna.
Similarities:
-I had bronchitis in the third trimester with both of them.
-I was exhausted during the first trimester with both of them.
-I'm craving corn nuggets and other nutritious food (HAHA) with both.
-Tons of Braxton-Hicks contractions from about 26 weeks onward.
It will be interesting to see how Greg's labor compares with Susanna's!
Tuesday, January 19, 2010
The Second Kid Gets the Shaft, Indeed
Greg is due on either February 24 (according to my dates) or March 3 (according to my ultrasounds). He'll come when he wants to, but he's coming soon. The good news? Right now, he does have someplace to sleep...a nice Pack and Play with a bassinet that his loving sister is handing down to him. The bad news? He doesn't really have a nursery right now. His nursery is our office, which is still fairly full with my desk and bookshelves, all of which need to be moved downstairs, where our new office/living room is located. The nursery situation will change very soon, because Greg's furniture (ordered YESTERDAY from Babies R Us) should arrive within two weeks. It's this pattern: http://www.babiitalia.com/html/bi_pts.html
Thanks to an awesome sale and a coupon, we were able to buy the crib, combo dresser/changing table AND a five-drawer dresser for the same price as just the crib and the combo dresser (our original plan). And even once we throw in the bedding (not purchased, but we know what sort of theme we want), mattress, and bed rails, we will have spent SIGNIFICANTLY less than we did on Susanna's furniture (we didn't get as good of a deal with her stuff). We're moving the glider from her room to Greg's room, so didn't have to worry about that.
I'll confess to feeling slightly guilty that here I am, 34-35 weeks pregnant, and just beginning to put the nursery together. At this point with Susanna, we had everything set up (for the most part), clothes were washed and put in drawers, and I may even have had my hospital bag packed. However, I also wasn't chasing around a two-year-old while in my third trimester of pregnancy. And since Greg doesn't really have many clothes yet (we've bought him two outfits; our friend Shelly bought him a couple cute 3-6 month outfits), it's not like it's a big deal that we have no place to put the clothes. Our friends Joel and Melissa (the ones we went to Disney with) have graciously offered to loan us their son's clothes (he's about a year older than Greg), but we need to pick them up. Which we'll do in the next few weeks. They also have a few things that we lent them and a few items of baby equipment that they're lending us.
Things we still need to buy:
-changing pad cover
-breast pump (I may rent one for the first few months...still deciding)
-Non-pink washcloths and towels
-bedding
-mattress
-Dreft
-Diapers
-Paint (and paint the room)
-A double stroller (I want to buy a Sit and Stand), but that can wait a few weeks. I've been looking for one on Craigslist and at local consignment shops, but have had no luck.
I could also use a new baby monitor, because...well, I just want a new baby monitor. Susanna's technically works fine, but the second parent unit died a while ago and I can't make it work with batteries, so it has to be plugged in all the time. We shall see. A new monitor is not as important as some of the other stuff I've mentioned.
Regardless of our lack of preparation, we are very excited to meet our little guy in a few weeks. I have an ultrasound on the 28th to check his size and the level of amniotic fluid, and I can't wait to get to "see" him again. I guess this time, we realize that Greg isn't going to care if he doesn't have a perfect nursery from day one, or if he has to use his sister's hand-me-downs. And I definitely don't think either of the above will affect his acceptance into Harvard. :)
Thanks to an awesome sale and a coupon, we were able to buy the crib, combo dresser/changing table AND a five-drawer dresser for the same price as just the crib and the combo dresser (our original plan). And even once we throw in the bedding (not purchased, but we know what sort of theme we want), mattress, and bed rails, we will have spent SIGNIFICANTLY less than we did on Susanna's furniture (we didn't get as good of a deal with her stuff). We're moving the glider from her room to Greg's room, so didn't have to worry about that.
I'll confess to feeling slightly guilty that here I am, 34-35 weeks pregnant, and just beginning to put the nursery together. At this point with Susanna, we had everything set up (for the most part), clothes were washed and put in drawers, and I may even have had my hospital bag packed. However, I also wasn't chasing around a two-year-old while in my third trimester of pregnancy. And since Greg doesn't really have many clothes yet (we've bought him two outfits; our friend Shelly bought him a couple cute 3-6 month outfits), it's not like it's a big deal that we have no place to put the clothes. Our friends Joel and Melissa (the ones we went to Disney with) have graciously offered to loan us their son's clothes (he's about a year older than Greg), but we need to pick them up. Which we'll do in the next few weeks. They also have a few things that we lent them and a few items of baby equipment that they're lending us.
Things we still need to buy:
-changing pad cover
-breast pump (I may rent one for the first few months...still deciding)
-Non-pink washcloths and towels
-bedding
-mattress
-Dreft
-Diapers
-Paint (and paint the room)
-A double stroller (I want to buy a Sit and Stand), but that can wait a few weeks. I've been looking for one on Craigslist and at local consignment shops, but have had no luck.
I could also use a new baby monitor, because...well, I just want a new baby monitor. Susanna's technically works fine, but the second parent unit died a while ago and I can't make it work with batteries, so it has to be plugged in all the time. We shall see. A new monitor is not as important as some of the other stuff I've mentioned.
Regardless of our lack of preparation, we are very excited to meet our little guy in a few weeks. I have an ultrasound on the 28th to check his size and the level of amniotic fluid, and I can't wait to get to "see" him again. I guess this time, we realize that Greg isn't going to care if he doesn't have a perfect nursery from day one, or if he has to use his sister's hand-me-downs. And I definitely don't think either of the above will affect his acceptance into Harvard. :)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)