Posts tagged Pregnancy
My thoughts on my c-section
Apr 7th
I had my 6 week check-up with the OB that performed my c-section today. She told me that I will almost certainly have to have a c-section for any future pregnancies, although of course I can try for a natural delivery. But she doesn’t think it’s likely to work. She said that because of how big James’s head was and how narrow my pelvic bones are it probably won’t work.
Obviously I’m pretty bummed about this. I plan to try to deliver naturally next time, but I’m still disappointed for now. I feel like my body is supposed to be able to do this, but for some reason it can’t. Like I’m defective or something. I know that’s silly, and I would tell anyone else going through this that of course that’s not the case. But it doesn’t change how I feel.
On top of that, I feel like if my hip bones are so narrow, I should be narrower…thinner. I know that especially is ridiculous; that one has nothing to do with the other. But because I’m already feeling little down about how I look (although I know it’s temporary) this has just added to that.
Ugh. I just wish things had gone the way I had planned. I never realized how important doing this the natural way was to me. And now I might never be able to.
I know that this might never be an issue. Maybe my next baby will have a smaller head and I’ll get the delivery I want, and all this worry will have been for nothing. I also know that I’m lucky. Ryan and I can have more kids, and James is healthy and perfect. But for now I’m upset and wishing things were different.
So yah, those are my thoughts so far.
Poor, neglected blog. Also, no baby yet.
Feb 19th
It occurred to me that we haven’t updated the blog in a while, and if I was reading a blog and someone was expecting a baby at any minute and they didn’t update for days I would assume they had it. I would hate for you to assume that, because you would be disappointed, so I’m here to let you know that no, we have not yet had the baby. Although we have been trying to convince him that it’s pretty awesome out here and he should come join us. No dice so far, though.
I’ve been a little “nesty” although not much. I have lots of plans of things I would like to get done, but my motivation doesn’t last long. I warned my mom that if we have the baby this weekend there is a good chance she will come to our house and there will be boxes of books everywhere (we sorted through them and are donating/selling a bunch).
Work has been kind of crazy lately; we switched over to a new system for managing customer information, but we were “down” for a month in between systems and the new one is very different from the old one, so it’s a learning process while we try to catch up with all the stuff that got done but not entered in the system during the month. It’s been pretty stressful for everyone, and that’s part of the reason that today will be my last day at work until May. My blood pressure has been just a little elevated at my last 2 appointments, and I’m pretty sure that the work stuff had at least a little to do with it. Our pay period ends on Monday, and I have a day of vacation left, so I’ll be taking it to get my full paycheck, but I’m technically done as of today. So that’s exciting; especially because it means that besides the donuts I brought to work there are more donuts from someone else and cookies from another person. We like sweets around here; what can I say?
I have a doctor’s appointment scheduled for Tuesday, and if I make it that far we’ll be scheduling an induction for later that week. Hopefully it won’t come to that (do you hear that, baby?). I don’t mind the waiting; I just don’t want to be medically induced if I don’t have to (but I don’t want to be pregnant for another 2 weeks, either). All that is to say, we should for sure have a baby by next weekend!
None of this seems real; even with the baby stuff everywhere and this huge belly and the weekly appointments and putting the car seat in the truck (it’s that or I have to drive everywhere and Ryan has to sit in the back seat of the car because the seats need to be so far forward)…even with all of that it doesn’t seem real. I’m sure it will become real very shortly, though. And I can’t wait!
No baby yet, and my favorite quotes from this morning’s weather guy:
Feb 12th
There’s no baby yet. Ryan and I feel like we need to clarify that right away with whoever we are speaking to (unless we see/talk to them every day). He called his parents last night, and I think he said “No baby yet” before he even said hello. I have a feeling that will continue until he shows up.
I had to laugh at the weather guy this morning. I like this guy; he doesn’t have a weird shtick or make lame jokes (usually), and he can speak well on television (no small feat for some people). The reason he cracked me up was more about our expectations and feelings about what constitutes “nice” weather in Minnesota in February.
*While the television is showing that the current temperature is -5* “It’s going to be a nice day today!” – Why do I have trouble believing this right now?
“The wind is blowing a little around the lake shore, causing windchill factors only 5-10* lower than the actual temperature, so we aren’t getting into the -20’s, -30’s, or even the dangerous -40’s.” – Yes, -40’s are dangerous, but he made it sound like the other temperatures were decent as long as you didn’t get THAT low. And the fact that we wouldn’t be surprised if the windchill factor was that bad…well, I don’t know why we all continue to live here. My coworkers say it keeps the riff-raff out. I have my doubts.
“The air is trying to move toward the lake because the air above the lake is in the 20’s and 30’s due to that NICE WARM LAKE WATER.” [Emphasis mine] HAHAHAHAHAHA. The same lake that in August will turn your feet blue in seconds and has people surfing and using jet skis in wetsuits all summer long. Compared to the air temps I guess it is warm, but the fact that anyone says Lake Superior ever has “nice, warm lake water” cracks me up.
Rereading this it occurs to me that it’s probably not as amusing to anyone else as it was in my head. I think that happens to me a lot. Unfortunately for you, it’s what I’ve got this morning. I got up at 5 so that I could go into work early because I have a LOT of stuff I want to get done before the baby comes and I don’t want to chance leaving it over the weekend. So I’m a little tired, a little spacey from the last weeks of pregnancy (or maybe I’m always a little spacey – but I’m blaming it on the pregnancy while I can), and already thinking about work. My judgment of what is funny is not to be trusted.
Except for this: this is funny. And I will be printing out her pain chart to bring with me to the hospital so that when someone asks me how much it hurts I can point to one of these faces.
Question
Feb 3rd
I have a question and I want the internet’s input.
Ryan and I bought a chest freezer from a local appliance store about 2 1/2 weeks ago. It’s one of those ding/scratch places, and the freezer we bought had a damaged lid; it was so badly damaged that it wouldn’t seal (it looked like someone set a forklift down on the lid), but they had one on order to replace it, and they sold it to us for a good price.
We haven’t heard from the appliance place other than when we called a couple times to ask about it, even though both times we asked that they keep us updated. Last we heard (when I called last week) they had gotten a lid in, but the company shipped the wrong color so they had to send it back and were waiting for another one. Today, they called and said that there is a 2 week back order on the freezer lids (apparently they are in high demand??), and they have offered to give us a different freezer instead. However, this one has “some dings on the sides and the top.” The other one, once the lid was replaced, would have looked perfect.
We are going to the store tonight to take a look at the replacement offer, but my question is this; if we decide to take it, should we haggle for a better price, considering it has taken them 2 1/2 weeks to get anything to us and this one is more damaged than the one we agreed to buy? Or should we suck it up and realize that we got a good deal in the first place? We won’t be taking it if it’s too beat up looking, because it will be living in our kitchen until spring (which could be sometime in May the way things go around here).
I’m not a good negotiator, and I don’t have a good sense of what’s fair in these kinds of situations. And part of my problem is that the reason we bought a freezer when we did was so that we could freeze some meals before the baby comes. If we have to wait another 2 weeks it will probably be too late to do much (or any) cooking ahead. But that’s not the store’s fault, so I don’t know if it should count in my reasoning.
So, wise internet, what are your thoughts on the whole thing?
UPDATE: We took the replacement freezer. It was in pretty good shape (just some minor denting on the side; no scratches), and they were selling it for more than the one we bought, but gave it to us for the same price. Obviously (I’m not that much of a pushover). So now our fridge freezer and the chest freezer look pretty empty, but we have the space to make up some extra food. Now we just need to find the motivation to make this food.
What the heck was that? Also, a game!
Jan 30th
I just had the weirdest dream, and since I so rarely remember them I thought I should mark this down for posterity.
I was sitting on a bench by the window in the kitchen of an older farmhouse. There was a paper bag of underwear next to me for Goodwill (sidenote: gross!). I was talking to my friend Adrienne, and this old woman suddenly showed up right outside the window. She was talking to me, and had a creepy old woman voice (think disguised witch from Snow White).
Suddenly, when I had stood up to get away from her, she stole the bag of underwear! Then, she was trying to get in the house, but mostly through open windows. Adrienne ran off to close some, and then I ran into another room to do the same. Except her hand was already over the sill grasping. Then she said that I “dance a pretty jig,” right before we got the window shut.
In the meantime, a friend from college had shown up randomly. Then I heard someone coming down the stairs. There was a door at the bottom, so I tried to slam it shut until I realized it was another college friend. I do not know where these people kept coming from, but they were giving me a heart attack and that crazy woman was still out there, talking to me. I sat on the floor to catch my breath (I wasn’t pregnant in the dream), and then I woke up.
So weird!
In other news, Ryan and I bought the rest of the stuff we need to be ready for baby. Other than stockpiles of sleep. They don’t sell that at Target or on Amazon. The ladies from my work threw us a shower on Thursday, so now all the parties are done and we are just waiting. We also got the stuff we need for the hospital, which is kind of crazy. Now we just need to get it all packed/put away. I am pretty sure I’ll make it to my due date, but who knows.
Speaking of, let’s have a little contest; you guess baby’s birthdate, length and weight, and whoever is closest wins. Probably they just win the satisfaction of being right, though. I’m not good at mailing things NORMALLY, much less after I’ve given birth.
To even the playing field, here are my stats:
As of 36 weeks I was not dialated at all, but I was 25% effaced. I haven’t been (and probably won’t be) checked again.
I was born about 3 days after my due date and weighed 8 lbs plus some ozs. I don’t remember the specific amount or my length at birth.
Ryan was 7 lbs 13 ozs, I believe. I don’t know his length at birth or where he was in relation to his due date, although I think he was close.
Personally, I think I’ll make it to my due date and that he will be right around 8 lbs and 20 inches. We shall see!
Go ahead; take a guess. There’s no penalty for being wrong!
Randomness
Jan 25th
A few random things that have been running through my head:
Baby Shower: Awesomeness
My friends Nicole and Adrienne threw a baby shower for us, and it was fabulous. I love an excuse to get together with friends and family, and it was the perfect sized gathering – we could all hang out and visit together instead of splitting into smaller groups. Of course we received some awesome gifts, and I had a great time. I got to stay late and visit with my high school friends and a friend from college, so that was fun too. We are so blessed to have such great friends and family…Ryan and I are both really lucky that way. *commence puking from the sappiness*
Things that make me irrationally angry/frustrated (but not really)
Snickers Fudge candy bars: I tried this new concoction, thinking that I like Snickers and I like fudge, so how could I go wrong? Well, let me tell you: they take the caramel out of the Snickers to put the fudge in! Why would you do such a thing? I was very disappointed in the whole experience. Thankfully I have learned my lesson. No more Snickers Fudge candy bars for me.
The weather in Duluth: it is pissing me off lately. We live in Northern Minnesota (at least by most people’s standards. My parents live in REALLY Northern Minnesota, but the rest of the world doesn’t acknowledge that the state extends that far North. That is a whole ‘nother discussion, though). It is expected to be cold and/or snowy here from basically early November until the end of March. We do sometimes get a “January thaw”, but that means a few days where it reaches 32*. And usually it’s accompanied by a crapload of snow (side note – did you know it can be too cold to snow? I don’t know the scientific reason why – I’m no meteorologist – but I know that if it’s 0* or below it won’t usually snow). This year, we are getting rain. At least in the part of Duluthwhere I live (at the bottom of the hill, near the lake). I hear they have snow over the hill, but down here by the lake it rained all weekend and was near 40*. What the heck is up with that?
Normal people would say “Aren’t you glad you don’t have all that snow?” But they would be mistaken. I am not glad. Because it rained all weekend and our parking lot/roads/driveways/sidewalks got all wet, and then the temp fell below freezing. And it’s supposed to cool down even more, to the point that the salt they use to melt the ice won’t work. And so we have a perpetual ice skating rink pretty much everywhere you go. It is annoying and dangerous. And my balance is bad enough these days without adding a layer of ice between my shoes and the ground. Arg.
Just one pregnancy-related rant: I have enjoyed my pregnancy for the most part. I mean, yah, I have some joint and back pain, and it’s hard to get around. But for the most part I’ve had a pretty easy time of it, and I like feeling our little boy kicking and moving around. And Ryan and I are in a good place to be having a child, which I know isn’t always the case for people. So yah…I’m enjoying it.
The thing I’m not enjoying as much? People assuming that I am “SO ready to be done.” I get asked at least 3 or 4 times a week (usually by strangers) if I’m ready to just have this baby already. And I know they mean well, but jeebus. First of all, I’m not even “full term” yet (tomorrow!). Secondly, it’s not like things will suddenly get easier once the baby is here. In fact, I have a feeling they will be much more difficult. Very rewarding, of course, but still. Right now I can still do stuff around the house that requires both hands, and I can take a shower or a nap or read a book whenever I want to. And even though I’m not sleeping the best, I can still lay in bed when I’m having trouble sleeping; there’s no one crying that I need to go pick up and soothe/feed/change. So yah…I’m good with him staying put for a couple more weeks, or however long he needs. Now if I’m pregnant still the last week in February my answer might be different. Ask me then if I’m ready to be done. (ps, if anyone that reads this has asked me that question, I’m not talking about you, I swear! It’s the strangers that ask that bugs me more than anything).
I can’t think of anything else that I want to rant about (except the Vikings, but others have done plenty of that for me), and it’s lunch time (leftover lasagna and the 5th book in the Sookie Stackhouse series by Charlaine Harris (the books True Blood is based on)). Sounds like a good time to me.
Conversations
Jan 5th
Ryan: I have to go up to [apartment complex his workplace services] today after work. I’ll drop you off at home and head up there. (We carpool to work)
Me: OK. How long do you think you’ll be?
Ryan: Between 20 minutes and 5 hours.
Sadly, this is not a surprising answer, and he wasn’t really joking. It’s been over an hour so far. This does not bode well for the apartment cleaning we were going to get done, although the overtime is nice. Especially with my maternity leave coming up.
What’s that? You think I should do the cleaning on my own while he’s gone? HAHAHAHA. I can barely put my own socks and shoes on these days so picking stuff up off the floor is definitely out, and I can hardly reach the faucet to turn on the water, much less stand over the sink to do the dishes. I was going to sweep/mop and dry the dishes after Ryan washed them, so it’ll have to wait.
In exciting news, the cloth diapers we will be using arrived in today’s mail, and they are SO CUTE. Seriously – adorable. We have 6 different colors, and I like them all. I’m sure they’ll be much less adorable once they are in use and full of poop. We ordered the BumGenius 3.0 diapers. We have some friends who use them, and they like them a lot. I’ll try to remember to let you know how they work for us. One word of advice they did give us was to not let the diaper pail sit for more than a day. Apparently it is not pleasant. I can only imagine.
We also had my 34 week appointment today. The baby is head down, and I’m measuring exactly right. The Doctor asked if we had the hospital bag packed yet. We don’t, and she suggested that we should probably have it ready by our next appointment in 2 weeks. That makes it all even more real. At most I have 8 weeks left of being pregnant. More likely it’ll be less than that. Yikes.
Well, I suppose I should get to the picking up I can do around here. Ryan just called and is on his way home with Erberts & Gerberts (only an hour and a half tonight! woo!).
Appley goodness
Oct 2nd
It is Friday, which makes me happy. I get to leave work 1/2 an hour early today because I stayed late for my boss on Wednesday. That makes me even happier. And Ryan’s parents are coming up and we are going to the Bayfield Apple Festival this weekend. And that makes me happiest of all. Mmm…apples. Caramel apples, apple cider, apple brats, apple pie, and apple wine (not for me, but maybe we’ll get a bottle to keep until after the baby comes). And Honeycrisp apples by the bushel-full. If you haven’t tried Honeycrisp apples you are totally missing out. Even in Duluth, where we are close to an area that grows a LOT of them, they are still only available for a limited amount of time, and they are more expensive than other apples. But they are the crunchiest, sweetest apples ever. They are fabulous for eating by themselves, and I hear they make great pies and stuff too (although they never make it that long in our house).
The weather is trying to beat us down (the highs for the entire next week are in the 40s and it’s supposed to rain almost every day), but it’s ok. I like fall. I like drinking hot chocolate and hot apple cider, and curling up under a blanket to watch tv. And I love driving down the hill to work in the morning and seeing Lake Superior all riled up. The waves are really crashing this week (could have something to do with the crazy off-the-lake winds we are getting). It’s gorgeous. And makes me realize why it was that they moved the harbor inside the point. It used to be outside – just on the shores of Duluth. And many ships sank there when the winds picked up and beat them against the rocks. Now the ships are all protected by the worlds longest above-ground sandbar. Just a bit of Duluth history for you.
Anyway, this week is finishing up well. Especially as I just got the OK to take a vacation day on Monday. Ryan and I both have the day off, and it’s the ultrasound (in case I haven’t mentioned it 15,000,000 times). We plan on relaxing, going out to lunch to celebrate, and maybe going shopping. Eek! Baby stuff! It will be fun.
Shhh…
Sep 30th
Ryan and I have an ultrasound coming up on Monday, where we will hopefully find out the sex of this little baby. I am beyond excited for this, and yet a little scared about what it means. I don’t know anything about being a parent, other than what I read. And I’m pretty sure any parent will tell you (or me) that reading is not at all the same. Time seems to be flying by…it’s already October 1st tomorrow, and in just a few weeks we are going on vacation, and then it will be Thanksgiving, and then Christmas and then it’s already January and the baby comes in February! And we aren’t ready. We don’t have most of the stuff that we’ll need (like a place for the baby to sleep), and the one thing we already have isn’t put together (the dresser for the baby’s room). Although hopefully that will be remedied by this weekend.
I know, logically, that we have plenty of time, and that it will all come together and be fine. But there’s a difference between “knowing” something logically will be ok, and feeling ok about it. You know? Plus, I like to have things done. And it seems like there is so much we can’t do yet. We have been offered a lot of hand-me-down items from my sisters, which is great. But we won’t have them at our place until Thanksgiving, which seems like it is so far away. And since I don’t know what exactly is included in the list or what they look like it’s hard to get my head around decorating.
I guess I am just feeling a little overwhelmed today. Don’t get me wrong – I am actually really enjoying pregnancy. I feel really good most of the time, and I’ve been very lucky to not experience some of the more miserable parts of pregnancy that many women go through. And now that my belly finally popped a little I actually look pregnant instead of looking like I don’t go to the gym often enough (well, I probably still look like that – who am I kidding). I just wish there was more I could do or already had done.
Ugh. I’m sure I’ll feel better later on today. I think Ryan and I are going on a movie date tonight (I got a gift certificate to the local theater for my birthday from my coworkers). That will definitely cheer me up. Now if we can only decide on a movie!
The Big Day
Sep 2nd
We had our 16 week appointment today. The baby’s heartbeat is still a healthy 150bpm, and he/she is hanging out on my left side. We also were able to schedule our anatomy ultrasound, which is extremely exciting, as we are hoping to find out what we are having at that point. The “big” ultrasound is scheduled for October 5th, and I’m sure time will fly until then.
There are a couple new pregnancy things I’ve noticed. I have been having trouble sleeping because my hips have been aching pretty badly. I asked the Dr about it, and she said that it is round ligament pain – all my ligaments are loosening up to make room for the baby as it grows. And it hurts. I’m glad to know what it is, though – hopefully it will be temporary, and she said some extra strength Tylenol should help a little.
The other thing is that I am pretty sure I’ve felt a couple kicks (or maybe they are elbows). They are really light, but they are centrally located right around where the baby is, and I don’t count anything that I feel when I’m “gassy” or whatever. It’s exciting, but I’m nervous that I’m fabricating it just because I WANT to feel the baby moving. But I’m 99% sure that’s what it is. It should get stronger and more regular in the next few weeks, so I should be able to confirm for sure soon enough.
I’m almost completely grown out of my regular pants. I have one pair of jeans that still fit, but they won’t stay that way for long. Shirts are mostly ok, although I’ve noticed the few maternity shirts I have are much more comfortable because they are longer, so I don’t need to keep pulling them down over my pants. LOL.
Ryan and I are staying in town and dog-sitting this weekend, and I’m hoping to use the free time to get what will be the baby’s room mostly cleaned out. There’s a desk, bookshelf and tv stand in there that need to be taken out, and the dresser we bought needs to be assembled and put in there. Here’s hoping we have the motivation to get it done!
