 | Diary Navigation:
|
June 23, 2003
33 Weeks
Well, I sort of alluded to the fact that this was a very busy week in my last entry, but I didn’t really know how busy it would actually feel to me! Let’s get right down to business here, as there really seems like there is so much to write about this week. Just in preparation, this has got to be my longest entry to date, so make sure you’ve set some time aside to read this novel!
Tuesday was an incredibly busy day, we had, count ‘em, four appointments throughout the day, which basically meant that there was going to be no work done on our theses that day at all. There is really no point sitting down at the computer for only an hour or so before we have to leave for an appointment or have someone by for an appointment. The brain just does not have the ability to get into a flow that quickly on such a huge writing project, so we scrapped all plans of trying to do any work and instead just hung out and did things around the house while we were waiting so to speak between all these appointments.
The day started with my second ultrasound, at 8:50 in the morning – wowzers, that’s early. Well, not early to get up, but considering that they want you to drink a litre of water an hour before the appointment, that *is* early to be consuming that much liquid! :-) I have, after all, gotten up day after day at 4:50 am for practice in the past and am blessed to be quite a happy person in the morning – no coffee required – so getting up at 6:00 or even 6:30 is really not a big deal to me. Now, if you remember last time, we had to wait just over an hour after we had arrived for the appointment to get into the ultrasound room, so this time I was a little nervous that that would happen again. I was really, really, reaching the end of my mind over body capacity last time and I now have an even larger baby in my belly, therefore an even smaller bladder capacity, and this time, I am feeling EVERY movement that this Little One makes, whereas last time, it was only the stronger movements… However, I am a very determined person if I put my mind to it, and there was going to be no bathroom breaks for me, I just entered a sort of meditative state while we were waiting. Which turned out to be only fifteen minutes after all! :-) Yeay! I have to say also that this morning I did my exercises but I started to feel some pain right down low, where my pelvic bones come together. I was finding it hard to walk a bit, and to lift up my legs was a little uncomfortable. So, I hopped up onto the bed as best as I could and moved my pants and underwear down so that the technician could do her thing. I hadn’t moved them down far enough and she asked me to do move them down more. I was essentially lying flat on my back and it was hard to estimate how far down she wanted them down when she told me for the third time that they still weren’t down far enough – I tried to make a joke about it, that I couldn’t see sort of thing and laughed but she just gave me this weird look instead of joining me and Simon in laughing about it.
The purpose of going in for this second ultrasound was that in the first one, my placenta was presenting a little low, which of course has some serious implications for how the delivery of the baby can proceed. Given our wishes for a natural birth, and to labour here at the house for a long period of time, if I have placenta previa, none of those wishes are going to occur as I would be scheduled for a caesarean section. I spoke a bit in the entry when I did have the first ultrasound that I didn’t wish to have further ultrasounds, but that this would be weighed against the reasons for the exam and the benefits that could come from it. I do have to say that I feel a bit better having the ultrasound at this point in the Little One’s maturity, as there is not much more in terms of organs forming and bones growing for it to go through, I feel that the damage that ultrasounds can inflict would be less than at a point earlier in the pregnancy when so much really is growing and maturing in the baby. Still, I must say that I am a little conflicted about having the exam, despite that the results would enable me to go forth or not with our birth plans as we originally planned out.
She started the exam and right away started to press *really* hard down right where I had been having those ligament pains. While I recognise that this was essential to the purpose of the exam, it smarted so much I had tears in my eyes. She asked if it was alright and I sort of mumbled that I was doing okay. The images again on the screen were just magical – the Little One is so much larger than when we first had an opportunity to look at it. I was, as I am always, curious about all aspects of my prenatal care and asked why during an ultrasound they measure the kidneys, something that was performed at both the 20 week and this one. I asked if it was because it was a good indicator of growth, or just a standard measurement, like the head, and the tech, I have to say, was really rude to me in her response. She was quite defensive about the fact that she was measuring the kidneys, and just said that it was something they measured. I tried to deflect her defensiveness by saying to her that I was just curious, and tried to be lighthearted to her, but it didn’t seem to rub off at all. Her response to my questions and responses from there on were really rude, like when she said that the head was down and I responded that it had been head down for quite a few weeks, she replied that that could change at any moment but when I agreed with her, her behaviour still didn’t change. Essentially, I really felt like I was being treated as some really dumb woman who was also pregnant, and knew nothing about pregnancy, how the fetus grows and matures, what it does in the uterus and how it affects a woman’s body.
One thing we did find out during the exam was the weight of the Little One… Are you ready? 4 lbs, 13 oz… That’s right, almost 5 lbs, and I’m only at 32 weeks! :-) Holy BIG baby, batman! LOL I have to put in a disclaimer right now – I am completely unafraid of giving birth to a large baby. I would actually prefer a big, plump baby than a smaller baby who has not had as much opportunity to put on the layers of fat that a larger baby will have. The only thing that I am somewhat apprehensive about is not the head, but the shoulders! Simon has HUGE shoulders – he wears a 52 suit, just for context – and I too have really broad shoulders. While it gives both of us a really nice strong aura type of presence, I am wondering if our Little One has been given this genetic trait… I guess I will have to wait to see, hmm? :-)
When the exam was done, she said I could get up and use the washroom while she checked with the radiologist on my exam results, and then she would come and talk to us about the results. I could literally *barely* get up off the table, and that was WITH Simon’s help, my pelvis hurt so much. Walking was also quite uncomfortable, and when I sat down on the toilet, as much as a relief it was to be able to empty my bladder, sitting with my legs open like that was painful. I was beginning to wonder how I was going to get through the day, as it wasn’t even 9:00 yet, and we had three more appointments to get to. We were waiting out in the little hallway between several of the ultrasound rooms, and two women with a little boy in a stroller came out of a room just before the tech came out. She looked at us and said, again rudely, to please go back into the room. When we went back in, she closed the doors and said that she always talked to her patients in private, in a sort of lecturing tone, before going on to say that the radiologist was pleased with the results and that my placenta had indeed moved up my uterine wall and it was clear of the cervix. At that point I just wanted to get the hell away from such a wretched woman and we left, as quickly as I was able to waddle down the hallway. I felt so discouraged by this appointment, despite the good news, just because of the way that I was treated, it’s really sad. Anyway, on to the rest of the day, shall we?
Our next appointment was with my doctor, for my regular prenatal appointment. My blood pressure is still excellent, weight gain is still good so far. I talked with her about the fact that I was feeling my pelvis ligaments flexing, but also that I had had several strong pulling or tearing sensations in the muscles running very low on my belly. She said that at this time, those pulling sensations were quite normal, as were the pelvis ligament flexing. I am measuring at 33 weeks, only one week ahead this time, so it appears that the Little One had gone through a growth spurt but has slowed down a bit. We told her that my placenta was clear of my cervix, and also told her the weight of the baby right now, she laughed when we were pleased that it was a big baby – one thing that I really do enjoy about this doctor, she laughs *with* us and is really quite congenial. I asked who I would see the next visit, as she was going on vacation for the month of July, and she said to talk to the receptionist about it, when I asked about whether I could get a female doctor again, she wasn’t sure if there would be any available, so I will have to see… I also told her about my swollen feet, but because my urine was still normal and my blood pressure is good and also that it hasn’t really extended anywhere but my feet, she was comfortable that I am not in any danger. I think that was about it for the visit! Oh, the heartrate was really strong, at 152, and the Little One is head down, as we knew from my own observations and the ultrasound.
I went to the receptionist to make an appointment for two weeks time, and as suggested, requested a female doctor, but there were none available that week, and what’s more, the only doctor available only had an appointment on Friday, which seemed rather odd to me. Simon and I had a serious discussion on the car ride home about my prenatal care and who we would like to deliver the baby. Because my doctor is one of many in the Perinatal Clinic, there is approximately a 1 in 10 chance that I would actually get to see her in the delivery room. What’s more is that I would possibly only see her once before I went into labour, as she is returning from vacation at the end of July and I would potentially have only one appointment with her before I could go into labour. This means that the majority of my care in the last few weeks when I DO see a doctor every week would not be the doctor I have been seeing all along, would be a male doctor, which I am not comfortable with anyway, and that it is by no means an even remotely sure thing that I would see either of them come delivery time. SO, we talked about switching my care to the doctor that I found mid-way through this pregnancy, as she has delivery privileges at the hospital and I would probably have a much higher probability of seeing her at the delivery, which eased both of our anxieties quite a bit. I am going to make an appointment with her ask her about the procedure for switching my care at this stage. I think that this is definitely for the better, as she was so excited about having another prenatal patient and has said at each of the appointments I have made with her that she is really looking forward to all the appointments that I will see her at after the birth.
Next appointment! :-) We have decided to look for a doula to be with us during the labour and delivery. There is a doula service here in the city that is run on a volunteer basis, where you are asked to donate to the program if you are able. We set up an appointment with the woman who runs the program and she and a doula in training came over to the house. One thing that is kind of funny, at the breastfeeding class last night, the doula in training was there and at the break I went up and said that I would see her today because she was to come to talk to us about a doula. I liked her off the bat, she was really genuine and had this really nice energy about her. So, anyway, the meeting went really well. We were asked why we wanted a doula, which was to have another support person present because we do plan to labour here at the house for a long period of time if possible before heading to the hospital and that it was our plan to have as little medical intervention as possible for the birth. We talked about the fact that at our next delivery that we would like to have a homebirth and that Jeanette will hopefully be here as another support person and that she had a home waterbirth and was really educated on a number of birth issues. What the meeting was for was for the woman to get to know us so that she could go through her list of available doulas and suggest someone who would mesh with our personalities and wishes. We will hear from her in the next couple of days about our doula and then meet with her in the couple of days following that :-) I’m quite excited about this, I think it’s going to be a great decision on our part, no matter how the birth goes!
Our last appointment for the day was with a representative for the child education tax fund that Canada has, the RESP. First of all, it was a weird appointment. There was defiantly something sneaky going on about the whole thing, how this non-profit group was able to give us so much in savings for the term of the plan over a bank and such. And she wanted us to sign the contract that night to get started – but we are cautious by nature and Simon is really smart about numbers and realized almost immediately that there was indeed something quite funny about the numbers she was giving, the numbers in the powerpoint presentation and the numbers that would actually be needed to get those numbers in the first place. So, we gave her vague impressions that we were interested and to please contact us in September about the plan. Simon went over the numbers after she left and there was indeed something really fishy about them, we have decided that we are not going to do anything with them because although it does seem good, you are essentially not able to collect on a good deal of money that you initially put in – and tell me, what is the point of that? :-) Finally, the day was done though, and I literally fell into bed that night. Well, as much as I can fall right now!
Now for something really exciting. We went to that baby boutique this week and bought the baby bedding! It is SO gorgeous, check out the photos of the nursery on the website! The bedding works so beautifully with the wall colour, the furniture paint colour and the natural stain on the crib, I am so pleased! We also ordered at the same time the nursing pillow that comes in the same fabric, I wanted to see how it was like compared to the other nursing pillows that are available to me here. I will hopefully get a phone call from them in a few weeks to let me know that it is in. The reason why we did go and buy the bedding was that I have almost literally been *itching* to buy something baby related. As I mentioned last week, the only thing that I have bought so far are two onesies, and they didn’t really satisfy my itch. Also, the purchase of the bedding and the moses basket really make it feel as if we are just about ready for the baby. Simon asked me that if we purchased the bedding, would I be satisfied until later in July when we could go out on a buying frenzy and I replied truthfully that yes, I would indeed feel much better, so that is why we went :-) I was driving my poor hubby crazy with my pregnant hormones raging to buy baby things! LOL
The funny thing about the bedding is that our kitty, Miss Scarlett, LOVES it. We had the moses basket on the change table, and had just tossed the crib blanket on top of it and left the room. The next day we were getting ready to go out but couldn’t find Scarlett anywhere in the house – none of her regular hiding spots. Because we had the door to the deck open for that afternoon, we were starting to get a little worried, as she likes to hop decks to our neighbours (it’s only about 18 inches away) and sits on the outside of the railing on the little bit of deck. I asked Simon if he had actually checked the nursery, particularly the crib and he replied that he had. I went upstairs to double check and he followed me. I asked if he had checked the basket and when he said no, I lifted up the blanket to find my kitty cat curled up in the basket. She was the sweetest little thing, looked up at me, blinked and rolled onto her back exposing her belly for a scratch. Both of us just laughed at her, I picked her up and we closed the door behind us. At least we know now if there is a missing kitty cat, there is a HIGH probability that she will be in the nursery! :-) Neither of us is worried about this predisposition of Scarlett to be in the basket or crib – we have the utmost confidence that she is not going to smother the baby as the myth goes. The nursery is quiet, warm, the sleeping places are not locations that Brook can get to, so essentially Scarlett can sleep for hours upon hours totally uninterrupted… Just what a kitty cat would desire in a sleeping location. I think that when the Little One arrives, things will sort themselves out just fine :-)
What else? Our little puppy dawg turned one this week, on June 20th. I cannot believe how fast this past year has gone, it is really hard to think that last August we drove out to pick up a tiny little puppy and bring it into our home. We could carry her under our arm, she was as large as her sister, Miss Scarlett when we got her, but twice as heavy :-) And now, she is a whopping 65 lbs of puppy dawg. Is these some of the emotions that I am going to experience when the Little One arrives and starts to grow and mature? I have had so much joy in the past year watching Brook grow up, and so much anguish too. It has really been wonderful to watch her grow up, despite the hurdles that we have had to cross that were not anticipated, and those that were anticipated. She is going to be a wonderful family dog, as I think I have said before, it was one of the primary reasons for choosing her breed to begin with. I can’t wait for our family to grow once more with the arrival of the Little One! :-)
Now for some news that both make my heart ache with joy and with sorrow. Our next door neighbours, the ones who are also expecting and whom I have talked about already, went in for a caesarean section on Friday. Let me just say firstly however that in the weeks since we have found out, our relationship with them is as far away from what it was before as a relationship could be. We can’t lift our hand fast enough to wave at them as they already have their hand up waving to us, each of them has said hi to either Simon or I, whomever is outside at the same time as them, and I actually held a conversation with the husband, the first in our year of living right beside each other. So, I was really looking forward to when the baby would arrive and getting together with the newly expanded family. Anyway, the joy was that she was carrying twins, the sorrow is that one of the twins was not expected to survive past 12 hours after delivery. I talked with the new father today very, very briefly and he said that both were still alive, which was so amazing for the one who was not expected to survive, and that the mum was doing well after the surgery. The babies are now four days old each and he mentioned that one of the problems with the one in trouble was that she had encephalitis (swelling of the brain). While this condition is something that someone can recover from, I don’t think that it is something that a newborn, with other problems can recover from. I told him that I had been thinking of them a lot the past few days and to let us know if they needed anything done at the house while they were still at the hospital. He said that they were going to come home on Thursday, so we will see how the family fairs then. They were very prepared about losing the second baby girl however, as we had only seen them purchase one baby carrier, a single stroller, that sort of thing, and the father seemed to be taking this turn of events very well. The most heartbreaking thing is how do you rejoice in the baby girl who is healthy when you know that one baby girl is going to pass away into the next life? Even being prepared for such a tragedy doesn’t take away any of the pain and grief that I would think they would be experiencing right now. I will let you all know how they are doing in my next entry if I have any more news.
Symptoms: There were a multitude of symptoms this week. The pelvis ligaments flexing is certainly one of them, I am wondering if they are going to continue to get worse or if they will stay the same from here on in. Something that I will have to be careful about. I have stopped my exercises in the morning because I have definitely noticed that it has been worse on the days when I do do them, so I have decided that the best policy for me in that regard is just to stop. Better to be able to walk for the rest of the day than to do exercises in the morning :-) I have also been really quite emotional this week, crying a number of times. I have not had a particularly emotional pregnancy I feel, but this week I have cried so many times at the smallest of things that it is really quite funny, if I weren’t crying about it! Definitely something going on with my hormone levels right now to make me suddenly behave this way. I wonder if this too will continue for the rest of the trimester, or if this is just a blip on my emotional radar screen? The last thing is that the Little One is making my belly have full undulations when it moves now, and this has definitely got to be one of the most amazing things so far about feeling the baby move. Whereas I have felt the kicks for so long now that I don’t even feel the smaller ones anymore, and certainly the movements of my belly have been quite noticeable, I don’t think that the Little One has been quite large enough to *make* my belly move this much. It is just so wild, Simon just looks at me with one of his looks when I exclaim to him to look at my rocking and rolling belly :-) I am so LOVING this pregnancy! It really brings home the fact that there is a very strong and healthy person just waiting for the right time to come into this world, these movements now.
**Talk to Me**
Were you ever treated like a dumb pregnant woman by some medical personnel? How did it make you feel, and did you say anything?
What was the size of your baby through the pregnancy – small, on target or large? Or did it fluctuate? :-)
Did you experience any pelvic ligament pain, and if so, when did it start for you?
Namaste, Laura and the Little One
 |  |
|
want to keep a diary on iParenting?
Authoring a diary on the iParenting network allows you to chronicle your family's story, preserving it for years to come. It's also a great way to get the most out of the iParenting community. Click here to start...
|
The iParenting Media Awards program helps parents find the best products for their families. 
