Carbs and a little fella’ we call Lou
I found out yesterday that I passed my glucose screen and all my other blood work came back normal (no anemia here, apparently sleeping 10 hours a night is “normal”). Passing the glucose screen means I get to continue eating all of the delicious carbs I want! The thought of having to give up pasta and fruit for the rest of my pregnancy had me thinking up ways to “cheat” on the glucose screen- but alas, I didn’t need to cheat, I did just fine. I was a bit worried when I went in for the test because the nurse asked me what I’d eaten for dinner the night before. When I told her I’d had potato soup and a piece of baguette she raised her eyebrows and told me that I might fail the screen due to the general carb-iness of my dinner. Apparently the universe is looking out for me and Uni, and I can continue to have spaghetti and giant bowls of fruit salad. Life. Is. Good.
In other news, I went to sign the medical release for my records today- making the move to the new practice official. I was a bit nervous about going and asking for my records, but apparently I had nothing to worry about, when I went to sign the release they didn’t even ask me why I was leaving! That, of course, solidified in my mind many of the reasons that prompted us to consider leaving in the first place. After signing all the requisite forms I was told to come back in 3-4 business days to pick up my records. I then headed across the street (literally) to our new practice and filled out all of the necessary paperwork there. I must say, I am already impressed. The office staff was actually friendly- imagine that! And, as I was getting ready to leave one of the ladies in the office asked me if I needed any prenatal vitamins. I wasn’t exactly sure what she meant, since my previous doctor wrote me a prescription for some which I’ve only filled twice (they cost a dollar a pop and the pharmacy brand version does the exact same thing). She then ducked behind a mysterious wall and came out with a bag full of sample packs of the expensive prenatal vitamins (with DHA!). I like this place already- they haven’t even billed my insurance company for anything and they’re already giving me free vitamins!
And finally, I leave you with a picture of a toy we bought for Uni. This is Lou, he’s an anteater and he voted in the primary this year. Hope everyone is having a fantastic week!
Glucola, Rhogam and my first trip to the hospital
This morning was my 29 week appointment. I got to the doctor’s office after over 12 hours of fasting and had to drink a 10 oz. orange drink called glucola in under 5 minutes. It tasted like flat, extra sugary orange soda- not exactly my idea of a great breakfast, but it wasn’t as horrible as some people have suggested.
After downing the glucola I was sent back out to the lobby to wait for my doctor’s appointment. The appointment was routine- blood pressure was nice and low, weight gain wasn’t up too much from my last appointment and the baby’s heartbeat was loud, strong and easy to find. Uni also decided to kick while the doctor was measuring my belly, which didn’t surprise me, considering I drank soda for breakfast on an empty stomach!
After the appointment with the doctor I was sent back out to the waiting room to wait around for my blood draw. Once you finish drinking the glucola you have to wait for exactly one hour and then you have your blood drawn. While I was waiting the doctor came out and wrote me a prescription for a Rhogam shot. Way back about 20 weeks ago at our first appointment I found out that I’m Rh negative- which means that my blood type is negative. This is not a big deal, but since Jered is Rh positive it means that our baby could very well be Rh positive and my body could build up antibodies against the baby’s blood if I come into contact with it. Routine procedure now has doctor’s giving Rhogam shots (which inhibit the antibodies from forming) at 28 weeks and then again at birth if the baby’s blood tests Rh positive.
I thought I would be getting the shot at the doctor’s office, but instead the doc sends me over to the hospital. I had to register, get a little outpatient bracelet and head to the lab where they took two more vials of blood (I’m running a little low today!) to double check that my blood is indeed Rh negative. In two hours I go back to the hospital to get my shot- I’ve been told it’s one of the shots that they give you in your bum, lucky me!
I should find out by Wednesday whether or not I passed the glucose screen. I’m hoping that I did because the alternative is not much fun at all. If you fail the screen you go back for a 3 hour glucose test where you have blood drawn 4 times over the course of three hours (pre- glucose drink, after one hour, two hours, three hours). Wish me luck!
Filed under Doctor's Office by esther | Comment (0)Nine years
It’s hard to believe that Jered and I have been together 9 years now. Thinking back on the time we’ve spent together it seems like it was just yesterday that we rode the tandem from my house in Sandhausen to his house in Neulussheim- and at the same time it seems like it was ages ago! Nine years later we’re married with a little Jester on the way. It really is amazing that we’ve known each other so long- we’ve had 9 years to get to know each other and enjoy being a couple, and now we’re entering a whole new phase of our lives together. Who knows what fun the next 9 years will bring!
Speaking of that new phase of our life, this next week will be an interesting one. Monday I’m scheduled for my 29 week doctor’s appointment. I’ll be having my glucose test to screen for gestational diabetes. This will be our last appointment with our current doctor. After thinking long and hard about the practice we have been going to and the doctor’s I’ve been seeing, Jered and I have decided to switch practices. The office I’ve been going to has three doctors and a nurse. At the very beginning of our experience at this office Jered and I both were a little off-put by the practice. The office staff is not friendly and I can honestly say that none of the doctors or nurses would know me if I showed up 10 minutes after an appointment with them. In the beginning of my pregnancy test results from a fairly important test weren’t given to us until I called about another unrelated issue- it was one of those “oh by the way, you had some abnormal cells…” Then two weeks later when I went in for a follow-up procedure the doctor was confused as to why I was having the procedure at all. We both wanted to be realistic about the level of care we expect to receive- understanding that it’s not realistic to expect a close one-on-one relationship with our doctor, and so we decided to wait it out and give the practice a chance.
At my last appointment I mentioned to my doctor (one I’ve seen three times in a row, who didn’t know how far along I was or who I was without checking my chart twice) that I wanted to entertain the idea of a natural child birth. Jered and I have been going to our babies classes and I was starting to feel more empowered about the whole unmedicated labor process. When I brought this up with my doctor she raised her eyebrows and asked me why I was thinking about going unmedicated. I explained to her my thoughts on it, and also emphasized that I am flexible and open to whatever might happen in the labor process- knowing that I won’t know what it’s like until I’m in labor and that I might change my mind about pain relief once I’m in the midst of it! Even after this disclaimer, she looked at me with raised eyebrows and proceeded to tell me that partners are often more comfortable when mom’s are medicated… I thought this was an interesting response, seeing as no one informed me that my goal in labor is to make my partner and my doctor more comfortable!!
After this appointment Jered and I looked around to see what our options were in terms of other practices in the area that take our insurance and have privileges at the hospital close to our house. We were able to find a practice with just one doctor and a midwife (our previous practice did not have a midwife). Our first appointment with the new doctor is April 17th and from that appointment on I will be going to the doctor every two weeks for a month and then every week until the baby gets here. I am nervous and excited to make this move- and feel like we made a good decision, even if it means that we will only have about two months with this new doctor. I’m hoping in that time that the doctor will at least learn my name!
Filed under Doctor's Office, Pregnancy by esther | Comment (0)Meet Lambchop (silliness abounds)
As promised, we are introducing Uni’s first puppet. Last night Jered and I had a little time on our hands and we decided to record the first episode of The Lambchop Show. We hope you enjoy it (and we warn you, it is quite silly!)
Filed under Pregnancy by esther | Comments (2)Fridge Raiding
Uni has been growing steadily since our last appointment and is now supposed to weigh close to 3 pounds. This growth doesn’t surprise me one bit considering how hungry I’ve been lately. Almost every morning I wake up and the first thought that crosses my mind has something to do with what my choices are for breakfast that morning. My stomach literally growls at 7 am, something I’ve never experienced before in my life! Jered took this photo as evidence that a) we are practicing our parenting skills by showing off pictures of Uni on the fridge and b) I am wearing down the linoleum around the refrigerator door!
I’ve been really lucky in that most of my cravings have been nutritious- lately I’ve had a hankering for strawberries, almonds, milk, yogurt and various forms of protein. I was fully expecting to want cookies, ice cream, chips and other naughty foods, but other than the occasional indulgence it seems my body knows what and how much I need to grow a healthy baby without growing too much extra mom. Being pregnant is a surreal experience- the little person inside me is growing and all I have to do is get plenty of rest, take my multivitamin, avoid bungee jumping and eat a good breakfast!
We got a neat surprise in the mail last week from Jered’s Grammy and Grampy- once we charge the camera we’ll be sharing pictures of Uni’s first puppet with everyone. Check back later this week!
Filed under Feeding baby & Mom, Pregnancy by esther | Comment (0)Uni tries laying horizontally
This weekend Jered and I headed to Washington D.C. I attended a conference for work/school on Friday and we spent the rest of the weekend with Preston, Rob and Anna in Maryland. On Friday after I finished up with the daily conference activities I headed out on the Metro to meet Jered at the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum. While on my way there I had to stand on the metro and hold onto a bar above my head to keep my balance. The metro had a few fairly hard stops and I think somehow the baby got shifted around. Upon meeting up with Jered I had to take a little break because my stomach muscles felt like I had done about 500 situps.
At this point both Jered and I were a little worried- I hadn’t felt anything like this up until this point and it was a little alarming to feel tightening and abdominal-like cramping (especially considering I’m now in the 3rd trimester and cramping can be a sign of preterm labor!!). We decided to walk around the museum slowly and luckily the tightness eventually subsided.
Fast forward to later Friday evening. We had a lovely lasagna dinner at Preston and Rob’s house to celebrate Preston’s graduation. We got to meet a colleague of Preston’s and his family and had a great time celebrating with the family. Hours later (we stayed up quite late!) Jered and I head up for bed. We had both been up since 5 am Friday morning for our drive up to the D.C. area and were ready to crash. As I was changing I noticed that my stomach looked very strange. Rather than a round belly I had an oddly lumpy looking stomach with two distinct bulges, one to the right of my belly button and one to the left. Apparently the abdominal cramping I felt earlier in the day was the baby moving from a more “normal” vertical up/down position to laying side to side horizontally! No wonder I was uncomfortable!! Jered was even able to tell that my stomach looked rather odd.
Saturday morning I woke up and things were back to normal- apparently laying sideways is not as comfortable for little Uni! We had a great weekend with Preston, Rob and Anna and are looking forward to the next time we can all get together again. It’s hard to believe that the next time we all get together Uni will no longer be residing in my stomach!
Filed under Pregnancy by esther | Comment (0)Less than 100 days
It’s hard to believe that in less than 100 days our little baby will be making his or her grand debut. Even harder to believe is that I’ve already been pregnant over 180 days!! I’ve officially started the third trimester, which means I’m in the home stretch…and there is a lot of stretching going on! My stomach is now unmistakably pregnant looking. We took some pictures this weekend. Here is a photo taken this weekend- even in a black shirt the roundness is quite visible.
I’m not sure why the expanding belly surprises me so much, but it does. It might be because the first two thirds of my pregnancy I was looking for my belly to pop out and it never did, so I just got used to the fact that the baby was very small. Now little Uni already weighs 2 pounds. In just a months time that number will be doubled! I’m starting to wonder how my belly will look when Uni is twice as big… the growth really does seem exponential.
Filed under Pregnancy by esther | Comment (0)Baby Business
Esther added “The Business of Being Born“ to our Netflix queue. It is the only reason we resumed our Netflix queue, because the main distributor of the movie is in fact Netflix.
The movie was an interesting documentary about the loss or minimization of natural child birth. With Ricki Lake as executive producer and star, it does not glamorize birth without medication, instead the film brings to light the statistics of medical interventions during childbirth in the U.S. as compared to the rest of the world.
The numbers were incredible, and considering the infant and mother mortality rates that the U.S. has compared to European countries, even when babies are delivered under the auspices of a doctor as opposed to a midwife.The disappearance of the midwife, the documentary leads one to believe, is the point at which medicine became commercial and worried about the bottom line as opposed to mother and baby’s health.
The movie has brought some salient issues with our doctor to the surface, Esther is probably researching new practices as I write this, and provides a lot of food for thought. If you aren’t too grossed out by the birthing process, which I would have thought I was until recently, I would highly recommend seeing this movie.
Filed under Dad's View, Pregnancy by Jered | Comment (0)Whoa! Hospital!
Esther, Jered and Uni took a trip to Mary Immaculate Hospital for our hospital tour.
Let me tell you: Whoa!
We had a list of questions all prepared and thought we would be asking them, drawing information from our tour guide. The opposite was true. We walked up to the Labor and Delivery wing and got to sit in a birthing room. It was spacious and we got to learn how the whole “birth” thing unfold. Not the baby birth mechanicals, the hospital delivery ones.Each birthing room has a shower (so Esther can soak), and plenty of room for her to walk around.
After the baby is born, and hospital staff gets the baby cleaned up, Esther and I will get to spend an hour with the baby in the birthing room before Esther gets moved to a postpartum room and I follow the baby to the nursery. Once the baby is in the nursery, the nurses do test and checks and generally make sure that the little one is doing well, we get separated from Uni for about 3 hours. I hope he or she doesn’t get lonely… maybe there will be some other babies in the nursery.
The baby gets to stay with us in the postpartum room, which has a recliner for me, so we all get to stay together, kind of a “sleep over at the hotel” deal. While on the tour I did learn a hospital term that I would like to adopt into every day speak: Rooms labelled “Nutrition” = kitchen.
All in all, the tour was very informative, the labor and delivery unit is very secure (don’t worry about all of the baby stealing stories) and the NICU is a level II (Esther says that’s good, I think level X is better. She says I’ve played too may games in my youth.)Finally, we get 4 people in the birthing room, Me, Oma (Esther’s Mom), Clayton, and… send us a note and we’ll consider having you there. 