About Time?

Well- I think it's time to update the ol' blog. A lot has happened since my last entry. A LOT...(oh, and if you think I got all this down in one sitting, hehe...guess again!). I was going to just add this to my other blog, but thought starting a new one might be better?

For starters...we're preggo, preggers, got a bun in the oven... :) I haven't been ready to blog about this until just recently. Not quite sure why. I think part of the reason is because I'm not one of those women who LOVE being preggo. I'm all about the end product. Even that is a bit scary/overwhelming...the whole "Will I be a good mom?" thing. Or, am I really ready for this? When we first found out I was pregnant, we went to the bookstore. I bought the Mayo Clinic's Guide to a Healthy Pregnancy and a nutrition book by the What to Expect folks (for those unfamiliar with "What to Expect"- What to Expect When You're Expecting is like the Bible of all preggo books). I took back the nutrition book...it was stressing me out. I felt like I needed to prepare little baggies full of stuff that I'm supposed to eat and carry those around with me at all times. I didn't get the actual What to Expect When You're Expecting book because the information in that book was overwhelming! There was just too much. Plus, a new edition was coming out in February or March. So early on, we went with the "do what I can, when I can" approach to nutrition. I mean, I don't smoke, stopped drinking alcohol, don't do drugs, eat a fairly healthy diet, take my vitamins...and back in the day, women had way less information than we have now and popped out perfectly healthy babies.

So, let's talk about this pregnancy. Early on, I spotted for like a week. We didn't have our first appt. until 8 weeks. And we were put on the "no sex" diet until that first appt. It was hard, but we made it! ;) At 8 weeks, we got to hear the heartbeat for the first time and see this little being growing inside me. That was awesome! Ray said my face totally lit up. So, we switched docs after this appt. It was a hard decision. We really liked the NP that we met with at 8 weeks, but we didn't like the idea that we might not even get to see the doc that she works with on D-day. That in fact we would get one of 14 docs, depending who was on call. That was with Sharp Rees-Steely. I asked around for suggestions for a new doc and we ended up going with West Coast Ob/Gyn. At the time, there were four docs in the office and a couple NP's. They were down to three docs and two NP's. But I think they are now back up to four docs. And the way their office works is kind of rotational. You'll see each of the docs or NP's at least once during your time with them. We liked that there are only a few docs and we'll at least be familiar with the doc on D-DAY. As opposed to a complete and total stranger. Too bad Mona, the NP we've seen the most doesn't deliver babies!

OK...where was I? Oh yeah...so I spotted for a week early on and then all seemed good. Had our 8 week appt. and were taken off the "no sex diet." ;) Then we had our first appt with West Coast at 13 weeks. Everything checked out good. Got to hear the baby's heartbeat with a handheld ultrasound. No pics, but good strong heartbeat. Seemed like everything was going well. Til we had our first sonogram at 17 weeks with Dr. Stanco's office. She's who West Coast refers you to for sonograms. It was at this appt where they told us that they were seeing blood behind my placenta. Dr. Stanco's official report was that I had a grade 1 placental abruption. She put me on bed rest for four weeks. The first few days SUCKED! I cried... :( They said the most strenuous thing I should be doing was taking a shower.

Luckily, I had just gotten a laptop from work so I could be mobile. At the time, Ray was working for a company that was requiring him to travel a lot. And that SUCKED!! He'd come home on the weekends and then have to leave again... either on Sunday or Monday and would be back Thursday night. Sometimes (most times?) it seemed like he was coming back on Friday. And every time he had to leave, I cried. Which I know made him feel like crap. I tried not to cry and to be strong, but it was really hard. Especially, when we thought the travel was only supposed to be every other week and turned out to be every week for the whole time he was with them. Anyway...with the laptop, the idea was that at least I'd be able to travel with him.

The timing worked out really well. I did one trip to Carlsbad, New Mexico and worked from the hotel room for a couple days. We came back, had the first sonogram at 17.5 weeks with Dr. Stanco and was put on bed rest for four weeks. That was the first round of bed rest. I was able to work remotely from home the whole first round of bed rest. If I hadn't been able to do that, I'd have really lost it! The best news we got from this first sonogram was that we found out we were gonna have a Madison and not a Jack. EIther one would have been fine, but we were hoping for a little girl. :)

Fast forward four more weeks. Next check up with Dr. Stanco at 21.5 weeks. She did another sonogram and the blood didn't totally re-absorb as they were hoping. But...it was much less. So, she wanted me to do another four weeks of bed rest. This time not as restrictive as the first four weeks. She said I could go to work once a week. But I had already been thinking 2 days a week. And during the first round of bed rest, I wasn't as immobile as I probably should have been. We also double checked to make sure we were still gonna have a baby girl. ;)

Four more weeks go by. Next check up...voila! Blood is gone. Dr. Stanco is happy. Wished us luck and sent us on our merry way. So, we haven't had any more pics of Maddie since week 25-ish. :( Besides getting to see her, the other cool thing about having the sonograms done was that they also took measurements of Maddie to see how she was developing. She was right on track every time. We didn't do an amnio. There's only a certain time period that you can do them. And at our first meeting with Dr. S, she didn't want to stick me with a needle and possibly cause any more trauma to the baby. They are able to check for other possible markers of Downs and other birth defects via sonogram. They didn't see any markers to be concerned about, so it was all good!

8/23/08

So let's fast forward even faster...cuz we're gettin' down to the nitty gritty! I'm now at 35 weeks. Next week, I have my last appt before we go to weekly appts. Being preggo during the summer months is NOT something that I would recommend. In fact, if it could somehow be physically impossible for one to be pregnant during the summer, that would be a HUGE step forward for mankind (or womankind), in my opinion!

I wanted to be one of those women who worked out the whole time they were preggo. I haven't gained that much weight...somewhere between 25 and 30 pounds. I've been told I'm not that big, but I still feel big. Especially when I look down and my feet and ankles look a little swollen. Or when I look at my calves and notice the muscle definition that used to be there is no longer. I know this will all pass and go back, but seeing all the changes my body has gone through takes some getting used to. It is cool to see my stomach move when Maddie's moving around. The whole wave motion trick is cool.

I have worked out here and there. Walking is getting a little more tiresome now. I really enjoy being in a pool. We went to Palm Springs recently. Yeah, yeah...I know- complain about being preggo during the summer and where do I go? But it was actually really relaxing. I was in a nice air conditioned unit and would go out to the pool later in the afternoon. We'd spend hours in the pool. It was really, really nice. The weightlessness of being in the water was the best. You'd think that a preggo woman would float really well. But I didn't. At least not on my back. My feet seemed to sink more easily than when in a non-preggo state. We went to the community pool across the street from where we live for the first time. I've really been wanting to get in the water since we got back from Palm Springs. And doing laps was great exercise! I'm hoping we can get in a few more pool workouts before I "pop."

I'm getting a little anxious, nervous. Just the whole not knowing of what the delivery is going to be like. How much it's really going to hurt. You can listen to other people's experiences, but that doesn't mean that's what it's going to be like for you. I don't want an epi. The idea of having it put in with that big ol' HUGE needle. Yeah...no thanks. Plus, once you get it, you have to stay in bed. But, I'm also open to it if I can't take the pain. We didn't do any childbirth prep classes, like Lamaze or anything. I just didn't see myself really getting into the whole "he-he-whoooo" breathing thing. Everyone has their own way of dealing with pain. I just want to get through it and get Maddie safely into this world. :)

Today, we're at the Bay. We're having a BBQ Baby Shower with our San Diego friends. It should be a nice relaxing time. It's a pot luck. We're providing burgers and hot dogs and asked peeps to bring side dishes, drinks or desserts. Mary helped organize this one. My mom threw one for us in the Bay Area at the end of June. We drove up for the weekend. That was really nice also. Madison got a lot of cute outfits. Mom made lots of food and of course, all of it was super YUMMY!!!!