Today we had an ultrasound to check Elsie's growth. I was thrilled to see she didn't have her feet over her head. She was also positioned head down, which may change a few times before she's born, but she's headed in the right direction. She surprised us when the ultrasound tech focused on her head. She turned to face us, and the ultrasound tech saw her face move and thought she smiled. Already mugging for the camera. The photos we have of her aren't that great. They're skeletal and ghostly. But it was nice of her to pose for us. She weighs exactly 2.5 pounds and is in the 50th percentile. At her last ultrasound she was in the 52nd percentile. As long as she stays on her growth curve, she'll be about 7 pounds when she's born. Hurray! Our next appointment is in two weeks, and our next ultrasound is in four weeks.
I am also doing well. Amniotic fluid levels are good and so is my blood pressure. I haven't gained any weight over the last three weeks. I've gained less than 10 pounds from my lowest first trimester weight, and 2.5 of that is all Elsie (not to mention placenta and extra fluids). I'm not exactly dieting. I just had a mini turtle pecan cluster blizzard from Dairy Queen to celebrate our good reports at the doctor. (I got a mini because I'm lactose intolerant and don't want to get sick and freak Elsie out again.) I'm intentionally eating more fruits and vegetables and getting more exercise, but it's because I enjoy fresh summer produce and swimming rather than because I'm trying to watch my weight. That's just a nice side effect. :) I've been eating a lot of caprese salad and snacking on snap peas and watermelon. The basil and snap peas are from my garden. The swimming pool is finally open at times I can get there. With my swimmer's snorkel, I don't have to worry about getting out of breath because I can breathe whenever I want. My breast stroke is getting quite graceful, which is pretty impressive considering my growing girth. Between the low-calorie fruits and veggies taking up room in my quickly shrinking stomach and getting to the pool up to four times a week in July, I'm not gaining weight. As long as Elsie is gaining weight, I'm going to keep on enjoying my veggies and swimming. I can always add an Icee, milkshake, or blizzard every once in a while if I need to. Anything for Elsie. :)
Elsie is pretty active, but I am rarely able to figure out why she is kicking. She kicks for the fun of it most of the time. I have noticed that she likes music. She kicks significantly more during singing at church, the musical we recently attended, and movies with rousing scores. She also kicks at things that touch my belly: my computer desk, the kitchen counter and sink (my arms are too short to wash dishes without resting my belly against the sink), and even my own arm. She believes it's HER belly, and I've been unable to convince her to share. She still gets excited when Matt talks to her and even kicked in his direction when he talked at my belly one time. However, she rarely kicks when Matt's hand is on my belly. One night when she wouldn't settle down, I had Matt put his hand on my belly, and I got a good 15 minutes of peace before she started kicking again. And she wasn't kicking as hard then. She also kicks when she's startled. The new Superman was incredibly scary for her because of all the explosions. I'm surprised my uterus wasn't bruised after that movie. And yesterday she got her first case of hiccups during the sermon at church. The kicks were too regular and jerky to be anything but hiccups.
We're all doing fine. I garden and swim and try out new veggie recipes. Elsie kicks. And Matt drives us to the doctor an awful lot. We expect the rest of the summer to keep going the same way.
Monday, July 8, 2013
Monday, July 1, 2013
Baby Veggies Everywhere
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| Baby Green Beans |
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| Baby Summer Squash |
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| Baby Zucchini |
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| Baby Watermelon |
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| Baby Cucumber |
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| Baby Blueberry Bushes with newly acidified soil and new mulch |
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| The Pea Haven (and me looking like Holly Hobbie) |
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| Snap peas are thriving |
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| Veggies in blocks and planters |
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| Lots of green tomatoes |
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| The Squash Ghetto beyond the tomatoes |
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| CORN! |
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| Growing Rutabagas |
Normal Blood Sugar Quickly Lowers Blood Pressure
My day started with a stressful morning at work. And shortly after I got home, it was time to leave for our appointment. I was also concerned about my three-hour glucose test results. And then once we got to the doctor's office, we sat in the waiting room for 45 minutes before the nurse called us back. She told me the doctor would give me my test results and weighed me (no change in the last two weeks) and checked my blood pressure (140-something/80-something). The blood pressure was not good. Guessing that anticipation was not helping my blood pressure, I asked the nurse if she could just tell me my results. She checked my chart and told me I had nothing to worry about and to take a few deep breaths. She then rechecked my blood pressure, and it had dropped by about 10 points in a matter of minutes. It still wasn't a good number, but it was quickly headed in the right direction. Later in the evening, my blood pressure was checked two more times and was excellent. The nurse wasn't kidding about having nothing to worry about. The blood glucose test results weren't marginal; they were exceptionally good. I got to see the numbers and impressed myself.
We saw the nurse practitioner instead of one of the doctors. It was the first time we'd see her during this pregnancy. Matt later observed a difference between the men and women we've encountered in obstetrics: men are reassuring and opaque, while women are straight shooters who worry more about informing than reassuring. He's right. We got way more information from the nurse practitioner. We learned that because of history we are scheduled for growth-check ultrasounds every four to six weeks. We go back next Monday for one of those ultrasounds. Two and a half weeks ago, I was told we were starting to schedule appointments twice a month instead of once a month. With the upcoming ultrasound appointment, I'll have been to the office once a week for three weeks in a row. At 32 weeks we'll start weekly appointments and bio-physical profiles (BPPs - ultrasounds that check growth, movement, and baby's breathing practice). We've done tons of those. I just hope we don't have to do a non-stress test at the hospital. I don't think Elsie will like the fetal monitor any more than Neil did. (She's similarly territorial about things touching my abdomen.) And the last non-stress test we went to resulted in learning we had a dead baby. That sounds too stressful to be a non-stress test.
We also learned that in the four years that the nurse practitioner has worked in this office there have been only four late-term perinatal deaths. Two happened to women who had uncontrolled diabetes, which could be expected to cause complications. That leaves two of us that had something completely unforeseen happen. Both of us had growth-restricted babies, but quite a few women have had growth-restricted babies that turned out fine. So we're kind of special in a not so good way around there. That does explain why everyone seems to know our names. And it makes me feel even more confident about the doctors we're seeing: they don't lose many babies. We just happen to be among the unlucky few.
After the appointment, we went to the hospital to get my Rho-gam shot. I'm at 27 weeks and have A- blood. The shot is supposed to keep my body from forming antibodies against positive blood. From what I understand, the current baby is fairly safe. But if Elsie's blood is positive and comes into contact with my negative blood through anything but the placenta (due to an accident or during delivery), then I will form and carry around antibodies that would attack and kill any future babies with positive blood types. That's not something to fool around with, so we stuck around and did it even though it would make our day longer. We didn't remember from last time how much longer. First, I had to get blood drawn so that they knew exactly which type of Rho-gam to give me. The blood work takes a couple hours to process. Then they shoot a blood product into my buttock and make me wait around a while longer to make sure I don't have a bad reaction. No reaction. I'm glad that's over. I get another after delivery, but the waiting around is less noticeable then.
While we were waiting for the blood work to be run, we went out to eat at the Italian restaurant. That was a nice treat after such a long and stressful day. Unfortunately, I didn't consider how much dairy I had consumed today. Upon reflection, salad with cheese and (pasteurized) blue cheese dressing was not a good prelude to the lasagna. I might have been OK with just the lasagna, but I'm sure the salad did me in. And by "did me in" I mean caused full-on evil poop. And it freaked Elsie out. So in addition to spasming intestines, I had frantic rolling and kicking in my uterus. Oh Lord! It was awful. I felt bad for her. I'm sure she was surrounded by strange sensations and sounds, but it was really bad for me. I kept rubbing my belly and reassuring her it was OK. Eventually, she calmed down. I'm a little afraid she's going to associate trauma with lasagna (which she enjoyed while I was eating it). I told Matt I might be better off if I associated trauma with lasagna. It might save me from myself and my love of cheese.
So it was a long day and not without minor traumas, but overall it was a good day. We got good news about test results, ate yummy food, and took care of some necessary preventative care. And because of the good glucose test results, I had no concern about ordering tiramisu to go. :)
We saw the nurse practitioner instead of one of the doctors. It was the first time we'd see her during this pregnancy. Matt later observed a difference between the men and women we've encountered in obstetrics: men are reassuring and opaque, while women are straight shooters who worry more about informing than reassuring. He's right. We got way more information from the nurse practitioner. We learned that because of history we are scheduled for growth-check ultrasounds every four to six weeks. We go back next Monday for one of those ultrasounds. Two and a half weeks ago, I was told we were starting to schedule appointments twice a month instead of once a month. With the upcoming ultrasound appointment, I'll have been to the office once a week for three weeks in a row.
We also learned that in the four years that the nurse practitioner has worked in this office there have been only four late-term perinatal deaths. Two happened to women who had uncontrolled diabetes, which could be expected to cause complications. That leaves two of us that had something completely unforeseen happen. Both of us had growth-restricted babies, but quite a few women have had growth-restricted babies that turned out fine. So we're kind of special in a not so good way around there. That does explain why everyone seems to know our names. And it makes me feel even more confident about the doctors we're seeing: they don't lose many babies. We just happen to be among the unlucky few.
After the appointment, we went to the hospital to get my Rho-gam shot. I'm at 27 weeks and have A- blood. The shot is supposed to keep my body from forming antibodies against positive blood. From what I understand, the current baby is fairly safe. But if Elsie's blood is positive and comes into contact with my negative blood through anything but the placenta (due to an accident or during delivery), then I will form and carry around antibodies that would attack and kill any future babies with positive blood types. That's not something to fool around with, so we stuck around and did it even though it would make our day longer. We didn't remember from last time how much longer. First, I had to get blood drawn so that they knew exactly which type of Rho-gam to give me. The blood work takes a couple hours to process. Then they shoot a blood product into my buttock and make me wait around a while longer to make sure I don't have a bad reaction. No reaction. I'm glad that's over. I get another after delivery, but the waiting around is less noticeable then.
While we were waiting for the blood work to be run, we went out to eat at the Italian restaurant. That was a nice treat after such a long and stressful day. Unfortunately, I didn't consider how much dairy I had consumed today. Upon reflection, salad with cheese and (pasteurized) blue cheese dressing was not a good prelude to the lasagna. I might have been OK with just the lasagna, but I'm sure the salad did me in. And by "did me in" I mean caused full-on evil poop. And it freaked Elsie out. So in addition to spasming intestines, I had frantic rolling and kicking in my uterus. Oh Lord! It was awful. I felt bad for her. I'm sure she was surrounded by strange sensations and sounds, but it was really bad for me. I kept rubbing my belly and reassuring her it was OK. Eventually, she calmed down. I'm a little afraid she's going to associate trauma with lasagna (which she enjoyed while I was eating it). I told Matt I might be better off if I associated trauma with lasagna. It might save me from myself and my love of cheese.
So it was a long day and not without minor traumas, but overall it was a good day. We got good news about test results, ate yummy food, and took care of some necessary preventative care. And because of the good glucose test results, I had no concern about ordering tiramisu to go. :)
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