I am Not an Idiot

Actually, for the most part, I think I am a rather smart, educated person who has some knowledge about the world around me.

So why am I pissed. Well, there are women I know who choose not to vax themselves or their children AT ALL. Fine. You do whatever you think is best for you and your family. The problem is, they don't stop there. They think it's their job to educate us idiots who inject these horrible substances into our bodies. They need to constantly remind us how freaking superior they are because they live a natural life. They need to make me feel like I am injecting pure poison into my children and my unborn fetus. I guess if they do this over and over again I will give into their way of thinking and stop?

So again, what you do with your life and your children is your business, but don't make it your life's work to push your crap on me. I don't feel it necessary to defend and push my thoughts on them, but then again I am fine and comfortable with what I have chosen. Maybe they are the ones with the insecurities??

Either way...shut up. I don't want to hear it anymore!

Today Appointment

First and most importantly I passed my glucose screening - Yeah! My hemoglobin is good but oddly my platelets are a little low. I did this with the twins too. Apparently some women develop an immune response to pregnancy which results in decreased platelets. Mine so far are low but fine (149) I know they got down into the 80's with the twins. I'm really not concerned right now because bleeding problems don't become significant until they're under 50 and really, even lower than that. We will re-check the level at 36 weeks unless I have issues before then.

Max is head down, however this changes hourly, and weighs about 3lbs! Blood pressure, urine, amniotic levels all good. So great visit overall. Didn't get any great 3D pics, but I will include what I received.

Now on the every two week visit with every four week US plan. We talked a little about my birth plan - yippee that means its getting closer! - and discussed H1N1 again. Honestly I change my mind daily on what I want to do. Anyway...here's the pics...enjoy!

Another H1N1 Rant!

I hate how this H1N1 has everyone in a panic and stupid decisions are being made.

The hospital where I will deliver is now banning all people 18 and under from their facility for the flu season. Yep, this means that when I deliver, my mom won't be able to come visit with the twins, or really visit at all, because she will be watching the twins. How freaking ridiculous is that!? I feel bad for the twins because of course I've been talking up coming to see me and Max at the hospital when he's born. Also, they were both signed up for a Big Brother/Big Sister Class which they have also cancelled.

If I have a complication free delivery I will be going home ASAP. I will not sit around in a hospital that doesn't allow my family to be with me at a time like that. And, if my doc could deliver there, I would totally switch my delivery to a neighbouring hospital. They are being a little more realistic and posted a guard at the entrance. Every person who enters has to wash their hands with the alcohol gel, and if they appear sick, are turned away. This makes much more sense to me. All I can hope is by the time I deliver they have changed their mind. Although unlikely, it is possible because there is HUGE public outrage about this right now. Women who are close to delivery are actually switching docs to birth at the other hospital.

They should know better then to piss off pregnant women!

Wish Me Luck!

Tomorrow afternoon I have my 28 week appointment. I will have another US, all my blood work, including glucose screen, and will use this appointment to ask some important questions.

As far as the US goes I'm hoping Max cooperates! I am now far enough along that I should be able to get some really good 4D US pics. But, the last two times I've had an US, his face has been facing my back thus making it impossible to see any detail regarding his face.

Most of my blood work should be fine. I think I may be a little anemic. I tend to be this way when I'm not pregnant so I'm more at risk for this pregnant. Fatigue has really picked up again. Of course this could just be the third trimester, but I'll be curious to see what my hemoglobin is. I am worried about my glucose screen. Not sure why as I avoided it with the twins, but this pregnancy has been very different (other than the nausea). I know that with my weight, I am set up for pregnancy induced diabetes so maybe that's why. I guess tomorrow afternoon I will know whether or not I am worried for nothing.

Then I just need to ask some general questions. More questions about the H1N1 vax, probably discharge time after delivery for a complication free delivery, and what is in store for the upcoming 12 weeks.

I will update tomorrow after my appointment, hopefully with good news and good pics!

28 weeks!!!

I am there. Yipee!

I don't know why, but I have had an ominous feeling about this pregnancy from the beginning that I never experience with the twins. Well as of today I have reached that milestone where if Max were born now, it would be highly likely that we would have a positive outcome. I can now relax a little and know that we have made it past the critical time.

Of course I hope Max sticks around for at least 9 more weeks. That would bring him to full term, and quite honestly he can vacate ANY time after that. I am looking forward to his arrival and can't wait to meet my little man. His room is still being worked on, but I love just walking in there and looking around. Soon, very soon, there will be a little bundle living in there. I can hardly wait!

Kaylyn Marie

Remember me posting awhile back about a coworker who had her baby at 24 weeks. Well sadly, little Kaylyn passed away last night. She would have been about 11 weeks old. I feel horrible to Kim and can't imagine her struggle.

This is the third child Kim has lost. She lost twins a few years ago, the same way I'm told. Goes in for her 24 week US and finds that she no longer has amniotic fluid, the perform an emergency c-section to try and save the baby(ies) and despite all the efforts the outcome is not good.

Kaylyn was born weighing 14oz. Max at this gestation weighed 1lbs 5oz and was only in the 40th percentile so my guess is something was wrong for a little while. Kim was lucky in the sense of where she delivered as many hospital nationwide will not intervene with a preemie that weighs less than 1lbs. Kaylyn spent the first few weeks at the local hospital and then was transferred to a neighbouring one a few weeks later - also not a good sign as her level of care of getting more critical. Kim kept her hope up and even this week talked about having her home for Christmas. With the baby living 11 weeks, it hurts to imagine how much Kim has collected in her home for her daughters arrival. What will she have to face when she goes home again. I know she diligently pumped at work every time she worked to keep up a good supply for her girl.

Part of me hates that Kaylyn lived 11 weeks to only then pass away. The longer she survived, the more hope she gave to her mother and family. I feel like it was an amazing painful trick that life played on Kim. Of course, it can also be seen as a gift of 11 weeks that she got to spend with her daughter and a time of experiences and memories she will never forget.

My heart is with Kim and her family tonight. I hope she finds the strength to make it through this again.

Nursery...The Beginning

Here is what me and my sister accomplished tonight. Furniture in it's place. Crib put together. Bedding unpacked. My future bed assembled. It looks pretty good. Now I just need an area rug to hide where the twins sprayed bleach on the carpet and to continue decorating a little. Still looks a little plain to me...but at least all the big stuff is done!

ARGH!

Today has been kind of a crappy day. In general, Tuesday's are not great days because of our schedule.

S has speech therapy at 8:15am. Some probably wouldn't see this as bad, however me and my guys are usually still in bed asleep at that time when I don't work. So we have to set the alarm, get up, rush to get ready and out the door we go. Therapy ends at 9:00am and then we have gymnastics at 10am. Well, it's not worth going home because gymnastics is across town, but it also doesn't take us an hour so we are stuck killing time. Last week we went to breakfast and this week we just killed time sitting in the car. I need to figure out something more productive to do, but the problem is we are just talking 30 or so minutes and speech nor gymnastics is really close to anything.

But today was extra crappy because of a damned unexpected expense...yes another one. September has been a really crappy month for my budget.

Yesterday, my sister J was kind enough to watch the twins while I grocery shopped. I took advantage of this opportunity and decided to buy a TON of stuff in hopes that I wouldn't have to shop again for at least 2 weeks. My pantry and freezer were packed full. Well today after nap I notice that someone has left the freezer door cracked open and everything inside is starting to thaw. I shut the door and tried to set the freezer on super cold. The fridge never turned on :( So either the door being open burned the motor, or it was coincidence. Well I tried to wait it out a few hours to see if the motor would kick back on...it didn't. So 7pm I am packing the kids up to head to Walmart to buy one of those small deep freezers to save my $300 of stored food.

Now, maybe you'll remember that I did plan on buying one of these at some point for freezing my breast milk, but of course that would have been when I had the cash, not tonight. I am praying that my freezer is working by tomorrow morning and I don't have to start thinking about a new fridge. This one is only about 6 years old and was one of those friggin expensive ones...so it better not be fried!

Painting...Check!

Yep, that's right. The nursery is finally done. Well as far as paint goes :-) Now I just have everything else to do. Tomorrow I will start putting up the window treatments and some of the wall hangings. My sister is going to come over on Wednesday and help me move some of the furniture around. Maybe by the end of next week I will be able to post some pics of my Little Guy's new room.

It's kind of surreal. With my weight I am thinking I will probably run into some issues near the end of my pregnancy and need to deliver prior to 40 weeks. Since full term is 37 weeks, I figure any time after then is fair game. With me being 27.5 weeks pregnant, that means Max could potentially be here in less than 10 weeks! While this is very exciting, it also makes me realize how unprepared I am!

My biggest problem with getting stuff done right now is my lack of energy and soreness. I did great to get the nursery painted, but now I look at everything else that needs to be done, and I want to go lay down - LOL. My goal is to have the nursery and major things done by 30 weeks. That gives me about 2.5 weeks to work on it!

Fun at the Fair

Today we went to the annual Carousel Festival. We went last year and had a great time, but I was leery of going this time due to my pregnancy and never ending battle with fatigue.

Well when we woke up, the weather was cool and cloudy (PERFECT!) so I decided to suck it up and take the kids. In the end I was glad I did. The kids had such a great time. They got to ride many rides including trains, boats and planes. They both were able to get their faces painting and then have some jumping fun on an inflatable or two. We even got to sample some yummy funnel cake :-)

Just as we got their, the twins also had their hand prints taken for a pottery company to then turn them into personalized plates with reindeer on them. I will try my best to post pics of those when they are ready for pick up.

Cars and How they SUCK

I have always had new cars, which I guess makes me lucky. When I started Nursing School my parents bought me and CRV (which I loved!) and they made the payments until I graduated school. I remember the oil changes and gas, but not so much the maintenance. Maybe it's because I still lived near my parents and my dad did them? Maybe it's because it was a Honda and therefor more reliable? I honestly don't know.

In January 2007 I bought a 2006 Kia Sedona which I have been happy with, but yesterday I finally brought the car in to be looked at. I had a list of issues that needed to be addressed, all of which should have been under warranty. Despite trying very hard to find a day I could go without a car, I couldn't find one, and also had to get a rental for the time the car was in the shop.

So yesterday I dropped it off late afternoon and picked up a rental. This morning I get the dreaded call. The warranty items will be fixed, but of course parts need to be ordered so I actually have to bring the car back for them - ARGH. The problem came when he said that they did a full diagnostics and the following needed to be addressed:!

Tires, alignment, fluid flushing, brakes, transmission service, filters...blah, blah, blah...

Yep...all of that totalling about $900!! HOLY SHIT! My car just has 28,000 miles on it, I figured I had years before big bills like that. I didn't authorize all of it, but the tires and brakes will get done. Filters and Oil Change will be done. And I guess at some point so will the warranty issues I thought I was bringing the car there for.

Like I need that bill right now.


ETA: At 5:33pm I get a call from the dealership. My car is ready. And what time do you think they close...yep...6:00pm. Now I have dinner on the stove and this dealer is located across town. Nice. So I tell them...in a pretty bitchy tone, that I will not be able to pick up the car tonight and that thanks to them waiting until the last minute to call them, I now have an additional day that I need to pay for a car rental. Wonderful...so now I get to add $70 in car rental fees to the massive car bill. Shoot me now.

Sleep

Or lack there of.

Why is it so elusive during the times you need it most?

I remember this with the twins, although I think it was much later in the pregnancy. The last three nights I went to bed early, or at least for me early which was about 10:30pm. I woke up more tired then when I laid down. The first two nights there was really no reason for it. Last night it was probably the fact that I was sharing my full size bed with two wriggling toddlers.

You know, it's really not fair that your body does this to you. I mean I know in 14 short weeks I will have an infant that wakes me every 2-3 hours anyway, so some say this prepares you for it. But I believe it's this last 14 weeks when you should be able to get the sleep of your life. Store up all that sleep and energy for the months of deprivation that is coming.

Anyway, that's my rant for this evening :) Tomorrow is a busy day. A baby shower that I semi-organized; grocery shopping and maybe, if I'm lucky...a nap!

99 Days

Yep, that's how many days I have left being pregnant :) I have hit the double digits and I am hoping those 99 days fly by. I doubt they will, but I will keep hoping.

Another great milestone...4 weeks. That's how long it's been since I have been routinely taking my nausea meds. I no longer roll over in the morning and pop a Zofran before I even open my eyes. Instead, 3 or 4 times a week, I take a dose because of some queasiness that comes over me. It's been almost as long since I have vomited and although I never feel 100% as far as nausea is concerned, I feel so much better than I ever thought was possible.

Swelling is better too. I am trying to keep my feet elevated, but also watch the amount of salt in my diet. I'm sooooooo not a salt eater. In fact, I lived in this house for almost a year before I even bought a salt shaker and that was because my mother ordered me to when she came and cooked for Thanksgiving. But man! With this pregnancy, most of what I crave is high salt food. Popcorn, french fries, pickles. Yum!

My SPD still sucks, but quite honestly I know that pain will not go away until shortly after delivery, so I have just learned to suck it up. I'm sure in the next 14 weeks I will start experiencing even more fun pregnancy 'joys' but I'm up for them. As long as this nausea stays away...I am up for anything.

A Long Pregnancy Update

So I thought I would give you all an update on where I am with the pregnancy.

I will start with today. I had a follow up US and it showed that my placenta has moved up nicely. This should mean that an attempt at a vaginal delivery should now be possible. We did not reassess the cord entry on this US, but Max is weighing about 1lbs 5oz putting him in the 40th percentile with growth. I am happy with this, as S was always about the 40th while K sat around the 10th. I think Max, like his siblings, will be tall and skinny. I will still get monthly US to assess for growth, but for now, everything looks good.

I also talked to the OB (not mine, she was out sick) about the H1N1 vaccine. This vaccine really scares me as it was produced in a response to panic, not clear thinking. But after talking to her, I think I will break down and get myself vaccinated. By the time it's available, I will be about 30 weeks pregnant which means the likelihood of anything happening to Max from the vaccine is slim. I am still very torn on what to do with the twins.


My nausea is hardly an issue. I mean I do feel a little nauseous most days, but I have only needed to take a Zofran once or twice the past few weeks. I can't believe how good that feels. I still worry a little that it may come back, but overall I am enjoying the relief. Now I wish this fatigue would ease of some and I would be in good shape.


With this pregnancy I am experiencing symptoms I never had with the twins...which is odd since you'd think with two babies, I would experience every symptom. I pee all the time, I already have a hard time sleeping and I feel CONSTANT movement...that last one of course is pretty cool. The one symptoms though, that I wish would go away is swelling. I never swelled up with the twins. This time, by the evening my feet have 3 to 4+ pitting edema and hurt so badly. I swear it feels like my skin is just going to split open. My blood pressure has been checked and is holding at a normal level (118/80 today) so it's not an eclampsia issue...just my luck I guess. At least at work, my shoes seem to keep the fluid from pooling, so I'm not too uncomfortable there.


Here is a pic of my swollen feet, but quite honestly I don't think this picture does it justice

My other issue is SPD (symphysis pubis dysfunction) I developed this with the twins around 26 weeks. When your pregnant your pelvic ligament stretch and separate to accommodate the passage of the baby through the birth canal, well with spd, you have such relaxation, your pubic bone actually separates from itself. Not uncommon with multiples. Well mine was so bad with the twins, they thought I may need PT or even surgery to fix the issue. After the twins I seemed to heal well and except for a little flair when they were about one, I had figured it was healed.

I guess not, since at about 15-17 weeks this time the intense pain started again. It is a constant shooting pain which makes all movement painful and sleeping in a bed unbearable at times. I am hoping again for a quick post partem recovery, but the thought of 16 more weeks of this is daunting at times.

So, anyway, despite the spd and the swelling, this pregnancy is tolerable. I'm still not one of those glowing, happy, celebrating the miracle of life pregnant women, but I am happier than I was at this point with the twins. I am appreciating the cooler weather (yeah 70's!) and with school starting up and talk of upcoming events and holidays, I am hoping the next 16 weeks fly by :)

Here is a 24 belly shot just for fun. Keep in mind I hate pics of myself, so you all are very lucky :P