Hello? Hello? Are you in there??

Jellybean has been quite active for many weeks now, in fact it's a nightly ritual that between 10 and 11pm she kicks up a storm and keeps me awake until she settles down. Well last night she did not move at all and I did not feel her at all today. I tried laying down, having some chocolate, some juice, laying on my side. Nothing. So I dug out my doppler to 'check' things out bc I was getting a bit nervous. It probably did not help that a girl at work this morning kept coming over and touching my belly and asking jellybean to kick.

Anywho, for the first time in weeks (since I have so many doctor apts and u/s apts) I dug out my dopper. jellybean is not a fan of it, and who can really blame her, I think I read/heard the ultrasonic waves are stronger on a doppler then an ultrasound.

She was more cooperative then normal and I was able get her heart rate;



And of course as soon as I did, she started to kick and move around. Bugger! She paid me back though because soon after putting the doppler away I ate 2 cupcakes and within minutes I got horrible horrible heartburn. ugh. I drank some milk and once the pain reached a point that had me in tears, it was enough to make me throw up (bleh) and within 10m of that I felt better.

So, mental note, no more chocolate cupcakes.

Conversations with Natasha about being a Big Sister

When I first got knocked up, we immediately started talking to N about being a big sister. She totally did not get it and after a bit we just eased off and did not mention it. However, now that my belly is bigger, and she hears the heartbeat at each Doctor apt as well as seeing her little sister at u/s's she seems to be understanding things more. Probably not so much how it's going to effect her daily life in a few more months, but understanding there is a baby in mommy's tummy but not hers or daddy's.

A few nights ago I was sitting on the sofa and she was snuggled beside me, her head on my belly.

N: *kisses and hugs my belly* Hi Julia! Hi Julia!
Me: Sweetie, her name is xxx. Julia is your friend's little sister's name
N: *frowns* Hi Julia! *kisses my belly again*
Me: Are you sure you want a little sister named Julia?? What if when we visit your friend Maya we mix them up and bring home Maya's little sister instead of yours??
N: *frowns and then pouts* Then decides to just ignore me and goes back to kissing my belly and saying hi to "Julia". heh

Happy Viability Day! 24 weeks. :0)

Today marks the first milestone I set for this pregnancy. Baby now has a 36%-50% chance of survival. Of course the chance of complications is still really high, but I'm just happy I made it to my first milestone. Next one is 28w, in which there is a huge leap to 85%! Baby's lungs are still not developed though.

I had a good doctor's appointment today, minus the fact that I showed up yesterday at 9.30am. I guess showing up a day early is better then showing up a day late.

Dr. E was on vacation so I had her fill in, whose name eludes me, but was nice enough. Jellybean's heartbeat was 144 and I'm weighing in at 59.5kgs. So about 12lbs gained. I weighed more at the start of this pg then I did with Tash. Mostly due to the fact that I had not lost all the weight from being pregnant last fall.

6 Ultrasounds down, about 3 more to go.

So after the disagreement between Dr. E and the Radiologist at the Beddington EFW location, I was booked at the Foothills EFW for this ultrasound. Other then the fact that it's further away (20ish mins vs 5m), morning rush hour traffic, and the difficulty in finding the building (poorly labeled, or rather not labeled at all), and having to pay for parking, I had a great visit and really liked this location/staff.

I was actually surprised at how big/spacious the wait room was (Bdgtn is soo small!) and partially surprised at how knowledgeable the staff are. It has me wondering if the staff at this clinic have a higher level of training or deal more with high risk pregnancies? When I went in for my pre-u/s consult the Radiologist was very familiar with my case history, gave her condolences over my loss last fall, asked a bit more about it and discussed a bit of her knowledge on a weakened cervix. I did not feel like she was brushing me off or felt I was a panic-y pregnant woman who was imagining thing. In short I liked her and liked that she felt my own Doctor's concerns were justified. At the other EFW each time I mentioned my weakened cervix I either got brushed off or told "I have no knowledge about w/c". Considering they are equipped to deal with high risk pregnancies, and 20% of all losses in the 2nd trimester can be accounted to a w/c, it surprised me to hear the Techs and the radiologist say this.

Next, I met Kelley, again she gave her condolences over my loss last fall after introducing herself. She did a quick check of baby, she's 1.5lbs now, is measuring on par with what my dates are (23w4d), heartbeat is 131bpm (which seems low, since she is normally 145-155bpm) and everything looks great. We (and I say week bc I get to put it in! oh joy) did a trans-vaginal and my cervix is a "great" 4cm and my waters are not funneling at all.

Final stop was to visit with another Radiologist who went over the u/s results with me a bit more in depth and said that she wants to see me again in 2-3w, bc while things look great now, we are not out of the woods yet. On that note she let me know they will be seeing me every 2-3w until I am 32w. After that point if I were to go into labour, the statistics show that babies born at 32-34 weeks fair just as well as those born at "full term". I asked again about the percentage of survival at 24w (I've read 50% but also as low as 36%, not taking into account complications as a result of early delivery) and she did not want to discuss it too much in depth (more so the complications from early delivery vs survival). She told me that she preferred not to cross that bridge and for both of to concentrate on getting to 32w. It sort of made me chuckle, as she seems to have the same frame of mind as Dr. E in a way. She tossed out some statistics but did not want to dwell on it. :0)

I also liked that she trusted in my Doctor's diagnosis, did not take it lightly and did not brush me off. So for the rush hour traffic, having to pay for parking and the trouble finding the building, the care I received was well worth it. :0) She gave me a form to take to the front desk and I got to book my next appointment. I love that I got to pick the day/time (within reason of course, but at least I had a small say!) and not wait for them to call me and tell me this is when you can come in. At least it's more on my schedule and what is convenient for me.

Tomorrow morning is my bi-weekly doctor appointment. Dr. E is on vacation (how dare she!! ;0) ) so I'll be seeing her fill in. I'm actually a bit happy about it. I want to talk to her about H1N1 vax and then ask Dr. E about it. I'm interested to see if they both feel the same or have very differing opinions. Right now I do not plan to get it, but it never hurts to ask for an opinion.

I also remembered today that I never mentioned to Dr. E about having retained tissue after my delivery with Natasha. Must have a note made on my file about that. I also plan to check out the placenta myself.

Alien Baby Returns.

The movements/kicking are getting harder and more distracting. Last night she woke me up to what felt like her trying to claw her way out. 0.o Tonight while Owen and I were watching SYTYCD - Canada we could see her kicking from the outside. I forgot about how all this felt.

I remember loving feeling N kick inside me, but this time it all seems new again. Or maybe because of our loss last fall I just appreciate it and enjoy it all the more? I think in a nutshell, I'm happy to be this far.

Next week I have another u/s and doctor's visit. Dr. E is on holiday, so I'll be seeing her fill in. I want to talk to her about the H1N1 vaccination. I never get the flu shot, and while I know my immune system is not as strong when I'm pregnant (I get really sick at least once each time I've been pg when I typically do not) but I'm still very hesitant to get it. I decided to have a chat with the doctor next week and then again when Dr. E returns.

Apparently, my doctor was not impressed either..

I had my bi-weekly appointment on Tuesday and Dr. E was not very impressed that the Radiologist at EFW did not schedule me for an u/s in two weeks. When I elaborated and said how flippant the Radiologist had been this time and again at the 18w u/s and gave me the impression that she felt I was 'faking' it, Dr. E told me she was pretty sure she knew which person I saw both times.

She agreed with the radiologist that last year it could have been anything that made me go into pre-term labour, but the fact that I was having contractions first before my water broke and that baby required no pushing to come out, weighed heavily on the side of it being an incompetent cervix. She also added that it was better to be safe then sorry. In other words, just because my cervix has not weakened yet, does not mean it is not going to, it could at any point from now until full term.

There is also the little issue that the radiologist is not my doctor, she's not 100% familiar with my file. She knows my history, but does not know in detail what happened last fall, so for her to be so flippant about things and go against my doctor's wishes of an u/s every two weeks (she would not book another one for 2w from now when I was there on Friday) sort of ticks me off. I'm guessing Dr. E was not too impressed either bc when Jessica (her NP) called me later that afternoon to tell me when my next u/s was not at the Beddginton location, it's over at the PLC location. heh

Wordless Wednesday

Still no penis. :P

I went for what I think is u/s number 5? on Friday. This time, since it was at 9am, Owen and Natasha joined me. The last few times I've went there has been almost zero wait time and I thought "wow this is nice". I must have jinx'd myself because this time, of course the first time I have brought N along, the wait was quite long. We arrived 10m before 9am and were called almost right away, however, after talking to the Doctor briefly (going over my history)we then sat for 20 mins or so in a small 'shower stall' (honest the curtain was a shower curtain and it was the size of a stall!) while we waited.

Anywho, we were finally called and with my luck running out on the lower wait times, it did as well with the nice Technicians. I won't say she was mean, but she was super quiet (had to strain to hear her) and very abrupt. No chit chat and when I asked if she was able to see the gender, she whipped the wand over between the baby's legs and said "Yup there's the labia" and moved it off so fast that if you blinked, you missed it. I actually asked if I could see again and this time she was a bit slower and pointed out the labia, legs, bum. geesh. Her bedside manner encouraged me to turn down the trans-vaginal u/s when she said she was able to see my cervix clearly on the u/s and the TV was up to me.

I have a doctor apt on Tuesday morning and Dr. E will be checking again, so I felt fine with not getting the TV done. I figured an unpleasant experience would be even more un-pleasant when performed my Tech Nadine.

Everything else is going well. She's kicking lots, her room is slowly getting organized and I'm sewing up a storm! I bought some flannel at the Sewing Sensation during their 50% off sale on Saturday for a couple of fitted crib sheets, have a pattern for a mobile, blocks, toy collector bag, and stacking squares. I'm not sure if I'll get to all of that stuff, but it's cute and I girl can hope right? heh The next priority for her room is cleaning out the closet, getting her closet organizer and finding fabric for curtains. :0)

Yes the sewing bug has bit me over the past few months. I do have 10 receiving blankets done for her though as well as a quilt. The quilt I hired out for bc I could not find the fabrics locally and it was actually cheaper then if I'd found the fabrics (American sites no doubt!) and did it myself.