So Dave and I were lying in bed Friday around 11:30 at night and we started talking about some of my fears of breast-pumping/feeding and how, while I would love to just breast feed, it's always good to have a milk supply in the freezer instead of having to use formula like I had to with Alli.
Then, we got around for some reason to talking about the FoodSaver vacuum sealer that we have. And Dave started talking about how we should work on retro-fitting it to make the motor into a working breast pump.
WHA??????????????
I think the first words out of my mouth were "Uhhh NO. Let's stick your manhood in the vacuum and see how you like it. I don't need my nipples ripped off!"
We'll be buying my breast pump, thank you very much.
Monday, March 23, 2009
Friday, March 20, 2009
MN Perinatal - Friday Appointment
The ladies in the Edina office are WONDERFUL. Let me just say that. And have I told you how I love, love, LOVE the doctors there?
Anyways, I went in for my 2pm appointment today. We did the BPP and non-stress test. "The Cabbage" as Dave calls her, did great. My amniotic fluid is a bit lower, but steady, and not alarming to the staff. So we are essentially still in a holding pattern.
Dr. Ney - who I admit, is of my favorites next to Dr. Gazianno - was even telling me that if I wanted to, I could set up appointments into May as I already have April appointments scheduled. All I could think of was "Ummm sure." While in my head I'm screaming out "OH GODS PLEASE LET ME HAVE THE BABY BEFORE THEN!!!!!!!"
Let's face it: For those of you who truly know me, you know I'm not a patient person. I completely LACK patience. Christmas is not one of my better times of the year, nor my birthday.
I am not the typical pregnant woman. I don't just assume that everything has been great up to this point and we will end up with a happy healthy baby and I should just run out and buy the rest of the baby's things. No.
I am the type of woman who's been pregnant before... and lost. Being this far into the 3rd trimester makes me feel EXTREMELY blessed, and NERVOUS. I just feel like the sooner I deliver, the sooner our baby will be safe from my body. The sooner we can hold her and count her fingers and toes... see if she has hair... attempt pumping and breastfeeding. Again.
When the OB visit was nearly over I asked Dr. Ney a question that I've been forgetting to: Can I/Will I be able to pump and/or attempt to breastfeed while I'm on blood thinners? This question has no definitive answers online - in fact, there's much that's misunderstood about anti-coagulants.
Dr. Ney looked me right in the eye and said "Yes. Your body is ready this time; you aren't sick. You are healthy, and healed." She went on to give me greater confidence by telling me that the dosage of blood thinner I am on is considered "prophylactic" - meaning a preventive dosage.
On one hand, I thought I would never want to give the whole breastfeeding and pumping thing a try, but on the other hand, I never had the chance to breastfeed Alli because my milk ran out before she came home. It made me feel like a failure to some extent. However, years later, I am an older, wiser mom. I know that if I give it my all, I'll be fine. If it doesn't work out, then it doesn't work out. I'm not going to beat myself up over it. Or let someone else make me feel guilty because they think that I didn't try hard enough.
We are moving along though with the accumulation of baby things. I'm thinking about ordering some things from Amazon in a week or so. Don't want to crowd the house up too much now, do I.
Anyways, I went in for my 2pm appointment today. We did the BPP and non-stress test. "The Cabbage" as Dave calls her, did great. My amniotic fluid is a bit lower, but steady, and not alarming to the staff. So we are essentially still in a holding pattern.
Dr. Ney - who I admit, is of my favorites next to Dr. Gazianno - was even telling me that if I wanted to, I could set up appointments into May as I already have April appointments scheduled. All I could think of was "Ummm sure." While in my head I'm screaming out "OH GODS PLEASE LET ME HAVE THE BABY BEFORE THEN!!!!!!!"
Let's face it: For those of you who truly know me, you know I'm not a patient person. I completely LACK patience. Christmas is not one of my better times of the year, nor my birthday.
I am not the typical pregnant woman. I don't just assume that everything has been great up to this point and we will end up with a happy healthy baby and I should just run out and buy the rest of the baby's things. No.
I am the type of woman who's been pregnant before... and lost. Being this far into the 3rd trimester makes me feel EXTREMELY blessed, and NERVOUS. I just feel like the sooner I deliver, the sooner our baby will be safe from my body. The sooner we can hold her and count her fingers and toes... see if she has hair... attempt pumping and breastfeeding. Again.
When the OB visit was nearly over I asked Dr. Ney a question that I've been forgetting to: Can I/Will I be able to pump and/or attempt to breastfeed while I'm on blood thinners? This question has no definitive answers online - in fact, there's much that's misunderstood about anti-coagulants.
Dr. Ney looked me right in the eye and said "Yes. Your body is ready this time; you aren't sick. You are healthy, and healed." She went on to give me greater confidence by telling me that the dosage of blood thinner I am on is considered "prophylactic" - meaning a preventive dosage.
On one hand, I thought I would never want to give the whole breastfeeding and pumping thing a try, but on the other hand, I never had the chance to breastfeed Alli because my milk ran out before she came home. It made me feel like a failure to some extent. However, years later, I am an older, wiser mom. I know that if I give it my all, I'll be fine. If it doesn't work out, then it doesn't work out. I'm not going to beat myself up over it. Or let someone else make me feel guilty because they think that I didn't try hard enough.
We are moving along though with the accumulation of baby things. I'm thinking about ordering some things from Amazon in a week or so. Don't want to crowd the house up too much now, do I.
Thursday, March 19, 2009
Surprise!
One thing that Dave and I kept under close wraps until just recently really is the fact that I'm 32 weeks pregnant today. Yes, this means that I was finishing up my first trimester when we were getting married in November. :)
Because of previous disappointments/losses and not wanting to get our hopes up, we decided to tell only a few select people who were encouraging and happy for us, but also cautious.
I have a previous history of pre-eclampsia with my daughter Alli. She was delivered at 27 weeks by emergency c-section, weighing in at 1 pound, 11 1/2 ounces. Yes, I know I've probably related this information before, but it bears repeating to bring you up to date on the current pregnancy.
So from day 1 that I was aware I was pregnant this time, I have been seen by Perinatologists through MN Perinatal Physicians. I have been lucky enough this time to not have any major issues - no signs or symptoms of pre-eclampsia, no gestational diabetes, etc.
My luck has held.... until last Thursday (3/12/09). I went in expecting a regular OB check and Bio Physical Profile and came out with a letter from my Perinatologist putting me on bedrest.
Good grief.
Apparently after my second BPP, they noticed that I had the same low levels of amniotic fluid when they did the amniotic fluid index sampling. They find this concerning - as I do - enough to put me on bedrest indefinitely.
Then, after being told I'm on bedrest, we still needed to meet the next day (Friday 3/13/09) with the anesthesiologist at Abbott Northwestern, where my MN Perinatal Physicians are going to be delivering me by c-section.
And so, Dave came with me to meet with Dr. Abbott for the consult at the hospital. Two things became immediately clear:
1.) I could be knocked out for the birth - again - like I was with Alli.
2.) Or, I could be awake for the birth - which scared me more.
(Back story: Because of my blood disorder that causes clots (Lupus Anticoagulant), I have been on Lovenox blood thinner since the day I found out I was pregnant, as well as 1 81mg tablet of Aspirin daily, per my perinatologists. This has been monitored closely to make sure that there are no clots that present, as they could potentially cut off blood flow to the placenta and kill the fetus.
We've been blessed this pregnancy in that my Hematologist and Perinatologists do communicate quite well most of the time.)
So anyways...Dr. Abbott was saying that if I need to be delivered prior to 36 weeks, I will likely be under general anesthesia with a breathing tube and all that fun stuff that I had with Alli. Honestly, I'm not worried if that happens - Been there, done that.
If, however, we can make it past 36 weeks with everything working out well, then the docs will switch me over from Lovenox (which has a 12 hour life span) to actual Heparin (which has a life span of 6 hours or less) so that if they need to do some quick work and get the baby delivered they don't have to worry too much about excessive blood loss. Always a nice thing.
As of right now, things are progressing. I'm eating and sleeping. Dave is calling the baby "the cabbage" because that's the size it was compared to on my babycenter.com weekly email update. Alli is VERY excited about being a big sister to a little sister.
Oh, didn't I tell you it's another girl? :)
Because of previous disappointments/losses and not wanting to get our hopes up, we decided to tell only a few select people who were encouraging and happy for us, but also cautious.
I have a previous history of pre-eclampsia with my daughter Alli. She was delivered at 27 weeks by emergency c-section, weighing in at 1 pound, 11 1/2 ounces. Yes, I know I've probably related this information before, but it bears repeating to bring you up to date on the current pregnancy.
So from day 1 that I was aware I was pregnant this time, I have been seen by Perinatologists through MN Perinatal Physicians. I have been lucky enough this time to not have any major issues - no signs or symptoms of pre-eclampsia, no gestational diabetes, etc.
My luck has held.... until last Thursday (3/12/09). I went in expecting a regular OB check and Bio Physical Profile and came out with a letter from my Perinatologist putting me on bedrest.
Good grief.
Apparently after my second BPP, they noticed that I had the same low levels of amniotic fluid when they did the amniotic fluid index sampling. They find this concerning - as I do - enough to put me on bedrest indefinitely.
Then, after being told I'm on bedrest, we still needed to meet the next day (Friday 3/13/09) with the anesthesiologist at Abbott Northwestern, where my MN Perinatal Physicians are going to be delivering me by c-section.
And so, Dave came with me to meet with Dr. Abbott for the consult at the hospital. Two things became immediately clear:
1.) I could be knocked out for the birth - again - like I was with Alli.
2.) Or, I could be awake for the birth - which scared me more.
(Back story: Because of my blood disorder that causes clots (Lupus Anticoagulant), I have been on Lovenox blood thinner since the day I found out I was pregnant, as well as 1 81mg tablet of Aspirin daily, per my perinatologists. This has been monitored closely to make sure that there are no clots that present, as they could potentially cut off blood flow to the placenta and kill the fetus.
We've been blessed this pregnancy in that my Hematologist and Perinatologists do communicate quite well most of the time.)
So anyways...Dr. Abbott was saying that if I need to be delivered prior to 36 weeks, I will likely be under general anesthesia with a breathing tube and all that fun stuff that I had with Alli. Honestly, I'm not worried if that happens - Been there, done that.
If, however, we can make it past 36 weeks with everything working out well, then the docs will switch me over from Lovenox (which has a 12 hour life span) to actual Heparin (which has a life span of 6 hours or less) so that if they need to do some quick work and get the baby delivered they don't have to worry too much about excessive blood loss. Always a nice thing.
As of right now, things are progressing. I'm eating and sleeping. Dave is calling the baby "the cabbage" because that's the size it was compared to on my babycenter.com weekly email update. Alli is VERY excited about being a big sister to a little sister.
Oh, didn't I tell you it's another girl? :)
O. M. G.
Dave and I got married November 1st, 2008.
Yes, it was beautiful - the tent was tremendously gorgeous. Our guests were fantastic - some of them even helping out prior to the ceremony.
We did start late - people kept coming upstairs to see ME of all people, who was trying to finish getting dressed - and people in the house kept TELLING the guests where I was getting ready, and they kept coming upstairs to visit! lol
The food, provided by my friend Josh and his lovely and patient wife Kim, was AWESOME!
Our menu:
Fruit Board :
Pears, Plums, Grapes, Apricots, Apples, Pineapple
Cheese & Nut Board:
Swiss, Pub cheese, Caramelized Onion, Truffle, Dubliner, Tomato Basil Gouda, Herb Gouda
Walnut, Almond, Pecans, Figs, Dates
Salad:
Apple & Pear Waldorf on Baby Greens
Soup 1:
Lentil (Vegetarian)
Soup 2:
Pumpkin
Entrees:
Roast Buffalo
Turkey
Smoked Turkey Legs
Vegetables:
Cinnamon Roasted Sweet Potatoes
Wild Rice & Mushroom sautee with Vidalia Onions
Roasted Butternut Squash
Roasted Brussels Sprouts
Gravies:
Turkey
Dark Beef
Roquefort dressing
Bread:
Petite Baguettes, White Buns (made by Linda), Dark Rye Buns, Wild Rice Buns.
Oy. It was a lot of work for Josh and Kim, and my parents who helped out by letting them use their commercial kitchen for food prep because it was much closer than anything else in the area.
April, Dave, and Allison
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Wedding
