Week 16

I'm officially 4 months along! Wow - time is really flying.

I had an appointment last Monday - the day after we came back from our cruise. My cerclage looks good but we still can't find the baby on doppler. Some of this may be because of my anterior placenta but most likely it is due to low fluid around the baby! I was really bad about staying hydrated while we were on vacation and the day we flew back we were delayed 5 hours and I don't think I drank more than 24 oz. of fluid ALL day - really bad!

So I got yelled at... justifyably so. I have to be better about drinking fluids - I knew this and just because I was on vacation doesn't mean I can stop being pregnant for a week. Since that appointment I've been really good so I hope it made a difference!

I have my 'big ultrasound' on 4/10 - we could find out the sex then, but we're going to be surprised on delivery day! They'll also check my cervical length then (and hope for LONG). I have my next high risk appointment for 4/11. I also start my 17P shots on Friday - not looking forward to getting stuck with a needle every week but if it works, I won't complain!

I'm starting to get uncomfortable standing too long or laying on my back - I'm sure I'm in for even more fun as time goes by...

Week 13

I made it to the second trimester. Now if I can just get into the 3rd trimester (after 28 weeks) I'll be super happy!

Last night we took Arianna to a toddler gymnastics class. It involved parental participation. When I arrived I asked the perky young girl at the desk what was expected of parents and she glanced at me and all she could say was "well everyone needs exercise, you'll be doing everything the kids do!". I was taken aback a bit. I'll admit I hate this stage of pregnancy; where you don't look pregnant, just fat. (I guess it didn't help that all I was wearing was a bulky sweatshirt huh?) So I spun around to my hubby and said loudly "Well, since I'M PREGNANT and can't lift more than 20 lbs. you'll have to help her". I was a bit upset about the comment. I ended up doing much more than I should have and paid for it dearly when I got home - my hips were VERY sore.

Today I went to run some errands at lunch. I wanted to get some last minute things for our upcoming cruise vacation. I walked around two stores and stopped to get some lunch. My hips are STILL hurting me. I want to take it easy this weekend but we have so much to do! Arianna's birthday party is tomorrow and we have to pack for leaving for our cruise next weekend. I don't see how I'm going to be able to 'take it easy'.

On the plus side I had my post-op appointment yesterday and it went well. They still can't pick up Bean baby on the doppler so I got another quick ultrasound. This time Bean was sleeping quietly.

My biggest complaint with my OB group is that with my pregnancy with Arianna I was 'watched' for problems. There are 12 doctors and twice as many secretaries in this group and they all had different ideas on what to watch for. I was told I would have weekly ultrasounds until 24 weeks by one doctor and then the next would say everything was fine. I didn't get the treatment I hoped for and was hurt by it when Arianna came so early. I decided to stay with this group because they have admitting privileges at the hospital and are one of the few high risk groups and I had hopes that things would be better if I started to demand more.

Well as it turns out, now that I have a cerclage I'm high risk (duh!). So I'm in their high risk protocol now. I got a call from a nice lady earlier this week. She is the high risk secretary - yes, there is one dedicated to gals like me. She told me that from here on out I would see the same doctor every two weeks and would only deal with her for scheduling. My prayers have been answered! I'm very happy to FINALLY be getting the treatment I want.

Anyway, I decided to pick the doctor that put in my cerclage as the one that will follow me - we have a good rapport and I like her. I see her again in 3 weeks and then every 2 weeks after that until delivery (hopefully about 38 weeks). She said she does a mix of manual exam of the cervix (with her hand) and trans-vaginal ultrasounds to measure the length. I'm not exactly thrilled at the thought of having something poking at my cervix and cerclage too often but I trust she knows what she's doing. My next ultrasound is at 18 weeks but I see Dr. Cavanaugh at 16 weeks. We'll discuss starting 17P shots then also.

I have a new concern. I was doing some research into the drugs used to stop pre-term labor and found that I supposedly can't take them with the heart condition I have (Long QT Syndrome) . This obviously isn't great news but I also understand that managing pre-term labor with underlying conditions is all about managing risk - is it more risky to give drugs to stop pre-term labor to mom or more risk to baby due to early arrival. My cardiologist is fine with all the drugs used to stop pre-term labor but I know OB-Gyn's can get a little weary about that. This group is well aware of my heart condition so its not news to them but I am going to talk about my concern with these medications at my next appointment. I'm worried they're going to send me to Maternal Fetal Medicine - which is a separate group I saw last time. It turns out my heart condition was not at all a concern during my pregnancy and I went to WAY too many useless appointments (they wanted to see me weekly!). I really don't want to go back to weekly appointments with them in addition to the appointments I'll have with my high risk OB... so I've got my fingers crossed.

I doubt you'll hear anymore from me this week. We leave next Friday for a week in the Caribbean (Jealous yet? I know I am! hehe). I hope its a relaxing, uneventful vacation and that the only news I come back with is how gorgeous my tan is!

We're on lockdown!

My cerclage surgery was last Friday, everything went well in that aspect. I don't have any cramping and only a little bleeding. The spinal was really surreal - I'm watching them lifting my legs into the stirrups and no feeling A THING - it was wierd.

The worst part of the day, and why I'm very lucky to have had the cerclage at all, is that I got my daughters stomach flu that morning. As of 9 PM I'd vomitted 10 times. 5 of which was from the drive to the hospital until I was in the operating room. 1 of which was in the middle of surgery! I notified my doctor of the virus I had and she wanted to go ahead with it as I wasn't running a fever or anything - this TOTALLY surprised me. They gave me nearly 20 mg. of Zofran through my IV and I was still vomitting. Of course, I wasn't allowed to eat anything because of the surgery so it was mostly dry heaving. Try doing that on your back... it sucked big time. They gave me an u/s as soon as the surgery was done and it was a little sad to see the baby had moved to the very other side of my uterus from my cervix - it must have 'needed' to move from all the 'work' they were doing down there. I hope s/he is ok now!

I lingered around the house all weekend (doctors orders) trying to recoup after all the vomitting but it was not easy. It's hard for me to not have control - so it was hard to see the table a mess, my daughter still in PJs and dishes in the sink. If I get put on bedrest there is going to be ALOT of tension between hubby and I when it comes to the house work...

I have my post-op appointment tomorrow and hopefully everything looks good. I didn't get ANY antibiotics (IV or take home) and I'm worried about infection. I'm on pelvic rest for the remainder of the pregnancy now (no sex, poor hubby!) and have to refrain from picking up anything over 20 lbs. Arianna weighs in at 22 and is a very needy kid, so this won't be easy - she already screams at daycare when I won't pick her up immediately... and its hard on me, I want to pick her up!

So the new bean baby is on lockdown - ordered not to come out for AT least another 24 weeks!