Eat-Sleep-Love | Maryland DC & Virginia Sleep Coach, Baby Planner, Maternity & Child Consultant

Maternity & Parenting Center

OB Appt & Moving!

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On Wednesday, Elliot and I met with one of the OBs connected to the midwifery practice we are using. I have been quite upset about this whole c-section possibility, so I thought going to meet with the OB would somehow put me at ease. I think it was a great decision! The OB we met with was so nice, and relatively young (late 30s/early 40s). He came into the room with a laptop, so Elliot liked him immediately. We explained our situation, and he reviewed my test results. He agreed that all the medicines we have been using are exactly right, and he talked about my options. Immediately, he seemed to agree that he thought I could (and should) continue to 36 weeks. He said that unless the baby was in actual danger, he would not encourage doing a c-section at 34 weeks. That was a HUGE relief to me. We also talked about the different pain medications, and he said that there has been no proven harm to babies if you limit the heavier pain meds to either no more than 1 week of continued use, or you can do 2-3 weeks of occasional/sporadic use. So, if the pain worsens after 33/34 weeks, there are several pain management options I can use.

He is fairly certain that when I stop the Terbutaline at 36 weeks, the contractions will come back. At a minimum, Terbutaline can cause a “rebound” effect with the contractions after keeping them suppressed for so long. He felt that if the contractions continued more than 2-3 days without me progressing into full labor (or if they became quite painful), he would not let me continue on that way any longer. They would start bringing me in regularly once the contractions begin to monitor me – check the fetal stress levels, see if the contractions are productive, etc. If after 2-3 days the contractions do not turn into full labor or do not subside and disappear, he would hope to induce at that point (assuming that my cervix appears to be “receptive” to induction). There are several different ways they could induce, and they will not make that decision until after they see what my body is doing. If they cannot induce labor and the contractions continue, a c-section would be necessary. We talked about anesthesia options, and he agreed that he could work with the anesthesiologist to identify a short-acting inhaled anesthesia that would knock me out sufficiently to get the spinal/epidural in, and then allow me to be lucid for the birth of the baby. That was a huge relief to me! So, hopefully a c-section will be unnecessary, but I feel better knowing that 1) I will not have to walk around contracting and in pain for weeks and 2) If I have to have a c-section, we can find a way to do it so I can see the birth of my son!

I have actually been feeling really good most of this week. I’ve been vigilant about taking my medicines on time and not letting it stretch beyond 6 hours. Unfortunately, right after I commented about what a great week I was having and started to hope that Frank was shrinking or disappearing, or that I could hold him at bay with just a bit of Tylenol, today I am definitely starting to hurt more (although I am able to do another course of Indocin any time I want). We have another midwife appointment next week, and another ultrasound, and we will see where we go from there! Four more weeks left until we stop the medications.

In other news, we attended our first hypnobirthing class last night! I really hope this helps me, and I am excited to explore ways to relax and try to embrace this whole process in a confident and stress-free manner. We are in the class with our friends Ken and Erica, so it should be a wonderful experience. We were taught 2 breathing techniques, and we have to listen to this deep relaxation CD everyday to practice the self-relaxation techniques. Now, if I could just keep Elliot from snoring loudly during the relaxation exercises . . . .

And best of all . . . it looks like we are finally moving! We started packing up the house, and we are going to start making our first runs with boxes this weekend. I think I will probably schedule the “big” move either next weekend or that following week. The carpet was installed last night, and the floors are being finalized today along with the touch-up painting. They still have to replace the one kitchen cabinet (it should be in Monday) and fix up the tile backsplash, install a light and accessories in the powder room, install the baby’s vanity (which should be in today) and install the shower panel (which should be in Tuesday) and finish tiling the master bathroom by the shower panel. That means by this weekend all the big stuff will be finished, and by Wednesday of next week, all the “little things” should be done. Also, our living room couch arrived, so that is being delivered on November 11! It is finally coming together. I am supposed to have a friend from out of town coming to stay with us the weekend of November 14, so it looks like we will be sleeping at the house by then!

Checklists

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I’m a person who likes to make checklists . . . I don’t always do the things on my checklists, but I am constantly making them. I make a checklist when I pack, when I go shopping, when I am running errands. I keep checklists for work activities, and calls I need to make and appointments I need to schedule. I keep checklists of gifts I want to buy for people, and cake ideas I have. I make checklists for working through problems, or dealing with our contractor, and pretty much for anything that I can track or analyze with a list.

So . . . ever since our ultrasound appointment last week, I’ve been making lists of all the things we need to do before this baby comes, such as:

  • Buy a glider
  • Finish registering (and pick a bedding set!)
  • Arrange for a pediatrician
  • Meet with the OB to discuss birth options in case a midwife delivery is not an option
  • Schedule day care tour
  • Get contractor to finish renovations
  • Finish packing and prepare to move
  • Pack bag for hospital
  • Get information for pain management doctors, just in case
  • Buy a “coming home” outfit for the baby
  • Get car seats and get them installed
  • Pick up bassinet (or pack ‘n play) to have something for the baby to sleep in
  • Buy gift for my niece Stephanie’s bat mitzvah

As you can imagine, many of these items have sublists . . . I have started a list of items I need to pack in the hospital bag, and a list of things that still need to be done on our home renovations, and a list for packing to move, etc.

Well, I am happy to report that today I accomplished several things on my lists! We called and arranged for a pediatrician for the baby (we selected Bethesda Pediatrics). We are planning to call and schedule a tour of the office, but we did speak to Dr. Korengold on the phone, and at a minimum, we are all set there. We have an appointment scheduled this week to meet with the OB (and I hope that is the only time I have to see the OB!). We are going to go over the “what if” scenarios . . . what if I have to have a c-section, how can we deal with my needle phobia and anesthesia? What if I start contracting at 36 weeks, but do not progress into labor – what are my options there if the midwives won’t induce that early? (Can you tell I have a list of questions for the OB, too?)

On Friday, we did finish registering (main registry is at Great Beginnings, but we also opened smaller registries at Buy Buy Baby and Babies R Us) and we ordered the glider for the baby’s bedroom. We have to arrange a time to pick up the bassinet and the car seats from Stephanie & Greg, but hopefully as of this weekend, we will have a house to put the things in! Now – if only we could actually agree on a bedding set . . . . but I digress.

I just really hope that whenever this baby comes, I can have a vaginal birth. I know lots of people think c-sections are no big deal, and if I have to do that, I will. I’m just so awful with needles that I’m fairly certain they will have to completely knock me out if I have a c-section, and I’ll completely miss his birth, and I just don’t want that. . . . it isn’t on my list.

Another Ultrasound

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Today was our appointment with the Maternal Fetal Medicine specialist and another ultrasound. The good news is, my cervix is holding steady, and Frank is not growing in size . . . yet. The bad news is, Frank isn’t shrinking (and is highly unlikely to shrink at this point). We did not get such good pictures of the baby. Today he is head down, facing upwards, with his feet up by my ribs and his hands on either side of my pelvis. Every time she tried to snap a photo of him, he arched his back and looked kind of like an alien. I may try to scan and post the picture later.

I am supposed to do a few more courses of the Indocin over the next 1-2 weeks, and then I have to stop taking that. According to this doctor, his goal is to get me to 34 weeks, and he is not convinced I’m going to make it to 36 weeks. He seems to think a scheduled c-section shortly after 34 weeks is in my future, but for right now, I have different plans. I’m going to do whatever it takes to get to 36 weeks, and then hope when we stop the meds I can go into labor on my own. I’m not sure what I’ll do if I stop the meds at 36 weeks and I am contracting but not getting anywhere, so I am trying not to think about that. The bottom line is I might not be able to have that nice natural birth with a midwife I had planned.

I should have known this wasn’t going to be easy for me . . . I think the “other shoe” I’ve been waiting for has finally dropped.

In other news, we went out with my parents to celebrate Elliot’s birthday last night. The restaurant was wonderful – good atmosphere and the food was excellent! We stopped by the house on our way home to check on the renovations, and I’m thrilled to say we have real progress! Two of the four bathroom sinks are installed (with faucets and everything), the lighting looks like it has been completed, the floors were refinished, and some of the hardware for the showers was in place. There was 1 broken light fixture and the toilet in the master bathroom is cracked, but I’m starting to believe there is an end in sight!

30 week prenatal appointment

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Today we had our 30 week prenatal appointment. It was just another run-of-the-mill appointment. We discussed my medication, and I am supposed to stay on the current dosages of the tylenol and the Terbutaline. I am measuring 29 cm, which is right on track. The baby is head down and slowly descending – I think he already knows the way out, so we are going to have to convince him to hang in there a bit longer. We got to hear (and record) the heartbeat again, so I am posting it here if you are interested in listening!

The good news is that my last urine culture finally came back negative! We sent out one more today to see if the “maintenance” dosage of antibiotics I’ve been taking is keeping this infection at bay. I really hope it does! On Thursday, we go back to the Maternal Fetal Medicine office for another ultrasound. I will find out if I am allowed to do any more courses of Indocin, they will be checking on my cervix to make sure I am not starting to go into labor, and they will also take another good look at Frank to see if he is growing or shrinking. I am also going to ask them to search for Fiona, because I think she is in there somewhere.

So . . . . for right now, all is well. I am back to appointments every 2 weeks unless there are new problems with Frank and contractions. Oh, and for those of you who have been asking, here is a “belly shot” of me at 30 weeks:


My only other thing to add was that we stopped by the house to check on the progress . . . I really hate our contractor. He got the wrong granite in again, but at this point, we might just accept it because if we don’t, he really won’t ever finish the damn house! We are still hoping to start moving in next weekend, but I’m still uncertain if that is just a pipe dream.

Time to celebrate!

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So today was Elliot’s birthday! I took it easy most of the day . . . Frank has been a bit temperamental since we stopped the Indocin, and I have a feeling he may have a girlfriend Fiona lurking in there, too. I suspect they are fighting today, so I’ve been trying to give them some quiet time to work out their issues.

I’ve been having difficulty finding the “right” gift for Elliot this year. He has been wanting this USB external, self-charging hard drive to backup his computer, and I found a good deal on one on Amazon, so I’ve been thinking of ordering that. I decided to ask him to make sure it was the right thing – I hate ordering things to find out I didn’t get it quite right. So, when we sat down together, I told him what I wanted to get him and asked him if I had the right thing with the right specifications. He is currently on the fence with that gift – I was going to order him a 320 GB drive, and he kind of wants the 500 GB drive, but that is a bit more money than I wanted to spend right now (since my “real” present is the other gift I’m about to discuss). I’m still waiting for a decision from him on the backup drive. Perhaps I’ll save that and buy it for him for another holiday . . . . maybe Chanukah!

The 2nd present is a joint gift from my parents as well. Elliot desperately needs a new grill. He doesn’t actually realize it, but his old grill died. The grates have rotted through, there are layers of scum (and now cigarette butts from the contractors) and just flat out poisonous decay, and I firmly believe it is too dangerous to ever fire that grill up again. The problem is, he truly loves his grill, and like everything else in his world, he hates parting with anything. Part of him sincerely believes that he will be using that grill again. I’m sorry to say, he isn’t going to win this battle. So, I did some investigating, and I identified what I think is the “perfect” grill for Elliot. But, again, I know how much his grill means to him, so I decided to let him select his next grill instead of dictating which one I thought was best for him. It turns out, he really liked the one I picked out and showed him online! There is one other one I saw, and he is trying to decide between the two. He asked me for a few days so he could go see them in person and decide which one he likes best, and if he finds something else he likes even better, then I will get that for him. There is one we saw that is really cool, but super-expensive. It looks kind of like a built-in grill – it comes complete with a stone facade workspace! I’m willing to spend the money, but Elliot won’t let me . . . he thinks it is cool, but not worth the money. We’ll see . . . perhaps I’ll buy that one anyway.

So, we’ve been trying to figure out how to celebrate Elliot’s birthday for weeks now. We had hoped to be all moved into the house and invite a bunch of people over for a bbq dinner in our Sukkah. Needless to say . . . we haven’t moved, we have no Sukkah this year . . . and so we didn’t have a party. Elliot was extremely disappointed – he just loves to have everyone over for his birthday dinner in the Sukkah. Once we realized the Sukkah party was out, we discussed other options. We talked about going out for a nice dinner somewhere, but Elliot has been crazy busy with work and running around, and hasn’t really been in the mood to go out for dinner at night, and Frank has been making my life difficult, so I get nervous planning anything specific since I never know how I will feel from one minute to the next.

After much discussion, we decided that I would make Elliot a nice dinner at home. We didn’t get the place cleaned up enough to set the broken dining room table for a romantic dinner by candlelight, but I was doing well enough to cook for him, and we sat together on the couch and ate dinner. I decided to make Chicken Marsala (well, a vegetarian version of Chicken Marsala with veggie Chicken), rice pilaf, and broccoli. For dessert, we had chocolate lava cakes and a side of ice cream. I didn’t have the energy to cook up a full cake yet (I’ve been fighting a cold all day, probably thanks to our friend Greg who was sick at the Sukkah party last night). I’m hoping to bake a cake for him for Wednesday night when we go out to dinner with my parents to celebrate his birthday.

Unfortunately, just as Elliot got home and we were preparing to have his birthday dinner, our contractor, Keith, called. He was extremely pissed off, and we ended up fighting with him on the phone for 45 minutes. Long story short, he works with my cousin, and I finally contacted my cousin about all the problems we’ve been having. He must have ripped our Keith a new one, because he was PISSED. He tried to tell us that all of the problems with the house were our fault, not his (because clearly, we are responsible for mis-measuring and mis-ordering). It was a HORRIBLE conversation . . . and I certainly did not need to get that worked up or upset. Frank was quite unhappy for the rest of the evening, but at least Elliot & I got to have a nice dinner together. Too bad Keith ruined Elliot’s birthday :(.

Volunteering, Dinner and Contractions

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Today was a crazy busy (but wonderful) day. I serve as the Special Needs Liaison on the BBYO Commission for DC Council, and we are in the process of launching a new project called KEY (Kol Echad Youth) to allow Jewish teens with multiple and significant disabilities to interact in a social setting with other teens. The program we planned was in honor of the holiday Sukkot (and for those of you who do not know, Sukkot celebrates the Fall harvest season). We planned a Sukkah party at one of the synagogues. For those of you who don’t know, a Sukkah is a big open structure with a relatively open top. It was originally designed to serve as a shelter during the harvest season, but the top remains open so that you can see the stars at night. The inside of this Sukkah was decorated with lots of harvest decorations, and there were picnic tables inside. We started off with a 2 hour training session for the teens who would be volunteering, and I thought it was an incredible session. We had over 20 teens show up and participate, and they actually seemed very enthusiastic about the new project! 10 of the teens stayed after the training for the actual program, and we had 10 additional teens with disabilities join the event. We started off with an art project – the “typical” teens worked with the kids with disabilities to make a clock. Then, the kids paired up and made a fruit salad and then ate it. The program ended with one of the teens playing guitar, and the entire group sat around singing songs together. It was such a rewarding program, and I was so impressed with how well it went! I’m quite excited for this program to continue.

The program ran a little late, and towards the end I was experiencing some pain and contractions. I raced home so Elliot & I could head out to our 2nd event of the day . . . a dinner in our friend Janice’s Sukkah. Elliot was running late from his volunteer event, so, of course, we showed up an hour late to dinner. I was in a lot of pain, and we had to refill my Terbutaline because I was almost out. The contractions/pain continued the rest of the night, but I really was feeling better by this morning. Ellen and David surprised Elliot at dinner with a cake for his birthday! It really was a wonderful evening.

Feeling Wonderful

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I have to say, I love taking Indocin . . . it just puts Cranky Frank right to sleep. I started feeling great on Friday, and then Saturday I was able to run to the jewelry show with my mom and go check out the progress (or lack thereof) on our house renovations. I was feeling so well that I actually forgot to take my last dose of the medicine on Saturday! I even managed to reduce my anti-contraction medication (Terbutaline) to half the dosage and space it out longer than 4 hours! It was so nice to feel human again.

I have a big day planned for Sunday (I’m volunteering at an event all day, and then I’m off to a dinner at a friend’s house).

Relief in sight

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I spoke to the maternal fetal medicine doctors today, and I get to do another 48 hrs on the 2nd medicine (Indomethacin). So, for the next 48 hrs, I should be feeling pretty good! I can’t believe how close we are getting to meeting this little guy!

Are we really moving?

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According to our contractor, our house will be finished this weekend. Now, we’ve been hearing this since . . . May. But for some reason, this time I think it really might be true! I would love to finally be able to move into our new house and settle in. We shall see if the contractor is telling the truth this time.

I’m feeling okay today. Frank seems to be sleeping right now (he was awake and contracting most of the night), so let’s hope he stays quiet. The nausea is what is making me feel the worst today. According to the scale, I’ve lost another 2 lbs . . . I cannot for the life of me figure out how that is possible. I swear, this baby must have Elliot’s metabolism (which is much better for him in the long run). I’m sure going to miss eating with impunity.

Cranky Frank Strikes Again!

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It is official . . . we decided to name the fibroid Frank . . . or Cranky Frank, or Frank the Crank. Funny how easy it is for us to name things other than our son! Well, Frank has been quite crotchety the past 2 days. It all started late last night . . . I fell asleep on the couch and was 2 hours late taking my tylenol. Frank was definitely unhappy about that, and decided to punish me with stabbing pains and contractions from 4:00 am until about 8:30 this morning. I finally managed to subdue him with meds, but he let me know he was pretty displeased on and off all day.

Tonight, we went out to celebrate my mom’s birthday! Just a quick little dinner. Apparently, Frank did not want to go out to dinner, so back to cranking he went. I was pretty miserable by the end of the meal. We did stop off at a new gelatto place, but even that didn’t satisfy Frank. We came home, and Frank is feeling a little better (thanks to some tylenol and some anti-contraction medication). I hope he decides to let me sleep tonight.

I’ve been having a fair amount of contractions tonight – I think they have mostly been small, but still . . . I’d prefer it if they went away. I’m counting down the days until our appointment next week – I just really wish we could cut the little bugger out!