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

Maternity & Parenting Center

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.

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!

Another Appt

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Today was another follow-up appointment to monitor my contractions. Last night was a rough night – I was in a lot of pain and I had contractions pretty steadily throughout the night. Yesterday I tried to reduce the anti-contraction medicine, so today we are going to return to taking the maximum dose at scheduled times (every 4-6 hrs) to see if that helps. I am also staying on the tylenol every 6 hours. I’m still measuring right on target, but I seem to have lost another pound this week. They also sent out another urine culture to see how my UTI is doing. I have to call the maternal fetal medicine place and ask when I can do another course of the 2nd medicine. Other than that, I seem to be doing okay. They don’t really know if the contractions/discomfort will continue throughout this pregnancy or if they will magically disappear, so I’m supposed to focus on each episode at a time and not try to project for the rest of the pregnancy.

Hanging in

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I stopped my medication for the fibroid yesterday afternoon, and so far, so good – no hospital visits yet! I am definitely uncomfortable, and the contractions have increased, but I am not in excruciating pain, and the contractions are not regular. Let’s hope this continues along like this – I could manage the rest of the pregnancy like this.

Next step . . . let’s make it to my appointment tomorrow morning without any more trips to the hospital!

Finally . . . . an answer!

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It has been a rough couple of days for me. I returned from the hospital yesterday and took a nap. At 3:00 pm, I awoke with contractions and excruciating pain in my lower right abdomen. I went ahead and took another dose of the medicine (1/2 the dose they gave me in the hospital), and the contractions improved but didn’t stop. I took the 2nd dose 1/2 hr later, and still the contractions did not disappear. The pain in my lower abdomen gradually worsened. I called the midwives, and they told me to drink more water, wait for my next dose at 7:00 pm, and call back at 8 if the contractions did not improve. At 8:00 pm, I was in pain, but the contractions were feeling better. I ended up calling the midwives again, and was told to get in the bath for 1/2 hr, keep drinking water, and take my next double dose at 11 pm. Elliot had gone to Kol Nidre services, and I called in and listened on the phone.

By 10:30, I was in excruciating pain, and the contractions suddenly started to be 3-4 minutes apart again by 11. We called the midwife, and she said I would probably need to go back to the hospital. She suggested taking 2 tylenol (thinking it would help the pain of the abdominal strain) and take another double dose of medicine at 11, and give it no more than 1 hour. I sent Elliot to walk the dog and we started getting ready to leave for the hospital. While Elliot was walking the dog, I lay down and relaxed . . . and for the first time since we got back from the hospital, I started feeling better! The contractions slowed, lessened in intensity, and were fairly spaced out. The midwife suggested I try going to sleep, I take my next dosage at 3:00 am, but that if the contractions woke me up to head to the hospital. She said if I made it through the night, I needed to go into the office in the morning to be checked. I slept until 3:00, took my next dosage, and then slept until 6:00 am . . . when a contraction woke me up. I had contractions over the next hour, took my next dose at 7:00 am, and then started feeling better at 7:30 am.

We went to the office at 9:00 to be checked. My contractions seemed to be controlled, and I was relatively pain-free at that time. I kept feeling these “mini” contractions and some pain radiating out from one spot on my uterus, and I just felt like something else was happening. After talking about our options, the midwives decided to send me for an ultrasound at the Maternal Fetal Medicine office to check my cervix and see if there was a problem with my placenta. That left Elliot enough time to get to services for Yom Kippur for several hours. I missed services since I was directed to bedrest.

At 1:45, I picked Elliot up from synagogue and we went in for the ultrasound. The good news is, they identified the problem! Apparently, since my 20 week ultrasound, a big giant fibroid grew on the outside of my uterus. I did know that I had a small fibroid on the outside that was about .5 cm before I got pregnant, and I was told it was nothing to worry about. Well, it decided to grow . . . huge. It is almost as big as my fist now, and apparently, it is angry and pissed off and causing all the problems/pain/contractions. The good news is that I do not have an abdominal strain. The bad news is, it will be difficult to treat this fibroid and it puts me at greater risk for pre-term labor. I will probably have contractions on and off throughout the rest of this pregnancy, and the fibroid will likely cause me pain. They added another medication which I can only take for 48 hrs at a time until I’m 32 weeks along. It will help the pain and help control the contractions. I started it tonight, and it does seem to be helping some – I hope the next 48 hrs really puts me in a better place and that the pain holds off. I can live with staying on the anti-contraction medicine, but I really don’t want to spend the rest of this pregnancy in pain from the fibroid. Oh . . . and I’ll probably have to have surgery after I have this baby to get rid of the fibroid, since it will probably cause issues with future pregnancies too (not that I can think about that now). So . . . odds are good this baby will make an earlier appearance rather than a later appearance. I really hope the contractors finish the house and we can move before this baby comes.

Anyway, we did get some good news . . . the fetal fibronectin test (the vaginal swab they did to check for pre-term labor) came back negative, so I should be safe for at least a few weeks! Also, I passed my gestational diabetes test . . . barely, but I still passed. Let’s hope the meds work and I can keep this baby in at least 8 more weeks . . . and that they are not 8 miserable weeks for me.