New things to worry about

So I went in for my 1st non-stress test (NST) the other day. I actually found the test very relaxing. I laid there, they had monitors on the baby's heart and on my blood pressure, and they fed me ice chips to get the baby to move around. Mike went with me, which was nice, and they did another (though low-tech) ultrasound to check the fluid around the baby.

The nurse had a little card with my info on it, including the reason for my being there. As far as I knew going in, I am having 2 NSTs/week because of my high blood pressure. Imagine my surprise, then, to see "velamentous insertion" written on the card next to hypertension. I remembered one of the ultrasound techs saying something about the cord being attached on the side, but the tech didn't make a big deal out of it and my OB didn't make a big deal out of it, so it didn't really occur to me to be worried about it. That is, not until I got home and googled the condition.

Here's what I found: In velamentous insertion, the cord is not connected to the placental plate, and its vessels travel between the membranes before attaching eccentrically to the placenta. It happens in 1.1% in singleton pregnancies and 8.7% of twins.
Associated anomalies are found in 5.9-8.5% of cases. These include:

* Esophageal atresia.
* Obstructive uropathies.
* Congenital hip dislocation.
* Asymmetrical head shape.
* Spina bifida.
* Ventricular septal defects.
* Single umbilical artery.
* Bilobate placenta.
* Trisomy 21.

Yes, lots of good things. I immediately freaked out and sent a note to my doctor. I acknowledged in the note that I would image the genetic screening I went through would have identified some of those issues (like the trisomy 21) and that the monitoring with ultrasounds would have identified others (like asymmetrical head shape), but that I was concerned nonetheless and did I need to be? She wrote back that it's actually a common problem that doesn't generally cause issues and that the previous testing would have caught things. She said that the biggest issue with the condition is the baby not growing well, which obviously isn't a problem with my ginmormous Poppy. Her closing line? "Try not to worry."

Ah, yes. Try not to worry. Easier said than done.

I will say, though, that it's too late to do anything (as in terminate the pregnancy) if the baby did have some sort of problem and all I can do at this point is move forward. She has a strong heartbeat, has been kicking like crazy, looks fine (but big) on the ultrasounds. I have to hope things are fine. And soon enough, I'll find out for sure.

The other interesting thing that came out of my NST is that apparently I'm having a lot of contractions. The nurse said my uterus is "very active" and when another, different nurse saw the results of my monitoring, she commented on the contractions, too. They said if I feel 4+ contractions in an hour or the baby balling up or anything, that I need to go to Labor and Delivery triage immediately. That, of course, brought me right back to my concern about not knowing what exactly a contraction feels like. I've been thinking I'm having Braxton Hicks (and maybe this proves that I am?), but I'm not quite sure. So when I go in tomorrow, I am going to try to ask some more specific questions about what I should be feeling for. My plan up until this point has been unless something hurts or is incredibly, super uncomfortable, to assume I'm fine and not worry about it. Seems like that worked for most of human history, so it must be okay now, too, right?

Still here

I'm still here, it's just that nothing too exciting is going on. Work is good, and I'm so happy to not have to drive so far every day. I 'm feeling okay (except for the awful rash I break out in when I get too hot-- ugh) and the baby is moving as usual. My blood pressure is a little high, but not too high. We picked up a crib the other day from some friends who kindly gave us theirs. The baby's room is on on the verge of being on the verge of ready to be painted. Mike is working hard on the renovations in the rest of the house. So things are good!

Another ultrasound

The one good thing about being a "high risk" pregnancy (because of my blood pressure) is that we get an extra ultrasound to make sure the baby is growing appropriately. Tomorrow morning is our growth scan, and Mike and I are both really excited to see how big Poppy has gotten. I'm nervous, of course. I have fears that one of her limbs will have fallen off or that something's going to be wrong. I guess that's just part of being a mom. She's been actively kicking me, her heartbeat has sounded good each time I've been to the doctor, etc. So hopefully tomorrow we'll find that everything is okay and I can stop worrying. For now. ;)

Pain in my side

I am slowly but surely getting over my illness. I still am coughing sometimes, and have an alternatively runny/stuffy nose. The worst part is the pain I have in my ribs. I've done so much coughing over the last two weeks that the muscles around my ribs are really sore. Let me tell you, you don't realize how much your ribs (and the muscles) do until they're really sore. Any kind of movement, any twisting motion of my spine, any bending... When I lay down in bed, it hurts to roll over onto my side. When I get up, it hurts to pull myself into a seated/standing position. Mike woke me up in the middle of the night last night, asking if I was okay because I'd been moaning in my sleep. It hurts that much. I'd like to take the Tylenol with codeine they gave me, because that would at least make it easier to sleep, but I have Poppy to consider. (I have been wondering what life is like for her in my womb given all the coughing. I'm sure she notices it!) So instead I'll moan and cry and cringe in pain and hope it gets better soon.

Not getting better

I'm not sure how long it's supposed to take for one to recover from the flu. I'm sure it's more than 2 days, but I'm tired of being sick and tired of being scared for my baby. You see, last night, I dug out "What to Expect When You're Expecting" to look up info on fevers. For pregnant women, anything at or above 100.4 is considered "you should call the doctor" worrisome. And if you feel decreased fetal movements, you should immediately call Labor and Delivery, because that's a really big sign of trouble.

Took my temperature at various times last night. The first time I took it (7ish), it was 99.9. An hour later, 100.4. An hour later, 100.6. At 10:35, it was up to 100.8. I took 1000 mgs of Tylenol and waited to see if it would go down. An hour later, it was still 100.8, so I called the After Hours Nurse, who then transferred me to Labor and Delivery triage. The nurse there told me to give it another hour and to drink as many cold fluids as I could in that time, hoping the fever would break. Well thankfully it did and at 12:45, I was down to 98.7 (which is still a little high for me, as I'm usually more like 96- or 97-point something). Each time I got up to go to the bathroom, I'd check my temperature, and it stayed low for a while. Then, when I woke up at a little before 6, it was back up to 99.7, and a little before 8, we were back to 100.6. sigh.

I never realized until I was pregnant that such a low-grade fever could be such an issue. I mean, really, 100.4+ isn't that hot. But when you're pregnant, everything is about the health of your baby. So here's hoping the baby is okay.

I'm off to the doctor this morning to get seen. I don't think they'll do anything for me, but it's better safe than sorry.

Kicking

I was exhausted this afternoon from another day of fighting with my husband and two hours of intensive kitchen cleaning. It's so hot the ants have decided to invade, and they were all over everything in the kitchen-- the walls, the fruit in the fruit bowl, inside some of the cabinets, on the counter top, etc. I scrubbed the counter tops down, applied RAID to non-food surfaces, threw out food that was open and therefore vulnerable to ants, etc. And in the end, I was out of breath and pooped, so I went to lay down. Mike, meanwhile, had gone to the grocery store to pick up a few things.

Once on the bed (brand new mattress that we bought just hours earlier), I felt a kick from inside. At first I thought, "what was that?" Then I felt another and figured it out. It was Poppy! I was finally feeling her kicks!

Mike happened to call home because he'd left something here, and I told him to come back and get it and that if he was lucky, he'd get to feel her kick, too. He came home and laid on the bed next to me, but no such luck. Poppy is only kicking for me at this point.

Still, it was very exciting. What a nice feeling!

Status update

Everything seems to be going well. I still haven't felt Poppy move, but maybe that's just not going to happen. Or maybe it will happen later. I guess I'll find out as time goes by.

It's amazing to me that in a couple of days, I'll be 21 weeks along. Halfway there! More than, in fact. Wow.

I'm trying not to be too crazy. Too emotional. To anything. I think it's going well, but I'm not sure what Mike would say if you ask him.

It looks like I'm slightly anemic. I've been very tired lately. I started taking my prenatal vitamins again, so I'm hoping the iron and folic acid in them will give me some energy. The gummie vites I'd been taking instead (because the prenates made me feel so sick) didn't have any iron in them...

But all in all, I'm trying to enjoy these moments and to talk to Poppy when I can, tell her I love her, and to try to be a good mom even at this point. It's kind of nice. I'm getting excited for January to roll around and the chance to meet my little girl!

Great news!

Mike was late for our appointment. Well, he wasn't late, exactly. He was late for check-in, and they ended up taking me slightly early. He didn't miss anything. Just the least talkative technician in the world running his wand over my belly (and excruciatingly full bladder). Mike arrived, he watched. I couldn't see anything from where I was. I asked the guy, "is the baby still in there? Heart still beating?" He said yes, so that was a relief, but he didn't say ANYTHING else. Mike tried to ask the guy a question or two, but the tech just said, "you'll have to ask the doctor. I can't make any diagnoses." I don't want a diagnosis-- and by the way, does that mean something's wrong?!?-- but I'd love to know what you're looking at/for.

The tech took a million images. My bladder was threatening a revolt, so I got up and peed halfway through the exam. There was one image he was trying to get, but it took a long time. The tech kept pushing the wand into me harder and jostling me, to get the baby to change positions, I guess.

Then, finally, he turned the screen around so I could see. And what did I see? A little baby! Moving! In my belly! PHEW! He showed us head and profile and feet and arms and heartbeat... and... female genitalia! It's a girl!

He also moved the date up a bit, saying I'm really 20+ weeks along. Moved my due date from January 9, 2010 to December 29, 2009. By far, that's the easiest "week" of pregnancy I've had!

I'm off (in about a half hour) to another doctor's appointment, where we will review the sonogram images and I'll have some more blood work done. More on the blood work later.

Today's the day

Alright... today, at 4:45, is our appointment for the sonogram to find out the sex of the baby. I'm really nervous. I'm still not feeling what I can identify as movement. I hope everything is okay and the baby is still alive and is doing well. Never mind the sex! At this point, I want to see live, healthy baby.

More later.

Was that movement?

I'm now 19 weeks and 2 days along. According to the books I've read and people I've talked to, I should be feeling Poppy's movement any day now. Someone told me-- and this makes perfect sense, whether it's medically accurate or not-- that all my movement during the day lulls the baby to sleep, so my best chance of feeling Poppy move (for the time being) is at night. I've laid in bed for the past few nights trying to decide if I feel anything. And then anything I do feel, I think, "is that just stomach discomfort? Gas? Am I even feeling anything?" I've become fairly nervous, though I'm not having any cramps or bleeding, and have continued to have pregnancy symptoms like the occasional morning sickness and ligament pain and swollen feet. We go to the doctor on Wednesday to find out the sex of the baby through an ultrasound, so at least I'll be able to find out soon if everything looks the way it should. I actually also have an appointment on Thursday, just for a regular check up. Should be a Kaiser-filled week.

Pain update

I didn't go tot he doctor on Tuesday. I also didn't go on Wednesday, though it started to hurt when I walked, too. I noticed that the pain definitely gets worse in the evenings, maybe because I've been moving around all day?

I was working from home today, so I decided I'd call the doctor and see if they thought I should go in. The bad thing about working 90 miles from home is that you're also 90 miles from your doctor, so spur of the moment appointments aren't that convenient.

Talked to the nurse, who asked me to describe the location pain. She asked me various questions (are you having spotting? how much water are you drinking? how would you rate the pain on a scale of 1-10?), relayed my answers to the doctor, and then relayed the doctor's wisdom to me. The result? Just as I suspected, it sounds like round ligament pain. I can take Tylenol for the pain if I want/need. I should drink more water. I should wear flat shoes. I should roll onto my side before getting up from laying down. I should cradle my belly when standing up from sitting. The last three of these things I've already been doing.

I was sure it was probably nothing but wanted to make sure they thought so, too, and I'm glad that was confirmed for me. The scary thing is that Poppy is going to keep getting bigger, which will make my uterus bigger and heavier, which will stretch the ligaments even more... .so this is probably something I should just get used to! ouch!

Movement

I think I felt Poppy move today. I was laying in bed when I felt a twinge in my belly. I wondered, "is that the baby?!?" before thinking, "no, it must just be a muscle spasm." But the more I thought about it, the more I thought, "no, it didn't feel like a muscle spasm." Then, later in the day, I was getting a massage (heavenly!) and the masseuse asked if I'd felt my baby move. I told her the story and she said she felt her baby's first movements at 13 weeks, so it was entirely possible.

In one episode of "Friends," Phoebe sings, "Are you in there little fetus/in nine months will you come greet us/I will buy you some Adidas." I guess my little fetus is there and moving. I'd better get some Adidas!