Thursday, February 19, 2009
28 1/2 week checkup today
This time I met with my OB instead of his nurse practitioner. I needed to consult with him before making decisions about how the delivery will go. The baby's heartbeat was 130 bpm and he was measuring a little big. I have no difficulty believing that because I feel like my belly has doubled in size since my last doctor visit. I've gotten to that point where I feel like bending over to pick something up from the floor cuts all the blood to my head. Blech.

It looks like a repeat c-section may be in my future. If so, the possible dates I was given were Friday, May 1 or Wednesday, May 6. I'm leaning toward the 6th because that gets us past 39 weeks. Recently there have been news articles circulating about the increased risk to the baby of having a repeat c-section before 39 weeks. I'm supposed to let them know of our decision at my next appointment.

I did find out some OTC medications I can take if I have another attack like on Saturday night. I'll have to stock up, just in case.

I quizzed the doc on how important it was that I not sleep on my back. He said that it's not really all that important unless the baby has existing issues with heart rate or that sort of thing. So maybe now I won't spend my nights twisting myself into a pretzel trying not to sleep on my back.

After the appointment I did a little shopping. It's fun to scour the clearance racks for baby boy clothes for later. I made out pretty well, if I say so myself.

Noni met me for supper at a Chinese place and we had an enjoyable meal and a nice opportunity to catch up. All and all a good trip.
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
Wake up, Uncle Monkey!
Almost as fun as playing in a pile of puppies! ;)

Monday, February 16, 2009
Popi's newest toy
It's a 1978 Honda 90cc Trailbike. He bought it for the family to play with. Sadly, we're pretty much confined to the yard, which is about an half acre. In all of these pictures the drivers are probably hitting a top speed of 10 mph. They played with it over two weekend days and had a great time. At first Emma wanted no part of it. She didn't even want to watch. We finally coaxed her out onto the deck to observe from above. Soon enough she was telling her daddy that she wanted a ride.

I didn't want to try it because I'm used to a different kind of gear shift (w/a clutch) and didn't want to risk throwing myself forward on it. When my belly is empty of a developing baby I'll get my chance.





Horrible night
Don't you love it when people break their blog silence to bitch? But, OMG, last night was so horrible. I woke at 1:10 a.m. with awful pain in my upper abdomen. I'm pretty sure it was just gas, but damn it hurt, and being pregnant there was nothing I could take for it. I got up and took Tums, but they didn't make a dent. Later I even tried popsicles to try and kill the burning. I hurt every which way I turned. I couldn't lay down, I couldn't sit, and walking around all night wasn't the most attractive option. I had this happen the last day of our beach vacation in August and it last for hours. I finally got desperate enough to kill the pain that time that I took an oxycodone. That didn't even cure it (but my head felt great!)

At around 3:30 a.m. I was desperate enough to call the 24/7 Nurseline that Anthem Insurance offers to ask what I should do. They're next to worthless, really. Since they're nurses they can't recommend medications. After doing a question/answer assessment with the nurse on the phone his commendation was that I go to the ER. Okaaay. I'm all over that. Let me wake up my entire family and drive them an hour and half over the mountains to go sit in an ER for hours while this problem works itself out. All I want is relief now! When I balked at that he suggested I call my OB (at 3:45 a.m.) and have him make the decision for me. Yeah, I wasn't really up for that either, but damn, I wanted the pain to go away.

After the phone call I decided to take a hot shower and let the water massage my belly and back. I was so tense from the pain that my entire body was rigid. The shower actually helped me relax a bit. I even tried to turn my shower into a bath, something I never do (baths aren't my favorite). Unfortunately my belly stuck out of the water so that was no help. I got back up and turned on the shower and stayed under the hot running water until it ran out. In the end I felt more relaxed and my pain felt like it had abated a bit.

After the shower I got dressed and sat back in my new comfy rocking chair. I covered up with a blanket and rocked myself to sleep. I think I slept from 5:00 a.m. to 6:44 a.m., then the dogs woke me up. I let them out and back in and then went to bed. I was able to sleep until I smelled bacon cooking, around 9:00 a.m.

Today I feel very fatigued. I started with pancakes, praying that they wouldn't hurt me. So far so good. Now I'm just really anxious and chastened about eating too much, or eating the "wrong" things. I can't take too many more nights like that.
Beware Pepsi sneakiness
I've mentioned before that I read The Consumerist blog. One of the things they're frequently warning about is something they call the "Grocery Shrink Ray." This is where manufacturers are downsizing their packaging and content, hyping it as "new and improved" or "value sized" and then charging you the exact same thing for it. Now Pepsi seems to be joining the bandwagon. They are currently "testing" a new alternative to the 12-pack and 24-pack. That would be an 8-pack and an 18-pack at the exact same price you've been paying for the 12 and 24!

I have no special love for Pepsi, but M lives off of Mountains Dews. If this brilliant idea moves beyond the testing in Florida it will have a direct impact on us and our grocery bill. As if the crappy economy and the looming stimulus/patronage bill weren't bad enough, now they want to hit us where we live. Bastards.