Thursday, February 27, 2014

How to Behave Around A Pregnant Woman Part 3

Sometimes people have a hard time reading others, so often times ask the wrong questions without knowing that it's inappropriate or an uncomfortable topic.  Others, just don't care...

Now again, this is just my opinion, with input from some friends, but I think most pregnant women would agree.  Here is part 3 of my list.



Don't Ask  "Are you going to quit your job?"  Wow, so just because I'm a mom I can't work?  I was a stay at home mom for a couple of years, and it was ok... I loved being home with my kids, but didn't have any other stay at home mom friends at the time, so I was lonely.   Stay at home moms need adult conversation, which they don't often get.  Since I wasn't outgoing, making new friends was hard.  When I went to work part time I was able to be a mom, but also help support my family and feel like a productive adult at the same time.

Don't Ask "Is this your last?"  Why is it any of your business?  I'm very proud of how my 3 children are maturing and developing, and I welcome the challenge of adding 1 more child to our family.

Don't judge a woman's birth plan.  If I could have all natural home births, I probably would try it.  But my pregnancies have each had their complications that I feel safest in a hospital.  What works for one mom doesn't not necessarily work for the next.  If she wants an epidural, she's getting an epidural.  If she doesn't, she doesn't.  If she's having a scheduled C-Section, or being induced, there are reasons for it.  If you can't say anything nice or encouraging, don't say anything at all.

Don't Ask "Are you going to breast feed?"  I cringe when I hear that question, especially around guys.   Can't you use the term "nurse the baby" instead?  But again, that's a women's choice.  And nursing a baby can be really difficult!  I wasn't able to nurse my daughters for more than a couple of months.  I was given extra resources when my son was in the NICU, which really helped me be able to nurse for 9 months.  But seriously, I'm the mother, the baby will be fed in a manner that works for me, and for him/her.

Check out Part 1 and Part 2 of my list

Monday, February 24, 2014

3 Day Hospital Stay

26 Weeks, still

During my hospital stay, they injected me with Terbutaline.  I'd had it before, but with my POTS, boy that sucked.  Dizziness, and a hyper baby, made for an interesting evening.  The nurses came in to my room every 20 minutes to adjust the monitors for baby's heart rate.  They told me to sleep, but how in the world is a person suppose to sleep if they're being disturbed every 20 minutes.  According to my Jawbone UP, I got 2 hours of sleep that night - 0 hours of deep sleep.

I was prescribed 3 days of Procardia, 4 times a day.  It was suppose to help relax everything.  I was also given 2 doses of a Steroid injection, to help baby's lungs develop.

Saturday I met with a Doctor from the NICU, to give us information about if I were to deliver in the next 2 weeks.  She arrive initially when I was alone, and the minute she walked in the room and introduced herself, I started to cry.  I couldn't handle this, not yet.  I asked if she could come back, when Steve arrived.  She agreed.  So when he did come visit me, I had the nurse call her back.  According to the hospital statistics, babes born at 25 weeks have an 89% survival rating, most of them going on to live normal healthy lives.  They stay until their due dates, sometimes longer.  But if I could make it to 26 weeks, the rate goes up to 93%, and higher each week after that, with less NICU time.  I know families with Micro-premies, I've seen the good and the bad.  I was scared.  She tried to reassure us, if we could get baby to at least 32 weeks, with 1 more dose of the steroid shot, we'd have a perfectly healthy baby boy or girl coming home with us, with no more than a 2 week NICU stay.  Of course, 34 weeks and on is better.

By Sunday morning, the contractions had almost dissipated, only a few here an there, mostly when baby was really active.  I met with the Fetal Monitoring Specialist.  He was a ton of fun (sarcasm).  Again, this was something I needed my husband there for.  Thankfully my nurse was in the room with me for support.  It's not his job to sugar coat anything, I need to know the risks.  But goodness, is it MY FAULT that I had hyperemesis from day 1?  Do you really think a woman choses to feel like crap, puking 15+ times a day, not being able to eat or drink anything for months, and have to walk around with 4L of IV fluids for weeks?  Oh, and the blot clot causing the PICC line to need to be removed was absolutely preventable…. Yeah, totally my fault.  Then he gave me a hard time about not getting genetic testing done.  We didn't get it with the other 3, so why would I do it this time?  Why add the stress of a possible positive test (which doesn't mean anything's wrong, just that they're a chance).  He actually tried to get me to do the test that day.  We said no.  (Side Note:  I'm sure he's a well respected doctor and know what he's doing, but his bedside manner was atrocious.)

They needed to keep me for 24 more hours, to complete my procardia doses, and to observe baby for 24 hours after my steroid injection.  I also had to wait for ultrasound.

I was looking forward to this ultrasound.  Hoping that we could get some proper measurements of the baby, since we really couldn't at my office visit a couple of months ago.  Baby was finally cooperating. He/she was about 10 inches long, 1Lb and14oz.  Strong heart beat, active, tons of hiccups (which everyone said is REALLY GOOD).  Baby's adjusted due date: April 15.  Got some great facial pictures: his/her hand by it's face, and a couple of 3D images of it's face.

Deep in Though
Frowny Face

















I even found out what we were having.  Steve told me I could, but I have to keep it to myself.  I told him I needed to know who I was praying for, not just baby, but by it's name.  My secret, but I'm so glad to know.

I was discharged after I got back to my room.  I wasn't  put on strict bed rest, but told I needed to remain as sedentary as possible.  I needed to eliminate all stress (did I mention I already have 3 kids?) and rest as much as I can.  The Fetal Monitoring specialist came to see me again before I left (yay).  Both he (and the NICU doctor, and my nurses, and every OB I saw this weekend) told me to ask for as much help as possible.  Get someone to bring us food, run errands, watch the kids so I can nap.  I hate asking for help, because the last time we did, no one helped...

Dr. S. said he expects to see me again in 6 weeks.  Not for an appointment, but because he doesn't think I'll make it that far.  Pastor and his wife prayed over us, spoke the Word for an April baby.  I have faith in that, but as long as baby comes after March 4, I know he/she will be OK.  

Thursday, February 20, 2014

It Happened Again

Week 26

Everything we've been trying so hard to avoid this pregnancy happened again.

At 25 wks, 4 days, I went in to Early Labor.

I'd been experiencing contractions the last few weeks, especially on my bad HG days.  They weren't painful, or frequent, just there.  It's common with dehydration.  But since I was still having trouble keeping in fluids, I did my best.

Then the Kidney infection just after Christmas threw a kink into things, causing more dehydration as I tried to, ahem, "flush" the infection out.  And then Snomageddon 2014 hit and I had a nasty cold, followed by a day of acting as though HG never left…

I had told my nurse about the contractions, and the doctor.  They both said that if they're consistent, 10 minutes or less apart, for 2 hours, to go to the hospital.  I was probably just overly dehydrated from being sick and a few IV bags would bring everything back to normal.

So on Friday, January 10 in the afternoon I started feeling them.  At first they were every 20 minutes, no big deal.  Then they got to be 15, then 12, then 10, then very quickly every 5 minutes.  I did everything you're suppose to do for 'Braxton Hicks'.  Drink more water, empty bladder, move around.  Nothing eased them up.  So at  6:30pm, I had my husband bring me to the hospital.  On my way we let a few people know, including our Pastor's wife.  We had to wait in a holding area until a bed was available.  I'd never seen this room before with my other 3, so it must have been new within the last 6 years.  But the second a bed was available, about 20 minutes later, I was pulled ahead of the other pregnant moms waiting (who didn't look like they were in labor or anything).

I'd been in these rooms before, 6 years earlier, when I was pregnant with Steven.  But that was at 30 weeks with him… barely 26 weeks made it all so much scarier.  But I'm just dehydrated, right?

It wasn't long after I got into the "Special Monitoring" section of Labor and Delivery when our Pastor and his wife showed up.  I didn't even think I'd told them what hospital we were at.  It made us feel so much better.  Even though we knew we were in good hands physically and spiritually, it was great to have people coming and praying with us for our baby.

After we got hooked up onto the monitors, and got me some IV fluids, the testing began.  There was a a lot of deliveries happening, a midwife, a resident, a student and finally a doctor from the practice I go to all came to see me, and they'd all been quickly dispatched for deliveries. They ran a fetal fibronectin, which can determine if a woman will go into labor in the next 14 days.  I'd had with Samantha and Steven.  Supposedly, negative tests are 99% accurate, and positive tests are 40% accurate.  About 90 minutes after the test was done, the nurse came to deliver the news… positive test.

Thank God my husband was with me.  I was in shock.  He seemed to be too.  "Wait, positive is good, right".  No, positive is bad.  According to one of the partners from my doctor's office, I wasn't in active labor, no dilating or effacing, but cervix was a bit soft.  She didn't think I was going to be in that 40%.  Praise God.

But I wasn't going ANYWHERE anytime soon.




Monday, February 17, 2014

And So It Begins… Again

Week 25

Braxton Hicks contractions are suppose to be painless.  They're suppose to be short and infrequent.  So then why am I having them every 5 minutes, for about a minute, and it's stopping me in my tracks.  I've been doing everything that a woman's suppose to do when dealing with these: walk around, empty bladder, drink some water (as much as I can handle), take a bath, try to relax.

After talking to my nurse, and following up with my doctor, I was instructed to go to the hospital after 2 straight hours of these contractions.  I was averaging 90 minutes of contractions, then a few hours off.  Every day.  For the last week.  Even through the night.  So thankfully the contractions stop on their own after a while, keeping me out of the hospital for the time being.

Baby's heartbeat was a bit lower this week during my visit with Nurse Kate, and was hiding from the doppler.   Again, baby had the hiccups.

Because I've not gained a lot of weight (compared to other moms at this stage), I've not given baby a lot of room to move around.  So anytime he/she moves, it hurts.  Baby stays in a lateral position most of the day; now that it's growing the movements are more painful, and occasionally I'll get foot or hand in my ribs.

The nausea is returning more fiercely.  I'd really thought I was done being sick.  Guess I was wrong.  I suppose it's a good thing we were hit with these snow storms, I was able to stay in and rest without needing to call off work, because the whole city was shut down.  Hubby and the kids were able to keep themselves entertained while I rested.

Found this by the couch after I got done getting sick… aren't my kids sweet? 


I've been having a hard time sleeping, too.  Can't seem to sleep through the night.  My husband and I bought ourselves Jawbone Up 24's for Christmas, best investment ever.  While I don't have the energy to walk the suggested 10,000 steps per day, it's nice to see my sleeping patterns.  Which are pretty awful.  I guess it's my body's way of preparing me for sleepless nights in a couple of months.

Thursday, February 13, 2014

Does my baby make me look fat?

24 weeks pregnant

I'm a whopping 5 pounds over my pre-pregnancy weight!  I'm so proud of myself.

Baby likes to sit high (a girl, perhaps?), right under my diaphragm, for most of the day.  Which makes baby's hiccups all the worse.

I'm not one for selfies, but I was feeling exceptionally good about myself one day.  My hair fell nicely, and hubby and I were finally getting a date night, so I tried looking extra cute.  And so I posted a picture of myself.


20 weeks, barely any bump
24 weeks, notice how high the bump is? 


I've been pretty open about the difficulties in my pregnancy since we went public, so at this point, it's known that I lost close to 10 pounds before I started gaining it back a few weeks ago.  All my weight is baby, and as a petite person I'm going to look a bit more pronounced around the middle.  In the month between the 2 pictures, I had finally regained the last of the weight lost, and had actually gained 5 pounds.

But as I started going out and about, I actually started getting a lot of comments like "are you sure you're just 24 weeks?" and "are you sure there's just one baby in there?"  (If you haven't taken time to ready my list of pregnant women do's and don'ts, check out part 1 and part 2 here.)

I'm not usually a person who wakes up and says "wow, that was a weird dream."  I leave that to my husband who has the strangest dreams.  But early in my pregnancy, I woke up from a nightmare, in which we went to our scheduled ultrasound and found that while we'd only heard one heartbeat, there had been two babies.  I couldn't shake that dream for WEEKS, still almost 2 months later when I think about it it makes me so sad.

I don't know… all women have issues with vanity.  When we're pregnant we're suppose to gain weight, and unfortunately need to prepare ourselves for these comments.  But why do other people, especially women, have to make such bold and tasteless comments - to our faces.

I want to believe that it's not intentional; that they're not trying to be hurtful.  But as a woman going through HG, I don't want to be told I look fat, I want to be told I look healthy.  I don't mind the comments of people saying, "you've finally got some color on your cheeks" or "you don't look all skin and bones."  I mean, find a different way to say it, you know?  Like "baby looks like it's growing," instead of "wow, got a watermelon under your shirt?"




Monday, February 10, 2014

Christmas and Kidney Infections

23 weeks

It's Christmas time… and I'm really not in the spirit of things.

I didn't want to bake cookies.  I didn't want to buy gifts.  I didn't want to cook.

My husband really took charge this year, and made it a Christmas to remember.

I'm not getting sick like I had been, just lots of heartburn and dry-heaving.  But I'm still not eating or drinking as much as I should be at this point.  To top it off, Braxton Hicks contractions are increasing, and I'm having awful back pain.

Nurse Kate came over to give my my weekly shot.  I mentioned to her all the hiccuping, and she got a bit concerned.  She wanted to listen to the heartbeat, make sure baby wasn't in distress (BP 160, very active, lots of hiccups).  Then she went through her list of possible symptoms, and when I mentioned the back pain, she nonchalantly asked where it hurt, and when I told her "middle of my back, right side only" she kinda went pale.  Kidney infection.  With Christmas the next day, calling the OB's office wasn't going to do much, and I wasn't going to spend my holiday in the ER, so she told me to drink as much cranberry juice and water as I could until I could be seen.

I'd only had one kidney infection in my life, I don't remember it being this painful.  When I finally got ahold of my doctor, she wasn't surprised and didn't even make me come in to the office.  She said with my dehydration and the baby growing right there, it's a wonder I didn't get one sooner.  So she called in  for some lab work and ordered me a high dose of antibiotics and told me to "take it easy."

Thankfully my kids were going to be going to my parents house for a few days while my husband and I work and they kids are off school.  I mentioned to my mom about the infection and she told me to make sure I ate greek yogurt while taking the antibiotics, it's suppose to prevent the 'good bacteria' from being killed off.  I can't handle yogurt right now, but I did pick up some acidophilus supplements, which should do the same thing.   My other big concern is the fact that antibiotics affect P.O.T.S, and not always right away.  I noticed my worst P.O.T.S. episode this pregnancy came a few weeks after my blog clot was treated with a few days of antibiotics…

So now my daily pill intake is:  3 Zophran, 4 Diclegis, 2 Phenergan, 8+ Tums, 3 mini prenatals, 1 B12, 1 Acidophilus and 2 Antibiotics…




Thursday, February 6, 2014

Hiccups and Heartburn

22 Weeks

It seemed like the days would never come when I wouldn't get sick.  But here it is.  I've gone a few days without getting sick, and it feels great.  Now, the catch is, I'm taking 3 Zophran, 4 Diclegis, 2 Phenergans a day, and at least 8 Tums, but I'm not getting sick!  (Unless you found dry-heaving, 'cause I'm still dealing with that a dozen times a day!)

I'm only eating a small breakfast and a small dinner every day, maybe a snack or two during the day.  And only drinking about 30-40oz of juice/Gatorade.  But it's better than nothing.

Despite that, the baby is growing.  My belly is getting quite large, and it's all baby.  Depending on baby's position, I may look bigger or smaller.  Some days he/she is low, so I don't look like I'm showing.  Other days baby is high and I look like I have a basketball under my shirt.

The heartburn with this baby is worse than I'd experienced with the other 3.  Mostly, I'm assuming, because of 20 straight weeks of getting sick daily.  I'd read an article recently suggesting that prolonged use of antacids can cause a vitamin B12 deficiency, but I think that was just related to the zantac and prilosec… oh well, I'll add that to my list of pills to take, just in case.

Baby seems to have had hiccups non-stop the last couple of weeks.  I mean, I know babies sleep 20 out of 24 hours in utero; it feels like every waking moment baby has the hiccups.  It actually hurts!  Especially the days when it's sitting up high, under my diaphragm… ouch.

I suppose feeling the baby's hiccuping is a good thing, I know baby is there and growing.  Everyone says it's normal and a good thing… but really, 2 weeks straight?

Monday, February 3, 2014

Time to pump you up! (with meds)

21 weeks

It's December now, and very dry.  Something that many pregnant women experience is a runny nose throughout their pregnancy.  I do but I don't get it.  Apparently it's worse in women with Hyperemesis, because of the (ahem) excess fluids entering the nasal cavity.  Gross.

I've worked my way up to about 30-40 ounces of fluids per day, still no where near what I need to be drinking, but an improvement.  We keep a humidifier by me most of the time, but it stops working at random times, and it is new.  I've also caught a bit of a cold, and I'm still getting sick 3-5 times a day.  So dehydration is starting to set back in.

I called my doctor on a Wednesday morning, after I was woken up by a bloody nose.  I'd not had a bloody nose since I was a kid.  It wasn't awful, but I know it was the result of being dry and dehydrated.  So the doctor called in an order to get me started on IV Fluids.

However... because this new nurse staffing company is based out of the southwest, which just got hit with some nasty weather, orders did not reach my nurse quickly.  And then they had to ship my meds, which again took time.

So by Friday night I'd received my reglan pump (to help the nausea and keep fluids in) but my IV supplies did not arrive.  Fail.

The reglan pump... you've got to be kidding.  I have to stab my leg or belly every 3 days?  Really?  What sane person would willingly put a thumbtack in their leg?  Because that's what this thing looks like!

Reluctantly, I gave it a shot.  Now I'm not going to lie, I didn't feel very nauseous... at first.

The next morning, however, I got sick 3 times.  AND THEN I slept the entire day.  No matter how hard I tried to stay awake, I couldn't do it.  I fell asleep while helping my daughters with their Bible Quizzing.  Sitting up - not kidding.  So... I took it off.

Then the IV supplies arrived, and another nurse arrived to give me my IV fluids.  Well, she tried at least.  Three times in fact.  On attempt #3, she popped a vein.  It hurt, a lot, and bruised instantly.  Yuck.  No IV tonight, and the nursing company has a policy that they're only allowed to try 3 times.

So my regular nurse stopped by the next day, to also try.  Three times, ending with another popped vein.  Although, it didn't bruise or swell as badly as the other arm did... (Silver Lining!)

So, no IV's for me...