If our baby was born this week, he would have a 95% chance of survival. Fortunately, there's no sign of those odds being tested as everything continues to go well. My blood pressure is still normal and hasn't begun to rise yet.
At today's ultrasound, we discussed kick counts and birth options (or possible lack thereof). With respect to kicking, I'm supposed to start tracking how long it takes the baby to kick 10 times and keep a log every day. If his normal kick pattern changes or decreases, then there could be a problem. While I haven't been actually physically tracking his kicking so far, he's generally very active especially after I eat. He reaches 10 kicks in about 2 minutes! This afternoon, work took us out to see Kung Fu Panda 2, and the baby kicked constantly throughout the whole movie.
As for birth options, at the moment a c-section is looking more and more likely. Up until recently, my ulcerative colitis had been pretty quiet, but over the last few weeks it's started to flare. Unfortunately, if it's still active by delivery, the best option for me will be a c-section to reduce the risk of a fistula or intestinal tear. My flares usually last for a couple of months, so it remains to be seen if it will be quiet again by early August...
Today's ultrasound pictures aren't really good enough to post, so no eye candy this week. Sorry!
This Week's Stats:
Gestational Age: 28 weeks, 1 day
Baby's Weight: 2 lbs 9 ounces
Heart Rate: 143 bmp
Vegetable Comparison: Eggplant
My Weight change: + 8 pounds
Thursday, May 26, 2011
Thursday, May 19, 2011
I passed the GTT!!
Great news -- I do NOT have gestational diabetes! I passed the GTT with flying colors. Woohoo! I'm so relieved as I was genuinely concerned that I was going to fail it. Now I can thoroughly enjoy our anniversary dinner and dessert this weekend. =)
Since Tuesday was our 3 year wedding anniversary, Chad is taking me to Stonehill Tavern, which is a very upscale establishment within the St. Regis resort in Dana Point. I'm excited -- the food is amazing and the views of the ocean at sunset are really breathtaking.
It's hard to believe that we've already been married for 3 years. It's certainly been an eventful journey so far. The last year especially has been very emotional with so many ups and downs from infertility treatments and miscarriages. I'm glad that our relationship has remained strong despite the challenges. I know it has been difficult for Chad to cope with my anxiety and depression, but he's done a great job of being supportive. I know we're both thrilled to finally be able to move past all that and get to start the next phase of our lives. Hopefully we're able to handle all of the changes without too many growing pains!
In other news, our first shipment of fancy cloth diapers arrived yesterday. They are bumGenius 4.0's and are a pocket diaper, which means you simply stuff an absorbant pad inside of them, add a disposable liner, and voila, they're as easy as a disposable to put on. When it's time for a diaper change, we'll simple dump the liner and its icky contents in the toilet and throw the diaper into the washing machine. So much easier than the old style prefolds and plastic pants and pins and swishing disgusting diapers in the toilet! I figure I still need another dozen or so. I'll probably get some Fuzzibunz and maybe some Bummis (aren't the names a riot??). Thanks again to Mandi for all of her thoughts on brands and detergents and general awesome advice!
Hopefully whichever day care we use won't have a problem with them as they really are nearly as simple to use as disposables. =)
Since Tuesday was our 3 year wedding anniversary, Chad is taking me to Stonehill Tavern, which is a very upscale establishment within the St. Regis resort in Dana Point. I'm excited -- the food is amazing and the views of the ocean at sunset are really breathtaking.
It's hard to believe that we've already been married for 3 years. It's certainly been an eventful journey so far. The last year especially has been very emotional with so many ups and downs from infertility treatments and miscarriages. I'm glad that our relationship has remained strong despite the challenges. I know it has been difficult for Chad to cope with my anxiety and depression, but he's done a great job of being supportive. I know we're both thrilled to finally be able to move past all that and get to start the next phase of our lives. Hopefully we're able to handle all of the changes without too many growing pains!
In other news, our first shipment of fancy cloth diapers arrived yesterday. They are bumGenius 4.0's and are a pocket diaper, which means you simply stuff an absorbant pad inside of them, add a disposable liner, and voila, they're as easy as a disposable to put on. When it's time for a diaper change, we'll simple dump the liner and its icky contents in the toilet and throw the diaper into the washing machine. So much easier than the old style prefolds and plastic pants and pins and swishing disgusting diapers in the toilet! I figure I still need another dozen or so. I'll probably get some Fuzzibunz and maybe some Bummis (aren't the names a riot??). Thanks again to Mandi for all of her thoughts on brands and detergents and general awesome advice!
 |
| I love how soft and colorful cloth diapers are! |
Hopefully whichever day care we use won't have a problem with them as they really are nearly as simple to use as disposables. =)
Friday, May 13, 2011
Glucose Challenge Test Blues
Yesterday was my fourteenth ultrasound as well as tests to check my thyroid, blood sugar, iron levels, etc. The glucose challenge test consists of drinking a super disgusting, sickly sweet cool-aid type drink and then having blood drawn 1 hour later to check blood sugar levels. The purpose is to screen for gestational diabetes (GD). The cutoff level for passing the test is 140 mg/dl. Of course I failed the test; my reading came back at 149 mg/dl. :-( The good news is that it doesn't automatically mean that I have GD. In fact, my nurse said that 90% of women who fail by such a small amount ultimately don't have GD.
The next step is to take the 3 hour glucose tolerance test, in which I will fast overnight and then drink even more of the disgusting sugary drink, followed by blood draws every hour for 3 hours. Fun! If I fail two or more of those readings, then I'll be diagnosed with GD. Unfortunately, I already suspect that I'll fail at least the initial fasting draw, as it has to be below 95 mg/dl and my typical fasting reading is around 105...
In happier news, I had another great ultrasound. The baby continues to do well and is measuring in the 50% percentile. The placenta is also still looking very normal as is the umbilical cord blood flow. So far there's no indication that my anticardiolipin syndrome is causing any problems, so we can assume that the blood thinner is doing its job.=)
This week's stats:
Gestational Age: 26 weeks, 1 day
Heart Rate: 140 bmp
Weight: 1 pound, 15 ounces
Fruit Comparison: Still an eggplant
My weight change: +6 pounds
Cravings: Steak and lemon meringue pie
The next step is to take the 3 hour glucose tolerance test, in which I will fast overnight and then drink even more of the disgusting sugary drink, followed by blood draws every hour for 3 hours. Fun! If I fail two or more of those readings, then I'll be diagnosed with GD. Unfortunately, I already suspect that I'll fail at least the initial fasting draw, as it has to be below 95 mg/dl and my typical fasting reading is around 105...
In happier news, I had another great ultrasound. The baby continues to do well and is measuring in the 50% percentile. The placenta is also still looking very normal as is the umbilical cord blood flow. So far there's no indication that my anticardiolipin syndrome is causing any problems, so we can assume that the blood thinner is doing its job.=)
 | |
| I think he has Chad's long fingers. |
This week's stats:
Gestational Age: 26 weeks, 1 day
Heart Rate: 140 bmp
Weight: 1 pound, 15 ounces
Fruit Comparison: Still an eggplant
My weight change: +6 pounds
Cravings: Steak and lemon meringue pie
Thursday, April 28, 2011
24 Weeks -- Viability!
If our baby was born today, he would have a 25% chance of surviving. His odds get better every week he stays in utero. The good news is that my blood pressure is still normal and hasn't begun to rise yet, so there's no danger of an early delivery at this point. I'm crossing my fingers that it stays down for awhile longer!
Dr. P. did a thorough echo of the baby's heart as well. Everything looks totally normal. Her thought is that if he actually has inherited any sort of heart defect from me, it's very minor and won't be detectable until after birth. He definitely doesn't have anything as severe as my defect was as it would have been very obvious on the echo by this point. So that's great news!
He gained over half a pound over the last two weeks, which explains why I've been so tired lately. His growth is on target for his age and he's in the 51% percentile, which is great. If my blood pressure had started to be an issue, we'd expect him to be below the 10% percentile.
Last week I overdid it a bit and had quite a few braxton hicks contractions and some brown spotting. I'm still getting contractions any time I stand for more than 20ish minutes. However, they aren't the painful kind and they go away if I lay down, so Dr. P isn't too concerned at this point. She advised me to continue limiting my activity since it's pretty clear that my body can't handle very much. :-/
I can now frequently see him moving my belly around. That is so weird! He's also starting to respond to loud noises -- Tracy whistled at my belly last night and he responded with a hard kick!
This week's stats:
Gestational Age: 24 weeks, 1 day
Baby's Weight: 1 lb 9 ounces
Heartrate: 145 bpm
Fruit comparison: Eggplant
My weight gain so far: 4 lbs
Dr. P. did a thorough echo of the baby's heart as well. Everything looks totally normal. Her thought is that if he actually has inherited any sort of heart defect from me, it's very minor and won't be detectable until after birth. He definitely doesn't have anything as severe as my defect was as it would have been very obvious on the echo by this point. So that's great news!
He gained over half a pound over the last two weeks, which explains why I've been so tired lately. His growth is on target for his age and he's in the 51% percentile, which is great. If my blood pressure had started to be an issue, we'd expect him to be below the 10% percentile.
Last week I overdid it a bit and had quite a few braxton hicks contractions and some brown spotting. I'm still getting contractions any time I stand for more than 20ish minutes. However, they aren't the painful kind and they go away if I lay down, so Dr. P isn't too concerned at this point. She advised me to continue limiting my activity since it's pretty clear that my body can't handle very much. :-/
I can now frequently see him moving my belly around. That is so weird! He's also starting to respond to loud noises -- Tracy whistled at my belly last night and he responded with a hard kick!
This week's stats:
Gestational Age: 24 weeks, 1 day
Baby's Weight: 1 lb 9 ounces
Heartrate: 145 bpm
Fruit comparison: Eggplant
My weight gain so far: 4 lbs
Friday, April 15, 2011
Ultrasound #12
Yesterday was ultrasound #12. This little guy has a huge array of pictures already, starting at 5 days post conception and then every other week (at least) until now. My sister made a beautiful baby shower signing board with some of the ultrasound photos. I can't wait to fill in the empty spot with a newborn shot in a few short months...
Everything continues to go well. Baby is growing normally and is as active as always. My blood pressure was at the lowest it's been yet, which made my nurse happy. I've had a few braxton hicks contractions, but those are perfectly normal and they are few and far between so far. Since I've gone 5 weeks without bleeding, I'm finally allowed to increase my activity level somewhat. Dr. P. said I can do light walking for 15 minutes, but then need to sit for 15 minutes. I'm pretty sure I can handle longer than that since a few of our recent shopping trips have been well over an hour (whoops).
Last weekend my mom, sister, grandmother, and aunt hosted a family baby shower for me. It went really well and I was really touched by how generous everyone was. Thank you all so much!!! Between the clothes my friends have given us and the baby shower gifts, this baby is going to be well-equipped. We squeezed as much stuff as we could into our soaker tub since it makes a great storage vessel now that I can't take hot baths. We have another pile of boxes along the wall in our bedroom. I'm looking forward to decorating the nursery in a couple of months. =)
This week's Stats:
Gestational Age: 22 weeks, 1 day
Fruit comparison: Papaya
Baby's Weight: 15 ounces
Heart Rate: 146 bpm
Kicking: Lots! Especially after I eat.
Cravings: Not too many. Gummy Bears are pretty tasty. =)
Aversions: Still chicken
Weight change: +2 pounds
Everything continues to go well. Baby is growing normally and is as active as always. My blood pressure was at the lowest it's been yet, which made my nurse happy. I've had a few braxton hicks contractions, but those are perfectly normal and they are few and far between so far. Since I've gone 5 weeks without bleeding, I'm finally allowed to increase my activity level somewhat. Dr. P. said I can do light walking for 15 minutes, but then need to sit for 15 minutes. I'm pretty sure I can handle longer than that since a few of our recent shopping trips have been well over an hour (whoops).
Last weekend my mom, sister, grandmother, and aunt hosted a family baby shower for me. It went really well and I was really touched by how generous everyone was. Thank you all so much!!! Between the clothes my friends have given us and the baby shower gifts, this baby is going to be well-equipped. We squeezed as much stuff as we could into our soaker tub since it makes a great storage vessel now that I can't take hot baths. We have another pile of boxes along the wall in our bedroom. I'm looking forward to decorating the nursery in a couple of months. =)
This week's Stats:
Gestational Age: 22 weeks, 1 day
Fruit comparison: Papaya
Baby's Weight: 15 ounces
Heart Rate: 146 bpm
Kicking: Lots! Especially after I eat.
Cravings: Not too many. Gummy Bears are pretty tasty. =)
Aversions: Still chicken
Weight change: +2 pounds
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)