Other than the fall, this week was pretty unfantastic, pregnancy wise. Still having loads of round ligament pain especially when I roll over in bed. It also seems to kick up when I "overextend" myself... extra long puppy walks, carrying laundry... I have my next prenatal appointment tomorrow for my monthly check up and 10 more days til my next ultrasound.
On my normal life front, we observed Earth Hour last night. A friend came over and we played "Master Labyrinth". The first time Cory and I played this game, I can recall the game being so difficult that I feared I was going to stroke out trying to plan my next move. We had never played with 3 people and it was the first time for our friend. It doesn't improve in difficult by candlelight. We had a good time, the game lasted longer than the hour and, of course, I won the title of Master Wizard!
The Weather has finally taken a turn for the better. The glacier on my lawn is receding and we chipped all the ice out of half of the driveway. One of my bushes in the garden doesn't appear to have made it through the winter. It's looking a bit crushed and stinks to high heavens. The front garden took a lot of moved snow... I am thinking it might have to be removed and grass seeded, but that depends on my energy level and enthusiasm. (read: not bloody likely unless Cory does it.) Mount Poop has to be addressed first I guess although Cory took a big chunk out of it today until the bag broke. Ewwwwwww!!
This week I'm on the 3 PM to midnight shift. I like being able to sleep in but it sucks to not see Cory for almost a whole week. He is working 9-5 so other than meal breaks, it's a lonely week. Fortunately I only do these once every 8 weeks....
Sunday, 29 March 2009
Tuesday, 24 March 2009
Adventures in Pregnancy - 17 weeks 3 days
I am as graceful as a dump truck lately. Yesterday I fell. Actually I did very little falling and a whole lot of hitting... I have never fallen so fast in all my life.
I was walking to the car and hit a piece of ice, before I even realized I was slipping, I was down. From the points of damage, I have a nice deep bruise forming below my left knee cap and above my right knee cap. I apparently grabbed the car on the way down and almost pulled my left shoulder out of my socket and the laptop I was carrying jammed into my left ribs. I think my heels hit my bum cause that's sore too.
I couldn't completely identify how I fell so I called the prenatal clinic just to touch base with how hard to too hard to fall. I didn't hit my belly but I went down HARD. They asked me to come in for a non-stress test. At 17 weeks, this means they check for a heart beat.
We got the heart beat almost immediately. At 140 beats per minute, the Nurse is calling for a boy.... 14 more days til that is confirmed. The doctor did a brief examination. Everything looks OK but as the doctor said at 17 weeks if the pregnancy was damaged, there is nothing that they can do. After 24 weeks, the story changes as the baby is viable at that point.
So I spent the evening wallowing in my aches and pains, paranoid about every little cramp or twinge. Expecting to find spotting every time I went to the bathroom... rough night.
I am going to be so much more careful. The physical pain of the fall is far out shadowed by the fear of damaging the baby. If I'm this clumsy at 17 weeks, I can't wait to see the gracefulness of me at 38 weeks...
I was walking to the car and hit a piece of ice, before I even realized I was slipping, I was down. From the points of damage, I have a nice deep bruise forming below my left knee cap and above my right knee cap. I apparently grabbed the car on the way down and almost pulled my left shoulder out of my socket and the laptop I was carrying jammed into my left ribs. I think my heels hit my bum cause that's sore too.
I couldn't completely identify how I fell so I called the prenatal clinic just to touch base with how hard to too hard to fall. I didn't hit my belly but I went down HARD. They asked me to come in for a non-stress test. At 17 weeks, this means they check for a heart beat.
We got the heart beat almost immediately. At 140 beats per minute, the Nurse is calling for a boy.... 14 more days til that is confirmed. The doctor did a brief examination. Everything looks OK but as the doctor said at 17 weeks if the pregnancy was damaged, there is nothing that they can do. After 24 weeks, the story changes as the baby is viable at that point.
So I spent the evening wallowing in my aches and pains, paranoid about every little cramp or twinge. Expecting to find spotting every time I went to the bathroom... rough night.
I am going to be so much more careful. The physical pain of the fall is far out shadowed by the fear of damaging the baby. If I'm this clumsy at 17 weeks, I can't wait to see the gracefulness of me at 38 weeks...
Adventures is Rural Living
Since moving to Woodstock, I have had to educate myself in some of the local verbiage and culture. Here are a few things I have never heard prior to moving to Carlton County...
- Bumble - Definition - To drive around back roads in an attempt to get lost. Can be used as a verb or a noun. We went on a bumble or we are bumbling.
- Sliding - Definition - same as tobogganing (I would have used the general term sledding)
- Sledding - Definition - when out using a snow machine such as a ski-doo (I would have used the term snowmobiling)
- Shit Shine - This is an adjective to describe a good time. The party was a shit shine good time.
- Potato Break - This is a week of off of school for student to assist with the local potato harvest.
I know there are more but I'm blanking out. I also get great enjoyment out of reading the classified in the local paper. I generally have no idea what the article for sale is but it makes me giggle.
For example today there was a post to sell a... Cannon type seed duster rock dinger. I was following it until we hit the rock dinger... whatever it is it sounds like a fun Saturday afternoon.
Sunday, 22 March 2009
Adventures in Pregnancy - 17 Weeks, 1 day
It happened... I think I'm starting to retain fluids. I find it hard to believe by the amount of fluid I pass when I pee but my hands are starting to feel stiff and tight. And my hands are falling asleep several times a night, which of course wakes me up... *grumble* Unfortunately, it generally wakes Cory up too but then he rubs my hands until the pins and needles are gone. He is so good to me.
I had a day of high blood pressure yesterday. Not something I'm used to... I am the Queen of the low to normal blood pressure and having my heart beat in my head is quite disturbing. I noticed something was up when I was making one of my middle of the night trips to the bathroom and my legs were red... I laid in bed (freaking out) while I tried to explain the redness. It looked just like my legs do after a hard work out... blood flushing to the surface. In the morning, I had the my pulse in my head.. damn high blood pressure. It went away but it's on the list to mention at my next prenatal appointment.
That's pretty much it for pregnancy related stuff this week. I think I occasionally feel a flutter but it could be allergies. The next few weeks have some definite milestones planned...
Stay Tuned..
I had a day of high blood pressure yesterday. Not something I'm used to... I am the Queen of the low to normal blood pressure and having my heart beat in my head is quite disturbing. I noticed something was up when I was making one of my middle of the night trips to the bathroom and my legs were red... I laid in bed (freaking out) while I tried to explain the redness. It looked just like my legs do after a hard work out... blood flushing to the surface. In the morning, I had the my pulse in my head.. damn high blood pressure. It went away but it's on the list to mention at my next prenatal appointment.
That's pretty much it for pregnancy related stuff this week. I think I occasionally feel a flutter but it could be allergies. The next few weeks have some definite milestones planned...
Stay Tuned..
Monday, 16 March 2009
Adventures in Pregnany - 16 weeks, 2 days
Everyday I receive my daily pregnancy emails. I generally don't think too much about them. I read them, collect the information I want, discard the information I don't think I agree with but today... today the email confused me...
The email was "Breastfeeding - Boosting your chances for Success". Cool, I plan on breast feeding so this should be helpful. I doing pretty good until I hit the key point #3...
Have a breast evaluation by a lactation consultant or other trained healthcare provider. They'll look for flat, retracting, or inverted nipples, which you may not be able to detect, and which can be corrected prior to baby's birth.
The line I'm having problems with is... which you may not be about to detect. One should be able to look at their own nipple and determine if it's an innie or an outie. Shouldn't they? Of course, this made me wonder if it was some kind of mystery affliction.
So, doubting myself, I google imaged inverted nipples. What I discovered is THIS SHOULD NOT NEED A PROFESSIONAL to identify!!!
I am pleased to announce my nipples are not inverted and I shall not be visiting a professional to verify this information. For those with inverted nipples, it can be corrected with a suction machine.
The email was "Breastfeeding - Boosting your chances for Success". Cool, I plan on breast feeding so this should be helpful. I doing pretty good until I hit the key point #3...
Have a breast evaluation by a lactation consultant or other trained healthcare provider. They'll look for flat, retracting, or inverted nipples, which you may not be able to detect, and which can be corrected prior to baby's birth.
The line I'm having problems with is... which you may not be about to detect. One should be able to look at their own nipple and determine if it's an innie or an outie. Shouldn't they? Of course, this made me wonder if it was some kind of mystery affliction.
So, doubting myself, I google imaged inverted nipples. What I discovered is THIS SHOULD NOT NEED A PROFESSIONAL to identify!!!
I am pleased to announce my nipples are not inverted and I shall not be visiting a professional to verify this information. For those with inverted nipples, it can be corrected with a suction machine.
Sunday, 15 March 2009
Adventures in Pregnany - 16 weeks, 1 day (and other stuff)
Man do my feet hurt!
Our Saturday tradition is to participate in the Super Saturday Puppy Walk with a few friends and their dogs. We meet at one of the entrances into the New Brunswick Trail (former railway tracks but now a beautifully groomed hiking, ski-doo trail) and burn the snot out of our dogs. The weather was beautiful... sunny with little wind and temperatures just above freezing. Generally we walk in for about 30-40 minutes and then head back out. Makes for a nice hour long walk. The distance is usually determined by the snow quality... are we walking on the snow or in the snow. Yesterday we were walking on the snow...
Losing track of time, we finally turned around at the one hour mark. At the one hour mark, my breakfast ran out of steam, my socks were chafing the bottom of my feet and my lower back was requesting a sit down... by the time we got out, my blood sugar was mad at me, my feet were unfortunately still on speaking terms with me and my back had decided to give me the silent treatment until I was somewhere it could really drive home how angry it was.
This morning, my Achilles tendons are tight and the bottom of my feet are raw. My back has accepted my apologies and I made a pact that I shall always have an apple in my pocket for walks in the woods.
When I sat down to write about this past week, I thought absolutely nothing of interest happened... good ol' pregnancy brain. But it was actually a bit eventful.
Last Sunday morning, Cory noticed Theo doing something odd... his forehead started to spasm and his jaw chomped open and closed rapidly... then the big splash of saliva hit the floor. When Cory described it I realized that I had seen something similar earlier in the weekend. The Internet described this as a seizure.
My initial reaction was maybe lead poisoning. Before I became pregnant, I was stripping the painted wood floor upstairs. We became concerned that there might be lead paint present and the job was put on hold. Theo likes to lick floors... seemed like a logical line of thinking. So off to the vet he went...
His Xray revealed that he was gonna need to poop really soon but no sign of lead. His blood work was clear and healthy. He was officially diagnosed with Epilepsy. Due to the mild nature of it, we will not be treating (treatment is worse than the illness). If he is adversely impacted by seizures in the future, we will look at treating his seizures with phenobarbital. It's hard on his liver and kidneys so we would like to avoid this.
On the pregnancy front, other than discovering the fact that I am not as "fit" as I like to pretend I am it's been a pretty good week. I've had some more of that fantastic round ligament pain. Can't say I'm loving that but it isn't as bad as the first time.
We had our dietitian meeting... a complete waste of our time. We were introduced to the Canada Food Guide (AGAIN). We were given a list of what were vegetables. Serious Nutrition 101 stuff. Did you know an Apple was a fruit?!?! What concerned me the most was that some of the woman there actually looked like this was the first time they had ever heard of this....
We did discover that I was running a little deficient on the numbers of servings of grain products I was ingesting in one day and I was killing the dairy requirements. Milk anyone?
I also had my final maternal serum testing blood work on Friday. So my next prenatal appointment (March 30) should have all the results from the serum testings and the Down's testing. I hope for the best... this pregnancy has been a dream so far... I keep waiting for the shoe to drop... My luck I'll end up with a 70+ hour labor and a doctor who feels that nature should take its course.
Wow that was a babble....
Our Saturday tradition is to participate in the Super Saturday Puppy Walk with a few friends and their dogs. We meet at one of the entrances into the New Brunswick Trail (former railway tracks but now a beautifully groomed hiking, ski-doo trail) and burn the snot out of our dogs. The weather was beautiful... sunny with little wind and temperatures just above freezing. Generally we walk in for about 30-40 minutes and then head back out. Makes for a nice hour long walk. The distance is usually determined by the snow quality... are we walking on the snow or in the snow. Yesterday we were walking on the snow...
Losing track of time, we finally turned around at the one hour mark. At the one hour mark, my breakfast ran out of steam, my socks were chafing the bottom of my feet and my lower back was requesting a sit down... by the time we got out, my blood sugar was mad at me, my feet were unfortunately still on speaking terms with me and my back had decided to give me the silent treatment until I was somewhere it could really drive home how angry it was.
This morning, my Achilles tendons are tight and the bottom of my feet are raw. My back has accepted my apologies and I made a pact that I shall always have an apple in my pocket for walks in the woods.
When I sat down to write about this past week, I thought absolutely nothing of interest happened... good ol' pregnancy brain. But it was actually a bit eventful.
Last Sunday morning, Cory noticed Theo doing something odd... his forehead started to spasm and his jaw chomped open and closed rapidly... then the big splash of saliva hit the floor. When Cory described it I realized that I had seen something similar earlier in the weekend. The Internet described this as a seizure.
My initial reaction was maybe lead poisoning. Before I became pregnant, I was stripping the painted wood floor upstairs. We became concerned that there might be lead paint present and the job was put on hold. Theo likes to lick floors... seemed like a logical line of thinking. So off to the vet he went...
His Xray revealed that he was gonna need to poop really soon but no sign of lead. His blood work was clear and healthy. He was officially diagnosed with Epilepsy. Due to the mild nature of it, we will not be treating (treatment is worse than the illness). If he is adversely impacted by seizures in the future, we will look at treating his seizures with phenobarbital. It's hard on his liver and kidneys so we would like to avoid this.
On the pregnancy front, other than discovering the fact that I am not as "fit" as I like to pretend I am it's been a pretty good week. I've had some more of that fantastic round ligament pain. Can't say I'm loving that but it isn't as bad as the first time.
We had our dietitian meeting... a complete waste of our time. We were introduced to the Canada Food Guide (AGAIN). We were given a list of what were vegetables. Serious Nutrition 101 stuff. Did you know an Apple was a fruit?!?! What concerned me the most was that some of the woman there actually looked like this was the first time they had ever heard of this....
We did discover that I was running a little deficient on the numbers of servings of grain products I was ingesting in one day and I was killing the dairy requirements. Milk anyone?
I also had my final maternal serum testing blood work on Friday. So my next prenatal appointment (March 30) should have all the results from the serum testings and the Down's testing. I hope for the best... this pregnancy has been a dream so far... I keep waiting for the shoe to drop... My luck I'll end up with a 70+ hour labor and a doctor who feels that nature should take its course.
Wow that was a babble....
Sunday, 8 March 2009
Adventures in Pregnany - 15 weeks, 1 day
This was a super long week. It was my turn to work the weekend and this usually means a long week. 7 days in a row is a bit more than I am prepared for unfortunately. I can honestly say I was of no use at work today. I did my job but the extras were kept to a minimum... not my style at all.
For pregnancy this week, the only great thing of note was the incredibly painful shifting of my pelvis. I was sitting quietly at work when I had to get up and take the 1 step to the printer. I had a cramp that ripped through my lower abdomen took my breath away. The type of pain that makes you think about going to the emergency room. It slowly receded and what it left in its place was an really sore left hip. Cory says that he can see my pelvic bones have moved and the angle has changed. I'm really looking forward to the soreness to dial down. I know I'm completely out of alignment as my knee and ankle are becoming sore too.... This is sucky!!
On a happier note, we have started to acquire baby things. Today arrived a car seat and a bassinet, 2 strollers are coming later in the week. It's such a relief to have something. At this point, we can get the kid home from the hospital and he/she has a place to sleep for the first few weeks.
However, I think someone is in for a BIG shock in a few months!!
Monday, 2 March 2009
Adventures in Pregnancy - 14 weeks, 2 days
Today was my latest prenatal checkup. It was a little rushed as the doctor was on her way to the O.R. unexpectedly. I was totally ok with that... it could have been me in the O.R.
Here are my latest stats...
Urine - Perfect.... no protein, no sign of sugar issues.
Blood pressure - 110 over 60 (which is a bit lower than usual).
Weight - Up another 3 lbs. (with my boots on) for a total of 14 lbs.
Uterus - Measuring 14 cms (Perfect).
She told me my weight was doing fantastic but to be careful between 20 and 30 weeks. This is the ballooning time. She warned that I may wish to skip dessert... good thing I'm off the sweets... hope that lasts.
Test results - Dr. Butts report was clear of complications. Part 1 of the serum tests look good, the second part is blood work taken on March 13.
Thyroid was retested today to see if we have balanced it out... usually thyroid testing takes two days for the doctor to call me. So Wednesday is the day.
A request was put through for my 18-21 week ultrasound. That's the one that will determine blue stuff or pink stuff hopefully... as well as some medical stuff I'm sure.
Then we dopplered the heart beat... and OF COURSE I recorded it... Now should I upload... after this I'm all outta cool show and tell stuff.... Well here's hoping my witty repartee will keep everyone entertained for the next few months.
Here are my latest stats...
Urine - Perfect.... no protein, no sign of sugar issues.
Blood pressure - 110 over 60 (which is a bit lower than usual).
Weight - Up another 3 lbs. (with my boots on) for a total of 14 lbs.
Uterus - Measuring 14 cms (Perfect).
She told me my weight was doing fantastic but to be careful between 20 and 30 weeks. This is the ballooning time. She warned that I may wish to skip dessert... good thing I'm off the sweets... hope that lasts.
Test results - Dr. Butts report was clear of complications. Part 1 of the serum tests look good, the second part is blood work taken on March 13.
Thyroid was retested today to see if we have balanced it out... usually thyroid testing takes two days for the doctor to call me. So Wednesday is the day.
A request was put through for my 18-21 week ultrasound. That's the one that will determine blue stuff or pink stuff hopefully... as well as some medical stuff I'm sure.
Then we dopplered the heart beat... and OF COURSE I recorded it... Now should I upload... after this I'm all outta cool show and tell stuff.... Well here's hoping my witty repartee will keep everyone entertained for the next few months.
Sunday, 1 March 2009
Adventures in Pregnancy - 14 weeks, 1 day
I'm looking for some help.
I freaked out a bit about finances when I realized that I have only 10 pay cheques left until the poverty of Maternity Leave starts. My mother told me that to make me feel better I should make a list of the MUST HAVES and WOULD LIKE TO HAVE. From there I could start picking away at the MUST HAVES and hopefully the WOULD LIKE TO HAVES will come along.
I have a problem though... I have no idea what the bare essentials should be. I am the youngest in my family and only one cousin had off-spring before me. (prior to the recent family population explosion). My interactions with babies has been extremely limited. I've changed maybe 5 diapers in my life. I've read books and researched online. But basically what I am saying is that I'M SCREWED!!!
What do I really need to be prepared? What isn't important? What is super nice to have but really just a frill? I'd love some input!! HELP!!
I freaked out a bit about finances when I realized that I have only 10 pay cheques left until the poverty of Maternity Leave starts. My mother told me that to make me feel better I should make a list of the MUST HAVES and WOULD LIKE TO HAVE. From there I could start picking away at the MUST HAVES and hopefully the WOULD LIKE TO HAVES will come along.
I have a problem though... I have no idea what the bare essentials should be. I am the youngest in my family and only one cousin had off-spring before me. (prior to the recent family population explosion). My interactions with babies has been extremely limited. I've changed maybe 5 diapers in my life. I've read books and researched online. But basically what I am saying is that I'M SCREWED!!!
What do I really need to be prepared? What isn't important? What is super nice to have but really just a frill? I'd love some input!! HELP!!
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