Growing Babies...

Several weeks ago, I came to the realization that I would need to stop working with a particular student who was just too physically demanding for me now that I am pregnant. I was very nervous about how his mother would take the news but she was great. I just thought I would share here email with you all. (I changed their names to first initials)

Hi Carrie,

First let me say congratulations! There is nothing more exciting than a baby on the way.

That being said, if anyone knows about high risk pregnancies, it is me. As I am sure you are aware, because of E’s extreme prematurity, I was considered extremely high risk when I was pregnant with M. I was put on modified bed rest at around 25weeks and full bed rest about a month later. With weekly visits to a perinatologist, weekly progesterone shots, and lots of rest, I was able to keep M in until one day shy of 36 weeks. No one thought I’d make it much past 36 weeks and it was our ultimate goal. I saw Dr’s Sweeney and Lance during that pregnancy – they are high risk doctors in Annapolis. They did a wonderful job easing my mind during pregnancy. Because M’s pregnancy showed them that my body is incapable of carrying a pregnancy full term without a lot of intervention, I was told that any other pregnancies would require bed rest to start at the beginning of the second trimester. Needless to say, I think we are quite content with our two beautiful children.

Please don’t feel guilty about this. I am sure that Eva and her team will do a fine job working with E. I will certainly be thinking about you over the next several months and wish the best for you and your baby. It is not easy growing babies, especially when high risks are involved. Rest up and be good to yourself.

All my best,

Sara

No news - is good news...

Hi friends, sorry I did not post after my appointment on Friday - No worries, all is well. We braved the ice storm and went to the appointments. I had an 8:30 with the diabetic educator who is also a diabetic and pump wearer. When I walked in she said " I thought you were gestational diabetes but your not, are you?" I said, "Nope, I am a lifer..." she said "well, I don't think I have anything to teach you." She probably didn't but it was nice to sit and talk to someone who knows EXACTLY what I am going through - very refreshing.

We finished up early so I moved on over for my ultrasound - we got to see and hear the baby's heart beat - I love that sound. The images were nothing to write home about - very blurry and hard to tell what anything was. The tech pointed out the head and arm buds but they are really not visible on the pictures. Finally, I know exactly how far I am. Based on my new due date, I was 10 weeks, 3 days at the time of my appointment - the baby measured 10 weeks, 4 days - I figure he/she knows best - I was officially 11 weeks on Monday.

I go back to see Sweeny and Lance in 8 weeks - at that time they will be able to check the babies organ development and maybe even determine the sex.

My next appointment with Buckson in about 3 weeks. Say some prayers for me that I can keep all of this straight. Between my endo, OB, and high risk OB plus Pacey's ENT and 4 year check up - we have at least one appointment a week!

Dr. Buckson doesn't play...

I had an appointment with my regular OB today, Dr. Buckson. From my previous posts you know that I find this woman's sense of humor refreshing and relaxing. Today, she asked me if I had any religious beliefs that would interfere with her giving me a transfusion should I lose too much blood during delivery. I told her, "No" then while she was making note of it in my chart, I said, "I fully expect you to save my life... how is that for pressure?" She smiled and said, "I have never lost one yet, I have no problem pumping you full of blood and yankin' out your uterus to save your life, cuz I don't play!" My response… "Good!"


The outcome of the appointment other than establishing that I would gladly accept an transfusion - My due date has been officially changed to September 16th - my Uncle Harry's birthday! That makes me 10 weeks.


I go back to the high risk doctor next Friday - I will have another ultrasound to post after that visit. Say a prayer for us that the baby's heart and spine are developing normally - those are the 2 major issues for diabetic mothers.

Ultrasound pic...

Well, we finally got a new scanner and I was able to scan our first ultrasound photo. It was taken on January 25th when I was 6 1/2 or 7 1/2 weeks - depending on which doctor you ask...

I return to the OB on Thursday, I will keep you all posted.

I decided today (2/14) that in this picture it looks like I am pregnant with a rubber ducky - no wonder Pacey thought it was a bird!

Shopping...

God bless America... where they house elections in county schools and we teachers get the day off!

After taking the cat to the vet for her annual checkup where Pacey did announce that "Mommy has a baby in her belly but we don't know if it is a girl yet!" we met Mom at the mall for some traditional "day off from school in the middle of the week" shopping. We had a delicious lunch at CPK - where the thought of salads made me queezy - so I ordered the Mandori Mango Chicken pizza -YUM! We had the sweetest waitress who I perplexed with my pregnant diabetic question, "Do you have anything that is sugarfree and de-caf?" Her first response was "coffee" so I ordered an ice water with lemon with intentions of making my own lemonaide at the table. After bringing our drinks she returned to the table and said that she had figured out some other options for me - she could make me an italian soda with club soda and sugar-free flavored syrup - and she did - mango flavored to match my pizza - I was in heaven and so was she because I gave her a generous tip.

After lunch we wandered the mall and wound up at Motherhood Maternity. Four years ago, our local Motherhood store did not carry plus sized clothes and the clerks were super snotty when I asked them why...but now things have changed. They had some really cute things. I tried on clothes for an hour or more. Mom and Pacey would bring me different sizes and of course Pacey thought I looked "so beautiful" that she had to give me a kiss everytime I opened the fitting room door. We had a good laugh when I tried on the strap-on-belly-pillow under a dress. Pacey kept trying to lift the dress to see it, all the while showing my business to the whole store... ahh good times. I made it out of there with 4 new bottoms and 2 new tops - I am pretty psyched. I used what was left of the mall gift card I got from Dad for Christmas but the rest was on me - good thing tomorrow is payday!

Dancing Queen

Last Saturday was Pacey's dance show. It was all pretty adorable. The girls were all dressed in matching costumes - black with white polka dots and a BIG pink bow. They did 2 routines in the dance room - tap and ballet. Then, in the gym, they went through a balance beam and bar routine. Pacey's fan club was in attendance - Bryan, Summer, Mom-Mom, Pop-Pop, Grammy and Grandpa - it was standing room only!

Here are 2 video clips that I took with my digital camera - Enjoy!

Having technical difficulties - will try to get videos uploaded soon. I still can't get the videos up but I was able to load some pics - enjoy.

What kind of baby?

Last Friday (1/25) I had my first ultrasound. Eric went with me and we were able to see our little "blob". We got to see the heart beating - Amazing! Everything seems fine for right now, it is too early in the game to know of any diabetic related defects. We will have a better understanding of the heart and spinal development closer to 18 weeks. Which brings me to my next topic. Dr. Buckson calculated my due date for September 9th putting me at 9 weeks this coming Monday. However, Dr Lance (who is in with Dr. Sweeny) said that the baby was measuring 1 week smaller than we thought - he did not change my due date and maybe Buckson won't either. I am eagar to see her again on 2/14 to know exactly how far along I am.

After getting the ultrasound photo - which I will upload once our scanner is working - we decided to tell Pacey the news. I showed her the picture and asked her if she knew what it was,

"a bird?"
"no, its not a bird, its a baby"
"what kind of baby?"
"a baby, baby"
"a baby squirell?"
"no, a real baby - its inside mommy's belly"
I explained to her how I will have to go the doctor for check ups and that Pacey will get to see the baby on a special TV when the doctor puts a camera on my belly to take a picture of the baby - after everything, I asked Pacey how she felt about it,
"sad"
"why are you sad, this is very exciting"
"I am sad because you have to go to the doctor."

Well, I wasn't really sure of how much she understood until she started retelling the story to EVERYONE we saw, including a young couple with a new baby at Starbucks. She gets it, alright. She has even picked up on the fact that the baby is making my belly upset. Pacey has also started talking to the baby and kissing it good night, so sweet.