Good News - there's only one in there!

It's official! I'm pregnant! 
Ha! I kept being in denial because I don't feel nauseous, I haven't felt any movement and while I did have a positive pregnancy test I did not have a blood test. 

But yes, there is a baby in there. The baby we have affectionately named Baby Six. 

So I've seen the OB now and gotten all my tests in and I've waited the approximate 12 weeks before getting excited and so here I am now... excited! 

I am tired. More tired than humanly possible and after getting my blood drawn found that my iron was pretty low, not surprising and that my blood pressure was 88/60... which was surprising and we aren't sure why it was low - but that is another reason I'm so tired.  

Sleeping has been impossible without a sleep aid. I feel a little bit bad about it, like I'm drugging my kid - but really if I don't take one I'm up all night plus I fall asleep and almost immediately wake up having dreamt I tripped or fell off a cliff... you know that feeling where you think you're falling. So not only could I not sleep at night it is also impossible to take a nap during the day. Who am I kidding? I have five kids 7 and under... and my 7 year old tends to act like a 4 year old sometimes. And my 4 year old is phasing out of naps so she gets up 35 times in the 2 hours allotted for quiet time AND if she isn't sleeping in her room Lucy is screaming, which makes Iris scream. So basically no one is getting naps right now. We're barely surviving.
(DISCLAIMER: that does not mean I do not love my children, that I regret having 6, that I am disappointed I am pregnant, that I am overwhelmed, that I am poor, that I cannot support myself financially, that my children are neglected, or that they are pushed in front of a television all day. Thank you for the concern but you can stop e-mailing me rude comments. I am happy, just tired. That is it.)

I haven't had any morning sickness, but I've been feeling rotten just the same. I have already mentioned my issues eating, and the anxiety it creates when I start feeling hungry. OH NO! WHAT AM I GOING TO EAT!? I think I've solved it in the last few days though and am eating about 10 very very small meals. Like a piece of bread with peanut butter, half an apple. a carrot, etc. just full enough to not be starving but empty enough not to have any digestion issues. Thank you Jesus for a solution.

I went to see an OB. I thought about my midwife I used for Iris but knowing she doesn't deliver babies in the hospital, and knowing that I've had some babies early, and what with Iris being so incredibly mistimed, I wanted to have an office where the baby will be seen once she's born as well as more hands on. The office I chose is right by the hospital and have pretty nice office. In fact I've never had to wait more than 15 minutes (and that was only because I was 15 minutes early) and the doctors are way super friendly. 
The doctor I met with, Dr. F has been out of medical school for two weeks now and I am his first patient. You can tell because he was soo nervous when we first met, plus he told me. He is maybe 28, and very kind, very caring, and seems very intelligent. I feel like I am the perfect first patient because I'm not new to any of this and as we found out today I am perfectly happy to say, 'Um, no... not happening." And he is perfect for me because he responded, "Okay, it's up to you. I am a blank slate and I just want to go along with what you want." Which was - PERFECT. I discussed at length not my birth plan (yet) but my prenatal care plan. Which tests I would take and which I will not take and I carefully explained my answers. Since he is a resident and not yet an attending he actually reports to an OB; Dr. P and she is so nice and a really great doctor too. So after each appointment he goes to her office and tells everything we talked about and makes sure he isn't forgetting anything.

Today's appointment was pretty funny. I happened to be in the room right next to Dr. P's office. So I could hear EVERYTHING they were talking about. 
Dr. P: "Does she want to do the amniocentesis?" 
Dr.F: "I will ask her... what would be a reason she would want to get it? I just want to have a good answer ready incase she asks me because she really know what she's talking about. *haha* She probably knows just as much as I do."
It was about this point my nurse, Ruth heard and closed my door. It made me laugh, and to a certain degree it's probably true. I know my body, I know what my labors are like, I know what delivery is like. He's never delivered a baby and I'm sure he probably will before I have my baby but even if he didn't - I wouldn't mind. I feel like the entire clinic is keeping their eye on us. :)

Another fun thing that happened at the appointment is that Dr. P told me they just got in a new ultrasound machine and haven't been able to try it out. Would I mind if she and a couple other doctors went to see how it worked? I said sure! We headed down and across the hall to the part of the building that was being renovated and found the machine. I don't know why it was different than any other machine but we got to see our beautiful baby and see the heartbeat. 175 beats per minute. I even got a picture!

It's the bean looking thing in the top right corner. It's a profile shot of the left side of her. The round part is obviously her head, then her back and her little legs. Aww, she's so cute!
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I headed over to the hematologist after my appointment today and had a couple dozen veils of blood drawn. They are going to do a special in-depth look at my antibodies since I am classified as having a antibody disorder. I don't know if you remember that Iris had some issues when she was born - besides being jaundiced, she also had some blood cell issues which were from my blood creating an Iris antibody and trying to kill her. Yikes! It's a little bit like RH Negative, but not exactly so it doesn't really show up the same way... I guess.

I do sadly have to be deemed "high risk pregnancy" and so I am going to also be seen by the Maternal Fetal Medicine office in the hospital. This is sad news because it's more appointments, but good news because it's also a TON of ultrasounds (hello baby!) and having some really great hands on care. 

I am having extra pokes and prods and part of me does not want that. I like having my babies natural. I like having my babies the way my body wants to have them, but we have had a daughter who was still born and now I've had two premature babies (Sam @35 weeks and Iris @ 34 weeks) and the three other kid were preterm, which just means under 40 weeks. So the other part of me is comforted knowing and putting my trust in them that everything is going to be alright... and if it isn't alright, it's not because of something I didn't do. It's because it was meant to be. So I can let the worry go and be anxiety free... *ahem* I SAID I CAN BE ANXIETY FREE. I sure hope my brain heard me!

However - I will not be pushed around and I am not going to be talked into having procedures or tests that I do not want to have.

Now if only I didn't give away ALL of my baby things... oh well, I don't mind shopping!

Comments

  1. Yaaaay I'm so glad you went with the docs I suggested. They are awesome :)

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