Growth Ultrasound

August 19, 2013

Unfortunately Anaheim did not have any appointments available until September 5th when I called, which I said probably wont work for my doctor as he wants to know whats going on with the baby and that is a mere 3 days before my due date. So I ended up having to drive to the Santa Ana location so that I would be able to have my growth ultrasound during the week of the 18th. I was quite surprised at the lack of traffic I encountered at 5pm when driving down. I made it in plenty of time for my 630pm appointment. 

Ultrasound went fine, of course the tech can't really tell you anything. They just do the scan and send it to the Radiologist and then that person send their findings to your OB and finally your OB tells you the results. So now we wait for the results...

What's up doc?

August 13, 2003

Appointment with Dr. Y. Heart-rate of the Hutchkin is sounding good. At this point I was 36w2d but the doc said I was measuring ahead at 39 weeks. Good thing I have that growth ultrasound coming up on the 19th! Otherwise things are looking good. 

BP: 103/61 Pulse: 69

Class on Breastfeeding

August 7, 2013

I went to this class on my own, simply due to the way plans were laid out for the week. The same lady who did the first class we went to was also teaching this one, so it is a good thing Paul didn't come as he had a hard time listening to her voice the first time around. This time it seemed like she had a much better handle on speaking to a class though of course she again was heavily relying on her pre-made slides and videos. She did give some good techniques and tips to try as well as information about our "free" Obamacare breast pump (more on that later) and that some companies actually cover the cost of a double electric breast pump (I am looking into that!). I am still reading through the info pack that was given to us and while it gives good information I know that the real deal can vary greatly from the ideal.

Baby Care Basics

August 3, 2013

The second class we took was a class that discussed all of the what happens when we get home questions. Things like how to swaddle, put on a diaper, taking care of the umbilical cord nub, how to bathe the baby, circumcision care, what happens when baby is sick, what to do if the baby just keeps crying and you have tried "everything".... etc. A good majority of the information we already knew, though it was still fun to practice doing all these different things with a doll in a class full of other couples preparing to bring home their firstborns as well.

July Appointments

July 16, 2013

Appointment with Dr. Y. All is well, measuring on track and looking good. 

BP: 100/60         Pulse: 54

July 30, 2013

Appointment with Dr. Y. All is well, except that the doc said I am measuring ahead. I failed to ask 'how far' which would have been an important question if I was paying attention. He told me to call radiology and set up a growth ultrasound to check on how things are progressing. 

BP: 105/60         Pulse:54

Labor and Delivery class

It was quite interesting 'people watching' in class. It felt like the lady who was teaching the class had never spoken to a group of people before. The class itself was a what to expect overview of labor and delivery, kaiser policies, creating birth plans and a question and answer time. Not a whole lot of new information for us, but others seemed to really get something out of the class.

Follow-up : The Incident

July 1, 2013

Since my next appointment with Dr. Y wasn't in the near future before I was allowed to be discharged from the hospital I had to set up an appointment within the next week to be seen. At my follow-up we went over what happened, discussed my hospital stay, he measured the uterus and checked the baby's heart-rate (135) along with a urine sample to make sure that everything looked good there. I was informed that I was now passed the point of worry, he said that once you have made it this long (a week) past a fall that chances of something going wrong are back to what they were if the fall had never happened. This was good news and a great relief for me to hear. I was given the thumbs up that all looked good and sent on my way.

Trippin' : The Incident

June 24, 2013

After work I went and did a short workout in the gym then headed home to eat. I was feeling like I still had a good amount of energy so I decided to go for a walk around the neighborhood. As I was finishing up the last of a 2-miler I turned the corner onto our street just a couple of blocks up from the house. All of a sudden I was falling, it all happened way to fast and I was unable to even try to get my knees and hands down to protect my stomach from hitting the pavement. I was stunned, no one was around so I picked myself up and looked to see what on earth I tripped on. Stupid sprinkler head, the tip of my toe must have barley caught the thing. I held my stomach, crying, and walked the rest of the way home. I assessed the damage once home, I had some scrapes on my forearms and knees but I knew I had hit my abdomen on the pavement so I grabbed a granola bar and some water then laid down on my side and waited to feel some movement. I was only feeling some contracting and pain so I called Paul and had him come home from work. Once he got home we loaded into the car and headed for the hospital.

We were taken immediately up to labor & delivery triage, I was asked to give a urine sample and then strapped up to fetal monitors to assess movement and contractions. We got to hang out there for a couple hours. When the nurse came to check she said I was indeed having a few contractions, then had a doctor come in to do an internal exam to check and make sure I wasn't dilating. The doctor let us know that there was no dilation but because of the contractions and falling on my abdomen that she was going to admit me.  

Around 3am we were finally admitted and taken to a room in the labor & delivery ward. I was hooked up to a blood-pressure monitor, fetal monitors, boots that squeeze your legs every few seconds (to prevent clots), an IV for fluids... I had needles and cords coming out of everywhere it seemed. Someone was in to check me every 30min-1hr. If I moved and one of the monitors slightly moved someone was there re-adjusting it. Every time I started to slightly doze someone was there checking this, prodding me, taking my BP or temperature. 

At one point I realized that I couldn't make a fist with my hand and that it hurt to move it. I took it out from under the sheet and it was swollen 2-3 times its normal size. I immediately hit the call button. A nurse came in and looked at my hand, said that it seemed the fluid was backing up and not entering properly (NO KIDDING!). So she took it out and called for an anesthesiologist to come up and start a new line in my other hand. It took hours and hours for me to start to regain the ability to touch finger tip to finger tip and it was quite painful. 

So the day went on, I didn't have any bleeding and the contractions subsided to just being Braxton-Hicks. Finally the doctor came back to re-evaluate me, the baby's heart-rate looked great and with the contractions stopping and no bleeding they were talking about releasing me! 

Around 3pm it was time to blow that joint and head home for some much needed rest! Both of us crashed hard once we laid down. Who knew being in the hospital could be so exhausting. 

From then on I promised to keep the drama to zero and to stay on my feet at all times while walking.