Monday, October 29, 2012

3rd Midwife appt

16 weeks, 5 days

Sorry I haven't been posting much lately.  Nothing much was going on until today's appt.  I've just been thinking about how lucky I am to have this little Appleseed, all day long!

Oh, other than this strange burst of energy I had this weekend!  THAT was awesome.  I was like, "I must organise the shoes.  The shoes must be organised." and I spent the next several hours doing just that.  Amazing.  I'm the type (for at least the last few months, but even in general) to think I should do something about those shoes...but then not actually do anything for a few years.

So without further ado, the Q&A from my appointment today.

Me:  Can I have hot showers?  And I'm talking really hot showers here?  I like it when my scalp kinda burns.
Marvelous Midwife:  Yes.  Just don't soak in a hot tub for a long time.

Good!  That's what I thought, I just wanted to hear it from her so I don't feel guilty.  I love hot winter showers.  She said I can soak my feet in the hot tub at NYE (should I be somewhere that has one).

Me: Will you do a vitamin K injection after bith?
MM:  Yes.  Not required but highly recommended. The antibiotic ointment in the eyes is mandatory by law.

Good.  I'm down with that.  I'm not really fussed over the eye ointment, even though I think it will be unnecessary.

Me:  If I have an emergy C-section, is 2-layered suturing standard?
MM:  Totally.

Good!  I had read some scary stuff, but she says single layer suturing was only a fad for about 5 years and no one does that anymore.

Me:  If we go to the hospital, am I allowed to eat/drink?
MM:  Yes - unless you're being prepped for a C-section.

Good.  Makes sense.  I'm a huge eater (and protein with every snack).  I can't see doing the whole labour thing without at least some eating in the beginning part.  I can't see making it without food.

Me:  Will you oil my perineum with olive oil during labour?
MM:  Yes!  And hot compresses!  It feels good for you.  Baby comes out a bit oily.

Good.  I had read it can reduce tearing.  I dig it.  Aim is for pain before baby comes, not after. 

I then asked a bunch of questions about shoulder dystocia (thinking of poor baby Hebrews).  She assured me she has had at least 50 babies delivered whose shoulders got stuck, and they got them all out without any permanent damage to the babies.

She did mention she broke a baby's collar bone the other day getting it out.  Um.  Scary.  She said it is ok and the baby heals easily.  But still.  Scary.  But at that point they have to get out, no two ways about it.  Too late for C-section or anything.

My blood pressure is excellent (which I already sort knew, because I check it at the drug store for fun whenever we go), no protein in my urine, my glucose level (by pee stick) is fine.  Appleseed's ticker is clocking in at 150 bpm - excellent! :)

Our big ultrasound (aka, the sexy one) will be in ~2-3 weeks.  :)  The MM swears this ultrasound tech is super wonderful, which I like.  I've had my fair share of ultrasounds, and I know in general the techs say noting and leave you lying there trying to poke them for info, which they tend to give grudgingly and confusingly.

I just can't believe we've made it so far!  I feel so lucky.  But lucky isn't the right word.  It's more than that.

Sunday, October 28, 2012

Choline important for IF and PG

16weeks, 4 days

So I was tooling around the WAP site, reading about home-made formula, when I stumbled upon the importance of choline in the diet for pregnancy.

What was this?  I've never heard of choline!

So I did some reading  online, and it turns out choline is super important for brain development of the fetus.  Very interesting.

But the articles ALSO mentioned it can be linked to Infertility as well!  PARTICULARLY FOR THOSE WHO DON'T EAT EGGS.  [jb?]

So.  I plan to rush out and get some soon.  Pretty much the only way to get enough choline is to eat liver.  And I just can't.  I hates it. 

Monday, October 15, 2012

Buns

14 weeks, 5 days

Well, I officially announced at work!  And because I'm a huge cheeseball, this is how I did it:



From: *
Sent: Monday, October 15, 2012 7:16 AM
To: *
Subject: I figured I'd bring in some Cinnamon Buns....

…since I’ve got a bun in the oven!


They are by the printer, help yourself!

Cheers!




Hahha - it was funny!  I have been planning this for like 2 years.  :)  DH and I had big plans with the cinnamon buns last week, but I was too sick to go to work, so we had to freeze them until today.  It was kind of fun, immediately a bunch of people converged on my desk.  I found out another lady (who shares the same last name - this is totally common for Chinese people, but coming from my unique Germanic last name, to me it is quite fun) is also pg (with her 3rd!).

In other work gossip, our layoff rumours have hit the big time - wall street journal is reporting it (not just tech blogs), and it is picked up on Reuters.  This isn't of itself news, but rumours that the RIF is going to hit our site hardest IS news.  That would be bad.  It will be in 3-10 days - I'll keep you posted!

And here I am finally not hating work so much!  I am guessing finding a job in my field in this City while pg is not going to be easy.  It sounds like fun to be off for my pregnancy, but...$$$ will get tight, I am guessing.

Thursday, October 11, 2012

Sock Monkey! (He's crafty!)

14 weeks, 1 day

DH just finished the most cutest adorable SOCK MONKEY ever!  A little while ago this was just a pair of socks I had!






This will be Appleseed's first toy!  Amazing, right?  I am not crafty - but I am so glad my DH is!  :)

In other news, I have a raging head cold, I've been out for a few days.  Poot.

Monday, October 8, 2012

Happy Thanksgiving!

13 weeks 4 days

Happy Thanksgiving!!!

We've had most of our thanksgivings already!  Last night was Thanksgiving at my Uncle's (mmmm...good turkey, and the best pumpkin pie I've had in years!)  , so we got to tell the family - we'd been waiting for this big announcement.  The floodgates are now open, so to speak.  (As my cousin put it - "I'm going to tell everyone I know, ok?")

That was fun.  My cousin and his wife have officially started to TTC, she has super bad endo, so I was kind of worried the news wouldn't be so exciting for her... but it turns out she was sick and didn't make it.  Which isn't good of course, but allows her to process the information on her own, which I always preferred.  They are building a super cute house that will be ready in a few weeks, and they've been majorly stressed about that, I hope things settle down for them after they've moved. 

Haha, when ever we come back to my home City, I always try to convince DH we should move here.  We had another debate about it yesterday, and he was having none of it!  See, the things is houses are SO MUCH CHEAPER here I wouldn't have to go back to work if we lived here...but still DH would have to get a job, and jobs are sort of hard to get here, thus the cheap houses.  But it would be fun.

And going to church at my old church was soooo fun!  It has a totally different vibe than my big-City church.  A lot of the people have known me since I was like 4, and another bunch since I was like 15.  That's nice.

Oh, we told our good friends on Friday night, that was super fun.  She has two adorable kids, and I'm looking for lots of advice from her.  They already have begun to press baby things on us - scary!  But they are moving soon, no point moving baby things to their new house (their youngest is 2.5 years).  We specifically are too scared to buy any baby stuff yet, this will be the first....yikes.

Monday, October 1, 2012

Due date moved!

All about pg:

12 weeks, 1 5 days
My due date is now April 10th (was April 15th).  4 days closer to meeting Appleseed!  Haha - I know it doesn't work like that, but I feel as if there is some bonus.  :)

Today's checkup with our Marvelous Midwife was super fun.  Some highlights:

  • I asked if "contractions" can be called "rushes".  She was cool with that.  I'm reading the Ina May book, and she uses the term birthing rushes instead of contractions.  Never having done this, a 'contraction' sounds scary and painful to me, but a 'birthing rush' sounds like something maybe I can do.  So rushes it is.  :)
  • We asked how we tell our family doc about this, what is the process?  She said we should call and tell them I have a midwife, and that I will be in for my 8 wk well baby appt, but she'll handle the baby's care up to 6 wks.  She said sometimes they will ask me to bring the baby in at 3 days, and I should decline.  Easy peasy - no way I'm bringing a 3 day old infant into a sick house!  (unless of course there is some drama, but then we'd call the midwife who would come to our house)
  • I told her I'm planning on 'doing the month'/lying in - aka, Appleseed and I stay home for the first month.  Only problem is the 2 week baby checkup is scheduled to be in the clinic.  Right away she was like, "No prob, I'll just come to your house."  Yay!  I was worried I would be imposing and asking a favour, but she was totally ok with it, and seemed to think it was a really good idea to do.
  • I told her we are hoping to do a hypnobirthing class.  She had an immediate strong reaction - she was a huge fan.  She said she hasn't seen any other method that is as effective.  Great!  And I found a class that is ~10 min walk from our house (right by Church, actually), so that will be super convenient.
  • Also I asked about the prenatal classes they run at the centre - we can sign up for the Feb or March classes.  We're just going to check our schedule.
  • I was somewhat concerned that last ultra sound (18 weeks) would be too early to see if I had placenta previa - but she assured me it is not.  Placenta could move, but wouldn't go down after then if it was ok.
  • We asked about cord blood banking.  She wasn't a huge fan.  She mentioned the blood really only lasts about year or so, and she has another client who works in the industry who didn't even save her own cord blood (who had her baby like 2 weeks ago).  She encouraged us to do more research.
Then we heard the Appleseed's heartbeat!  160!  Loves!  :)   That was fun.  She checked my blood pressure and whatnot - which happens to be excellent.  Great!

Then onto Vietnam...
We told her our new concerns.  She basically said she (of course) can't make the decision for us.  She did say if it was her, she'd go.

Here's some new info leaning me to 'no' though -
I will be travelling when I'm ~21 weeks to ~27 weeks.  If I go into super early labour, a baby born in Toronto could survive (albeit with potentially major birth defects).  A baby born in Vietnam will not.
Ouch.

Appleseed grows

Lilypie Maternity tickers