Jade's 30th Week Sonogram

Finally some news and answers!!!

Today was the day I would get my 30 weeks sonogram for the purpose of determining the exact position of my placenta. If you have followed this blog for a little while, you probably know that my 20 weeks sonogram had shown a complete placenta previa, which placed me among the "risk pregnancies" and I had to follow stricter guidelines in terms of the movements and level of effort I could do, to avoid any potential risks of a hemorrhage.

What this sonogram showed is that the placenta is now completely clearing the cervix and sitting at a very safe distance from it. What this means, is that mother and baby are completely healthy and back on the track of a normal pregnancy, with no reason for scheduling a cesarean birth prior to the first contractions.

Other conclusions we can draw from this echography are that Jade:

• weighs 4 lbs 7 oz, which is the normal size of a 33 weeks old fetus (yes, she is THAT big already)
• the OB/Gyn says there is no doubt she will be well over 9 lbs.
• she has a full head of hair
• her head is low (mommy is very proud of that - please keep it down)

I am overwhelmed with joy.

Water, I missed you!!!

Don't believe the chinese horoscope when it claims I'm a Metal Monkey.
Disreguard my astrological sign, Virgo, being considered under the influence of Earth...
Maybe there is some truth hidden behind my rising sign (Cancer)...

I've always felt my element to be Water.

As a kid, some of my best memories were by the beach (a very cold beach, I'll give you that) and I would pride myself into braving the big waves despite the cold... Early on, I remember fantasizing that I was a mermaid far more often than dreaming about being a princess. Then, I watched that movie called "La grenouille et la baleine", in which the heroin, was a young girl who befriended a whale and would make her sing by playing her recorder underwater. That movie made me dream that, I, also, was a daughter of the sea, and that my heart beated to the rythm of the waves.

When I first heard about death rituals and how some people who opted to be cremated would sometimes ask that their ashes would be flown with the wind... I remember my first reaction to this was that I would so much rather have MY ashes thrown into the ocean, if it ever came to it!

Entering adolescence, I progressed with different levels of swimming lessons until I became a swimming instructor and a lifeguard. Then, I thought, what next?

In college, I joined the swimming team and got completely bummed. I had never been a very competitive person and it turned my love and passion for water into a repetitive, solitary exercice. I quit and never looked back.

Until, a couple of years ago... I certified as an open water diver and had a few interesting dives in Australia and New Caledonia... The wonders of the ocean were smiling back at me... but all that gear and equipment made me feel very far from the mermaid I used to be.

Yesterday evening, I finally took a first step into reconciliating with the municipal pool. I took the car and drove there to just relax and get my legs moving in the water again... It was me, the big belly, the awkward bikini and the element: Water. I forgot about everyone else around me. I got my hands on a spaghetti shaped floater and just let myself float and move my legs for a little while... Gently! I've been warned to go easy with my CPP (Complete Placenta Previa)...

I had SO MUCH FUN. I feel my back got a good stretch and it got some blood pumping in my lower legs. Did I mention that feeling light as a feather and free like a bird was just the right kind of mental treatment for this mom to be? My belly was weightless and I could feel like a mermaid again... FREEDOM!!!

I was planning to go every Monday and Wednesday nights because the schedule is convenient for me on those nights, but... I might still work my way around to going again tonight!!!

I also have a slight feeling that Jade will also be a water baby...

One thing is certain: I'll make sure she gets the exposure she needs to develop her basic swimming skills at an early age! Then, the rest will be up to her.

Getting exercise back in my life

I'm still confused after my Friday exam with Dr. House...

While Dr. Jekyll thought I should stop all exercise and sport with the exception of walking (due tocomplete placenta previa), House didn't seem to have a problem with any exercise or sport as long as they are not extreme or give me too many contractions. Uh.

When 2 doctors disagree, I try not to fall into the trap of choosing the opinion I like best. Whenever in doubt, I'll play it safe and will rely on the specialists' opinion that was most conservative and cautious. On the other hand, my reasoning is that maybe incorporating some physical activity into my weekly routine would not be a bad idea at all. For me. For my baby.

I think the safest sport I can try to practice at the moment, besides walking, would be swimming.

It seems to meet all the restrictions given by Dr. Jekyll (i.e.: low-impact, no risk of falling, can be performed at a "slow" pace, no jumping). Also, I am expecting it to be less risky than most activities to carry-on into the 3rd trimester since water reduces the effects of gravity and swimming implies an almost completely horizontal position (I was told I might be asked to go on bedrest at some point if the baby's weight on my placenta was to trigger bleeding).

In terms of benefits, I probably don't need to repeat that it's good for cardio, toning, flexibility, endurance, etc. but I'm most of all hoping it will help me get a better circulation in my legs. They are starting to change colour and I'm not so pleased about that.

My new resolution is to try to go for a one hour swim every Monday and Wednesday evening and see how it goes.

Baby steps...

Leg Massage

Was I to email this video to DF, do you think he would take on the hint?

Lol.

...but a girl can dream... right?

Placenta what?

Previa. Or praevia in French. That's what the doc said today...

Today = 20 week and 6 days
Follow-up = 8h15 am
Time of actual follow-up = 9h05-9h10?
Doctor on duty = Dr. Jekyll

New nurse. She's just as nice as the other one. She informs me that Dr. Jekyll is the one I will be seeing today...

Sigh.

...and that Dr. Dougy has left the team of OBs, so we are down to 3 and I haven't met the other 2.

Sigh.

The visit

Dr. Jekyll was particularly nice today. Just as nice as when she saw me for the dating ultrasound, worried that there would be no HB (heartbeat)... She is full of surprises.

Q: About my lab results..? (gestational diabetes, thyroid, hepatitis, chlamydia, bla bla bla)?
A: Yes, everything was perfect and your blood type is A+

Q: About my frequent nightmares..?
A: It's very common and normal during pregnancy and there's nothing much you can do about the dreams themselves. If it causes you to not sleep enough, you can take the sleeping pills I prescribed you to get a good night sleep when needed.

Q: About my frequent hickupping..?
A: Again, very normal and common during pregnancy and it is caused by your digestion beign slower and less efficient. There is nothing you can or should do about it and it poses no threat or problems to the baby.

Now, she proceeded to telling me a bit more about the 20 weeks ultrasound I had last week. Said everything looked good but she asked me if the tech had told me about my placenta... I casually answered that she had, without really telling me the implications of it.

(What the tech had told me is that my placenta was in front. That it was frequent and would only make me feel the baby kicks "less" on my belly...)

Dr. Hyde explained to me that I had a placenta previa. And that my placenta was not only forward and low but it was also completely covering the opening to my cervix.

Uh.

In lame terms, it's currently obstructing the doorway, but as my uterus grows into the third trimester, it might no longer be the case... Which is why I will need to pass another ultrasound between weeks 30 and 32 to see whether the situation has changed.

Q: But what will then happen if it is still covering my cervix in the third trimester?

...preparing for the bomb...

A: Then you will be on preventative rest (off work) and we will not let you try to give birth naturally, this means you will be scheduled for a ceasarian.

Ouch. Hmmm... Alright. I can live with that.

In the meanwhile, it also means you will have to take it very seriously and run to the hospital if you see any amount of bleeding. Tell them you have a placenta previa and they will take care of you ASAP.

To prevent the bleedings, you have to take it easy on shocks and abrupt exercice such as aerobics, jumps, many doctors will also tell you to refrain from sex...

Did I just hear that?

...but sex has not been proven to have a direct impact on it so I have my doubts, but still mention it to my patients just in case.
=======

Then we listened to the HB and I was off to work, a little confused about that news. I'm not worried, yet, should I be?

Medical follow-up #2

We went to my second medical appointment this morning.

First checked in for some blood tests and then went to see the OB-Gyn nurse for standard questions before seeing the doc.

16 weeks & 1 day pregnant
weight: 197lbs (+2.5 lbs since first exam, still 3 lbs under my pre-pregnancy weight)
blood pressure: normal

Then we sat in the hall waiting for the OB-gyn to arrive... I was her first appointment of the day but she got there 45 minutes late.

The clinic I'm followed by is a CLSC, and the way they are doing it is with a team of 4 OBs who take turns at seeing me and it guarantees me that one of them will be the one helping me with the delivery.

Meet the team of OBs:

1. A young, kind woman I felt confortable with but who might lack in experience... she sent me for an ultrasound when she couldn't find the baby's heart with the doppler at first appointment.
2. Another young, kind woman who passed me the ultrasound when the heartbeat was not heard at first appointment.
3. No information yet
   
4. No information yet

So the appointment of this morning was with OB #2. When she finally got there, she was a completely different person than the first time I'd met her... I first thought of her as a lovely person and now... well...

She's complaining that her colleague was inexperienced with sampling for chlamydia testing so she'll have to take another sample. When I ask her if there's a way we can find out the heart rate from the first ultrasound (I thought it might be written in the file or something) she acted if I was wasting her time with silly questions. She only said it was useless and stupid to think it could help predict the baby's gender and that she didn't have it. I responded that I didn't mind that it was irrelevant to her, I would have been interested to know the heartrate anyways.

I went on the table for the routine examination and she took another sample for the chlamydia test.

She then took the doppler and found the baby's heart pretty fast... It was our first time hearing it but she didn't even smile or comment on it. Again, she didn't bother taking the heartrate and I was too intimidated to count it in front of her. DF (a musician) thinks it sounded close to 120bpm so I'm gonna go with that for now...

When she asked if we had other questions she could answer...

1. I asked what I could expect from the next visit... It's my first pregnancy and I don't know if all appointments are created equal or if there are important milestones along the road to which DF would prefer being there with me. ANSWER: All appointments are important. What MORE would you like us to measure during an appointment?
2. Then DF decided to ask her about the muscular contractions I've been getting a lot recently. It's only a tightening of my uterus that lasts for 3-4 seconds and is painless but it seems to happen everytime I sneeze from a sitting position... Because they are painless it never worried me and I was blaming the body transformation for those hiccups... ANSWER: Those are NOT contractions. Those are nothing.
3. I then asked about the gender identification and she said it would all be done at the 20 weeks exam and again complained about the fact OB #1 did not send the request for an appointment to the hospital so she's gonna have to send the request.
   

She looked very impatient and did not provide answers to our questions so we gave up and left. I was pretty irritated and disappointed because my first impression was so different of her. I think for the purposes of thiss blog I will refer to my 4 OBs by nicknames instead of numbers and this one just got herself the nickname Dr. Jekyll.

So we now have:

1. Dr. Doogie - the inexperienced one
   
2. Dr. Jekyll - the one with multiple personnality disorder
3. Dr. ? - will be evaluated in time
   
4. Dr. ? - will be evaluated in time
   

I'm curious about meeting the other 2 now...

There, I just did it again!

The last post was about how sorry I was to not give news about my pregnancy, and, it turned into a soap opera of what we're going through as a young couple dealing with teen issues.

AND I FORGOT TO GIVE THE PREGNANCY UPDATE.

Lol. I least I admit it, right?

This morning, I went to the CLSC to have my blood and urine sampled for analysis. The doc forgot to tell me to not eat in the 12 hours prior to those tests so, sure enough, I'll have to return for 2 of them, before my next appointment.

I then took the opportunity to make the appointment for my 2nd visit - which was completely forgotten when dealing with the "no-heartbeat-situation" of last visit:

My next appointment is on Friday Dec. 18th at 9h10 (I will be 14 weeks and 5 days pregnant by then).

Other than this, I've noticed my weight is finally starting to move a bit: I've gained every pound I had lost since the beginning of my pregnancy. This morning, I was back at the very round number of 200 lbs, but I've had a few too many "big heavy meals" recently so I'm not sure it'll stay up for very long when my diet comes back to normal.

On this note, this is the image of what our 12 weeks old fetus looks like.

Sweet sixteen

Being the main caretaker of my 16 years old nephew is a responsibility that comes with its share of joy, pride and sense of accomplishment, but its not always easy.

2 weeks ago, his very much improved behavior took a 90 degrees turn for the worse.

In those 2 weeks, he broke most rules of the house on numerous occasions and that string of bad deeds was crowned on Wednesday afternoon by a visit from police officers in school, to search his locker. Sure enough, they found what they were looking for and he got a 3 days suspension for substance abuse and possesion in school.

It just seems like consequences have no impact on him anymore. He just got used to losing all priviledges and doesn't try to get them back. Rewards don't work great either. So what do you do with a donkey that won't move despite the carrot and the stick?

You push him? We can't do this all the time. We can't live his life for him. At some point he has to change his ways and I'm hoping he will realise it sooner than later.

All the while, I'm 11 weeks pregnant and not supposed to worry too much right? I should not let this affect my mood and have to learn to manage this kind of stress better. When it happened, however, this is how I felt like managing my stress:


Ahhhh... those things cartoons can get away with!!! :)

Instead, I contacted a social worker and can't wait to hear from her...

2 days before D day

Welcome to the dark side. If you are allergic to whining, skip this post. I'm making myself vulnerable by transposing my yesterday's thoughts here and they are clearly not rational, or positive.

I didn't come to work yesterday. I was sick.

I'm not too sure what was wrong with me exactly but I couldn't sleep the night before and I've felt like crap all day long, trying to take naps in between my trips to the bathroom.

Not. Cool.

What made it even worse was the worry that came with it. If I keep throwing up and being sick, is it because I'm about to miscarry? If not, could it lead to a miscarriage?

11 weeks is an awful long period of waiting before you get a first medical consultation about your pregnancy. Only one word comes to mind: torture.

So yes, I was weak and could barely eat anything yesterday, and was extremely tired, and I'm guessing all of those combined with my newfound hormones have contributing to my first meltdown.

Meltdown or anxiety attack? Are they really that different? I can't tell what it was but I had a few good episodes of crying my heart out yesterday and couldn't see how I would be able to wait those 3 extra days until my first exam.

At the end of the day I had a nursery decorating chit chat with DF which really helped my mood. I went to bed at 9 pm. There it was: my first weird dream in a few weeks...

The stolen foetus

I don't remember the details of it but I was pregnant. Awfully pregnant and on the verge on giving birth. I remember that in this dream, there was a woman I know from work, who is higher than me on the food chain and who I had a small problem with a few months ago, but I've never felt completely confortable around her since. In my dream, that women was always around me and pressuring me to give birth already! She was so very impatient and I didn't know what it was all about. It left me with the general impression that I was carrying her child and she was dying to take it away from me once it is born. However, it's like nobody had told me that I was carrying her child instead of mine so I was very confused and scared as to why she wouldn't just leave me and my unborn child alone !!!

The aftermath

I still got up this morning, felling better than yesterday and hopefully worse than tomorrow, and went to work.

I was able to keep my food down and had no other meltdowns. I felt silly for having them yesterday too but I'm seriously not a patient girl and hate surprises especially when I know I have to wait a long time for them to unveil.

Guess what? That's my body telling me I'm not in control anymore and no matter how much I want to find out sooner that everything is alright, I have to play my body's game and follow its rules. Tough luck girl! You'll learn patience the hard way if that's what it takes.

Only 2 days before my exam now... It still looks like an eternity but 2 days is more pleasant to the ear than 3.

Update on that H1N1 vaccine...

The coupon

DF did not have work today so that left me with the flexibility to steal the car at 6AM to go get my coupon.

I got there at 6h03AM, and was moving bumper to bumper until I saw a lady who asked me to roll my window down and tell me in which high risk group I was.

• Me - I'm pregnant
• Lady - Do you want a day or evening appointment?
• Me - Evening
• Lady - Here's your coupon, see you at 17h30 tonight!

I drove off. 6h13AM... Still have a good 50 minutes or so before taking my bus to work... Time to celebrate with a breakfast at Tim Horton's!

The vaccine

I had to leave work 20 minutes early to catch the 16h30 train. When I arrived at my hometown train station at 17h20, DF was waiting for me in the car. I gave him my train/bus card and we switched: he took the bus home and I took the car and got to the vaccination clinic for my 17h30 appointment.

• 17h30 - Arrival at the vaccination clinic
• 17h32 - A volunteer forces Purell on the hands of every person walking in the clinic (smart move), distributes a number to everyone and tells us to sit.
• 17h42 - Our group of numbers is asked to get in line for registration
• 17h50 - Done with registration, the lady asks me to follow another volunteer into the pregnant and immunodeficient room. I'm waiting there with 3 other pregnant ladies.
• 17h55 - I tell the nurse I usually do the plank after receiving shots, she brings me to the first aid room to lay down for the shot
• 18h00 - The nurse poked me with the needle. I think she might have missed because it went out so fast I didn't feel a thing. Nope. that's really all it took.
• 18h00-18h15 - Watching Toy Story with other patients who have received the shot and need to sit there for 15 minutes

That's it! I'm vaccinated. I was expecting much worse to be honest, both in terms of waiting and in terms of the needle itself. A walk in the park but I'm glad it's done now and I can sleep with one less worry on my mind.

H1N1 Vaccine

Ok, I don't remember if I mentioned it already, but I changed my mind about the vaccine... I was initially waiting to hear the vaccine was safe before taking a shot that would be potentially hazardous for the health and development of my unborn but this time has come a few weeks ago now and I was simply waiting for my turn to be invited to have the said vaccine.

Adjuvant-free vaccine for all pregnant women started today.

So, as specified on the website, I passed by the public vaccination clinic on my way back from work. The website said "if there's a line-up, you will be given a coupon to come back later" (free translation provided to you by yours truly - it was a French website). Unfortunately, this is not how things went.

We drove among a crowd of cars parked and double parked on both sides of the industrial road and finally noticed the huge line-up of people waiting outside the building. As we drove forward, we were greeted by some guy wearing an orange jacket:

• Orange guy - Can I see your coupon please?
• DF - No, we're here to "get" a coupon
• Orange guy - Sorry you'll have to come back tomorrow at 6am for a coupon.
• DF - uh, really? Ok then, thanks anyways...

...and that is how I did not get vaccinated tonight. I don't know if I'll show up at 6 tomorrow morning, it seems really early and I have to get the car back to DF before he leaves for work (I take the train). It just seems much more complicated than I had anticipated...

***Update*** No, I did not get up earlier this morning to go get my coupon, I'm planning to do it tomorrow while DF doesn't need the car since he's got a holiday on Remembrance Day.

Am I pregnant or sleepwalking?

(8 weeks and 1 day pregnant)

Pregnancy is not what I was expecting so far...

I was ready to fight morning sickness, mood swings, painful breasts and the super nose and skin glow.

WRONG. Not for me.

My breasts are not-so-sored. No morning sickness yet. I have been more sensitive recently but without the mood swings, and no, my skin does not glow.

What I'm experiencing goes more along the lines of Halloween (we're almost there). I feel like a spectre. I'm not moving really fast, that's when you see me move at all, I feel half asleep when people ask questions, and most of the time I don't even feel like answering them. I don't have energy to do anything and I'm overall having a real hard time focussing on anything. I feel like I'm trapped in a thick cloud of fog and though I'm trying to find my way out of it, every attempt is unsuccessful and discouradging. The only reward I get is when I give in to the tireness and sleep.

I'm not complaining though... Better sleepwalking than spending all mornings inspecting the inside of my toilet bowl!

It's a good thing my superior knows about my pregnancy or she'd think I'm really being underproductive and lazy!

On another note, in the last few days, I've started being repelled by some foods, so I haven't eaten as much as I usually would. I dropped 4 pounds. I'm not worried though. I heard it's normal to gain some OR lose some during this period and I'm sure I'll catch up on those 4 lbs soon enough.

Baby Fit?

Being overweight (I'm 5'11" tall and weight 200 lbs), I have been very careful in the last few months about what I eat and the amount of water I ingest so that I could flush some of those pounds away before getting pregnant. I've never been that obsessed about losing all the extra weight to begin with, my goal was to be healthier overall.

No change in weight. But I felt better overall so it's all good.

Then, I became pregnant... and lost 5 pounds in the first month, which were gained back shortly after. After 7 weeks and 1 day, I am exactly the same weight as before getting pregnant.

Now, the topic is a delicate one. I'm obviously not trying to lose weight while pregnant, but I want to make sure the weight I gain is healthy and that I stay on target. So, to me, eating healthy and drinking water is not enough in order to achieve that goal and I needed a soft exercise program I could easily do from home and that was built from pregnancy-friendly moves.

When I came across the Baby Fit website today, I thought, "o.k., another community of moms-to-be". But then I realized how ingeniously it was built. In there, I found:

• a weight tracker
• a water drank tracker
• an easy exercise program using no more than a swiss ball and a floor
• a suggested diet based on your BMI and your pregnancy progress
• a printable grocery list to go with your suggested diet
• a nutritional tracker in which you can enter all the portions you ate during the day + your prenatal supplements and it will show your daily nutritional intake in comparison to the recommended zone.
• a place where you can ask a question to Dr. Q. (sounds like a superhero name, no?)

Oh yes, and you find a forums and discussion groups on there as well, but I was too thrilled about the tracker to even bother looking into the forums.

So I bought a swiss ball and completed my first workout tonight as suggested on that site. I feel pretty good about this and I'm proud that I did it. I even thought the first 3 exercises out of 4 were a piece of cake, but by the time I did the 4th and last exercise, I was glad it was over. It took me about 20 minutes and was very gentle. The program suggests I should do this 3 times per week which is very manageable.

Bottom line, I'm hoping I will keep up with this new habit. It will certainly not make an athlete out of me but I'm confident that any exercise will be better than what I was doing, as long as it's safe for the pregnancy, and this is specifically designed for it so I'm in heaven. :)