The Irony of Weight

We are at 29 weeks. I only have 9 more weeks of work and 10 weeks till Wee Smith greets us. Thursday was a marathon of appointments, 4 in one day. Wee Smith is at an ample 2lbs 9 ounces which is at the 42 percentile, and for its small tummy and Omphalocele this is good. Everything else for the baby remained status quo, it is having its own dance party in my belly. As Wee gets bigger not only do I feel the kicks but also just the movements. I think it has taken to leaning on my right side of my belly.

The only thing different was my weight. For those who know me I am 5 foot nothing and curvy to boot. I have never had a problem gaining weight, my downfall has always been chips. So this pregnancy has been somewhat ironic on the weight gaining thing. Despite my increase in the amount of snacks I consume and reveling in chip goodness I have somehow managed to NOT balloon out. This may be partly due to the fact that from early on I haven't been able to eat a lot, at least not in one sitting, as the food just sits there. So the workaround is to eat smaller meals/snacks more frequently. Monday to Friday I have a snack 9 am, 10 am, 11 am, 2 pm and 3pm, and lunch somewhere in there. Weekends are more unpredictable, but M is always carrying snacks for me. Imagine my surprise then when I was told I lost weight. And let me just say it was just one pound over 2 weeks. I got a lecture from both the nurse and the doctor. You think I had some sort of eating disorder. Maybe I lost the weight because I was sick with the cold for a week, maybe the baby is just sucking all my nutrients with its mixed martial arts practicing I am convinced it is doing in my belly. Who knows, what I do know is these medical professionals really take their weight gaining seriously.
And I tried to take it seriously, only to have it blow up in my face. On Friday I tried to up what I ate during my evening meal and the result...heartburn. But not just for a couple of hours, the whole night, I was popping those tums like they were going out of style. And sleeping on the recliner is not fun but the alternative of trying to lay on my side was too painful. What have I learned, I rather listen to my body then the medical staff, I may get a lecture but at least I won't be ill. et tu heartburn!

Being Sick and Pregnant the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

What started off as a annoying need to continuously clear my throat on Thursday afternoon, snowballed into and evil cold. I took Friday off hoping it was all in my head, and in fact after sleeping most of the morning I was starting to feel better in the afternoon. Then the crippling heartburn hit. I quickly forgot about my cough as all I could feel was the elephant sitting on my chest and back. Don't know how those imaginary elephants manage to do both simultaneously but either way it was a painful afternoon. I also don't know what took me so long to get my self to the pharmacy to buy some relief I think I endured 3 hours of heart burn before I went. Thanks A.G for the Tums advice, since I can't take my usual go to heart burn drug of choice.

The weekend did not get better. After awhile my sides hurt from all the coughing and the sneezing was worse since there is more force in them. Every time I would go into coughing fit I would brace my tummy. Don't know why I felt I had to do this. On Monday, another sick day I noticed the blood in my cough. Its wasn't a lot by any means. FYI if you aren't pregnant a few teaspoons of blood coughing up because you are sick is no need to panic. Having never had blood before I called Telehealth. They told me head to the doctors. I guess pregos are more prone to blood clots so they want to rule that out, and here I was worried about bronchitis, how naive am I. After some x-rays,  I had to wear extra gear around the Wee Smith so it doesn't come out radioactive, I was all clear. Still don't look forward to coughing or sneezing but I am on the mend.

So to recap
Bad: being sick can't use drugs
Good: how quickly doctors see you when you are pregnant x-rays and all
Ugly: Having to cough up blood.

12 More Weeks

I feel that we can start counting down instead of counting up. Last week's ultrasound appointment went better then I expected. I didn't freak out when yet again the technician checked with the doctor about the ultrasound. In the end it wasn't anything about the baby and at this point that is a good thing. Also the cyst/growth at the base of the baby's umbilical cord had shrunk so this again is good news. I get a break this week from visiting any type of Health care provider but plenty of phone calls to arrange more visits. Next week, along with yet another ultrasound we are also meeting with the Neonatologist. This is a doctor who cares for newborn infants especially the ill and premature. I hope Wee Smith will only fall into one category. So I have heard this is a very important visit and scary as well as they tell try to prepare you for the worst. No sugar coating. Both M and I will be going to this one together. Strength in numbers.
Lastly I just wanted to say how much I appreciate the perinatal nurses at the General. In particular Nurse N. She is truly an amazing person. Both M and I felt that she goes beyond the call of duty. She always has a smile for you and a hug if required. She makes it easier to keep going back to the High Risk Unit.

Week 26: Still hate ultrasounds

I find it is never a good sign when the technician first checks with you to make sure you are immediately seeing a doctor after the ultrasound appointment, and second tells you that they just need to check with the doctor to see if more pictures/scans are needed. In comes a doctor...never a good sign I find. Apparently they have found some things that they wish to monitor more closely. One the heart, it apparently is at a different angle from my last ultrasound three weeks ago. So now my fetal echcocardiogram gets moved to next week instead of two weeks from now. The other thing they found is a cyst of sorts near the umbilical cord which pools blood. Both seemed to puzzle the doctors. At this point no alarms are going off at the MFM clinic, everyone seems calm and they have suggested another ultrasound next week instead of the usual three weeks. Not sure if I should worry yet. The good news, at this point, is that blood flood through the umbilical cord is not impeded by the cyst as they could see that clearly in the ultrasound. The second good news is the heart rate and blood flow through the chambers appear normal. I am trying to focus on that part of the appointment. Needless to say this is why I hate ultrasounds. Till next week we sit and wait.

Update: Okay so when I wrote this originally it was Thursday. I didn't have the heart to post it as it still left a lot of questions unanswered.  Today I went for the fetal echocardiogram. The doctor basically said the heart looks good they can't see any faults in it. Yes it is angled different but that is expected because of the negative pressure from the Omphalocele. Once the Wee one is born it will go through some more test because the heart functions differently in utero as opposed to once it is born. But the take away message is the heart is okay.

Happy New Year

As we celebrated the New Year we celebrated 25 weeks. Only 14 more to go. I have given Wee Smith specific instructions to stay in there as long as possible. In the mean time we have been preparing giving up our office so that it can be a nursery. The spare room will now double as our office. It is really great to have M around seeing as he can build most things. He will be building the crib at a later date. But for now we are purging and organizing to get the nursery empty and ready for baby things.

It is crazy how much this kid has grown. I don't need ultrasound measurements to tell me that. I can feel the Wee one when it moves around and switches position. Lately it still likes to lay transversely preferring to have its head on my right side and feet on my left side. Any position is fine as long as it stays away from my bladder. I have already experienced a few of those kicks and the word debilitating comes to mind.  It still does not kick on command but M now can regularly feel it kicking. I am waiting for the day that it kicks Trouble the cat while she herself is lying on me.

Next week another ultrasound, glucose test, and later this month fetal echo cardiogram. They still are monitoring Wee for heart issues. Better safe the sorry. Amazing what modern medicine can do.
Happy New Year.

Week 23: I hate Ultrasounds

So yesterday I had my regular appointment and of course another ultrasound. I really don't look forward to ultrasounds. I usually can't sleep the night before because I fret if they are going to find something new. I know we are out of the woods relatively speaking but I still can't help but feel what if they find something new this time around. Needless, to say it went well...I mean the Omphalocele is still there and the liver is still in it but otherwise the baby is doing well. The joke is that the baby has a beer belly and hence the liver wants to boycott the body due to its beer belly issues. = ) You have to find humor in the situation.We also found out that the Beckwith Wiedemann syndrome test results came back negative so more good news.

Next on the people to meet & greet, and new appointments list is 1. Fetal Echo-cardiogram: to monitor how the baby's ticker is doing. Although the anatomy scan showed all is well the recommendation came from both the surgeon and genetic counselor. 2. Meet with the anesthesiologist: I didn't think you would meet with them till D-day but I guess when you know you are having a planned c-section it is part of the entourage of people you meet.

And I saved the best for last. While I have been feeling the baby kick for a while they haven't been strong enough to feel them on the outside. That changed last week when I could start feeling them outward but Wee Smith isn't a trick pony and won't do it on command. But this morning M. felt the baby kick for the first time. I thought that was pretty cool!

Family Christmas Party

Yesterday we went to a family Christmas party on the Smith side. It was the first time we would see everyone since we found out about the Omphalocele. So it would give us an opportunity to explain to some of what we have gone through. It went a lot better then I expected. I also think it was easier to share all this news at this time seeing that all the test had come back in our favour and we know that this thing is repairable. Better to let people know that yes the news sucks but its operable. 
Even better was the pool that one amazing cousin started. For a twooney ($2) you got to choose a date when you think Wee will be born and guess its sex (ha ha we already know DNA doesn't lie but we aren't sharing this news till Wee Smith is born).
The prize is bragging rights and a tax receipt in their name. The money will be matched by M & me as well as that amazing cousin T&M and given to CHEO. I couldn't ask for a better sign of support.