27 Weeks! This is the week most apps and calendars and what
not claim that you are either in the first week of your third trimester or by
the end of this week you will be in your third trimester. Either or- getting
closer!
This week a lot of things got messed up as far as my doctor
appointments and scheduled tests go and there was some drama in Herkimer at my
scheduled Midwife appointment I was supposed to have. And yes, I am going to
tell you ALL about it! Brace yourselves… the good and the bad. But of course I
shall start with the bad! :)
So on Monday, I come into Bassett in Herkimer… typical
lovely ladeeda day. I come up to check in and my name is not on the list. So
the secretary looks up my info on the computer to tell me I have no appointment
today. I’m trying to explain to her that I DO have an appointment. At this time
I start second guessing maybe I got some day screwed up? So I ask her when my
appointment IS. She tells me that I have no pending appointments at all. My
last visit was a month ago and I have no upcoming appointments at all. Now I
start getting a little nervous. Not only am I supposed to have an appointment
today, but I also have my 2 hour glucose test scheduled for the following week
and both of those appointments were scheduled a month prior to this date and
hence should have been in the system. She directs me to some other secretary
man to deal with me so she can take the next person in line. This guy does the
same thing and I am trying to explain to him I DO in fact have an appointment
today and should still be having my 2 hour glucose test next week too. He is
looking at me as if I have 2 heads and just randomly came into the doctor’s
office today and made up my own appointments or something. He legit was looking
at me as if I was crazy or something and that started to get me even more
upset. I try to explain to him they printed me a paper out that summarized my
last visit from a month ago listing my both upcoming appointments. Of course I
didn’t have the paper with me because I never had an issue like this before.
Instead of trying to solve the issue he just kept looking at me and at the
screen and telling me I have no appointment.
This guy finally decided to maybe do something about it
instead of repeating the same thing over and over again to me. He asked me if I
knew the nurse who printed out the paper for me/ scheduled the appointment. Oh,
now I am supposed to remember names. This made me feel even more hopeless. He
said he was going to talk to one of the nurses and let me know. I waited for a
bit, very upset and shaky and on the verge of tears. I tried to control myself
to not look like a crazy pregnant lady who was crying over an appointment but
couldn’t help myself. The guy later came out and said they might make room for
someone to see me but I have to wait. So I waited in the waiting room, then he
called me to the check in desk again and I sat in the chair in front of him and
waited for the nurse to come out and personally talk to me to let me know
whether or not someone can see me.
I waited for about 30 minutes and started getting fidgety. I
didn’t even know if I was going to be seen today and no one even wanted to dig
into the situation as to WHY my appointments weren’t showing up in the system,
nor even consider possibly maybe rescheduling them? It was as if no one even
took into consideration that what I was telling them was anywhere close to the
truth. If it’s not in their stupid computer then there is no appointment
apparently. Several times I kept telling and asking the male secretary why my
appointments weren’t in the system and even said the exact phrase “I am not
crazy, she printed me a sheet out with the appointments.” All he kept responding
to that “You can tell the nurse that once she comes out.” AHHH!
Anyway, the nurse came out and told me appointments are not
in the system- yeah, tell me something I don’t know lady. But since I am due
for my monthly check up they are going to try to see me anyway, just not with
the midwife I was originally scheduled with, but with Dr. Gildenblatt- the
doctor who was in that day. But before they can tell me for sure if he can see
me they needed to find something out first. She also told me that I don’t have
to worry about the Glucose test I can have that done in several weeks. I told
her my glucose test was scheduled for next week and she didn’t even listen to
me. I don’t even remember if I was crying before or after this, but I was
beyond upset and did end up crying at one point already.
So, I waited some more… I don’t even remember what happened
in what order but they finally gave me an OK for Dr. Gildenblatt to see me. I
went back to the waiting room and got called- finally!!! They weighed me and
did all the typical fun stuff. When I got into one of those rooms I was venting
to the nurse how everyone was just looking at me as if I was crazy and didn’t
even want to resolve the issue at all. She measured my blood pressure and said
it was very HIGH! My blood pressure has never been measured high before… so
this was slightly creepy. She said it’s probably because I am very upset and
she won’t write this measurement in the computer and will measure it after I
see Dr. Gildenblatt, assuring me he will calm me down :)
A note about Dr. Gildenblatt- If you remember my last post
about my midwife visit… At first I was not really anticipating it because it
was the same midwife that was very mean to me after I got out of the hospital
with my kidney infection drama. I ended up giving her a chance and all worked
out, but wanted to schedule my next appointment with Dr. Gildenblatt… for
several reasons. For one I wanted to try out different doctors and perhaps end
up seeing someone I like and prefer. Also, a lot of people recommended him to
me. I wasn’t a fan of going to male doctors but thought I would give this guy a
try anyway since so many people referred him to me. When I did ask to schedule
an appointment with him, the lady who was doing the scheduling said there
weren’t any near appointments, or any appointments fitting my schedule. So she
scheduled me an appointment with the same midwife and I just decided- oh well I
will try next time. It’s just funny that aside from all this drama I ended up
seeing Dr. Gildenblatt anyway.
Anyway… back to the story. So Dr. Gildenblatt comes in. At
this point I am trying to calm myself down, because being told I have high
blood pressure made me concerned and wanted that to go back to normal. I liked
Dr. G... he was very kind and nice and took the time to ask me everything he
needed to know about me. He legit had me
give him a small autobiography about my life and health so he personally had a
better understanding of it. We listened to the heartbeat, measured my belly and
checked my blood pressure which ended up being okay later.
He requested additional blood work to check my iron and my thyroid;
he wanted to have those levels on his own file just in case and so he had exact
amounts to look at. He told me that he thinks my endocrinologist who is dealing
with my thyroid is being too cautious in
very slowly upping my dose of thyroid medication, and that in the Obstetrics
field they tend to be more forceful when it comes to this and give a bigger
dose, but before speaking too soon he wanted to check my levels.
I ended up asking him about my colostrum that a couple
friends recommended me to start saving. Some people have expressed concern that
with me collecting it I might start labor. He said that won’t happen. I need to
do some extreme non-stop nipple stimulation in order to do that so what I was
doing won’t do a thing. But- he also said that collecting my colostrum right
now is pointless because it is not as full and nutritious as it needs to be for
baby. It basically doesn’t have all the fatty and needy nutrients a baby will
need right now. All the good stuff appears after labor. So I guess the 3 ounces
of frozen colostrum I have is useless?? Anyone want some free colostrum?
Hahaha!
Anyway, I went to the check out desk and this time told the
lady I want her names on the piece of paper she is printing out with my appointments
and I am holding on to that think like it’s my social security card so next
time if there is an issue people won’t look at me like I am insane.
My glucose test obviously had to be rescheduled because the
original date- the 29th was already booked and therefore I couldn’t
come in that day. The lady gave me 2 options to either do it the next day or to
do it in a month which was apparently the closest morning available at this
point. I knew I needed this test done before 27 or 28 weeks so I decided to do
it the next day.
Oh, and my appointments being screwed up… I don’t know who
screwed up what… but a month ago when I saw the midwife she told me my next
appointment ( the one I had this past week) would be my last “monthly”
appointment and that after that my appointments would start running every 2
weeks. Not anymore! I am going to have my next appointment in 5 weeks – I
realized this only when I got home… but not even 4 weeks but 5 weeks! So I will
be 31 weeks at my next appointment. I am assuming after this appointment, and then
they will be every 2 weeks??? I don’t even know anymore… they are all crazy!!!!
The 2 hours glucose test! My main concern was not eating for
so long. I eat every 5 minutes of my life and had no idea how I was going to go
2+ hours without eating. But I did get
lucky… I came in and they took me in right away. This was very impressive to me
in comparison to the service they provided me with the day before. They took my
blood the first time and called me immediately to drink the orange liquid. I
was very sketchy about it since a lot of people have warned me that it is
disgusting and they had a hard time drinking it and some even through up. I
took a sip- and to me it was fine. It tasted like SUPER sweet orange un-carbonated
soda. I drank it all within a minute, without feeling nauseous. The only thing
was it burned my throat a little since it was uber sweet, but I was allowed to
drink some water afterwards so it was fine.
So, the wait began. I took my blanket with me to crochet…
but ended up crocheting for 30 minutes and then feeling very tired. This was
8 am after all, and we all know what a morning person I am. So, I laid down… and
surprisingly on the super uncomfortable chair/bed they have there, I fell asleep. I got woken up in half hour to
get my blood drawn the second time and passed right out after the nurse left. I
slept through the next hour like a baby, and even had dreams oddly enough.
Before I knew it the 2nd hour was up and they took my blood the 3rd
time. I had texted Zhenya to pick me up (since the roads were terrible both of
us had no work due to a “snow day.”) This was already 10 am and I have been 3
hours without food and surprisingly doing well. I was slightly hungry- but not
how I usually was. I think I was more tired than hungry and didn’t really feel
the hunger.
Since we were already in town we decided to go to Wal-Mart
to grab a few groceries, especially since I seemed to be feeling fine at the
moment. We got a few things; it took about 30 minutes maybe. Once we got to
register I started feeling extremely weak and lightheaded. I started shaking
uncontrollably and had a hard time standing up- I legit felt like I was going
to pass out right there. I told Zhenya he needed to cash out and that I was
going to be sitting on the bench. I felt super woozy and thought I was going to
drop dead right there in the middle of Wal-Mart. Zhenya took me by the arm and
we slowly walked to the car. I opened up a package of chips and started
munching on some of them to get some food in my system. Once we got home I
still felt very woozy, weak and shaky and continued to stuff my face. I assumed
this was a reaction to my body not eating all morning + having my blood drawn 3
times. Once I finally felt full, I still felt very weak, but was lying in bed
already so all was well. Probably within an hour or two did I start to feel
normal again. Now I know why I eat every 5 minutes of my life… because if I
didn’t… this is what would happen to my body. Crazy.
That very same day, I get a call from Dr. Gildenblatt
personally. He calls to tell me my sugar levels look fine and that my iron is
good too. This is always a relief to hear. He says my thyroid levels don’t look
good and thinks the 75 mg dose I am taking now should be doubled. He
recommended me to start doubling it now and to tell the thyroid doctor at my
next appointment this was recommended by him. Considering the fact I have
changed from 3 different doses I have different extra pills of different doses
laying around and therefore had no trouble doing that without running out
short. My next thyroid appointment is April 4th I believe, so it is
not too far away. Another thing I like about Dr. G- he called me personally and
right away! Usually a nurse calls you a day or 2 after or they just mail you
your test results, but he took the time to actually call me himself after he
got the results. I respect him even more for that much itself.
So that sums up my appointments and all the craziness with
it. It used up some of my nerves and even made my blood pressure go up, lol but
in the end I ended up seeing Dr. Gildenblatt which was probably a good thing.
As far as how the week has went… I have been feeling very
tired again. Not as bad as it was in the beginning of pregnancy where I could
literally sleep all day if given the opportunity and then sleep through the
night as well… but still feeling that extra tiredness. I took naps about 3-4
days this week. Once I would get back from work, I would just feel so beat… even
though I would get a full night of sleep the night before. I started randomly
napping for an hour or two around 6-7pm, and having no trouble passing out at
10-11pm later on too. Very strange. On Saturday, I even slept in as opposed to
waking up early to go to work and had a random power nap for 2 hours in the
afternoon before I had to go to work. Very strange. A good welcome from the
third trimester I suppose.
The big evil rash has returned this week, and even worse!
You guys all know about my infamous boob rash that I complained about a few
weeks ago. It ended up going away on its own, leaving a small trail of dry
scabby skin between my boobs. Man, if I thought THAT rash was bad obviously I
haven’t seen anything yet. This time my rash covered all my boobs completely,
much larger, much redder, and itchier than before. Each day it got worse as
well. I didn’t even know what to do anymore. I would use cocoa butter, I would
use hydrocortisone… I would put rubbing alcohol to cleanse everything, I would wash
myself several times a day to leave them sweat free and dry- nothing helped!
The only true thing that helped with the itching was standing under a hot
shower. The hot water really soothed the irritation and I could go a few hours
without being scratchy.
Good thing people
don’t really visit us, because I think the only reason my rash is slowly
starting to improve is because I let it breathe when I am home. Being in
clothing made me hot and sweaty and would make the rash worse. Yes, even with
being freezing outside, just the fact itself that I was confined in clothing
made it worse. My goodness, I can’t even explain to you how bad the itching
was. For the last 2 days, the redness went away and it is slowly starting to
dry up and fade out. Very slowly. I can’t say it is completely getting better,
but it is definitely not getting worse so that is good! In addition to all the
beautiful stretch marks on there, my boobs are quite the view with this dried
up rash and scratch marks all over! Oh, the joys of pregnancy!
I have been feeling very… heavy. Making certain movements
are getting to be impossible. Going straight from a laying to even sitting
position is getting very hard. I can’t just get up anymore, I have to slowly
roll to one side and somehow fight my way with gravity. Almost every position
is no longer comfortable. Not sitting, not standing, not laying. Not laying on
my back, not laying on either side… nothing is comfortable! And yes, I know…
there is still 3 months to go. 3 more months of growing and 3 more months of
things getting more uncomfortable.
My back has been another issue. Oh boyyyy! It has been
aching so much! Once again, no matter what position I try to get it, it just
hurts. This extra weight it putting some major strain on my back for sure!
I really want a snoogle or body pillow. I sleep with 3
pillows to begin with, and have taken one pillow from under my head to use
between my legs but it is just not enough. I have a snoogle on my baby shower
list, but my shower isn’t until May… a month before my due date! So, that won’t
be too useful! But I think a family member might be getting us one as an early
baby shower gift, and that would be wonderful! For now I shall continue to toss
and turn!
I know… I am just a big ol’ grumpy huffball. Huffing and
puffing and nothing being right for me! June needs to get here sooner!
My weight. I am 152.4 pounds this week.
Total Weight Gain Summary
10/25/12: 5w 140 lbs
11/5/12: 7 w 135 lbs(5 lbs loss)
11/12/12: 8 w 133.8 lbs(6.2 lbs total
loss, 1.2 weekly loss)
11/26/12: 10 w 133 lbs( 7 lbs total
loss, .8 bi-weekly loss)
12/17/12: 13 w 131 lbs( 9 lbs total
loss, 2 pounds tri-weekly loss)
01/14/13: 17 w 133.5 lbs(6.5 lbs total
loss, 2.5 lbs four-week gain)
01/28/13: 19 w 135.8 lbs(4.2lbs loss,
2.3lbs bi-weekly gain, 4.8lbs total gain)
02/04/13: 20 w 136.5 lbs (3.5 lbs loss,
1.3 lbs weekly gain, 5.5 lbs total gain)
02/11/13 :21 w 137.2 lbs ( 2.8 lbs
loss, .7lbs weekly gain, 6.2 lbs total gain)
02/18/13: 22 w 139.4 lbs ( .6 lbs loss,
2.2 lbs weekly gain, 8.4 lbs total gain)
02/25/13: 23 w 141.0 lbs ( 1 lbs gain
pre-pregnancy weight gain, 1.6 weekly gain, 10 lbs total gain)
03/04/13 : 24 w 147 lbs ( 7 lbs gain
pre-pregnancy weight gain 6 lbs weekly gain, 16 lbs total gain)
03/11/13: 25 w 147.8 lbs ( 7.8 pre-pregnancy weight gain, .8
lbs weekly gain, 16.8 lbs total gain)
03/18/13: 26 w 150 lbs (10 lbs
pre-pregnancy weight gain, 2.2 lbs weekly gain, 19 lbs total gain)
03/25/13: 27 w 152.4 lbs (12.4 lbs
pre-pregnancy weight gain, 2.4 lbs weekly gain, 21.4 lbs total gain)
It’s crazy to see the numbers jumping so much. But I guess
that is what pregnancy is all about!
You all know about this pregnancy anger and rage I have been
having… well; there has been one specific thing that has been getting to me. I
really don’t mind when people look at me… as in strangers. I have wanted a
belly since day one of pregnancy and have wanted to LOOK pregnant! I personally
don’t understand those people that hide their belly or don’t want anyone to see
their belly. To me- it’s not fat- it’s a baby growing in there and you should
show off your belly with pride! ;) Anyway… beside the point. I have been
getting dirty, nasty, and rude looks from people! Legit, people walking and
staring at my belly with either disgust or I can’t even explain it! HOW
RUDE!!!!! Seriously! What is it a big zit? A tumor? Some sort of disease I have
or something??? And even if I did have some disease how rude is it to stare at
someone AT ALL- let alone a pregnant girl like that?? I totally posted a venting status about this
on facebook the other day, but seriously… this is getting to me because it
happened twice already! I don’t care what people are thinking! I don’t care if
you think I look young and unmarried, and strangers are coming up with some
crazy stories in their heads as to how I am pregnant or whatever other excuse
people can come up with- I don’t have to explain anything to anyone! It is
PLAIN RUDE to give looks like that. And I am saying this right now… if someone
else gives me a look like this I WILL SPEAK UP! I am sorry but this is just one
of those things I will not tolerate and the next person who does this will get
a piece of my mind!!!
GRRRR!
Change of mood and subject. Some last thoughts I wanted to
share. Sad ones. I had a friend this past week that ended up having a stillborn…
As I even write this, I can’t even begin to express the pain and sadness that
cover me… and can’t imagine a mother to go through such a thing at all. I was
always afraid of miscarriages, and I think it is because all the books, all the
info sites tend to emphasize more on miscarriages than stillbirths. Once you
reach the 12-13 week of pregnancy everyone almost says how pretty much nothing
can go wrong and your chances are so slim to anything happening. This obviously
proves otherwise. Aside from feeling extremely sad, sympathetic and I can’t
even describe all the emotions I am feeling for my friend… all I can really say
is she is a true trooper and very strong woman to be able to get through this.
I am not sure how or if I would be able to get through something like that.
This kind of also stirred up paranoia in me.
Now, I know everyone have their own opinions about labor and
birth, and I haven’t really shared much on here of my hypothetical “plans” ( I
put that in “” because I feel that you can’t really plan a birth, it happens on its own,) but giving a slight
overview these are my thoughts. I think natural births are amazing, and respect
all the women who do them. I, on the other hand am very scared of pain and don’t
tolerate it very well. I am still not sure if I am going for an epidural for
sure, but am leaning towards it now. I also don’t want to be the one who may
really want one, and then it can be too late to have gone too far along in
labor… but also want to scope it out during labor and see how much I can
actually handle. But once again beside the point.
My views and thoughts about being induced and being overdue.
I never really emphasized much thought into this. I am not ANTI being induced.
I always thought that being VERY overdue was never good. My mother for instance
was 2 weeks overdue with my brother and she got induced. He came out blue
because the cord was around his neck. Fact is this… the longer baby is in
there, the bigger he/she gets and therefore can cause problems. So as much as I
may not want to get induced, if it comes down to it, I will. I know it is more
painful, but that is not the point… if baby needs to come out- he needs to come
out!!! Same with c-section. I am probably more against c-sections than being
induced. Simply because I don’t want to be cut open and the recovery is much
more difficult than vaginal birth. But once again- if I need to get one- I will
get one! You never know what or how things will work out.
Now… I don’t know… I am very scared of being overdue. I do
not want to go overdue, and if the doctors offer to induce me close to my due date,
I will not refuse. I rather have baby out than take the risk of keeping him
longer in there and something happening. NO way! Judge me all you want, yes I
know it’s not natural… but I would not be able to handle losing baby. After
carrying your baby for 9 months… feeling him kick and move around, hearing the
heartbeat, seeing sonogram pictures of him, getting everything ready for him at
home, all the clothes, and car seat and nursery and everything and then reaching
full term and baby not living…. As I speak I am trying not to let the tears
fall. I am not strong enough to do that, especially with wanting a baby so much
before pregnancy and it not exactly happening off the first try.
I love this baby so much already even though I haven’t seen
him or held him yet. He is our little miracle that puts a smile on my face no
matter what happens throughout the day. Every day I am getting closer to
meeting him, and I cannot even begin to explain the joy I have that I will soon
have a son. Our own little bundle of joy, truly… our MIRACLE. I’ve come this
far… and wouldn’t want anything to happen.
Call me crazy, call me paranoid. But Zhenya and I both have
decided that once we reach the due date, we don’t want to play the waiting
game, if we can we want baby out ASAP.
That pretty much sums up 27 weeks. Don’t really like ending
this post on such a sad note, I got a little too emotional maybe this time. If
I have time tonight maybe I will post a belly shot that could make up for my
sad thoughts. :) Thank you for reading, if anyone does read my long boring
posts!
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