Pages

Friday, July 30, 2010

Ok, Ow, This Kind of Hurts!!!

So, I thought I had felt gas pain. I thought I knew what to expect. I was so, so wrong. Apparently I ate too fast tonight, and that combined with the Perrier I'm drinking did its worst. And I'm talking, its WORST. Like, the worst cramp you've ever felt that travels from one side of your stomach to the other, ending in what can only be described as a flutter of bubbles. Those bubbles then sit "down low" until they decide to come out at their convenience...which is of absolutely NO convenience to anyone else in the general vicinity.

Now, don't get me wrong, I don't feel faultless in this process at all. I chose to eat what I ate. I know that by eating far to fast and drinking a lot of a carbonated beverage at the same time I was inviting general chaos to my digestive system. I just didn't expect that level of pain. It hadn't happened before. All I can say is, well, I felt like it.


I also understand that this entire cycle will not be appreciated by my loving and adoring husband when he gets home. I have already told him that, for the sake of his nose (and yes, sometimes ears, unfortunately) there will probably be some nights when it will be in his best interests to sleep in the guest room. Because, after all, y'all know I'm not leaving my big comfy bed!

Now that my whining for the day is done, I have to tell everyone (well, anyone who happens to read it) that I have had a fantastic idea. Since I am home alone pretty much ALL day, EVERY day, there are a lot of random thoughts that come through my head. There is not always a cohesive thread binding the thoughts together, they just pop up. Sometimes nice, sometimes mean, sometimes totally pointless. For example: today, I walked outside to get the mail (once the temperatures had lowered to the point where I didn't feel like I was melting the second I stepped outside). The first thing that popped into my head was "it smells like maple syrup out here." And then I went on my way.

So, my brilliant idea is a thought journal. I may not use it every day, but it's always by my bed or my chair, so that when those random thoughts come up I don't feel the immediate urge to call someone and bother them with it...if I write it in my journal, I have gotten it out enough to not need to call anyone. And the other good thing is I can even say (write) the mean nasty thoughts that I don't want people to know that I think, but that I feel the need to "get out" in some way. Good idea, right? Now I just have to hope no one sees it unless I want them to. Hmmm...

post signature

Sunday, July 25, 2010

Well, now to top it all off...

Got a call from my RE on Friday. Apparently my Lipoprotein A is elevated. Like, it's supposed to be at 75 or under, I'm at 129...pushing double what it should be. In case you are confused, here is a link to explain Lipoprotien A:


http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/007262.htm


Basically it's kind of like cholesterol, but stickier. And it attracts more of itself once it's attached somewhere. So, along with all of my pregnancy/fertility issues that we have to watch, now I'm at elevated risk for multiple types of heart disease. Oh, and it may be linked with pregnancy loss, but that's not completely confirmed. Oh joy.


When I told my mom (who has a knack of saying the thing you're thinking and making you laugh about it, even if it's scary) she says "well, you didn't have enough going on, now did you?" I told her that the laundry list of things for me to be worried about felt unbalanced, and I needed to top it off and even it out.


I guess I shouldn't be completely surprised. After all, my grandfather passed away during his second heart attack at age 54, my grandmother has had 2 open heart surgeries and still had congestive heart failure twice last year, my father has a chronic battle with high blood pressure, and my little sister was diagnosed with high cholesterol at age 14. Really, I should have been prepared. Bad Stephanie.


On the good side (or rather, positive side) of things, my RE obviously isn't super concerned. He's really proactive, and if he's worried about something when he gets results he a) calls me the day after I get the bloodwork done and b) has me in the office that day to run tests and/or talk about options. With this discovery, my blood was drawn on Tuesday and his office called Friday morning. Obviously not urgent news. And, while he does want to see me to discuss what this means, I won't go in until the first week of August, a week and a half after getting the phone call. So, I guess it's just one more thing, and I need to watch my cholesterol intake and take it easy so I don't stress my heart out more than necessary. Lovely...one more excuse to sit on my butt and do nothing. Which I already do because I'm not allowed to exercise. Needless to say...I'm bored.
post signature

Tuesday, July 20, 2010

Woo Hoo!!! I Graduated!

From my RE that is! Today was bittersweet. My last official prenatal appointment with my RE before I go to the perinatologist on Aug. 4th. Speaking of that...getting that darned referral to go through was a pain in the butt!!! Talk about red tape! (OK, so I'm probably exaggerating, but these pregnancy hormones do not help my reactions to and perceptions of things LOL)

I don't have a primary care Dr. right now, (she moved and I haven't been assigned a new one, just learned that I have to find my own, which is a new thing for me...apparently here the military insurance works differently than every other duty station we've been at) so my RE was making the referral to the perinatologist for me. I even called my insurance company to make sure that it would work out and be approved and was told "yes, your specialist is approved to diagnose and treat you, so they can do the referral." Great! Two days later, my RE gets a fax saying that my primary care has to do the referral. Ummm...I DON'T HAVE ONE AND YOU KNOW THAT!!!! So, I call again and they say "who told you that your specialist could do the referral?" "You guys did" "No we didn't". Really? REALLY? So I'm the idiot client who imagined the entire phone call THAT YOU DOCUMENTED IN MY FILE? AAAARGH!!! In the end it all got worked out (after getting a little mad at them and being on hold for 10-15 minutes while the incompetent fool checked with his supervisor about everything).

OK, so that stress is gone, referral is approved, and today I got to see Monkey moving around like crazy!!! It took my RE 3 tries to get a heart rate because (s)he wouldn't stop wiggling around! I think this is the most excited I've been, it was so thrilling to see all that movement. Now I just can't wait for  Ben to be here so that he can see it too...and by the time he gets home it will really look like a baby!!!

post signature

Friday, July 16, 2010

Well, on to the next-Dr that is =)

So, after 2 good appointments and GREAT growth, my RE has determined that it is time for me to move on to a high risk OB. Perinatologist, to be specific, over at the Maternal/Fetal Medicine division. My RE said that he will continue to control labs and medication, but other than that his hand in my prenatal care must come to an end. While I'm a bit sad about this (this is the man, after all, who has made it possible for me to get pregnant again and have a very realistic shot at keeping this pregnancy) I'm also excited, because it means that he is confident enough in the pregnancy that I can move on to the next stage, which is HUGE!!!

So, I have one more appointment with my RE this coming Tuesday for a final U/S with him, and then on August 5th I officially "graduate" to real OB care! YAY!
post signature

Thursday, July 8, 2010

Finally...a good Dr's appointment!

YAY! We did a quick ultrasound today to check on Monkey's heart rate and the yolk sac since the HR was irregular/low on Tuesday and the yolk sac was oblong instead of circular. We had a strong heartbeat of 168 and the sac has rounded out and looks perfect!!!

I'm so happy! I/We really needed for one appointment to go well, just to give me a boost to get through the future appointments that don't go so well. I know that I have too many issues going on to have a completely smooth, normal pregnancy, but every once in a while I need the morale boost of the Dr. saying "everything looks perfect and right on track, so we're doing everything right." YAY!!!!
post signature

Tuesday, July 6, 2010

If it's not one thing, it's another.

Got a call from my RE on Friday...my inflamation marker came back really elevated. So, he took me off the horrid progesterone injections and back to the suppositories we go. Today, I noticed a mild rash covering from my thighs to my chest...luckily I had an appointment today. They think it's medication-induced, so I'm off that particular med. OK. Then we got to the ultrasound. Monkey is good, measuring right where it should be, and as of today I have a due date of 2/22/2011. YAY! However, the heart rate did some...strange things. At first it was very irregular, beating 3 times then stopping...2 times, stop, 3 times stop. So we waited a couple minutes and checked again. This time it was a consistant strong 108bpm. A little low. SO...wait again. The third time we checked it was at 128, which is better. My RE said that he's only had 4 other cases where this happened, and that after adjusting medications the babies are all fine. So...adjustments are being made. Yay. I guess that overall it's good news, but what a rollercoaster appointment! I'm exhausted. This kid is already giving me grey hairs...definitely it's father's child!
post signature