My Lil’ Parasite Baby Blog

15 weeks…this one’s a keeper! March 27, 2008

Well, today we had visit #5 to check the status of our hero, Captain Peanut. As I said to Krista earlier this week, it’s probably time to give our dear Captain a new nickname since he/she has grown so much in the last few weeks. Admiral Avocado, perhaps?

Anyway, today’s visit to the OB was great. I had a different doctor this time, and she was older and less tense. I’m giving my other doctor the benefit of the doubt and will assume that it was merely coincidental that she always seemed to be having a stressful day! We didn’t have an ultrasound this time, just a heartbeat check using a handheld Doppler device. The rate was 152 beats per minute and the doc said the rhythm was strong and LOUD. We heard that for ourselves, and Brian and I were both grinning from ear to ear. I got to ask lots of questions today and found out that our hospital is very nice and that they let you assume whatever positions you want to ease the pain, as long as it’s not risky to the baby or me. I think I’d like to give a birthing ball a try. I can’t say I’m not going to have an epidural, but I’m certainly not going into this determined to be on drugs. Methinks we’ll play it by ear!

So, we’ve got 3 appointments scheduled for the month of April: 1) The first is in a week and a half when they will do an AFP test, which just involves drawing blood. They looks for abnormalities that may indicate birth defects. I’m not too worried about that, though, since all our other tests have come back totally normal. 2) In 3 weeks we go for a Level 2 Ultrasound, which will look for any physical defects. Again, I’m not too concerned, but the docs encouraged it since I took Retin-A for a week before I knew I was prego. That is in the same class of chemicals as Accutane, which causes severe birth defects. However, to my knowledge, no birth defects have ever been correlated to Retin-A use. Bonus: At this visit, we may get to have a look at Captain Peanut’s/Admiral Avocado’s “goods” and see what we’re having. How exciting! 3) 4 weeks from now we’ll have another regular office “tummy check” to give me the once-over and make sure things are still moving along.

I’ve gained 9 pounds so far, which is about where you should be when you are 5 months pregnant. Whoops! Once again I am ahead of the curve! The doc said I was okay though and “didn’t look too puffy.” Brian and I both thought that was pretty funny. Here’s to staying not too puffy!

See you next time!

3rd/4th Appointment March 8, 2008

Well, it’s been a while since I’ve updated this site. I really wanted to do a weekly update, but it seems like things keep coming up. That’s one thing I wish: that life would slow down for a while, but I doubt that’s going to happen anytime soon.

So, our 3rd appointment with the doctor was kind of disappointing. Not because anything was wrong with the baby–it had a heartbeat of 165 bpm and was 4 cm long, which was right on target–but because our obstetrician had an emergency at the hospital and our meeting was very rushed. I understand that things come up, but 66% of our time together so far has felt like I’m a burden and/or wasting her time. I know that OBGYNs are dropping the OB certification in droves to dive into cosmetic surgery and other less risky specializations, which really has me worried about what prego’s are going to do in the future. Maybe Americans will be forced to embrace midwives and doulas like other countries do. Anyway, as for me, I’m really starting to question if I’ve chosen the right doctor. I asked Brian if he thought we should get a midwife, but he said he didn’t think so. I’m very conflicted: on one hand, I’m not really prepared to lay my and Captain Peanut’s lives over to someone who isn’t trained to perform emergency procedures, but on the other hand, I was really hoping that this being pregnant thing would feel magical and bring me closer to Mother Nature and other women. Well, now I see I was deluded and this is not a fairy tale. I just feel like a big, fat host for my little worm. It’s not the baby’s fault I’m feeling this way–as a matter of fact, I feel great now that I’ve given up taking my pre-natal vitamins and switched to Flintstones chewables (should have listened to my sister-in-law, Becky, right from the start!) and now I don’t even feel pregnant. Except for the gut (it’s not a belly yet!) and seeing the little bugger on the sonogram, I’d have no idea I was harboring a legal alien. I just wish I felt more cared for by our medical team. I’ve got an appointment with a different doctor at the end of March and, hopefully, she coddles me a bit more and lets me ask questions slowly rather than rapid-fire, frantically trying to get them all out before I’m thrown out the door.

Our fourth doctor’s appointment was spent at a pre-natal diagnostic clinic in Roanoke, VA. We went there for an optional Nuchal Translucency test. It involves looking at the back of the baby’s neck on a sonogram and measuring the amount of fluid, which tends to be higher in babies with Down Syndrome. Well, to spare you the suspense, our swash-buckling Captain Peanut appears to be normal! The technician only got one good shot at first (tha’ Cap’n is rather shy and kept a hand to his/her face the whole time), so she pounded on my belly with the transducer trying to get our little one to move, but Captain Peanut moves for no one! She said that our fetus was very stubborn and asked who that trait came from and Brian just pointed at me. I admitted it was true, of course. I actually think the Captain was just catching 40 winks and has a great ability, like I used to as a child, to sleep through most anything. Let’s hope that keeps up even after he/she sails out into the world this Fall! Oh, and it appears based on this visit that the due date has moved up 3 days to September 15. I’m hoping this kid pops out of my EasyBake oven well before Brian goes to the H20 car show the last weekend of September. Daddy’s gotta sell his shirts and get his fill of VWs to carry him through the winter!

Til’ next time…