Thursday, September 30, 2010

Not a good day

Not such a great day so far today. Woke up, brushed my teeth, brushed my tongue, which is always a mistake, but I just couldn't deal with the taste of an unbrushed tongue anymore. Of course it made me gag, which made me heave, which made me sort of kind of puke. Nothing really came out, but I saw stars like I usually do, and I ended up spitting a lot, which I usually do.

Feeling tired, not such an odd thing, the baby always makes me tired. And I have this headache going on. Which makes me feel more tired. Earlier today I felt like throwing up, but thankfully did not. I need to make food tonight, I bought stuff for making yesterday but never got around to it. And tomorrow I need to drive to Rochelle, which means packing and washing clothes tonight. Blar.

On a positive note, only one more hour till quitting time. And I get to see my parents tomorrow, and I keep feeling the baby move, which is exciting. Tonight, food, house work, and sleep. I could have used a nap at work today.

Monday, September 27, 2010

Weekend and OB Woes

So the weekend went really well, I visited my parents, toured one of the hospitals, and pretty much decided on my doctor. My mom and I went to a woman's conference for our church on Saturday night. On Sunday a friend of mine at church handed out Baby Shower invitations for my baby shower.

Today I invited some of the ladies from work who I get along with, and then focused on getting my OB changed. Problem came from that. Turns out that the OB I had decided on did not do OB work for patients with my insurance, becasue he did not do deliveries at the hospital covered by my insurance. Meaning I have to go with an OB in Rockford, the hospital that I did not tour. *sigh* Oh well. Thankfully I knew which OB office I would go with out of the two in Rockford. So I switched to that doctor and hopefully will hear back from them soon telling me that they have accepted me as a patient. Otherwise I will have to do some thinking as to what I will do.

Friday, September 24, 2010

Dang!

So after a comment by one of my friends about Swedish American Hospital I decided today to look into the doctors I had on my list of possible doctors. I pulled up Consumer Reports Health, which really didn't give me as much info on the doctors as it did on the hospitals. But it did refer me to a government site that listed if any of the doctors had any diciplinary actions against them. None of the doctors on my list did. So I started googling the doctors starting with the one in Sycamore. I found a site that rated him, based on patient reviews he got a 4.5 rating. Then I found another site where patients rated him and included written reviews as well. Reading what they said about him was very helpful. Then I found a site from the hospital that he works with describing some difficult delivery situations that he dealt with in a good way. And I am thinking, "Wow, this looks really good, but he is a guy. How do I feel about that?"

So I looked up the Rockford doctors, two of them men and two of them women. One of the men scored a 4 rating on the first rating site. The rest of the doctors were 3 or below. One, a female doctor I was actually considering scored a 2.5. So I looked further, on the second rating site none of the doctors were scored except for the female doctor who had scored a 2.5 on the other site. On this site she was scored at a 1.5 and there were written reviews. One of the women who reviewed her said that the treatment she recieved from this doctor resulted in her changing doctors halfway through her pregnancy. Wow!

So after hearing about the way my friend was treated at the Swedish American Hospital, and based on the ratings of all the Rockford doctors I am seriously thinking that I will be going with the Sycamore/DeKalb doctor. Even though he is a male. A good doctor is a good doctor, regardless of gender. And if a good doctor means that I have a good pregnancy and that my baby will be taken care of during delivery then I am going to go with the good doctor. I still plan on going on my tours on Saturday, but I may just go with the Kishwaukee tour and not worry about the Swedish American tour. We will see how I feel on Saturday.

Thursday, September 23, 2010

Pregnancy brain

Pregnancy brain is something I heard of before I became pregnant, but it was not something that I really understood until becoming pregnant. At first it wasn't too bad, it made me forgetful and sort of spacy at times. But then it progressed, soon I was having difficulties typing words as correctly as I once had, my spelling skills went down the drain, I became easily distracted while driving and I began to develop problems with accurately clicking things with my mouse. Now I have begun to lose the accuracy of my speech. I will be talking with someone and suddenly it is like my tongue has forgotten how to function. It will begin to tie itself in knots while all the words that come out of my mouth become irrepairably jumbled and mauled to unrecognizableness.

What to do about it all? At this point I don't know if there is anything I can do, except hope that it goes away once the baby is born.

Hospitals

This Saturday I am touring hospitals. One in DeKalb and one in Rockford. I am leaning a bit toward the DeKalb hospital (Kiswaukee Hospital) but if I go with that one then my OB will be male. Not sure how I feel about that. But the OB would be closer and so would the hospital.

The Rockford hospital (Swedish American Hospital) works for two OB offices, so if I feel like going with that one then I will have to choose which office to use. One office would have me set up with a female OB and the other would switch me between their two OBs one of which is a woman and one of which is a man. Either way I am looking forward to getting a look at the hospitals and figuring out which one I like best.

The problem is it will really come down to how the hospitals look. Both offer classes that I think would be helpful. Both offer lactation consultants. DeKalb would be 20 to 25 minutes away and Rockford would be 30 to 45 minutes away (depending on traffic). We shall see what Saturday brings.

Last night I had a dream where I went over to my neighbors house and asked if I could borrow/have some water. To drink, I was very thirsty and just needed some water to drink. I woke up not long after the dream because the dogs needed out, but I didn't get a drink of water. Silly me. I did however get a ton of sleep last night. I went to bed at 6:45 pm, and proceeded to wake up and go immediately back to sleep every hour on the hour until Midnight when the dogs woke me up. After that I went back to sleep and slept soundly until 2:22 am when Kevin came in. Ronan woke me up again at 4:30 am, he puked in the tub, and then at 5 am I took him out to potty again. Why these dogs have to pee so much in the middle of the night beats me. I felt the baby kicking throughout the night but mostly at midnight when the dogs woke me up. From what I have read this likely means that the baby will waking up throughout the night when he is born. Thankfully midnight is Daddy comes home time when we move out to Rochelle so hopefully I can get Kevin to handle the baby at that time.

Tonight Kevin wants me to figure out how to use the Belly Buds, and figure out the camcorder, I also should pack up stuff so I can leave for Rochelle after work tomorrow. So much to do and it seems like time is moving so fast.

Tuesday, September 21, 2010

Weekend

Lots of things to talk about today, if you have been reading you know that on Friday we found out that we are having a boy. Then followed all of the many calls to family and friends.

Throughout most of my pregnancy I have had the feeling that I was having a girl, to the point where I had begun to make plans in my head. So the news that I was having a boy was a bit…strange for me. Not bad news, not at all, but rather it was odd trying to wrap my head around the idea. So on Monday Kevin and I went Baby Registry creating. We went to Target and Burlington Coat Factory (which has an awesome baby section). We scanned boy stuff, and Kevin insisted on us scanning sports stuff. It was a good experience for me. All that blue and all of those cute little boy outfits. I even had dreams last night about blue baby things.

It helped to turn my mind around. It helped to get me more boy focused than girl focused. When at Target Kevin mentioned church clothes for the baby, but Target didn’t have anything, but Burlington did, they had a whole section for baby boy church clothes.

On Sunday the woman who has offered to throw me a baby shower asked when the best time would be for the shower, currently it is looking like early October for the shower. I am pretty excited about it, the presents will be nice but mostly I am looking forward having a party to celebrate our little David. We are so excited about him!

I like putting together the registries because it helps Kevin and I figure out what we need for the baby. I am still currently at a loss as to which breast pump would be best for me. As well as which bottles and which pacifiers, it is difficult to decide because I hear so much about a baby taking this paci and not that or this bottle and not that one. Plus I don’t know how it will affect breastfeeding. It is just so much stuff to take in and I feel afloat in indecision. And diapers, I don’t know which to go with and which not and I hear so many differing opinions that I honestly have no idea. *sigh* I suppose we will figure it out at some point.

Sunday, September 19, 2010

Surprise!

So the ultrasound was on Friday. It went really well. Our ultrasound tech was a guy, which was interesting because we are used to having women techs. But it went really well. He checked the amount of amniotic fluid in my uterus and then had me empty my bladder, which was a relief! Then he started measuring the baby. Turns out the baby was at 21 weeks and 4 days for size, which was very close to where we were at that point, we were on the last day of my 20th week.

The tech showed us the head and the arms and the legs and we discovered that the baby is now no longer an it but now we know that the baby is a little boy. A very little boy right now, but he will grow. It was a BIG surprise for both Kevin and I because we both thought that the baby was a girl. Having proof in a picture makes it undeniable though. We are planning on naming him David Isaac, but we may change that to Isaac David. We will have to see. What is funny is that while the tech was showing us the gender Kevin goes, "That is David." and the tech says, "You are planning on naming him David?" and Kevin says, "Yep." and the tech says, "That's my name." He had been talking about his son (a 6 month old baby) and told us that his baby's middle name is David. And I said, "Wait, so your baby is Isaac David, and our baby will be David Isaac." It was a pretty neat coincidence.

I am still trying to wrap my brain around it, I have been thinking girl for so long that I now have to do a mental switch to a boy. I think I may talk Kevin into going to stores tomorrow to do baby registries with me, putting a bunch of boy stuff on my registries will help me flip the switch to boy. It is exciting to know more about our baby!

Friday, September 17, 2010

Oh. Heck. Yes!

So wandering around the Baby Center I came across this post leading to a blog on pregnancy. There I found one of the best things I have found in a long time. Things I wanted to say while pregnant.
Please note that some of the things in the blog linked and some of the things I say below are about vomiting and boobies and so forth, read at your own disgression.

Ultrasound

Today is the day. I can't wait for it, even though I am nervous about it all. Last night Kevin came home at 2:15 am, the dogs heard him and woke me up. We talked a little bit about our plans for today and then we both went back to bed, except I could not seem to get back to sleep myself, I tossed and turned till about 4 am and then finally fell asleep until the alarm woke me at 6 am. During that time though as I lay in bed and tried to sleep, I thought about today, I thought over everything that was going to happen and what I should do. And through it all a thought came to my mind.

Yesterday my senior manager brought in a bunch of Ferrero Roche chocolates for our group to share. My thought was that if there were still some left that I would bundle up three of them to use as a thank you gift for our ultrasound tech. When my doctor talked to us about the ultrasound she made it sound like the ultrasound techs could be a bit tempermental and she joked that we might want to bring cookies or something. Before leaving home I looked around for something to wrap the possible chocolates in, and I found what I needed in the gift from my fertility clinic doctor that I had yet to unwrap. The gift was wrapped in clear celophane with a yellow ribbon. I unwrapped the present and took the wraping to work with me. When I got there I discovered that there were indeed one of each of the three types of chocolate that was in the chocolates box, so I wrapped them up and now have them in my purse. I feel happy knowing that I have something to give as a thank you gift and that hopefully it will help us to get what we want out of the ultrasound. The gender of the baby, and pictures. We shall see how it all goes.

Thursday, September 16, 2010

Appointments and heat

My ultrasound is tomorrow, I double checked just in case. Sure enough they have me in the system, thank goodness. I also double checked on my OB appointment for Monday, good thing I did, they had me scheduled with a nurse practitioner, considering that I am looking for an OB out near Rochelle this will probably be my last appointment with my current OB and I would have been super disappointed if I hadn't been able to see her. I had them schedule me for a later appointment that same morning with my OB. So aggravating!

Lately I have been feeling hot, really hot, uncomfortably so. To the point that I usually strip down to my underwear and try not to touch things. Last night I slept with all my blankets kicked off. I woke up freezing but still feeling hot. I even took my temperature the other day because I felt like I had a fever, turns out my temp was low, at 97 degrees, but I still felt like I was burning up. I also have been feeling and hearing my pulse. Often, especially when I feel hot I can feel my pulse in my torso and belly areas, also in my arms. Sometimes I can hear it pounding in my ears. I plan to bring it up to my doctor on Monday.

I can honestly say now that I am feeling the baby. Every so often I will feel it move, almost like a sliding across my stomach. I am looking forward to when Kevin will be able to feel it, but then again I am not looking forward to the sleep people keep telling me I am going to lose from it. It seems more real now, the reality that I have something living inside me, a little person who will be born someday. It is an odd thing to have hit me at this point. It makes me happy and slightly spooked at the same time. It doesn't change anything though, I am still excited.

Tomorrow, it seems like it can't come fast enough, tomorrow I hopefully should be able to find out what gender I am having. I am looking forward to that.

It happened again

This morning I went to my doctor's appointment, just a checkup, I got there early at 9 am, my appointment was for 9:15 am. I signed in and waited to be called back. Instead one of the receptionists called me over and asked me if I had my appointment card. Unfortunately I had left my appointment card at work. So because I didn't have my appointment card they couldn't get me in that day because...I wasn't showing up as scheduled in the system. Seriously, two times in the same week I show up to an appointment and am told that I am not scheduled. So she rescheduled me for Monday. This time I am taking the card with me and calling ahead.

Wednesday, September 15, 2010

It has moved fast

So, tomorrow is my doctor's appointment, just a regular check up with my OB. Then Friday is my ultrasound. It all seems to be moving so fast. I can't believe I have 30 minutes left to my work day and then tomorrow the baby stuff starts again.

I spent a good part of today researching hospitals. I called around to the doctors in the Rochelle area that would take me and found out what hospitals they used, then I spent a long time searching for their ratings. Finally I broke down and called one of the hospitals and talked to an education person who gave me a lot of good info. I am thinking about seeing if I can talk Kevin into going hospital touring on Saturday. He has something else he wanted to do, but I really need to find out about these hospitals sooner rather than later so that I can set up my new OB before the end of the month.

I need to do shopping tonight after work and get things ready for Friday. I need to put my paperwork in the car so I don't forget them. Oh and I forgot to make a list of things that I need to ask my doctor about. 20 minutes till quitting time, better get on the ball.

Monday, September 13, 2010

What a day

So this morning we woke up early got ourselves ready, I drank 32 oz of water and we went over to the office that would be giving me my ultrasound. I was supposed to be there at 7:30 but I showed up at 7 am just in case. The receptionist looks for me on the day's schedule, she doesn't see me, so she looks me up on their computer. And she finds me scheduled for August 30th at 8 am. Wait what?? Somehow the scheduler communicated the wrong time to both me and the doctor's office.

So I ended up having to contact the scheduler again to schedule me for another appointment. The soonest they could get me in for though is Friday at 1:30 in a different location. *sigh* So here we go again, another wait till the ultrasound.

Friday, September 10, 2010

Week 20, Ultrasound and Doctors

Tomorrow I enter week 20, the halfway mark. It seems odd that I am halfway along already, the months really seem to be flying by. Maybe it is because we are so busy with everything, finding a new house and all that is involved.

This upcoming Monday we have our ultrasound that should show us the gender, we are hoping that the baby will coorporate and give us a good look so that we can tell. My next doctor's appointment is next week as well, it is scheduled for next Thursday.

I also need to look into finding a doctor out in the Rochelle area, my manager suggested that I find out what the hospitals out there are like and pick an OB based on which hospital they use. It is a good idea and I may just do that. I am going to speak with my senior manager about possible working from home on the days I have Dr appointments so that I can begin to visit a doctor out there. That way I will have a history with the doctor out there and will know what to expect from the hospital. I will wait till my senior manager is back in the office and then see if I can put that into place.

Thursday, September 9, 2010

Boobies

Warning, this post is about breasts, so if you would rather not read about them, do not proceed further.

Wednesday, September 8, 2010

Yick and Yay

Still sick, made the mistake last night of brushing my tongue while brushing my teeth, and last night's dinner ended up in the sink. Thankfully Kevin was there to help me clean up. Today I have been feeling nauseous as well. Before lunch I nearly lost it, and then when I walked into the break room I nearly lost it again, but the second time was due to someone having a seafood salad for lunch. Fishy smells really just sets me off. This Saturday starts my 20th week, halfway there and I am feeling like the throwing up is not going to end. I think once I accept it then it won't be so bad because I won't be hoping for it to stop. I will just wait till the baby comes.

Five more days till the ultrasound. Yay! I am hoping that the baby will coorporate and that we will be able to see what gender we are having. Now that it is so close Kevin and I are getting really excited about the ultrasound.

Because we are looking at moving I decided to look up a OBGYN in the Rochelle area and see 1. if they are accepting new patients, and 2. how late in my pregnancy they will accept me. The office I called is accepting new patients and will take me up to my 30th week. So I basically have 10 weeks in which to move. I may also call a OBGYN in Rockford and see what they say. Either way my OB will be about 25 to 30 minutes away from us if we move to Rochelle, and who knows how far away the hospital will be. Oh joy. Then again my current hospital is about 25 to 30 minutes away as well. It just doesn't seem as long. I am looking forward to us finding a house so that I can figure out the details of new doctors and such.

Thursday, September 2, 2010

Odd Week

It has been a rather odd week this week. What with the nausea, and throwing up, the belly pain and not getting to bed early enough I have been feeling rather strange about this entire week. I am still arguing with myself over whether I want to drive out to Rochelle this weekend or not.

On the baby side of things I am hitting my 19th week this Saturday, almost halfway there! I am almost to the "one more week till the ultrasound" point. And I think I have been feeling movement. Last night in the middle of the night I woke up and could swear that I felt something poke me from the inside. And throughout the day I have felt little things that could be gas or something, but very well might not be. I don't know that I want to tell people about it verbally yet though, blogging about it is fine, but giving my suspicions voice makes it seem more definate. If it is movement it will still be a few more weeks before Kevin or my parents wil be able to feel it.