Friday, July 24, 2009

30 Week Appointment

I had my 30 week appointment yesterday morning. It went very well.

When I get to the doctor's office I always have to pee in a cup and then weigh myself, so I checked in and then went to do my thing. I was happily surprised when my weight had not gone up again for the 2nd appointment in a row. That's 6 weeks at the same weight, people! Woohoo!

First, she told me that I passed my Gestational Diabetes test, and I was SO happy about that! A lot of people I know have told me that it's easy to fail the 1 hour test, but that lots of people who fail the 1 hour go on to pass the 3 hour, so I was worried I'd have to do the 3 hour test anyways, but I don't! Yippee!!!

They also tested my iron levels, and she said everything was good there, too. She said a lot of women become anemic in pregnancy, but I'm not, so that's good.

I asked her about her policy on episiotomies and she said she hates doing them, and will only do them in two circumstances: 1. If the baby's head gets stuck and an episiotomy becomes necessary to get the baby out, and; 2. If she can tell that the tearing is going to be really bad and it would be better to do an episiotomy rather than have an uncontrolled tear. I was very happy to hear this, as I would much rather tear on my own than have an episiotomy. She said that tears heal faster on their own, which I've heard elsewhere, too, and I'd much rather tear than be cut.

Then I hopped up on the table so that she could measure me and listen to the heartbeat. The heartbeat was a really loud knocking sound this time, I was surprised. Even my husband made a comment that it was loud.

When she measured me she said "Hmmm...you're measuring a bit above average, lets try that again." and then she did it again (she pressed down really hard on my pubic bone, too...it was kind of painful) and when she measured me again she said "Yep, you're measuring above average. I have you measuring 34 weeks." I was like What? Holy crap! She assured me that it may not be the baby, it may just be an excess of amniotic fluid, or the way my uterus is growing, or even the position I was lying in, but she did say that if I'm measuring above average next appointment as well, she'll send me down to have an ultrasound. I have to admit, I'm kind of freaked out about measuring 4 weeks ahead, but hopefully it's just a fluke. Keep your fingers crossed for me, please!

Saturday, July 18, 2009

Gestational Diabetes Test

I had my Gestational Diabetes test on Tuesday morning. I always thought that people made a big deal over the orange "pop" they give you for nothing. I thought, "It's like orange pop, how bad can it be?" Yea, it's bad. I thought I was going to throw up while I was trying to drink it all quickly, and then when I finished I felt nauseous for probably another half hour. Then I got all jittery like I was on a sugar high (which, I guess I was) and then I started to crash and felt really tired.

Plus, I hate having blood taken. The worst part of this was that I had to sit there for an hour thinking about how I was going to have to have 3 vials of blood taken. I think what bothers me is that the needle has to stay in for so long, because I'm fine with getting injections of stuff. Plus, the nice lady who is always really nice to me wasn't working there that day, so I got some man who I had never seen before and I think that maybe he was new or something. He was nice, though. He got 2 vials off the first time and then the vein colapsed and he had to do my other arm for the 3rd vial. Before I left I asked when my doctor would get the results and I was told 24 hours.

I called them on Thursday morning and asked if I could have the test results but, as I suspected, they told me they'd contact me if there was an issue. I haven't heard anything from the doctor's office yet, but then, my doctor only works Thursday mornings (she's on maternity leave...she just had a beautiful baby girl) so I can't really think no news is good news yet.

I'm just crossing my fingers that I don't have to do the 3 hour test. I really don't want to have to drink that stuff again. Blech!

P.S. I'll be 30 weeks tomorrow. This is starting to get real. (And I only have 9 more weeks until I go on mat. leave...how awesome does that sound!?)

Thursday, July 9, 2009

28 Week Appointment

I had my 28 week appointment this morning and it went really well. I am very lucky that my husband works from home and makes his own hours so he can come to all the appointments with me.

The doctor says I am measuring right on schedule and we got to hear the heartbeat, which is always fun. When she felt my belly she said that baby is head down with his head near my left hip, his back on my left side, his bum under my left ribs and his feet underneath my right ribs. I knew I could feel those little feet in my ribs lately!

I also asked her about prenatal classes. She hadn't spoken to us about them before, so she gave me some information. We're going to do a weekend class and get it all done in two days. Should be fun, but I have to admit I'm a bit nervous.

We talked about circumcision, too. She said it's best to get it done in the office because the hospital charges twice as much if you have it done there. She doesn't perform circumcisions but that there are other doctors in the office that do, and she gave us their names. I asked about anesthesia and she said that she knows for sure that one of the doctors uses it and that, when I call to make the appointment, I should tell the receptionist that I want anesthesia used. I'm still making up my mind about it, and I want to talk to my husband about it again, before I make a decision.

The best part of the appointment, though, was learning that I haven't gained any weight!!! How awesome is that? The hospital where I'm delivering only takes low-risk patients, and because I was already quite overweight before I got pregnant, they don't want me to gain too much weight during my pregnancy. I had to have a consultation with an anesthesiologist to make sure it would be okay for me to deliver at this particular hospital and he gave me the go-ahead as long as I keep my BMI under 45. I am not going to post what my current BMI is, but let's just say that if things continue this way, I'm looking good! It also makes it a lot easier to eat healthier when I can say to myself, "Do I want this cheeseburger now, or do I want my own doctor to deliver my baby later?"

Tuesday, July 7, 2009

Circumcision

While my husband and I don't know the sex of our child (and we're not finding out until he or she is born) we are currently trying to decide whether or not, if our child is a boy, we want to circumcise him.

I know that there are a lot of very strong opinions on the subject, and I am trying to weigh the pros and cons. I think that my husband wants to have our son circumcised, and I am tempted to just defer to him for the decision because he has the equipment and I feel as though he would be best to make the decision. However, I still have my own reservations.

I mean, I know that there is a slightly lower chance of contracting and transmitting an STD for a man who is circumcised, and I also know that there is a slightly lower risk of contracting a urinary tract infection for men who are circumcised, but is that "slightly lower risk" worth putting my child through all that pain? I don't know.

Also...and this makes me feel very guilty, but I don't think I would be able to be in the room with him while the doctor performed the operation. I can imagine myself getting very upset at seeing my baby upset. My husband says that he would want to be in the room when it happened, which eases my mind a bit, but if I couldn't even be in the room with my baby while this happened, how can I make the decision to have this done to my baby?

I think I will probably go with whatever my husband chooses, but we'll see. I don't know if his mind is 100% made up right now.

Sunday, July 5, 2009

Welcome!

This blog is named after a line of lyrics in one of my favourite songs of all time, Iris by the Goo Goo Dolls. I have been wanting to start a blog for a while now, but I have been unable to come up with a good name for it.

My reason for starting a blog is that I am pregnant, with our first child, and, even though our immediate family lives quite close, I wanted a place to share my pregnancy and our child with family that we don't get to see everyday.

But I didn't want it to be just about the baby. I wanted it to be about our lives, what we're doing with ourselves, etc. Which is why it was difficult for me to come up with a name for the blog. I didn't want it to be too topic-specific.

Anyways, I'm excited to start chronicling our lives as a married couple (no longer newlyweds...boo!) and new parents.