Wisdom from my walk

Work has been very interesting this week, our office is relocating tomorrow and in order to get ready the moving men have been there all week. We saw patients at the old office today, and we will be at the new office tomorrow seeing patients! We have no day off to prepare the office or anything, we will only be seeing a few patients, about 20, and we usually see at least twice that, but still, I don’t know how well it is going to go tomorrow. I was so glad I only had a half day today, I couldnt take much more of the chaos.

Today’s appointment with my ob went well. He said my cervix isn’t doing anything so I won’t be going too early if I go early at all but that I we would have the baby by August 12th at the latest. He said between August 10-12, if I haven’t started labor by then on my own. He didn’t seem too concerned about Caleb being so big, he said he will be about 8 lbs 5 oz. at the rate he is going but I am so afraid he is going to gain more than 1/2 lb a week. But my sugar has been wonderful so he might just gain a 1/2 lb a week til he is born.

I was so thrilled that Dean went with me today. He hasn’t been able to go to my ultrasounds or regular appointments because we want him to save his time off for when Caleb is actually here. But he took an early lunch today, sacrified not being able to eat, just to be with me. It wasn’t that it was that important of an appointment, but I think he felt he needed to be there. I was glad too, it is so nice to see him during the day, it makes for a nicer afternoon. But I dont expect that he’ll be at many more of my appts or ultrasounds which probably sucks for him because I am so fortunate to see our little angel every week but he can’t be there. I wish he could though, I think he gets more of a kick out of the ultrasound pics than I do.

Yesterday Dean and I discussed my not working much longer, but we both know that I will only get 6 weeks of disability and if I use that now then I wont be around for Caleb after he is here. I hate that! I would love to not have to work, now or later. I am struggling with it every morning when I get ready, especially lately as it is harder for me to get going and harder for me to do some of the routine things I do at work. But things have been getting better with my health here lately, so maybe I will just make it, even if it is difficult. I mean I only have 4 more weeks. And I think maybe the change of office will help make it a little easier on me, I will be closer to Dean’s work so we can car pool and my job duties will be changing drastically. So I think after tomorrow things may get easier, I can only hope.

I sure can’t wait to hear how Cheryl is doing! And I hope Hilary gets some relief soon! I think I’ll write down in a journal while I am at the hospital and have Dean update my blog for me from that. But I am sure he will update his and write tons about Caleb before I get a chance too.

Have I ever mentioned how wonderful my hubby is!?

The appointment with my specialist went well yesterday! He was so excited that my sugars have been good. My fasting sugar should be under 100 and after a meal it should be 120, for the last 4 days all of my sugar readings have been under 100. I don’t know what has changed, and I don’t really care because I am hoping if I can keep it under control the next few weeks it might help it stay stabilized better when I go into labor which might help lessen the need for a c-section.

On the bpp (ultrasound), the nurse said they rate the baby on a scale of 8 things and Caleb got a perfect score yesterday! And I got to see the neatest thing, the pics are definitely much clearer now and we were watching his little fist and he kept opening and closing his hand and you could see every little finger and his movements were so natural. I kept wondering, how does he know how to do anything already? Then he stretched out his arm and pulled it back in, it was the cutest thing I’ve ever seen! And we could see his face so clearly, you could make out his eyes, lips, nose and I think I saw an ear! Then she blew up the screen so we could see his little heart beating away, and you could see all of the veins and she said she could see all the chambers of his heart working, I was amazed. It had to be the best appt yet, just because of how awesome everything looked. That and it was the first appt where the dr hasn’t raised my sugar medicine! Wohoo!!

Today I have my appointment with my regular ob, so we will see what good news if any he gives me. I am thinking my weight should be good since my sugars have been good, but we’ll have to wait and see. I’ll update more later……

This is Ann, I know that I have mentioned her and her husband Dennis a lot lately, so now you know who I mean. We met them doing Our Town with Mason Community Players and since then we’ve become great friends. They are almost as excited about Caleb’s upcoming arrival as we are!

I had the absolute worst night last night! I woke up around 2-ish with horrible abdominal cramps and I spent all night up and down. And I noticed then that my right leg was very sore, it felt like it does after I have a leg cramp. So I just thought maybe I was going to get a leg cramp so I propped up my leg. After a total of maybe 2 or 3 hours of decent sleep I got up and got ready for work, still feeling very awful, but knowing that we were already short staffed today at work. And I was trying so hard not to complain about how I felt so I didnt tell Dean too much and it wasn’t until I was about to leave did I mention to him about my leg hurting. Apparently around 12 or so I had woken up with a bad leg cramp and asked him to rub it out and I kept saying ow ow ow. Strange thing is, I have no recollection of this whatsoever. The only reason I know he isn’t making it up is because I can still feel how sore my leg is and that is how it always is after I get one of those leg cramps. I asked him what I said to him and if I seemed awake and he said I was talking to him! I can’t believe it. I must have been very sick not to remember, so I guess my stomach cramps must have been really bad since I remember the pain and I was in and out of the bathroom for hours. I guess the leg cramp wasn’t that bad or I would have woken up or at least remembered. So, it was one of those nights, and then I had to work since there was no one to replace me at work so today was a pretty bad day too. I came home and started having bad abdominal cramps again and immediately crawled into my favorite position in bed, lying on my left side, and was asleep before I even realized it.

I am glad I have a dr’s appt tomorrow, I have to see the specialist and have my weekly ultrasound. My sugar levels have been great the last two days and I’ve done nothing different, except be very ill. And I think I’ve eaten a lot less as a result of how I’ve felt so yesterday my sugar even got too low twice and I had to ward off the shakes and eat something right away. So I am worried how Caleb is being affected by my sudden highs and lows of sugar and especially worried about this stomach bug or whatever it is that keeps coming back to haunt me. So we will see what the dr says tomorrow. I am scheduled to work and then leave and come back, but pending how my appt goes we will see if I go back. But we are moving our office this week and I know they need me, but I am starting to really not care seeing as they did wait to the last minute to have us pack and we have been so short staffed that we havent even had time to get our regular work done let alone packing up stuff. So, we’ll see how I feel tomorrow….I am looking forward to a nice night’s sleep but after last night I am not sure if I will get one.

I am so glad that Dean is being so caring about how I feel, tonight he had to go to a meeting at the theater and told me to lay down and dont get up until he gets home. Last time he said that I did just that except for the fact I got up and took a nice long bath. But today I feel like I have just too much to do around the house and plus I need to go grocery shopping. So I think I’ll run a few errands and then head to bed for the evening. Because tomorrow I have to work, go to the dr, and then go to a board meeting for the theater after work. So I better rest up now….

Take a look at some pics from the shower I had yesterday!

We spent all of the day in a child birth class, and we sure were tired afterward! We came home and took a nice long nap then went to Dean’s parents for dinner. So today was a pretty boring day, but I really enjoyed the relaxation steps we learned in class today. And I have decided that I do NOT want an epidural or a c-section if at all possible. Dean doesnt think I will handle the pain well but I’d rather use other kinds of drugs and coping mechanisms then be numb from the waist down. And I have a feeling that I will do better than a lot of people will think, I mean afterall, an epidural will just slow things down and may make it harder for me to have a vaginal birth so what the heck, why not try as many other techniques as possible and other kinds of drugs and as a last resort I will consider an epidural and I really dont want a c-section but I know I may not have a choice. But we will see how things go. Right now I need to head to bed, for some reason I am very tired again and am very pale, so I think I need some rest. It’s been a long weekend, and I am dreading heading back to work, but a woman’s work is never done…….

I really like this pic from when we were at the park yesterday, don’t I just look so cute and pregnant!? Soon I’ll put up pics from the shower, which was so much fun. We ended up getting so much cool stuff, my favorite gift has to be this bouncer/activity center. We assembled it after I got home last night only to be frustrated at reading it is for when the baby can hold his head up so he won’t be as thrilled with it as we are for a few months, but it is just so cute I know he will just love it when he is big enough to play with it. I also loved the feeding center we got, funny thing is I didnt remember putting it on our registry, but now that I look we did. No wonder I like it so much! We got lots of other stuff too, and the girls were really fun. Out of all the ladies there, 4 of us were pregnant, the other Amy is due August 8th but this is her second child, well all of the other ladies are on their second children, and she was having contractions pretty bad yesterday and the day before. And Susan is due in October, and Cat just found out she is due in February, and she only has a 6 month old!!! I dont know how she’ll do it! So we talked lots about babies and delivery. Scared poor Ann out of having kids I think! But I think they’d be great parents, Ann & Dennis, they keep lavishing us with baby gifts, and they get us cool gifts too, you’d think they’d have a kid seeing as they get such practical gifts, but ones that are neat too. Thanks everyone for a great shower!!!

Last night we were talking about going to Yellow Springs today, but when we woke up it was already raining so we slept in a little bit more. Then we got up and decided we could still go shopping at the stores in Yellow Springs so we set off around noon or so, just Dean & I, and well Caleb was there too in his own way. So we spent an hour or two walking the shops and the weather cleared enough that we went to John Bryan State Park and walked one of the paths near the Little Miami River. It was so peaceful and for a holiday weekend the place was nearly vacant. We are thinking of going camping at the campground there maybe next weekend, pending how my next ultrasound goes. The park is only about 45 minutes from our house and we hated having to leave today since there were so many trails we didn’t get to explore, but I had to come home so I could get ready for the baby shower that MCP is having for me tonight; seeing as I am a board member and have worked on the last show or two. So even though it is still pretty gloomy looking out we had a great day so far, and I am really looking forward to my shower this evening.

I think Caleb must be doing great, he hasn’t stopped wiggling around all day, except for when we were walking around. And as soon as we got in the car for the drive back he started moving around again and hasn’t stopped. So I guess the other day he was just tired when I couldn’t feel him.

I hope everyone else is having a great weekend, and I hope Cheryl is doing well!!!