MomOfFour-Baby Blog

Happy 3rd Birthday Duke!

2012-01-03T10:52:00.002-06:00

It's hard to believe that the baby in this blog is a big three year old now, but he is! Happy New Year!

2011-09-01T08:28:00.000-05:00

The precious little baby of this blog is now 2 1/2!

Happy Birthday to my sweet little Duke!

2010-01-11T12:41:00.001-06:00

Happy Birthday to Grandpa and Duke!

It was fun to celebrate Duke's and Grandpa's birthdays when we were in Iowa!

Baby - July 31st

2009-07-31T10:48:00.002-05:00

Baby - Catch-up!

2009-07-15T15:24:00.002-05:00

Baby at 6 months old!

Baby - 76 Days (March 17)

2009-04-11T10:12:00.002-05:00

Baby - 75 Days (March 16)

2009-03-17T09:47:00.001-05:00

Baby - 74 Days (March 15)

2009-03-17T09:45:00.001-05:00

Baby - 73 Days (March 14)

2009-03-17T09:43:00.001-05:00

Baby 72 Days (March 13)

2009-03-17T09:39:00.002-05:00

Baby - 71 Days (March 12)

2009-03-17T09:37:00.001-05:00

Baby - 70 Days (March 11)

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Baby - 69 Days (March 10)

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Baby - 68 Days (March 9)

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Baby - 67 Days (March 8)

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Baby - 66 Days (March 7)

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Baby - 65 Days (March 6th)

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Baby - 63 Days (March 5th)

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Baby - 63 Days (March 4)

2009-03-07T11:40:00.001-06:00

Baby - 62 Days (March 3) - Smiley Boy!

2009-03-07T11:38:00.004-06:00

Baby - 61 Days (March 2)

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Baby - 60 Days (March 1)

2009-03-07T11:34:00.001-06:00

Baby - 59 Days (Feb 28)

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Baby - 58 Days (Feb 27)

2009-03-07T11:31:00.001-06:00

Baby - 57 Days (Feb 26) (HAPPY BIRTHDAY AIDEN!)

2009-02-26T11:28:00.002-06:00

Zzzzzz....

Baby - 56 days (Feb 25)

2009-02-26T11:26:00.003-06:00

Baby - 55 Days (Feb 24)

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Baby - 54 Days (Feb 23)

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Baby - 53 Days (Feb 22)

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Baby - 52 Days (February 21) SMILES!

2009-02-21T08:42:00.002-06:00

Baby - Day 51 (February 20th)

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Baby - Day 50 (February 19)

2009-02-21T08:34:00.001-06:00

Baby - 49 Days (Feb 18)

2009-02-21T08:32:00.002-06:00

Baby - 48 Days (Feb 17)

2009-02-21T08:07:00.002-06:00

Baby - 47 Days (Feb. 16)

2009-02-16T16:10:00.002-06:00

Baby - 46 Days (Feb 15)

2009-02-16T16:08:00.002-06:00

Baby - 45 Days (Feb 14)

2009-02-14T20:52:00.002-06:00

Baby - Day 44 (Feb 13)

2009-02-13T16:02:00.005-06:00

Picture taken while Skyping Grandama and Papa!

Baby - 43 Days (February 12) First Smiles!

2009-02-12T15:41:00.003-06:00

Baby - 42 Days (February 11)

2009-02-12T15:40:00.001-06:00

Baby - 41 Days (February 10)

2009-02-10T11:59:00.002-06:00

Burp!

Baby - 40 Days (February 9)

2009-02-10T11:51:00.004-06:00

Nightly reading time. You can never start too early!

baby - 39 Days (February 8)

2009-02-10T11:48:00.002-06:00

Baby - 38 Days Old (February 7)

2009-02-10T11:42:00.004-06:00

Baby - 37 Days (February 5)

2009-02-06T18:01:00.006-06:00

Baby - 36 Days (Feb 5th)

2009-02-05T10:06:00.002-06:00

Baby - 35 Days (February 4)

2009-02-04T21:52:00.001-06:00

Baby - 34 Days (February 3rd)

2009-02-04T21:50:00.003-06:00

Baby - 33 Days (Feb 2)

2009-02-02T14:07:00.002-06:00

Baby - 32 Days (Feb 1)

2009-02-02T14:05:00.002-06:00

Baby - 31 Days!

2009-02-02T13:57:00.002-06:00

Baby - 30 Days!

2009-02-02T13:55:00.004-06:00

Baby - 29 Days Old!

2009-01-29T14:46:00.002-06:00

"Well, I can't be happy ALL the time!"

Baby - 28 Days!

2009-01-28T11:13:00.002-06:00

Baby - 27!

2009-01-28T11:10:00.003-06:00

Baby - 26 Days!

2009-01-28T11:05:00.002-06:00

Baby - 25 Days!

2009-01-28T11:00:00.002-06:00

Baby -24 Days!

2009-01-28T10:58:00.002-06:00

Baby - 23 Days!

2009-01-28T10:54:00.004-06:00

Baby - 22 Days!

2009-01-22T11:45:00.001-06:00

Baby - 21 Days!

2009-01-22T10:46:00.006-06:00

Baby - 20 Days!

2009-01-22T10:43:00.002-06:00

Baby 19 Days!

2009-01-19T16:39:00.004-06:00

I love this picture! The Baby is constantly making "O" lips. I looked it up and it means that he is ready to interact! I may just have another social butterfly on my hands!

Four on One!

2009-01-19T12:45:00.003-06:00

This has been a pretty good day. Princess and Prince do not have school so I am all alone with the four kids. I admit that I have used a lot of tricks including movies, letting them play the DS, and bribing them with the promise of making dessert if they were good. They were good so I am about the call them in to make dessert here in a few minutes. It is almost 4:45 so we should be able to whip up a cake in a jiffy for supper.

Life has been really crazy since the Baby was born, but that is to be expected. He is a really sweet and good baby though. He eats about every two hours. He will stay awake sometimes now. For the first week or so after we came home, he would just eat and then go right back to sleep. It is nice to see his bright little eyes looking back at me now. I am still trying to figure out if he will have blue eyes like me and the rest of the kids or if Daddy will win the day and finally get a hazel eyed baby just like his. Time will tell, but I am betting on the hazel eyes this time. Blue eyes are supposed to be recessive, and since blue eyes have won the last three times, the hazel eyes are due. We shall see.

I hope to blog more later. Time to make that cake!

Baby - 18 Days!

2009-01-18T18:26:00.001-06:00

Baby - 17 Days!

2009-01-17T10:54:00.003-06:00

Ok, I will have to take another one later. I took this as I was holding him and he looks like he is glowing! :)

Baby - 16 Days!

2009-01-17T10:50:00.006-06:00

Baby - 15 Days!

2009-01-16T11:15:00.003-06:00

Baby - 14 Days!

2009-01-16T11:13:00.003-06:00

Baby - 13 Days!

2009-01-16T11:10:00.001-06:00

Baby 12 Days!

2009-01-12T23:37:00.001-06:00

Baby - 11 days old!

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Baby - 10 days old!

2009-01-11T12:16:00.002-06:00

Day 9 - the Breakout!

2009-01-11T11:39:00.011-06:00

Our last breakfast in the hospital! Everyone LOVED the Knight's light-up airplane shirt that Grandma and Grandpa gave him! He was the hit of the elevators!
This is before we got the news that we could go home

We got all of our stuff together and got the heck out of Dodge before they could find another reason to keep us!

The Knight helped Daddy carry the baby out of the hospital!

HOME!

The Prince and the Baby!

Grumpy Princess and the baby. (She didn't want her picture taken!)

Daddy gets a late night nap with the baby!

We are so thankful to be home. THANK YOU to everyone who has commented on this blog. It has been very helpful through this whole week!

Day 8 - Not homeward bound

2009-01-09T05:28:00.010-06:00

Our baby with his very sweet nurse, Emily!
Our precious little guy passed his hearing test with flying colors!

It is amazing that they can test his hearing at such a young age! We were so thankful that the antibiotics he was given at birth does not appear to affect his hearing!

The Knight and Daddy playing around!

Where is the Prince? (DadOf4 has been amazing this week. He has made me laugh when I wanted to cry and he has taken such good care of all of us. I married a wonderul man.)

They ended up having to put an IV in the baby's scalp. It looks a lot worse than it really is, and at least now he cannot suck on it!

My best friend down here in Texas. I could not have asked for a better friend. I was pretty upset yesterday because I was really counting on going home. When that didn't happen, the flood gates opened. AB's mom was really awesome - she called and pointed out all of the blessings of this situation, even if we didn't get to go home. She was the level I needed. She came to visit last night after DadOf4 and the kids went home. She brought ice cream! :)

Day 7 - Rooming In

2009-01-07T21:24:00.019-06:00

This should be our last full day at the hospital. Our little guy gets one last antibiotic at 11:00AM tomorrow morning, a hearing test after that and then we can head home. One of the antibiotics that he has been on has the potential to cause hearing problems. We are praying that this comes back normal.

Here is our little guy first thing this morning.
The Knight, Daddy, and our baby. DadOf4 and the Knight came around 9:30 this morning. The big kids are back in school.

Me and my little boys. :)

AB's mom came for another visit! The last time she was here she had to hold the baby in the NICU. It was nice that she was able to hold him for a long, long time today!

AB's mom and our little guy! (I have to thing of a blog name for him!)

Little brother and big brother!

This is our nurse who came up with the idea of letting the baby come to my room. She has been great!

DadOf4 brought the three big kids back to see us again. First he gave them all baths and got Princess to do her homework. He has been incredible. I will be giving him a big break this weekend!!

Princess and the baby. She dressed up to come and see us tonight!

The Prince wanted to "drive" my bed again. So all three hopped on and up-up-and-away they went!

I love this picture of Daddy with the baby!

Extreme close up of the baby!

To get a nice picture like this....

I had to agree to a silly picture like this! :)

Moo! I don't know if it was sitting upstairs among all those crying babies or what, but I have been a major milk producer! I pumped all of these just today plus fed the baby! I know, too much information, but holy cow! (Heh heh heh!)

Day 6 - Rooming In

2009-01-06T21:51:00.016-06:00

Curious little Knight!
Kisses!
The Knight helps feed the baby with one of the nurses (Beth).

Daddy and the Knight brought me lunch!

Baby - he got circumcized today....

The Knight and Princess visted after Princess and Prince got out of school!

The Prince wanted to be the first to hold the baby. :)

The Knight wanted to hold the baby too!

So did Princess!

Daddy made me a banana bread and brought it to the hospital! He has been AMAZING through this whole experience. I married a GREAT guy!

The Prince and the Knight watch Spongebob.

Daddy enjoys some banana bread and baby time!

Princess, Prince, and the Knight hanging out watching Spongebob.

The Prince held baby one last time before heading for home. :)

Day 5 - Rooming In and more

2009-01-06T18:02:00.014-06:00

Good news! Baby was sprung from the NICU and was able to Room In with me! He is still in the NICU here.
I was so happy that I could not help but cry when the baby was able to go to my room!

Daddy and the kids didn't know we were coming down so they were super happy and surprised!

DadOf4 and our Quartet. :)

The kids did LOTS of hand washing before they could hold the baby!

The Knight LOVES being a big brother! Big yawn from baby!

Talking to AB's mom on the phone while the Big Kids watched a movie.

DadOf4 with all of the kids!

Piggy back ride!

The Prince loves being a big brother again!

Daddy loved being able to hold baby for more than a few minutes at a time!

Princess is a great big sister!

Day 4 - NICU and more

2009-01-04T16:22:00.010-06:00

Here is our little guy this morning. Snug as a bug in a rug!

Princess brought some crafts that my mom sent her.

DadOf4 and the Knight played Uno with the Prince!

The Prince won!

Princess and me.

AB's mom got to hold our little guy for the first time.

Joelle and our little guy!

Just before I logged on. He is such a cutie!

Is it Thursday yet? I wanna go home!

Day 3 - NICU and Fun in the Room

2009-01-03T22:03:00.009-06:00

Sleepy Baby!
Crabby Baby!

Time to watch a movie while Mommy nurses Baby Brother.

Big brothers need naps too!

Those wires are just stickers. They monitor Baby's heart rate. They test blood taken from his little foot. For as much as they are messing with him, he is a very laid back and sweet baby!

Another one of the awesome NICU nurses!

Precious boy. We want to take you home!

Still More Day 2 NICU

2009-01-02T22:04:00.002-06:00

More Day 2 NICU

2009-01-02T19:11:00.004-06:00

Day 2 - NICU

2009-01-02T16:40:00.003-06:00

Princess holding the baby in the NICU.
Baby and NICU nurse. Those nurses are really amazing.

He is here! Day 1!

2009-01-02T16:35:00.004-06:00

Two more days!

2008-12-31T08:45:00.004-06:00

I had a doctor's appointment yesterday and Newbie passed the non-stress again with flying colors. My new doctor is very funny. He walked into the exam room with his clipboard and asked, "So, what are you doing on Friday?" I answered, "Having a baby?!" and he said, "Right!" We have to be at the hospital by 8:00 on Friday morning.

As it worked out, AB's mom is going to be able to watch my trio afterall (BIG happy dance going on because she is the person who knows my kids best down here and they love her...) Her grandmother is doing really well! She is doing so well in fact, that her parents were able to come down here for Christmas. Hopefully we will have the baby by bedtime so DadOf3 can go pick up the kids and have them sleep in their own beds. I will pack a bag for the kids just in case, but I hope to not have to impose on these guys to keep the kids overnight. I briefly thought about having my daughter stay with my in the hospital after the baby is born, but I don't want to freak her out. We will see how fast this baby comes and how everyone is doing before making any decisions about that.

So, on Friday we will get to see this little guy's face. I am still working on a name. It has been really, really hard to choose a name this time. With two big boys, I have already used up most of my favorites. I have been pooring over baby name websites the last few days.

Here is my long list:

Liam
Henry
Xavier
Joseph
Finn
Max
Austin
Zachary
Jason
Joel
Joshua
Gus
Grant
Quinn

I may add to this today. I hope once I get a good look at him, the name will jump out at me. :)

Nesting?

2008-12-30T09:04:00.004-06:00

I think I went into nesting mode yesterday. Whew! What a day!

I got groceries with the three kiddos, brought them in and put them away
I did about 7 loads of laundry, folded them, and put them away.
I made and froze a lasagnia.
I made and froze a chicken pot pie.
I washed the baby clothes in Dreft.
I packed my hospital bag.
I made a pumpkin pie because I was in the mood to bake and didn't get it made for Christmas.
I took the kids to the cul-de-sac a block or so away to ride bikes.

I am glad all that stuff is done!

One more doctor appointment tomorrow!

2008-12-29T15:45:00.002-06:00

I have one more doctor appointment tomorrow. Then we should be able to choose Thursday or friday to have our little baby! I am getting very excited to see his face! I still would love to have this baby on my dad's birthday - December 31st. I will try my best!

Update!

2008-12-22T18:58:00.003-06:00

We had a follow-up ultrasound this afternoon and all is well. There were a total of 8 things that they were looking for and Newbie passed all 8 tests. Newbie is measuring 7 pounds and 2 ounces today. He is ahead of my little Knight who was 6 pounds 13 ounces at birth. I am 3 cms dilated now. DadOf3 and the kids all came to the ultrasound. If I can get to the scanner, I will scan the new pictures, but I am secretly hoping to have real pictures within the week. Send dilated thoughts my way! :)

Last Day of School for Princess and Prince

2008-12-18T07:20:00.003-06:00

Today is the last day of school for the calendar year for my 7 year old and my 5 year old. They were in such good moods this morning!

I was secretly hoping Newbie would make an appearance while they were still in school to make things easier on those who will watch them when the baby comes. We have plans for the kiddos, but that may not work out now. Princess's best friend is AB. His mom is an absolutely wonderful person who loves my kids and has offered to watch them while we have newbie and has even offered to watch ALL THREE of them overnight. Can you say "Saint"? Well, her grandmother was admitted to the ICU out east. I am not sure of their plans yet, but if it were me, I would be on the first plane out of here to see my grandmother. She is 95. So, we may be on to plan B....

We have other people who could watch the kids, but no one who I want to watch them overnight. Worst case scenerio, Bill stays with the kids and I have the baby in the middle of the night. This would suck, but as long as we get a baby out of the deal, I am good with it. It is times like this when I wish we lived back in Iowa, because I have lots of family members who would love to be with us for Newbie's arrival. They would also come down here if we asked. The problem is knowing when to bring people down. We just don't know when Newbie is going to come, and we cannot ask people to stay for a couple of weeks just in case - especially at Christmas time. This is not a new problem. We have had it with each one of our kids. The only one who was born with family in town was Prince - and he was a week late.

This is just weighing on my mind. I am not exactly sad about it because I am confident that things will work out.

We have another ultrasound on Monday. That may shed some light on the subject. Time will tell.

Not Stressed!

2008-12-16T10:35:00.003-06:00

I had the non-stress test and we passed with flying colors. The doctor actually sat down and explained to me what they were looking for. He is awesome! - Night and Day from my old OB. Maybe that is why I am not blogging very much. Nothing to gripe about. :)

The next appointment is on Monday for an ultrasound. They will check the baby's weight and the fluid level. It sounds like I am getting my van into the shop. Ha!

Anyway, I am feeling lots and lots of Braxton Hicks. He didn't check me at the last appointment so for all I know I could still be 2 cms. But something is going on in there.

Update

2008-12-11T09:42:00.003-06:00

Well, I have another appointment on Friday with my awesome new OB! I am also scheduled for a non-stress test. I will be considered full term tomorrow - Yippee!

I am now down 10 pounds from when I found out about the baby. My blood pressure has been normal the entire time. And the Gestational Diabetes has not been an issue. I am still not convinced that I have it anyway. DadOf3 and I went out to eat after my doctor appointment last week. I had a chicken philly sandwich on white bread and onion rings. An hour later, my blood sugar was 82. They want it to be under 120. Definitely under 120. Whatever. At least I have not gained any weight. The 10 pound loss is a bonus as long as everything continues to go OK.

I will update with the results of the non-stress test tomorrow. DadOf3 has a half day off so he will be going with me again.

2 centameters dilated and 50% effaced!

2008-12-06T13:27:00.003-06:00

Come on, Baby! Let's have a December birthday!!!

I'm free on Friday if you are!? We would be 37 weeks by then - FULL TERM!

Mommy loves to be early everywhere - do you?

****************************

Doctor Appointment on Friday

2008-12-03T18:21:00.003-06:00

I have another doctor appointment on Friday. I am actually looking forward to it. This doctor had me take my glucose levels for another 2 weeks. This time I am taking them one hour after eating as opposed to 2 hours. Whatever. I am getting used to poking my poor fingers now so it makes no difference to me. All of my numbers look good, at least to me. I hope he does not tell me otherwise on Friday.

Baby is moving a lot now and I have definitely popped. I cannot hide him under big sweatshirts anymore. It is kind of fun being so BIG this time of the year.

I had a really nice talk with my sister-in-law about gestational diabetes. She had just seen a show about it. Not once during that show did they mention getting sent to a neonatologist for this. I am convinced that leaving my old OB was the right thing to do. They were also really rude to me when I picked up my medical records. Really unprofessional. Whatever.

Weight loss and a sick little Knight....

2008-11-22T09:59:00.003-06:00

OK so this is just weird. I am now down 9 pounds since getting pregnant. I have been eating. Yesterday I ate breakfast, lunch, supper, and 2 snacks. When I got on the scale today, I was down another pound. I don't get it. It was actually a really lazy day - no planned or executed exercise.

My poor little Knight got kicked out of Moppets yesterday for his cough. He didn't have a temperature, but he was coughing and just was not happy so they came and got me. I am glad that they did because about an hour later, he threw up. Poor kiddo. He was done throwing up by bedtime. But we spent the entire afternoon on the couch with a strategically placed bucket close at hand. We watched Dragon Tales (his current favorite show along with Imagination Movers). We took turns falling asleep.

Perhaps I have found the secret to my weight loss success: the diabetic diet? The baby is moving a lot and looks really good, but I am now anxious to have that next ultrasound to see how much he has grown.

My OB visit on Friday was great. The doctor was funny and was so nice to the Knight and DadOf3 (and me too). When we walked in, he saw the Knight and shouted, "A Little Person!!" and proceeded to pull two toys off of the shelf to keep him entertained. One was "Walter the Farting Dog" and it was hilarious! I think we made the right decision to move to this doctor.

Insomnia and the Straw that Broke this Camel's Back...

2008-11-19T03:38:00.005-06:00

I have this problem. Everyone knows that babies make expectant mommies run for the bathroom at all hours of the day or night. Some mommies are really unlucky and are running to get sick. I have never had to experience this - and for that I am grateful! I just have to answer nature's call during the nighttime. Usually I am up only once, but that does not seem to matter because once I am up, I am UP. I cannot go back to sleep. I spent the last hour trying and then I thought to myself - hey! I could be blogging. OK, I actually thought I could get up and read a book or watch The Biggest Loser from last night, but I turned the computer on and the rest is history.

I have been really bothered by my OB's office. I am glad that I finally made the decision to leave and find somewhere new. The only problem is the unknown. Will my new doctor be better or am I jumping out of the frying pan and into the fire? I guess I will know on Thursday. I have not severed ties with my old OB yet. I fugured I would burn that bridge when I come to it. I will have to cancel my appointment with my old OB on Thursday because that is when the new OB could get me in. I did go pick up my medical records yesterday so any office worth its weight would know that something is up.

I know I am right to leave. My last appointment at this office was horrible. I can understand having to wait an hour and 15 minutes to see a doctor. Emergencies happen. C-Sections need to be performed, and my motto is always, "It could be me." So I wait patiently - or as patiently as I can wait with a three year old pretending to be a cat and a husband who really needs to get back to work but is doing a very good job of appearing calm.

So what happened at this appointment? Something that has never happened to me before, and (as I am constantly reminded by my OB) I am no spring chicken. This is my 4th child, not my first. I was happy to see that I drew the "nice nurse" for this appointment. I had her for the first time the time before and she was actually nice. She asked me about myself, didn't seem rushed, and told me that her son had been born on my due date. Bonding occurred. My normally optimistic brain jumped in and screamed, "Maybe there is hope for this place afterall."

So, I was happy to get this nurse again. She sent my husband and 3 year old into the exam room while we went over to weigh me. I was happy because I didn't want that number shared. I am not proud of it. I own that number and apparently it owns me as well because after we went back to the exam room and the nurse proceeded to SAY MY WEIGHT OUTLOUD, I was mortified. I don't know of one woman who would like her weight announced, let along announced at 8 months pregnant.

All of my feelings about how well I had done by not only NOT GAINING weight but actually losing 7 pounds during this pregnancy went out the window. DadOf3 didn't understand why I was so upset, bless his heart, but upset I was. I cried, unable to stop, through the rest of the entire appointment as well as during the following weekend whenever I thought about it. Apparently I have an issue with my weight. This is when the insomnia really kicked in. I get up, stumble my wa,y to the bathroom, answer nature's call, stumble back to bed and then fall back asleep.

After this last appointment the falling back to sleep thing has eluded me.

Perhaps I am overly emotional and hormonal? Yeah, I probably am, but that still does not give them the right to announce my weight outloud and then try to brush it under the rug with a "you have not gained anything and should be pleased". Screw that.

I should have asked them to announce their weight. Unfortunately I was too busy trying not to cry.

So there you have it - my completely irrational explanation of why the camel broke his back.

I hope I can sleep after meeting the new OB on Thursday morning.

Looking for a new OB.

2008-11-17T12:47:00.003-06:00

Well, I have finally made the decision to find a new OB. Wish me luck! I have appointments this week.

Early Release!

2008-11-11T11:59:00.002-06:00

I had a doctor's appointment with the neonatologist today and I feel like I am on early release!

Because my numbers were so normal, I only have to check my blood sugar level one day a week now! My finger tips are rejoicing!

I also do not have to see him for 3 more weeks.

I am still watching what I eat, but this is really, really good news!

Woo hoo!

OB Appointment

2008-11-05T07:55:00.003-06:00

I had an appointment with my OB on Monday.

Some of the highlights:

My weight was down 4 1/2 pounds (any other time I would be ecstatic)
My blood pressure was still really good.
My blood sugar was on the low side.

It was just the strangest appointment. My doctor was being really nice, but I think that is because DadOf3 came with me.

She was seriously all about DadOf3. Was he comfortable? Was the sun in his eyes? She was borderline flirting with him. Even DadOf3 noticed it.

We got some questions answered though and a tentative arrival date of December 30th.

Good grief.

Full story will follow - I have to get some laundry done!

2008-11-03T13:53:00.003-06:00

Get this.

I have lost 4 1/2 pounds in a week.
My blood pressure is still great (120/74).
My blood sugars are too low.

WTF?

M B L S (Morning, Breakfast, Lunch, Supper)
96 73 60 93
72 93 (brunch) 82
67 86 60 98
84 61 (today)

Perhaps they should not have cut out so many carbs from my diet.

But - hey! I'm not the expert.

Is it December yet? I want to have this baby and be done with these - people. (Trying to be nicer to them....)

Neonatal Visit

2008-11-03T08:11:00.003-06:00

I didn't write about this last week because I was still really upset.

First of all, and most importantly, the baby is doing great! Other than sorely lacking any chance in the near future of actually being named, he is looking good. 3 pounds 11 ounces, wiggly, and adorable from what I can see.

I have mentioned before about the horrible lack of information these people have been providing me. By "these people" I mean my OB and the neonatologist and his staff.....

Here's the story....

I had my Neonatologist appointment on Thursday and I was utterly and completely wound up by the time I finally arrived. DadOf3 came with me to watch the Knight. We arrived early, as good patients do. The doors were locked. OK...I guess they are still at lunch. At 1:15 the doors opened and the first word out of the receptionist's mouth was "Name". Not "Hello" or "How are you today?" or anything remotely civil. Just "Name".

Great....

The receptionist gave me tons of papers to fill out and told me several times that I would have to pay up front. We have insurance and we have always paid our bills. I covered this with them on the phone. It was obvious that their concern was to get paid and not take care of me and the baby, their patients.

Fine.

I filled out all of the paper work. At this point I still didn't know what to expect from the appointment - remember no information was given to me. Were they looking for something specific? Were they expecting to find something bad?

We were called back after waiting for 45 minutes. The ultrasound tech (NOT the neonatologist, mind you) was horrid. She was working with a student and it was again obvious that I was not their primary concern. Was I asked if I wanted to be a guinea pig? Nope? Did she talk to me? Nope! She was more concerned with showing her vast ultrasound knowledge and making her student feel bad.

Because I was being ignored, I asked some questions. What are you looking for? What is the purpose of the ultrasound today. Things that should have already been explained to me, in my opinion.

As it turns out, they were not looking for any abnormalities. It was merely an anatomy check.

A routine anatomy check - like the one we had done at 20 weeks that came out perfectly OK. Had I known that, I probably wouldn't have been so upset to see that everything was OK. At this point, I started crying. And I couldn't stop. I cried pretty much solid through the rest of the appointment and with the appointment with the dietician, who by the way said if just one of my numbers had been one point lower I would not even be seeing her.

And I never did see the neonatoligist. All for the low, low price of $655.

Oh, and I am checking my blood sugars as directed and I have never, not once, been even close to their danger zone.

I have an appointment with my OB this morning. DadOf3 is coming with me.

Any bets as to how high my blood presssure will be today? I am guessing my days of 118/70 are over. I have not been able to sleep. When I do, I have anxiety dreams.

Just for the record, I am not normally a bitchy person....