June 16, 2004
nicknaming the baby
Aaron: have you guys picked out a pre-name name for 'it'?
Pamela: not really
Pamela: i've been calling it the little bean or monkeybean
Pamela: mostly, it's "the baby"
Pamela: occasionally "my dietician"
Aaron: I hearby declare that the littlest hichens shall be named 'abu' after the monkey in the movie
Pamela: heh
Pamela: what if it's a girl?
Aaron: how do you know abu wasnt a girl?
Aaron: you never saw a penis on it did you?
Pamela: because he wore a vest, no pants. in disney, the animal chicks wear skirts and no tops
Pamela: and usually a bow on the head instead of a fez
Aaron: hrm you may be right
Aaron: and if its a girl i will still call her a monkey so oh well :)
Pamela: heh, nod
Any other suggestions?
Update: It may be a fitting nickname. Apparently, Abu is a naughty little monkey.
First prenatal appointment
I had my first prenatal appointment yesterday morning. Early, yesterday. It was scheduled for 9am. Since I have no clue what rush hour traffic is like around here, or how long it lasts, I got myself up at 7:15 am. After getting up, I ate a banana. It seemed to go down fine, but I had just finished brushing my teeth when I had to run to the toilet and throw up. So much for that.
After showering, I woke Dale who informed me he couldn't go because he was expecting a work call at 9 am. I felt miserable and had really hoped he could take me, but alas. I ended up lying in bed for about 15 more minutes then decided to leave. I was in the car at 8 am.
Traffic was a LOT better than I'd anticipated. It was a straight shot down the highway and I made it to the clinic in 15 minutes. Oops. Fortunately, I didn't end up waiting for 45 minutes. After about 10 minutes, they called me back and got the basics out of the way - weight, vitals, urine sample, medical history.
I ended up seeing three different nurses as they shuffled me through the phases of my appointment. First did vitals, second went over the maternity information packet I'd been given, third did a physical exam. The physical was quick and the nurse informed me that everything looked fine. She blessedly wrote me a prescription for anti-nausea medicine and then sent me on my way.
My next stop was upstairs at the lab. They were pretty busy and the waiting room stayed fairly full the whole time I was there. Two and a half tubes of blood were withdrawn and I was finally allowed to leave. I stopped at the pharmacy on the way home to get the prescription filled.
My next appointment is in four weeks. That's when we'll (hopefully) get to hear the baby's heartbeat. Four weeks feels like such a long time to wait!
All morning I'd felt pretty miserable. I ate a plain Pop-Tart on the way to the doctor and then ate its companion on the way home. It helped with the hunger and nausea, but not much, so I took an anti-nausea pill when I got home. I'd been warned that it would make me sleepy, but I was already really tired. I settled on the couch and watched my Buffy DVDs then some TV. The medicine helped, but I felt just as odd. It was like the nausea had been pushed back and around a corner, but if I wasn't careful how I moved, it would quickly come back and pounce on me. So I moved as little as possible while on the couch. Then I gave up and went to bed around 7 or 8 pm and didn't get up until Dale's snoring just bugged me so much, I left our bed at 9 am and crashed in the guest room.
Today, I've been ok. I was up and feeling decent for a few hours before I felt the need to take a pill. Now, I'm very sleepy again and debating about taking a nap.
June 14, 2004
Weekend update
Dale and I went to Houston Friday afternoon and returned late Sunday evening. Overall, it was a pretty nice weekend for me, even though we didn't get to see much of his family and I was pretty (morning) sick for a lot of it.
I spent the week prior to the trip trying to find a swimsuit. Not an easy task when you're a) pregnant and b) plus-size. Not one suit I tried on locally impressed me. Every one was either a halter top or just didn't have enough fabric to cover/support my chest. (Even not pregnant, my boobs are rather large.) I didn't really want to order a suit online just to find out it had the same problems and then have to deal with returning it. At the last minute I settled on buying a pair of pink (bleh) board shorts from Old Navy and a red maternity tank top (with built-in shelf bra) from Wal-Mart. For a make-shift swimsuit, it worked pretty well.
Saturday and Sunday, Dale and I took extended dips in the pool. It was quite a lot of fun for me. First time I've been swimming since... probably before Dale and I were married. The water was just cool enough to counter the bright, hot sun. This was also the first time in weeks that my belly felt fine. I did quickly learn that diving or jumping into the pool did NOT feel nice though.
Zoë was rather perplexed by our behaviour. This was the first time anyone has ever been in the pool with her. Normally, she just likes splashing along the steps and getting in occasionally to cool off. This time, we were in the pool while tossing her ball to fetch. She enjoyed that for a while, then disappeared into a flower bed and hiding her ball. Then she'd just swim out to us if we called her, and then back to the steps. Dale and I tried to teach her how to jump in from the side, but she'd chicken out and run back to the steps. Dale tossed/pusher her in a couple of times, but she didn't seem to appreciate that.
Dale had mowed his parents' yard first (they've been out of town two weeks) and I'd insisted on putting sunblock on him first, but I didn't insist on applying more after he took off his shirt and got in the pool. I wish I had. By the time we were done with the pool on Saturday, his poor shoulders were already pink. Now he has the anti-redneck burn. I got burned a little too, mostly because I wasn't able to effectively apply sunblock to my own back. I have finger streaks on my back now. :P
Sunday, Z0ë was more enthusiastic about swimming. She'd swim out to where I was and when I'd try to guide her back towards the steps, she'd just swim in circles around me. Several times she and I swam to the deep end and back together. Occasionally, she'd get too close and I'd get clawed or thunked on the head, but overall it wasn't bad. We also learned that she was deliberately hiding her ball when she didn't want to play fetch anymore. She'd go back and get it when she was ready to play again.
Towards the end of swimming on Sunday, we tried again to get Zoë to jump from the side. I was in the deeper end, coaxing and calling to her. She'd hunker down and dip her front paws, then whine and chicken out. Finally, I got on the side next to her, jumped, and by the time I surfaced, she was swimming towards me. I asked Dale if she'd jumped and he said yes, right after I did. We got her to do it a few more times leading by example, and then a couple more without us jumping in first. Yay puppy!
The times we were in the pool, I felt great. But it wouldn't be long after getting out that I'd start to feel sick again.
Early Sunday evening, Dale took me to a Houston flea market. By the time I started getting really tired and we decided it was time to leave, I found a stall where a potter was working at his wheel and talking to a couple of people. I hovered for a few minutes then just took one of the Tootsie Pops sitting on a dish. It was a little old and gooey, but damn, it tasted good and was just enough to settle my stomach and perk me up again. I'm glad for that, because we ended up stopping in one more shop and there I found several antique monkey items that I ended up buying and bringing home.
As we were leaving the flea market, it started to rain. It was pouring by the time we got back to Dale's parents' house. Rather than try to load the car during that, we did some laundry and watched several episodes of "Buffy: Season 6" (a poor sick Pammie/early birthday present from Dale) while waiting for the rain to stop.
We made it home almost without incident, but at the last potty stop for me, I abruptly threw up. I'd almost made it a full day but it wasn't meant to be.
June 10, 2004
7wk ultrasound
Today's check up went well. The bloodwork from this morning was good (estradiol and progesterone) so I won't need to take any more supplements for those. And the ultrasound showed a larger pregnancy sac and a larger baby. The baby measured about 1/2 inch, which is a little more than double its size from a week ago. Its size is also catching up to what it should be for its age. I'm 7wks 6days but the baby measures 7wks 4days, so it's two days behind, but a week ago it measured 4 days behind.
Dr. Vaughn is quite pleased, as are we. He's told me that I've graduated, and any further appointments will be handled through my OB/GYN. I need to call her office tomorrow. Dr. Vaughn said he wants me seen in the next couple of weeks. The last time I scheduled an appointment with her (during my first pregnancy), the soonest I could get was still a month away. I hope I have better luck this time. Perhaps the events of this pregnancy will get me in sooner. Dr. Vaughn also said he'd send her a letter along with my records. He's got a lot to send. My file at TFC is well over an inch thick.
I didn't ask last time, and there wasn't much to see, but this time, Dale and I got to take home an ultrasound of our baby. If you've never seen one before, the dark oblong is the pregnancy sac. The lighter blob between the white crosshairs is the baby! (Click the thumbnail to see a larger version.)
June 09, 2004
morning sickness is a misnomer
I woke up this morning feeling the best I have since surgery/morning sickness began. I was still a little queasy, but my mood was good, and I didn't wake up ravenous. I'd slept late, so Dale and I hung out and talked a bit, then he showered and went and got lunch while I showered. I was fairly hungry by the time the food arrived and the nausea had increased a bit, so I was glad to eat. I finished off my burger and had a few fries and a lot of the lemonade. Everything seemed fine until about 5 minutes after I finished the burger. I looked at Dale and said, "I think I'm going to be sick." I barely made it to the bathroom.
As soon as I was done being sick, I felt fine again. I'm not sure what the problem was. I may have eaten the burger too fast or I may have drunk too much of the overly-sweet lemonade. Or, it could just be a pregnancy thing.
I've known 'morning sickness' can affect pregnant women in many different ways. Some women never get sick. Some are like my first couple of days, where an empty stomach causes queasiness but even a light snack can remedy it quickly. Others deal with what I've had the last week - I'm pretty much queasy all the time. Food helps, but it's not a guarantee that the nausea will go away. Some even suffer from what I just experienced. I felt fine, then abruptly I was sick, then I felt fine. In almost all cases though, the sickness isn't limited to mornings. Far from it. This shit goes on all waking hours.
June 08, 2004
shooting pains
The past few days, I've had shooting pains that feel like they're in my lower abdomen or vagina. They feel either like a sharp stab or an electric shock. They come and go but seem to occur more when I'm sitting or reclining on my right side. I usually don't get them when I'm lying flat.
Of course, I've been nervous about this, but I haven't wanted to appear to be a drama queen (I've already had enough drama this pregnancy, thank you) so I've not mentioned it often to Dale or called my doctor. Finally, a few minutes ago, I did what I'd thought I should do for the past few days. I looked up my symptoms online.
I am very relieved to learn that sharp shooting pains in the lower abdomen/vagina are common in early pregnancy. It's caused by the pelvic ligaments stretching to accomodate a growing uterus. I actually cried a little in relief because far from being the bad news I feared, these pains are just another indicator that my pregnancy is growing. I can certainly live with that.
June 05, 2004
can't stand the smell
My mother and sister arrived on Monday (it's early Saturday morning now). After arriving, Mom promptly had Dale take her to the Korean market. She's done a lot of cooking since then. Normally, that would thrill me. I love my Mom's cooking and I don't know how to do much Korean cooking of my own. However, I'm now dealing with near-constant nausea and a sudden sensitivity to odors and tastes. I was shocked to discover that the mere thought of some of my favorite Korean foods makes me queasy. I LOVE my Mom's spicy pork bulgogi, but when she made it the other night, I couldn't bring myself to eat any of it. She's also done a lot of frying, and the smell of the sesame oil makes me ill. I can barely stand to be near the kitchen while she's doing some of her cooking, whereas it never bothered me before.
Poor Mom had to reduce some of her plans for tonight's dinner thanks to my sudden finicky senses. She and Dale prepared and cooked her famous kalbi (beef short ribs) and I refused to eat any of it. I ended up having a small amount of rice and spicy seafood and tofu soup (that I'd requested) and some carrots and cucumber. If I couldn't handle even that, Dale had earlier picked up some milk and Cheerios as a back-up plan.
I'm starting to wonder if my little baby is going to turn me into a vegetarian for the duration of my pregnancy. The little one is barely 5mm long and is already asserting itself in my body.
And I still couldn't be happier.
June 03, 2004
Good test results!
My body threw Dr. Vaughn for a loop today. First, he got my lab results. Blood count was fine and HCG was up again. That, combined with the lab results from my laparoscopy which confimed pregnancy tissue had been removed from my fallopian tube, had him thinking not all the tissue had been removed and cells were still growing.
My body was also uncooperative during the ultrasound. My left ovary showed up fine, some fluid in my abdomen showed up as well (but it was clear so nothing to worry about), but my right ovary (the one that likes to hide behind my uterus) wouldn't show. The pregnancy sac was still visible in my uterus too, but he had difficulty getting a clear view. I know that I couldn't tell what was in there. He finally said he wanted to bring in a colleague to get a second opinion. Dr. Silverberg came in, did his own scan, and confirmed that there was a yolk sac and a fetal heartbeat!! To us, the heartbeat was just a tiny rapid flickering, and the best news in the world.
Dr. Vaughn went on to say that we're not out of the woods yet. There is still a possibility that some of the ectopic pregnancy remains and may try to grow. If I start getting pain like I did before, I may have to have surgery again.
The doctors also agreed that the fetus seems small for its age. It measures about 5mm and is sized as if it were 6wks/2days instead of the 6wks/6days it should be. Dr. Vaughn said that the embryo may have just been slow to implant, in which case it's fine. Or, there might be another problem. It's still too soon to tell.
Tuesday's blood progesterone level was fine, and Dr. Vaughn is going to order another progesterone test on the blood drawn today. Depending upon the level, I may be through with the progesterone shots, or I may have to continue them. A couple of nights ago, Dale showed Phaedra how to do an injection. I think tonight we're going to let her do it while Dale supervises because Dale is going out of town next week and if I need the shots, Phaedra will have to administer them. Unless she just can't stand it, then I'll have to hit up Aaron.
Today's nausea has been intermittent. Dr. Vaughn and I suspect that all the nausea has been due to the pregnancy. I'm officially suffering from morning sickness! I'll bet there are women out there who'd kill to have morning sickness as mild as mine.
I've also had other pregnancy symptoms. Sudden food/smell aversions, even to things I ate and loved just recently. Frequent peeing. And every 30-45 min I let out a tiny burp or two. Today, I have the heavy feeling again in my belly. I'm hardly any larger than I was before I got pregnant, but due to the surgery and the way I've been feeling, I'm getting up and walking like I'm at least 6 months pregnant.
Needless to say, Dale and I are quite happy and excited. I'll still be a worry wart, and we still have to be really cautious, but today, I'm just going to be happy.
June 02, 2004
Post-surgery update
The first day post-surgery sucked. My abdomen hurt a lot and I often needed Dale's help to get up from a seat or bed. The leaking stopped around early evening on Sunday, so I was able to stop taping maxipads to my belly.
Monday morning my sister and mother arrived. Dale left me to sleep and picked them up. I spent most of the day feeling vaguely queasy but learned that eating a bit would help the nausea. As long as my stomach wasn't empty, I was ok. That was good since Mom promptly had Dale take her to the Korean market so she could spend the week cooking. That evening, my mother made seaweed soup, something I hadn't learned from her and missed often. For dinner, she made a big Korean meal and I pigged out, stuffing myself before everyone else was even half done. Everything was so delicious!
I woke up several times during the night needing to pee, and for some reason, I'd think of the seaweed soup, and each time I did, my stomach would give a heave.
Early Tuesday morning, Dale drove me to the lab to get my blood checked. I spent most of the day in bed feeling nauseous and worried about my lab results. By 3:30 we hadn't heard from the clinic, so Dale called them. He was told that Dr. Vaughn wanted to discuss things with us and was busy and would call at 4pm. By 6:30 we still hadn't been called, so Dale paged Dr. Vaughn. He called back around 7pm. We learned that my HCG level was higher than Saturday's results. Normally that would be a good thing, but in my case, it was possible my HCG had gone up even higher after Saturday's test, and then dropped to the current level. He also hadn't gotten the lab results yet for the tissue that had been removed from my fallopian tube. Basically, we learned nothing. I was scheduled for more lab work on Thursday and an ultrasound in the afternoon. Dale and I are so very frustrated with never knowing what's happening with me.
Nausea lasted all day but was still controllable by eating. I even ventured out with my family to a nearby Mexican restaurant where I practically OD'd on their chips and salsa. I ate so much of that and the appetizer that I only ate a few bites of my entree.
Today, I haven't felt particularly queasy, but I've have a general feeling of unwellness. When I showered, a bit of fresh-looking blood was discharged, but I haven't had any spotting since then. Right after my surgery, it seemed that I'd gained about 4lbs overnight and my abdomen felt very firm. My weight is now back to what it was pre-surgery and my belly had shrunk a bit and softened up, but today it feels very bloated. There's a very mild constant ache that seems to have a focal point to the left of my navel. Nausea has come and gone, but eating hasn't really seemed to help like it did the past two days.
Today is also Phaedra's birthday. We all went out shopping in the afternoon. Mom had requested a Slurpee, so we stopped at 7-11. I went in and was heading to the ATM when I got a nosebleed. I stumbled around with my head back following Phaedra as she searched for napkins. We found some, then I went to the ladies' room. I had to let Mom in, who was clutching a handful of ice. She insisted on staying with me until the nosebleed ended, alternately pressing the ice to my forehead, nose, and back of my skull. I am nosebleed-prone, but they're usually minor and clear up within a minute or two. This one lasted about 10 minutes and was a decent flow. By the time it was over, some poor woman had spent about five minutes dancing outside the restroom. The rest of the trip was uneventful. I kept getting tired and going to sit down in places, but we picked up some DVDs as presents for Phaedra (birthday) and my Dad (Father's Day).
For her birthday dinner, Phaedra requested a 'nicer' Mexican restaurant than the one we went to the other night (Jardin Corona), so about 9pm we met up with Aaron at Pappasito's. I started pigging out on the chips and salsa, then had to make myself stop so I would have room for dinner. I still didn't feel well, and nausea kept dancing around in the background, but I ignored it. Dale and I split an order of chicken/beef fajitas. The meat plate arrived with a small container of garlic butter. I had to ask Dale to move it to the other side of him because the smell was making me ill. I put together and ate one chicken fajita, then I just couldn't bring myself to eat more. The noise, smells, and sight of the food really started bothering me, so Dale and I went and sat outside a few minutes. We came back in, and I detoured to the bathroom to pee.
After emptying my bladder, I felt very ill and ended up throwing up. While I was still in the stall, my mother entered the restroom. While I was washing my hands, she asked if I'd thrown up. I just nodded, embarrassed, because there were other people in the bathroom.
Mom and I rejoined the group at the table and everyone finished dinner. After the waitress cleared the table. she showed up with about half the wait staff. A guy holding a sombrero asked who the birthday girl was, and Phaedra and I pointed at each other. I won, though, because Dale and Aaron were also pointing at Phaedra. They made her put on the sombrero and announced to the restaurant that she was turning 26, then they sand a silly song. Phaedra was left with a couple of brownies under a scoop of ice cream and wishing hot death for the rest of us. Everyone shared the dessert and I even had some. Didn't care for the brownie but I actually felt better after having a bit of the ice cream.
Hopefully, tomorrow's tests will be more conclusive.