This-n-That Update

I’m not sure what’s wrong with me lately.  I keep thinking, throughout the day, “I need to write about this.”  But then, when I have down time, I just can’t seem to bring myself to write.  Because of that, I now have a whole collection of thoughts, feelings and updates that I can’t possibly catch-up on in this blog…unless I suddenly start writing multiple posts per day.  In an effort to get myself back on track, I’m going to try a quick “this and that” kind of post today…telling you all a little bit about a lot of different stuff. 

THE GREAT DR. BREAK-UP

Yesterday, I had my first appointment with Dr. C.  It wasn’t easy for me to switch OBGYN’s.  I hate conflict and Dr. B didn’t make it easy on me to switch.  She was very nasty about it and charged me 50 cents per page to have my records transferred to Dr. C.  Then, Dr. B didn’t even send the records, so The Prince and I had to wait an extra hour while Dr. C’s office harassed Dr. B’s staff into faxing over the most important records during yesterday’s appointment.  We even had to redo our 20 week scan because Dr. B hadn’t dictated her report of my scan yet (even though it was performed two weeks ago)!  Don’t get me wrong.  I always love seeing our little boy…but I am a little concerned that the insurance company is going to give me a hard time about having a second scan, as they don’t like to pay for duplicative procedures.  I really don’t have the energy to go through an insurance appeals process.

I can’t get into all of the details of my reasons for leaving Dr. B.  That would be a three-part post in itself.  I will say that the straw that broke the camel’s back for me was Dr. B’s insistence that I change my insulin protocol because she wasn’t happy with my blood glucose numbers.  I asked Dr. B to call my endocrinologist, as I didn’t want to have to choose which doctor’s instructions to follow.  I didn’t feel I should be put in the middle.  Dr. B told me she didn’t have time to be calling my endocrinologist and that I always should follow my OB’s advice.  I called my endocrinologist and explained what Dr. B was doing and asked that, if the endocrinologist had issues with the change, she call Dr. B to work it out.  I got three frantic phone messages that day from the endocrinologist.  Dr. B had prescribed a different type of insulin…one that could cause a spontaneous miscarriage in pregnant women.  Had I taken that insulin, I may have lost the baby.  Thank God my endocrinologist is so diligent (it was her day off, too).  The endocrinologist was so unhappy, she called Dr. B…who refused to talk to her, saying she was too busy.  The endocrinologist did something she NEVER does…she strongly recommended that I change OB’s.  She agreed that I should never be put in the middle of a disagreement between doctors and she felt that what Dr. B did would be like the endocrinologist walking into the hospital and announcing that she was going to do a C-section on me, so not to listen to Dr. B’s recommendation.  Specialists aren’t supposed to have their toes stepped on by non-specialists.  So…that was what pushed me over the edge (although my appointment with Dr. C was already set up before that event).

Dr. C was good.  As I remembered from my law firm days, he has a calm demeanor (a little too calm…The Prince said he felt like Dr. C was drugged).  Dr. C is a tall, thin, 70(?) year old man with a huge mustache, which curls around in circles at the ends.  He looks like a cartoon character.  When you ask Dr. C a question, he is quiet for a couple of minutes, flips through the chart, and then gives a short one or two sentence answer.  I have a hard time with silence…and brevity…but I like Dr. C’s attention to detail and I trust his professional judgment (except about cervix-ripening with seaweed sticks…an issue for another post).  He wants to see me every 2 weeks (instead of every 4 weeks, like Dr. B recommended) and he feels that my labor is pretty high risk (he said that in the same tone he would say he is ready for lunch).  I wish there was an OBGYN who was warm and fuzzy (and coddling) and an expert…but I think I just have to choose what is most important to me.  Right now, competence trumps the stuff I cared about before.

DIABETES & DEHYDRATION

I am still dehydrated every time I get tested.  Sometimes the dehydration gets so bad, I have horrible cramps and feel dizzy.  I really am trying to drink more water, but apparently I’m not trying hard enough.  I was read the riot act by Dr. C’s nurse, yesterday.  She told me that I am to set out 3-16 oz. bottles of water each morning.  They must be gone by noon.  Then, I need to do the same thing again and have them gone by dinner time.  I should try for 2 or 3 more before bed.  To me, that seems like an impossible amount of liquid to drink (especially when I feel queasy), but I’ve agreed to try harder (I say, as I sit here sipping a couple of ounces of juice…having taken in no water so far this morning).  Shame on me.

I am now having to test my glucose in the middle of the night (during a midnight pee break).  I also am supposed to eat something in the middle of the night.  Dr. C feels that my blood sugar is very well controlled (another Dr. B screw-up) and he wants me to keep working with the endocrinologist.  We’ve had to keep raising the dose on my insulin, but my body responds well to the dose changes.  The only issue I’m really having is that I am still losing weight…although only a little.  My weight is still down a lot from when I got pregnant.  The morning sickness is still coming and going.  I think this may just be how my pregnancy is going to be.  The doctors are putting a lot of pressure on me to try to consume over 2000 calories a day, each day.  That just isn’t happening right now.  The baby seems okay and my belly has gotten appropriately large, so I’m not terribly concerned.  Still, I felt horrible when The Prince sat me down two nights ago and told me that he is concerned about me not trying hard enough to take care of myself.  He said that he wants me to be around for a long time with him and the baby because he loves me, and he worries that I am going to leave him to do this on his own.  I had no idea he was so concerned.  I promised to try harder.

UPDATE ON THE BABY

Dr. B had told me the baby was small.  Not so.  At yesterday’s ultrasound, the baby measured in at 1.1 pounds…putting him in the 78^th percentile for weight.  He is over a foot long.  Everything looked great, structurally speaking.  My placenta is “in front,” which the nurse said would likely lead to me not feeling strong movements and would mean I wouldn’t feel the baby move as early in the pregnancy as most women (wrong and wrong).  The baby is in a head down posiiton, against my pubic bone.  Dr. C isn’t worried about the position.  While it isn’t comfortable, it isn’t indicative of the baby coming out too soon.  We didn’t get any cute 3D shots of the face, although Dr. C and the ultrasound tech tried really hard.  There is a sufficient amount of amniotic fluid in the sac, but not much of it in front of the baby’s face.  We did get a great profile shot, in normal black and white.  I will probably post it later on…but I’ll give a warning in case people want to avoid it.

During the scan, Dr. C did a close-up on the baby’s ears.  They stick out…just like The Prince’s did before his surgery.  The Prince is adamant that, if our baby has “stick out” ears (we’re not talking a little…The Prince’s were almost straight out on the side of his head), we will have surgery done when he is still a baby.  It was too traumatic for The Prince as an adult, and The Prince’s doctor told him that it would have been much easier to fix when he was a baby and the cartilage was still soft.  I pray we don’t have to make that decision.  Dr. C said all babies have big ears at 22 weeks…but I’m skeptical.  Still…no matter what his ears look like, our baby is really beautiful.  I know I’m biased…but his features really looked adorable on the scan.

WORK

I’ve been working from home for two weeks, and will continue to do so for the rest of the pregnancy.  It is SOOOOO much better than dragging myself into work and sitting at a desk, leaning over to type on the computer all day.  I am more productive at home and I love wearing pajamas all day (not sure The Prince loves my new wardrobe as much).  I am disappointed with myself in that I am already having a tough time getting motivated some days.  I still work…but I had hoped to ride the wave of appreciation a little longer.  Still, I am not having to leave work all of the time, so I am finally accruing some decent leave time for maternity leave.  I wish I had pursued working from home sooner.

DUE DATE

So, I saved the best for last (a reward to those of you who have stuck with this marathon post).  I asked Dr. C if I would be able to have him, personally, deliver the baby.  He works on Tuesday’s at the hospital we chose to deliver at (the large teaching hospital with the great NICU…Dr. C would rather be safe than sorry, so he recommended we go with the best NICU).  He wants to induce or do a C-section (depending on the baby’s size later on in the pregnancy) between 38 and 39 weeks, so …we will likely be having our baby on January 10, 2012 (unless the baby gets impatient and decides to come out earlier).  It is so surreal having a tentative arrival date, as opposed to a due date that we knew we would never be allowed to reach.  Things seem more urgent with that steadfast date.  I’m trying to chill out about it.  I am really excited, and it is great timing for us.  The Prince doesn’t start his evening job until January 17^th that semester, giving him a week to help me out at home before I’m on my own in the evenings.  His Mom can take time off from school that week, too…so I feel more secure about being able to handle the transition. Still…1/10/12….less than 4 months!!!

CONCLUSION

Okay.  I don’t know how many people will actually read this whole post, but to those of you who did…THANK YOU!  I feel so much better having caught-up on this.  I feel like I’m gabbing with friends when I write this stuff.  I know I’m supported and not judged by my blog readers, and I can’t tell you how comforting that is.