Kiddie Art & Post-Hurricane

We are fine post-hurricane. Our home has very minimal damage, and our power was restored within 36 hours or so. There is a minor leak in the ceiling in our gameroom. A wasn't able to find a source for the leak, other than perhaps some rain sneaking in through the turbine. There dooesn't appear to be any loose shingles on our roof, although that is difficult to tell from a distance. There is something about sleeping in one's own bed with a giant snoogle pillow that is just divine.

My sister and her family, on the other hand, didn't fare so well. The strong winds blew the turbine off of her roof, which let in a ton of rain which led to the caving in of her bedroom ceiling. It is a hot mess. She has registered with FE.MA, so we'll see how that turns out. My parents are going on over a week without power. A & I have offered for them to both stay with us, but my parents give me the speech of "We've got water and gas, we're fine and we grew up without AC as kids anyway." But my mom did come up to do some laundry, finally. My parent's house in the country is more convenient for my sister and her family (especially with the gas situation) so she prefers to do that.

I've returned to work (and avoided preterm labor--woohoo!), and feel even more fortunate. Several people I work with have homes that are essentially unlivable, and they aren't even that close to Galves.ton! One of the managers has a tree splitting her home in half, another girl has only a living room and kitchen that she and her family can safely be in. Some are still without power, like my parents. So, things are still one big hot mess down here, although things are getting waaaaay better. There are no longer lines wrapped around the corner at the grocery stores or cars around the block waiting for gas. Debris is being cleared from the streets, and the roads are a bit safer to drive on. There is actually a curfew (9p-6a) still in effect. When we went to Chuy's last night for dinner, and a sheriff actually blocked people from coming in for dinner after 9, which I don't think I'd ever seen happen before!

My husband has been off all week since his office doesn't have power and their servers are down. He has actually made up for a bit of foolishness last week (whining about not getting to play golf on his birthday because we had a baptism class, yammering ad nauseum about Fantasy Football with one particular friend that has no job, no girlfriend, no life--please help me feel better by offering up tales of similar suffering related to Fantasy Football) by taking care of more than a few things for me.

Today I went looking for a grandparent-type gift for my parents and MIL. Nothing out there seems quite special enough, though. I tried looking for a fancy keepsake frame but couldn't find anything tasteful and non-cheesy/cutesy/crappy quality. If any of you have ideas, I am game.

I did, however, find the perfect wall art for Ben's room.

I am just getting the canvases for now. They are cute enough as is that I don't think that they need a frame. Oddly enough, they actually featured my chosen bedding on the giggle.brush website. Apparently, someone else thinks it is perfect too. I'll post a pic when I hang them.

My blood pressure was up a bit the Thursday before Ike it. It has since come back down, but my doc wants to see me weekly now here at 32 weeks. Ben still felt breech to him, but he doesn't worry about it unless they are in that position around 36 weeks. A friend of mine says there is some exercise from the 70's that involves elevating your hips on pillows and laying with your head down for about 10 minutes daily starting right about now that helps them flip around. I am not sure what kind of merit this has, but if any of you have heard of this, or know of any ways to flip a breech baby, please pass them on! I thought it was enough to simply jump the hurdle of getting pregnant.

Effin' Hurric.anes

Soooo...... we've got a category 3 hurrica.ne headed our way. While my home is not in the zones where there is a man.datory evacua.tion in place, we opted to flee the city for a less dramatic weekend. The wind is expected to reach 75-80 mph, so we are looking at lengthy power outages and other assorted wind damage. We have quite a few trees near us (in particular a giant rotting pecan tree directly behind us on neighboring property that strikes fear in my heart each time there is rain, much less a hurricane), and some rather shady people that live behind us that have a ton of junk in their backyard that could very easily fly through our windows.

Despite all of that, I was hesitant to leave. I finally succumbed to pressure from my husband, parents and friends/colleagues. We opted to leave our cat in our home with several days worth of food and water and clean litter box. Our neighbors have decided to stay put, so they will check on him once the storm passes. I actually cried this AM when I gave him his good-bye pet and kiss. I seriously fear what we've got to come back to.

On a brighter note, we had an OB appt yesterday. Our son is doing well! He weights 4 lbs 3 oz right now, and the fluid that was on his kidneys at the 22 wk US is now gone, so everything is looking pretty normal. Whew. He is breech right now, and with some pretty forceful kicks in my lower abdomen. Right now, it is still a lovely feeling. He will likely be about 8 lbs at birth, according to the peri who did our US.

We had asked our OB for a bit of advice on whether to stay or go. He doesn't seem to take a lot of stock in studies that say that a drop in barometric pressure can prompt labor. He didn't personally experience that in his practice. He chose not to leave, but recommended that if we chose to, we should wait until all the people that are manda.tory evac.uees were off the road so as to avoid sitting in traffic for hours upon end like many people did when Ri.ta came around. We left bright and early this AM and hit nary a snag. Except that now I am in S.an Anto.nio with the world's most primitive television that I can't figure out how to turn on. My husband is actually golfing at the present time. I opted to not make a fuss since it is his birthday this weekend, and all I really wanted to do was take a nap.

Just Sayin'

A certain celebrity has decided to treat his sex addiction, and in the video below the article in the link, he asks that his family be given privacy and respect while dealing with this issue. Why is it that he thinks that a press release is the best way to ask for that? I'm just sayin'.

Pass the cupcakes...

because I passed my three hour glucose test! Woohoo! Only one abnormal value, so OB said I can eat sugar without guilt. Music to my ears.

In two weeks we'll follow up with the peri to reevaluate the fluid on Ben's kidneys. Hopefully it will have resolved itself. They will also be able to provide a guestimate of Ben's delivery weight. There will also be another sizing US toward the end of my pregnancy, at about the 38 week mark.

So want to write a witty post, but must succumb to afternoon nap.

I took my three hour glucose tolerance test today. Was not too bad. It was totally worth it to call around and found out which lab facility had recliners for pregnant women. I was able to get in a nap, read several chapters of "The Long Awaited Stork" (Thanks, Kathy!) and prop up the feet. Certainly hope I pass. Thanks to those of you that reassured me with statistics. I hope I fall into the positive end of them!

So far we have been to two childbirth classes (out of a series of four). There is a little bit that has been helpful (the exercises for my back and stretching the pelvis, which I didn't really know too much about before, other miscellaneous information) but I do find that how tired I am the next day sort of outweighs the benefit. I still remain pretty open to the method of birth; however he arrives is fine with me as long as we both remain healthy. I suppose that is really all I want. IF has taught me that things don't necessarily go as planned, so I feel an open mind and a bit of preparedness on possible interventions is best for me.

As part of this last class, we watched another delivery, and this video showed delivery of the placenta. My husband whispered to me, "What do they do with the placenta after it's delivered?" I told him that they plant it under a tree. He actually looked at me and said, "Really?" Heh.

Here is a pic from my shower this past weekend:

Here is one of the cake I probably shouldn't eat:

And here is our crib and bedding:

Is it nerdy that I am so tempted to iron that wrinkled sheet?

Ugh.

Flunked my one hour glucose screen, but just barely. 139 = passing, and my level was 152. Must do a 3 hour screen before my next appointment in the next two weeks.


Heart sinking just a little.

Harrumph

We actually got out and about last night when some friends invited us to a pre-season Texans game. Who'd have thought we'd actually win? We witnessed lots of fashion crimes in the name of team spirit, and others in the name of looking good. Someone actually wore thigh high boots with a mini-dress. In August. In Houston. I suppose everyone has to earn their living somehow, right?

Anyway, I digress. The female half of this couple is finishing (or beginning?) her third and final year of a neonatology fellowship, and I turn to her for lots of baby and pregnancy-related advice and nerve-calming. I told her that I am beginning a childbirth class next week, and I am hoping it will help me make a more informed decision about how I want the labor part of this pregnancy to proceed. I half-heartedly joked that I was tempted to sign in blood for a scheduled C-section now.

This is where she stopped me and said, "Don't do it." She went on to say that she didn't think that my doctor (whom she referred me to) would do a scheduled C in the first place since it is bad for the babies. She said that babies of scheduled C-sections often have complications with lung maturity due to the lack of transition period from not laboring (I think this is called transient tachypnea of the newborn, IIRC). She said that often they are fine, but they must rule out infection. Ruling out infection can mean a two day stay in the NICU, and often/always means a spinal tap and blood draws. I hate the thought of anyone poking and prodding my little Junior unnecessarily. I also hate the thought my baby being stuck in the NICU, myself being laid up recovering from surgery and not being able to breastfeed and bond with our newborn. It is a different story altogether if there is a trial of labor, things don't progress and a section needs to occur. Apparently, studies are currently being done on the neonatal complications that arise from scheduled C-sections. She said that she sees about 8-10 babies a week in the NICU for this reason.

And let's say that our one remaining embryo survives the thaw, we leap the hurdle of FET and we are miraculously blessed with a second child. If I go into labor after having had a previous C-section, there is the risk of uterine rupture, which is very very very very very very very bad.

So, harrumph. At the beginning of this pregnancy, I never had any pre-disposed ideas of how Junior should make his way into the world, beyond the idea that I wanted to breastfeed immediately and have some bonding time just the three of us before overbearing grandparents elbowed their way into our room to rip our sweetheart out of my arms to cuddle him. I always thought I'd be pretty zen about the whole thing, but after talking to a couple of women who had horribly complicated deliveries (V and C), I had begun to lean toward C-section. I will admit to fearing the urinary and fecal incontinence that can occur with the vaginal delivery. But it doesn't always happen, and it isn't always long-term when it does. Since the magic wand option does not yet exist, I suppose I am just going to have to put aside my fears and do what is best for the baby. I am going to make an effort to be zen about it all, and trust my doc (whom I really do trust) to help me make the best decision about how to proceed.

But there will absolutely be an epidural.

And if you think I have uttered the words urinary and fecal incontinence in the presence of my husband, you are out of your mind. He is not a medical person at all. I am curious to see how he handles all of this. I would not be surprised to see him pass out in the delivery room.

This article is geared toward physicians whose patients are requesting scheduled C-sections. It discusses risks, benefits, how to handle these requests in an ethical manner etc.

Have I mentioned lately how out of control my boobs are? I am a {gulp} 40G. Yes, you read that correctly. G for Gigantic. Gargantuan. Ginormous.

We have settled on a name for our little one. Sebastian Bartholomew.







Just kidding! No offense to anyone who might be using that name. It is, uh, just not right for us.



It is Benjam.in Edward. B is my husband's middle name; E is my father's first name. I think it is perfect.