“Women need to feel that they have been consulted, respected and given the information they need to make free choices in the best interest of themselves and their child. This allows them to begin motherhood feeling strong, capable and mentally healthy…”
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HOT DAMN, this is exactly how I felt when I wrote this: http://darleeneisms.la/2014/05/third-baby-third-hospital/
Source: http://www.bestdaily.co.uk/your-life/news/a573059/a-healthy-baby-is-not-all-that-matters.html
I had another ultrasound this morning, and it was a good news/bad news kind of appointment.
First, let me preface the news with some truth. Being at home, I’ve probably been doing more than I should — for example, I vacuumed the rug yesterday, and the other night I helped finish cleaning up the kitchen (in spite of the excruciating back pain signaling to me that I should sit the hell down), all of which I am definitely am not supposed to do.
Considering all that, the bad news first is that my fluid is low again. First, the perinatologist measured me at 4, then later amended it to 6.5, but either way wanted to re-admit me to the hospital.
Good news? Baby is growing well and is at Chris’ birth weight two weeks earlier. I’m not having stubborn headaches, major swelling or high blood pressure readings and I’m apparently not spilling more urine — which would all be signs that the pre-eclampsia is getting worse.
I know, from researching during my previous hospital stay, the dangers of having low amniotic fluid — the chief being that the baby won’t be able to move as much and could wrap the cord around its neck. However, the baby has been moving well — in fact, I’ve been joking that he’s already rough housing with his brothers, he punches and kicks me so much — so with everything in consideration, I decided to go against the perinatologist’s recommendation and stay home.
It goes against my instincts to not go with an authority figure’s recommendation. But I feel strongly that my mental well being contributes a whole heckuva lot to my physical health, and staying in the hospital as a precaution not only feels like overkill, it will stress me out more because it’s not as comfortable as being at home and I would have to be away from my family — again. I already hate that I can’t do what I normally would do for my family but not being able to be home to greet them, but instead having to wait on them to come out to the hospital, where — let’s be honest — they don’t quite know how to act also stresses me out.
Besides, I have another non-stress test Friday — a test where they
monitor the baby’s heartbeat for at least 20 minutes, check my fluid and my blood pressure — and the perinatologist, upon hearing my intention to not be admitted into the hospital, upped my scheduled NSTs to three times a week. Plus I have another ultrasound on Tuesday. If things continue to appear to deteriorate at that point, then I will acquiesce to the hospital stay.
In the meantime, no one has to worry that I will continue to bed rest badly — I’m typing this out on my iPhone (I’m about two hours in, haha), I’m making sure to drink plenty of water, I’m taking long naps, and staying off my feet as much as possible. I’m doing my best to stay out of the hospital until it comes time to have the baby, and with next week being 35 weeks, if hospitalization has to happen next week, both the baby and I will be more ready.
I haven’t blogged a whole lot on this pregnancy for many good reasons, the main reason being I’ve been trying to take it easy when it comes to stress and I already have a full-time job and two very active boys to care for. But, apparently, I am very consistent so I’m now 3-3 when it comes to getting pre-eclampsia — I began displaying high-blood pressure readings last week, along with some protein in my urine, as I was finishing up my 32nd week of pregnancy. And what was the bonus complication, you ask? Low amniotic fluid, also known as oligohydramnios. The perinatologist who has been watching vigilantly over this baby’s growth immediately admitted me to the hospital as a result.
So, I spent a very boring weekend at the hospital — especially seeing as I no longer have a laptop. Oh, Lord, what did I do, you ask? I ended up spending a lot of time on my phone. I occasionally also found movies or TV shows (hello, “Friends” reruns!) to watch on the hospital’s sad choice of cable channels. I considered trying to blog on my phone — I do have the WordPress app — but I’m not a big fan of typing a whole lot on my phone’s tiny little keyboard.
What I hated most about being admitted to the hospital earlier than expected (other than paying an unexpected hospital stay co-pay) was being away from my boys. I’ve been working on gradually introducing them to the idea that I would have to go away soon and come back with the new baby, but this was of course sooner than we all planned, with no baby coming home.
But now that I’m back home, I’m thinking that everyone has adjusted relatively well.
Apparently, yesterday, as Trinity brought the boys home from daycare, the boys went through a list of things they wanted — they wanted fruit snacks, they wanted to watch TV, they wanted to see mommy. Heheh. So glad I’m actually on their list.
For right now, I’m trying to figure out how to preoccupy myself. Trinity does not actually want me to sit at the computer too long every day — I’m supposed to be either lying down or keeping my feet up, which is not possible with our current computer set up — so I’ve been limiting my computer time to about an hour at a time, just a couple of times a day. The state of our home is also a….cause for concern for me. There’s all manner of clean, unfolded clothes upstairs that Trinity won’t let me fold yet (I’m working on it), plus all the baby clothes that we hadn’t yet gone through and cleaned to prepare for his arrival. Then there’s the rearranging of the house, so we can make room for, at the very least, a bassinet upstairs and a playpen downstairs.
Yeah, all this bed rest stuff totally doesn’t take into consideration the preparations needed for a new baby.
““They showed their evolved thinking””
I’ve been meaning to write this blog post for a while, and tonight I finally have time to write it. Only problem is….now I think I’ve lost all the points I wanted to make for this particular post. Ah well, here’s hoping it’ll come to me as I write.
So, here I am, 32 weeks along. The baby is, according to the doctor, doing well; we’re going in for another ultrasound this coming Monday to make sure he’s the right size and that everything is as it should be. I’m pretty sure already that my belly is bigger at this point in this pregnancy than Michael was my first go-round, so that’s good. Hopefully, Mikey’s brother will be to term — although, I’m sure it will be highly uncomfortable for me and I’ll be wishing for bed rest and an early delivery during the dog days of September.