Savoring Every Moment .... Living in Today....

Well, it's 530 am here in good old Alabama. The house is asleep but the sun is brightening the sky. I have around ten hours until I should meet my third child. Wow, I'm going to have three kids! I know I've been pregnant for 38 weeks (the longest I've ever gone), but it just doesn't feel like I'm ready yet. Is it because I'm not sick (yea.. I've had an issue here or there.. but today.. I feel great) or is it because there is a problem with the baby? This normal, low tech, pregnancy has been an experience in learning to accept things as they are. I just haven't learned the whole lesson, yet.

My mother got here last night and things have been pretty good so far. We tip-toed around an emotional issue last night (how all of us kids are very in your face and quick tempered) but that was the hardest part. Whew! It probably helps that I was/am in a major nesting way right about now. I've gotten so much done these last few days, that this house almost doesn't feel like my house. Granted, I've got to stay on top of the kids to keep stuff picked up. But, I should have been doing that every day.

So this morning I will relax until P's alarm goes off, I'll make us a nice breakfast and spend a few minutes with him before he heads to work. Then, I'll start packing my hospital bag(shush.. I still don't feel like today is the day.. remember??) until everyone else in the house is up. I also want to finish folding the baby clothes (one last basket), put fresh sheets on the crib and bassinet, and install the baby's carseat in the van. I'd also like to clean out the van so that my Mom can drive it without feeling like she's surrounded by my clutter.

Last night I posed for a few cute belly shots. I apologize for the little princess who thinks the camara has eyes only for her. Also, check out that picture over my left shoulder.. that is from 8 years ago!







**I've asked Paul to send out pictures of the baby to all, I'll leave directions to put the pictures/stats on the blog. But, if he doesn't I'll get them up as soon as I get home from the hospital.**

I'm not ready to have this baby. I want him to bake as long as he needs to.. with that said....

I want to know what is causing my back pain. I was at the local hospital in L&D last night due to back pain. I was unable to handle this pain. It was worse than when I was admitted for a week for IBS. It was eventually calmed with movement/heat/tylenol/tums. We don't know what dulled it. We do know that the baby is great. He was all over the place during the monitoring session. We also know that my labs were all normal and my elevated blood pressure at the time of arrival calmed with the easing of the pain.

I was afraid to eat today because I had traced back the beginning of each "severe" pain cycle with any intake. I called my OB/PCP/GI doctors.. Guess what.. no one wanted to take responsibility. I will say that the OB was willing to let me stay over last night.. but why would I do that when the baby was fine. Hind signt is 20/20. I was ready to go back to L&D today if no one gave me an order for a gallbladder US. The GI was the one to give me the order with the statement that this could just be pregnancy related and I would have to "deal" with it. He did not look at my history but just my current symptoms. I am too close to having this baby at term to screw it up. But, come on. I know I have a high pain tolerance and I know there is something not right with the pain I had.

I'm not having severe pain today. Why? I was afraid to eat much of anything before seeing a doctor. Once I saw the GI specialist he recommended laying off the fat for a few days. (SO MUCH EASIER SAID THAN DONE) My big meal of the day was rice (a small serving) and steamed vegetables. P did an awesome job with the parameters.. but this pregnant girl wants/ed substance. I'm just praying that tomorrow's gallbladder study will show something. I need a plan and I need real food. NO FAT = no milk, no cheese, no meat, no nothing.. except rice/veggies/fruit/and clear liquid broth.

Sorry for the incoherant rant but I wanted to document it while it's still fresh on my mind.

Please excuse the wet belly. Bean Sprout wanted to help with the dishes.

Monday's appointment with the hematologist was relieving. I did have an increased blood pressure at 153/83 (I'm sure the worrying and a latte were the cause), which I will have monitor in the future. But for the main reason that I was there... My feretin was 36. That's a great number because the hematologist considers anything over 6 normal. My b12 is dropping but is still in the normal range at 281 (not surpising because I haven't been taking the extra doses) and I will have to up my oral intake or switch to shots. I asked about the pregnancy and how the delivery will affect my anemia and vice versa how the anemia will affect the baby. The doctor put it like this: I will need more iron in the future but for right now the baby and I are both great and do not need to change our routine (but we do have to keep it up). When I breastfeed (notice the power of positive thinking) the baby will not need any supplements because I have enough stored for the two of us right now. I will see the hematologist again in six months which is three months after the birth. Whew!!

After that great news I was really thinking that this was really a NORMAL pregnancy. Ha, ha, ha! Last night I was eating a piece of chocolate and it got stuck in my digestive track and I had horrid pain in my chest, inbetween my shoulder blades, and I felt like there was a lump in my throat. I tried everything I could think of.. tums, levsin (digestive muscle relaxant), bread (absorb acid), and water. The pain was still there and I hoped it would be gone when I woke up this morning. It wasn't and drinking water created more pain. The water and my iron pill stayed down which showed that I don't have a blockage. After calling around trying to find a doctor who would see me (moving post WLS sucks in the after care arena) I was sent to the ER. The ER doctor was great and recognized the symptoms as an irritated digestive track. He gave me a GI cocktail and two prescriptions with orders to come back if the pain worsens or if I have difficulty breathing. So, I'm not dying and the baby is not compromised. However, I will be on a liquid diet for 2 days.. umm.. fun times ahead. :)

Today feels like it should be the end of a strenuous week. Instead it is Wednesday and I have done very little yet I feel like a Mac Truck hit me. I woke up this morning (late again.. ) to see T and P off to work. It's always nice because I encourage P to sit down with me in the morning and have a parents only breakfast. After breakfast P got his stuff together and I sat on the front porch in my bathrobe. It's cool yet not bone chilling today and it was refreshing for the 5 minutes I allowed myself. Why only 5 minutes? Because I could barely sit up and really wanted to crawl into my warm bed even if R was hogging 80% of it. So I was back asleep by 730 and slept until 900 (minus a restroom run)when R eagerly requested Pancakes with syrup and chocolate milk. I gave her all of it after 5 minutes of nagging on her behalf. I knew something was wrong them because I never give chocolate milk out with breakfast. I made sure she was satisfied and made myself a protein smoothie hoping it would give me a bounce. Nope, I was headed for the bed before 930. R was safely watching Noggin (oh how I love you) and Riley was asleep on his bed.. Until 1045 when the construction crew started next door. The house shook and shook and the dog barked and barked. I gave in and told myself a shower would be a great option. I felt better after and managed to make us a decent lunch.. but I have no energy to do anything other than that. I could try to lay down but the construction trucks and barking dog would not allow that to happen.

What happened to me?? I want some energy back! Hmm.. Maybe a starbucks run would refresh me?

I want to be able to get these things down...

I woke up this morning a bit late but feeling ok. I got T out the door on time and P was fed, coffeed, and had a packed lunch before he left. But, when I went to go upstairs with my cofee and phone I was out of breath and had a hard time regaining my normal breathing pattern. Once I got still and off the phone I was still having a hard time and laid on my side to watch General Hospital. I expected to fall asleep at first but I was feeling good enough to enjoy Friday's episode and carry on a conversation with P (he called to check on me after I let him know how I was feeling) and my friend. I had small headache when I went downstairs to let the dog out and came back up not quite as winded but the headache is painful again. Argh.. I bet my blood pressure is up. It's a good thing I see the OB tomorrow (Oh .. they had to reschedule due to the doctor's need to be out of town for a funeral). I'll check my bp today when I go to CVS and/or at the hematologist's office when I get my labs drawn.

Yesterday we had a pretty good day. I went to the grocery store and got two copies of the Sunday paper (karate school featured and good coupons), bacon (supposed to be b1g1f.. but it wrang up wrong), and eggs. We had a yummy breakfast and hung out for the morning. I was able to clip most of my coupons and file them before we went out. We took T out for having a very good couple of weeks at school with coupons to Chuck E Cheese. Yaa Coupons! We saved $10. Then we went to Home Depot and got a doorbell extender, motion sensor light for the front porch (darn neighborhood teenagers), a beware of dog sign (he's big and scary until he gets close to you and just wants to play), and a couple of saw horses for P. Total $170.10.. only spent $20.10 thanks to gift cards from realtor and builder! Then we headed over to Kroger (P wanted to see the renovations or else I would have not taken the whole brood) and spent $75 out of pocket.. but saved over $$77!!! That was with $25 in manufacturers coupons, and $50 of store coupons and specials! We stocked up on things that we love but were great deals and I was able to use a lot of coupons that were about to expire. These are the things I love about Kroger: They double coupons up to $.50 all the time, they have great specials 10/$10 on Hummus.. this brand is normally $3.99 (we stocked up), they have one card for everything (school support, Upromise, Coupons (you can link up on line.. even register for samples on line too), and Store discounts. I had a blast watching my savings go over what I actually spent.

I have to go to CVS today.. let's see how I do with that.

Oh one more thing.. Living in a neighborhood that is still being build has it's disadvantages. Let's see, earthmovers during homework time, surveyors out before 9am, and two construction zones within spitting distance of our yard. GREAT TIMES!!

I swear there should be a book out there by now about WLS after pregnancy. If I could gather more than three coherant thoughts, I might try to do it myself. That's not very likely, so don't hold your breath.

I'm actually a bit surprised at how normal this pregnancy is being treated. I'm not high-risk according to this OB and I only go in once a month. This is still odd to me after pregnancy with R and high blood pressure. But, I'm trying to accept that I'm NORMAL today. I just wish this OB would follow my labs a bit closer and/or monitor my supplements and diet. I know I'm an adult.. but I'm preggers and one tends to forget things like taking iron 4xday. I'm doing good to get it in 3xday some days.. mostly I remember 2xday. (I don't hate this OB, there's just NO ONE as good as the OB I had in Virginia)

Beansprout is developing on target and I can feel him moving around most of the time. ESPECIALLY when I'm trying to sleep or sit with the laptop on my lap. I have to have some faith that my body is doing what it is supposed to do. The lab draw on Monday will help ease these concerns.

The only other "concern" I have about a post WLS pregnancy is the flabby skin. Yes, there is a baby and everyone notices. But, I still see a ton of extra belly skin when I look at myself after a shower. There will be no bare belly shots of this girl until the due date that is for sure. Basically, I feel like I'm still not right. I know I can have the surgeries (I WILL after the baby making machine is done), but I wanted to be cuter.. I know I'm better off than I was pre-WLS and I've gotta keep that in mind. There is a positive to a pregnant body after WLS... the jugs.. yup, DH is in LOVE. He wants to keep them. LOL.. I love them too.. they are so much better than saggy A cups that I folded into my padded bra. Just don't let DH near them as they are so freaking tender all the time.

Diet and supplementation is not as hard as I thought it would be (that could change after Monday's labs). I basically eat normally (ok.. I'm grazing all the time) and try to make sure I get at least one protein drink in a day. Beansprout is not tolerating my protein lattes (shoot.. there's very little tolerance of coffee) so I have switched over to fruity shakes. I have a great blender that has a single serving attachment which makes cleanup a breeze (note to self.. do a review). The other dietary requirements are being met pretty well if I steer clear of the carbs (most snacks are of the protein variety in this house).. oh ok.. I have become a fruitaholic. I love grapes, bananas, and berries.. I just have to make sure to have protein a few minutes before or after a fruity snack.

Would I have WLS before pregnancy again? YES! It has saved me wear and tear on my body and mental health. The baby and I are in less jepoardy than I put R and myself. Also, I do fit in the cute maternity clothes.. even if my saggy bum can't hold the jeans up. :)

This is the t-shirt that I will need for the rest of this pregnancy, because Bean Sprout is a boy!

R was correct the whole time! We are all super excited. I just can't believe I don't have a name picked out yet. I'm not even sure of my top three possibilities... Gah. It's a good thing I've got a few months to go.

So far for the baby we have bought one green teddy bear, 3 packs of diapers, and some wipes. If you know me in real life, this is major because I LOVE to shop! I better start deciding which stroller and bedding set I want. Oh, I'm also getting a coming home outfit for the little guy.