My Week

I went in for my 31w appointment and spoke to the doctor about my increasingly painful tearing sensation. She chalked it up to normal 3^rd tri pain. I also asked her about my Braxton Hicks (BHs) contractions that I had been experiencing for a few weeks. She said they were normal, and as long as they weren’t consistent, I was fine.

Over that weekend, I began having BHs that were approximately 5 minutes apart. This lasted overnight and into the next morning. I decided to take a warm shower and see if it would stop them. It didn’t. So I called the on-call OB to let them know. These contractions weren’t painful in the least, just an overall tightening feeling encompassing my entire stomach, but the consistency was very concerning.

The on-call OB sent me into Labor and Delivery (L&D) for a non-stress test (NST) to check my contractions and the baby. Baby looked wonderful on the monitors, and the BHs were hardly even showing up on the contraction monitor. They decided against doing an internal check, and sent me home to rest, but asked that I follow up with my OB on Monday.

Monday:

I made an appointment early in the morning to discuss the BHs and also my ever increasing pain. The pain level in my upper right quadrant of my abdomen had gone from a constant 3 or 4, to a 6 with the occasional pain when shifting reaching an 8 out of 10. It was becoming so painful that I would literally scream out in pain when I would move.

The OB said that some pain is normal since baby’s feet or butt are often lodged in the ribs, but that what I am describing doesn’t sound typical. She was concerned about two possibilities. One, gall stones or two, partial placental abruption. She let me know that she would order an ultrasound in the radiology department for that day. As usual, I never heard back from her or the office regarding the ultrasound.

Tuesday:

I waited until Tuesday morning to call the radiology’s scheduling department to see if I had been put on the schedule. I had not. I asked the scheduling person if I could make the appointment myself since I had not heard back from my doctor’s office. She said that she couldn’t do anything until she had the order from the doctor. I asked her to look at my file and see if there was an order. Lo and behold, there was. ::rolls eyes::

She told me that for this particular u/s I would need to fast (no food or water) from midnight until my appointment. She then said they had an opening at 3pm. I laughed. Really, you’ve going to make a woman who is nearly 32weeks pregnant not eat or drink even water for 15 hours?  I don’t think so. I asked if I could get in earlier in the morning since the worst pain is generally either early morning or late evening.  Amazingly, she had an opening at 9am ::rolls eyes again::

Wednesday:

I went for my appointment in the radiology department. I had to check in, get a wrist band and everything. The tech told me from the beginning that she wouldn’t be able to tell me the results of anything and that the radiologist would have to review and report to my doctor. I knew that that meant I likely wouldn’t have the results for at least a week. She did say that of all of the pregnant women she scans, she has never seen a baby so high up. She had a lot of trouble getting clear pictures of my organs since baby and my ribs were in the way. She had me holding my breath, rolling on my sides, twisting my body, and pushing my belly out trying to get a clearer picture. I did catch a glimpse of a little foot once on the ultrasound, but was disappointed that she wouldn’t look at the baby at all. At the end I asked her about it and she said, “well that isn’t really why you’re here”. ::sigh::

Thursday:

I called to see if my doctor’s office had the results yet and they didn’t. I left work early yet again because of the excruciating pain.

That evening, I changed positions and began screaming in pain. This was the first time Mr.A had been around to see it at its worst. He asked if they knew how bad the pain was. I told him that I had tried to articulate it, but that it didn't seem as though they believed I was in as much pain as I am in.

Friday:

I woke up from sleeping three times in the early morning screaming in pain. Today was Mr.A's "weekend" and I feel terrible that he likely got no sleep because of me.

I called to see if the office had the results. The nurse returned my call and said that yes they had the results, however the doctor who ordered the test was out of the office and wouldn’t return until Monday. Since all OB patients are rotating OBs, I asked if another doctor could please review the results and let me know today. I am still waiting on an answer. ::sigh::

The "Wall"

I have been so happy and thankful throughout my pregnancy.

People have asked me every day how I am, and I always replied “great!”, because I truly had no complaints. I’ve experienced only the slight discomfort of heartburn, and occasionally some nausea during the first trimester, but otherwise, I have been great. Truly.

That is until I hit the third trimester, and I hit the metaphorical wall. Starting around week 28, I began having this annoying popping sensation just to the right of my sternum whenever I would shift positions or stand up. I asked my doctor about it at my last appointment, and he said that it was my ribs separating to make room for my organs that are being smashed upwards by growing baby girl. He said that it could get painful, but that it was normal.

The next week was excruciating. My ribs were dislocating from my cartilage in front and in back making it impossible to sit for more than 20 minutes at a time, hard to sleep, and unbearable to stand for more than 10 minutes. 

During the peak of this pain, Mr.A and I made the 8.5 hour trek driving home for my wonderful baby shower. We made it up there and I worked as much as I could to help my mom with food preparations, but was nearly useless in my pained state. After a short weekend with family and friends, we made our way back home.

Thankfully, the pain subsided for a couple of days and I hoped and prayed that I was through the worst of it. Unfortunately, it came back full force concentrated mostly in my sternum and upper back. Oh, and that slightly annoying popping from a week and a half before, had turned into full on tearing.

Every time I sit from laying, stand from sitting, or move or shift in any way, I feel an excruciating tearing pain in my upper abdomen. There have been several times where I have shifted in my sleep and have woke up screaming in pain. It is obviously affecting my sleep and overall productivity not to mention my work.

Baby girl is active as ever, so I am reassured that she is safe and sound, I am just concerned that this isn’t normal. If it is normal, I am not sure that I will be able to work up until my due date like I had originally hoped. After sitting for 10-20 minutes, I have to get up and move around. I wish so badly that I had a cot in my office and could just lie down to decompress my spine occasionally.

We're under contract!!!!!

I haven't mentioned it in a long while, but if you remember back to early 2011 when I was selling our house and buying our new one, I was also trying to sell Mr.A's condo that he bought while in college.

We have rented the place out since 2009, but soon realized that the long distance rental business wasn't really for us, and put it on the market to sell in 2010. We had continued to rent it while trying to sell, up until earlier this year.

We decided to bite the bullet and fix the place up to perfect, move in ready condition and cease renting it all together. We ripped out the carpets, water damaged laminate, and put in all new flooring throughout. We painted the entire place a neutral pallet, updated the kitchen counters and appliances, updated the lighting and fixtures throughout.

Then we waited.

And waited.

And waited.

We were patient, and were fortunately getting several showings and good feedback. Unfortunately, though our unit showed very well and was well priced, the poor feedback we received from nearly ever potential buyer is that the community felt "old" or "run down"; something that was entirely out of our control.

On Sunday my realtor called to tell me that we had our first SECOND showing that evening and Monday morning she called to tell me that we had an offer.

HOORAY!!!!!!!

The bad news, the offer was more than 12% under asking and we were already taking a substantial loss. But, what can you expect in this market, with a place that has been for sale for a long, long time.

With the other buyer's incentives we had offered in the MLS, it was far below our bottom dollar. I worked out the figures, and after everything was said and done, we will have lost more than $30,000 on a property that was valued under $100K to begin with.

Generally there is always negotiation room when buying/selling, so I fully intended to counter at 6% below asking leaving all concessions in place. That is, until my realtor emailed me to tell me that this was her best and final.

For hours, I emailed back and forth with Mr.A while he was flying, consulted my parents, realtor, and friends and tried to come up with the best possible solution. We needed to sell this place, and how wonderful would it be to have it sold before baby girl comes. Since this is a rental property the losses we incur are tax deductible which would help lighten the burden slightly.

In the end, we conceded to her price but removed the other concessions from the offer. This only saved us around $1500, but at least it was something.

So, as of last night we are officially under contract to sell. Thank goodness. We are scheduled to close in 30 to 45 days and I cannot wait!

Busy, busy, busy!

Life has been a whirlwind these past few weeks. So much is going on and I am having trouble keeping up with everything.

We had a terrible storm in the beginning of August and were fortunate that our home owners insurance covered the damage to our house. After dealing with adjustors, contractors and middlemen for weeks, we finally had a new roof put on this week and it has really given the house a face-lift. We ended up upgrading the shingles to the three dimensional 30 year shingles and went with a charcoal black color. With our black door and shutters, it really looks amazing, see….

Before:

After:

The only downfall to this story is that our deductible is very, VERY high to help keep our premiums low so that part wasn’t fun but is a necessary evil I suppose.

Work is in its busiest season right now. I’ve been working 12+ hour days, weekends, and even while on vacation. I’ve come to realize that the work doesn’t stop and wait for me to return, so I’ve had to make myself available almost always.  With everything else going on, it has been trying but I am confident that if I can make it work now while I have competing priorities and so much else on my mind, I can do anything.

Mr.A and I slipped away for the weekend and went to our place in the Florida Keys. We spent a few days doing absolutely nothing but relaxing in the pool and walking on the beach. It was a much needed retreat from reality and I am feeling refreshed and ready to tackle the rest of our to-do list.



Commence Third Trimester: 27 weeks

I had my 27w appointment yesterday with my OB practice. I did the GTT (1 hour) for the third time and really hope I pass. The thought of sitting here for the 3 hour is not appealing with how busy work has been as of late.

I am up 2 pounds from 4 weeks ago, which brings  me to a total weight gain of 18 pounds at 27 weeks. I am very happy with this and right on track.

With my swollen ankles I was a little worried about my BP, but BP was 110 over 60. This is back into my normal (low) range.

I tried my doppler last week when I was concerned because I had felt almost no movement throughout the day one day. I had a very difficult time finding her heartbeat because she was moving constantly. The movement was reassurance by itself, so it did put me at ease, though I was only able to find her heartbeat for a couple of seconds at a time here and there. I mentioned this to the doctor, and he was disappointed that I didn't call. He said they would have had me come in immediately for monitoring. Thankfully she had likely just switched positions and/or was tired that day and now everything is good. I know in case it happens again.

Thankfully he is a pro with the doppler and found her beating heart right away. BBs heart rate was around 150bpm and she was squirming around the whole time thanks to the high-glucose fruit drink. My belly is measuring at 30 weeks so still a little ahead, but good nonetheless.

I have my final appointment with my MFM on Monday and will get to see little BB once again. If all is well at this appointment, she will be releasing me back to my OB for the duration of my pregnancy and consider me "normal". While being a higher-risk patient thus far has meant more appointments and more doctors, it has really helped give me the reassurance I needed to know little BB was growing happy and healthy. I was fortunate in that my insurance covered a multitude of ultrasounds and follow-ups which has meant that I have many ultrasound pictures of my little girl growing from the blob stages, to the gummy bear stages, all the way through to the "holy-moly, that is a baby" stage.

I am past the terrifying first trimester, past Viability Day and now into the third trimester. I am hoping the duration of my pregnancy remains uneventful and I will have smooth sailing throughout until the day I get to finally meet my baby girl.  

Progression of d'Bump (2.0)

If you would like to go back for reference, here are my photos from month's 1, 2 and 3.

I've heard that most of the changes in your body happen during the second trimester; that is surely evident below.

I haven't really noticed the changes because they have been so subtle over time but when I look at these pictures, my goodness! I cannot believe just how much I have changed in such a short period of time.

4 Months

 

5 Months (Halfway there!)

 

6 Months (VDay!)

 

 

There is no hiding it now. I am undoubtedly pregnant, with a squirmy ninja girl reminding me each and every day that she is growing stronger every day. 

 

 



Six Months

I cannot believe that I've made it this far. I am truly in shock, but so utterly thankful. 24 weeks is sometimes referred to as "Viability Day" or "VDay" for short. This means simply that if God forbid something happen and I go into labor, after 24weeks the baby will have more than a 50% chance of survival. More than its true meaning, my MFM's goal from day one was to get me to and beyond VDay; we've made it.

I know there are so many mothers who haven't made it this far. Some had early losses. Some had to have emergency surgeries to remove the baby they so deeply loved, because that baby had snuggled into one of the mom's fallopian tubes and would kill the mother if left to grow. Some women found out late in their first trimester that their placenta was failing and their baby may not survive. Whereas others have gone into pre-term labor naturally and have lost the one thing they have strived to attain for years, their beloved baby Boy. My heart breaks for each one of them. I've only experienced early losses, and as hard as those have been, I am thankful that I have not had to endure the pain and suffering each one of you are feeling.

I am sending many thoughts and prayers out to all of the women I know who have struggled to attain their dreams. You are all amazingly strong women, and caring mothers. You will survive this, you will triumph over IF and pregnancy/infant loss, and you will win.