Chronic Ama

Today I'm 35 weeks, 5 days as my doctor has me down, or 37 weeks as I'm measuring. My doctor is still convinced that I'm going to make it to September 15th. OK, fine, but what about having to go to L&D last week again for the 5345132156th time thus far? Oh, what happened? Yup, that's what my doctor asked. I let her know that I was having contractions every 2-3 minutes lasting from 30 seconds to 1 minute and the shot of Terbutaline didn't really help much. It stopped them for 20 minutes and then they started again. Plus, I was 1cm dilated. Not much, I know, but still. So, another shot, this time of Toridol. (I may be spelling these wrong, but at least you can still Google the names) It just made me not feel the contractions. The doc on call decided to give me a sleeping pill and send me home, but not until they checked my cervix again. Yup, still 1cm with no change. The nurse there seemed really concerned. She kept telling me that I needed to come back in the mor

Monday is appointment and question day! Oh joy. The unpleasant wait in the doctor's office was set off by some good news at least. My C section date is not set in stone. If I continue to have contractions and/or if my cervix starts to change, they will probably move up the date! That's good news since my irregular contractions have gotten more intense. They hurt now no matter what. And I don't want to be miserable for 5 more weeks. Also, some nights the Tylenol PM doesn't really do the job and I wake up every few hours with contractions that keep me on the miserable side. The bad part is that if the intensity doesn't let up before my date gets moved up or between appointments, I will have to go back to L&D. I really don't want to do that, but I guess it's better to be safe than end up in an emergency, right? I guess until things move along, I'll be resting and bored and resting and more bored. But, at least Bella and I have started some projects to

First of all, I can't sleep right now. I've been getting contractions again and I haven't been able to get comfortable and sleep through them. I'm hoping some Tylenol PM will do the trick. I'd rather like to be sleeping right now. Second, it became official as of yesterday that my C section is scheduled for September 15 th . Now, I said I wasn't gonna think about it or anything, but I'm a little pissed off about it. I've been measuring a week and a half head for about 3 months now and it was confirmed by my last ultrasound. That puts my due date at around September 13 th , two days before my scheduled C section. I know doctors know best, but with all these damn contractions and not being able to work and how big the baby is, I would have liked them to move up the due date, even a little, and schedule earlier. Really, I'm scared shitless of going into labor. Hell, I'm even scared right now that if these contractions keep me up tonight, I will p

I'm bored. I'm tired. I have the blahs. I just don't feel right. So, tell me what's new, right??? Well, I got that ultrasound that I've been waiting for. I was measuring 34 weeks, 3 days, so tomorrow I'd be 35 weeks. Yup, still ahead. And Baby Mark is about 5 pounds, what they've been estimating him at for a few weeks now. With that in mind, I had another appointment today as I'm not going in weekly because of my irritable uterus. The doctor doesn't wait to schedule my C-section until September 15 th . I really, truly don't think I'm going to hold out that long. I just accepted the date, knowing that I'll probably go into labor and have an unscheduled C-section. I'm not worried about it. I'm just taking things a week at a time. I've got things to keep me busy. I can't lie, I miss working, but I guess it's better to be at home in case something does happen. In the meantime, I've got meals to plan, thank yous t

I'm taking an early leave from work per my doctor. I was able to push up my appointment to Tuesday (yesterday) since I've still been contracting and just feeling crappy. I took time to explain my concerns to her and let her know I've been timing, logging and researching to no end. I also expressed that I DID NOT want to keep going to L&D. So... she recommended I stop working and keep resting and keep hydrated and go see her weekly now. They'll be checking my cervix to make sure the contractions aren't opening it too early. She also gave me better guidelines on when to go back to L&D. Of course she couldn't guarantee I'd stay away from the hospital, but at least I'm more comfortable now than I was before. I have an ultrasound scheduled for Friday to see how big baby Mark is getting. Maybe in the next week or two they can schedule my C-section and I can start planning. My goal is to hold out 'til after Bella's birthday party at least. I

Ham dinner under $20!!! I had a ham in the freezer from Easter time and I decided to finally make it and have some family over for dinner. The ham fed 5 with leftovers for lunch the next day and extra servings to freeze for another ham dinner down the road. Plus, the ham bone came in handy for a pot of beans. Here's how I did it: Spiral cut ham with glaze - $8.98 (on sale for $11.98 plus a Fry's coupon for their brand of ham) Mashed potatoes - FREE (betty crocker instant.... on sale for $1 and used a $.50 off coupon that doubled) Gravy - made from scratch.... ham drippings plus butter and flour.... two staples every cabinet should have... the flour was left over from Christmas when it was really cheap and I stocked up and the butter I got for $.79/4sticks on sale 3 packages of frozen vegetables - $2... i mixed brands depending what was in my fridge Dinner rolls - a splurge from Nadines $3/doz, i think So, that brings our total for dinner to 13.98 plus whatever you're out of

After an exhausting weekend with two trips to labor and delivery, I'm on watch. At first I woke up on Sunday morning with this horrible pain in my side that didn't go away no matter if I laid down, walked around or took Tylenol. I called the doctor and off the L&D I went. I got there having contractions, which we thought was where the pain was coming from. The doctor on call chalked it up to round ligament pain and sent me home with percocet. Between Sunday night and Monday morning, I was still having contractions. They were coming about 5 an hour, every hour and weren't stopping. I called my doctor's office to follow up and see if I could get an appointment, but they sent me back to L&D. Not really what I wanted to do, but I was miserable. Turns out I was indeed having contractions, averaging about 1 every 10 minutes and they weren't stopping. This was pretty much what I experienced when I had Bella. At 36 weeks, I started having contractions that really di