Kicking Is Contracting

Had a very-late-pregnancy checkup today. In fact, it's my due date. They put a heart monitor on me for half an hour which revealed that what I've been thinking are kicks are actually contractions. Just painless ones. The ultrasound showed the baby active and in place, which is good. I am really counting on a natural childbirth this time. The doctor wanted to do an internal examination but I wouldn't let her. I didn't see any point. If I'm not painfully contracting and we saw on the ultrasound that things are hunky-dory then I'm going to wait them out. The Dr. (who was very nice and didn't try to pressure me but did spend a few minutes trying to convince me) said that if I am already five centimeters dilated then they'll just keep me there (my checkup was at the hospital) and I'd have the baby. This makes no sense to me. While it's possible that I could be dialated already and without any pain whatsoever, it's really really unlikely. There is no way I'm going to give myself over to the hospital and submit to all kinds of exams and poking and prodding until I absolutely have to. Besides, my plan is to give birth in another hospital altogether.

A friend of mine was due the same time as me. She went into labor late last week in the same hospital. She ended up with a C-section. She progressed nicely to 6cm and then stopped. The baby never descended. I stopped by to see her today while I was there. She's looking good-- it's a few days later-- and she says the baby's fine. I didn't see him. C-section is one of my nightmares, but I guess in many cases it's necessary.

Sling Thing

I got a new baby pouch that is meant to handle children up to 30 lbs. DS is nearly that much, and I wanted to see if I could carry him in it. It's one of those types of carries that is all one piece and that sits over one shoulder. A baby gets cradled in the fold of it and a toddler can sit in it.

I put the thing over my head and straightened it up. Then I located my toddler and held him at my hip. Now what? I wondered. I wasn't sure what the prefered way was to get him inside. I bought this thing used and it didn't come with instructions, nor did the website provide any help.

So I stuffed one of his legs through the thing and out the other side. At this point he was still intrigued enough that he didn't struggle. I realized he had to have both legs through the sling so he could sit with his tushy in the fold and his legs around my hip (at least, that's what it looked like in the picture.) So I tried stuffing the other leg in. This is where he started to lose patience with me. I persevered, though, and he was in, but not so very amused. So I took him to see what was going on in the mirror. Carrying him was ok. No matter how good a sling is, a baby weighs what a baby weighs. I felt pretty comfortable but I did feel the weight. It wasn't until after I took him out (at his urgent request) that I started to feel what a strain carrying him had been on my abdominal muscles, or what I imagine to be my abdominal muscles. With all that stuff going on around my belly area, I'm never really sure what's hurting or cramping or gurgling or kickign around.

I was worried that I'd done something stupid. I had oligohydramnios in my last pregnancy (lack of amniotic fluid) and there's really no way of knowing why for sure it happened. (Though I blame it on a nasty electric shock I got late in the pregnancy) It led to being induced a little early which led (probably) to a much more difficult birth and a longer hospital stay-- I won't go into it now. So this pregnancy I've been really careful not to do anything that might put strain on my uterous, such as lifting heavy objects or doing too much bending around. I make an exception when it comes to lifting my son. But this sort of lifting is not the kind I'm used to after nine months of near inactivity. I felt as though I'd pulled a muscle-- something I wouldn't normally worry about but it's not hard to find things to worry about in pregnancy. Today I feel a lot better and the strain is gone. But still I don't think I'll be using the sling again until after the baby is born.

My Brush With DVT

Deep Vein Thrombosis basically means that there is a blood clot in your vein. I don't have it. I know this because I just returned from the hospital where my leg (in addition to my abdomen-- just for fun) was ultrasounded. Pregnant women are at high risk for DVT. It's one of the reasons they tell you to get up and walk around all the time. One of the indications of DVT is swelling in one foot and not the other, which is what I had. Well, actually I have swelling in both feet but one of them is a lot more significant, depending on the time of day. I called my doctor and he said I might as well go to the hospital and check it out.

At the hospital they did a bunch of tests before they ever got around to looking at my balloon foot. Urine stick, blood pressure and temperature, and then heart monitor. The doctors on call-- well, one of them-- remembered me from having given birth there not too long ago. I didn't mention that I'm planning on another hospital this time. Not because they were bad in particular. I just had a tough birth and want a fresh experience that is not in a place I associate with all this trauma from last time.

But I digress. I was wheeled down to Radiology in a chair. I should have felt embarrassed-- I have no problem walking-- but I decided to enjoy my chariot ride. When the radiologist came to fetch me, he found me reading with my feet up against the railing. He scanned only my thigh and not below. He said that if there are any significant clots, that's where they are. Clots lower than the knee aren't considered dangerous. When he didn't find anything he sent me back up for discharge sans wheelchair. Now that I was clear of DVT I'd have to fend the elevators by myself.

Road Trip

Talk about a speed bump. We (DH, DS and I) took a spontaneous road trip to the desert last week. I don't know if it was the strange and abundant food that we were served at the hotel, or the sudden onset of actual exercise that I suddenly inflicted on my body or the heat or just being away from home, but things changed.

I mean, you expect that your kid's sleeping or eating schedule will be affected by a change in routine, but not until after it's born.

Constipation is a common complaint of pregnant women but in all of my first and so far in my 2nd pregnancy it hasn't been a problem. Frequent and small urination is another symptom but again, it didn't affect me. All of a sudden I was suffering from both these ailments.

Most worrisome was that on about the second afternoon of our trip I noticed that the baby hadn't been kicking-- or hardly at all. This is a VERY kicky baby. Whenever I stop to pay attention, it's doing a little jig. And all of a sudden, all I was feeling was a mellow little yawn from deep in my abdomen. And that's after sitting and waiting to feel some movement.

I didn't worry too much about it. Maybe it was just crowded in there with all the (ahem) excess excrement that wasn't getting excreted. In any case, the day after we got back home, I was totally back to normal. The fetus was doing it's sports routine and I was (ahem) doing mine.

Baby Bump

I hate that expression-- baby bump. It's all the rage now. You want to stop teenage pregnancies? Don't make them sound so damn cute and desirable. Thinking of getting pregnant? Think risk of stretch marks, increased risk of losing bladder control. Think nausea and aches and pains. What 16 year-old wants that?
And it's not just the 'bump.' It's more like a bumper. It throws you off balance. It makes other parts of your body bulge. Your hips spread wider...
Look, it's for a good purpose and frankly, I had a great pregnancy last time and a pretty good one this times so far. But to make it sound as if a baby bump is the next hottest thing on the runway then they should just start making burp cloths and nursing aprons in Home Ec.

Soon-To-Be-Siblings

The baby in my tummy loves it's soon-to-be brother. DS likes to play rough and rowdy and little fetus likes to kick back. It gets really active when he's around.

Today when I was dropping DS off at kindergarten, I picked up another little kid who was crying and brought her to the teacher. When I turned back, DS was sadly holding his hands up to me. I hope this is not an indication of jealously to come. I have real guilt about bringing another kid into the home. I know that giving my kid a sibling is a great present but logic doesn't necessarily dictate feelings. I want him to always feel as special and get as much attention as he does now. Of course, with a new baby in the house the dynamics will change and even if he has to share the limelight, he will also have an opportunity to love and care for someone smaller than him.

I am open to reassurances.

It Kicks!

I felt it for the first time last Wednesday, 5 days ago. Well, to be more accurate, it was more of a poke-- a series of them. And they've been coming on strong ever since. I was lying in bed reading when I first noticed it. Who knows, they might have been going on for days already but I was never still for long enough to pay attention.

I don't remember when I started feeling kicks last time around (hence the need for a blog this time around) but I do remember that it was much more gradual. In the beginning I felt a kick here and a kick there. It was a while before I was really sure what it was. If they started out as a ballet, they ended up as a parade towards the end of the pregnancy. This time it began as a good, fast paced walk. That's what it feels like when he (she?)'s active.

The pokes made me feel... something towards the fetus. I know that until the birth of my DS, I wasn't entirely sure that I was going to like my offspring. I mean, there is a pretty good historical precedent that parents tend to love their kids, but I wasn't entirely sure it would apply. Now that the kicking has begun, I can't help but feel a little bit connected at least. I mean, all of a sudden there is living proof-- more so than an ultrasound-- that a little baby is growing inside. Everyone loves a baby, right?