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| I can't believe how fast my belly is growing! |
I swear that I am getting bigger by the day! It is so crazy to me to look back at the photos that I have added here and see how my body has changed. I am so glad that I have been letting Brian take photos so we will have the record of it. Trust me, some days the very last thing I am interested in is letting someone take my picture.
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| Another angle of the bump. |
My belly is big enough now that the "normal" pregnancy issues have either begun or intensified and the issues with my hip and leg seem to be worsening. I don't mean to complain, I am thrilled to have our little Peanut cooking away in there, it is just where we are at now.
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| Here I am. Not enthused to have my photo taken, but I relented. |
I am so very grateful to all of the wonderful family members who knew more than I did and went ahead and bought me maternity clothes even though I thought I wouldn't really need them. Clearly, even the Bella Band wasn't going to help me fit in my pants at this point!
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| Punky has been my cuddle buddy. She loves to lay on my belly, though she doesn't so much like getting kicked. |
I have been home a lot lately. My job consists of being on my feet for hours at a time with no breaks, so I haven't been able to tolerate working much and the issues with my hip make getting around difficult. It is really frustrating to me; but, Punky is loving it! She is getting spoiled spending all this time with me.
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| Like the pout? This is the look I get when I don't want to play. |
I hope that it doesn't cause us problems later when we bring Peanut home. She is our first "baby" and I am sure that there will be some jealousy. She has been extremely protective of me, even more so than she was before, and I imagine that might worsen. She loves my niece and plays really well with her, but she has never been around an infant.
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| Ready to play with Peanut? |
I am sure that it is going to be difficult for us all to adjust to the changes that will come once Peanut is here, but Brian and I are aware of that and committed to doing what we can to make things as smooth as possible. Which will mean doing our best to each spend time with Punky without the baby and making sure that she isn't displaced. Peanut will be our primary focus and responsibility, but we won't forget about our other baby.
We had our fourth appointment with the midwives on February 9th. We got to see our favorite midwife, Patty, for this appointment. I was so thrilled; I can't even explain how relieved I was! This was the first time that I was nervous before a midwife appointment. I was not sure what they were going to have to say about their communications with Dr. Nath and the other doctors. I was also beginning to really worry and stress about some of the unresolved issues, like "How in the world am I going to deliver this baby with my hip and leg causing so much pain?!". I felt like Martha was really dismissive when I would ask questions and as I get farther and farther along, it is more bothersome.
I gained some weight finally, which I figured I would based on Peanut's growth alone. My blood pressure is still in the normal range. Peanut's heart rate was normal and she was extremely active, which made them happy despite it making it difficult to get a good heart tone with the Doppler. They measured the size of my belly and that was normal.
I asked Patty about what they felt about Dr. Nath's findings. She went through the reports that he sent over to them with me. He was much clearer in the reports than he was with me, which is no surprise. Much of what was in there I already knew, but he was clearer about stating that the growth was normal and he was not concerned about further complications. That being said, he told us at our last appointment that it was absolutely fine with me continuing my routine care with the midwives, but he clearly said in his report to them that he recommends that I see the high-risk doctors. She was frustrated that he was being so unclear and plans on having a meeting with him and the rest of the team to clarify what is actually going on and what the best course is to take to provide me and Peanut with good care. Her feeling about how worried to be is that the honest truth is that they don't know what is going on and even the ultrasounds are not going to really tell us very much. She feels that, in her experience, fetal movement is a better indicator of fetal well-being than any of the tests or procedures that they have. She felt really good about the amount, regularity, and strength of Peanut's movements. She sure seems happy and healthy in there to me and Patty agrees.
Patty doesn't want to wait anymore to see what this hip is going to do. I have an appointment with a general practitioner on February 21st. In addition to repeating the glucose tolerance test on that day, Patty wants to see what the doctor has to say about the issues I am having with my leg/hip/back and wants a referral to an orthopedic specialist to be made. Finally! Patty wants to know what the orthopedic doctor recommends for the pregnancy and for delivery. She doesn't want to wait any longer to come up with a plan for delivery. I am so glad someone was finally listening to my concerns. The very last thing that I wanted to have happen was to continue to be put off and then go in to labor and have everyone be scrambling trying to figure out what is best to do.
I left the appointment feeling much better, despite so much being unresolved, simply because I knew that I was heard. I am a little nervous about the team meeting because I am not sure that I will be heard if my care is transferred to Maternal-Fetal Medicine. For our next appointment at the Antenatal Testing Center on February 23rd, we will be seeing an associate of Dr. Nath's. I can't remember the doctor's name, but we are hoping that maybe we will feel more comfortable with this doctor's manner and communication.
We'll let you know how we make out!
Thanks again for checking in on us!
