Monday, February 11, 2008

Pregnancy-Induced Stupidity

This post is terribly boring. It also has very little to do with IF. So if you don't want to read about my OB appointment and a ridiculous epiphany I had regarding the actual delivery of a baby, then you should skip this post. You know that I won't mind one bit.

I had another OB appointment today. Nothing exciting, I just peed in a cup, got weighed, and had my blood pressure taken. I complained relentlessly about my heartburn (I'm now approaching 300mg of Zan.tac a day) and my newly-acquired inability to sleep (thanks to uncomfortable back, legs, etc. -- not due to run-of-the-mill insomnia). The Doc measured my fundal height with the nifty paper tape measure and listened to Spidey's heartbeat. All in all, pretty uneventful.

As I was checking out, I noticed some writing on my paper. It said 25 +4 + 14. I asked what the heck that was. He explained that the 25 was because I'm 25 weeks along. The +4 is because I put on 4 lbs since my last appointment. The +14 is because I've put on 14 lbs total. I cringed and started beating myself about the head and shoulders when he said this. I worked so hard to keep my weight gain low because I had started out about 15 lbs too heavy to begin with! But last week I lost my mind and ate about 673,984 donut holes in one day. Plus I've been hitting the ice cream pretty hard at night. With the nausea and vomiting mostly under control, I've been able to eat more. And, obviously, I have been.

Anyway, when I started pissing and moaning about my weight gain, the Doc said, "Are you kidding? I see people all the time who put on 14 lbs in the first trimester! I'm very happy with your weight gain." So I explained that I take my imaginary pencil and tack on another 15 lbs to whatever they tally up since I started out chunky. He looked me right in the eye and said, "I don't measure that way, and you aren't allowed to either." Nice! (But I still will.) He offered that he thought I was on track for a weight gain somewhere in the mid 20s or 30 lbs at the most. That's better than with Megan when I gained 38 lbs -- but it was also August and I swelled up like a sausage thanks to the heat and pre.eclampsia.

I gathered my things up and went to check out. When the nurse asked if I had my next appointment scheduled, I said no. I knew I had to do it, though, because I've got to drink the Glu.cola stuff for my gestational diabetes test. With Megan, I completely flunked the 1 hour test, and was borderline on the 3 hour test. So I probably shouldn't mess around with it. I made my appt for March 6th -- 2 days after we return from a week in Florida so I hope that I can make a last-ditch effort on vacation to eat reasonably. :-)

Then she said, "Do you want to make your appointment for 2 weeks after that?" I just couldn't believe I'm already approaching the switch to appts every 2 weeks instead of every 4 weeks. In so many ways, this pregnancy is dragging on forever, but in others it's just flying by!

I made a couple more appointments and then asked her to print out the listing of them so I could put them in my calendar. Here's what the paper said:

3/6/08 Dr. MR
3/20/08 Dr. FG
4/4/08 Dr. FG
5/19/08 Dr. MR
5/19/08 Dr. FG

I said, "Wait a minute, this is messed up. One of these appointments has me seeing 2 Doctors at once. This must be wrong." Then she said, "No, that's your surgery appointment." Like a complete moron, I said, "Surgery? What are you talking about?" After looking at me like, well, a complete moron, she said, "Um, aren't you having a c-section?"

I almost fell over the chair behind me. I already knew that May 19th was the date we were going to schedule the c-section (39w1d), but for some reason, my brain didn't even come close to processing it when I saw it on the paper. I simply couldn't believe it was already there -- and in a way it feels so close.

On one hand, I am completely ready. But on the other hand, I am just not ready. As I started to try to explain this concept, my post got insanely long and booooring. So I've broken it up and will save that rambling for a different post later in the week.

In the meantime, I'm working to be happy that things seem to be going along drama-free and that we are (amazingly) getting one step closer each day to our dream of a real, live baby in the house.

9 comments:

Delenn said...

Sounds like a great appointment. And yeah, seeing it in black and white--pretty amazing!!

I'm glad your OB is not a freak about the weight gain. Sounds like you are doing reasonably well--considering! :-)

Umm..not so sure I could keep myself "reasonable" while on vacation tho! What I tend to do on vacations to try and help that--the first two days I tell myself to have WHATEVER I want. Then the next days I taper it down to like 1 or 2 indulgences a day, etc. By the last 2 days of the vacation, I try to go back to eating totally sensibly. (Doesn't always work--but hey, there's my 2 cents).

I wish I knew my C-Section date. Its coming up, but haven't scheduled it yet (its the week of April 21st).

Waiting Amy said...

I can't believe you are so near the end either! It seems like just yesterday I was gaining hope from reading about your pee-sticks!

I'm so happy for you that Spidey is doing so well and you are too! Enjoy that lovely vacation and keep us filled in!

Ms. Perky said...

When I first read that it looked like you weren't planning to have any appointments between April 4th and May 19th and I was freaked out, but then I realized, you just haven't scheduled them yet.

Oh my gosh. May 19th! That's so CLOSE! I would have freaked the heck out if I'd known all along when I would deliver. As it was, I freaked the heck out when my doctor said to me in the hospital, "so yeah, you're having three babies tomorrow, ready or not!"

Ashley said...

Wow! Seeing that date on paper does make it seem so close! I am glad everything is going well...and your weight gain is great! My doc sounds like yours when it comes to the weight issue. She is so carefree about it. Also, I see your coming to my state for vacation! I hope you enjoy it! :]

Ashley said...

Wow! Seeing that date on paper does make it seem so close! I am glad everything is going well...and your weight gain is great! My doc sounds like yours when it comes to the weight issue. She is so carefree about it. Also, I see your coming to my state for vacation! I hope you enjoy it! :]

Lea Bee said...

um...18lb gain in 24 wks of pregnancy?! so normal! i gained that on stims, practically.

and WOW i can't believe you are so close!

Meghan said...

I can't believe your so close either, maybe because you had that fantastic little baby bump going...those 14 lbs look fantastic on you! (and I think I'm going to be one of the people gaining that in the first tri)

Kim said...

Ya know, I hate you right now. I picked up and put down a package of those yummy mini chocolate donuts at the store today about 15 times. I kept telling myself that I didn't need the carbs, blah blah blah. Of course, that didn't stop me from buying a king-size bar of chocolate. But still, I wish I had the freakin' donuts right now!!

My C-Section is tentatively scheduled for 8/1, and I can't imagine it either... fortunately, I have quite a bit of time for all of this to actually start feeling real.

Kami said...

Well I am 3 weeks behind you and got you by 10 pounds! I was happy with my weight when I started - especially given 2 years of fertility treatments, but I am definitely NOT happy about it now. Just when I get interviews (with pictures) and a broadcast on cable of the forum, I have an extra 10-15 pounds of fat. Ick.

Well, enough about me. It sounds like you are doing well. I completely forgot you were scheduled a c-section. It does seem right around the corner