Thursday, February 28, 2008

Isn't it just too darn bad...

My doc has been giving me fits about how long he will sign me out from work. As in, he insists I only need 6 weeks. Based on previous experience, I know I need 8. I was supposed to schedule my final post partum check the week of March 17 or March 24. These would be at 5.5 or 6.5 weeks post partum. Isn't it just too darn bad the earliest appointment I could get was March 31? Since I can't be released back to work until he sees me, this will work out just great!

This was not fun!

I took S. to the doctor today since she has these bumps on her thigh that just are not going away. Not only are they not going away, but they are beginning to multiply. Doc took a good look and pronounced them to be some unpronounceable thingy or the other that is akin to warts. Soooo, he told S. he needed to blow some cold air on them so they would go away. S. promptly fell apart.

Ugh! I had A. with me, and handed her to the nurse to hold while I held down S. The doc then sprayed the spots with liquid nitrogen. Oh, the screaming and crying! You'd think we were beating her. The child never even winces during her flu shot... this should have been nothing. The promise of a treat and a visit from Daddy did soothe her.

Now we get to inspect L. head to toe tonight for the same condition. I really hope we don't find anything...

Well Baby Checkup

February 15, 2008

Miss A. had her 2 week check at 9 days old. A little early, but it was either then or wait 2 more weeks.

Vitals:
Weight: 10 lbs 7 oz or 95%ile (doc was impressed we already exceeded the birth weight, especially since I'm breastfeeding)
Length: 21.5 inches or 90%ile. Somehow, she shrank half an inch in 9 days? Methinks A. did some squirming somewhere somehow.
Head: 14.75 inches or 75%ile.

Doc asked how things were going, and I told him that we were doing fine. I was thinking about moving the rocking chair since A. keeps wanting to look out the window while I'm feeding her. This becomes a little painful since she doesn't let go before turning her head. I'm not sure the doc quite believed me until she demonstrated her 'advancedness' during the check up by picking her head up and staring directly at the doc. Pretty good trick for a baby only 9 days old. The doc and nurse were both pretty surprised.

All in all, she's in great shape and growing nicely!

Friday, February 22, 2008

Birthday Girl!

L. turned 3 on the 18th. Where on earth has the time gone? I'm a bit fuzzy-headed for writing anything sensitive, thoughtful, worth reading, etc. so instead I'm pulling pictures from the past year.

































Monday, February 18, 2008

Pictures!

Yes, Virginia, there is such thing as a 10 lb newborn. Isn't she a chunk?










Big Sister S. wasn't quite as into holding the baby as...











Big sister L., who has claimed baby A. is all hers.











Don't you love family pictures where Mrs. W. is chewing on her chapped lip, S. is picking her nose, L. is looking somewhat demon-possessed, A. is crying and Mr. W. is the only one who looks normal? This is what happens when several family members are all trying to take pictures with their own camera at the same time. *giggle*

Tooth Fairy Cameth

I'm so behind... Wonder what could be distracting me...

So much excitement. We picked up S. from the after school program last Monday, and she was bouncing off the walls showing off her new gap! My baby lost her first tooth at school that morning. So exciting. The Tooth Fairy managed to remember to swap the tooth for a crisp $1 bill, and S. is incredibly proud of her dollar. I still haven't made her Tooth Fairy pillow, though. It is on my list of projects while I'm on maternity leave (along with a million other things that may or may not get done).

The school has a neat little 'lost tooth' program, and the kids get to make up stories about what they think the Tooth Fairy does with all those teeth. Very cute.

Tuesday, February 12, 2008

Five People in my Family!

I have an old, old Sesame Street song stuck in my brain today. We don't have the same family make-up as the five-member family in the song, but there you go...

The Wheezer family welcomed Girl Number 3 on Wednesday, February 6 at 11:23 pm. Yes, just 37 minutes left in the year of the pig, LOL. She weighed 10 lbs 3 oz and measured 22 inches long.

Now for the gory details... bum bum ba bum...

My blood pressure had been going up, up, up and my lab results showed too much protein in my urine Wednesday morning. The doc was concerned and strongly suggested an induction for Thursday morning, when he would be on call. I agreed, and we were all set to come in at 6 the next morning. Doc ordered me to get home shortly and rest due to the blood pressure thing. I asked him if I could just go into work for another couple hours, he sighed and said yes. Soooo, I went back to work and knocked off a couple little projects and updated some out of office documentation.

When I stood up after shutting down my computer, my water broke. Allllllll over the place. There is absolutely no dignity in pregnancy, is there? All I can think is that I'm glad it happened AFTER I stood up, so my chair is still usable. A good samaritan, ie my office neighbor, happened to stick her head in to wish me well. I was standing there trying to decide which would make more of a mess, walking to the bathroom or standing still until the gushing stopped. I told her what happened and asked her to call Mr. W. Then, I got my trash can under me to catch the worst of the dripping (did I mention, it went EVERYWHERE?!?!).

Mr. W. came by, really confused, and I told him what happened. He was ordered to go get the van and bring it out front. Meanwhile, the gushing lessened, so I did the walk of shame to the restroom. I wrung out my clothes a bit (I still cannot believe there was so much fluid...) and made a bit of a mess on the bathroom floor all while waiting for Mr. W. to call and tell me he was there. The good Samaritan brought me a (woefully inadequate) pad while we were waiting. Turns out Mr. W. kept calling my office and never thought to try the cell phone! Poor panicked guy...

We got in the car and headed toward home. Okay, it is really, really, really uncomfortable to be soaking wet in February, even in warm and sunny central Texas. I called the ob's office to tell them my water broke. They wanted me to come in to be checked despite my assurances that there was no way this was urine (if only I could have held that much pee, I could have slept a whole lot better the last few weeks). Still, they wanted me in.

We got home, and I took a nice hot shower while Mr. W. got last minute things together. Fortunately, I had purchased some Depends in anticipation of a possible catastrophe (too bad I hadn't thought to put any in my purse) so I was able to be relatively comfortable for the ride to the clinic.

When we got there, I checked in and the receptionist told me to have a seat. I started laughing and told her my water broke, so sitting on their furniture probably wasn't the best plan. They got me to an examining room ASAP, and sure enough, my water did indeed break. Meanwhile, contractions were really kicking in, but with all that water loss, I could actually take a deep breath. Breathing deeply felt really good and was a refreshing change.

We walked on over to L&D (clinic was located within the hospital) where I was checked out, hooked up and poked and prodded. All the while, contractions were strengthening.

I can't remember what time I was admitted, probably close to four. I labored naturally until around 9:30. They started tossing around the 'P' word (pitocin), and I was really in a lot of pain as the intensity kicked up tremendously. So, I gave up the natural childbirth in favor of an epidural. The anesthesiologist did a great job. I did not have a loss of muscle control, but the contractions weren't nearly so painful. Once the epidural was in place, I went from 4 cm to 7 in about 5 minutes so the pitocin was delayed a bit. By 10:45 ish, the contractions had spaced out a bit, so the doc ordered the pitocin. I wish he'd talked to me first, because I could tell things were transitioning pretty quickly. Anyway, at a couple minutes past 11, I could tell baby was coming and had Mr. W. call the nurse. She took half a glance and started calling for the doc and telling me NOT to push. That was the absolute hardest part of the labor. Five minutes or so of not pushing felt like an eternity.

Once the doc had his gloves on, I pushed 4 or 5 times and poof! we had a squawking, squalling baby. She was delivered so quickly, she still had some fluid in her lungs. It took her awhile to cry that out (the @#(*&# hour it took them to finally give up on getting a venous blood draw to check her blood sugar, but we'll leave that for now).

She's healthy and beautiful and perfect and nursing beautifully. I'm doing really well, too.

The delivering doc promised to give my ob a hard time about the baby's size. My ob estimated 9 lbs. I had warned him I thought this baby was big and that my first one was over 10 lbs... We gained a certain notoriety in the hospital. Between her excessive size, and the ease of delivery, we were quite a part of the gossip mill.

One nice thing about having a really big baby is that I'm already about 3 lbs from my pre-pregnancy weight. Yes, 27 lbs lost in 6 days! I should go on tv, LOL.

Monday, February 04, 2008

This Post Brought to You by the Letter 'P' and the Number '3'

P is for Party!

We held L.'s birthday party a little early this year. With the bean due any second, I figured we'd either celebrate early or not at all. I really didn't want to do 'not at all' for the poor kid. Besides, I LOVE 3rd birthday parties.

First birthdays are a haze of relief for the parents, who've managed to survive that first year. Second birthdays, the kiddo still doesn't quite 'get' the excitement of a birthday. But the 3rd birthday, oh that is magic. Presents are opened with glee, birthday candles are blown out and the birthday girl is well aware that it is 'her' day. I love it!

L. had a great time at her party. We threw it together at the last minute, but still had a good time with good friends and family. It's fun having a girly girl. When S. turned 3, the theme was Thomas. Nothing wrong with Thomas, but it's nice to see My Little Pony and girly clothes for a change.

P is for Procrastination!

Yes, I'm within days of my due date, and my doc has been telling me 'any day now' for 3 weeks. Do I have a crib set up? No. Do I have baby clothes washed and organized? No. Do I even have my hospital bag packed? No. We'll be working on those this evening thanks to the next item on the list.

P is for Pre-eclampsia.

Had my weekly appointment this morning and not only was my blood pressure initially sky high (150+ over 90+, YIKES!), but I also have protein in my urine. Soooo, the doc wanted to induce me today. I do not want an induction and if I have to have one, I really want to wait a couple more days. He's working with me, and instead, I am collecting my urine for 24 hours. The logistics of catching and storing urine while working a full day are a bit, erm, sticky. I don't think they want to see my bio hazzard jug in the employee fridge. *giggle*

P is also for Pneumonia

Which, I apparently have/had a touch of. No x-rays to confirm, but nasty fever, cough and bloody chunky stuff coughed up are pretty indicative. I've been on antibiotics since Friday, but I'm still wheezing and coughing whenever I lie down. Great way to rest up before the baby comes, isn't it. So, yeah, I'd rather keep this baby 'in' until I can, oh, I don't know, BREATHE!

Finally, P is for Pre-Labor

I swear, these contractions are going to either kill me or turn me into a raging hormonal homicidal lunatic. Yeah, 2 minute long contractions coming every 5 minutes for 4 hours is a great way to spend Sunday evening. Nothing to show for it beyond a cranky, crabby me...