Cuts Like a Knife (this is a doozy of a post)

Hey civilians, want to know how crappy your health care will be once we move to a socialized medical world? Go visit an Army doctor.

While such a broad statement may not be completely fair, in my circumstances right now, I can say that. Let's get into my story of the day...

As we all know, I've moved away from Fort Bliss and am now living with my parents in a town that while it does have an Army post, it's just a training post and doesn't have the big amenities the larger places have. Basically, all that means is that I had to get a referral to see a civilian OB and get to deliver at a normal hospital.
Today, I met with my new doctor for the first time and SERIOUSLY??? I didn't know what I was missing. I had no idea that the level of care that I received today even existed.

Here's what I'm used to...

5 minute long appointments that consist of this same dialog every. single. time.
Nurse (N): Do you have a history of anxiety or depression?
N: Do you have thoughts of killing or hurting yourself or others?
N: Does your husband abuse you mentally or physically?
Blah blah blah. You'll have to answer questions that should be clearly stated in your records every single time you go in there.
Then they'll listen to the babies heartbeat and say, "sounds good". You'll have to ask what the heart rate was and she'll give you somewhat of a range... never an exact number.
The doctor will come in and glance over your charts. She'll ask you if you have any concerns. Then she'll tell you when to come back and your donezo. Make sure you bring a list of questions because you won't remember them when they make you feel so rushed to get the hell out of their office.

Here's what I got today...

The lady at the front desk recognized me immediately. She knew exactly who I was even though I was in there only once... over a week ago.. for a total of 5 minutes tops.
My mom and I walked back when we were called, thinking it was just the nurse, when in reality it was an angel from God telling me she was going to give me an Ultrasound! Just because! She spent so much time with us and even switched it over to 3D occasionally to let us really see him. Of course, he had his hand spread across his face, so we never did see any facial features, but that's not her fault.

Sweet little ear and his arm covering his face

 Next, I had my vitals taken where.... get this... there was a urine sample collected. Do y'all know that I have never once had to pee in a cup while pregnant. I didn't even know that was a thing until a recent conversation with my SIL. When I asked my Army doc about it, she said they figured that was a good way to cut back on costs. Ohh... okay.

Then we met with my saint of a doctor, who probably took up a half hour of his day just talking with me. He cared about what was going on in my life, wanted to know where I came from before getting here. He actually really read those things called records and didn't need to ask me unnecessary questions. He saw that I had a horrific birth with Andrew and when he didn't get enough answers from said records, he put them down and told me to tell him all about it. Then gave me tissues while I cried in his office. Then, and most importantly, he was honest with me.
He told me how likely the complications we had last time were to happen all over again. He told me he wouldn't be comfortable helping us with a natural birth and would, in fact, actually be scared for me and the baby.

He asked me how I would feel about scheduling a C-Section. (Hence the title). And not because he regularly pushes them or because he wants to fit me conveniently into his schedule. But because he took the time to go over our case and wants to help us do what is best of us. And because he saw how anxious I was over the same things happening with Wes. 
Our last hospital wasn't very forthcoming with information about Andrew's birth... I learn something new all the time. What I learned this time, from looking at the records I had to request, was that Andrew was stuck in the birth canal because his shoulder couldn't make it past my pubic bone (sorry I had to use the word pubic, but there was no way around it). And while they let him sit there and try to work it out on his own for an hour, I also had a pretty bad fever. I don't know that it'll ever truly sink in how close we were to losing him. I can't do that with this baby. It's technical term is Shoulder Dystocia and can be deadly for the baby. And if it happens once, it's likely to happen again.
Why did no one tell me about this? And why was this hospital going to let me go through it all over again? Same place, same doctors. Really?

So, C-Section it is for me! We'll get it scheduled at my next appointment, but it looks like it'll be done January 31st. How weird will it be to know when my baby is coming?? I feel like the weight of the world has been lifted off of my shoulders. While a c-sec comes with it's own set of concerns, they are concerns for myself.. not my baby. And that?? The fact that I'm not worried about losing this baby anymore? Is worth it's weight in gold!

I'd love any tips from any of y'all that have had c-sections! Any recovery tips or even just what to expect before/during/after the procedure would be great!
 

Weekend

I'm getting really bad at pulling out my camera. I know it's because my memory card is just about full and I need to organize all of those pictures (Ughhhhhh), but that definitely means I'm falling behind. And it also means I have a whole post about our weekend without any cute Andrew pictures to break it up. Still interested? Keep reading.. I'll try to make it interesting. I may even steal pictures from friends on FB.

It was a 4-day weekend - my favorite kind! I've seen that meme going around on Pinterest and FB that says something like, "Woohooo, it's Friday!! Oh.. wait.. I'm a mom. It doesn't matter". Well, I beg to differ!! I still love my Fridays as much as any work-out-of-the-home girl! Fridays just mean something a little different to me now. They mean Daddy is home for two whole days!! Uninterrupted time as a family! More help for me! Later nights for us adults together! (not because Andrew will sleep in, but because somehow, it just seems okay). Breakfasts together as a family! Yes, I still do love my Fridays!

We had a fun 4-day weekend full of QT for the three of us. Lots of time spent with friends. A yard sale. A guys night at the bar and girls day at the mall. New purchases and a trip to the ER. No extra long weekend is complete without a trip to the ER, right?

Friday was spent entertaining Andrew and getting ready for the yard sale we were having Saturday morning. It was a multi-family moving sale held at our friends house, so we all got together Friday afternoon to organize and price our stuff, let the kids run around like miniature crazy people and have a cookout. Most fun I've ever had preparing a yard sale, that's for sure! While us responsible, mature women were nurturing our children (making sure they didn't run into the road, kill each other, or steal each other's food) our husbands were plotting their way to the German Club (a bar that's basically in our back yard) for the night. They had it all figured out. They would come home to help get the kids to sleep then sleep in with them and bring them to the yard sale when they were ready. Sounded good to me! Trey deserved a fun night out.. and fun they had! They bonded over beer, laughs and Army talk.

The yard sale went OKAY. I can't speak for everyone, but I think we were all a little disappointed with the crowd that showed up. We made decent money, at best, but I'm still left with way more stuff than I wanted to be left with! Plus, we kind of defeated the whole purpose of the sale and ended up buying stuff.
Trey is now the proud owner of this chair:

Hard to see, but I'm having technical difficulties. I'm sure you get the gist of it. He HAD to have it. He had never been any more sure of anything in his entire life apparently.

And I now collect Fiestaware dishes!! A friend was selling a 4-piece set for $20. That bright green color sucked me in after having all black dishes for over 5 years now. Then, Macy's was having a sale so I have 5 more colors on top of that! I'm a happy girl.
BUT. But.. we spent all of our yard sale money :/
I have lots of stuff left over though, so I think we're going to try to have another sale this coming up weekend. I don't want to. At all. But it's the right thing to do...

Let's see... the ER. Andrew did something to his leg/hip/but/back area. He limped around off and on all weekend. Would hardly run. Wouldn't jump or climb. He kept pointing to that area and telling us it hurt with the saddest little face. I kept waiting for it to get better, but it never did. We took him in to get xrays Monday morning and everything seems to be fine. So we're not really sure what's going on. I'm sure he just pulled a muscle or something like that, but we had to just make sure, ya know?

It's always so much harder for us to let Daddy go back to work after having all of those days off! We get used to him being around! But, we'll take the time off anytime we can get it. Looking forward to 2 weeks of block leave coming up in a few weeks!!

Off to empty my memory card so we can have more illustrated posts soon!

Looking up

I don't have much to write about... things have been pretty boring around here with us all trying to get in better health. I have been enjoying the downtime, but I'm beyond antsy to get out there to our normal activities as well.

While Trey and I are both feeling much, much better, Andrew got it pretty bad again. I took him back to the doctor yesterday afternoon and it turns out he does have an ear infection. Does anyone know when that starts to become a problem. When do tubes start coming up in conversation? His doctor was perplexed as to why the Urgent Care doctor only put him on an antibiotic for only 5 days. She said that is probably why his symptoms came back. So while I didn't even want to put him on the weak antibiotic, now he's having to take a much stronger one. As long as it clears all of this up, I'm okay with it!

Here's to hopefully being on the mend!

Happy Valentines Day!! While we don't celebrate too much around our household - I'm really just not a fan of the holiday.. it's my least favorite - I do like to see how much everyone else loves it. I love seeing everyone confessing their love for one another. It really puts a smile on my face to see my friends being surprised with flowers, candy, and the like. So, even though I'm not a huge fan, I'm not a bitter betty about the day.
Besides, I got the best news yesterday that I will consider my Valentine present. Hubs was supposed to be in the field next week and it got canceled. Yay for an unexpected week together :)

Andrew is a fan apparently -





Happy Valentines Day Ladies!!!

He's Getting Ready

I had my doctor's appointment first thing this morning! All is well... very well in fact.

Baby Drew has finally decided to flip around. He's about as head down and centered as it gets! His back is on my right side, hiney in my ribs (she said I should absolutely feel like my ribs are bruised.. and I DO), and his feet on my left side.

I could have cried when she first told us. Not happy tears. I know that sounds silly to most of you, but if you know me, you wouldn't be surprised. I do not handle pain well. But you know what? I'm feeling really good about this now. It took a couple of hours to get used to the idea. He was so far up in my ribs and definitely head up, I believe, until this Monday.. so I got used to the idea of having a Csec. I liked the fact that we would just know a date. That my mom could book her plane ticket feeling sure she would be here when we wanted her to be. I especially liked the idea of walking into the hospital and having my baby in my arms not too long afterwards. And really really got comfortable with the fact that my girl bits wouldn't be splitting apart.

But after having a really good conversation with my SIL and my Aunt, I'm kind of thankful and dare I say.. excited. Is there a part of me that is still scared of the whole experience? Duh. But I am glad I'm going to get this time in my life. I'm going to push my child out into this world. How amazing is that?! I've been praying and praying about this and I know God is in control of this. He wouldn't be putting us in this position if it wasn't something I could handle.

Now.. let's just hope he's on time! One because I'm soooo ready to not be pregnant anymore. Two (and most importantly) he has to be on time for FOOTBALL SEASON. Wooohooooo!! Carolina starts September 2nd and Alabama on the 4th. He NEEDS to be here for the start of the season :)

~31 Weeks~

I cannot believe that I am typing up a post right now about being 31 WEEKS PREGNANT!!. I really just can't believe it. How is it possible that the time goes by so quickly?



I must say that I am getting over the top excited to have Mr. Andrew. I've dreamt about him twice in the past week, when I can sleep that is. Some of that excitement may have to do with the fact that I'm in so. much. pain I could scream. My back has been killing me, just on my left side. It's been going on for a few days now and getting progressively worse, so I finally went to the doc today. She at first sent me away, saying it was normal for a girl my size (fun sized I like to call it) carrying around such a heavy load to have this type of pain. I went home with a bottle of Tylenol w/ Codine and nervously took one to ease my misery. After my first much needed drugged slumber nap of the day, the doc called me and said that I do in fact have an infection and prescribed me some more drugs.. big apology to my son for starting him off with possible drug habits... I kid.. BUT I just KNEW something was really wrong and I'm glad mum talked me into going to the doctor for it. She's still the best mum ever even from 25 gazillion miles away :)


So anywho.. here you go...


How far along: 31 weeks and 1 day to be technical.. my due date is two months from tomorrow. Seems too far away, but I know it'll fly by!



Total weight gain: Since going to the doctor this morning, I know the exact amount gained. Do I really have to share??? Ecchhhh okay... 20 lbs exactly at this point. I've been eating with no abandon over the past 2 weeks.



Maternity clothes: I live in them.



Stretch marks: Oh yeah. My loving husband pointed those out to me the other day. Palmers is not helping, but you know, I'm really okay with this. Battle wounds, right?! My belly button is still intact though and has not popped out. It's just kind of flattening out and I'm hoping it'll stay that way.

Sleep: is a foreign concept to me. I was up googling things I had no business googling at 3 am last night. Please let this not be a sign of things to come. I'm beyond EXHAUSTED right now.... and I've had 3 naps today.

Best moment this week: it's a funny little story actually. Trey and I were up at about 10 one night last week, putting together a cute little cubby thing to go in Drew's room. Well.. you know.. he was assembling.. I was assisting. Drew is usually pretty quiet (I'm guessing sleeping) at that time and must not have been too happy that daddy was hammering away during his slumber. (I have a sneaking suspicion that his personality may be a little more like someone you all know and love..) While he was hammering away, he stops suddenly, alarmed by the frightening gasp that came out of my mouth. Drew had kicked me so incredibly hard that I thought my ribs were going to break in half. I guess he wasn't too happy about all the loud noise during his sleepy time...



Movement: Ummm yes, please read above.



Food cravings: Hmmm... just eating whatever the heck I fancy at the moment. For instance, I think I'll break right now to eat a few ovaled pickle chips.. yes they have to be the oval shape. Yes.. they taste different.



Showing:

31 Weeks

Mmmm... yeah.. I'd say I'm showing a tad.

Labor Signs: Still none!

Mood Temperament: Meh.. I've been pretty tame. I am emotional and cry quite a bit. As in (I can't believe I'm about to admit this) I cried yesterday morning when I heard Eminem's new song. Wow. Yup. I said it. He just seems to be doing so well for himself.. changing for his kids.. I'm a sucker for a happy ending...

Weekly Wisdom:

Dear Self, This will pass.

Most Wonderful Sounds in the World

My appointment went very well today!

I actually saw a midwife instead of the doctor I was supposed to see and I LOVED her! She was great. If I were going to be giving birth here, I would want her to deliver baby. She did a full exam today, but I will spare you from the not so glamorous parts and tell you allll about the most amazing moment so far in my life.

I had a friend come with me since Army training does not care what-so-ever that your wifey is hearing the heartbeat for the first time of your first born child. She was able to stand right next to me for the big moment (heartbeat, not pap smear... i relieved her for that moment) cell phone in hand ready to record. It took no longer than about 10 seconds for her to find that swooshing sound and it was music to my ears. The tears were flowing. Direct quote from midwife: "that's a fast one.. 160-170 bpm.. it's a girl" She could have told me it was an alien at that point though, I was so happy just to here that something is actually happening in there. Plus we have a gorgeous name picked out for a girl :)

The recording picked up better than I expected. I'm going to attempt to put it up for all to share my enjoyment...

No such luck! A big thank you for all of you who listen to my baby rambling day in and day out :)

This and That

It feels like I haven't been on here in a long long time and I have a lot of catching up to do! I don't know what's been up with me, but blogging has been the LAST thing I have wanted to do lately! *I know.. shame on me*

Not much has been going on around here (part of the reason I haven't been so into blogging). I have been feeling much much better. Thanks for all of your well wishes!! Morning sickness seems to have just been a fleeting feeling *knock on wood* although there is still just a few foods I can stand to eat. Unfortunately, mainly carbs, but I have only gained just under a pound so far so I must be doing something right!

I'm in my 9th week now, but I'm going to skip my weekly report out of part laziness, part it's not really too too interesting this week so I'm going to spare you :) It is very exciting though to almost be in the double digits - as well as in my last month of my first trimester!!

I had a "group" appointment with a nurse last Friday. It was interesting and just a little disappointing. She just went over very general information. We'll go over the disappointing points first. All I know to compare myself with are my friends back home who are or recently have been pregnant. They had ultrasounds a few times throughout their pregnancy, starting as early as 8 or 9 weeks. So I'm thinking I'll be getting one at my first doctor's appointment, right? Not so much says military hospital. I'll get one. At 20 weeks. Plain ol' 2D. Enter sad, pouty face. Hubs did agree with me though, when I suggested we pay for a fun fancy 4D at our county hospital though :) Then, she informs us that it is AGAINST THE LAW to tell us the sex of the baby at that 20 week appointment. IS SHE CRAZY or what??? Has anyone ever heard of that?? I certainly never have, and decided to throw that little piece of info out the window and pretend like I never heard that! Exciting piece of info: I have my 12 week appointment with the doc on Feb 11th. I'll (hopefully we'll) get to hear the heartbeat for the first time!! I'm really hoping Trey will be able to come! Most entertaining part of the day: The nurse we saw does the pregnancy PT for the soldiers so she's like a fitness expert. She tells us that the best exercise we can do is walking and swimming. Seriously, y'all, someone yelled this question out... "that's not gonna make my baby drown?", with a very concerned look on her face. I, of course, burst out with a little giggle, thinking she was joking. Not so much. This chick was serious. Woowwwww!!

My SIL's due date was yesterday... no baby yet!! She is scheduled to be induced TOMORROW though. YAAYYYY!!! She is pretty nervous, but I am beyond excited and I really just wish I could be there.. for her and to meet my presh little niece.. my first one!! Ohhh man do I plan on spoiling her. I have the disadvantage of being the long distance auntie so I have to make up for it in other ways!

Our household is verrry boring here lately. All Trey is doing is study study study, homework, and a little more studying. So far it's paying off. He passed last weeks test (after his second chance.. eeeek) and hopefully he'll continue to do great!

I'll be answering the questions I was asked and will post those either tomorrow or Thursday (just trying to be realistic). There aren't many.. but they are good ones!

Blah...

I'm not feeling so hot today. I got the flu vaccine shot up my nose yesterday.. and lo and behold... what do I feel like I have today? It's not horrible. My body's a tad achey and I feel flat out lethargic. Trey told me a couple times this would probably happen so it's possible that this is all in my head... or maybe he was just right for once ;)

So anyway - I'm going to try my best to be a lazy bum today and get some rest. I always feel way too guilty to allow myself to do that, but I'm under strict orders.

I was at the hospital twice yesterday. First outing was for my eye appointment and it's a good thing I thoroughly enjoy laughing at myself. I may or may not have asked more than one person where the "Optomology" department was and finally got an answer after the 2nd person finally told me she wasn't sure, but am I sure I wasn't looking for the Optometry dept? Umm yes thanks. Is Optomology even a word?
Appointment goes great. I take the elevator down to the first floor, go out the rotating door, and can't find my car ANYWHERE. After walking around the parking lot for a solid 5 minutes, I realize I must not have come out the same place I came in. Go back in the hospital and even though I was on the right floor, I couldn't find the right exit anywhere... swear it disappeared Harry Potter style. So I walked around like a straight up loon for another good 10 minutes before I finally found my parking lot. 10,000 parking lots... who knew!

Dear Santa, please bring me keyless entry for my car this year so I can always find it in the crazy parking lots. They Hundai likes to play hide-and-go seek.

P.S.
After using spell check, I'm pretty positive that Optomology does NOT exist... in case you were wondering :)

My future babies

In the midst of my not so much a good day, I'll talk about the one little thing that did make me happy. I'll try my hardest to leave out all the "tmi" stuff.
Before I begin, I'd like to start with this.... NO I'M NOT PREGNANT. And serisously, if one more person asks me that this year I might go psycho crazy on them. I think i've been asked this at least once a day for the past month.
I had a gyno appt this morning for reasons I won't get into. It came complete with an ever-so-pleasant pap smear, blood work and a ultra sound to top it off. For a little background info.... I've always been a little worried in the back of my mind that it might be hard for me to have children. Other women in my family had trouble... not as in it was impossible, but just had to work a little harder for it. And my periods are not regular at all. Anyways, I have my ultra sound, head back in the room to wait for the doc, and finally after what seems like an eternity, she comes trecking on in. And what does she tell me? I've been grinning about it all day.
My cervix and ovaries look beautiful. Girls.. I have beautiful ovaries. And I saw like 5 or 6 eggs swimming around in there. Yes, I realize I will probably never use those particular little eggies... but it's what could be I guess. I also realize that there could be other things to prevent me from having babies, but this made me quite happy to see and hear. Little known fact #500 about me... That's pretty much all I want out of life.. to be a mama.
Looks like i really am beautiful on the inside. So says my gyno. Get it? My little attempt to make a funny...

Trying to stay positive.

Hubs swore in this morning. It's official official now. He's leaving on the 24th. I'm okay. Just okay. I know this is what we signed up for and I know I should have been preparing for this all along. I didn't know it would hit me like this.
I plan on soaking up every spare second with him until then. He's out playing basketball with some of his friends right now.. but they'll miss him too. I guess I can't completely hog him ;)
My mom and I talked briefly about having a "goodbye Trey/Happy 50th bday Dad" party the weekend before he leaves. I also plan on taking off a couple of days from work.. like the Thursday, Friday, and Monday before he leaves (the 24th is Tues.)
The lovely thing is that I already have the morning of the 24th off because I have my yearly gyno exam scheduled.
How fitting??
Please excuse the fits of tears doc.. I'll be a tad emotional I think.