She's here!

Wednesday, July 22, 2009

Hi Spark friends!! Sorry I have been MIA. I was busy having my baby! LOL!
Laila Bronya was born @ 12:09 p.m. Friday July 10. Her birth weight was 4 pounds, 10 ounces.

It was not the birth experience I had planned or expected (I wanted a med-free, natural birth), but I am so absolutely in love with my little girl and excited that she is here already!! I am so happy to be a mommy!

Here is the birth story for anyone who is interested. I'll also post a few pics to my page.

I went in to the hospital at 2 a.m. Tuesday, July 7 b/c I had excruciating pain on my right side and lower back that would not go away. I had this pain before but it always went away after I rested. At the hospital, I had 2 sonograms and a CT scan (after waiting about 7 hours in the L&D triage) because they were trying to rule out appendicitis and see what was going on. I was kind of scared to have a CT scan while pregnant but they assured me it was OK. It was difficult for them to see much of anything on the images because my uterus was so big. They did rule out appendicitis and determined that the pain was being caused by the ovarian cyst that I blogged about before.

I had known about the cyst since my first ultrasound in January. At the time, they said cysts usually go away on their own and not to worry about it but that they will need to monitor it to see if it gets any bigger. A few weeks ago they did another U/S to check on it and determined that it had gotten bigger and needed to come out. My OB sent me to a specialist who said we could probably wait until 6 weeks after I deliver and then remove it laproscopically (SP?). So that WAS the plan.

For 3 days after I checked into the hospital they monitored me closely, assessing my pain, white blood cell count and temperature. They didn't want to deliver the baby unless it was absolutely necessary because I was not even 35 weeks yet. But by Friday July 10, they made the decision to deliver her by c-section and also take out the cyst. My pain was getting worse and worse and my white blood cell count and temperature went up so they determined that we shouldn't wait any longer. I was also having contractions the whole time although I never went into labor. It turns out that the cyst was twisted in my ovary and had completely cut off the blood supply to it. They had to remove my entire ovary. :(
Luckily my other ovary is still healthy and viable should we decide to have more kids.

They put me under general anesthesia for the surgery, so I missed everything!! I also didn't see her for the first time until about 9:30 p.m. that evening. They had planned to do a spinal block and have DH in the room for the c-section, and then determine whether to proceed with the cyst removal under spinal or general anesthesia but at the last minute decided it would be best to do it all under general. Although I am sad to have missed the birth, I am also kind of glad that I was not awake for the surgery.

Laila is still in the special care nursery since she is a preemie, but she is doing very well and they are taking good care of her. The nurses there are great. We visit her every day. She just needs to get the hang of eating without the help of a tube and gain a little more weight. They tell us she should be ready to come home very soon.

Thanks to all of you for your support and for checking in on me throughout my pregnancy! I really liked being pregnant. I miss my belly! :-) It's such a surreal feeling to be a new Mom. :) :)
xoxo

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Doctor update and weekend fun

Tuesday, June 30, 2009

I went to the cyst doctor yesterday. He said the best thing to do would be to wait to remove the cyst until about 6 weeks after I deliver the baby. That surgery would be a laparoscopy (sp?). That method is less invasive and would minimize the recovery time. But if for some other reason I end up needing a c-section, he would take care of the cyst at that time. He said if I were in my second trimester, he would say to go ahead and remove the cyst now, but since I am so close to delivering, the risk of preterm labor is greater now. I am hoping it works out that I won't need a c-section and I could get the cyst removed as non-invasively as possible.

I am still kind of a stressball about the whole thing. Yesterday when we were waiting in the doctor's waiting room, the nurse asked me to take a picture with my chart. This doctor likes to have pictures of his patients because he can take a look at the photo and immediately remember what the issue is. Pretty cool, huh? But anyway, for some reason that request triggered something hormonal and I just burst into tears. So embarrassing. Anyway, I am now trying to relax, take deep breaths and enjoy the rest of my pregnancy. This baby deserves a calm and happy mama. :)

On to better things: My MIL, SIL and Mom held a surprise baby shower for me on Saturday. I totally had no idea. My friend and hubby cooked up this whole scheme where I was supposed to be going shopping with my friend and meeting up with some other girls for lunch. I was completely shocked when I got to the table and saw everyone there. :) The shower was at Maggiano's, an Italian restaurant (I think it's a small chain; they have it in other cities). The food there is so good. There was SO much food! For groups they usually do family style, which meant we had to choose 2 salads, 2 appetizers, 2 entrees, 2 pastas and 2 desserts (all came in unlimited quantities). Plus there was a shower cake. NOT very Sparky! But I enjoyed every bite. Somehow (without my knowledge) a lot of the leftover food ended up in our car. Hubby and I are still working on finishing it. Ughhhh.... Anyway, we got some very cute stuff for the baby. YAY! Just waiting for the big stuff, aka furniture, to arrive. Should be any day now. Hmmm....maybe I will call the store and follow up.

I am looking forward to this coming weekend. I love 4th of July weekend! Our niece and nephew's birthdays are on both sides of the holiday: July 3 and July 5. We are all spending the weekend in Richmond at my in-laws' home for their birthday parties. And our wedding anniversary is on July 6. Wow, these 7 years flew by like that! My husband is the most wonderful husband in the world. I appreciate and love him more every day.

I took a week off from working out last week. I was just so stressed out and not at all in the mood. Plus it was very hot outside and walking to the gym did not sound like fun. This week I am looking forward to being back in my groove. Body combat last night, and I finally made it to water aerobics this morning! It felt great to be back at the gym. I've missed it. The water felt great, but note to self: REMEMBER SUNSCREEN next time!!!!

We have our childbirth classes on Wednesday nights. Last week's class kind of freaked me out - just from hearing about everything that goes on during labor. All in all, I'm glad we are taking this class. Best to be as prepared as possible. I am still looking for a doula. If you know of a good doula in the Baltimore area, send her information my way! :-)

OK, so I think I wrote a novel here. To anyone still reading this, thanks for your support. Hugs to all!

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Ovarian cyst

Wednesday, June 24, 2009

So I went for an ultrasound and doctor checkup yesterday. During my first ultrasound, they found an ovarian cyst, and at the time they said they usually shrink and go away on their own but they will need to monitor it to make sure it doesn't get bigger. During the next ultrasound to check on it, she said it got a little smaller. On subsequent visits, the doctors didn't seem concerned about it. I breathed a sigh of relief and continued to enjoy my pregnancy. I didn't have any ultrasounds for a while, until yesterday. Well, it turns out that it has grown, and last time when they thought it shrunk it was probably obstructed by the baby. Since it grew, they referred me to a specialist for an opinion as to what to do. It's possible that I will need to have surgery to remove it while pregnant, or they might advise to do a c-section and take care of it at that time, or wait until after I deliver since my due date is so close at this point. In any case, I am a nervous wreck right now. I don't want a c-section and I am so scared of any type of surgery. I am trying to calm down but it's on my mind all the time. I go on Monday to see the specialist. Last night, I could not sleep very well. I was waking up every couple of hours and shaking from nerves. This stress can't be good for the baby.

I did have some pain on my right side last week that they now think might have been because of the cyst. It started last Wednesday but went away after about an hour or two when I rested on the couch. I was fine Thursday and Friday but Saturday morning it came back and it hurt pretty much all morning. I finally called the doctor's after - hours line. The on-call doctor called back right away and said not to worry, it's probably my uterus stretching and to rest on my left side. It did go away after that, and I was already starting to feel better by the time I spoke with the doctor. I hope this pain does not come back again, but so far it seems like it's one of those things that will pop up from time to time.

Ughhhhh.....I don't need this right now.

On another note, we got to see our sweet baby's face on the ultrasound. The tech took 3-D pictures this time, which we have never seen before. We didn't know the doctor's office we go to had 3-D. Maybe it was a new thing. The baby was covering one side of her face with her hand, and as hard as we tried, we could not get her to move it. LOL. The tech also confirmed again that she is a girl! :)

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Random ramblings

Tuesday, June 16, 2009

What's up, everybody?
I am pretty sleepy this morning. Need a jolt of caffeine for sure. Lately I have been getting up at least twice a night to go to the bathroom. Usually it's around 4 a.m. and I stay awake because for some reason it's nearly impossible for me to fall back asleep. Then the cat usually senses that I am awake and comes up right to my face with the motor running.

So it's Tuesday morning and of course, as has been the case onTuesday mornings for at least the past month, it's cloudy and it looks like it will downpour any second. WHY? Because I want to go to water aerobics class! Figures. Grrrrrrrr.... I think today I will go anyway and hope the rain holds off. I will pack regular gym clothes as well, so I can change my plans if necessary. If anything, the water should help wake me up.

Last night I went to body combat class. Just before the class began, a woman came up to me and said, " I think it's awesome that you are still doing this class. I love to see pregnant women continue to exercise. I'm an OBGYN and I see so many people make excuses for not doing any kind of exercise." I smiled and thanked her. She made my day and got me even more motivated to stay active. I have no idea what my labor will be like, but I am hoping that exercise is helping me prepare for it and cope with whatever comes my way, at least somewhat.

So it's week 31, and yesterday was exactly 2 months from my due date. It's so surreal! I mean, where did the year go? It's June - the year is 1/2 over!!! Time is just flying by. There is still lots to do. But hubby and I are getting more and more excited with each passing day. Lately I have been feeling like there is popcorn popping in my tummy pretty much all the time. She is running out of room in there. :)

Just watching the Today show. Heidi and Spencer (aka "Speidi") have been on every single morning show lately. They just need to go away. Seriously. And so should the silly show "I'm a Celebrity..." I mean, REALLY??? I feel my brain losing cells every time I even see a commercial for that show. While we're on the subject, Jon + Kate need to go away too. Where is the intelligent TV programming? Maybe we should just get rid of our TV. Ha ha. I don't think hubby would go for that idea. Nor would I, actually. LOL. :) See, I told you this blog will be full of random ramblings. Maybe I'm just tired right now...

On another random note, does anyone have any good recipes using fresh spinach? We picked a ton a couple weeks ago and need to use it up. I steamed some to go with our dinner last night, but I want to try it other ways. Can I make spinach dip with fresh spinach? I'll probably have to cook it first, right?

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Binge!

Tuesday, June 09, 2009

Yesterday I was doing pretty well on the food front. I ate a healthy breakfast, lunch and snack. When I got home around 6, I wasn't too hungry so I didn't have a snack before my body combat class at 7. After class, I was suddenly RAVENOUS and we still had to prepare dinner (got home around 8:20). I ate chips and salsa before dinner, then dinner, THEN I still wasn't finished. I had about a cup of ice cream with chocolate sauce and a Trader Joe's dunker cookie. I probably ate something else that I don't even remember. I was just a bottomless pit.

To make things worse, I got all ready for my water aerobics class this morning. Put my bathing suit on, packed my bag with my flip-flops and towel. Unfortunately it started to rain in the hours before the class was to start. OK, in the interest of full disclosure, I COULD have gone because the rain stopped by the time I would have started walking over there. But it still looks like it might downpour any second so I kinda got out of the mood. Ugh. I will probably do a workout here at home (more ST than cardio) but at least it will be something. Tomorrow I hope I can make it to my cycle class in time after my doctor's appointment.

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