New Doctor

I had my first appt with the new OB yesterday & oh, my what a difference!! I guess I didn't realize how bad the other doctor really was until I saw how good it can be. This doctor made a huge effort to make a personal connection with me (and with Lily, who came with me), spent over an hour with me, talked to me about what I expected during delivery, circumcision options, etc. - all of which the other doctor never did. He also seems very up-to-date on all the most recent studies and technology. I feel much more comfortable with him and I am so glad I made the decision to change doctors - even if it was late in the game.

Well, I am definitely 37 weeks - the doctor said you can't go by the measurements taken now - even ultrasound measurements - because at this stage in the pregnancy those measurements are not accurate. He said the most accurate measurement is the first ultrasound you have. If there are 2 babies conceived at the same exact time, they are going to be the same size at 6 - 10 weeks. However, all babies grow at different rates, so once you get to your 36th or 37th week, those same 2 babies are going to be different sizes. He said there was no way you can accurately gauge how many weeks you are at this stage of pregnancy from a measurement. He went back & looked at my 10 week ultrasound and said the measurements from that would put me right at 37 weeks. He said I am only measuring 34 weeks, but he is not too concerned with that. He said that could mean I am just going to have a small baby or that the baby's position just has me measuring smaller. He also told me that the old doctor sent me about a month too early for my glucose test, so those results are not accurate either. It just gets better and better, huh? I had about 20 vials of blood drawn yesterday so he could run all the necessary tests that had never been done. That was fun...let me tell you. At least the technician knew what she was doing & I don't have a bruise the size of a baseball on my arm today, like I did the last time from the other place. The doctor did an exam and he said the baby's head is faced downward & I am already 1 - 2 cm dilated - woo hoo!! He said it's not anything to worry about - that I could stay like that for weeks, but it's a start! I also had my due date wrong. I think I must have heard wrong when they told me in the beginning - so my actual due date is May 16th, not the 18th.

While we were at the hospital, I took Lily down to the nursery so she could see where me & the baby were going to be when the time comes & so she could see all the little bitty babies. She was so amazed at how little the babies were and she said "Wow, I've never seen a baby that just came out of it's mommy's tummy before!" She thought it was funny that some of them had lots of hair & some had no hair at all. All the babies were sleeping while we were there, but a couple of them moved around a little bit in their sleep & she thought it was the neatest thing. I think she feels more comfortable after seeing where her baby brother is going to be & knowing where I will be when I have the baby. And after seeing the babies she is more excited than ever to meet her baby brother. :o)

Well, I think that's all my news for now...my next appt is on Thursday, so I will update on the baby after that - and it's almost the end of April, so I will be posting all of Lily's pictures from school soon too!

Doctor's Appt Disaster & My Sweet Baby Girl

Sorry, but I need to vent - I still can't believe this guy! I had my final appt with my old OB yesterday & what a disaster it was! When I asked for a copy of my medical records, he looked through my chart and asked me where my lab results were (as if I should know!). After talking to one of his nurses, he realized he never sent me to the lab to get my initial blood work done back in OCTOBER! over 6 months ago!!! That would have been the blood work where they checked my blood type & screened me for hepatitis, HIV, etc...Why no one ever noticed - in the past 6 months! - that was missing is beyond me...I have a feeling that if I had never asked for my medical records, this probably would have gone unnoticed forever.

So then the doctor said he wanted me to give a second thought to staying with him & not switching doctors & he wanted me to schedule my next appt with him. If after I thought about it again I still really wanted to switch doctors that I could call & cancel my appointment with him. So even though I had no intention of staying with him, I told him I would think about it, just to appease him. So he wrote down that he wanted my next appt to be in 2 weeks. Now, I know after 36 weeks your supposed to be seeing the doctor every week, and even though I was not going to be returning, I was still curious, so I asked the nurse "Shouldn't he be seeing me every week now?" and she said "Not until your 36 weeks" I told her I AM 36 weeks - I'll be 37 weeks on Friday & she said "well, your measuring 34 weeks, so your only 34 weeks." WHAT?!? I told her "I don't care what my belly is measuring - it doesn't matter how big my stomach is- I am 36 weeks." and she said that there is a 2 week window where you can get pregnant & if you deliver anywhere between 38 & 41 weeks your considered full term. I told her I understood that & she said "well there's your 2 week window". I have never EVER heard of any doctor go by a belly measurement over the date of your last period! I have a friend here who was measuring 3 weeks earlier than her due date and she had her baby on her due date & she was 9 1/2 lbs! So much for measuring small...All I can say is that I am NEVER going back to that crazy doctor and I am so glad I decided to switch before it was really too late. He didn't do any type of exam on me or anything while I was in there - all he did was listen to the baby's heart beat & measure my belly. Unbelievable. I can't believe I didn't realize how bad he was before I got sick & all this happened. I guess it's a good thing I got sick...I was never happier to walk out of that place & I will NOT be looking back!

Now, on to sweeter news...

Miss Lily has been SO sweet lately. I don't know if someone has told her I need to take it easy & to help me out or if she is figuring it out on her own, but she has been super duper helpful lately. The other day I was laying down & she came & asked me what was doing - I told her I was resting & she said "Well, if you need anything, you just tell me & I'll get it for you - so you can rest" Awww, how sweet! Of course when I DID ask her to get me something she said "UGH! Why do I have to do everything?!", so I guess it's the thought that counts. ;o) Then last night she was in her room & she yelled down the stairs to me "Mom, what are you doing?" I told her I was cooking dinner, cleaning and picking stuff up & she said "I wish Daddy was here". When I asked her why she wanted Daddy here she said "So he can do all that stuff - you sound tired!!" lol - she's so cute :o)

I have an appt tomorrow with the new OB, so hopefully things will go better then. I will update tomorrow after that appt!

36 Weeks and It's Official! (we think...)

Well, we are in the homestretch now! Only 28 days till my due date and I am ready for it! As much as I love feeling him move around in my belly, the lack of sleep, the frequency of bathroom trips, the pain in my ribs when he sticks his feet into them and the general discomfort and uncomfortableness has me ready for him to come out & meet the world. He's been getting hiccups pretty frequently lately, which makes me a little nauseous and his lack of room in the womb has him sticking random body parts out my belly, which looks (and feels) pretty freaky. As long as he stays in there until Brian comes home May 1st (yes, he did end up getting extended until then), I will be a happy girl.

I will start my weekly appointments now, however, it will be with a new doctor. I know it's a little late to be switching doctors, but when I was sick a couple weeks ago & went to my original OB, he told me my illness was allergies and acid reflux & to take Benadryl and Tums. If the Tums didn't work, he wanted to me take Zantac. Well, I tried the Benadryl and Tums and that did absolutely nothing for me and since I was getting increasingly sicker, I went to urgent care where I was told I had a viral infection & was given antibiotics to prevent any further infection. When I went back to my OB for my regular check-up, he asked how I was & when I told him how sick I had been, he scolded me for not taking the Zantac - as if that would have cured my fever, aches, coughing and general feeling like crap. He wouldn't acknowledge the fact that he may have been wrong & it wasn't allergies and acid reflux and that just made me lose all confidence in him, not to mention respect for him. I thought about it over the week I was in MA and decided I would be more comfortable going to a different doctor. So as soon as we got back from our trip I went & got a referral to another doctor one of my friends here highly recommended. Hopefully this one will work out better than the last. I will also have to deliver at a hospital a little further away than the one we originally planned on, but the one I will be going to now has a specialized pediatric ER & ICU and has been named one of America's 50 Best Hospitals, so I have more confidence going there anyway - just in case there are any complications.

I think we have officially (finally!) decided on a name for our little guy. His name will be Jake Thomas - and possibly JT as a nickname. (we think) - Brian & I both like that name, but it's not exactly what either of us wanted, so neither of us are 100% happy. However, we can't agree on anything else, so unless he comes out and totally looks like a different name, I think this is what it will be. I never thought picking out a name would be so difficult for us!

Lily is becoming more & more excited about the arrival of her baby brother. She is still a little concerned about us "needing her, wanting her, loving her" etc when the baby is born, but we have done our best to assure her that her place in our family is not going to be in jeopardy. She was in an especially bad mood on a recent trip to Babies R Us where she complained that "the baby was getting all this stuff and all she got was one thing" - but for the most part she is happy and looking forward to meeting her brother. However, she is NOT happy about our choice for a name and says her brother has to be named either Jacob (Jake is not acceptable to her) or David. :o) I don't see her getting her way, but with the way things have been going, who knows!

I will keep everyone updated on my drs appts once I get an appt with the new doctor. I am hoping he will be able to fit me in pretty quickly, as I don't have much time left. I should get my referral authorization number tomorrow and will be able to make an appt after that. Until then, here is the developmental progress for this week:

Your baby is still packing on the pounds — at the rate of about an ounce a day. He now weighs almost 6 pounds and is more than 18 1/2 inches long. He's shedding most of the downy covering of hair that covered his body as well as the vernix caseosa, the waxy substance that covered and protected his skin during his nine-month amniotic bath.

Just a quick update on Brian's recruiting: We still don't know anything for sure (gotta love the Army...), but since we haven't heard anything we are just going to go on the assumption that he will be leaving for school on May 26th. At least until we hear something different. He's hopefully going to be able to take some leave between the time he comes home from Dover until he leaves for South Carolina - so he can spend some quality time with us before he has to leave again and I'm sure he wants to squeeze in some time to work on his truck. :o) I will let everyone know when & if we hear anything more...

Red Rockets

THE RED ROCKETS

Lily's soccer team
Pics from Lily's first soccer game:
Waiting for the game to begin

Lily's "free kick"

Lily turning the ball the opposite way of where she's supposed to be going...


Throwing the ball in with some help from Coach Jamie

The pack chasing the ball

Rockets heading toward the goal!

Unfortunately Lily's team lost the game, but they still had fun, which is all that really matters. Lily was a little confused about which way the ball was supposed to go (she thought they were supposed to kick the ball into their goal) and she was a little discouraged when she couldn't get the ball (she said the other kids were bigger and faster than her) but she really tried her best and I think she will learn more and get better as time goes on. This was her first game after all! We are still proud of her for going after the ball, paying attention and doing the best she could!

Dance Recital 08

Lily had her annual dance recital this weekend. This year it was on a real stage & Lily was sooo excited. She danced so well & had tons of fun - she can't wait to do it again next year! We are so proud of her!!


Click to view video montage of Lily's dance recital!!


Dance Recital 08'

Practice Makes Perfect

Pics from Lily's last dance class before their recital:

Warm Weather!

After being in chilly Boston weather for a week, we were looking forward to coming home to some nice warm weather. We were not disappointed! Thursday turned out to be our first 80 degree day and we took full advantage:

Our Soccer Super Star!

Lily decided that she wanted to try & play soccer this season. When I first asked her if she wanted to play, she said soccer was for boys & she wanted to be the cheerleader, but a lot of her friends here are all playing on the same team & Miss Jamie (Stevie's mom) is the coach, so after going to a couple of their practices & realizing how much fun it would be to play, she decided she wanted to play after all, so we signed her up.

All ready to go to her first practice!

Stretching out
Going after the ball

Lily really impressed us when she started playing! She pays attention really well, she's not afraid to go after the ball, and she even scored a goal during practice! Goooo Lily!!

Lily practicing being goalie

Lily really seems to be enjoying her soccer time. Such a big girl!

Baby Shower

My mom hosted a baby shower for me & the baby-to-be while we were in Mass. It was lots of fun & great to see everyone!! Here's some pics from the shower & my ever-increasing belly...

The big sister got some gifts too...

Where, Oh Where Have We Been?!?

Sorry it's been so long since I've posted anything...we've had a very busy month so far! I caught some sort of viral infection at the beginning of the month, so I was in bed for a few days. Thank goodness Brian was able to come home over the weekend & take care of Lily & I, because I was pretty useless. It worked out even better that he was able to come home, because not only was I sick, but the morning Brian came home, Lily woke up with a fever as well & spent the good part of the 2 days he was here in bed as well. Luckily we were both feeling well enough to head out on another one of our traveling adventures a few days later. We drove from here to Brian's apartment in DE for the night & then up to MA the next day for a (not long enough) visit with everyone. We stayed there for 5 days & then my mom drove back with us to DE & then Virginia the next day. We drove through Washington DC on the way back to Virginia, hoping to see some of the famous cherry blossoms, but most of them were gone by the time we got there. :o( Once we got back home, we've been running around like crazy for Lily. She has started playing soccer, so between her soccer & dance practices, her dance recital, her soccer games and her special activities for school this month, we haven't had time for much else! I do have lots of pictures from her special days at school, but I am going to save them all for one post at the end of the month of everything they've been doing.

Here is a picture of Vader trying out Lily's new car seat during our travels...we found him this way when we came out from eating breakfast at IHOP! We all thought it was pretty hilarious - especially Lily.

I guess he thought it looked pretty comfortable too! Silly dog!!