Soon...

I look more zaftig than preggers!

Misty Care Sheet For Dadfiend

Dad! Here's everything you need to know for Misty and our House while everyone is at the hospital:

Misty

Feeding

We feed Misty in the morning after we have eaten (she usually won’t eat before since she wants our food instead!). She gets a can of dogfood and two scoops of dry food mixed with a treat. 

Problem Foods

Avoid giving Misty eggs, milk products (including creamy soups, sour cream & yogurt), almonds, walnuts, pecans and chocolate.

Misty is fine with peanuts, all meats, bread, grains. She can have a small amount of beans and cheese (Velveeta cheese slices) without problem. You can give her as much doggie biscuits as you like, she tolerates them well.

Tummy Trouble

If you think Misty has tummy trouble, three things seem to help:

• Give her broth to drink, about ¼ of a cup every half hour to replace fluids. If you think she needs some energy, a spoon or two of honey is helpful.
• No people treats for two days (a few doggie treats are fine).
• Wait at least six/eight hours after her last bout of sickness to feed her. Skip the dry dog food and give her one can of dogfood, you can give her another six/eight hours later.

Hydration/Heat

Sometimes Misty forgets to drink enough water. Filling a quart jar with fresh water in front of her seems to help. On a very hot day, you might want to keep her in during the hottest hours. She will chase lizards until she drops!

Late Night Restlessness

If Misty rams around late at night (11pm-3am), wanting outside, chances are her stomach is upset. She usually wants to go outside to eat a mess of grass-- not to be sick. The grass she eats will cause vomiting. Watch her very carefully outside, she is terribly sneaky about grass eating. After a walk or two outside, we usually keep her in and toss a special “barf carpet” by the door if she gets sick.

If she doesn’t seem interested in sneaking away from you to eat grass, she might want to hunt neighborhood cats--especially if her tail and ears are up. This usually happens around the full moon.

Misty might want outside around dawn (430am on). This is normal.

Doggie Meds

We will give you some doggie calm meds for Misty. The dosage is ¼ tablet, although she can take up to one whole tablet. We have never given her more than ¼ tablet in a twelve hour period. The tabs seem to take 3 hours to reach a maximum effectiveness (they might not seem to work at all till then!), and then they last for another four to eight hours.

When we leave for the hospital, we will leave you a note/message with the time of the last dosage we gave her to keep you from dosing her too soon. You don’t need to give her any more meds unless you choose to. In fact, she may be just fine and not need any until we are ready to bring her home. We’ll give you call to dose her a few hours before I come home.

Misty’s Vet:            Dr. Calista 525-1000

                                    1080 Medpark Drive

Other House Stuff

You are welcome to come on over and watch dvds on our TV. I’ll leave you detailed instructions and hopefully have things set up for you.

You don’t need to worry about mail or the lights, but you are welcome to check on each.

Sunroom Flooding

• If the water is more than halfway up the sunroom floor, turn off the breaker switch to the sunroom. The switch will be marked in the laundryroom.
• We will leave our pump hooked up so all you need to do is plug it in if it floods. Plug the pump into the outlet with the blue tape on it. Or use the extension cord if the room is too flooded. Be sure to use chairs to keep the cord connections out of the water if you use the extension cord.
• The pump will need time to prime itself, this can take five-ten minutes. You can hasten the process by priming it in a basin filled with water that we will leave nearby.
• We will leave towels out in case you need them. If we forget, they are located on a cube shelf in the big closet in our bedroom (the one with the door on the south wall). Please don’t worry about cleaning up anything. E will be happy to have something to do when he comes home!

 Yay! Thank you!

Placenta Problems?

I asked my midwife if she had received the results of from my perinatologist appointment in El Paso. Clara said yes and proceeded to read me the results, which were, "Normal, normal, normal, normal, normal, huhn?!"

Apparently my placenta is maturing a bit rapidly, which could be a problem. She scheduled an ultrasound for me next week to check on the age of the placenta. I've spent the balance of the day perusing the babycenter.com chat rooms, feeling successively relieved and anxious.

Ultimately, if a problem serious existed, Dr. Topgun would have said something and Clara would have given me an Ultrasound right away. I am going to eat a banana with a heap of peanut butter for comfort.

Buying A Pump

After spending three hours wringing out wet towels last night to drain the sunroom finally agreed that we needed to break down and buy a pump. I was inordinately excited about a trip to Lowes (yay shopping!) until I spent fifteen minutes standing around while Tennisfiend meticulously studied the pump assortment.

I dragged a white five gallon paint bucket over to the pump aisle and took a seat across from the display security camera system so I could entertain myself while TF satisfied his research instincts. Thirty minutes later, after some discussion, we left with a moderately priced pump that will hopefully suck out the next onslaught of flood waters. To commemorate my victory in the pump war (I've been campaigning for one since last summer), TF took my pic in the back yard. I'm eight and a half months pg!

Birth Plan

Birth Plan
To my Health Care Providers: Thank you for taking the time to work with us and our birth plan. These are our preferences; however we are open and flexible to any medical intervention that may become necessary in the case of a medical emergency.
My Name:	Best Fiend	My Due Date:	August 12, 2006
My Husband:	Tennis Fiend	My Doctor:	Sarah Seamstress
My Labor Partners:	Momfiend and Ewbliette

Monitoring
I do not want an internal monitor unless the baby has shown some sign of distress.

---

Labor Augmentation/Induction
I would prefer no augmentation or induction unless medically necessary.

---

Anesthesia/Pain Medication
I would like to have an epidural.

I would like the strength of the epidural adjusted to facilitate pushing.

---

Delivery
I would like to have routine pitocin given to me to assist in the delivery of the placenta.

---

Episiotomy
I prefer to have no episiotomy and risk tearing (unless I'm having a medical emergency).

I would appreciate guidance in when to push and when to stop pushing so the perineum can stretch.

---

Cesarean
I wish to have an epidural for anesthesia.

I wish to have my husband, Egor XXX, present with me during the procedure, if possible.

---

Immediately After Delivery
If the baby must be taken from me to receive medical treatment, Egor XXX, my husband, will accompany the baby when possible.  

---

Breastfeeding
I plan to breastfeed exclusively and would like to begin nursing very shortly after birth.
I do not want the baby to be given a pacifier.

---

Circumcision
I do not want the baby circumcised.

---

Other
I would prefer that no students, interns, residents or non-essential personnel be present during my labor or the birth.

Please keep my door closed during labor.

Uhhm...

Pregnancy makes a girl, really, really canky.

The Name Has Been Chosen

Here are the finalists for our little boy's name:

1. Timur
2. Artyom
3. Liev
4. Ruslan 
5. Aristarh 
6. Valentin

Our goal was to choose an ethnic Russian name over any iteration of popular American names. Why? Well, to honor papa's heritage. And of course, having the same name as somebody else is boring. You might fit in better as a Michael, Jacob or John, but I think already it's too late for the little guy. E and I never fit in, so I reckon he'll be unconventional as well.

I personally did not want a Christian name. Both of us are agnostic and I felt insincere bestowing a Biblical name for that reason.  But his beloved Grandmother was named Valentina, thus Valentin. On our final list, E nixed Valentin because of Val Kilmer. I kid you not.  I think he took Top Gun way too seriously.

We also nexed Timur, one of my favorites, due to it's strong Islamic use (agnostic perogative). Liev and Ruslan are wya cool, but my tummy has an A in it. Aristarh or Artyom? Ari or Tyoma? Tyoma.  That sounds so sweet on the lips. We have a winner!

 

Seven Months!

Whoo-hoo!

All is going well with my pregnancy!

Shopping List For Baby

Tomorrow I go shopping with Mom for baby stuff in El Paso! I am so excited! Here's our list:



New baby basics

Beds and linens
_____Crib. Well-known, drop on one side, knee released siderail, smooth finish, metal supports, 2 heights
_____Crib mattress, firm, no fingers, match to crib, nonporous non padded, high density good quality foam (Colgate) or serta/sealy/simmons spring

_____Crib Skirt
_____Three fitted crib sheets.
_____Four or more waffle-weave cotton receiving blankets.

Diaper duty
_____Two Contoured Changing pads (Rumble Tuff) Non-skid bottom, strap, check size

_____Five Changing pad covers, ck compatibility /table

_____ Dozen cloth diapers.
_____Diaper pail (Diaper Champ)
_____Large Diaper bag, backpack style,  waterproof lining

_____Small Diaper bag

_____Dry wipes (Chix)

_____Supply caddy

_____Wet wipes (gentle)

Dressing baby
_____Six sleeping onesies preferably w/feet. 2 in 3 mo size
_____Six side-snap T-shirts 2 in 3 mo size.
_____Eight one-piece undershirts that snap around the crotch (3 in 3 mo size.)

_____Two Gowns with elasticized bottoms.

_____One Sleep sack.
_____Two lightweight cloth caps.
_____Four pairs socks/booties.

_____Four Cloth bibs.
_____Two to three soft, comfortable daytime outfits.
_____Two Brimmed hat.

_____One going home outfit.



Breast Feeding
_____Four 4-ounce baby bottles

_____Two silicone NB nipples  slow flow.

_____Bottle brush.
_____Three packs of cloth diapers or burp cloths.

_____Nursing Pillow

_____Two-Three nursing friendly pjs

_____Robe for hospital

_____Four Breastfeeding tops

_____Two each elastic skirts/pants

_____Waterproof mattress cover (for my bed)

Bathing/grooming
_____Three soft towels.
_____Two packs of baby washcloths.
_____ Baby body wash that doubles as shampoo.
_____Pair of blunt-tip scissors or baby-sized nail clippers.
_____Infant bathtub.
_____Soft brush and comb.

_____Baby manicure set

_____Aquafor

 _____Crib mattress.


Medicine chest essentials
_____Digital thermometer

_____Ear infection detector.

Extras
_____Front carrier: Baby Bjorn

_____Soft carrier.

Furniture
_____Changing table, raised edges.
_____Glider arms/cushioned.

_____Storage bins.

_____Hamper

_____Nursing stool (Medela)

 Toys

_____Mobile
_____Rattle
_____Mirror

Under Construction!

Please excuse the mess! My life is under construction. I am pleased to announce that and I are expecting a baby boy this August! I will be trying to catch up with everyone on lj in the next few weeks. I also hope to post my back log of half-written entries that have been accumulating since the end of February.

XOXO
Bestfiend

ETA:Many posts were maked private prior to my announcement.

Ultrasound Results!

Click for larger image.

Here he is! His head is on the RHS and the white blob hovering above, center is his little fist. I'd post the second pic, but I can't figure out excatly where everything is!

The doctor said everything is as it should be, except I lost some weight. Fortunately that's not a problem for Malootka*. He's estimated to weigh exactly one whole pound. Yay!
*Malootka is an affectionate Russian word meaning "tiny one."

We haven't picked out an official name yet, although a few favorites are:

Timoor (Timmy)
Artyome (Tommy/Arty)
Gleb
Oleg
Liev
Ruslan (Rus)
Kuriel
Valentin
Vasilly

Amnio Results, For Real This Time

Results were supposed to be in this Wednesday. No results. Waited till Thursday to annoy the clinic, “Results today, for sure, Mrs. Fiend.” Ack! I worked on the computer with the phone perched six inches away from me. At 10:00 a telemarketer called. I replied viciously, venting six years of the aggravation, frustration and nastiness that I stockpile exclusively for people trying to sell me crap over the phone.

At noon another marketing company called wanting me to answer a survey. I fumed. I decided that those bastards from Ikea sold my phone number despite my written request to withhold it. I will send them such a vituperative letter. Anyway, at 12:30 Tennisfiend called, “Are the results in?” Poor sweet guy, I was cross with him. Ten minutes later, my Mom called, “How are you doing?” Poor woman, I was practically hysterical with her.

To empower myself, I bounced phone calls back and forth to Women’s Medical for the next two hours. At three thirty, a harassed receptionist called me to say that the fax arrived, and that all the results were normal. No Down’s Syndrome, Trisonomy 13 or other serious birth defects.

What a relief! I was so grateful and effusive with my thank-yous that I almost made the receptionist feel less annoyed. At last I feel like this is a “real” pregnancy. After three miscarriages, I can't begin to describe my joy over the positive test results. Now to make amends to my loved ones and order a truckload of maternity clothes. Yay!

Amniocentesis

An unfortunate consequence of putting off child bearing until your thirties is the increased risk for having a child with a genetic disorder.

Accordingly, Tennisfiend and I decided to have a procedure called amniocentesis performed to identify any serious problems with our new baby. Now those of you who are familiar with the procedure know that it involves a very long needle. Those of you who are familiar with me know that I don’t like needles (please read "Why I Don’t Like Needles" for the horrifying details). Anyway, a needle is inserted into the abdomen to withdraw a sample of amniotic fluid, which is then tested for abnormalities.

I prepared for the procedure by reading avidly about it for two weeks straight. I then pretended that the test was never going to occur up until the moment that they whipped out the giant needle, which I vowed not to even glance at. As a result, I went into the procedure room cushioned by a Zen-like calm. When Loretta, the ultrasound tech handed me the legal paperwork, I read it dispassionately (having familiarized myself with the risks extensively two weeks ago), signing and initialing in the appropriate places.

Then Dr. Agitator entered the room. Dr. Agitator, the clinic’s amnio expert, resembles a smug, blond Stephen King. He swept into the exam room twenty minutes late, positioned himself tic-tac distance from my face and with intense, almost threatening eye contact, dramatically recounted every single risk associated with the procedure. Every sentence seemed like an accusation. I felt like a crime victim being cross-examined by a particularly hostile and morally outraged defense attorney.

My Zen-like calm disintegrated. It would have been replaced by mortal terror for my unborn child if I hadn’t been very determined and half pissed-off by the doctor’s theatrics. Prior to the test, I instructed Tennisfiend to distract me during the procedure, which was supposed to last under five minutes. Six minutes into the procedure, as Tennisfiend was nervously struggling to keep up conversation, when Dr. Agitator quietly exclaimed, “Huhn! That’s really weird!”

I then felt a punching where the needle was being inserted, followed by continued jerks of pressure and the certain rupturing of various tissues and organs. I was afraid to look up and find Dr. Agitator with one shoe on my hoo-hah and both elbows bellybutton deep in my abdomen. Tennisfiend went white and our banter died, just in time to hear Dr. Agitator faintly say, “Damn, look there’s blood!” My insides went cold. You know that feeling when you see your first crush kissing someone else when they are supposed to be your steady? A clenching in the bowels that indicates that something very, very wrong has happened? It was like that, but icier.

Containing my terror, I looked back at Tennisfiend and asked him (in Russian) to talk about our dog. He sputtered out a laugh and looked away. Then the hand that was clenching mine began to tremble. We stared at each mutely for a handful of excruciatingly long minutes until my quavering voice broke the silence with some inane remark that I had made three times before. At that moment, Dr. Agitator announced that the procedure was finished.

As the ultrasound tech swabbed my belly, I made eye contact with Dr. Agitator and gave him a weak smile. “Were you scared?” he asked. “I felt a few scary moments,” I confessed. “Well, I wasn’t scared at all,” he replied proudly, as if I should congratulate him for being so brave during my procedure. I laughed and quietly congratulated myself on not fainting, screaming, puking or crapping my pants during the ordeal. When Dr. Agitator left the exam room, I quizzed Loretta about the Doctor’s comments. As it turned out, my skin is extraordinarily thick and tough, so he had difficulty inserting the needle. This complication resulted in a wisp of my blood finding its way into the sample. Loretta soothed our frazzled nerves with an ultrasound of the baby, revealing to us that we are expecting a boy. Yay!

Sick Week

• Saturday evening, I began to feel unwell.
• Monday my mommy took me to the doctor.
• Tuesday I graduated from feeling ill in bed to feeling ill on the couch. Mom brought over meals for tennisfiend. Ewbliette visited and polished our kitchen to a shine I could never aspire to.
• Wednesday I was still couch bound, but bored. I did some crossword puzzles in the late afternoon. Devoted and still in a mood to clean, Ewbliette visited again to spread good cheer and to help around the house (I love her, very, very much).
• Today I made feeble attempts to return to my usual routine. I checked my email, paid some bills. Under a warm sun, I wheezed around the backyard and drew a primitive but recognizable picture of Misty.
• Tomorrow Ewbliette will take me shopping, even if I have to ride in a go-cart. I plan on wearing my fuzzy brown sweater, reindeer antlers and bright red lipstick.

 

I hope Santa will be generous to all of you celebrating Christmas this weekend. Our big celebration and gift exchange is on New Years Eve (Russian tradition). For recovery and holiday madness, I will take a brief hiatus from journaling. Happy Holidays!

Spotting

I went to the doctor today because I had some brown spotting. This was just like the spotting that I had when I miscarried last year. I am so scared.  It's too soon for an ultrasound, so the doctor put me on micronized progesterone to stop the spotting. Very, very scared.

Positive

Two faint lines on the internet order super-ept test. I am so happy and so scared. And so totally broke out!  I will be testing for quite some time.

Test

Last Fall, Egor and I tried to conceive. I was so thrilled when I became PG after our first try. And so sad when I miscarried almost three months later.

We are trying again, after two more ealy miscarriages this summer. I am doing it without meds, since they didn't really seem to help over the summer and the first time it didn't make a difference. We've had the big expensive genetic work up and we are fine. Tonight is one of my fertile nights. We shall see. Waiting for the early pregnancy test is agonizing. I've got 10 days to go...

Low Fluid

Today my ultrasound revealed that my amniotic fluid is low. That means that I need to drink plenty of fluids and lay on my left side (good luck). Since low fluid can be dangerous for Malootka, if my fluid rating drops to a 5 my midwife Clara will have labor induced.

So I need to go to the doctors office every day for a non-stress test. That means being hooked up to a monitor that records the baby's heart rate and my contractions. If the baby's heart accelerates in a predicable pattern, he's just fine and we don't need to induce labor. Will I be able to do this without staring at the heart monitor non-stop? Unlikely. Time to enlist a team of distractors to preserve my sanity.