"There's always the possibility of something going wrong at any time, even after delivery."

Sat., April 6, 1991 -  a.m.

     I tried pushing around my tummy last night and the baby moved around some but not a whole lot.  She's been moving around more this morning, about like usual.  But I guess I'm more worried because yesterday Ann asked us if it bothered or scared us to think about what happened with Cathy Rudolph's baby. (Her baby apparently died when she dropped & the cord got compressed.)  I had thought of it before but I guess I'm thinking more of it the closer we get to the end.  There's always the possibility of something going wrong at any time, even after delivery.

     I'd planned to go to the shower Linda Pugh was having for Jeri Adams.  But I just didn't sleep well last night.  We went to bed at 11:00 and I woke up at 1:15 & couldn't go back to sleep.  My head was kind of hurting so when Guy stirred about 2:45 I asked him to get me some Tylenol.  I went back to sleep after 3:00 but kept waking up & my head still hurting.  Finally around 7:00 I got up and took some more Tylenol & while I was up I went to the bathroom.  The flushing apparently woke Chief up cause he started whining.  Guy went to let him out & seemed to be gone a long time.  I heard Chief still whining so I went to see what was wrong.  He had wet in the kitchen floor.  Guy was mopping it up with vinegar water while Chief was still outside.  He said it was a pretty big puddle, all across from the freezer to the sink.  I'm glad we've been keeping the gate on the kitchen door again.  We figured stuff like this would happen after the baby comes but don't understand why it's happening now.  I just hope it doesn't get any worse.  I don't know if I wrote about the morning he got a Ziploc bag out of the kitchen trash & ripped it to shreds.  It had had sandwich meat in it & was probably in the paper sack in front of the trash can.  That same day I left him loose with the dining room blocked while I was at a dr. appt.  When I came home he had taken some Kleenex & candy wrappers out of the living room trash & ripped them up all over the floor.  Another day I discovered he'd been pulling pieces off of the car seat box which is sitting by the stereo.  Guy keeps threatening to make him an outdoor dog but I think that would be like starting all over again.  Yesterday after I got home from the support group he kept wanting in & out.  I finally just left him out there, putting up with his scratching & whining.  Finally he started going away from the door for a few seconds at a time so I got up to watch him.  About the third time he went away he started sniffing around & then peed.  As soon as he was done I opened the door & let him in.  He wanted to play so I played with him for just a little bit before going upstairs.  I left him loose cause he'd gotten comfortable in his chair and didn't find any messes when I came back down.

     I worked in the front bedroom for a little bit, mainly putting the shelf liner in the baby's chest drawers.  I left them all open cause the paper's vinyl & had a smell to it.  After that I took a nap from about 4:00-5:30.  Guy called about 5:45 to say he was on his way home.  I heated up the leftover tuna helper & had the salads done by the time he got home.  After supper we watched tapes & caught up a little.

"...it doesn't seem like she's been moving around..."

Friday, April 5, 1991

     At K-Mart we got lots of stuff for the baby - bibs, diaper wipes, rubber pants, t-shirts, sleepers, and a coming-home outfit.  (Guy had gotten some disposable diapers at the commissary.)  We also got some birth announcements.  I'd wanted to go to Hallmark for those & a baby book but it was getting too late & there were some cute ones there with shiny pink footprints on the front.  I still want to go to Hallmark for the baby book.  I hope we'll have time to do that.  

     I went to the Expectant Arms meeting this morning.  I had to circle around the parking lot about 5 times before finding a place close enough to walk.  Cathy Rudolph wasn't there.  She'd told me they were going to visit her in-laws in Baltimore & do some sight-seeing in DC; this week was spring break for Virginia Beach schools.

     But we had a good meeting. Margaret talked more than I did.  We kind of went into the treatment we got from the drs. with our previous pregnancies.  She'd been to Maternal-Fetal Medicine too.  Ann said that Dr. Levy is the only one there now.  Because they're part of the medical school.  I asked if they'd been fired & she said no, she didn't know why the others left and she heard that Dr. Levy might not be there much longer.  Sounds strange to me.

     I was having a lot of Braxton-Hicks contractions this afternoon so I started timing them.  It was kind of scary when the first two I timed were only about 5 minutes apart.  But they got further & further apart til it was like 50 minutes.  That was just before I took a nap.  I had a few right after I got up but it doesn't seem like she's been moving around since supper like she usually does. 

"...it's good because it means she's strong."

Thu., April 4, 1991

     Mon. the place I hurt from coughing Sun. night was still hurting on the left side.  It's down at the bottom of my ribs just in front of my exact side.  It hurt most when I took a deep breath or coughed & I was trying not to cough so hard cause I didn't want to tear anything.  But Tues. morning while Guy was in the shower it happened.  I didn't think I was coughing very hard but I felt it move when I did.  I was trying to reach my bell and by the time I got hold of it, Guy turned the shower off so he heard it right away.  He helped me hold it while I had to cough then brought me some extra-strength Tylenol to take.  I think I used the heating pad on it for awhile.  I just took it easy all day Tues. and it didn't get any worse or better.

     Since it was on the left side I figured I'd be ok to drive myself to the dr. Wed.  I had the non-stress test at 1:00 & saw Dr. Rand later (drs. are always running late.).  My NST was ok but it was the hunchbacked girl that did it.  My weight was down another pound.  And this was on the scales on Dr. Rand's side.  He said I should try not to lose any more but that the baby is a good size so don't worry about her.  I had lots of questions for him.  He'd said I was 1-2 cm & I think he said the cervix was starting to thin out.  But I forgot to ask about that later.  He said I'd have some spotting from the exam & I have but it hasn't been too bad.  

     He said he doesn't think I'll make it to my due date.  He also said he might consider inducing me so that it would be scheduled so all the drs. I need would be there.  I'm not sure I want to do that so I kind of hope labor starts before he has a chance to induce.  He still thinks it would be best to avoid a C-section if possible.  I asked about rooming in & he said it might be best to do it in the daytime and leave her in the nursery overnight.  I may do that if I'm sure they'll bring her in to nurse overnight & not give her any bottles in the nursery.

     I asked if, considering our past history of infertility, we should worry about using birth control & he said yes.  He recommended an IUD, which I definitely don't want, or depo-provera, which he said is a shot you get every three months.  The name sounds familiar but I need to ask Carole & find out more about it.  I really don't think I could get pregnant again without any help but you never know.

     I asked him about using my tobra & other meds. in the hospital and he said to bring everything with me cause it might take them awhile to get it there.  They're probably not used to having anyone on maternity taking medicine not related to the baby.

     When I asked if he could tell if she'd dropped he said she has some but not completely.  She still moves around a lot & keeps kicking the same spot on the right side.  Guy says it's good because it means she's strong.  That doesn't make it hurt any less.

     I'll have to go over my list again to see what else he said.

Later

     The only other thing he said was to bring copies of my records of my pulmonary treatments during the pregnancy so whoever's there can see what's been going on.

     Marian had called that morning & said for me to call her at home after my appt. & let her know about my weight.  When I did, she wasn't too happy about it.  She asked about how often & how much I've been eating.  Then she recommended that I eat more at my second breakfast and have a milkshake in the afternoons.  I'm supposed to stop by & see her after I see Dr. Rand next week.  If she's there; she's due on the 12th I think.

     Guy had this aft. off cause he has duty tomorrow.  He went to the commissary without me.  He did a good job though.  He said he breezed through cause he didn't have to ask me about stuff.  What took him so long was that they sent him to a line where there was a trainee working.  So he was frustrated from that then got caught in the beginning of the aft. rush.  So he wasn't in a good mood when he got home.  He put away the cold stuff & relaxed a little.  We'd planned on going shopping when he got back but it was almost 5:00 by then.  So he went ahead and fixed supper and we left after the news & weather.

     We went to the Baby Superstore first to get the basket & stand.  They don't sell them anymore.  At first I thought we were talking about two different things (me & the sales lady) cause she said they'd put them on clearance sale from $149.99 to $79.99.  The stands were $25.99.  They had the one left that had been the floor display.  It had a white eyelet cover and there was a wire frame attached that opened up to form a cover like a bassinet.  But I still thought that was too much to pay for it.  We looked at some cradles but they would take up too much space and cost over $100.00.  We looked at a Fisher-Price portable playpen that can be converted to a bassinet.  It was $89.95 and would be good for trips too.  We checked the price at K-Mart later (84.95) but didn't get it yet.  

     At the Baby Superstore we got one of those "pillows" that fit around their head in the car seat to keep it from flopping sideways, and a changing pad that has a stuffed edge all around to keep them from rolling off.  Both in pink terrycloth-like fabric.