Thursday, April 11, 1991
Sunday night at bedtime the baby decided to launch a vicious attack on me. Besides kicking me way over on the right side, sometimes it felt like she was kicking up underneath my ribs. That really hurt! Guy went on to sleep but I was up til about 1:00 trying to get her to stop. I rubbed, scratched, & pushed around my tummy. I walked around, I sat on the bed & rocked back & forth and side to side, I tried getting on my hands & knees and leaning down like that. Nothing seemed to help. I guess she just eventually got tired & went back to sleep.
I had to get up early Mon. for my appt. to interview a second pediatrician at 9:15. Needless to say, it was hard to get up at 7:00. I found the place without any problem. It's just down from the credit union. There was only a man with a little boy there & he was trying to make an appt. for the same day. They said he'd have to come back later. I started to wonder when the nurses started coming in and they were all black. I got up to stretch my legs & look around. There were some shelves with books & magazines and on top was a sort of collage with pictures of his patients. The majority of them were black, then I spotted a picture at the bottom that had the dr. listening to a toddler with a stethoscope. And yes he was black. I don't like to think of myself as a prejudiced person but I did start feeling uncomfortable. There was no way I could just get up & walk out and I didn't really want to do that. I figured I might as well talk to him and see how he was. Well, he was very nice. It's just him & one other dr., which I like better than there being 5 or 6. He did his residency at CHKD, & he said in two or three months they were going to be moving to a new location, near Fairfield Shopping Center. That would be even closer but still not as close as the other drs. He answered all of my questions well and it was easy to talk to him. So I left there undecided between the two. After talking it over with Guy & thinking about it some more, we decided to go with the group that's over here on Greenwich cause it is so close. They'd said to just call the office once we have the baby & one of them will come check on the baby the day after delivery and the day we check out. Then we go in for a 2-wk. checkup and start the shots at 2 mo. I think.
Mon. night I called Beckey Kinder to see if she knew if Dr. Lazarus was back yet. She saw her last Thu. Beckey isn't doing too well. She's got osteoporosis and arthritis in her back, her legs are starting to give out on her, and she'll probably have to have her gall bladder removed soon. But she's still got high spirits. She said to let her know when the baby comes and they'll come see us at the hospital. I'm so glad I'm not as bad off as she is and I feel sorry for her except that she has such a good attitude & doesn't feel sorry for herself.
Guy had Tues. aft. off to go with me to see Dr. Lazarus. She lost some weight & she's limping cause she broke her foot over there (the cast is already off). She seemed to think I was doing well under the circumstances. She did have them do my blood gasses though. It was rough for some reason this time. Anyway, the numbers were mostly up this time except the CO2 which means that even though I'm getting enough oxygen, I'm having to work harder to get it. I knew ever since this past weekend it's been getting harder to breathe. I think it's because the weather turned hot over the weekend and there's so much pollen and we had the windows open all day. Anyway, we turned the AC on Mon. morning & that helped some but I would still wake up hot at night & not able to breathe. We brought the fan in the bedroom & used it at night. But I was still waking up hot in the middle of the night. I'd been wearing just a t-shirt to sleep in but even that felt so restricting. So last night I got Guy to move some boxes around & find me a summer nightgown. I was a lot more comfortable & was able to get to sleep fine but I woke up a little before 1:00 needing to go to the bathroom. I couldn't get back to sleep and about 40 minutes later I started feeling kind of nauseous and my heart started pounding and I got short of breath and started feeling faint. I woke Guy up & he helped me try getting in different positions til I finally started feeling better. When I felt faint I hung my head over the edge of the bed. Then when it felt like there was too much blood rushing to my head I laid down flat. Once I finally started feeling normal again Guy got me comfortable, propped up a little bit and I finally got back to sleep. I think the whole thing lasted a little over an hour from when I first woke up.
I think I slept ok after that and was surprised that I was able to get up & eat breakfast with Guy. I've felt fairly decent today - haven't had as much trouble breathing - at least so far. It's cooler today too.
Now I need to backtrack and tell about yesterday. I had a non-stress test at 1:30 then saw Dr. Rand. The test was fine. The exam didn't hurt as bad this time cause I tried taking a deep breath first then focusing on the ceiling and doing the slow breathing. He said I'm a full 2 cm and slightly effaced. He said he was kind of mean with the exam to see if he could get something started. I had a BH for just a few seconds after I sat up, kind of strong so I thought maybe he had started something. But I didn't have any more til from between 5:00-6:00 & they weren't as strong and were from 10-35 min. apart. I had 2-3 during Lamaze class.
I lost 1&1/2 lbs. from last week - not good news. He said with that and the fact that I was having such a hard time breathing, I need to have the baby soon. He said if I don't go sooner, he wants to induce me on the 19th, a week from Friday. I told him I'd heard that labor can be a lot harder when induced. He said there's no way to know that because you don't know how hard your labor would or wouldn't be without induction. So, if nothing happens between now & then, I've only got 8 days to go. It helps to have a definite date to look toward instead of having no idea. I would kind of rather go in before then though cause I'm just so ready to get this over with. I've got my bags packed (since Sun.) except for the last minute things. We still need to finish rearranging the front bedroom. But at least the crib is set up and her dresser is cleared out. Dianna Landon is supposed to loan us her bassinet though to use in our room for the first few weeks.
Sue is going to come from the 25th to the 30th so that'll be nice. I still can't believe she's coming to help with the baby, even if it's only five days.
I saw Marian after Dr. Rand yesterday. She told me to have a milkshake every day and a cups worth of a combination of peanuts, raisins, & M&Ms. We stopped at McDonald's after class for a milkshake last night & I was able to get most of it down by bedtime. I've been working on M&Ms this afternoon. Yesterday was Marian's last day to work so she gave me an appt. with a new nutritionist named Christie next week. Marian's due Sun. I think.
I went over the phone list again this morning and re-did it on the WP so it's be neater. I hope I haven't forgotten anyone.
Last night was our last Lamaze class. Janice was gone to a convention so Susan had it. She didn't do too bad. She went over some post-natal stuff and then reviewed everything we've learned. She said we were supposed to get diplomas but they haven't come in on time. One of the packages of magazines & 'stuff' we'd gotten in class had a coupon from Sears where you got 50% off a car seat if you bought a crib so we decided to use it & then discovered it had expired 12/31/90. I asked Susan if they had a package dated for 91 & she said she didn't think so but she'd make a note to ask Janice. She also said we'd be getting a lot of stuff while we were at the hospital. So maybe we'll get a new one of that coupon or something better.
I think I'll try to take a nap before Guy gets home.
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