Scary Moments for Any Mother-to-be

I know it has been a while since I have written anything, but this past month and a half has been by far the scariest time of my life. 

During the first two trimesters of pregnancy, some of the standard blood tests include a two part genetics test.  This test will let you know if your baby has an increased risk for common genetic defects.  About a week after I had finished the second part of the test, I received a call from my doctor’s office asking me to come in later that day to go over the results.  I begged her to give me more information on the phone, but she said the doctor would speak with me about it when I got there.  After I got off the phone I had three hours before I was due in at their office.

Three hours!  Three long hours of fear, crying, and complete and utter panic.  So, I did what any woman would do who is married to their best friend.  I called my husband at work.  Bless his heart!  Not only did he manage to calm me down slightly, but he also came rushing home from work so he could be with me at the appointment.  I don’t know what I would have done without him.

When the doctor told us the news, it felt like my heart stopped.  My test results came back with an increased risk for Down’s syndrome.  I could feel the tears running down my face, feel my husband squeezing my hand, see the lips of the doctor moving, but couldn’t hear what was being said.  I held my hand up and just focused on trying to breathe.  A few minutes later I had my breathing under control, though the tears wouldn’t stop coming.  I asked what the next step was.  The doctor explained that I would have to see a specialist for further testing in addition to seeing him for my pregnancy checkups.  We discussed the various tests that might be done and what they would do at the appointment.  As we were getting up to leave, the doctor stopped me and said she didn’t think I had anything to worry about.  I asked how she could be sure.  She said she couldn’t be, but that typically babies that have Down’s syndrome have slow, almost lazy movements during an ultrasound, not the fast movements that my baby has been doing.  I squeezed her arm and informed her that if she would have started the appointment with that tidbit of information it might have gone a little bit better.

Anyways, once home I started doing research.  I am the type of person that likes to be prepared for everything.  As I always say, prepare for the worst, that way when it doesn’t happen you are pleasantly surprised.  But if the worst does happen, you will at least have a plan of action instead of being frozen in the moment unsure of what to do.

By the time the appointment with the specialist came around a week later I felt fairly confident with the information we had learned.  At least confident enough to feel I wouldn’t be blindsided by anything.  First step was to see a nurse to give more blood and go over our family history.  Then we had to meet with a genetic counselor to go over what Down’s syndrome is and what our options were for testing further.  Next, we had a detailed ultrasound to measure the baby and get a firm idea of the due date.  This was by far our favorite part.  The baby was moving all over the place!  The tech even said she couldn’t keep up with the baby to get an accurate measurement.  Last, we met with the doctor to go over everything.  By the time we were in the room with him I was feeling much better since the baby had been VERY active during the ultrasound (which is the opposite of a baby with Down’s syndrome).  However, he had a different curve ball waiting for me.

He said that since my blood pressure was elevated during the delivery of my previous child (only 17 months ago) and since it became elevated at the beginning of this pregnancy, that he wanted me to go to the hospital for an EKG and echocardiogram.  Also, he wanted me to do a 24 hour pee test and submit that to the hospital as well so he could check my kidneys.

Wow, okay.  That came out of left field.  So we saw the nurse again to schedule the appointment with the hospital.  She hands me what looks like a small gas can and a white bucket thingy you’re supposed to put in the toilet (but if you turn it upside down it looks like one of those old school nun hats with the big flaps).  Next she hands me the order for the tests with the appointment time.  In the line for diagnosis is written Chronic HTN.  I asked the nurse about it, wondering if it shouldn’t be Gestational HTN (high blood pressure during pregnancy) instead of chronic.  She said since I had it before with the delivery of my daughter that it shows a trend which makes it chronic.  Umm, ok.

Off we go.  I collect my pee for a full 24 hours (so not fun when you have to go every 20 minutes) then to the hospital I go for the testing.  The echocardiogram was neat.  Its basically an ultrasound of your heart.  Afterwards I asked the nurse if everything looked okay.  She reluctantly told me that everything looked picture perfect and I had nothing to worry about (they aren’t supposed to tell you anything, hence the reluctance).  Also, the EKG showed perfect rhythm in all chambers.  Yay!

A week and a half later I got a voicemail from the specialist’s office asking me to call them so we could go over the genetic test results.  Of course, I didn’t get the voicemail until after they were closed, so I had to wait until morning to call them back.  I told my husband about it and we were careful to put it out of our minds and avoid that topic of conversation for the rest of the night.  It wasn’t easy, but I managed to get some sleep that night.

I called their office first thing in the morning and was told that the test came back negative!  No extra chromosomes or signs of any genetic abnormalities of any kind.  Oh, and by the way the baby is definitively a girl!  It felt like I could breathe again for the first time in a month and a half!  It was such good news!  I started crying again (yay hormones!) but this time they were happy tears.

So, now that I have good news to share and hopefully no more worries with this pregnancy, you can expect to be hearing from me more often.

Recipe: Cheater's Lasagna

I have been craving lasagna like crazy lately!  Unfortunately, this pregnancy (and my toddler) are both kicking my butt causing me to feel tired all the time.  Needless to say, spending 4 hours making my lasagna is not high on my to do list. 

So, for dinner tonight, on a whim I threw some things together and bam!  Craving satisfied.  It was so good my hubby asked me to put it on my list of things I regularly make.  If that wasn't enough to boost my ego, my toddler couldn't get enough of it.  You can tell when she really likes something if as the fork is coming towards her mouth she opens as wide as she can, then chews her mouthful with a big grin.

Well, here is the recipe I came up with.  Hopefully it is as big of a hit with your family as it was with mine.  Wish I would have taken a before picture, but I will add one later the next time I make it.

Cheater's Lasagna

Prep time: 10 minutes     Cook time: 25 - 30 minutes

Ingredients for 2-ish servings:
1/2 jar 100% Natural Prego Tomato, Onion and Garlic Sauce (at room temperature)
25 frozen raviolis (I use Mona's 5 Cheese Ravioli, yum!)
4 oz shredded mozzarella cheese
1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese

You will also need a 1.5 quart casserole dish (if making more than 2-ish servings go bigger) and a spoon or spatula with holes in it.

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Cook ravioli according to package directions. Do not drain!
3. Spoon a small amount of sauce on the bottom of your casserole dish, just enough to thinly cover the bottom.
4. When the ravioli is finished cooking, remove from heat. 
5. Take your spoon or spatula with holes in it and carefully pull them out one at a time, allowing water to drain from the spoon/spatula.  (Yes, it is more time consuming to do it this way, but if you drain the water not only do you run the risk of hurting the raviolis, but they also tend to stick together if left to sit for too long.)  Do this until you have a single layer of ravioli on the bottom of your casserole dish.
6. Spoon a small amount of sauce over each ravioli.
7. Lightly sprinkle mozzarella cheese over the pasta (lightly, you will want to save the majority of it for the top).
8. Repeat steps 5 through 7 until you have used up all the ravioli (I got about 3 layers).
9. Once all the ravioli are used, spoon a generous amount of sauce over each ravioli.
10. Use the remaining mozzarella cheese on the top (I had about 2 oz left so I had a nice layer of cheesy goodness on top).
11. Last, sprinkle your parmesan cheese on the mozzarella.
12. Bake at 350 degrees for 25 - 30 minutes.  You will know it is done when the sauce starts bubbling along the edges.

Lastly, enjoy! 

Annabelle is Walking!!!!

We were in the living room playing with our dog, Peanut.  Annabelle crawled over to the doggy gate by the kitchen.  Then she stood up, without the help of the gate or the wall.  She looked at me with a smile on her face, then took that first wobbly step.  Then another.  And another.  She made it all the way to the couch by herself!  Sure it was only 6 or 7 feet, but that's a mile in baby steps!  When she got to the couch, she started squealing and jumping up and down.  She was so proud of herself!  Of course, I was right there with her doing my own version of a happy dance.  I scooped her up in my arms, gave her a great big hug, and told her what a great job she did.  What does she do?  She starts doing laps around the couch. 

Life as I knew it is now over.

Unfortunately her favorite place to walk is on the tile instead of the nice cushy carpet we have in the living room.  My heart stops everytime she stumbles.  But she gets right back up and keeps on waddling.  She's so cute!

Just wanted to share it with everyone.  Thank you for indulging my "proud mommy" moment!  :-)

Prunes! Prunes! The Magical Fruit...

I recently came across a mom of a 5 month old boy who needed some advice.  She recently started making the transition to solid foods with the introduction of rice cereal.  However, she noticed that he started having trouble making a bowel movement.  Her pediatrician recommended mixing water with white grape juice.  She tried this, but it didn't seem to be working.  It had been almost 10 days since his last bowel movement when she contacted me.

I had the same issue with my daughter when we started feeding her oatmeal.  Being the paranoid first time mother that I was, I contacted my pediatrician the first time I noticed a struggle.  He said to give her some baby prunes with her oatmeal and it would help move things along.

After some trial and error trying to find the right amount, it worked like a charm.  Each morning we would put 8 baby spoonfuls of prunes (the first generation baby food kind) in with her oatmeal and formula.  By the afternoon, she would poop.  It was wonderful!  After she started having regular bowel movements, we started weaning her off the prunes.  If she started having an issue again, we just reintroduced them until she became regular again.

A word of advice though.  Never ever EVER give an entire jar of prunes at a feeding.  It causes a nuclear blowout.  Not kidding!  We're talking out the diaper, up the front and up the back almost up to the neck!  Ewwwww!!!

Well, I told this story to the mom in question and she proceeded to give some prunes to her son with dinner that night.  By morning he had pooped.  She sent me a very emotional email thanking me profusely for the advice.  I wrote her back, reminding her to let her pediatrician know what she had done and how well it worked, that way her doctor was in the loop with what transpired. 

Prunes, prunes, the magical fruit.  The more you eat, the more you poop!  :-)

If you have a question or need some advice on anything baby related, or relationship related, please contact me.  I am more than happy to help.

An Unforgettable Easter

My Mom hosted Easter this year. She went above and beyond and did such a wonderful job!  The food was AMAZING (and gone in the blink of an eye).  It was soooo good Annabelle even ate my mom's famous german potato salad (and ham, mac n' cheese, green bean casserole...she's such a good eater)! 

It is always so nice to get the family together.  But this year, we had all of my Dad's family together, including his brother from Chicago and his brother from North Carolina!  We couldn't believe it!  It was the first time all of the 'kids' were together since we don't know when.  My Grandmother was especially excited to have them all together for the holiday.

This was also a chance for us to celebrate my brother and his fiance.  They are soon moving to Iowa, and though I know we will see them again, it may be awhile before we can get everyone together.  As a parting gift I gave them a Florida box.  It was a wooden box filled with post cards, some sand from the beach, a few palm fronds, some t-shirts, refrigerator magnets, etc. all things Florida. This way, on those cold winter nights they will be able to have some 'warmth' to look back on.

Thanks to my wonderful and insanely talented future sister in law Elizabeth, we are able to cherish the memories of this Easter forever.  I won't be posting any of the group photos (though I know they will be blown up, framed, and hung in each member of the family's house) but I will post some of the amazing pictures she took of our Annabelle.  Elizabeth not only took these great photos, but she also edited them before sending them to me.  Like I said, she is insanely talented.  Keep up the good work!

Happy Easter everyone!  I hope you enjoyed it as much as we did!

One of the few times she left her bunny ears on long enough for a picture!

 I love, love, LOVE the editing work on this one!!!

Our happy family.



Not sure if that look is because my brother is holding her or she's getting tired of not being able to play with the camera, lol.


My brother, Adam

 

And a closeup, drool included! Yay teething!

 

Mama Saw the Doctor and the Doctor Said...

No more monkeys jumping on the bed!  Sorry, its my toddlers new favorite song.  On to the real advice...

When I went to the doc's office for my appointment, I had a list of things I wanted to discuss.  At the top of the list were allergies, insomnia, and constipation.  He reiterated what the nurse had told me on the phone, that I should take Claritin every day for my allergies.  "But be sure to take it in the morning, otherwise you will be up all night."  Oh...my....god....  Talk about a slap to the forehead!  I just sat there for a good minute with my jaw on the floor.  "You've been taking it in the afternoon haven't you?"  I just nodded my head.  He chuckled, yes chuckled, and then kindly said "don't do that anymore."  You would think I would have figured out that taking the NON-DROWSY allergy medicine in the afternoon was giving me insomnia.  But apparently I was having a blonde moment week.

So, I composed myself and quickly crossed allergies and insomnia off the list.  On to constipation.  I am to continue to drink at least 8 glasses of water a day, and if it gets really bad I am to take a Colace to help move things along.  The key is to take something that softens everything and makes it easier to go.  Not something that forces you to go.  He also recommended eating an Activia once a day.  Another slap to the forehead.  This guy is brilliant!  Activia is awesome, filled with probiotics, and it tastes pretty good too.  So far its working like a charm.  I crossed constipation off the list.

I then moved on to the meat cravings and morning sickness that lasts all day.  When I brought up the meat cravings the first words out of his mouth was that it does not necessarily indicate that the baby will be a boy.  I guess he gets asked that a lot.  I wasn't so much concerned about that as I was that maybe I was having a protein deficiency, but if that was the case then I was confused about the aversion to eggs.  He asked if I was feeling naseous during the day.  Yep, all day.  He said eat all the meat I want to, but eat smaller portions.  If I have to have a burger, split it with my husband and eat only half of it.  For steak, same thing.  Do this and avoid all sweets and the cravings for meat should die down and the morning sickness should go away.  Let me tell you, it worked like a charm!  After following this advice for a week I'm finally craving salads and veggies again.  The only time I feel ill is if I eat too much.

I love this doctor!  He's soooooo much better than my last one.  I left the office feeling that all my questions had been answered and looking forward to the next appointment instead of insanely stressed out and dejected.  Did I mention I love this doctor?  So glad I switched.

Allergies, Constipation, and Morning Sickness, Oh My!

I am so sorry for the delay between posts.  This pregnancy is kicking my butt! 

When I wake up in the morning I struggle to get out of my nice comfy bed, but usually my bladder won't let me lay there for long.  I'm so tired all the time!  My toddler is hating it, but I try to keep her occupied with flash cards, books, music, and a little bit of floor time.  She's getting better at walking, but still prefers crawling to get around.

On top of all that, my allergies are going insane!  Just to give you an idea, I went through four boxes of tissues in two days.  My face was swollen, my sinuses were throbbing, and I kept blowing my nose anyway trying to prevent any of it from draining down into my chest.  Those of you with allergies know once that happens it opens up a whole new level of yuckiness.  I was so miserable that I called my doctor's office and asked if there was anything I could do.  They recommended I go back on my Claritin.  I argued, saying I thought you weren't supposed to take anything in your first trimester.  To this they said all the sneezing and blowing my nose and not breathing properly were denying both me and the baby the oxygen we required oh so much and that it would be better to go back on the medication I was used to (and is also on the approved list for pregnant women) than to continue fighting it on my own and possibly harm the baby.  Good enough for me.  After a week my symptoms finally started dying down.  The upside to this is my toddler now imitates blowing her nose whenever I do.  Its hilarious!

When it comes to food, this time around is completely different.  My last pregnancy, I couldn't stand the smell or sight of meat.  It would immediately turn my stomach.  This time, however, I can't get enough of it!  I thought maybe it was just my body screaming for me to eat protein, but whenever I try to eat eggs (excellent source of protein) I get sick to my stomach.  So much so that whenever I smell them I feel ill.  Oh goody.  Peanut butter is okay, but it just doesn't do it for me the way a burger or sausage or meatloaf (uh oh, getting hungry) does.

I try to drink as much water as possible to help with the constipation, but so far no dice.  Its so uncomfortable!  I will be asking the doc what he recommends to help with this.  The obvious fruit and lots of water come to mind, but I'm so nervous about eating fresh fruit when I'm pregnant.  My last pregnancy I was in love with cantaloupe.  I ate it almost every day!  Then they had a big contamination scare and I was terrified to eat it anymore.  Food poisoning and pregnancy do not mix!!!

I have my first doc appointment on Wednesday.  Don't worry, I will share his words of advice for me with all of you.  Until then...