Here at work again, still pregnant. I'm trying to drop hints to LittleGirl that this is Labor Day weekend. Get it, sweetie? Labor. Day. Ok glad we talked about that again.
This will be a quick post because I'm trying to realign my ducks before leaving today in case someone (ahem- you, LittleGirl) decides to make a grand appearance before Tuesday. I already know that someone else will be using my desk while I'm on leave (we're short on space, don't ask), and I have cleaned up accordingly. I have one last project that must be finished before the end of the day and then the rest is icing. Mmmmm, icing.
My BP was just fine last night and this morning. I'll keep tracking...
And if I make it that long, a week from today will be my last day at work. Weird. Having a scheduled c-section removes a bit of the uncertainty of pregnancy. I mean, I still don't think I'll make it to the 13th. But if I do make it that long, that's it. Unlike a due date, which is merely a suggestion. So, in no more than 13 days, I will meet LittleGirl. I'm excited, nervous, and anxious all at the same time.
This roller coaster is finally heading down the big exciting hill. Whee!
Friday, August 31, 2007
Thursday, August 30, 2007
Maybe it was the steak with a side of cow
I went for my checkup this morning and nothing much has changed in the cervical arena. For the first time in months, my fundal height is on target (38w), which essentially means a whole lot of nothing in my book (I don't exactly trust the tape measure thingy to be terribly accurate). The only thing that has changed is that I now have protein in my urine (dum dum DAAAAAH). It's only a +1 (on a scale of zero to +4 for those not in the know), which isn't a terrible amount, but it's also more than none. Add to that the fact that I have been having really awful abdominal pain on the right side in the evenings since Monday. Not during the day, just in the evening. Oh, and for those playing doctor at home, my blood pressure is completely normal (118/82 today...which is the highest it's been for this pregnancy but still is not high.
The doc (I have not conjured a pseudonym, sorry) sent me for bloodwork and a second urine test. He actually just called (I was about to write "post update later") and said that the definitive tests for pre-eclampsia were negative, but some of the peripheral tests were elevated. So, he wants me to take my BP twice a day and if it gets to the high 120's/80's to give them a call (the man was obviously listening when I told him that my normal baseline BP is 100/60). I am also to let him know if the right side pain presents in a higher location as that could be liver pain (but my liver screen was normal). So, I don't have pre-e, but I seem to be just starting to show some possible signs that I might possibly (but not definitely) have pre-pre-e. Nice and vague- love it.
Obviously the kid was not listening when I mentioned that I've had quite enough drama in the outside world over the last few weeks. Drama with the baby is not cool.
The doc (I have not conjured a pseudonym, sorry) sent me for bloodwork and a second urine test. He actually just called (I was about to write "post update later") and said that the definitive tests for pre-eclampsia were negative, but some of the peripheral tests were elevated. So, he wants me to take my BP twice a day and if it gets to the high 120's/80's to give them a call (the man was obviously listening when I told him that my normal baseline BP is 100/60). I am also to let him know if the right side pain presents in a higher location as that could be liver pain (but my liver screen was normal). So, I don't have pre-e, but I seem to be just starting to show some possible signs that I might possibly (but not definitely) have pre-pre-e. Nice and vague- love it.
Obviously the kid was not listening when I mentioned that I've had quite enough drama in the outside world over the last few weeks. Drama with the baby is not cool.
Tuesday, August 28, 2007
And again
I thought that last night might have been the main event. My stomach has become so large that I managed to get a stitch in my side simply by walking to the car. Yeah, I know, so strenuous. Anyway, the pain would not go away and it started escalating into cramps. Then, I decided to try lying down. Sweet relief. Nothing more came of it and by this morning things feel fine.
Remember many moons back when I asked you to send good thoughts to my friend J who was going through IVF after a long struggle? Well, good news- she gave birth to a little girl last night (mere hours before her due date). Congrats J and J and baby S!!! I will be birthing at the same hospital and we had joked about getting adjoining rooms. I guess if I "pop" in the next two days there's still a chance.
My friend sent me a link to this article in the Onion. I thought it was quite amusing, but you might not think so if you're still dealing with the infertility roller coaster. But remember, kids, it's the Onion.
Time for lunch!
Remember many moons back when I asked you to send good thoughts to my friend J who was going through IVF after a long struggle? Well, good news- she gave birth to a little girl last night (mere hours before her due date). Congrats J and J and baby S!!! I will be birthing at the same hospital and we had joked about getting adjoining rooms. I guess if I "pop" in the next two days there's still a chance.
My friend sent me a link to this article in the Onion. I thought it was quite amusing, but you might not think so if you're still dealing with the infertility roller coaster. But remember, kids, it's the Onion.
Time for lunch!
Monday, August 27, 2007
Project LittleGirl Continues
Still here, still pregnant. For some reason I had it in my head that today might be the day, but I also had bookmarked today as the 37-week mark, thus removing any preemie labels from the kid after birth. Of course, it is only mid-day, so perhaps today can still be the day. Given that most labor starts overnight, though, I doubt it.
There was a minor wager ($1) between two office members today as to whether I would be in to work this week. I'm here, so the one that started it had to pay up. I told the recipient that she should up the ante, but also warned her not to get greedy because at some point I will actually have to be out of the office to have the baby. Not sure when. Every night as I am trying to relax I figure "this is it" as the kids pushes with all of her might against my cervix.
Along those lines, I had my last checkup on Friday but held off on posting due to the book review (not so fond of the book, but let me tell you about my cervix!). My stats were as follows (on Friday):
36w4d, 1cm dilated, 50% effaced, station -1, fundus @ 38w
So, progress, but not what I was expecting given the level of "get me outta here" action she's been up to these days.
I managed to get the sheets washed over the weekend, so the crib is ready and waiting. No window treatments yet, though. I started working on them yesterday and managed to sew all of the side seams and pinned two of the bottom hems. I will finish pinning and sewing the bottoms tonight and hopefully also get the top hems with ribbon ties pinned. Mr. D keeps asking when he can hang the curtain rods and, unfortunately, the answer is always, "after the curtains are done." Otherwise, I won't know exactly how high to hang the rods. Thankfully, straight lines are easy to sew and we have a HUGE table in our back room (54" square) that helps with laying out and pinning curtains. The biggest barrier so far has been finding a time when a certain two-year-old won't be rummaging through my pins, scissors, and sewing trinkets while I make a seam or two.
As a final note, I could do with a little less family drama. FIL is doing better, thankfully. And I have probably bested the melanoma monster again. Last Thursday, though, my dad had to be admitted to the hospital with a bad infection requiring IV antibiotics. He went home this morning. And an hour ago, surgery began for a cousin who has been diagnosed with an aggressive form of cancer. They are going to remove what they can, follow with interleukin therapy, but skip the radiation (this form of cancer does not respond). So, prayers for J and his family are quite welcome. Even with the surgery, the cancer is terminal, it simply prolongs his days. I just hope that we can avoid excessive drama with the arrival of this baby. There's been enough already.
There was a minor wager ($1) between two office members today as to whether I would be in to work this week. I'm here, so the one that started it had to pay up. I told the recipient that she should up the ante, but also warned her not to get greedy because at some point I will actually have to be out of the office to have the baby. Not sure when. Every night as I am trying to relax I figure "this is it" as the kids pushes with all of her might against my cervix.
Along those lines, I had my last checkup on Friday but held off on posting due to the book review (not so fond of the book, but let me tell you about my cervix!). My stats were as follows (on Friday):
36w4d, 1cm dilated, 50% effaced, station -1, fundus @ 38w
So, progress, but not what I was expecting given the level of "get me outta here" action she's been up to these days.
I managed to get the sheets washed over the weekend, so the crib is ready and waiting. No window treatments yet, though. I started working on them yesterday and managed to sew all of the side seams and pinned two of the bottom hems. I will finish pinning and sewing the bottoms tonight and hopefully also get the top hems with ribbon ties pinned. Mr. D keeps asking when he can hang the curtain rods and, unfortunately, the answer is always, "after the curtains are done." Otherwise, I won't know exactly how high to hang the rods. Thankfully, straight lines are easy to sew and we have a HUGE table in our back room (54" square) that helps with laying out and pinning curtains. The biggest barrier so far has been finding a time when a certain two-year-old won't be rummaging through my pins, scissors, and sewing trinkets while I make a seam or two.
As a final note, I could do with a little less family drama. FIL is doing better, thankfully. And I have probably bested the melanoma monster again. Last Thursday, though, my dad had to be admitted to the hospital with a bad infection requiring IV antibiotics. He went home this morning. And an hour ago, surgery began for a cousin who has been diagnosed with an aggressive form of cancer. They are going to remove what they can, follow with interleukin therapy, but skip the radiation (this form of cancer does not respond). So, prayers for J and his family are quite welcome. Even with the surgery, the cancer is terminal, it simply prolongs his days. I just hope that we can avoid excessive drama with the arrival of this baby. There's been enough already.
Thursday, August 23, 2007
Blog Tour: Maximum Ride III
I am a reader. I read something for pleasure pretty much every day, even if I can only manage a few pages right before my body and mind collapse into an exhausted pile. I like a variety of genres and I also enjoy interspersing young adult fiction into my reading lineup. Not because of any sort of arrested development but more because it brings back great memories of spending long hours with books as a kid. I have read the Harry Potter series, of course, and in the last year reread a few of my childhood favorites like the Alfred Hitchcock and the Three Investigators series (ok, not the whole series, just a handful). I love thinking about the books that Gabe will be reading as a youth. He has always been completely enamored with books and with the plethora of books strewn about our house, I expect his love for books to continue. In fact, I have many a book ready and waiting for him to “grow into them” so to speak.
Thanks to MotherTalk’s current blog tour, I had the opportunity to preview (and critique) the latest YA fiction novel from James Patterson, Maximum Ride III: Saving the World and Other Extreme Sports. I promise not to give you any spoilers, but I do want to give a bit of flavor on the book at the start.
The premise of the story is quite interesting. Genetic mutations have been created that allow for hybrid humans to exist. The main characters of the book are bird kids, humans with avian genetic material. Their bones are lighter than normal, they have greater muscle mass, their metabolism is such that they require food at very regular intervals and, oh yes, they have wings and can fly. The book starts with the classic tale of the mutant’s creators hunting them down to eliminate them because they have outgrown their usefulness. Classic. It’s a model that has worked in the past and has the potential to keep working. I like the model because it includes a bit of the known, a bit of the unknown, and a few twists and turns along the way.
Overall, the book had a great deal of potential, but I felt that it fell short. It seemed that every time there was a chance for the story to delve a bit further into plot detail, action sequences, or expand a character’s thoughts and feelings, it would abruptly move on to the next bit of the tale. Perhaps the author felt that this would be a way to keep the story moving. I found, however, that it made the story feel choppy, disjointed, and superficial. I will admit that I am an information junkie. I love to get as much detail as possible. Meaningful detail. I have read many a story where I kept thinking, “Why are you telling me this? Move on.” In MRIII, I was left thinking, “Is that all? I want to know more.” There are times when the consumer should be left wanting more. It’s a sales tactic that can pay off when used properly. It is not a good tactic for an author to use unless that author is planning to follow through with the “more” later in the story, and leaving out the detail is a way to keep the reader interested. When I started the book, I had hoped that this was the author’s style and that I would be rewarded by continuing to read. I was disappointed to find that my curiosity would not be rewarded and the payoff for continuing to read was to find myself at the end of a not-so-fulfilling book.
Now, I will say that this book is the third in a series and I have not read the first two. Perhaps the other two books expanded upon the characters to the degree that I was seeking. The author does take a moment in MRIII, as the voice of the main character, to bring the reader up to speed if the earlier books were not read or were, perhaps, read a long time ago. In fact, there are periodic “speak to the reader” moments sprinkled throughout the book. I didn’t like them. Would I have liked them as a teen? Probably not. And I also know that as a teen I would have also wanted more detail from the story. But I was not every teen.
Do I think that this book is good as YA fiction to get kids reading? You will be surprised, but yes, I actually think it is. For the right kid. I see this book as extremely light YA fiction, which is suited well either for the very young advanced reader ready to move into novels or for the older young adult (is that self-contradictory?) who has not been a big fan of reading to get a taste for an adventure in words. The straightforward nature and lack of side-tracking with detail might just get that individual to stick with the story long enough to find out that reading can be fun. That’s the thing with reading. Just as we all have our own personalities, we all have our own reading preferences. When I read a story, I want to step into the story and experience it first-hand. Without enough detail and plot expansion, I am really not able to do that. And I was definitely not able to become engaged with MRIII. But, I know others who simply want an interesting story, told in a sparse fashion, and who have no interest in stepping into the story itself. MRIII could be perfect for the latter reader. For the former, like me, it would not be a part of the bedside book pile.
In the interest of full disclosure, you should know that in exchange for my book review, I was offered, and accepted, a free review copy of the book and an amazon.com gift certificate.
Thanks to MotherTalk’s current blog tour, I had the opportunity to preview (and critique) the latest YA fiction novel from James Patterson, Maximum Ride III: Saving the World and Other Extreme Sports. I promise not to give you any spoilers, but I do want to give a bit of flavor on the book at the start.
The premise of the story is quite interesting. Genetic mutations have been created that allow for hybrid humans to exist. The main characters of the book are bird kids, humans with avian genetic material. Their bones are lighter than normal, they have greater muscle mass, their metabolism is such that they require food at very regular intervals and, oh yes, they have wings and can fly. The book starts with the classic tale of the mutant’s creators hunting them down to eliminate them because they have outgrown their usefulness. Classic. It’s a model that has worked in the past and has the potential to keep working. I like the model because it includes a bit of the known, a bit of the unknown, and a few twists and turns along the way.
Overall, the book had a great deal of potential, but I felt that it fell short. It seemed that every time there was a chance for the story to delve a bit further into plot detail, action sequences, or expand a character’s thoughts and feelings, it would abruptly move on to the next bit of the tale. Perhaps the author felt that this would be a way to keep the story moving. I found, however, that it made the story feel choppy, disjointed, and superficial. I will admit that I am an information junkie. I love to get as much detail as possible. Meaningful detail. I have read many a story where I kept thinking, “Why are you telling me this? Move on.” In MRIII, I was left thinking, “Is that all? I want to know more.” There are times when the consumer should be left wanting more. It’s a sales tactic that can pay off when used properly. It is not a good tactic for an author to use unless that author is planning to follow through with the “more” later in the story, and leaving out the detail is a way to keep the reader interested. When I started the book, I had hoped that this was the author’s style and that I would be rewarded by continuing to read. I was disappointed to find that my curiosity would not be rewarded and the payoff for continuing to read was to find myself at the end of a not-so-fulfilling book.
Now, I will say that this book is the third in a series and I have not read the first two. Perhaps the other two books expanded upon the characters to the degree that I was seeking. The author does take a moment in MRIII, as the voice of the main character, to bring the reader up to speed if the earlier books were not read or were, perhaps, read a long time ago. In fact, there are periodic “speak to the reader” moments sprinkled throughout the book. I didn’t like them. Would I have liked them as a teen? Probably not. And I also know that as a teen I would have also wanted more detail from the story. But I was not every teen.
Do I think that this book is good as YA fiction to get kids reading? You will be surprised, but yes, I actually think it is. For the right kid. I see this book as extremely light YA fiction, which is suited well either for the very young advanced reader ready to move into novels or for the older young adult (is that self-contradictory?) who has not been a big fan of reading to get a taste for an adventure in words. The straightforward nature and lack of side-tracking with detail might just get that individual to stick with the story long enough to find out that reading can be fun. That’s the thing with reading. Just as we all have our own personalities, we all have our own reading preferences. When I read a story, I want to step into the story and experience it first-hand. Without enough detail and plot expansion, I am really not able to do that. And I was definitely not able to become engaged with MRIII. But, I know others who simply want an interesting story, told in a sparse fashion, and who have no interest in stepping into the story itself. MRIII could be perfect for the latter reader. For the former, like me, it would not be a part of the bedside book pile.
In the interest of full disclosure, you should know that in exchange for my book review, I was offered, and accepted, a free review copy of the book and an amazon.com gift certificate.
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