Thursday, December 23, 2010

Shot #2 and Other Debacles

Thanks goodness I took the day off yesterday!  It was a very long and frustratingly (is that even a word?) annoying day.  First off, apparently one of the side effects of the steroid injections that the nurse didn't tell me about is insomnia.  Of course the one and only side effect that I got was insomnia.  I slept maybe (if I was lucky) two hours Tuesday night.  And what do you get when you have a sleepy, uncomfortable, hot, very pregnant woman?....a very cranky irritable woman.  And that to a cranky, irritable husband (all work-related) and it's a recipe for disaster.

Shot #2 went off without a hitch for the most part.  We had to wait much longer for someone to administer the shot, but once they took me back, it was super quick.  Like the first shot, it didn't hurt much at all, but this one left a pretty dandy bruise on my love handle.

After the shot, we were off to the outpatient lab to have our blood drawn for the genetic testing.  This is where everything went downhill.  First, I thought I had all the correct paperwork, but it turns out I didn't.  So we had to go back to the geneticists office and get copies of the doctor and lab orders.  That set us back some more time.  Then when we got back to the outpatient lab, they wouldn't except Billy's paperwork because his name was written as "Bill" and his ID says "William."  Seriously!?!?!?!  Are you kidding me?? It's two vials of blood.  We're not trying to take a one-way flight to the Middle East with no luggage people!!!  So they needed to get new paperwork for Bill. 

Finally I went back to have my blood drawn and they didn't have the saliva kit.  So it was another call over the geneticist's office about that.  It was a serious mess at this place.  By the time they got Bill's paperwork, we had to leave to make my doctor's appointment.

So off to Dr. Khoury's we went.  We ended up having a short sonogram to check his head, abdomen, and kidney size and then met with Dr. Khoury to discuss a few things.  We found out yesterday that Stephen is up to 6 pounds 11 ounces, his kidney's are now 9 cm in length, his head and abdomen are about 2 cm apart, but his head is in the 50th percentile and his belly is in the 80th.  So far, that's okay, but they'll continue to monitor that as he grows over the next few weeks.  Our "homework" for next time is to discuss whether or not we want the doctor's to perform an emergency c-section if the baby is in distress during delivery or if we want to forgo any type of emergency c-section and hope that Stephen makes it through delivery.  An emergency c-section is definitely not ideal, and if I need a c-section, I'd certainly rather have it planned.  So we have to talk that over and let the doctor's know our wishes next time.  At this point, we're still planning for a natural (with drugs) childbirth and Dr. Khoury will allow me to carry Stephen up until 41 weeks and then we'll induce if nothing starts happening on it's own.  Still no sign of any changes yet, but hopefully we'll see something happening at my next appointment or first one in the new year.  I'm honestly not sure I can handle another month of all of this.  Although Dr. Khoury is in Lebanon until January 7th, so little Stephen needs to stay put until he's back in the States!

Oh and I asked Dr. Khoury what it will feel like when I start getting contractions and he just laughed.  I honestly don't know these things since I haven't taken any birthing classes or anything.  I thought I was having a contraction the other night on my way home from work in bumper-to-bumper traffic and paniced a little bit.  But they were just regular old cramps that I've been getting every day or two.  But seriously, if you know what DC traffic is like on 395 and 495 at 6 pm right before Christmas, you can understand my reasoning for panicing a little!!

After our appointment, it was back to the outpatient lab to have Bill's blood drawn.  It was quite a long and frustrating day, but I'm glad that we got everything out of the way and got the tests taken care of.  One less thing to do after Christmas.

And much to my surprise, I actually slept last night from about 1 AM until 8 AM this morning.  So we're all much happier in the Schwartz house today.  Plus I get off work at 3 PM today and I'll be off for the next 5 days.  Hallelujah!!!!!!!

3 comments:

  1. Glad things ended well! Have a Merry Christmas Lindsey ( : You, Billy, Stephen and your family will be in our thoughts & prayers! ( :

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  2. I'd be happy to give you my books and workbook from our childbirth class if you want a crash course. They were super helpful for us. Let me know!

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  3. Lindsey, hope you have a relaxing and enjoyable Christmas because God knows you deserve it. With all this going on it seems you are a shoe-in for mother of the year award already! All my love to you and your family this holiday season!!! -Colleen

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