Debbie R.
A long overdue update.
Nov 14, 2009
Wow. I can't believe it's been almost a year since I've been on here. Honestly not a whole lot has happened in that year. Well one really important thing... I had a beautiful 7 lb 3.3 oz Baby girl on July 20th by c-section - Avery Evangeline. Now I have 2 beautiful little girls who are the loves of my life.
I am almost back down to my pre-pregnancy weight. I gained 32 pounds while pregnant. My surgeon was soooo not happy about that. Unrealistically he told me not to gain anything (he was joking), my OB said 15 pounds and my Internal Medicine doctor said to screw them both and that I was a NORMAL WEIGHT female and could gain my 25 to 35 pounds. So I did! Part of it was guilt, feeling like I wasn't giving the baby enough, so I would force myself to eat more often. I am almost back down to my surgeons goal (2 more pounds), and my personal goal (7 more pounds). I'm sure it would go down faster if I was working out, but I am totally exhausted being up with a baby all night and working all day, that I just don't have the energy right now. It will come back as she starts sleeping better as she ages.
My relationship with my husband seems to have improved since we found out we were pregnant and even better since Avery was born. Not that we were trying when it happened, but we had tried for so long before the surgery that it was a source of conflict (I have a one track mind). Our relationship became stressed. All our intereactions had become scheduled based on my cycle. Of course we still have our little bickering fights, but who doesn't, but we don't go to bed angry and the D word which was a constant in our house a year and a half ago is not uttered anymore.
The pregnancy, which I had high anxiety over, was rather uncomplicated until the 29th week. I had the normal little bits of morning sickness. Nothing like my first pregnancy though. But at 29 weeks I delievered a sharp shooting pain in my upper abdomen while working one morning. It was extremely scary. It was so painful I was doubled over in pain. I thought I was loosing the baby. It started in waves for a few hours like a contraction, then was constant. They put the baby on the monitor and she looked fine and I was not in labor. I was admitted to the hospital and had an ultrasound. They thought my placenta was tearing away from the uterus and that they would have to deliver the baby. The Ultrasound was inconclusive. As they were trying to figure out what was wrong with me, then I started having contractions. They decided first and foremost to try and stop the contractions with Magnesium Sulfate. As they started the drug which is a rapid infusion, I started having difficulty breathing and my blood pressure dropped. Soon, my best friend is in tears as they push her out of the way and call a code cause I'm no longer breathing, but totally aware of what is going on. 4 doctors and 5 nurses working on me and I start breathing again. Through all of this, the pain in my abdomen subided, yet the contractions continued. The internist sent me for a Abdomen and chest CT Scan thinking that the IV infusion caused a clot in my lungs which made me stop breathing. Turns out my lungs were fine, I had a spontaneous resolved bowel intusseception which is what the abdominal pain was and I stopped breathing as a reaction to the magnesium. Now the 2 evils here are risk it happening again and keep me on the magnesium to get the contractions stopped, or fly me out to a bigger hopital with a NICU and deliver the baby. They decided to try the magnesium again at a slower infusion rate. Needless to say, I was in the hospital for 2 days, the contractions finally subsided and I was out on strict bedrest. The said the pain in my abdomen was intense enough that is what caused me to go into preterm labor. But we kept her in there for another 10 weeks and she was delivered by c-section at 39 weeks.
Besides that, It was a good pregnancy. She is not a sleeper (Gosh I wish she was). I've had some issues with migraines and muscle/joint pains due to a thyroid issues (previously underactive) currently wayyyy overactive. I have some issues dealing with my anxiety of not getting the baby enough of what she needs by breastfeeding. he is supplemented with 2 bottles of formula a day because of the very low fat content in my milk. I freak out over little things (like her losing some hair). I know it's normal, but the guilt of my nutritional givings no being good enough from the bypass makes me blame myself. She has a little benign tumor of the blood vessels called a Hemiangioma on her abdomen. Nothing to freak out about, but I do at times. The pediatrician said to plan for surgery to remove it after she turns one. My surgeon who is a general surgeon says he thinks it will resolve spontaneously by 2 and he won't have to touch it. I trust him.
Other than that, I am doing great. I'm loving life and happy with my progress and goals I've hit. I think I have to come up with more goals! I'll try to update more often and will definately post some new pictures soon!!
