Thirty Weeks & Some Change

Things are moving right along here in the Jenkins household. Tyler has started his new job and thus was unable to attend today’s thirty-week appointment. He now works weekends, in preparation for being a stay-at-home daddy during the week; Morgan’s in for a treat! His schedule now, though, is all over the place since he has some training to do as he transitions in with the organization.

We’ve been going to our appointments in the Overland Park office now, since that appointment is connected to the hospital where we’ll deliver. This was our first scheduled appointment there and realistically it’s just as easy as going to Lawrence.

I saw Dr. P today, as Dr. M was again taking a vacation day. The appointment part was fairly serious (Dr. P, too, has a pretty good sense of humor), but he goofed a bit afterwards as we attempted to get me in for a pre-consult with anesthesia. As for the appointment, it was pretty typical- baby’s heartbeat, blood pressure, etc. Morgan still appears, well, from his pushing and feeling from the outside, to be head down (good girl). She was in an odd position today, though, so we had a difficult time hearing the heartbeat the way Dr. P wanted to. Apparently, the beat makes a ‘whoosh’ sound when it is traveling away from the Doppler and the actual ‘beat’ when it is traveling towards it. We eventually heard her heartbeat the ‘normal’ way it typically shows up and it was around 146 bpm. Then, I made a comment about the Herrington rods in my back (from scoliosis surgery) and he noted that he wanted me to do a pre-consult with anesthesia as to whether or not that would interfere with an epidural.

I told him I was fairly sure I’d had an epidural before, but he still wanted me to talk with them. Also, he wants to do a growth scan and formally ensure that Morgan is head down still- so we set that up for our next appointment (when Dr. M will finally be there!) I made sure to schedule this appointment so daddy could tag along and be well rested, too! Next stop? Anesthesia consult.

I met with Dr. G regarding anesthesia. We talked and in talking I realized what I had in 2005 was not an epidural but what he called an epidural injection, which is apparently different. He went over his concerns and laid things out for me, basically saying that the majority of the anesthesiologists would not even consider performing an epidural for a candidate such as I. He explained that doesn’t rule it out, but with the rods and my scar tissue there is only a 50% chance that the epidural would relive any pain. Additionally, there is a risk for infection along the rods, which could lead to damage and future issues. So, he told me he wouldn’t give me a solid ‘yes’ or ‘no’ as to whether or not I can have an epidural, but I made the decision from what he did say that it is pretty much out of the question. If I end up having a C-Section (which is not the plan), then they can do a spinal epidural but there are risks there, too, for infection as well as what he called a spinal headache. At this point (and I know when the time (read: pain) comes I’ll think differently), though, I’m preparing myself to endure what will be and prepare to manage what pain I can through other means.

Tomorrow is our breastfeeding course and I think Tyler is going to try and stick-it-out and attend with me, although he’ll have been up all night with work. What a good daddy!

The nursery is really coming along! We painted last week and have everything up on the walls. Tyler plans on putting the crib together when I’m in Chicago and then it will be nearly Morgan-ready… whew!

My Stick Family from WiddlyTinks.com