The answer comes in a cup...

I tested yesterday for the Strep B bacteria and was told that I would only get a telephone call from an actual person if I tested positive and then we'd proceed from there to protect the baby once my water breaks and we proceed through labor.

So, I was a bit hesitant to take the phone from Tyler when he said, "It's the doctor's office." I answered and the nurse introduced herself and I muttered, "Oh, no, did my results come back positive?" She was a little unsure and said, "we got your hospital labs back and you have a urine infection." I said, "OH! I tested yesterday for Strep B..." and she reassured me that those results are not back yet. WHEW.

I did find it a little disconcerting that it took over a week for the hospital to determine that I had not one, not two, but three organisms in my urine. The night we were at the hospital, they said my urine looked clean and that wasn't the cause of my pain. However, the nurse just explained on the phone that the infection could very well be the cause of my pelvic and back pain. Good to know.

So, antibiotics for a week and we'll hopefully clear this thing up.

Our childbirth class for this evening was re-scheduled, as the instructor called me today to let me know she woke up with pink eye. I told her we'd reschedule so as not to chance any risk of my getting pink eye (or Tyler for that matter). Now, we've bumped it to 8/30... we'll be 37 weeks then and just hope that Morgan doesn't surprise us with an early arrival.

She has been thumpin' around quite a bit this afternoon... silly booger! Now, that frees up our night so that Tyler and I can go out together and do something non-school related and FUN!

Natasha

My Stick Family from WiddlyTinks.com

Another Step Closer...

As of today, we are ready for weekly doctor's appointments! I ventured out alone to the 35 week checkup, as Tyler was working the 2nd job this afternoon and evening. I met with a new nurse, who was quite friendly, and then visited with Dr. P throughout the checkup. It was pretty quick, however, we did the test for Strep B and I should know the results for that in a couple of days.


If you are unfamiliar, it's a pretty harmless bacteria that is potentially harmful to the baby as it exits the birth canal. If I'm a carrier, they'll simply put me on anibiotics once my water breaks in order to protect the baby.



Tyler was a sweetie tonight and picked up pizza for dinner after getting home. I've really been craving a lighter fare, but it was tasty. Morgan absolutely loves it when I lean back in the recliner and she can stretch out and roll around- so after dinner I did this and she put on quite a show. I felt a hand and her feet as I rubbed and she tumbled around. I'm getting to the point that every time I see a small baby, I just ache to have Morgan in my arms... I never in my life imagined I would experience that.



Sunday was Morgan's final shower, and several friends and family members showed up for the lovely scrapbook themed event. Morgan now has several pages for her birth-one year scrapbook that were personalized and created by these individuals! Here are a few pictures from the lovely shower that my colleague and friend, Bethany (and her mom, Donna) threw:




If you are yearning for more shower pics, my Aunt Julie took a bunch that I have uploaded to my facebook album; you can view them HERE. The album has pictures of each shower... enjoy!

The 5:00am rise and shine has been killer as we transition back into the school year. However, Morgan is usually up to greet me with some kicks as I hit snooze a couple times and then make my way to the kitchen for breakfast and then to the shower. There are days when she responds quickly to the warm shower and others where I think she is in a 'food coma' from breakfast.

Inservice meetings have been interesting, as our principal's voice frequently rises to a loud, shouting 'teacher voice' tone, she'll respond with some startled kicks... ha! When the room gets a little load during discussions, too, she seems to get a little flustered and kicks around. It's a pretty neat experience to feel her react to MY environment.

Tuesday marks 36 weeks AND the first day of school... it is going to be an interesting ride. I discovered today that my long-term sub, too, is expecting and his wife is due 9/4! Let's hope I hold out until closer to our due date (9/20) so he gets some time with his new babe, too!

Natasha




My Stick Family from WiddlyTinks.com

Slow & Steady

The theme of the past week has been 'transitions'. It has been incredibly difficult to go from sleeping in, lounging around, and focusing on myself and baby to trying to put a classroom back together and all that entails. I'm still struggling to find the happy median between 'too much' and 'too little' but I'm hoping to have that 'a-ha' moment prior to the first day of school.

I feel a little guilty because I rather liked my summer and the fact that everything could be all about Morgan and the pregnancy. It is difficult to balance my mindset to include both Morg and school. It'll be a learning stretch, but I know it'll come to me at some point.

I had a good talk with Tyler the other night about not wanting to be someone who 'doesn't have time for hobbies' or is a workaholic- like I have been the past three years. I know now where my priorities need to be and where I want them to be, I just need a little guidance on how to get there.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Poor Morgan got a nice 'thump' hello from Kibbles last night- followed by a nice scolding of Kibbles from daddy. Kibbles was in 'freak-out mode', running through the house and going nuts. She took a running jump over the back of the futon (on which I was laying) and landed right on my left side, where Morgan's back and butt typically rest. It knocked the wind out of me but Morgan didn't seem to startle or thump back or anything... maybe she was asleep? Kibbles is going to need to watch out, I'm pretty confident that Morgan will outweigh her seven pounds at birth. I'm sure, though, that she'll also put Kibbles through the hell of living with a toddler in years to come... payback! :-)

We have our doctor's appointment (35 weeks) on Wednesday afternoon, where they'll do the StrepB test to see if I am a carrier and if so they'll make accommodations (I think oral meds? A shot for baby at birth) to protect Morgan from the potentially harmful bacteria. Aside from that, I think the visit will be fairly routine.

Our Childbirth class was scheduled for today from 9a-4p, but if Tyler attended he would have had to be up for nearly 36 hours straight, so we arranged to pay a little extra and have a 1:1 personalized course some time in the next week or two. He's convinced that his mindset will be much clearer with sleep.

I've been taking it easy the last couple of days, after Tuesday night's scare. It is becoming pretty painful to walk back-and-forth from my classroom to the office and from classroom to other parts of the school, so I'm trying to limit my trips beyond the classroom door before the year officially starts. I can only imagine what early September is going to feel like! HA!

Natasha

My Stick Family from WiddlyTinks.com

Practice Run

Things learned in the last 24 Hours:

1) That Tyler can be up and ready to drive to the hospital in less than 7 minutes.

2) We can get to said hospital in about 35 minutes when abiding by most traffic laws.

3) Where to enter the hospital at 1:30 am.

4) That muscle spasms and contractions apparently feel different.

5) That Morgan gets very flustered when I sneeze (HB jumps from the 130's to the 160's and then calms down...)

6) That I can drink a WHOLE lot of water in 30 minutes.

7) That I need to make some MAJOR changes to the way I do things at school if I want to be somewhat-comfortable throughout the remainder of the pregnancy.

8) My cervix is still very-much closed.

9) That I always imagined I would be HOT in the hospital when under stress/pressure, but was VERY Cold- need to amend the contents of my hospital bag.

10) That traffic on I-35 is much better at night.

If you didn't catch it from the Letterman themed top ten, Tyler and I made a 'practice run' to the hospital last night. After waiting it out for about three hours, I finally decided that what I was feeling warranted an exam by a medical professional, in case the pain was indeed contractions.

To try to describe it accurately, I would say that it felt like lightning bolts striking my lower abdomen and then streaking across my pelvic area. Pair that with the intense pressure that followed and I thought I just might be having pre-labor contractions. I had called the doctor on call and decided to try to fall asleep and just call back in the morning since I didn't have any really scary concerns like bleeding or losing fluid. However, I woke up after about 30 minutes of sleep and the pains were unbearable. At that point, we decided a trip to the hospital was in order.

When we reached Olathe the pains, which were fairly solid but intensified about every 10 to 15 minutes, moved into my lower left side and back. It was at that point that I dropped a few 'f bombs' (okay, several, repeatedly) and Tyler pushed down a little more on the accelerator. Once at the hospital we went up to the third floor and turned left- the dreaded hallway I had hoped to avoid (pre-term labor issues/exams). I was strapped with a fetal monitor to listen to Morgan (whom I wasn't so concerned about because she was moving and thumping non-stop) while the nurse checked my cervix, etc. I was happy to hear that my cervix remained fully closed, but puzzled as to what these pains were then.

I endured several more bouts as they monitored and examined. The final verdict from the on-call doctor was that I overdid it in my classroom on Monday and Tuesday, pulling a muscle in my lower back. The spasms from this muscle effected my abdominal muscles, causing the pains I mentioned. At this, I thought to myself, "Oh, God, if these aren't contractions what do they feel like?!?" We remained at the hospital for a couple more hours of monitoring and some water intake. The pains were still present when we left, and I nearly threw up on the ride home. However, there's not much I can take in the way of pain relief at this point in the pregnancy, so I'll just get extra practice at pain management pre-labor. I should be a pro by then!

I'm on 'restricted activity' for a while, so I went to the school today but mostly sat and did light activity. I wasn't very productive, but had some quality time with a couple Renaissance kiddos (lots of laughter there) and a parent-night meeting this evening. Tomorrow: Enrollment! Morgan has been moving quite a bit today and yesterday, and I've done a much better job at keeping a regular schedule (eating, getting up, etc.). This has been one of my major priorities since I've been sleeping in quite a bit and eating at odd times. I don't want to confuse the poor thing!

Kibbles, too, has been extra cuddly, which is appreciated. She likes to curl up on my chest and stretch her paws out over where Morgan's legs are. She does not, however, like it when she rests her hind end in that same area and gets a few kicks in the butt from Morg! HA!!!

Tomorrow night is our parent meeting with our chosen pediatrician, which I'm excited about. I need to upload pictures of the completed crib (with bedding!) and recent Morgan-themed purchases. Sunday is our last Shower, so after that we'll need to outline the final necessities we need to purchase and get down to business. Right now, I know that Breast Pump and Bottles top the list- I'm sure there are other things but I can't think of them right now.

Oh, by the way, I highly recommend you check out Tyler's blog. It's devoted to his adventures and musings on fatherhood. You can visit it at www.tjenkins.blogspot.com.

Natasha



My Stick Family from WiddlyTinks.com

Thirty Three: Sonogram & Pre-Registration

We had several rounds of baby-related appointments scheduled for today- it made the day fly by, although we've looked forward to it for weeks! Our first appointment was with the Labor & Delivery ward of the hospital, at 2:30p. So, Tyler was able to get a few hours sleep after work before we had to drive up to Overland Park for our meetings. We went over the basics of the ward and admissions, including paperwork for Morgan's birth certificate. Once we were done there, it was time for our appointment with Dr. M.

When we made it up to the floor of the doctor's office, I really had to use the bathroom! However, since it was a sonogram day, I had to wait. We went in and soon enough the screen was filled with our little Morgan Kaye! I already had an idea of what part of her was where judging by her movements the past couple of weeks- I was surprised, though, to find that I was right! Morgan is still head-down (good girl!) with her back curled up against my left rib-cage and her feet and legs curled under my right breast and onto my right side. This explains why sometimes she thumps so hard that my entire right breast raises and/or jiggles! Her little hands are all over the place, but mostly by her head and low on my right side. In one of the photo-captures, she was resting her chin on her little fist. <3> showing off her girly parts- we got another great shot of them this appointment. I laughed and told the sono tech that she's always sure to give us a glimpse and reassure us that she is all girl. She was wiggly for most of the viewing and my favorite part was seeing her heart pumping. Another neat observation is that she's already got plenty of hair on that nogin of hers! I just hope she isn't as hairy as daddy! :-) We watched as the tech measured her head, waist, femur, arm bone (name escapes me), etc. Then, we were free to wait in the waiting room while she did the math for the measurements and we waited for Dr. M. After a while we were ushered into an exam room, but it would still be quite a wait. We entertained ourselves (not an understatement) with our goofy senses of humor. Someone had left the tie-back of a robe hanging out of a drawer, so we joked about doing something funny with it before Tyler actually got up and tied the straps into a pretty little bow, so they weren't dragging the floor. That set me off with a case of the giggles. Then, while viewing a copy of Time magazine in the wall-stash of magazines I came across this extremely odd ad with a woman (lady ga-ga, maybe?) nude but covered with photo-shopped bubbles. I opened the magazine to that page and replaced it in the front of the clear magazine holder so that it was clearly visable to anyone in the room- again setting us off with the giggles. As we continued to wait we started playing with the long, skinny light that they use for examinations. I turned it towards Tyler and started saying, 'Wall-e,' in a mechanical voice. That transitioned into us joking about turning off all the lights in the room and when Dr. M walked in we would have the little light turned towards ourselves, turn it on, and freeze like deer in headlights. Giggles again- and some snorts. Finally, we settled in on the hypothetical option where Tyler would sit in the corner chair with the light facing him as a microphone- when the door opened, he'd turn on the light and serenade me with Paul Anka, "Having my baby... what a lovely way of saying how much you love me..." At that point, Dr. M and his student walked in to find me snorting and giggling. I explained why to them and they just awkwardly looked at us and smiled. C'mon, Dr. M- we chose you (among other things) for your sense of humor! I think it had been a long day, as he was about an hour late to seeing us.

Dr. M went over some routine details (he hasn't seen us since May...) and then confirmed that by the measurements taken during the sonogram, Baby Morgan is about 5lbs, 11oz, putting her into the 76th percentile, which is a-okay. It's good to have an estimate, as we haven't had an idea of her size up until this point. Tyler asked about travel to Wichita for his brother's wedding on September 4th- Dr. M said we'll have to wait and see because, "You could end up giving birth down there." Ummm... yeah, not the plan. I think we'll be okay for travel, though... time will tell.

In nursery-related news, daddy got Morgan's crib put together last week. The only thing we need to fix is the setting he has for the mattress- he has it on the lowest. I was a little worried when I went in and leaned over trying to reach down... it makes me feel better knowing that the mattress will be way further up. Speaking of mattresses, that's the next on our 'priority purchase' list. We've been saving our gift cards from showers so that we can purchase these last minute essentials and I think we'll use our Target cards tomorrow to purchase the mattress. It's between the Serta Nightstar Extra Firm Mattress and the Kolcraft Sealy Natural Rest. Any opinions out there?

Last weekend was the Lawrence shower, which was lovely! Morgan was showered with love by many friends and family members. Grandma Ronnie made some lovely star-shaped cakes and we also had a moon made of cupcakes. The veggies and food were delishious, and the games made for some good entertainment. Morgan now has several more outfits (whew!), homemade blankets, diapers, wipes, some toys, a bassinett, and other misc. items.

The day after the shower I packed up and headed to Chicago for the week with some colleagues. We did A LOT of walking throughout the week and Morgan wasn't always fond of that. I felt sick-ish after a few days in, but I'm pretty sure it was just how active we were, that we weren't eating well, and I was tired. I mentioned it to the doctor today and he didn't seem to have any concerns.

It's SO nice to be at home again and getting back into the swing of things. On Saturday I took a scrapbooking class (a birthday present from Tyler) and made a magnetic board for Morgan's room:

I'm still procrastinating lesson plans, but need to get the ball rolling on that this week. Tomorrow night Tyler and I plan on a 'date night' with dinner and a movie. It'll be a nice change of pace, as we haven't been able to spend much 1:1 time with one another. I hope we get plenty of that in the next few weeks before we bring little Morgan into our lives and the (organized?) chaos begins! :-)

My Stick Family from WiddlyTinks.com