Kim and I did a lot of work over the weekend trying to get everything finalized. I did 5 loads of baby-laundry, we un-boxed the bouncy seat, swing, infant stroller, and car seat. We washed all the fabric pieces for all of those items, and even put the car seat into both vehicles to make sure we knew it would fit in both and how we needed to arrange it in both. We got most of the hospital bag packed (minus a couple of items that I'll need to purchase). So you think this household of planners is doing pretty good, and Monday I would have agreed.
But today is Tuesday... One of my friends at work called me this morning and said she was forwarding an article and didn't want to make me upset, but thought it was something I should be aware of. So I read the article and everything changed... Apparently there was a money dispute between Cigna (GD's healthcare provider) and Catholic Healthcare West (basically, St. Joe's, the hospital we are delivering at). Effective immediately, St. Joe's is no longer covered under Cigna. Now mind you, she forwarded a newspaper article, not something from Cigna. We still haven't heard anything from Cigna (nice work Cigna, you are living up to your sub-par reputation quite well!). Both Kim and I were on the phone with Cigna, filling out forms, talking to reps, etc, etc, etc. Bottom line from what we can tell (cause God-forbid you should get a straight answer from anyone) is we have to choose another hospital.
So, you wonder about John C. Lincoln since we did the hospital tour there? Well, we found out that Cigna had a money dispute with them a while ago and they are no longer covering John C. Lincoln either. (Like I said, they really do live up to their reputation of being one of the worst insurance companies.) Hey, fortunately for us Good Samaritan is the last hospital our OB has privileges at and at this point in time, they still work with Cigna.
I suppose worse things could happen - at least we get to keep our doctor. It's just frustrating to think that all the planning and research and pre-registration that we did was all for naught and we are stuck with running around at the last hour trying to get this done. We thought we were set. I guess we were too set, huh?
Tuesday, April 29, 2008
Wednesday, April 23, 2008
Excitement is Mounting
This morning was Peanut's 36 week checkup. We are now starting the weekly visits, and the doctor has started checking (and will from here on out) for signs of labor. I told him the baby dropped, and he confirmed that. He said I started thinning, but no dilation yet, which is pretty much what he would expect at this point. The baby is still small - he thinks if we go all 40 weeks we will have a 7 lb baby (max). We're just over 5 lbs right now (estimated). Today on the ultrasound we saw the baby "practice breathing". It was really cool to see the rib cage expand and contract, going through the motions of breathing to prepare for life outside of mama's belly.
I've gained another 2 lbs, so a total of 17 lbs for this pregnancy to date. My blood pressure was on the low-side of normal - I think it was 97/71. I forgot to ask the doctor about it - funny how conversations just go off on tangents and then you forget to ask things. But Dr. Mom (my mom) said maybe I should eat a little more lean, red meat to make sure we stay more in the middle of normal. My swelling is still there, but it's minimal - nothing like it was that one day last week. I can still wear all my rings, so nobody is very worried about it.
The other news of the day is that our roommate Jason moved out. He's heading back to Maine for an exciting new adventure at a job at a resort hotel. Now I can finally finish up the nursery as I was waiting anxiously to get into the closet of the spare bedroom. And, I'm working on de-scenting the house. Not that he smelled, but he used cologne, scented soaps, and scented laundry detergent. I keep a scent-free house so any minor scents are very strong to me. Kim and I plan on keeping the house very scent-free for Peanut as we both believe perfumes are not good for babies. We won't even be lighting our scented candles for a good bit of time while the baby is young (although we seldomly light them anyway).
So this weekend, very exciting for me as I've been resisting my nesting urges, will be finishing up the nursery, packing a bag for the hospital, playing with the car seat so both Kim and I know what the heck we are doing with it, and lots of baby-stuff laundry. Ok, probably not in that order as I suppose the hospital bag is more important than the nursery. :)
Yes, excitement is definitely mounting. I'm absolutely giddy!! :)
I've gained another 2 lbs, so a total of 17 lbs for this pregnancy to date. My blood pressure was on the low-side of normal - I think it was 97/71. I forgot to ask the doctor about it - funny how conversations just go off on tangents and then you forget to ask things. But Dr. Mom (my mom) said maybe I should eat a little more lean, red meat to make sure we stay more in the middle of normal. My swelling is still there, but it's minimal - nothing like it was that one day last week. I can still wear all my rings, so nobody is very worried about it.
The other news of the day is that our roommate Jason moved out. He's heading back to Maine for an exciting new adventure at a job at a resort hotel. Now I can finally finish up the nursery as I was waiting anxiously to get into the closet of the spare bedroom. And, I'm working on de-scenting the house. Not that he smelled, but he used cologne, scented soaps, and scented laundry detergent. I keep a scent-free house so any minor scents are very strong to me. Kim and I plan on keeping the house very scent-free for Peanut as we both believe perfumes are not good for babies. We won't even be lighting our scented candles for a good bit of time while the baby is young (although we seldomly light them anyway).
So this weekend, very exciting for me as I've been resisting my nesting urges, will be finishing up the nursery, packing a bag for the hospital, playing with the car seat so both Kim and I know what the heck we are doing with it, and lots of baby-stuff laundry. Ok, probably not in that order as I suppose the hospital bag is more important than the nursery. :)
Yes, excitement is definitely mounting. I'm absolutely giddy!! :)
Sunday, April 20, 2008
More Pictures!
Last weekend, I was a volunteer model with a few other girls to help a friend with a photo shoot series she is doing with Goodwill clothes. Kim also came, to be a model as well as help with the photography. It was a great time, but we also asked her to take a couple of pictures of just the two of us so we had some good pregnancy pictures. Thanks Ellen!!
So here are a couple of my favorites. Yes, you can really see the belly. It looks nothing like our Christmas card! (haha)
So here are a couple of my favorites. Yes, you can really see the belly. It looks nothing like our Christmas card! (haha)
Friday, April 18, 2008
Moving South
So, I think the baby started moving down. Wednesday of this week was the first day that I started sitting funny. Not all the time, but some of the time. My belly was suddenly in the way and I had to spread my legs a little to make it all fit. Weird. And then something else happened that I wasn't expecting - I swelled up after lunch. My feet, legs, and a little in my hands. I haven't had a problem with that at all. It wasn't bad, just felt uncomfortable with all the changes.
Thursday continued... My hands and feet/legs were just a little swollen when I got up, but as the day progressed, they got worse. And my "sitting capabilities" have again decreased. Actually, so have my walking capabilities. It took me quite a while to walk from my desk to the car after work on Thursday because there was so much pressure so low in my belly. It's weird how things change so quickly.
While I haven't changed my diet much lately, this week has been a little different. I'm thinking I need to eat more fruits and vegetables and see if that keeps the swelling down. Wednesday was by-far worse than Thursday, and the only thing I think I can attribute that to is my break-down at lunch (Fuddruckers) where I ate some fries and onion-rings. Maybe that was a bit much for me/Peanut.
We have our next Peanut appointment on Wednesday. I'm interested to see what Dr. Plimpton has to say about the baby's position. I really think we are heading south. I showed Kim my belly last night - it's shaped a little differently too - the main protrusion is much lower on me. Oh, and I feel like my belly gained about 5 pounds just last night. (It's probably all the extra water I'm carrying....)
Thursday continued... My hands and feet/legs were just a little swollen when I got up, but as the day progressed, they got worse. And my "sitting capabilities" have again decreased. Actually, so have my walking capabilities. It took me quite a while to walk from my desk to the car after work on Thursday because there was so much pressure so low in my belly. It's weird how things change so quickly.
While I haven't changed my diet much lately, this week has been a little different. I'm thinking I need to eat more fruits and vegetables and see if that keeps the swelling down. Wednesday was by-far worse than Thursday, and the only thing I think I can attribute that to is my break-down at lunch (Fuddruckers) where I ate some fries and onion-rings. Maybe that was a bit much for me/Peanut.
We have our next Peanut appointment on Wednesday. I'm interested to see what Dr. Plimpton has to say about the baby's position. I really think we are heading south. I showed Kim my belly last night - it's shaped a little differently too - the main protrusion is much lower on me. Oh, and I feel like my belly gained about 5 pounds just last night. (It's probably all the extra water I'm carrying....)
Saturday, April 12, 2008
Our First Pediatrician Consultation
Today we met with the only pediatrician in Fountain Hills. Kim has been to her before as she's also Internal Medicine (so full family doctor). We had several questions to ask, largely based on a questionnaire I found in a magazine. One of the questions my boss told me to add was to ask if she was a mom. I could see why, but didn't view that as highly important. Still I added it to the list.
We had a very nice conversation with her, and while she is the only person in the practice, her dedication was amazing. I felt so comfortable with her and her knowledge, judgement, and attitude towards our input and child-rearing views. The interesting thing we both found from the conversation was that during it, we found out she had a 6 yr-old son and was expecting her second child in October. From everything we discussed, we both felt the biggest impact of knowing she was a mom. I found that so fascinating - that looking at all the questions on this paper before meeting her, the "mom" question was one of the least important factors, and yet in the midst of the entire conversation, it was the one thing she said that made us feel the most comfortable. Weird, but cool.
And for my mom, I did ask her about how she performed circumcisions. While I know nothing about the various methods currently practiced, I did gather the information in case Peanut is a boy and I could put my mother's concerns to rest. She uses something called a Gomco Clamp. What I thought was most interesting was the way she presented the procedure to us. Instead of the answer just being "I use the Gomco Clamp", the answer was something like this:
"First, I lay the child down and apply a local anasthesia. Of course, we don't have to do this if you don't agree with that. Then, I like to give the child a sugar-coated pacifier. We also don't have to do that if you don't like the idea of pacifiers. Then I put the Gomco Clamp over the head and once it is on securely, I slice the skin. I prefer the Gomco Clamp because ..." (Sorry if this is too graphic.)
I just got a kick out of the fact that the first thoughts to come to her head for answering the question of "how do you do a circumcision" were the reassurance that the baby was as comfortable as possible during the whole procedure. This was prior to finding out she was a mother, but in some ways, you could tell just by this answer.
Kim likes her a lot because she walks around with a laptop, so she passes the "geek" standard too! hahaha Actually, we were impressed as she is trying to add an email service to her practice so she can answer patients' questions via email, but she needs a secure server to do that in order to comply with privacy laws.
She is also looking for a physicians assistant right now because she knows she will need help before October when she has her baby. I liked her attitude on Physicians Assistant vs. Nurse Practitioner. Kim had asked what the difference was. We found it was the 4-yr degree before the 2 years of extra classes. A nurse practitioner becomes a nurse first. A physicians assistant is more of a biology/science degree first. She weighed the trade-offs in her opinion to us and then basically said "the degree isn't what I look for, it's the personality and whether the attitude matches my own". Being an engineer and working with others that have similar, or even more degrees than I, I totally agree. The degree doesn't make a good engineer, but attitude and dedication play a very important part.
For a mother, a doctor, a single practitioner, and pregnant to boot, she puts my energy level and dedication to shame. To add to all of that, she has a wonderful, kind personality. We are happy to say, we found ourselves a pediatrician!
We had a very nice conversation with her, and while she is the only person in the practice, her dedication was amazing. I felt so comfortable with her and her knowledge, judgement, and attitude towards our input and child-rearing views. The interesting thing we both found from the conversation was that during it, we found out she had a 6 yr-old son and was expecting her second child in October. From everything we discussed, we both felt the biggest impact of knowing she was a mom. I found that so fascinating - that looking at all the questions on this paper before meeting her, the "mom" question was one of the least important factors, and yet in the midst of the entire conversation, it was the one thing she said that made us feel the most comfortable. Weird, but cool.
And for my mom, I did ask her about how she performed circumcisions. While I know nothing about the various methods currently practiced, I did gather the information in case Peanut is a boy and I could put my mother's concerns to rest. She uses something called a Gomco Clamp. What I thought was most interesting was the way she presented the procedure to us. Instead of the answer just being "I use the Gomco Clamp", the answer was something like this:
"First, I lay the child down and apply a local anasthesia. Of course, we don't have to do this if you don't agree with that. Then, I like to give the child a sugar-coated pacifier. We also don't have to do that if you don't like the idea of pacifiers. Then I put the Gomco Clamp over the head and once it is on securely, I slice the skin. I prefer the Gomco Clamp because ..." (Sorry if this is too graphic.)
I just got a kick out of the fact that the first thoughts to come to her head for answering the question of "how do you do a circumcision" were the reassurance that the baby was as comfortable as possible during the whole procedure. This was prior to finding out she was a mother, but in some ways, you could tell just by this answer.
Kim likes her a lot because she walks around with a laptop, so she passes the "geek" standard too! hahaha Actually, we were impressed as she is trying to add an email service to her practice so she can answer patients' questions via email, but she needs a secure server to do that in order to comply with privacy laws.
She is also looking for a physicians assistant right now because she knows she will need help before October when she has her baby. I liked her attitude on Physicians Assistant vs. Nurse Practitioner. Kim had asked what the difference was. We found it was the 4-yr degree before the 2 years of extra classes. A nurse practitioner becomes a nurse first. A physicians assistant is more of a biology/science degree first. She weighed the trade-offs in her opinion to us and then basically said "the degree isn't what I look for, it's the personality and whether the attitude matches my own". Being an engineer and working with others that have similar, or even more degrees than I, I totally agree. The degree doesn't make a good engineer, but attitude and dedication play a very important part.
For a mother, a doctor, a single practitioner, and pregnant to boot, she puts my energy level and dedication to shame. To add to all of that, she has a wonderful, kind personality. We are happy to say, we found ourselves a pediatrician!
Wednesday, April 9, 2008
Week 34 Update
This morning was Peanut's week 34 checkup. We found the baby is 4 lbs 10 oz. The doctor still thinks we will have a 6+ lb baby when Peanut finally shows up. I however, lost 1 lb from last visit. Not sure how that worked, I feel like I've been eating a ton. Maybe it's the swimming. :)
Today's ultrasound showed a little peach fuzz on the head. Yay! We might not have a bald baby!! :)
The doctor showed us our baby in 3-D imaging. We have some pretty chubby cheeks on the face. Very cute!! Of course none of us can tell who this child looks like, so we'll just have to keep waiting.
Today's ultrasound showed a little peach fuzz on the head. Yay! We might not have a bald baby!! :)
The doctor showed us our baby in 3-D imaging. We have some pretty chubby cheeks on the face. Very cute!! Of course none of us can tell who this child looks like, so we'll just have to keep waiting.
Monday, April 7, 2008
The Exhausting, Fun Weekend
This past weekend was wonderful. On Friday, the girls from work threw me a baby shower. We had much fun, played some very hard games, and I was graciously honored with gifts that will help so much with our new little family member.
Friday night was also a 4oth birthday party, complete with 70's theme. Unfortunately we didn't get dressed up, but were astounded by the great costumes. For the short time we were able to attend, we had a blast. Interestingly enough, we did not leave because I was tired - it was because we had an airport run to pick up my sister-in-law and 9-year old niece. They were in for the weekend for Baby Shower #2.
Saturday was "Claire Day". (Claire is my niece.) So we went hiking and to the zoo, and then Sunday morning went "swimming" in the hot tub. :)
On Sunday, the "Lake Powell" girls threw me a baby shower. We had 25-30 women there, and let me tell you, generously showered me with gifts. We now have lots of stuff - all of which I will have to organize and figure out how to use. ;)
This weekend made me feel so blessed to have my friends and family. That's really what life is about, and I'm so fortunate to be surrounded by such loving, caring people.
The weekend did take it's toll though - between allergies and some sleep deprivation, I was dragging through Monday work. But nothing that swimming didn't take care of. Peanut and I did 500 yards (10 sets of 50) and then a set of 50 kicks. (Kim did much more - go Kim!) Now I have energy!!! :)
Doctor's appointment on Wednesday, so next post soon after. We'll try to work on more pics too. I'm sure I'll be able to find some from the baby shower(s) when the girls get them posted.
Friday night was also a 4oth birthday party, complete with 70's theme. Unfortunately we didn't get dressed up, but were astounded by the great costumes. For the short time we were able to attend, we had a blast. Interestingly enough, we did not leave because I was tired - it was because we had an airport run to pick up my sister-in-law and 9-year old niece. They were in for the weekend for Baby Shower #2.
Saturday was "Claire Day". (Claire is my niece.) So we went hiking and to the zoo, and then Sunday morning went "swimming" in the hot tub. :)
On Sunday, the "Lake Powell" girls threw me a baby shower. We had 25-30 women there, and let me tell you, generously showered me with gifts. We now have lots of stuff - all of which I will have to organize and figure out how to use. ;)
This weekend made me feel so blessed to have my friends and family. That's really what life is about, and I'm so fortunate to be surrounded by such loving, caring people.
The weekend did take it's toll though - between allergies and some sleep deprivation, I was dragging through Monday work. But nothing that swimming didn't take care of. Peanut and I did 500 yards (10 sets of 50) and then a set of 50 kicks. (Kim did much more - go Kim!) Now I have energy!!! :)
Doctor's appointment on Wednesday, so next post soon after. We'll try to work on more pics too. I'm sure I'll be able to find some from the baby shower(s) when the girls get them posted.
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