Thursday, August 31, 2006
34 Week Appt
Everything went fine. 2 lb weight gain, blood pressure 110/70, measuring OK, no protein in urine, baby heartrate was normal. Met the last doctor in the practice and she was nice too. So, I am comfortable with any of them delivering the baby. I think there are 6 OBs in the practice in total. I am back with my regular doctor from now on.
Next appt is at 36 weeks and then I go once per week moving forward. Nothing else to report. Highly uneventful, which we are looking for!
But otherwise, feeling great. Better than I have in weeks now that I have this acid refux under control. I am pretty confident that I will be able to work until delivery since I am sleeping OK and have no problems getting around.
Next appt is at 36 weeks and then I go once per week moving forward. Nothing else to report. Highly uneventful, which we are looking for!
But otherwise, feeling great. Better than I have in weeks now that I have this acid refux under control. I am pretty confident that I will be able to work until delivery since I am sleeping OK and have no problems getting around.
Wednesday, August 30, 2006
Lucky Baby!
Baby S. has not even arrived yet and her future friends are already sending her gifts! Very exciting! Here is something that we received in the mail recently from the Kennedy Family in MA. Tom is one of Adam's Fraternity brothers, and we have known his wife Paula since college.
This carseat is perfect for a NYC baby. It is called the Sit 'N Stroll and converts from a car seat to a stroller to a booster seat to an airline approved safety seat. Probably too heavy for those living in the suburbs, but perfect for us. It will ensure that we never have an excuse to not use a car seat in cabs (they are not required, can you believe that?) or on Long Island Rail Road trips to visit Grandpa Joe and Grandma Marlene. Or, if we get brave, to bring Baby S on her first airplane ride to visit all of the people in Florida!
Check it out, very cool! Thank you Kennedy Family!
Tuesday, August 29, 2006
Jail Break!
Baby S. seems to be a very "active" baby, which of course I am pleased about because I consider it a good sign of his development and overall health. However, over the past few days, he has picked up a few new moves, and we can now discern individual body parts. The funniest to see are the feet and elbows when they pop out the side of my stomach. I also like it when he curls up and juts out his little rear end. Very cute. Right now, I think he is head down, with his face towards my back. Most of his body appears to be on my right side, and when he twists and rolls my one side bulges out. He even uses my ribs to push off. Sometimes I feel like he is doing a handstand in there. It doesn't hurt, but is definitely strange to see!
Very exciting times! Should get even more interesting as he puts on more weight.
*** Don't get too excited over my use of "he." I don't like to call the baby "it" so I need to alternate between sexes. This is not a trick, and no, we haven't opened the envelope. There is no chance we will open the envelope at this point, so don't get your hopes up.
Very exciting times! Should get even more interesting as he puts on more weight.
*** Don't get too excited over my use of "he." I don't like to call the baby "it" so I need to alternate between sexes. This is not a trick, and no, we haven't opened the envelope. There is no chance we will open the envelope at this point, so don't get your hopes up.
Monday, August 28, 2006
Interesting Blog
Since I have nothing new to post (feeling fine, breathing fine, getting around fine, baby moving fine), and you all seem to like blogs, I figure I will direct you to one that was particularly interesting today.
Most of you seem to be new to the idea of a blog (which is short for "web log" by the way), but there are literally thousands and thousands of them out there. People blog on all sorts of topics, including politics, religion, their daily life, sports, etc. Many of them are done for family and friends like this one, but many others are done anonymously and are read by the general public. You could even create your own. I know future Uncle Barry is very jealous that he doesn't have his own blog, and is feverishly trying to think of ideas for one! Somehow, I don't think he will tell us about his for some reason!
Anyway, through our journey to have Baby S, I came across many blogs dealing with pregnancy, infertility and adoption. It seems to be a popular way for people to get their feelings out and be read by a community of people going through the same thing. One blog in particular has received a lot of notice in the media. I think it has even received a blogging award (If you can believe there is such a thing) and I became aware of it. It is amazing how interesting it can be to read about a total stranger's life!
So anyway, this blog is written by a lady named Mary Mia, and is about her and her husband's journey of adopting a baby from China. International adoption is usually a very orderly process, but is an extremely expensive (20-30k) and involves lots of paperwork and then lots of waiting around. These people in particular have been waiting over 15 months for their "referral," which is when they get assigned a baby and sent pictures and general information. They then have to wait a month or two more to travel to China to pick their baby up. Add this time to the time that they probably spent trying to have a biological child and doing all of the preliminary paperwork, fingerprinting, homestudy etc., and you come up with a long time that they have been waiting for a baby.
Anyway, they thought they were going to receive their referral last month, and were very heartbroken when they did not make the cut off for dates. China gives you a "Log In Date" based on when they receive all of your completed paperwork, and referrals are based on that. It seems to be a very organized process, but just takes a long time these days. The referrals are only sent out once per month.
Most people get a referral for a girl, since that is mostly who are put up for adoption. (China has/had a very restrictive one child per family policy, and the wisdom is that a boy can better care for his elders later in life so people prefer them. I think that is total bull, but that is another topic entirely!) Well to make a long story short, Mary Mia and her husband received their referral today, which of course they were very excited about. But to make the story even more exciting, they didn't receive a referral for one girl, they received one for twin girls! Boy, that must have been a happy surprise! Check her blog out, it is very cute. The address is www.salsainchina.blogspot.com
Most of you seem to be new to the idea of a blog (which is short for "web log" by the way), but there are literally thousands and thousands of them out there. People blog on all sorts of topics, including politics, religion, their daily life, sports, etc. Many of them are done for family and friends like this one, but many others are done anonymously and are read by the general public. You could even create your own. I know future Uncle Barry is very jealous that he doesn't have his own blog, and is feverishly trying to think of ideas for one! Somehow, I don't think he will tell us about his for some reason!
Anyway, through our journey to have Baby S, I came across many blogs dealing with pregnancy, infertility and adoption. It seems to be a popular way for people to get their feelings out and be read by a community of people going through the same thing. One blog in particular has received a lot of notice in the media. I think it has even received a blogging award (If you can believe there is such a thing) and I became aware of it. It is amazing how interesting it can be to read about a total stranger's life!
So anyway, this blog is written by a lady named Mary Mia, and is about her and her husband's journey of adopting a baby from China. International adoption is usually a very orderly process, but is an extremely expensive (20-30k) and involves lots of paperwork and then lots of waiting around. These people in particular have been waiting over 15 months for their "referral," which is when they get assigned a baby and sent pictures and general information. They then have to wait a month or two more to travel to China to pick their baby up. Add this time to the time that they probably spent trying to have a biological child and doing all of the preliminary paperwork, fingerprinting, homestudy etc., and you come up with a long time that they have been waiting for a baby.
Anyway, they thought they were going to receive their referral last month, and were very heartbroken when they did not make the cut off for dates. China gives you a "Log In Date" based on when they receive all of your completed paperwork, and referrals are based on that. It seems to be a very organized process, but just takes a long time these days. The referrals are only sent out once per month.
Most people get a referral for a girl, since that is mostly who are put up for adoption. (China has/had a very restrictive one child per family policy, and the wisdom is that a boy can better care for his elders later in life so people prefer them. I think that is total bull, but that is another topic entirely!) Well to make a long story short, Mary Mia and her husband received their referral today, which of course they were very excited about. But to make the story even more exciting, they didn't receive a referral for one girl, they received one for twin girls! Boy, that must have been a happy surprise! Check her blog out, it is very cute. The address is www.salsainchina.blogspot.com
Sunday, August 27, 2006
Baby Schnell, give us a sign!
I love the gender guessing game. Almost every time I am at a public event, multiple people make "predictions" as to the gender of the baby. My favorite part of the game is how absolutely positive people are about their guess. There is no doubt in their mind that they are correct. About 80% of the people predict a boy, but that is just based on the way I am carrying the baby. But according to Heather, my belly looks just like hers did when she was pregnant with Madeleine, who is clearly a little girl.
They all have their methods, one more amusing than the next. They quiz me on the heart rate, rub my stomach, ask to look at my rear end, or stare at my face to see if the baby has "stolen my beauty." That is the funniest one of all. I think it is very risky to tell a pregnant person that a baby has stolen her beauty. She is all jacked up on hormones, and probably very pissed off most of the time anyway. Seems to be a high probability that she might haul off and punch you!
We were at a party yesterday at the summer home of one of Adam's co-workers. Lots of predictions were made, one even by an 8 year old girl whose mother claims she has 99% accuracy. My favorite one came from Adam's friend Keisha, who is so positive she is right, she has already purchased the baby a pair of pink sneakers, even though they come in gender-neutral pastel green. I like a woman willing to stick to her convictions!
Would you like to make a guess? Post your best guess in the comments section and we'll see who is right!
They all have their methods, one more amusing than the next. They quiz me on the heart rate, rub my stomach, ask to look at my rear end, or stare at my face to see if the baby has "stolen my beauty." That is the funniest one of all. I think it is very risky to tell a pregnant person that a baby has stolen her beauty. She is all jacked up on hormones, and probably very pissed off most of the time anyway. Seems to be a high probability that she might haul off and punch you!
We were at a party yesterday at the summer home of one of Adam's co-workers. Lots of predictions were made, one even by an 8 year old girl whose mother claims she has 99% accuracy. My favorite one came from Adam's friend Keisha, who is so positive she is right, she has already purchased the baby a pair of pink sneakers, even though they come in gender-neutral pastel green. I like a woman willing to stick to her convictions!
Would you like to make a guess? Post your best guess in the comments section and we'll see who is right!
Thursday, August 24, 2006
Help! I'm being suffocated!
As you can tell by the pictures, I am carrying this baby pretty high. The baby seems to have had a growth spurt over the past week, because I am starting to get bigger around the sides and in front. The one unfortunate side effect is that the baby has one of it's body parts shoved into my lungs (or diaphragm, I don't know I'm not a doctor!) I was sitting on the subway this morning, and it was pushing the baby up even higher. By the time I got to the office, I felt like I could barely breathe. (And of course I didn't want to stand up and give up my seat!) An exaggeration of course, but a mite bit uncomfortable. After two flights of stairs, I really couldn't breathe. Now, I consider myself a pretty calm person, but this had me feeling a little panicked. Intellectually, I knew what was happening, but not being able to breathe is a little scary. So of course, panicking makes things worse and made breathing harder.
I must have looked a little pale and nervous, because my friend who sits next to me called his wife, who happens to be and nurse and has three kids. (I try to spread out my healthcare phone calls Heather). She said this had never happened to her, but said maybe I should have a glass of juice which sometimes causes the baby to move. She also suggested a walk which might get the baby to drop a little or shift a bit. This gave me enough to focus on to start calming down, and about an hour later I felt a little better.
Anyway, that is the havoc that Baby Schnell is wreaking today. I swear this baby hates me! Just kidding everyone, don't get all freaked out.
I must have looked a little pale and nervous, because my friend who sits next to me called his wife, who happens to be and nurse and has three kids. (I try to spread out my healthcare phone calls Heather). She said this had never happened to her, but said maybe I should have a glass of juice which sometimes causes the baby to move. She also suggested a walk which might get the baby to drop a little or shift a bit. This gave me enough to focus on to start calming down, and about an hour later I felt a little better.
Anyway, that is the havoc that Baby Schnell is wreaking today. I swear this baby hates me! Just kidding everyone, don't get all freaked out.
Friday, August 18, 2006
Funny Boy
We have read that the baby can now hear and recognize voices. It can especially hear women's voices due to the higher pitch. Since the poor little bugger gets to hear me yammering on all day, we make sure Adam talks to the baby a few times a day.
Before we go to sleep at night, he usually puts his mouth near my stomach and says a few general things to the baby. The other night, he was saying more and I couldn't hear him. I said to him, "What are you saying?" He turns his head without moving and says to me in a completely deadpan voice, "I wasn't talking to you." And then turns his head back to finish his "conversation." Totally cracked me up.
Before we go to sleep at night, he usually puts his mouth near my stomach and says a few general things to the baby. The other night, he was saying more and I couldn't hear him. I said to him, "What are you saying?" He turns his head without moving and says to me in a completely deadpan voice, "I wasn't talking to you." And then turns his head back to finish his "conversation." Totally cracked me up.
32 Week Doctor's Appt
I had my bi-weekly doctor's appointment this morning, and everything is looking great.
- Weight is up 2 more pounds, for a total of 16 pounds
- Heart rate was 145 bpm
- Fundal Height was measuring 31.5 cm
- Blood pressure was fine (120/80) I think
- Urine tests are coming up fine (I think they are testing for protein, whatever that means)
- No swelling in my hands or feet.
I met another one of the doctors in the practice and she was very nice. Very chipper. It would be like Kara Macaluso (for those you know her) delivering the baby, except that the doctor is Korean. She gave me some suggestions on what to do with the nightime vomiting, which I will try. Mostly stuff I am already doing but I am willing to give it a shot. I am sure Adam would appreciate not being awakened every night to the sound of me retching in the bathroom and then coming in and telling him that I peed on the floor again. Gross, I know, but it is my blog and I can put whatever I want on here! This is my life, love it or leave it! He has started wearing his flip flops in the bathroom when he gets up at night which I find hysterical. And yes, I do wipe it up afterward.
She also said the most important thing for me to look out for now is movement of the baby. She said to assume a normal sleep/wake cycle for a newborn. She said I should be feeling movement every three to four hours. If I don't feel it, and I have eaten and drank something and still don't feel it I should give them a call. She said the majority of the time the baby is just sleeping more, but they need to know in case the baby is in distress. Which I find very distressing. But, I have nothing to worry about right now because this baby moves like a champ. Kind of like me in a movie theater. Constantly twitching and changing positions. It feels like I have a cat in me right now with the stretching and arching of the back. Definitely weird.
OK, that is all for now. It is 9pm and I am heading to bed. If you think that is early, Adam has already been sleeping on the couch for 15 minutes. Ahh, the exciting life and times in our household...
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