Doctor Woes

One of the concerns with leaving our home so late in the pregnancy was troubles finding a doctor that would accept a 33-week pregnant lady as a new patient.  Many doctors will not take a new patient if they are past a certain amount of weeks, like 20 or 30 weeks.  I've heard many stories of military families that moved late in their pregnancies and had to go to an emergency room to deliver their babies due to not being able to find a doctor in their new homes.  How horrible is that?!?!

Fortunately, my mom works at a hospital and knows lots of the staff so she was able to do a lot of the leg work months before we arrived in North Carolina!  She had set up appointments with a general doctor (I have to go to a primary care physician, PCM, in order to get a referral to other doctors) and an OB/GYN.  All doctors were aware of my situation and were more than willing to take me on!  Woo hoo!  No stress in that department...

Until we arrive in North Carolina!  The PCM that I had my appointment with had been dropped by my insurance company.  Crap.  This meant that I had to find a new PCM.  After days on the phone with my insurance company and a couple of docs in the area, I finally found one that would take me in.  

The next problem that arose was the OB that already had my records and was waiting on me, was also not able to see my anymore due to insurance issues.  Are you freaking kidding me?!  The OB was the doc that I really needed to be on board!  Since we had been having so many issues with my insurance, I decided to be proactive and find out what OB I would be referred to by my PCM and call them up.  The new OB's office was super nice, but, unfortunately, did not take new patients after 20 weeks.  Damn.  After talking with one of the office staff for a little while and going into my whole situation, she told me to bring in my records and if my prenatal care was on par, they may accept me.  I took my records in that morning and within an hour, they had accepted me as a new patient!  Hallelujah!  I just had to go to my PCM appointment to get my actual referral.  

Do you know that my PCM made me take a pregnancy test to confirm that I am pregnant...at 34 weeks?!?! (Which by the way, if any of you were wondering, I'm still pregnant).  The nurse also did not even realize I was pregnant while taking my vitals.  Talk about a super huge ego blow to my appearance self esteem (you don't look prego, just super fat!).  Once I told her why I was there, she asked if I was 5-6 weeks pregnant. When I informed her that I was 34 weeks, she freaked.  She also requested that other staff members come look at me and guess how far along I was.  One very lovely front desk lady came back and said "Oh, I didn't gain any weight in my front either.  I just got big in my butt too.  And in my titties."  What.  The.  F*&#.   What wonderful customer service.  If I didn't need that dang referral and they were the only ones in a 40 mile radius that could give it to me, I would have raised some hell.  However, I didn't have time to play around.  I needed that referral!  

After a little bit of hoopla and much noticed anxiety and stress, I finally got the referral!  I was still a little nervous to see if my insurance was going to approve the referred doctor.  After two days, we got the green light!  I found an OB that was approved by my insurance AND would accept me, even though I was so far along.

Thank God this pregnancy has been pretty smooth.  With all of this extra stress I have endured during this pregnancy (insurance issues at the beginning, Michael deploying, raising Joey by myself for a few months, "moving" cross country, and more insurance/doctor issues), I'm surprised that I have not gone into pre-term labor!  Hopefully, this will be the last of the un-needed excitement until I have this baby girl!  

Let's Drive!

Since Michael is deployed, Joey and I decided to head to our family's home to visit and await baby girl's arrival!  

My doctor gave me the approval to drive cross country, as long as it was before I was 32 weeks pregnant.  My parents made their way, via Portland, to California and we headed to our summer home when I was 31 weeks pregnant.  

We loaded up my little car with 4 months worth of stuff, both of my parents, Joey, and myself!  Talk about a tii-ght ride!

It took us about six days to make it to North Carolina.  We drove about eight hours each day for the first three days.  The next three days were a little shorter due to various friend visits and sightseeing ventures.  I tried to drink lots of fluids and we stopped about every two hours so that I could walk around.  However, my feet and ankles still swelled up by the end of each day!  I haven't experienced any swelling during either pregnancies, so it was kind of weird to go through it on our road trip.  The swelling actually made it somewhat painful to walk...no wonder people complain about prego swelling!  

With me drinking so much water, I expected to have to pee a lot on this trip.  Fortunately, I really did not have to take many bathroom breaks during those first three days!  However, my mouse-sized bladder eventually caught up with me and I was having to pee every 20 minutes those last three days!  Ugh!  Talk about dragging a road trip out as long as humanly possible!  

Tia got to visit us for two days before we headed East and she heads to Australia for 6 months to a year!  

I'm so glad that we were able to come to NC to be with family and have some help during the last weeks of pregnancy and beginnings of baby girl's life.  However, I would not want to travel that far along into a pregnancy again!  

10 More Weeks

Well, we had our last appointment with our California doctor last week and I must say that it was a great appointment!

First off, I do not have gestational diabetes!!  This also means that I passed the one-hour glucose test, so I don't have to take the three-hour test!  Holla!  I was very, very happy with this news.  

Baby girl's heart beat was in the 150's.  Very good.

Since the doc has not measured my belly once during this pregnancy, I have been a little concerned on how this baby is growing.  The doc finally measured my belly and baby girl is growing right on track, 30 cm=30 weeks! Woo hoo!  (Still haven't gained a pound!  Whoop whoop!)

My blood pressure is good, but my heart rate has been a little faster here lately.  An increased heart beat is a pregnancy symptom, so I wasn't too nervous about this but the doctor still checked it out.  My heart rate was a bit increased, in the 80's, but the doc didn't seem too concerned by this.

I've had a bit of pelvic pressure this past month.  The doc told me just to keep an eye on it and make sure I'm drinking plenty of water.  This goes for our cross-country road trip.  Can you imagine how a very pregnant lady staying super hydrated is going to go with a five-day road trip?!!?  This should be wonderful.  

Yes, I am Pregnant.

 

29 weeks!!  Holla!!  :)

I ran into someone that I haven't seen since December today.  I had to tell her that I was pregnant and due in about 2.5 months.  She was shocked.  Talk about a confidence killer.  And please, do not tell me how awesome it is that I don't even look pregnant.  I am bigger.  My clothes don't fit.  So, when someone is shocked that I am actually pregnant because I don't look it, well, that just makes me feel fat.  I'm only pregnant a couple of more months and I should only get bigger, so I'm trying to not let it get to me.  But mad kudos to me for not gaining any weight, so far.  I am the bomb!  :)  

Third Tri

Baby girl had her first hiccups last week!  Joey had these all of the time while he was in the womb, and I didn't think baby girl was going to have them since I hadn't felt them yet.  However, I felt the little "tap, tap, tap, tap, taps" a few days ago!  

Not sure if I had shown this yet, but Bristol received her first tutu a  few months ago from our dear friend, Jackie!  I squealed with delight when I opened this package!  So pink.  So frilly.  So girly.  So not boy! 

I took my one-hour glucose test for gestational diabetes Friday.  I forgot how nasty that drink is!  Yuck!  I'm really hoping that I pass so A) I don't have gestational diabetes and B) I don't have to drink that drink again!  Hopefully, I get the results sometime this week.  I have my last appointment with my Cali doctor next week, so if I do have to take the three-hour test, I would like to take it before my check-up appointment so I can have the results.  Our trip to North Carolina is in just a couple of weeks, so I'm trying to get everything in order!

We are 28 and a half weeks today!  Welcome to the third trimester, baby!  And let me tell you, this trimester has come in with a bang!  I am so exhausted!  The 4-6 hours I might have been getting during the first two trimesters are doing nothing for me now!  I'm trying to take naps when Joey naps because I know when baby girl gets here, those mama naps will be non-existent.  I'm also getting a little hungrier, but then I take a couple of bites of food, and I'm stuffed!  (Now, if I can just keep that eating pattern after I have baby, I may just lose some of this weight I put on after I had Joey.)

I also already feel like I'm nesting.  Since we will be in North Carolina for the last few weeks of this pregnancy and birth, I'm in overdrive trying to get everything in order and cleaned and ready for our return.  When I return to my house here, I will have a toddler and a newborn, so I want to have things as easy as can be when I get back.  Hopefully, Michael will be returning to us not long after our return to Cali, so I want the house to look good for him, as well.  Luckily, I have a couple of more weeks, so I've been doing a little each day so it's not too overwhelming or I don't overdo it.  Just enough pressure to get my procrastinating self moving, but not enough pressure to stress me out!  :)

26 Weeks

Things are going well with baby girl!  I assume she's growing on schedule...the doc is not measuring my belly, so I guess baby's growing like she should be.  

She's moving around a lot!  I even saw my belly move the other day when she kicked/punched! 

She has moved from my sciatic nerve, thank God! 

 My heartburn has kicked it up a notch or ten!  I have heartburn almost every single night.  I have started to drink pickle juice to cure this.  I know, I know, to some of you, that sounds absolutely disgusting! I love pickles and the juice, so it doesn't bother me one bit.  My parents saw this thing on some doctor show about drinking a little bit of pickle juice to alleviate heartburn.  I forgot why this is supposed to work, but it has! 

I'm getting up 2-3 times a night to pee.  I've gotten a few leg cramps.  I'm having lots of vivid dreams and nightmares.  

I still have not gained any weight, but I'm expecting that to change here in the near future since my appetite is starting to increase!  However, I am still having to tell people that I am pregnant because they can't tell by looking at me.  

I have been having a few days of pelvic pressure, which I don't remember having with Joey.   I also think that baby girl is moving up towards my ribs because it is getting a little harder to breath.  I hope baby girl is not born with a third eye because I've had a few deli meat sandwiches. 

Belly Photo, Week 26!  Please do not tell me that the pointy part of my belly is Bristol.  It is not.  It is my muffin top that I have always had.  When I was not pregnant.  When I was at my heaviest.  When I was at my skinniest.  I've just always had that belly awning.  Bristol is just pushing that awning out further than it normally is, which is pretty annoying since no one knows I'm prego, meaning that they think that fat muffin is normally that large and in charge. This physical characteristic is what makes me not want to wear maternity shirts because maternity shirts are somewhat designed to show off the cute baby belly.  However, if you have a fat muffin hiding your baby belly, then those maternity shirts are just a big obnoxious sign to others that you have a fat muffin.

Oh, and you may have noticed I chopped all of my hair off.  I've been wanting to do this for years, but never had the guts.  However, Joey likes to pull my hair when he is mad and it would drive me bonkers!  Plus, I am hot here in So Cal, what the heck am I going to do in hot, humid NC while 9/10 months pregnant?!?!  I figured this was the time to chop it all off, especially since I'm taking prenatal vitamins.  My hair will grow like a weed! 

23 Weeks

We had baby girl's checkup last week.  She's doing well and growing!   

I'm feeling good.  Just tired because I don't sleep well now.  Baby has been lying on my Sciatic nerve so that has caused a lot of issues.  As my mom put it, baby girl is already a pain in the butt!  Ha ha!  Fortunately, for me, baby has moved a little because my butt/lower back does not hurt nearly as much as it was.  Only when I move certain ways.  I also got my first pregnancy leg cramp last night.  :(   And the heartburn is around daily now. 

I also have not gained or lost any weight this month!  Holla!  I'm just not as hungry this time around, which helps since I'm not supposed to gain a pound.  I think it also helps not having Michael here.  Michael is awesome at bringing me comfort food or joining me in my bad indulgences!  When your toddler goes to bed around 630, and you're craving ice cream at 8, oh freaking well!  You can't go get it because you can't leave the kid and you're certainly not going to wake him so you can have some frozen deliciousness!  I also don't prepare big meals much while Michael's gone.  When it's just you and a toddler eating, ease and convenience definitely win out most nights.  I feed Joey his food, and I may eat a sandwich or some soup.  I hate preparing a real meal and Joey won't touch it.  So frustrating!  Plus, I can never get through all of the leftovers before they go bad or I'm sick of them!

Oh, have I told you that we picked out a name for baby girl?  Bristol Healy.  Yes, they are both Alaskan places.  No, baby girl will not be born there.  No, we did not name her after Sarah Palin's daughter.  Yes, we really like the name Bristol.  No, she is not named after the NASCAR race track.  :)