Another Day at the Lab

Well, it's been a while since I've visited the local blood lab. The last time I went there was for my betas back in April. How have I gotten to the 3rd trimester of pregnancy without a lab visit you ask? The routine blood work that is normally done when you get pregnant was already done by my RE just before my IVF, we opted out of the prenatal triple screen testing, and the mid pregnancy blood work was done while I was in hospital with the kidney stone.

My OB ordered the long glucose tolerance test, and a repeat hemoglobin level because my iron is prone to being on the low side. There are new guidelines for gestational diabetes testing and they've now eliminated the screening test and skip right to the full test. It involves fasting overnight, getting a baseline blood draw, drinking a sickeningly sweet liquid much like orange pop without the fizz, and then having blood drawn an hour later and again two hours later to see how your body clears the glucose. I decided to book the day off work, because it would take most of the morning at the lab to get through the testing, and I figured I wouldn't feel great following.

I ate a snack in the evening prior to the test, but woke up around 2am hungry with a baby nudging my side. It took a while to get back to sleep, but I managed to sleep until 6:30 or so.  I always eat breakfast straight away when I first get up, so I had to write myself a big note on the fridge reminding me not to eat this morning.  I drank some water, had my shower, and set off for the lab.

There is always a line up of seniors there before the 7:30am opening. Ah yes, there were even some familiar faces there from my many trips for estradiol checks. I've never quite figured out why they all come so early when they are not fasting or having to rush off to work.

I took my number from the ticket machine and spotted an empty chair in the foyer, and quickly laid my claim. I've given up my seat so many times before for elderly people or pregnant women -not today, I was keeping my buns firmly planted there.

I waited about 40 minutes for my name to be called. The tech drew my blood and then gave me the large cup of orange syrup and set a timer -I had to get the full thing down in 5 minutes or less. It took me back to being 8 years old at a McDonalds birthday party.  I noticed another middle aged woman across from me who was also drinking the liquid.  She chugged hers while I sipped mine. Gag... I got my drink down just under the 5 minute wire.

The tech then attached the timer to my requisition slip and gave me the drill about what would happen next. I'd need to sit still for an hour and have my blood drawn, and then repeat after another hour. No leaving the waiting area, and no walking around allowed.

Fortunately I remembered to bring a book, and I actually finished the whole thing over the course of the morning. I also find it interesting to people watch. It's always interesting to overhear the types of tests people are getting. There were lots of routine blood cell counts, and urine tests. Then there are the young guys rushing in red-faced with little paper bags -I can only guess that they are semen samples. Ughh... and don't forget the stool samples... don't take the chair next to that drop off basket.

Anyway, back to my book...

I heard my name called for the 3rd blood draw, but when I went to take a seat in room 1, there was already the other woman doing the GTT sitting in the chair. The lab tech prepped the equipment needed and then came out to get something else, she looked confused and asked why I was standing in the hall when I hadn't been called. I told her that I thought I had been called, but maybe I misheard. She clarified my name and it turned out she had nearly mixed me up with the other woman. She asked her to go back and take her seat for a minute while she took my blood. The other woman then said in a whiny voice, pointing at me "but she finished her drink after I did, why does she get to go first?" The tech explained that although we were both doing glucose tolerance tests, mine was a bit different because it was a pregnancy one, and that it was when the drink was started, not when it was finished that was important for the timing. She sulked back to her seat and let me into the blood draw room. Jeesh!

I was running out of arm space by the last blood draw. At least she was skilled at finding veins. I honestly think though that I've become a bit numb on the inside of my elbow after all of the infertility blood work I've had done.

After my 3 hour stay, I was finally released from the lab with a headache and a hungry tummy. I treated myself to a breakfast burrito and a decaf at a nearby coffee shop before driving home. I was fairly sleepy following.

After I woke up from an afternoon nap, I checked online for my results. Good news, it looks like I don't have gestational diabetes -hooray!  My hemoglobin levels were a bit below the normal range, however, so I suspect my OB will have me increase my iron supplement a bit.

Sleep Musings

I think I have officially said goodbye to full nights of uninterrupted sleep for the next several years.

Baby Silver now consistently gets me up at least twice a night during fetal kickboxing practice which turns usually into a good time for a bathroom break and a snack, heck why not answer a few e-mails while I'm at it?!!?

This morning I had the added task of giving my DH a ride to the airport at 5:45am. He kissed me goodbye and kissed my belly and told the baby to let mommy go back to sleep for an hour or so this morning. That was a no go.  So, I now feel like I need to insert toothpicks into my eyelids to keep them open at work all day. Do you think anyone would notice if I actually did that?

I know it's only the beginning because there will be lots of night time wakings and feedings in my life very soon. I can't help but think though that it might be easier to manage once I don't have to be at work full time every day. My brain power can focus solely on my own baby and life at home rather than all the needs of children belonging to other people, and all of their various caregivers & professionals that come along with them.

I'm going to miss you sleep. I hope you come back to join me later in life. Perhaps after menopause? No then I'll be up worried about a teenager who hasn't come home yet. Hmmm... I think I should just resign myself to a life consisting of a series of sporadic cat naps.

Last Monthly OB Appointment

I had my routine monthly OB appointment today. I've had some minor nerve compression in my left thigh that comes on as tingling/numbness after I've been standing for a while. It's not too bothersome, but is quite annoying considering how much standing I do in my job. He said it's common and should go away once the baby gets a bit bigger and assumes a more head down position in my pelvis.

All is well with the baby's growth. I'm 26 wks + 3 days and the fundal height was 26.5cm today. I'm up 1 kg (2 1/2 lbs) since last month. Baby's heartbeat was 152bpm and my blood pressure was nice and normal at 130/60. He gave me the script for the gestational diabetes testing, and another iron check so Friday morning I'm off to spend 3 hours at the lab -whoo hoo!


I noticed this week that I've got only 2.5" between my belly and the steering wheel in my car. I can't move my seat or my steering wheel any further away and still reach the pedals to clutch or brake. At least I don't have an airbag. My OB has recommended that I only drive in town at regular city speeds and avoid highway driving if at all possible. Likely by the end of next month I won't be able to fit behind the wheel and will need to give up driving. That's not going to be easy with my work because I do home/ school/ daycare visits, so I may need to go off earlier than planned or modify my days.

I'm now on an every 2 week schedule with OB appointments for October and November. Then up to weekly in December.

99 Days to go (or so)

According to my estimated due date, we have just 99 more days to go with this pregnancy. This means I'm rounding the corner out ot the 2nd trimester and almost into T3. Wow, time flies.

I'm starting to feel the fatigue creeping in again, and the physical aspect of my work is getting harder now. It still seems surreal that we are going to actually get a baby after all of this.

After this week, I start seeing my OB every two weeks. We also have our prenatal class at the end of October, or as my DH likes to say "the push the baby out classes".  I left the booklet on the kitchen table today and DH was reading up on the labour and delivery section while eating his breakfast.

Crib Shopping

DH and I have begun browsing and researching cribs. We started online. Wow, who knew there were so many different options out there.

First off the sliding rails are now totally out because of a safety recall. This pretty much puts buying a used crib out of the question. All the cribs have a fixed rail, but the height of the rail is not standard. Me being 5'1" and my DH 5'6" (with our shoes on) we wondered how this was going to work for reaching over the rail. We took along a tape measure last night to some stores and began sizing up the side rails. There was everything from 34"-36 1/2" to reach over, and the rails came in all different thicknesses. Considering my inseam is just 27", I can just get my belly over the 34" rail by standing tip-toe, anything higher was out of the question. Good to know!

DH looked at each model with a rock climber's point of view. How easily could little Silver get a foothold on that spindle? That railing forms a perfect ledge for a perch. Yes, we are expecting an agile toddler on our hands, so the more climb proof the better.


Cribs now mostly convert to a variety of other bedding options (toddler bed, day bed, and double bed). Looking at the toddler bed conversion, they look really high from the ground and I wondered about little Silver falling out. The I remembered when I was 2 1/2 my brother came along, and I got booted out of my crib and my dad pulled out his table saw and whipped together a loft style bunk bed.  I remember it being so high that I could reach up and touch my ceiling. I only fell out twice before my parents added a guard rail. Interesting how things have changed.

Here's the best one we've seen so far for the price and it gets good reviews. It's made by Graco and the model is "Sarah". It also matches the walnut furniture we have.

Between Two Worlds

It was another big day yesterday. I took a trip down to Victoria to attend my friend's baby shower.  It's been a couple of years since I've been turning down invites to baby showers, but am starting to integrate them back into my social life now. I must say, I really enjoyed myself. My friend is expecting an IVF baby and has not had an easy pregnancy, so was so honoured to share this special time with her.

It still feels a bit strange though -like a club I waited on the outside for a long time to join, to which I'm not yet a full fledged member. I don't have much to contribute to the labour stories and, the conversation about motherhood to which I'm not yet initiated.  Then there was the awkwardness of "how do you two know each other" question which fortunately I was able to avoid for the most part. In a way it was actually easier to not know anyone other than the guest of honour.  I'd forgotten about all the little shower games and actually ended up doing really well on the guess-the-chocolate-bar-in-the-diaper one (go figure). Maybe I'll be a whiz at analyzing my baby's poo??!?

Before I went to the shower I met another clinic pal for coffee who is still in the trenches with cycling. It was so nice to meet her in person, and to share stories and a few giggles. I must say I still feel like I have more in common with people doing IVF than with other pregnant women or moms, except I'm no longer stuck in that horrible emotional crux wondering if there would ever be a way out. Even my memories of procedures and details are softening around the edges.

It's like being between two worlds -the infertility world and the motherhood world. It can be a bit lonely sometimes, but I remind myself that it's all a normal part of transition and change.

Between coffee and the shower I stopped in at my old clinic. As I approached the front door, I had this wave of nervousness come over me (I guess that anxiety associated with that place hasn't completely gone away!). There was another couple entering at the same time.  I picked them out right away as fertility patients because they looked a bit like stunned deer in the headlights-I remember those days so well. I shared the elevator ride with them and sure enough they were also going to the same floor. It was one of the hottest days we've had this summer, so I was wearing just capris and a t-shirt. I wished at that moment that I had a long loose fitting cardiagan to throw on to cover my bump. What business to I have walking into their fertility clinic smiling and glowingly pregnant?  Luckily they took the washroom keys and headed down the hallway while I chatted with the nurse who was on shift. She recognized me right away and asked how far along I was, and how the pregnancy was going. She sent me to the other side of the office where my RE was taking a phone call, and said she would let him know I was there.

As I sat in the empty waiting area I was thinking about the hours I had spent there anxiously awaiting whatever news each appointment would bring. He came out a few minutes later and was beaming with a big wide grin. He reached out as if to hug me but instead put both of his hands firmly on my belly. "It's so good to see you, and you (speaking to little Silver), thanks for stopping by".  It was a strangely intimate but very comfortable moment. We sat and chatted briefly about the pregnancy and I thanked him for answering my e-mails and giving me some direction and reassurance during the kidney stone scare. He admitted that he was really worried that I might go into preterm labour, and was so relieved when it passed. As I was leaving he said he hoped that we'd arrange to bring our baby by for a visit in the new year. "You know he/she is partly ours" he said. "Of course" I responded "It's the least I can do". Even once the transition to mommyhood has happened. I don't think I'll ever be able to let go entirely of the infertility world and the village of people that helped make our child.

24 weeks!

I'm 24 weeks today!!! This is a real milestone for me as it means fetal viability is possible if my baby was born today. Many of my little patients are born this early -hard to believe. I can breathe out a little more now and maybe make a few purchases. I've been keeping an eye on the kijiji and Craig's List sites for my area.

It also means it's time for another belly pic. At the beginning of the week there wasn't much visible growth and then just in the last couple of days there was another spurt. There's no mistaking it now -I look pregnant.

Yesterday I was at a school and I had one teacher exclaim "wow, you've got a baby in there!" I almost tried to play with her head and was going to say "no, I just put on a little weight over the summer"  but I didn't. Later in the day another teacher came up and rubbed my belly - I guess it begins, my bump is now public property. 

So How Do You Two Know Each Other?

I am going to attend a baby shower on Sunday for a woman I met last year online/at my clinic. We went through many similar things in our infertility journey and really hit it off. We've stayed in touch and gotten together several times since then.  She's just 12 weeks ahead of me in her pregnancy.

Anyway, I got an invite from her friend to come to her baby shower and said I was happy to attend. The other day I was thinking about what to say if someone at the shower asked how we knew each other.  I e-mailed her and we came up with a reasonable story that we met at a yoga class last summer.

I was telling my husband about it during dinner last night and he said "why don't you just tell people the truth - you got knocked up by the same man"? I nearly fell over laughing.

A Kick for Daddy

My husband has been trying to feel a baby movement for many weeks, but every time he tries the little monkey suddenly gets shy and stops moving around.

Last night he had his ear on my belly while we were watching a movie, and he finally felt a kick for the first time! He was so proud of his little guy kicking for daddy (he's convinced it's a boy).

Anniversary

It's our anniversary today. We've been together 8 years, but married for the last 3. The traditional gift for a 3rd anniversary is something made of leather. Not being traditional people, we opted for a more modern twist on the theme and went on a kayaking trip in an orca whale area hoping for a sighting.  We luckily found private campsites all three nights -it's a popular area for kayakers, so that is a rarity indeed (someone out there must have known we were "celebrating" our anniversary, and gave us our space).

The first two days we heard the reports on the VHF radio that the resident whales had gone north and south of us. We saw sea lions, porpoise, and plently of seals and birds, but no whales. At least I had lots of time to practice my new technique for getting in and out of a kayak with my expanding midsection.  On the final day we had just made a route adjustment due to thick fog that morning and forecasted strong winds for the afternoon.

We were just about to start back to the original launch site, when they made their grand entrance. I was actually in the outhouse when I heard my husband yelling from the beach. "There's a pod of 4 whales right in front of the shoreline".  I quickly came out to the beach to see them swimming off. We got in our boats and began paddling along the shoreline in that direction, and it wasn't long before they returned and swam around us for a while. We had about 15 minutes to enjoy them on our own before the whale watching boats descended upon us fully loaded with tourists hoping to capture a snapshot. At one point their boat was listing quite far to the port side because everyone was crowded in for a look.

We continued to paddle along the shoreline and the whales moved with us. It is such a spectacular way to experience whale watching. You hear them surface and breathe out a big poof of mist before you see them surface. Throughout that morning we saw a total of 4 different pods of whales. My fave of course was the mom and calf that swam in perfect synchronicity.

My husband pondered whether or not the whales would know that I'm pregnant. Apparently dolphins can tell with their sonar. I don't know, but they sure seemed attracted to us. I'll take that over a leather anniversary gift any day.