HepArin versus

I always for get that heparin has an A in it. It's not like it is pronounced Hep-A-rin. well not that I have ever heard it. We 'al jes say heprin 'round here.

It's not the only thing that I forgot about heparin. At this point I don't know what is better lovenox or heparin. I've complained enough about lovenox, so now that Ive been doing heparin for a while and its nice a fresh I can tell you its cons. and although the cons are different they probably weight each other out.

Heprin isn't fun because I have to do 75 mL 2x a day. (vs 40mL once a day with Lovenox) that's a lot of fluid to push into my thighs.
{at this point my belly is so big and tight doing a sub injection there hurts more and ...only gives me a long lasting bruise and with AFI's and ultrasounds at least once a week on my belly- it doesn't sit right}

Anyway, It's a lot of fluid leaving big bruised on my thighs. so you run out of skin after, um, a day. so I've become kind of bad at pushin heparin as many times a day as I should. Some days I'm braver than others...

I've reached 37 whole weeks.
and here is a picture to prove it.

I took this pic exactly on day/week 37. since I've gotten bigger...scale says so. It's only been 5 days!

On this day I had a:
NST
Ultrasound & AFI
OB Visit
Rhemotolgist appointment

My ob visit went great...baby is nice and big... 6 lbs. My NST's have all gone smooth. This baby is so busy they have never had to "zap" him awake shake my belly. If anything he has been too busy, twirling and swirling in there he moves off the monitor. Doesn't that make you nervous?! It sure makes me....I might have quite a busy baby boy on my hands soon. AHH so soon.

We scheduled my induction.
7th at 7! 10 whole days away.
I kind of feel I'll make it that long. I have a lot of contractions, and strong ones. but not even close to being regular and they always go away after a while. I think that's pretty normal, especially for like your 3rd child. My body knows what to do and is getting ready. {am I ready?}

Later that afternoon I went to the Rhem. there wasn't too much to discuss with her. I haven't had blood drawn for a while, and nothing in my health has changed so she checked my joints and I was on my way.

I did talk to her about my anemia. I've tried everything....remember that soft gel I was so excited about. It hasn't made any difference. I'm still anemic. Not too severe- nothing that the rhem is worried about. It's pretty normal for what they see, and someone like me. She called it Chronic anemia. My hemoglobin stores scores are fine so they really aren't worried.
It's only when I come onto a new doc, who isn't used to my type of scores do they always beg me to take iron.

That news made me feel better. None-the-less, I hope one day I'll NOT be anemic. so do my teeth.


10 days.
maybe I'll get another post in.
maybe I won't.
I've got a lot to do for this baby still.
wish me luck.

Veinticinco

I know. This blog needs some more color or SOMETHING other than these colorful pills. I'll start brainstorming..... and hey- if your talented and have ideas, I'm open. 

oh meds. Can I just be off the prednisone. It's making me miserable. No sleep. Major heartburn. 

So added to the medication pile is 2 zantac 150's and benadryl. although ben is no pictured. just FYI. Niether are the millions of tums I have gone through. 

It seems I take a zantac around 11, when I can't bare it anymore and it wears off by dinner. until my appointment I was restricted to only 1 zantac150  a day. so I would have to suffer through the nice on tums. and those leave a nasty taste in your mouth, especially when I take them at night and I'm to tired to rinse my mouth after. The whole next day my tongue is tingling and doesn't taste things the same. Anyone else's do that? 

OTHER than the heartburn and no sleep, I'm doing really pretty good. I seem to be able to catch naps to keep me going. And I still feel like I can accomplish more than that first trimester exhaustion. 

Baby Boy 3 is growing nice and big and healthy. I was happily surprised when the nurse said I would be getting a growth ultrasound at this appointment. They hadn't warned me of that before. Don't you love lookin at your baby. 

Everything looks good from the screen and he is measuring a few days ahead of schedule. By my next appointment- where they will do another ultrasound, they expect he should be around 3lbs. double in size. Crazy. I'm starting into the growing big stage. 

As for the lupus- blood draw was eariler this week. I'm hoping for a call today or tomorrow. Praying for good news and release from Prednisone. HA. 

 25 week picture in the mirror.

24 week ultrasound

long awaited

Enough utlrasound pictures for ya? naw, maybe we should throw in another sheet.

The long awaited 20 week appointment has come and gone. I stressed a lot, for some silly reason, about whether or not to find out the sex. In the end it didn't really matter- when the tech moved down to the lower region of baby's body to measure femur I saw, I what I hoped was an umbilical chord....and something else round. (I wanted a girl) but wha la! we have another boy. It's so good we are having a boy. I'm excited for Jack to have baby brother to play and look after. The whole girl thing was purely selfish. to read more....click here

I feel really good right now. I am a PERFECT stage. I'm not so big that everything hurts and simple chores are complicated to get done. but I'm not sick to my stomach and laying around on the couch all day either. (not that I'm up to par) I have a feeling that until I get to that giant size the pregnancy is going to fly. But we know how slow that last month goes by.

#4

Andy- goof.

Me-15 weeks

Aubrey(my sis)- 22 weeks

17 weeks and 4 days

Back to the baby doc... my 4th appointment, week 17.

I am back to my weight at week 7. yay. could have sworn I weighed more! blast.

I still have heartburn but I feel I'm doing better at managing it and eating- both.

I can feel little kicks every now an then. so fun.

My biggest questions for the doc was what are we going to do at 37 weeks.

My perinatologists with Syd and Jack pushed me to be induced at 37 week, and I was curious what his protocal was.

SO for now- the plan is to switch from Lovenox to heprin. which will mean two shots a day- bad and good. poking myself is not fun, but at least heprin wont burn and leave the bruises I feel with lovenox.

NST's will start 2x a week at 32 weeks

And no induction planned...for now. Obviously if I things are going downhill....

Its a good plan. Im happy to stick to that.

I will say it one thing worries me.

I like epidurals.

I try not to go through more pain than I have already been through in this life.

but with an unplanned labor delivery means I can't plan my meds, which means my blood maybe too thin for an epidural.

Well worry about that later.

#3- week 12

so I walk into this appointment and go through all the usual stuff with the nurse....Tiffany.

weight.

pee sample.

arrive in room.

go through list of meds.

any concerns?

now lets listen to that babies heart beat.

FOREVER she searched and searched. Eventually she gave up and we wandered into the ultrasound room. Yay for me another ultrasound...if I didn't miscarry.

I didn't. There on the screen wasn't a dot. Or a worm. but a Baby. the fetus is looking less and less alien like. haha. and nice and clear you could see the fluttering heart beat.

phew.

Doctor walks in and first thing he says: You've LOST weight. The amount of his concern on this matter alarms me, or surprises me mostly. Sure it's not good that I lost a couple of pounds but he is way concerned.

Not that I liked hearing I had lost weight either. My goal for this pregnancy is to EAT and to get BIG. Jack and Sydney were both so little. Especially Jack. He was 37 weeks, full term, but only 5.5 lbs. His tiny-ness effected me and I felt responsible. I was induced (with strong recommendations of doctors). I didn't eat enough.

I don't want the same thing to happen this time.

Women with lupus have smaller babies. Women with lupus go into labor earlier and earlier with each baby. With that being said-There is no doubt in my mind that I will go early and I will have a small baby....so until that day comes I'll do my best to make this kid nice and chubby, and healthy.

So why had I lost weight? The morning sickness had set in about week 8. Up until then I had been gulping down food like crazy with all my cravings. Then I started getting sick AND I have major heart burn.

I feel that my morning sickness is pretty mild compared to so many women, and I'm so thankful for that!! I feel I can control it pretty good. I can eat most food, but only a little. Once I start feeling like I'm going to throw up and Stop and walk away. If I keep goin- I'm dead.

Im still eating, just not enough.

ALSO- heartburn. Since my glorious chemo days of constant throwing up I have had heart burn. My doctors said all that throwing up probably ruined my sphincter. For the last couple of years on chemo and a few years after a regularly took Prevacid; however, my heartburn problems faded away and if I controlled any problems with Tums.

BUT with pregnancy it all flares up again. Not too surprising- right? Since women who have never had heartburn in their life get it during their pregnancies.

Now that my heartburn is up and going I don't eat what will cause me pain. which is also a factor to my lost pounds.

So my new resolve is... EAT. shouldn't be too hard.

2nd Utlrasound

At this second appointment am 7 weeks along- to see the heart beat I got to have another ultrasound. Both the kids were with me and thought it was pretty cool. Although the baby looks nothing more than a worm, you could see its fluttering heart beat.

Hearing the heart beat for the first time is always monumental. a Little bit of reality sets in.

I feel great still! (guessing it will end soon) I am definitely going through lots of cravings... like lettuce wraps and coconut rice, KFC (a little ashamed to admit this) chips and salsa- but only the kid from the sit down mexican restaurant.I smell things differently, and my regular meals taste a little different...but at least I'm not throwing them up yet.

Getting Started

For some reason- with baby number 3- I was scared. I had to go about this very cautiously.

It was not the case with Baby #1.

A. I didn't know if I could get pregnant.

B. I was afraid the doctors would say no.

So I just went ahead did it anyway. (better to apologize after than to ask permission, right?) After about 8 months of trying, we stopped. only to get pregnant. (we were moving and doing some crazy transition stuff. Didn't want my health and a baby to complicate things.)

and were so happy.

My mom, went in a room and cried. not a happy cry.

( a scared for my daughter cry. She went through alot watching me before)

Since Baby #1 went so smoothly....as far as my health. We got pregnant very quickly with Baby #2. I had a strong desire for Sydney to have a sibling. It was a good choice. They have been best friends.

BUT after having Jack, baby #2, my body has not felt as healthy.

I got a cold and the flu shortly after giving birth and it took me 3+ months to recover from that. My liver scores elevated, and I've been anemic. So, even though I have remained in remission with my lupus, I feel my body has still taken a toll with these babies. And I wanted to know- with assurity that my body could handle another baby. If not, then we would adopt.

So in Nov. last year, 2009 I started seeing doctors.

I want a bigger family. And before my youngest was 4!

The problem was that we lived in a tiny town called Moscow. The only doctor I could see that might know enough about lupus was an internist.

he was and old, nice doctor but didn't really help. He told me my liver scores were still up, but I was still in remission. (nad news, and really good news) He recommended I go across the hall (yes literally across the hall) and see someone in the OBGYN group...and they would better help me on having a baby, with lupus.

make sense from the baby part but not for the disease part.

So I got into a Doc, who was 3 months out...so I saw in early Feb 2010.

Another nice. old. doctor.

He didn't recommend having a baby.

He also said some things that helped to understand he wasn't very knowledgable about lupus patients.

And he said I would have to travel to spokane for the docs anyway.

We put having babies on hold till we moved to our big city with nice fancy doctors.

I do have to see "perinatologist" I think they have recently renamed themselves to maternal fetal medicine. in other words- high risk pregnancy doctors.

We moved here early June and I got into my family physician. got a referral.

Aug I was in for consult to Maternal Fetal Medicine.

and he was SO very positive. And so knowledgable. Finally a doctor who really really understood my condition. I love him.

He gave us the go ahead and said " It could take up to a year for you to get pregnant. Be patient"

Sept: I'm pregnant and back in his office.

He turns to Nate, Laughing, and says: "what'd you do, smile at her?"