Registry Madness Leads to Pregnant Woman's Confusion

Hello there! Once again I have been a bad blogger and for that I apologize! Every time I think I have a blog entry planned out I sit down to type and I forget everything I was going to say. I am doing fine, baby Noah is doing fine. I had a doctor’s appointment on Friday and I made sure to tell the NP (both OBs were on vacation) how awful the u/s tech was and how I did not want to go back to him. His report still wasn’t in on Friday nor was it in yesterday so I need to wait for his report to come in so that my OB can order a follow-up u/s. The NP also told me that I will need to get a special ultrasound called a fetal echo. Some sort of ultrasound on the baby’s heart due to the fact that I am on insulin. I am supposed to call and schedule that today. The u/s will be done at University of Maryland Hospital by someone specifically trained to do these types of u/s. I also asked if there was any possibility that I would be allowed to come in every 4 weeks like “normal” pregnant women as opposed to every 2 weeks. The NP, as well as the nurse I spoke to yesterday, told me that I will most likely continue to come in every 2 weeks because I am high risk (I really HATE that phrase.) The nurse also told me that starting at 27 weeks I will have to come in every 2 weeks anyway. So it looks like I will be seeing a lot of my doctor over the next few months.

We registered on Saturday! It was way more overwhelming than I expected. Mainly in the feeding department. There are so many choices about which bottles to use that we got totally confused. We ended up scanning all of the ones we liked and then going home and reading the reviews and narrowing it down.

I also noticed that registering brought out all kinds of assvice from people I didn’t know. One woman saw me looking at slings in BRU and told me that a sling is a waste of money because her baby didn’t like it. I just smiled and nodded and scanned the sling. Just because her baby didn’t like it doesn’t mean mine won’t. Another lady came up to me and told me I MUST get this specific type of stroller. Again I just smiled and walked away. I mean seriously, am I the only person who doesn’t feel comfortable going up to strangers and telling them what to do? All in all it was a fun experience but I’m still not sure if we picked the right items. I figure we have some time yet before people start buying things off of the registry so we can make changes if we need to. If anyone has any free time and is interested in checking out our registries and letting me know what you think I would be grateful. You can go on BRU’s website and also on Baby Depot’s website and search “Morrisa Vollmerhausen” and you should find our registries. I’m not looking for anyone to lecture me about why I shouldn’t use a sling, or that a swing is a waste of money because your baby didn’t like it. I know all babies are different and my baby may hate something that someone else’s loved, or the other way around. What I am looking for is whether I missed anything, something that you used a lot that I didn’t think of, whether there is a particular type of product that I have on there that you had problems with…etc. I will leave you with a few specific questions about the registry and a question about doctor’s appointments.

-Breast pump- rent or buy?: I put two different breast pumps on the registry because I wasn’t sure which one I liked better but they are so expensive! The chances of anyone actually buying it off of the registry is pretty slim. So we will probably end up paying for one ourselves. My question is, is it better to rent one from the hospital or buy one? If we do end up renting one will I still need all of the accessories we registered for? Did I miss any accessories? For instance, they had nipple shields there, do I need that? What is the best type of storage for breast milk, there were so many different options? HELP!

-Bottle sterilizer or dishwasher?: For some reason I was under the assumption that you could wash bottles in the dishwasher, is this not true? We registered for a bottle sterilizer but do we really need it?

- Which type of bottle is best?: We registered for three different types of bottles, one we liked because it said it was like the breast but it didn’t have drop-ins and wasn’t BPA free as far as I can tell. We also registered for the Playtex drop-ins because I figured they would be easier to clean and I would only need to clean the nipples and could maybe even store the breast milk in the bags? The last ones were the Medula bottles that were the same brand as the pump. Any suggestions? What worked best for you or what did you register for?

- When did you start feeling definite stronger movements? I’m getting impatient! I’m still only feeling little flutters and very infrequently, really only once a day.

- Lastly, why do you need to be seen more often once you hit 27 weeks? What do they do that is different at those appointments as opposed to what they do now (Check HB, weight, BP, urine)?

I’m sure I have more questions but that is all I can think of for now. My next post coming up may be what I think about the contestants in the Big Brother House so far. Do I have any Big Brother fans reading?

P.S. 19 weeks tomorrow! I can’t believe we are almost ½ way there!

P.S.S. My one year blogoversary is in 5 days!!!

I can't think of a title...17w6d

Hmmm…where to start. Well, I am extremely glad that we got to have the u/s at the Genetic Center a couple of weeks ago because my experience yesterday for our “big u/s” was nothing like I imagined it to be. First and foremost let me reiterate what I have been saying ever since I started blogging, I HATE my insurance company. The whole experience was nothing like I expected it to be and was honestly flat out infuriating. Let me make a list of the reasons why the ultrasound experience sucked:

-They wouldn’t let Shawn come in the room with me! What ultrasound tech does not let the husband and father of the child in the room during the ultrasound?

- The tech was rude and very hard to understand with a thick accent. He was very to the point, didn’t describe anything he was doing unless I asked. He did things so quick and went zooming around I had no idea what was what.

- The ultrasound machine must have been manufactured in 1950 and the picture was so blurry I couldn’t even make anything out.

- The baby was sitting straight up, butt down facing my spine. Not my fault the position he is in, I guess he likes that position. He was in a similar position last time only he was facing forward. The tech repeatedly said things like “this baby is not cooperating” or “this baby is difficult.” First of all, this is the first time I became a bit defensive, don’t call my child “this baby,” makes him sound like some sort of animal or sub-human. He doesn’t know he is supposed to be posing for an ultrasound for crying out loud! He kept on saying “this is a difficult examination” and “I am not pleased.” We couldn’t get the baby to turn. He asked me to get up and walk around to see if he will turn. I told him I would but I didn’t think he would turn. He asked why and I told him because if this is my child he will be stubborn and if that’s where he wants to be then he will stay there until he decides to move, and I was right, he didn’t budge. I don’t blame him, the tech was pressing so hard on my belly I was crying out from pain. So basically the tech gave up. He measured a few things which all measured right on track (not because he told me but because I watched the calculations on the screen.) I asked him if he could peek between the legs and confirm it is a boy and he said the baby wasn’t in a good position. Hello? He had just got done taking a picture of his legs sticking straight out, but he couldn’t look between them? I asked him if he could at least try and he said no.

- He continually told me that 18 weeks is too early to do the ultrasound because the baby is too small. I told him he would have to talk to my doctor who put the order in for the u/s to be done between 16 and 18 weeks.

At the end he told me we could call Shawn in for a minute “but there is really nothing to see because ‘this baby’ isn’t cooperating.” So I said yes please call him in while I was trying to refrain from throwing the u/s monitor at his head. When Shawn came in the tech asked me if I was going to explain the “situation” to him. There was no “situation,” the baby was just not in a good position so we have to come back, no big deal. So he told us we have to come back in 4 weeks. So when I see my doctor on Friday I have to ask him to put another order in. And you better believe that I am not going back to that center or that tech and I will let me doctor know what an ass this guy was and how the policy to not allow my husband in the room makes no sense.

So anyway, we have no pictures because he wouldn’t give us any and the quality sucked anyway. But, I am not as upset as I would have been had we not had the earlier ultrasound. The tech at the Genetic Center said she was positive it was a boy so until we get our next u/s at 22 weeks we will assume it is a boy. I’m still registering on Saturday though. If for some odd reason it turns out to be a girl we will just switch the gender specific items on the registry to girl items. I’m actually kind of proud of our little baby, shows that he is stubborn just like his Mommy and doesn’t take crap from anyone. I was actually hoping he would give the tech the finger! So, no miraculous amazing big u/s story from me, but the important thing is that he is still in there, heart beating away, measuring right on track. I’m not really concerned about any issues with him structurally because the Genetic Center u/s was very detailed and everything was fine there. That’s all for now folks. If you have any advice for registering I’d be happy to hear it.

And the Bad Blogger Award Goes to... (17w3d)

ME!! Yes, I know. I have been a bad blogger lately. In my defense though we had a huge filing to prepare at work which took up all of my time and left me exhausted when I got home. It's finally over so things should go back to normal now. Things have been going well so far. We actually have our original "big u/s" on Monday so we will get to see baby Noah again and verify that he is in fact a boy. Then next weekend we will be registering! I am actually so excited about registering! We have already been to Babies R Us twice just to see what they have. My shower isn't until November but family has been bugging us about where we are registered already. As for me I'm feeling okay. My blood sugar has been good but I am really struggling to satisfy my sweet tooth! I love to bake and I haven't had the urge to bake because I can't eat what I am good at baking. I have been looking up some recipes that use Splenda and I may try some of them but it still seems like they are loaded with carbs. My nipples (sorry if TMI) have been feeling very raw so we went to BRU and found a moisturizer made just for boobies! It helps a lot. Yesterday I found a little drop of something clear coming out of my nipple but I haven't seen anything since. The thing that has been giving me the most trouble is my back. I am sure I mentioned on here before that I have a herniated disc in my back. Well lately my back pain has been almost unbearable. I have always suffered with some mild back pain but now it hurts to walk sometimes. We went to the fair today to meet some friends and walk around a bit. After about only 2 hours of walking around my back and hip hurt terribly. It still hurts now! I am sure it is only going to get worse but if some back pain is the worst thing I will have to deal with during the remainder of this pregnancy then I will be thankful. As long as I can still walk I will be just fine! The most exciting thing that has been happening over the past week or so is that I think I am beginning to feel the baby move! IT just feels like tiny little taps on the inside of my belly. It doesn't happen regularly and I have to be sitting really still to feel it. I can't wait until I can feel him move more and I really can't wait until Shawn can feel it too. In fact, while I am sitting here I am feeling little taps, too cool! I still feel like this is all a dream or a sick joke and one day I will wake up and realize it isn't real. I'm not sure I will ever get over that feeling until I hold him in my arms and know that he is okay. The doppler has been a real blessing and I am so glad that we decided to get it. Not only does it help to calm my fears but it gives Shawn and I some great bonding time with baby. Someone asked about whether I would recommend other women to get the quad screen. Honestly, if I had to do it again I would not get it done. My recommendation is that if you would not terminate if something was wrong then I wouldn't get the test. For me, the test caused a lot of undue anxiety. But, we are all different and some people might feel like they want to know if there is a possibility if something is wrong. Anyway, I wish I had more to say but thankfully nothing has been going on lately. I will try to be a better blogger and a better commenter, I promise! I will also post again after our u/s on Monday and share pictures too!