RSV is not for me!

This blog post is serving as a placeholder to store this link as to whether or not my insurance company covers Synagis. This document would seem to indicate that it does, although pre-authorization is necessary.

Good to know.

http://notesnet.carefirst.com/ecommerce/medicalpolicy.nsf/vwwebtablex/9a3bd7b8825a217d85257ad900561b33?OpenDocument

You're carrying so well...

As I get closer to new baby day, more and more people are starting to tell me, "you're so small!" Or "you're carrying so well!"

Once upon a time I would have thrilled to receive such compliments, especially when 7 months pregnant. But when you're worried about your baby being small, and you're choking down.protein bars and protein shakes, and resisting the urge to take a long walk on a nice day, somehow those kindly meant comments fall flat...

Tiny clothes and niggling fears

My nesting instinct is finally being satisfied. Nursery has been set up for double occupancy. Basement renovation is underway. And I had the chance this weekend to sort through itty-bitty baby clothes, which brought me to sentimental tears. Although I am having difficulty believing those tiny little garments used to fit the sturdy, adorable boy who is rapidly entering his terrible threes!

It is making me terribly excited to have another of these extraordinary creatures in my home...

Now we turn to the dark side...

My OB inadvertently raised all sorts of niggling paranoid fears in me during our routine appointment. She lectured me on overdoing it, told me no more working out and that I need to take it easy. The baby is too small, she said, and because of that is likely to come early. Because of the heart defect, we want the baby as big as possible.

For me that means several things. One, I am trying very, very hard to take it easier. I am also bulking up on protein in an effort to pack some ounces on the bean prior to the next growth check ultrasound.

Finally, I am trying very, very hard to turn my thoughts away from the dark place of premature birth and preterm labor. The nightmare of a preterm little one with a heart defect is one I can barely wrap my mind around, and yet now, it is almost all I think about.

I am reading all sorts of books on preterm labor and high risk pregnancies and, frankly, I'm finding the stats to be pretty reassuring. Still, I will feel much better when I'm at the 34 week mark and beyond.

30 weeks, 4 days...

C-section is scheduled for Monday, April 22nd. Here's hoping I make it!

A very scary night...

So, I was leaving my office Monday night when all of a sudden it felt like the baby dropped into my pelvis and lodged there and I started feeling contractions. Now, this was a day when I had walked a ton - several miles between walking to the metro and wandering around town to meetings - so I figured that I had overdone it and needed to rest.

I must have looked pretty awful, because several solicitous passersby stopped to ask me if I was OK.

Hopped on the train, sat down, and the contractions just kept getting worse and more intense. In a rare display of common sense, I called my husband to say I wasn't going to be able to make the 3/4 mile walk home from the Metro, asking him to pick me up.

Arrived home and did exactly what I was supposed to do. Lay down on my left side. Guzzled water. Waited for the contractions to stop.

Except they didn't. They got worse. And more regular. And more intense.10 minutes apart. 8 minutes apart.

I began to panic. I began to imagine the extraordinary complications of any baby - much less a heart baby - born at 29 weeks.

So I called the doctor. Who agreed it was alarming. She told me to give it another hour of rest and called the hospital to let them know I might be coming it, just in case.

The scramble to find a friend to watch the boo, who was being his cheerful, funny self throughout the panic I was trying so hard to hide, began, and fortunately, we managed to find someone to come over.

And the hour passed. And, thankfully, the contractions began to ease. Became less regular and farther apart. Less intense. Hospital visit cancelled.

Get some rest, the doctor warned. You don't want to end up on bed rest.

No, I certainly don't.

I am now doing my best to take it easy. Not my strong suit, to say the least. Utterly incompatible with my lifestyle, if you want to know the truth. But I am dutifully taking cabs instead of walking or metro-ing. I am limiting the number of Hill meetings I'll do in a day. I am forgoing spontaneous trips to the grocery store and limiting my training appointments at the gym.

It's all very annoying.

But I'm sure this will not be the last time the bean will teach me the meaning of patience.

Happy CHD Awareness Week!

Another week, another doctor's appointment. Met our new cardiologist, Dr. Donofrio - answered some lingering questions, such as about the timing of the surgery. Looks like our window of action is 8 weeks to 4 months. For the record, that range is July 21-Aug. 16, assuming Bean arrives when expected.

Bean spent the whole US sucking its thumb and hand chewing. Cute!