April 23, 2005

end of the second trimester

I had my last doctor's visit for the second trimester last week. It went really well, although I forgot to get another bottle of Glucola, so I need to go back next week. The appointments are always really short. The nurse measures my weight and blood pressure, and then I see the doctor for probably less than 10 minutes. She checks my chart, answers any questions, and listens to the baby's heartbeat.

So far I've been going to the doctor every month. Now I need to go every two to three weeks until week 36, when I start going weekly. Gary's gone with me to every scheduled appointment, which has been wonderful. It's nice to have the company, but he also helps me remember what questions I have, and more importantly, remembers the answers! Plus it means he is meeting all of the doctors, so he will have met the OB on call for my delivery.

We are trying to gear up for the labor and delivery, but it hasn't been easy. My almost step-sister-in-law (Gary's dad's girlfriend's daughter) sent me a bunch of books on how to have a (relatively) pain-free delivery without drugs. On the flip side, one of my good friends who just had her second baby a couple of months ago said she opted for an epidural right away. We've already decided to go to Stanford Hospital instead of a birthing center, so that rules out a few possibilties (like a water birth). We are taking a class in a few weeks that I am hoping will help me figure out what I can do.

Posted by Jen at 08:05 AM | Comments (0)

April 17, 2005

baby names

No, we haven't come up with a name for the baby. Here are some that we are considering:

Default: I told a friend that we could always use Gary as a default; Gary and I then decided that Default might be a better name.

Trainee: from an article my FIL sent us. The first baby has a name carefully chosen for him; the 4th baby gets a name picked off a nametag at the hospital. This article also suggested that having children is like having martinis, which tells me two things: 1) the article was meant to be humorous, and 2) we might end up with a lot of children.

Gary: see Default

Gary++: he's internet-ready and Y2K-compliant!


Some names we have already rejected:

Ratbert: this was in a German baby-name book our Swiss friends lent us.

Wigbald: see Ratbert

Arnold: as much as I love the Governator, I won't be naming my son after him.

Posted by Jen at 08:08 PM | Comments (0)

glucose test, take one

I was supposed to do my glucose test yesterday. I fasted overnight, drank a bottle of super sweet soda (it's called Glucola and it tastes like bad Sunkist), and rushed to the lab so they could take my blood an hour later. Unfortunately, the lab in Fremont doesn't do this test on Saturdays (contrary to what they told me at my doctor's office), so I drank a disgusting soda at 7.30 am for nothing. :( Plus, I got a bit lost on my way to the lab, so I was really stressed by the time I got there. The Fremont lab wouldn't give me another bottle of Glucola; it's prescription only, so my doctor has to approve. It's a bottle of nasty cheap soda, for goodness sakes! The good thing to come out of my failed test was that the Glucola really got the baby going, so Gary got to feel him kick a lot.

In other pregnancy news, I have grown out of my first pair of maternity jeans. I'm actually kind of glad, because I've been wearing them nearly every day since the middle of February and am very tired of seeing them. Just in time I grew in to another pair that I had bought a few months ago, but that still only left me with one pair of pants. Gary took me shopping yesterday and we found a pair of off-white trousers and white short overalls. I have several skirts, but it's too cold where I work to wear them yet.

Posted by Jen at 07:58 PM | Comments (0)

April 11, 2005

It's a...

Gary and I went for our second ultrasound a few weeks ago, and learned that we're having a boy! Click here for a picture from the recent ultrasound (and here if you want to see the first one).

The ultrasound was totally amazing. The baby was much larger than he was at the first ultrasound, so it wasn't possible to see all of him in one shot. But, there was still an incredible level of detail that neither of us expected. We were able to see the four chambers of his heart, his brain, his eyes and mouth moving, and the source of all that kicking I've been feeling recently. The technician also checked blood flow through the heart and umbilical cord to make sure everything was smooth. We're excited knowing we're having a boy, but also knowing that he's looking healthy.

Meanwhile, back outside, Gary and I have been busy trying to get the house more baby-friendly. We've gone shopping for a crib and changing table, and ordered a glider for me yesterday. The current plan is for my office to be partially converted into the baby's room, and to keep the guest bedroom set up for guests for the first few months. Some time next year we'll convert the guest bedroom into a kid's room.

The next big baby-hurdle is my glucose tolerance test, which checks for gestational diabetes. I've got a bottle of super-sweet orange drink in the fridge; I am supposed to fast for several hours, drink the stuff, then go get my blood tested. With luck (and good chemistry) I will pass and not have to worry about it. Otherwise, I get to do another test, which is much longer and (I've heard) less pleasant.

Posted by Jen at 07:29 AM | Comments (8)