I have gone far too long without
writing anything here, despite the fact that I want
to write and have ideas of things to write about. It's not that I'm
super busy (although some weeks it seems like I'm always on the go),
it's more that I'm pretty exhausted most of the time and a lot of the
time all I can manage is to veg out on the couch and watch Netflix or
Hulu, obsessively check Facebook, or read through some of the many
websites and articles about pregnancy, childbirth, and parenting. But
this morning I am committing to writing something and actually
posting it!
So,
first thing's first, an update on how things have been since my last
post in...January (wow!). I was 24 weeks pregnant when I posted last,
I am now approaching 34 weeks and I can't believe I'm approaching the
end of my pregnancy so quickly! There's still so much to do to
prepare for Poppy's arrival and to fully enjoy these last few weeks
as a family of 2.
Things
have been going relatively well overall. My OB appointments have been
uneventful which is kind of strange after so many years of dealing
with health problems. Aside from being on blood thinners, I'd say
that my pregnancy has been totally normal and there have really been
no issues which is fantastic! I am still doing my Lovenox (blood
thinner) shots once a day and they are just part of my daily routine,
although I do have to have alarms go off so I remember. In a few
weeks I'll be switching from Lovenox, which is a once-a-day shot, to
Heparin, which will be 2 or 3 times a day but is safer to be on when
I go into labor because it is shorter acting and can be reversed if I
were to need an emergency c-section. I'm not really looking forward
to the switch because it means more shots everyday, but it will only
be for a few weeks so I'll handle it fine.
We
have been doing our childbirth class which is a Bradley Method class.
It has been great and I think it's really the best one we could have
chosen because it's really thorough and covers all kinds of things
that other classes don't seem to touch on. Of course, it's a 12-week
class so of course it's going to involve things that shorter classes
won't. We worked on putting together our birth plans and I may post
them once we've gone over them with the instructor and finalized
things.
Now,
on the Lyme/chronic illness front things have been pretty stable. I'm
still not needing IV fluids very frequently at all. I actually went
away for a weekend last month and didn't even bring any with me which
is the first time I've done that...probably since I started on IV
fluids back in 2005! It's so crazy go have this level of freedom
without being hooked up to a pump for so much of the day and to not
have my port accessed most of the time. I can actually shower every
day without having to think about it which, again, hasn't happened
since I started on fluids almost 8 years ago! I'm worried that I'll
have a huge crash with all of this after the baby is born and my
blood volume goes back to normal, but we'll be prepared for that as
much as we can with fluids at home and then deal with the issues as
they arise.
We (my
doctor and I) are preparing for the testing which will be done at
birth to see if there is evidence of Lyme or Babesiosis in the
placenta or umbilical cord. She's getting a kit for me to take to the
hospital and then the samples will be sent off to the lab in
California (Igenex Labs, if anyone is interested). I'm not too
worried that there will be evidence of the diseases in the tissue
samples but there is of course still a level of fear that the
antibiotics I've been on during the course of the pregnancy haven't
been enough.
One of
the things that the testing will determine, other than whether we
need to really be worried about Poppy getting either of these
infections from me, is whether or not I will be able to have my
placenta encapsulated. If you don't know what placenta encapsulation
is, here's a website that has some basic information about it –
http://placentanetwork.com/placenta-encapsulation/.
Basically, it involves cleaning, steaming, and dehydrating the
placenta which is then ground up and put into capsules to be taken
for the weeks or months after delivery. This greatly reduces
postpartum depression, helps with healing, and balances out your
hormones. We are the only mammals that do not consume our placentas
and, although I know it may seem gross to some people, the reading
I've done on it and the people I've talked to about it convince me
that it can only be helpful. The only issue is that, with the
infections I have, there's some question about whether it's safe or
not. So, after talking with my doctor about it, we've decided that if
the testing of the placenta comes back negative for both infections
we're testing for, I can go ahead and have it done. So I have someone
lined up to do it and I'll just have to keep my placenta in the
freezer until the results come back.
At my
doctor's appointment yesterday we also determined that we won't be
doing cord blood testing since testing the fluid is less likely to be
accurate than testing tissues (placenta and the cord itself). This is
great since it means that we'll be able to do full delayed cord
clamping and cutting which, again, is something that I've read a lot
about and see it as being a huge benefit to the baby.
I will
also be breastfeeding with the blessings of my doctor but it will
require me to stay on antibiotics (ones that are safe for
breastfeeding, of course) for as long as I'm breastfeeding. For a
while my doctor wasn't supportive of breastfeeding but new
information she heard at a conference a few months ago showed that it
can be a safe option with Lyme disease as long as antibiotics are
used. It's a big relief to have her support and not have to fight for
it since it's something that I feel very strongly about wanting to
do.
I am
still on the same antibiotics I've been on since I was about 16 weeks
– Ceftin and Zithromax. I'm tolerating them both well and we've
been slowly increasing the dose of Zithromax to see where my
threshold is since it has caused ringing in my ears (tinnitus)
before. So far I'm up to the full dose (500mg) 3-4 days a week and a
half dose (250mg) on the other days. I'll most likely continue on
these two antibiotics while breastfeeding for at least the first
month and then possibly switch off the Zithromax on to something else
to avoid the issues with tinnitus.
Other
than that, things have been relatively good. Aside from being tired
all the time, which I just attribute to being 7 ½ months pregnant
and having trouble sleeping now that it's hard to get comfortable,
I'm not having many issues. And it's so hard to tell if something is
from the Lyme or just from being pregnant (like trouble
thinking/concentrating). Overall, though, I feel like being pregnant
has made things much better. My doctor joked at my last appointment
that maybe I should just have a lot of kids! Eric didn't think that
was so funny, but it really does seem like my body likes being
pregnant most of the time.
I'll
be back soon (hopefully) with more about the preparation for labor
and delivery, including my birth plans, and how preparations are
going for Poppy joining our family!
No comments:
Post a Comment