Well, I've been quite slow on updates recently, mostly because husband has spent the last month in Peru. That means that I have been a) a solo parent, b) a pre-tenure professor who is teaching a class for the first time, and c) pregnant all by myself for a month. I have decided that any two of these could be manageable, but all three together is pretty bad. It works as long as everything "goes right," but the major problem is that there is literally no buffer available if something goes wrong. Even something simple like missing a bus can throw a major monkey wrench in getting the things done that you need to get done, like the daycare pickup or making a morning meeting on time. The only reason I have the time and space to write this blog entry right now is that Maya is doing something nefarious in my office (being very quiet, answered "No" when I asked her if she would tell me what she's doing) and I just don't have the will to go check beyond that since she sounds like she's alive. (When pushed, she said she was sitting on my office chair eating candy with her pretend friends. Not ideal, but probably not dangerous.)
Mostly, everything has gone ok. The only major issue that happened was that I threw my back out last weekend while trying to be way too ambitious in husband's absence - and then everything ground to a halt, at home at least. I managed to get Maya to school and me to work (with heating pad and Tylenol in tow) all week, but I literally couldn't bend down far enough to do things like unload the dishwasher and empty the dryer. Emergency emails to my midwife led to the discovery that my insurance covers very little treatment in this situation, and that what is covered (physical therapy) takes a while to set up. I am doing better now with the simple passage of time (although I'm still hobbling), but Maya had to help me a LOT. She even filled the birdfeeders for me this morning :) Lucky husband, I told him he gets to do ALL the vacuuming, mopping, and bathtub scrubbing upon his return on Tuesday because I literally can't - but the house is picked up and the dishes are done, so that's a win. Today we attempt to tackle laundry (thankfully I'd done all of Maya's *right* before this happened, so it's just me who's been dirty), and I hope Maya will cooperate for dryer unloading.... We've been talking a lot about teamwork, with varying levels of success.
The other bad thing that happened was that I requested the full report for my 19 week ultrasound, and I found out at that point that I have a placenta with a marginal cord insertion. I have no idea how bad our particular insertion is - e.g., how close to velamentous - because NO ONE TOLD ME I HAD ONE so that I could ask questions and make them give me more measurements - how close to the edge, which edge it's on (bottom is worse than top and limits what we can do about another terribly positioned baby at labor and delivery). I was pretty annoyed - it's a reasonably rare condition (~6% of pregnancies), and it carries reasonable risk levels of at least some growth restriction. They should have told me. I am now getting an additional growth ultrasound at 32 weeks and will ask all the questions then, but I'm super worried in the meantime. My take home impression? This placenta just never formed quite right - all the bleeding in the first trimester (sooooo much bleeding) from a bad implantation, weird positioning (anterior, which also carries some increased risk of placental abruption), and now an umbilical cord attached to very little placental tissue. It does not make for a relaxed pregnancy. I can't wait for this semester to end so that I can go on "reduced duties" - I'm not teaching next semester, our (three!!! concurrent!!!) job searches will be done, and husband will be back in the country.
Now for some positives: one thing that is better and more fun about this pregnancy is how much easier it is to bond with new baby :) I've already made the transition to being a mom, so it's *much* easier to imagine how new baby will integrate into our lives - and it's exciting!! It truly feels like our family isn't complete until she arrives, but she's already a major presence with a distinct personality who greatly likes having attention lavished on her (as measured by activity patterns - what of them I can feel around the edges of my broken anterior placenta, anyway!). Her favorite thing of all? When I read books to Maya :) It's been easier to talk to her than it was when I was pregnant with Maya, to tell her about what we're going to do when she arrives, and it's SO CUTE when Maya talks to her! She has remained very excited about having a little sister, and she talks to her every day about the fun games they're going to play (eventually :)). We've bought her a number of books (like "Babies don't eat pizza!") so that she keeps her expectations low about the newborn stage, so hopefully that works. Just 12 more weeks to go!!!
In the meantime, we have indeed been having *some* fun in husband's absence. Here are some photos of some of our adventures this month:
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| We made oatmeal choc chip cookies.... |
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| Maya liked them! |
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| It snowed (a teeny bit) |
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One of the guys I work with gave us a dollhouse with a complete collection of
"Calico Critters" - which has actually been quite fun to play with!! |
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| We made Shrinky Dinks jewelry |
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| We ate lots of grilled cheese sandwiches, much to Maya's delight |
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| Pancakes are another huge favorite |
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| And of course, lots of silly time! |
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