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Pictures and reduction discussion

April 5, 2007 by chezperky


This was the scan done at my last Shady Hell Appointment. Three sacs, three heartbeats, three of everything. Dr. Amazing was positively adamant that I must schedule a reduction. I understand to him triplets and high risk pregnancy equal failure. For that matter, I’m not so thrilled about having a triplet pregnancy. I wish I could have nothing but happiness over it, but I can’t. I’m still worried about it. I’m happy that I’m pregnant, but I’m worried about the risks and hardships associated with triplet pregnancies. That being said, I don’t know that I agree with Dr. Amazing’s assessment that a reduction is the only logical option. I’m not even terribly convinced that it’s the best option. It seems that no one wants to talk about the risks associated with multifetal reduction, but they really shouldn’t be discounted. From what I’ve seen, the risks aren’t insignificant and the studies I’ve found haven’t suggested that the benefits of triplet reduction are significant enough to overcome the risks. (The benefits of quadruplet reduction to twins or less are stacked significantly in favor of reduction, but it is less clear with triplets)

What I didn’t realize was how quickly I could get attached to the little parasites growing inside me. Nor did I realize how quickly they grow! In six days the growth was tremendous.

See how squished up against each other they are now? This isn’t as clear a picture because it was transabdominal, so you can’t see the little fetbryos inside in this picture, but you can see that the sacs were spaced out before and now they’re all squished together. This scan was taken at the perinatologist’s office on Monday. It was a very long, detailed scan made more difficult by the fact that I absolutely could not manage to empty my bladder enough to see Baby C with a transvaginal ultrasound (but all other views were much clearer). We could very clearly see the hearts beating, whereas before I had to squint and pretend like I saw that random blinking on the screen. Now it’s very obvious and impossible to miss. Like I said in my last post, the heart rates were 171, 171 and 168. Baby C is measuring three days behind, which I understand isn’t a terrific sign at this stage, but I didn’t get a really straight answer about what the ramifications of that size differential really are. At the NT scan, I’ll be seeing the head of the practice, so I’m hoping for more clear-cut answers.

The more I think about it, though, the more annoyed I am about my visit to the perinatologist. I didn’t get to think about it much after the appointment, because we had a houseguest for the first days of Pesach, and I had other things on my mind. Now that I’ve had some time to think, I’m seriously annoyed. On the one hand, the doctor took a lot of time with us and answered a lot of questions. She even told me that there are some neuroleptics that I can take for migraine prevention. I’d previously been told that all neuroleptics are out because of risks of neural tube defects. I’m not sure I’m willing to take that tiny risk, but it was nice that she suggested some options. She calmed my fears about the bleeding and cramping and suggested that both are normal, particularly with higher order multiples. She said that the triplets they follow do very well.

That being said, she was most definitely in favor of reduction. Now I could be all about that position if she’d given me some specifics that I could really work with to get on board with her, but she really didn’t. She gave me some generic statements about how uncomfortable I’ll be with a triplet pregnancy. She talked about how twins deliver later than triplets, which is of course a good thing. She talked about the fact that there’s a lower incidence of IVH with twins than with triplets (though the statistics I’ve found haven’t been terribly compelling). She mentioned that the generic risks of pregnancy are lower with twin pregnancies than with triplet pregnancies. What she did not talk about at all was the risks of multifetal reduction. In fact, I have a hard time finding much literature on the risks, but there are associated risks. The risk of total fetal loss, for example, seems to be at best 3-5%. Not high, no, but it IS a risk. Some studies, in fact, put the rate of total fetal loss (miscarriage) at closer to 25 to 30%. That’s nothing to ignore.

Then there’s the question of real benefit. Average triplet pregnancies go to 32 or 33 weeks gestation in the US, depending on whose figures you use. Average twin pregnancies go to 36 weeks in the US. Triplet pregnancies reduced to twins still carry a higher risk of preterm labor than do natural twin pregnancies. Average gestation for triplets-reduced-to-twins pregnancies is 34 weeks. This is a significant and critical week, but the difference isn’t as drastic as the shift from quadruplet vs. reduced quadruplet (to twins) pregnancies. Not even close. If I had quadruplets, this wouldn’t even be a discussion.

As for my specific medical concerns, yes they are factors. In particular, the hole I have in my heart is something that should be monitored. But it doesn’t appear to be a deal-breaker. Turns out my OB isn’t crazy with regards to the whole short factor either… I found one study in which the conclusion stated: “The taller patient (>165 cm) may be at a significantly lower risk of very low birth weight neonates and very premature delivery as compared to the shorter patient (< 165 cm). Therefore, the factor of maternal height may be taken into consideration in multiple gestation pregnancy consultations.” (I’m about 152 cm short) My husband is going to pull the full article from the medical library at work tomorrow. And yes, if you pile everything up together, there’s a decent argument for reduction given my specific medical factors.

But I also think there’s a rather significant argument against reduction and that’s a discussion no one seems willing to have with me. I’m almost to the point of finding another perinatologist, except that when asking ANYONE for perinatologist recommendations, this practice is the name that ALWAYS gets brought up. The head of the practice is also the head of maternal fetal medicine at both of the hospitals that I would want to deliver at. They are arguably the best maternal fetal medicine practice in the area. But I’m still squeamish about them for some reason. I feel like my care there would be excellent no matter what decision I make, so it’s not a question of my care, really. It’s a question of why no one will have a discussion with me about the other side of this argument. That being said, my husband is checking with one of the nurses in the NICU at his hospital to see who she would recommend as a maternal-fetal medicine specialist, so I can get a second opinion. I intend to receive my care from the office I’ve already been to, but I’d like to have a consultation with at least one more doctor to see if I can get some straight answers.

The problem, of course, is that I’m running out of time.

Posted in reduction discussion, triplets? | 19 Comments »

Still Three

April 5, 2007 by chezperky

I’m still here. Still pregnant. Still triplets. I saw the perinatologist on Monday, but then had to hurry up and get finished with all the details before Passover started, so I couldn’t post. Anywhozit, my husband was able to be at this appointment with me, which is a good thing, and we had a long, detailed ultrasound done, so there was lots to see. There are still three. Three heartbeats measuring 171, 171, and 168 beats per minute. On the day of the appointment, I was 8weeks, 5 days. Baby A was measuring 8 weeks, 5 days. Baby B measured 8 weeks 4 days. And Baby C measured 8 weeks, 2 days.

The perinatologist was obviously hugely in favor of reduction, but failed to give me any compelling reasons why it should be my primary option. While she gave me the general information about how twins are lower risk than triplets, I didn’t hear anything truly compelling… no specifics. She admitted that the triplets they deliver do very well. She certainly didn’t suggest that reduction was my only option, but she did say that it was probably my BEST option for a positive outcome. Still, when pressed about specific medical concerns, she didn’t have a lot to say.

She did, however, suggest that the bleeding that I was experiencing (oh, hey, it seems to have stopped!) was probably completely normal. She says she sees a lot more bleeding with higher order multiples and it’s probably because there’s so much placenta-action going on. This makes sense to me. She said that the cramping I’ve been having is probably actually a good sign, because it’s probably just normal pregnancy cramping resulting from the placentas embedding in the uterine wall, but of course the cramping is three times as great as it would be with a singleton, but that’s completely fine.

What she recommended we do is the Nuchal Translucency Screening and go from there. If the Nuchal Fold comes back looking fishy, we can do a CVS and then make a decision about reduction. She recommended that I go ahead and schedule the reduction and I can always cancel it if I change my mind, so it’s scheduled, but I don’t expect to keep that appointment. Nuchal fold is 4/20, reduction (likely to cancel) is 4/27. I seriously doubt that the nuchal fold scan will show anything compelling enough to suggest to me that reduction is worth considering. Reduction comes along with its own risks and I’m not sure it’s worth it. Halachically, I probably do have grounds to pursue reduction within the bounds of Jewish law, but I don’t feel sufficiently compelled personally to consider it yet.

And that’s that. I have bunches of ultrasound pictures, but I’m rather lazy right now. Maybe I’ll take care of it later. I’ve been offline for a couple days, but hopefully will catch up with all of your blogs soon. Not tonight though, it’s my bedtime. Past my bedtime, actually.

Posted in pregnancy #2, triplets? | 11 Comments »

Still Three

April 5, 2007 by chezperky

I'm still here. Still pregnant. Still triplets. I saw the perinatologist on Monday, but then had to hurry up and get finished with all the details before Passover started, so I couldn't post. Anywhozit, my husband was able to be at this appointment with me, which is a good thing, and we had a long, detailed ultrasound done, so there was lots to see. There are still three. Three heartbeats measuring 171, 171, and 168 beats per minute. On the day of the appointment, I was 8weeks, 5 days. Baby A was measuring 8 weeks, 5 days. Baby B measured 8 weeks 4 days. And Baby C measured 8 weeks, 2 days.

The perinatologist was obviously hugely in favor of reduction, but failed to give me any compelling reasons why it should be my primary option. While she gave me the general information about how twins are lower risk than triplets, I didn't hear anything truly compelling… no specifics. She admitted that the triplets they deliver do very well. She certainly didn't suggest that reduction was my only option, but she did say that it was probably my BEST option for a positive outcome. Still, when pressed about specific medical concerns, she didn't have a lot to say.

She did, however, suggest that the bleeding that I was experiencing (oh, hey, it seems to have stopped!) was probably completely normal. She says she sees a lot more bleeding with higher order multiples and it's probably because there's so much placenta-action going on. This makes sense to me. She said that the cramping I've been having is probably actually a good sign, because it's probably just normal pregnancy cramping resulting from the placentas embedding in the uterine wall, but of course the cramping is three times as great as it would be with a singleton, but that's completely fine.

What she recommended we do is the Nuchal Translucency Screening and go from there. If the Nuchal Fold comes back looking fishy, we can do a CVS and then make a decision about reduction. She recommended that I go ahead and schedule the reduction and I can always cancel it if I change my mind, so it's scheduled, but I don't expect to keep that appointment. Nuchal fold is 4/20, reduction (likely to cancel) is 4/27. I seriously doubt that the nuchal fold scan will show anything compelling enough to suggest to me that reduction is worth considering. Reduction comes along with its own risks and I'm not sure it's worth it. Halachically, I probably do have grounds to pursue reduction within the bounds of Jewish law, but I don't feel sufficiently compelled personally to consider it yet.

And that's that. I have bunches of ultrasound pictures, but I'm rather lazy right now. Maybe I'll take care of it later. I've been offline for a couple days, but hopefully will catch up with all of your blogs soon. Not tonight though, it's my bedtime. Past my bedtime, actually.

Posted in pregnancy #2, triplets? | 16 Comments »

Pictures and reduction discussion

April 5, 2007 by chezperky


This was the scan done at my last Shady Hell Appointment. Three sacs, three heartbeats, three of everything. Dr. Amazing was positively adamant that I must schedule a reduction. I understand to him triplets and high risk pregnancy equal failure. For that matter, I'm not so thrilled about having a triplet pregnancy. I wish I could have nothing but happiness over it, but I can't. I'm still worried about it. I'm happy that I'm pregnant, but I'm worried about the risks and hardships associated with triplet pregnancies. That being said, I don't know that I agree with Dr. Amazing's assessment that a reduction is the only logical option. I'm not even terribly convinced that it's the best option. It seems that no one wants to talk about the risks associated with multifetal reduction, but they really shouldn't be discounted. From what I've seen, the risks aren't insignificant and the studies I've found haven't suggested that the benefits of triplet reduction are significant enough to overcome the risks. (The benefits of quadruplet reduction to twins or less are stacked significantly in favor of reduction, but it is less clear with triplets)

What I didn't realize was how quickly I could get attached to the little parasites growing inside me. Nor did I realize how quickly they grow! In six days the growth was tremendous.

See how squished up against each other they are now? This isn't as clear a picture because it was transabdominal, so you can't see the little fetbryos inside in this picture, but you can see that the sacs were spaced out before and now they're all squished together. This scan was taken at the perinatologist's office on Monday. It was a very long, detailed scan made more difficult by the fact that I absolutely could not manage to empty my bladder enough to see Baby C with a transvaginal ultrasound (but all other views were much clearer). We could very clearly see the hearts beating, whereas before I had to squint and pretend like I saw that random blinking on the screen. Now it's very obvious and impossible to miss. Like I said in my last post, the heart rates were 171, 171 and 168. Baby C is measuring three days behind, which I understand isn't a terrific sign at this stage, but I didn't get a really straight answer about what the ramifications of that size differential really are. At the NT scan, I'll be seeing the head of the practice, so I'm hoping for more clear-cut answers.

The more I think about it, though, the more annoyed I am about my visit to the perinatologist. I didn't get to think about it much after the appointment, because we had a houseguest for the first days of Pesach, and I had other things on my mind. Now that I've had some time to think, I'm seriously annoyed. On the one hand, the doctor took a lot of time with us and answered a lot of questions. She even told me that there are some neuroleptics that I can take for migraine prevention. I'd previously been told that all neuroleptics are out because of risks of neural tube defects. I'm not sure I'm willing to take that tiny risk, but it was nice that she suggested some options. She calmed my fears about the bleeding and cramping and suggested that both are normal, particularly with higher order multiples. She said that the triplets they follow do very well.

That being said, she was most definitely in favor of reduction. Now I could be all about that position if she'd given me some specifics that I could really work with to get on board with her, but she really didn't. She gave me some generic statements about how uncomfortable I'll be with a triplet pregnancy. She talked about how twins deliver later than triplets, which is of course a good thing. She talked about the fact that there's a lower incidence of IVH with twins than with triplets (though the statistics I've found haven't been terribly compelling). She mentioned that the generic risks of pregnancy are lower with twin pregnancies than with triplet pregnancies. What she did not talk about at all was the risks of multifetal reduction. In fact, I have a hard time finding much literature on the risks, but there are associated risks. The risk of total fetal loss, for example, seems to be at best 3-5%. Not high, no, but it IS a risk. Some studies, in fact, put the rate of total fetal loss (miscarriage) at closer to 25 to 30%. That's nothing to ignore.

Then there's the question of real benefit. Average triplet pregnancies go to 32 or 33 weeks gestation in the US, depending on whose figures you use. Average twin pregnancies go to 36 weeks in the US. Triplet pregnancies reduced to twins still carry a higher risk of preterm labor than do natural twin pregnancies. Average gestation for triplets-reduced-to-twins pregnancies is 34 weeks. This is a significant and critical week, but the difference isn't as drastic as the shift from quadruplet vs. reduced quadruplet (to twins) pregnancies. Not even close. If I had quadruplets, this wouldn't even be a discussion.

As for my specific medical concerns, yes they are factors. In particular, the hole I have in my heart is something that should be monitored. But it doesn't appear to be a deal-breaker. Turns out my OB isn't crazy with regards to the whole short factor either… I found one study in which the conclusion stated: "The taller patient (>165 cm) may be at a significantly lower risk of very low birth weight neonates and very premature delivery as compared to the shorter patient (< 165 cm). Therefore, the factor of maternal height may be taken into consideration in multiple gestation pregnancy consultations." (I'm about 152 cm short) My husband is going to pull the full article from the medical library at work tomorrow. And yes, if you pile everything up together, there's a decent argument for reduction given my specific medical factors.

But I also think there's a rather significant argument against reduction and that's a discussion no one seems willing to have with me. I'm almost to the point of finding another perinatologist, except that when asking ANYONE for perinatologist recommendations, this practice is the name that ALWAYS gets brought up. The head of the practice is also the head of maternal fetal medicine at both of the hospitals that I would want to deliver at. They are arguably the best maternal fetal medicine practice in the area. But I'm still squeamish about them for some reason. I feel like my care there would be excellent no matter what decision I make, so it's not a question of my care, really. It's a question of why no one will have a discussion with me about the other side of this argument. That being said, my husband is checking with one of the nurses in the NICU at his hospital to see who she would recommend as a maternal-fetal medicine specialist, so I can get a second opinion. I intend to receive my care from the office I've already been to, but I'd like to have a consultation with at least one more doctor to see if I can get some straight answers.

The problem, of course, is that I'm running out of time.

Posted in reduction discussion, triplets? | 25 Comments »

Unacceptable!

March 30, 2007 by chezperky

My Coke tastes funny to me. I remember last time I was pregnant lots of things tasted weird to me, but certainly never Coke.

This is unacceptable. It is absolutely ridiculously unbelievably unacceptable for the nectar of the gods to taste funny. I know I shouldn’t be drinking it, but I love it. And I really need a little caffeine today. I am allowed 300mg of caffeine per day. I drink one Coke per day, which is WELL below that limit. And besides, it’s keeping me from feeling like I’m going to throw up imminently.

And now it tastes funny! UNACCEPTABLE!

Edited to Add: While it may, at first glance, seem perfectly reasonable to suggest Pepsi as an alternative… I must say… YECH! I am a Coke-loving Pepsi-hater! You’d think I was from Atlanta or something (I’m not). Coke is the nectar of the gods! Pepsi does not compare! And if somehow I discovered that Pepsi tasted perfectly fine during this pregnancy, I’m not sure how I’d look at myself in the mirror every morning. So I will forgive the transgression of December Baby this once, since I had obviously not made it clear how important Coke is to me! But for future reference, there is only ONE TRUE COKE! (and none of that nutrasweet crap will do, by the way)

Posted in pregnancy symptoms abound | 10 Comments »

Withdrawal, Insanity, and more Exhaustion

March 30, 2007 by chezperky

OMG what was I thinking? Why did I think I could get through an entire week (almost) without an ultrasound? Why oh why did I let Shady Hell graduate me on Tuesday? I should have begged to come back on Friday! I can do this. I can. I only have to get through to Monday, when I see the perinatologist who will also be doing an ultrasound. It’s all good. I’ll make it, right?

I never thought I would be this high maintenance. I wasn’t in my last pregnancy. Then again, my last pregnancy didn’t involve the “T” word. Nor had I ever had a miscarriage. I despise being high maintenance. But see, I’m starting to think how wonderful triplets would be (terrifying and exhausting, yes, but still… wonderful, right?), and that is bad. It means I’ll be sad if something happens to one or more of them. I’m getting attached which is no good at all. I am absolutely not far enough along to get attached.

I got freaked out the other day, because there’s a due date calculator out there somewhere (I’d link to it, but I’ve purposely forgotten where it is) that will not only calculate your conception and due date, but it will calculate your expected due date if you’re expecting twins, triplets, or quads, and then it goes on to calculate what date you enter the second and third trimesters, what date range you can have CVS, amniocentesis, glucose tolerance test, and other tests. So it has calculated my expected due date for triplets at September 19. I really need to stop googling. I should be stopped! Back away from the computer now!

I fell asleep at 8pm last night. Before J went to sleep, even. Poor S… it looks like he’s going to be on bedtime duty for a long time. I feel awful because S works long and hard and already takes more than his fair share of kid and household duties, and I’m being a complete slacker and I just can’t help it. I fell asleep during dinner, which is how I knew I wasn’t going to be able to stay up for bath and bed time. I’m having a hard time staying comfortable at night though, so I’m waking up a lot. I woke up at 1, 1:40, 2:30, 3, 3:15, 4:40 and 5 last night (times are approximate). The stupid cat seemed to think it was fine for her to be taking up half of the bed, which didn’t help matters. Eventually I kicked her off and she stormed away in a huff. Poor thing.

I’m still ravenously hungry, but unable to keep much food down. I’m about to get a banana, which seems to be the one fruit I can eat without getting queasy. I’ve lost so much weight, I’ve actually gone down a size in pantyhose. Astounding. Not that I expect that to last, nor would I want it to. And I’m still guargantuan, but at least now I’ve got an excuse, right? One of the multiples stories I read said that when she went to her OB at 10 weeks she was already in maternity clothes and her doctor said “either you’re having twins or you’ve got your dates wrong.” I cannot imagine needing to be in maternity clothes two weeks from now. I’m still fat, but definitely not showing the pregnancy.

I’m all kinds of babble right now, so I’ll stop. Besides, I’ve got deadlines that I need to meet today.

Posted in pregnancy #2, pregnancy symptoms abound | 2 Comments »

Withdrawal, Insanity, and more Exhaustion

March 30, 2007 by chezperky

OMG what was I thinking? Why did I think I could get through an entire week (almost) without an ultrasound? Why oh why did I let Shady Hell graduate me on Tuesday? I should have begged to come back on Friday! I can do this. I can. I only have to get through to Monday, when I see the perinatologist who will also be doing an ultrasound. It's all good. I'll make it, right?

I never thought I would be this high maintenance. I wasn't in my last pregnancy. Then again, my last pregnancy didn't involve the "T" word. Nor had I ever had a miscarriage. I despise being high maintenance. But see, I'm starting to think how wonderful triplets would be (terrifying and exhausting, yes, but still… wonderful, right?), and that is bad. It means I'll be sad if something happens to one or more of them. I'm getting attached which is no good at all. I am absolutely not far enough along to get attached.

I got freaked out the other day, because there's a due date calculator out there somewhere (I'd link to it, but I've purposely forgotten where it is) that will not only calculate your conception and due date, but it will calculate your expected due date if you're expecting twins, triplets, or quads, and then it goes on to calculate what date you enter the second and third trimesters, what date range you can have CVS, amniocentesis, glucose tolerance test, and other tests. So it has calculated my expected due date for triplets at September 19. I really need to stop googling. I should be stopped! Back away from the computer now!

I fell asleep at 8pm last night. Before J went to sleep, even. Poor S… it looks like he's going to be on bedtime duty for a long time. I feel awful because S works long and hard and already takes more than his fair share of kid and household duties, and I'm being a complete slacker and I just can't help it. I fell asleep during dinner, which is how I knew I wasn't going to be able to stay up for bath and bed time. I'm having a hard time staying comfortable at night though, so I'm waking up a lot. I woke up at 1, 1:40, 2:30, 3, 3:15, 4:40 and 5 last night (times are approximate). The stupid cat seemed to think it was fine for her to be taking up half of the bed, which didn't help matters. Eventually I kicked her off and she stormed away in a huff. Poor thing.

I'm still ravenously hungry, but unable to keep much food down. I'm about to get a banana, which seems to be the one fruit I can eat without getting queasy. I've lost so much weight, I've actually gone down a size in pantyhose. Astounding. Not that I expect that to last, nor would I want it to. And I'm still guargantuan, but at least now I've got an excuse, right? One of the multiples stories I read said that when she went to her OB at 10 weeks she was already in maternity clothes and her doctor said "either you're having twins or you've got your dates wrong." I cannot imagine needing to be in maternity clothes two weeks from now. I'm still fat, but definitely not showing the pregnancy.

I'm all kinds of babble right now, so I'll stop. Besides, I've got deadlines that I need to meet today.

Posted in pregnancy #2, pregnancy symptoms abound | 1 Comment »

Unacceptable!

March 30, 2007 by chezperky

My Coke tastes funny to me. I remember last time I was pregnant lots of things tasted weird to me, but certainly never Coke.

This is unacceptable. It is absolutely ridiculously unbelievably unacceptable for the nectar of the gods to taste funny. I know I shouldn't be drinking it, but I love it. And I really need a little caffeine today. I am allowed 300mg of caffeine per day. I drink one Coke per day, which is WELL below that limit. And besides, it's keeping me from feeling like I'm going to throw up imminently.

And now it tastes funny! UNACCEPTABLE!

Edited to Add: While it may, at first glance, seem perfectly reasonable to suggest Pepsi as an alternative… I must say… YECH! I am a Coke-loving Pepsi-hater! You'd think I was from Atlanta or something (I'm not). Coke is the nectar of the gods! Pepsi does not compare! And if somehow I discovered that Pepsi tasted perfectly fine during this pregnancy, I'm not sure how I'd look at myself in the mirror every morning. So I will forgive the transgression of December Baby this once, since I had obviously not made it clear how important Coke is to me! But for future reference, there is only ONE TRUE COKE! (and none of that nutrasweet crap will do, by the way)

Posted in pregnancy symptoms abound | 13 Comments »

OMG HUNGRY! (and other fun symptoms)

March 29, 2007 by chezperky

Wow. Since last night, despite the nausea, I have been absolutely, unbelievably, disgustingly ravenous. This would be great, except that food still turns my stomach, so being ravenous isn’t helping that. I am also unbelievably lazy. I crawled into bed last night around 9. My husband called at 10 to say he was on his way home (he’s often out on Wednesday nights). At 10:30, just as he was pulling into the driveway, I called him and asked him to please bring down a banana for me when he came inside. I am THAT unbelievably lazy. I was so tired the very thought of walking up one flight of stairs made me feel hopeless. But I NEEDED food. Right that instant! Fortunately, I have the best husband on the planet, and he brought me water, my nightly medicine, and a banana immediately.

Speaking of my nightly medicine, when I graduated from Shady Hell, my doctor told me I could stop taking the metformin that day (Tuesday). I am leery of this. I stopped taking it around 6 weeks last time, and with the subsequent miscarriage (might not have been related), I had inquired about staying on metformin through the first trimester and he had agreed that should I get pregnant again, staying on the metformin for the first trimester had enough possible benefit to counteract any perceived risks. But when he told me to stop taking it, I just nodded and said, “uh huh” because I was too busy watching Margaret measure the three (THREE!!) heartbeats on the screen to realize that I should be asking about it. I have enough metformin in my current bottle to get me through Sunday night, and I have an appointment with the perinatologist on Monday, so I think I’m going to keep taking it until Monday and ask him if I should refill it or not.

Oh and about the tired thing… I was unbelievably shattered in my last pregnancy. I had negative energy. I felt terrible. I could barely get out of bed in the morning. I couldn’t keep my eyes open after 8 or so at night. I dozed at work accidentally twice. I didn’t think it could be described, and I certainly didn’t think it could be any worse. Oh my gosh. It is THREE times worse (surprise!) this time. Last night I was actually contemplating using toothpicks to hold my eyelids open until I could get J in bed (since my husband was out, I definitely had to handle bedtime). I remember when I was pregnant last time, there was an occasion when S was out of town, and J and I were vegging together before bedtime. He was “reading” books or watching TV or something. Eventually, J, my adorable barely-three-year-old (at the time), WOKE ME UP to tell me it was time for him to go to bed. I fear there will be many repeats of this incident in this pregnancy.

In other news, despite the unbelievable hunger, I have now lost so much weight that I am wearing a skirt that hasn’t fit me in two years. It is two sizes smaller than most of the clothes in my closet. This is not good, though under any other circumstances I would be thrilled. (Don’t be too impressed, by the way, it’s still an enormously huge size, just two sizes smaller than my previously enormous size)

Posted in pregnancy #2, pregnancy symptoms abound | 5 Comments »

OMG HUNGRY! (and other fun symptoms)

March 29, 2007 by chezperky

Wow. Since last night, despite the nausea, I have been absolutely, unbelievably, disgustingly ravenous. This would be great, except that food still turns my stomach, so being ravenous isn't helping that. I am also unbelievably lazy. I crawled into bed last night around 9. My husband called at 10 to say he was on his way home (he's often out on Wednesday nights). At 10:30, just as he was pulling into the driveway, I called him and asked him to please bring down a banana for me when he came inside. I am THAT unbelievably lazy. I was so tired the very thought of walking up one flight of stairs made me feel hopeless. But I NEEDED food. Right that instant! Fortunately, I have the best husband on the planet, and he brought me water, my nightly medicine, and a banana immediately.

Speaking of my nightly medicine, when I graduated from Shady Hell, my doctor told me I could stop taking the metformin that day (Tuesday). I am leery of this. I stopped taking it around 6 weeks last time, and with the subsequent miscarriage (might not have been related), I had inquired about staying on metformin through the first trimester and he had agreed that should I get pregnant again, staying on the metformin for the first trimester had enough possible benefit to counteract any perceived risks. But when he told me to stop taking it, I just nodded and said, "uh huh" because I was too busy watching Margaret measure the three (THREE!!) heartbeats on the screen to realize that I should be asking about it. I have enough metformin in my current bottle to get me through Sunday night, and I have an appointment with the perinatologist on Monday, so I think I'm going to keep taking it until Monday and ask him if I should refill it or not.

Oh and about the tired thing… I was unbelievably shattered in my last pregnancy. I had negative energy. I felt terrible. I could barely get out of bed in the morning. I couldn't keep my eyes open after 8 or so at night. I dozed at work accidentally twice. I didn't think it could be described, and I certainly didn't think it could be any worse. Oh my gosh. It is THREE times worse (surprise!) this time. Last night I was actually contemplating using toothpicks to hold my eyelids open until I could get J in bed (since my husband was out, I definitely had to handle bedtime). I remember when I was pregnant last time, there was an occasion when S was out of town, and J and I were vegging together before bedtime. He was "reading" books or watching TV or something. Eventually, J, my adorable barely-three-year-old (at the time), WOKE ME UP to tell me it was time for him to go to bed. I fear there will be many repeats of this incident in this pregnancy.

In other news, despite the unbelievable hunger, I have now lost so much weight that I am wearing a skirt that hasn't fit me in two years. It is two sizes smaller than most of the clothes in my closet. This is not good, though under any other circumstances I would be thrilled. (Don't be too impressed, by the way, it's still an enormously huge size, just two sizes smaller than my previously enormous size)

Posted in pregnancy #2, pregnancy symptoms abound | 7 Comments »

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