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Blue eyes again?
It was a shock to us when Natalie had blue eyes in her first year (which eventually turned to the hazel-ish color they are now). I think Andrew may be following the same path. His eyes were a definite grey when he was born and now they’re taking on a twinge of blue……can’t wait to see how they turn out!
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GD Diet
I’ve had a surprising weight loss from this pregnancy. I only gained 12 lbs (compared to the 25-30 lbs I gained with Natalie). My whole third trimester was on a diet to lower my blood sugar levels due to the gestational diabetes. I’m now about 15 lbs below my prepregnancy weight. I’m only about 5 lbs heavier than when I got married which is just insane to me. I’m even below my pre-Natalie-pregnancy weight. After having Natalie, I couldn’t get lower than 5 lbs above my prepregnancy weight. Yes, in the last few weeks, I’ve lost 27 lbs. Call it the “have gestational diabetes while pregnant†diet. I have to…
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Feed, Supplement, Pump….Rinse, Repeat
I’m on a nursing vacation right now. Andrew’s weight isn’t quite where the pediatrician wants it to be. Birth = 6lb 13oz 1 week = 6lb 3 oz 2 weeks = 6lb 5.5oz 3 weeks = 6lb 8oz Every baby loses weight in the beginning..but then starts gaining, and they like to see about an ounce a day gain. He should be back at his birth weight now but he isn’t. The good news is that he’s at least gaining weight. His latch seems good and he seems to drain my breast well, so there’s concern that my milk supply may’ve taken a hit in the beginning…so we are doing…
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First couple of weeks
The first couple of weeks with a 36-weeker are different from a 41-weeker (Natalie). Between Andrew being our second child and him being a pre-term baby, our experience feels different. First off, he’s generally more sleepy. We have to wake him up for most feedings (except at night – usual day/night switching for a newborn). This results in him being less efficient with feeding in general. Fortunately, he has latched on without a problem but he falls asleep sooo easily. We’ve been concerned about him getting enough milk and his weight gain. At his 2 week checkup, he was still below his birth weight….so now I’m pumping after every other…
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Introducing Andrew Wei-Hien
Little did I realize that my last post would be the day before going into labor. Yes, baby boy has arrived way earlier than we ever imagined and we are completely in love with him. Born Tuesday, June 18th, 2013 at 4:17pm Weight = 6lb 13oz Length = 19.75†20 hours of labor, 2 hours of pushing 36 weeks 3 days into the pregnancy at birth I knew with the cholestasis that there was a risk of pre-term labor but I certainly did not expect to go into spontaneous labor in my 36th week! What a shock. Fortunately, Andrew is relatively healthy and doing really really well for being a…
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T minus 13 days
*gulp* Less than 2 weeks before getting induced. Had my weekly appointment this last Friday: Total weight gain = 12 lbs (nothing compared to the 25-30 I gained with Natalie—I blame the GD diet) Baby passed NST fine and the good news is that my LFT came back with numbers in the normal range! ALT was 33 and AST was 24, so perhaps the Ursodial medication is working Also, since I’m getting induced in 2 weeks, did the Group B Strep test and that came back negative (wahoo!) So the plan is still getting induced on the 29th….though part of me wonders what the odds are of me going into…
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ICP Awareness Day
What a coincidence – today, June 10th, is officially ICP (Intrahepatic Cholestasis of Pregnancy) Day…almost a week after learning of my own diagnosis. I’ve learned this because I’ve since joined a Facebook group, Yahoo group and Babycenter group to learn more. I’ve learned a lot over the last few days. It’s been pretty overwhelming. On Friday, I had my OB appointment, prepared to hear her recommend an induction at 37 weeks. Much to my surprise, she was pushing for a much later induction at 39 weeks for the following reasons: She knows there is strong data that a medically intervened delivery (i.e induction or c-section) before 39 weeks typically leads…
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Pregnancy: Polyhydramnios + Cholestasis
Ooo, this blog post has fun medical terminology in the title! Well, in addition to gestational diabetes, I’ve now also been diagnosed with polyhydramnios and cholestasis. It’s crazy to me how my first pregnancy was a breeze but this one has minor complication after minor complication. As I mentioned in my last post, I needed to get a growth ultrasound to check out what’s going on….so I went in last Friday when I was 33 weeks 6 days along and learned the following: Baby was approximately 6 lbs (in the 85%-tile…so yeah, a bit big) Head circumference equivalent to a baby in week 38 That said, measurements via ultrasound at…
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Pregnancy: 32/33 week appointment
Had my appointment yesterday at 32w 6d. Baby is STILL measuring large. Fundal height has me at 37 weeks, eeps! Total weight gain still isn’t much – maybe 15 lbs? Anyway, planning on scheduling a growth ultrasound for sometime next week to see what’s going on. Otherwise, blood sugar levels have remained nice and low, so the OB has been happy with how I’ve been controlling things with my diet. It’s still amazing to me to see what causes my sugar levels to go up in different foods. For example—I have a fairly high reading with a bowl of Fiber One cereal and some skim milk (like 130)….but if I…
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Pregnancy: 30 week appt
For the most part, pretty straight forward appointment. Can’t remember my total weight gain but it’s not much — I’m up in total maybe 12-14 lbs. Not much. Anyway, the big UGH is that I’m measuring large again—my fundal height measurement was 33.5. [sigh] Not doing anything about it now, will wait to see how it is at my next appointment, but it’s likely they’ll have me go in for a growth ultrasound. I’m extremely wary of growth ultrasounds as they have a reputation for having a high margin of error. We did one with Natalie when I was 40 weeks along and I was told she was some ginormous…