04-13-09

I feel like I've gotten a lot accomplished today, which is always a good feeling. I don't get to have that feeling too often. :-) I used this recipe to make potato soup this evening, and it was very good. We had salad, potato soup, and homemade bread. When I froze all my bread I wasn't too sure how it would reheat, but it is really good! I sliced it before I froze it, so I'm able to take out however many slices I want each time. Very nice. I will definitely be using that bread recipe again.
Well, I thought I would write more, but it's just not going to happen tonight!

Update

Everything went wonderfully at my specialist appointment! Well, except for the 10 or 11 vials of blood that they drew. About four years ago that would have sent me into orbit; it's amazing what having two kids will do for your ability to deal with needles. :-) I really like the specialist; I wasn't sure when I first saw her picture on the internet (yes, I was judging by her looks...ha). She is pretty sure we're having a girl, although I can't seem to commit to that until I hear my regular doc give his opinion. :-)
She was impressed with my cervical length, which said was about 5 cm. That is the distance from the bag of water to the outside of my cervix, and 5 cm. is a very good length. From what I have read, 3.4-4.0 cm. is an average cervix length. She also said my cervix is still curved and said that we would see the cervix straighten out before it starts shortening. All of that to say that we are at a very good starting point! She doesn't seem to think I have classic incompetent cervix (which I had wondered from the beginning), and that's why she ordered all the bloodwork to check for other issues that could have caused my cervix to open prematurely last time. She also said that she won't even consider a stitch unless I go under 2 cm. before 24 weeks.
So, that is what we're working with! I was extremely relieved to hear how long my cervix is and to hear that a cervix that is shortening rarely loses more than 1 cm. in two weeks. I guess all my weird sensations I can actually chalk up to a "normal" pregnancy! :-)
Gotta run!

What I'm up to

I found a bread recipe that we ALL like, not just Nathan!!!! :-) The recipe is here. So far, I have found that her recipes are generally ones that we will like, so I am making a list of different recipes of hers that I want to try! She incorporates a lot of the Nourishing Traditions ideas, too.

I made four loaves of bread and froze one whole and the other three sliced. Evan said he liked the bread, but the proof came the next evening when he made himself two pieces of buttered bread to eat and said again how much he liked the bread. :-) It's always nice to have some success, especially after my pizza dough turned out really hard. The pizzas turned out fine, but I had to call Evan in to roll out the dough because it was so hard!

Today I finally did some much-needed cleaning around here. I didn't get everything done, but I definitely made myself feel better about my surroundings. :-) Tomorrow is my first appointment with my specialist, and I am ready to have that done. I just don't know what to expect from this doctor; I just hope she's good. Of course.

A post I like

At a blog I enjoy...

I have many thoughts on her post, but I don't really have the time to muddle through them to create a post of my own. :-) So I will take from another place.

"Though the fig tree may not blossom, nor fruit be on the vines; though the labor of the olive may fail, and the fields yield no food; though the flock may be cut off from the fold, and there be no herd in the stalls--yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will joy in the God of my salvation. The Lord God is my strength; He will make my feet like deer's feet, and He will make me walk on my high hills."
Habakkuk 3:17-19

The comfort in those verses is that the whole situation is bad; there is nothing good to be seen. Yet the prophet determines, sets his will, to rejoice in the Lord. For some reason, these verses give me strength today.

Instead of cleaning...

I am blogging. ha My house is in serious disarray after having company over the weekend and pretty much lying around most of the week. My kitchen is clean (if you only count the sink, counter, and stove), and supper is in the crockpot, but my house! I am feeling very overwhelmed, which is probably the reason I am blogging and not being productive. That, and I'm getting off my feet for a few minutes after cooking lunch. :-) I DID pay bills, though! And laundry is actually IN THE WASHING MACHINE!
Oh, Evan took me to Walmart last night, and I spent $9.48! Want to know what I got?? Of course you do. :-) A package of boxers ($7, I'm laughing as I type this because Evan said he must need more since he's been running out; I told him that is only because his wife has been out of commission the last few days...which happened to be the laundry days.), 6 oranges, 4 boxes of Knox gelatin, 2 cans of Pringles, 5 apples, 3 bananas, a package of strawberries, a cantaloupe, and a bottle of Kraft Italian dressing. Isn't it great?!
Anyway, the specialist's office finally called me yesterday and got me scheduled for an appointment next Wednesday, the 8th. I am SO happy that I got in to see my doctor because it would have been horrible stress for the next week if I'd had to wait and wonder that whole time. I wasn't too impressed, though, when I talked to the receptionist at the specialist's office. First she told me that I was 10 1/2 weeks (I'm 15); then she said that they could get me in on the 16th. They were supposed to see me this week. So I told her no, and she miraculously got me in on the 8th. I hope I don't have to be this pushy my whole pregnancy.
On the baby front, I think I have felt the little peanut move a couple of times. Fun, but scary. I have also made the huge step of pulling out my maternity jeans today. :-) Ahhhhhhhh. It's amazing how much better they feel than the one pair of jeans that I was wearing. I can't believe I'm actually in my sixteenth week already.
Okay, I'm going to go switch over the laundry and see if I can get my living room into order. Baby steps, right??

Update

The doctor said my cervix is long, long, long. Yay!! And he was pretty perturbed that the specialist's office had not called me yet. :-) He said that he would call them. Anyway, I was so relieved that I cried...and forgot to ask what the stink was causing the pressure (so now Mom is mad at me - ha). Isn't that nice?

Doctor's appointment today

So, I have a doctor's appointment today. The last three days I have been feeling a lot of pressure, this was the week I was supposed to have my first specialist appointment, and I have had MAJOR issues with getting in with the lack of communication between the doctors' offices themselves and between the doctors' offices and the insurance company. Oh, I didn't mention the lack of communication between the doctor's office and ME. I've had to be a pushy patient this week, but I got through. I still haven't heard from the specialist's office, but I'm supposed to give them until tomorrow.
I finally got through to my nurse, and she is going to work me in this afternoon with my doctor. I feel better today, of course, but I am still going in. I just need to have everything checked for my own peace of mind. The last few days I've been going through every emotion possible, and stress does not do nice things to my body. I told the nurse that I would love to tell myself that it's nothing and not to worry, but I did that last time with bad results. I think once I start going in every week I'll feel better (since I don't think the cervix will just open overnight), but right now I have no clue if my cervix is doing okay or not. It hasn't been looked at since I was nine weeks.
Anyway, that is what is going on around here. I have been lying around and burning up the phone lines. ha I am praying that I get a good report today, although I'll feel guilty that I was so pushy when nothing was wrong. But, I told my doctor beforehand that I was going to be like this. I don't think they can expect anything different. It's hard to blow stuff off whenever you start having flashbacks of what happened last time.