Approx. 9 weeks left!
I really regretted not doing this with Liam, so here is a picture of me and baby girl at 28 weeks.
Friday, February 24, 2012
28 Weeks- Third Trimester
Huge milestone met today!
Approx. 9 weeks left!
I really regretted not doing this with Liam, so here is a picture of me and baby girl at 28 weeks.
Approx. 9 weeks left!
I really regretted not doing this with Liam, so here is a picture of me and baby girl at 28 weeks.
Monday, February 20, 2012
27 Weeks + 3 Days
Not sure if I had mentioned this or not but my Ob/Gyn Dr., who I have been seeing since before Liam even, is out for shoulder surgery for the next couple of months. I love this Dr. and was nervous to have to pick a new one to take over my and baby girls basic prenatal care. I am just hoping she will be healed and back in time for my c-section, but it will be cutting it close.
So on the 15th I met with my new Ob Dr. He is a partner of hers in the same practice, that a friend of mine also see's, so that is why I choose him. I just have to say that he is awesome and so is his nurse!
He talked to me right away about how sorry he was for my loss of Liam and then moved onto his thoughts on the fetal surgery and my incision. It amazes me how every Dr. has there own views about how we should go at my c-section. He feels that he would be comfortable doing my c-section anywhere between 36 and 38 weeks, so about 37 like has been discussed with the Perinatologist. He also told me about his views on how to classify me since I have had fetal surgery but I don't exactly have the same outcome as most other patients who had it.
So am I more like a fetal surgery patient or a c-section patient then??? and I know I am going to talk about this again!
For one I only have one incision instead of two like the other fetal surgery moms would have and two my surgery was done and baby was delivered the same day just before 26 weeks, so my uterus never got stretched out as far as even most c-section patients would be with closer to full term ones. The real difference with me is just from the fact that my incision is not in a normal location, the very thick top back portion of the uterus.
He mainly just feels that the statistics that the Perinatologist from both UCSF and the one I am seeing here gave me about rupture rates and what not from having a future pregnancy/c-section after fetal surgery don't really apply to me. I have such a hard time with this and I am sure people are sick of hearing me whine about my concerns on having a uterine rupture or other crap go wrong since I had the fetal surgery. Things are going great with this pregnancy, stop worrying about it already, right? Honestly after I left this appt. I was pretty down for awhile. The thing about all this is that everything he mentioned I already know. I also know people that have gone on and had mutliple pregnancies after fetal surgery and so on and everything has worked out just dandy for them, so why wouldn't they for me. Dereck and I have talked about all this for a long time. I feel like what it all comes down to is that if Liam would have lived this wouldn't be that big of concern, but since he died and this baby just has to live, she just has to, its easier to use the fetal surgery as a crutch for my craziness than for me to just admit that I am just plain out scared of hearing those awful words ever again.
After that long talk he took a measurement of my belly and informed that I am measuring small but he isn't concerned since the u/s shows that she looks good. I think I look small also though. Everyone else I know looks huge already, but I think its because she just sits in my pelvis the whole time, and pretty sure she uses my bladder as a pillow. When I look in the mirror I feel more like I have this butt in the front then a pregnant belly. Oh well, as long as she's healthy she can hang out wherever she wants I guess. He also looked at my present incision scar and mentioned the length of it, it goes all the way from one side of my pelvis to the other. He said that the next one will be half the length which will make my recovery so much easier, woohoo on that! He then brought up to me that now that I am almost to my third trimester I need to start my kick counts, pick a pediatrician, and also preregister at the hospital. When did we get to this point? and to think I was close to all of this with Liam. We also did my glucose test so I am waiting to hear back on that.
All in all it was a good appt. It also really helps that he talks in a very caring, sincere, yet laid back manner. I can already tell that I am gonna like him alot, even enough that I can say already I think I would be okay if he did my c-section.
I went to Portland and the Oregon coast to visit a friend the other weekend. It was supposed to be my getaway weekend before I had to really get serious about baby preparations. The trip was a lot of fun, great weather, and I ate a lot. Right now I am ready for another vacation. I returned home to a leaking roof, which leaked through all of the house levels with the most damage that we can see as of right now being in the nursery. My beautiful nursery right now is half ripped apart. I know there could be bigger, scarier things to whine about right now, but WHY the nursery, if something was going to get ruined there are plenty of other rooms in the house that could use a remodel. The worst part is that it won't be able to get put back together until this spring when our roof can be fixed.
I have also spent this past week working like crazy on Liam's scrapbook, so between the house leak, new dr. visit, and this I have been a little over emotional, but yet I still feel like things are going to be okay.
So on the 15th I met with my new Ob Dr. He is a partner of hers in the same practice, that a friend of mine also see's, so that is why I choose him. I just have to say that he is awesome and so is his nurse!
He talked to me right away about how sorry he was for my loss of Liam and then moved onto his thoughts on the fetal surgery and my incision. It amazes me how every Dr. has there own views about how we should go at my c-section. He feels that he would be comfortable doing my c-section anywhere between 36 and 38 weeks, so about 37 like has been discussed with the Perinatologist. He also told me about his views on how to classify me since I have had fetal surgery but I don't exactly have the same outcome as most other patients who had it.
So am I more like a fetal surgery patient or a c-section patient then??? and I know I am going to talk about this again!
For one I only have one incision instead of two like the other fetal surgery moms would have and two my surgery was done and baby was delivered the same day just before 26 weeks, so my uterus never got stretched out as far as even most c-section patients would be with closer to full term ones. The real difference with me is just from the fact that my incision is not in a normal location, the very thick top back portion of the uterus.
He mainly just feels that the statistics that the Perinatologist from both UCSF and the one I am seeing here gave me about rupture rates and what not from having a future pregnancy/c-section after fetal surgery don't really apply to me. I have such a hard time with this and I am sure people are sick of hearing me whine about my concerns on having a uterine rupture or other crap go wrong since I had the fetal surgery. Things are going great with this pregnancy, stop worrying about it already, right? Honestly after I left this appt. I was pretty down for awhile. The thing about all this is that everything he mentioned I already know. I also know people that have gone on and had mutliple pregnancies after fetal surgery and so on and everything has worked out just dandy for them, so why wouldn't they for me. Dereck and I have talked about all this for a long time. I feel like what it all comes down to is that if Liam would have lived this wouldn't be that big of concern, but since he died and this baby just has to live, she just has to, its easier to use the fetal surgery as a crutch for my craziness than for me to just admit that I am just plain out scared of hearing those awful words ever again.
After that long talk he took a measurement of my belly and informed that I am measuring small but he isn't concerned since the u/s shows that she looks good. I think I look small also though. Everyone else I know looks huge already, but I think its because she just sits in my pelvis the whole time, and pretty sure she uses my bladder as a pillow. When I look in the mirror I feel more like I have this butt in the front then a pregnant belly. Oh well, as long as she's healthy she can hang out wherever she wants I guess. He also looked at my present incision scar and mentioned the length of it, it goes all the way from one side of my pelvis to the other. He said that the next one will be half the length which will make my recovery so much easier, woohoo on that! He then brought up to me that now that I am almost to my third trimester I need to start my kick counts, pick a pediatrician, and also preregister at the hospital. When did we get to this point? and to think I was close to all of this with Liam. We also did my glucose test so I am waiting to hear back on that.
All in all it was a good appt. It also really helps that he talks in a very caring, sincere, yet laid back manner. I can already tell that I am gonna like him alot, even enough that I can say already I think I would be okay if he did my c-section.
In other news:
I went to Portland and the Oregon coast to visit a friend the other weekend. It was supposed to be my getaway weekend before I had to really get serious about baby preparations. The trip was a lot of fun, great weather, and I ate a lot. Right now I am ready for another vacation. I returned home to a leaking roof, which leaked through all of the house levels with the most damage that we can see as of right now being in the nursery. My beautiful nursery right now is half ripped apart. I know there could be bigger, scarier things to whine about right now, but WHY the nursery, if something was going to get ruined there are plenty of other rooms in the house that could use a remodel. The worst part is that it won't be able to get put back together until this spring when our roof can be fixed.
On a brighter side, if there is one to having a roof leak, is that all of baby girls clothes and other items have now been washed and placed in bins since I have to clear everything out of the nursery so it can be further ripped up and worked on. Good thing she will be living in our room for awhile since it looks like the nursery will be out of order for awhile.
 |
| My beautiful nursery no longer looks like this:( |
I have also spent this past week working like crazy on Liam's scrapbook, so between the house leak, new dr. visit, and this I have been a little over emotional, but yet I still feel like things are going to be okay.
Friday, February 10, 2012
26 Weeks, I Can't Believe We're Here
When I was 25 weeks + 6 days pregnant with Liam we had fetal surgery. That same morning he was born and also passed away. That was the worst day of my life.
Yesterday marked 25 weeks + 6 days gestation with baby girl and today marks 26 weeks. I never thought I'd ever get to this point, or past it even. This is a HUGE milestone to me.
It was such a wonderful feeling last night to feel baby girl kicking and know that she is still alive and with me. I know there isn't any correlation between what happened to Liam and this baby, but I needed to feel those kicks.
From here on out I am entering the pregnancy unknown because I"VE NEVER BEEN THIS PREGNANT BEFORE! So exciting and scary all at the same time.
Yesterday marked 25 weeks + 6 days gestation with baby girl and today marks 26 weeks. I never thought I'd ever get to this point, or past it even. This is a HUGE milestone to me.
It was such a wonderful feeling last night to feel baby girl kicking and know that she is still alive and with me. I know there isn't any correlation between what happened to Liam and this baby, but I needed to feel those kicks.
From here on out I am entering the pregnancy unknown because I"VE NEVER BEEN THIS PREGNANT BEFORE! So exciting and scary all at the same time.
Wednesday, February 8, 2012
A Year Of Blogging
I would say that I had read probably less than 5 blogs before I started my own. The first blog I even recall reading was during the month prior to Liam's fetal surgery when Dereck and I were searching the internet for everything and anything related to Spina Bifida and the fetal surgery. That is when we came across one with a mom writing about her sons journey from the diagnosis, to the MOMS study, UCSF, the fetal surgery, and how her son was doing just 6 months after having it done. I found a lot of hope in this blog. Also through her blog I was able to connect to other Spina Bifida/fetal surgery blogs and read some of there stories. I even thought at the time how maybe I would start a blog about my journey there and could connect more with some of these other moms.
On Wednesday February, 9, 2011, just one year ago, this blog was created, of course it wasn't the type of blog I had intended on starting. It had been exactly 5 weeks and 6 days from the moment my life was completely flipped upside down. This blog was started for many reasons; 1. to have a record of Liam's story, 2. to have a place I can write down my thoughts and feelings, 3. hopes of connecting with other mothers who have experienced the loss of a baby, and 4. hopes that my story can help others through there loss as well.
I have met so many amazing blm's(baby loss moms) here that have helped me in so many ways. I have read blogs in which our babies deaths are within weeks to a few months of mine, others that were more than a year out, and others that were already pregnant again.. Many of these blogs I still read today. At first I thought I was so alone but their stories and daily/weekly posts helped me realize that they were experiencing the same heartache as I was and that it was okay for me to feel the way I felt whether I was weeks out, months out, and even now being over a year out. I have always felt that I have had a hard time really expressing my feelings and it was so nice to read another blm's blog and just be like "yes, that is exactly what I have been trying to say and feel that same way but just couldn't seem to be able to put it into words." And as many of you know that have followed my blog that I am pregnant again and many of these same blm's are pregnant right along with me. Like our losses, some of us are due within days to weeks of one another, some have just had there rainbows, and others are just in the first weeks of there pregnancy after baby loss journey.
Here is a little bit about my life after loss in the past year since losing my son and starting this blog:
Grief
I am still working through my grief and probably will for a long time. I know that the pain will never completely go away though, and I am okay with that. I will always love and miss my son and will always wonder why he had to die. Compared to a year ago though, I have came along way. At first I blamed myself, the world, even God, and thought I was being punished for something I did. I still have a few anger issues (that you will read about below) that I need to work on and am still having a hard time accepting that he died and that I have no answer as to why, but I no longer play the blame game.
At first I remember never wanting to sleep. For sleeping meant I had to walk up and face another day without my son. Then it changed and all I wanted to do is sleep and not get out of bed. I think that started about 2 weeks or so after Liam passed. I think I was still in so much shock at first. When it started wearing off and I was completely grief stricken my days were mostly consisting of crying and sleeping. When I started my blog and realized how many others out there were going through baby loss also my days started consisting more and more of blogging. I couldn't get enough of reading blogs. The more blogs I read the more I cried and the more exhausted I felt from so much heartache. You would think being surrounded by so much sadness would make things worse but honestly I needed it and glad I found this place.
When Liam died it was like my world had stopped, obviously the rest of the world didn't seem to get the memo though. There lives all carried on while mine just seemed to sit there. I tried to carry on the best I could. I started going to a grief group, which I still attend now and also started seeing a counselor, which I started seeing again a 3-4 months ago.
Going back to work at 6 weeks was exhausting and I was only working 3 days a week. Grief wears the crap out of you. Work kept me busy, but the grief went with me. Within the first month or two back I had many moments where I had to run into the bathroom for a quick cry before I could resume working. I was also very unsociable. I would x-ray the patients that needed x-rays and speaking only when I needed to and then would go back to my desk and keep to myself. I rarely even spoke to my coworkers. As time went on I started coming around more and more at work though and getting back to my old talkative self, but it wasn't for at least a good 6-8 months I would say before I really felt like my old self at work again. I even remember the first time a coworker pointed it out to me that I looked happier than I had looked in a long time and I could feel it too. I was actually already pregnant with my baby girl then, that definitely helped bring some light back into my life.
I tried to get out with friends but it didn't seem to matter what I did, I always thought about what should/n't be. I shouldn't be at this party because I should be at home with my newborn or I should be spending my summer out pushing Liam in his stroller. I had lots of thoughts where I'd be like "I remember when I was happy and naive about pregnancy loss like that." The thoughts went on and on. I go out a lot more now and any random baby related thoughts I have now tend to be on the more optimistic side, not that the paranoia is gone, but its nice that it doesn't come up as often as it once did.
The fear of firsts was also always there; the first Easter, Thanksgiving, Christmas, and Liam's first birthday/first anniversary of his passing. I have now made it through those firsts and feel that the 2nds, 3rds, 4ths, and so on will be easier. Liam will always be thought of though. You see when your child dies it isn't just the holidays and birthdays that you as a parent miss out on with them, its so much more. From the little things to your hopes and dreams for them as a person are gone also. Things like hearing them say momma or dadda for the first time, to see them crawl and then walk, to saying goodbye as they head off for their first day of school and one day graduation, to meeting there first girlfriend/boyfriend and be at there wedding, and so on. I might be lucky enough to have all that with this baby girl and hopefully one ot two more kids after that, but I will never get that with Liam. Even while being pregnant with him I thought of all of that and more. Most of all I wanted to see the type of man he would grow up and be.
Friends and Family
A year of learning who my real friends are and learning the true meaning of family. The ones who knew little to know nothing of what I was feeling but tried to reach out to me at the worst time in my life. The ones who just listened and never made me feel like I should be over "it" and just be happy. The ones who still remember I have a son and that this baby girl I am carrying has a much loved and missed older brother. The ones who talk/ed about wanting to meet him when I was pregnant with him and the ones who still talk about him and how they love and miss him too. The ones who know I am pregnant now and don't criticize me or walk away when I have share my paranoid thoughts no matter how crazy they may sound. And the ones who understand that saying stuff to me like "don't worry things will be fine this time" really isn't helping.
To all of you that have been there for me this past year, you are all my family and I am so blessed to have you all in my life.
Then there are the ones that have hurt me more than they will ever know, and most likely they have no idea who they are. The ones who ignored me and my loss when I felt like I was dying inside. For some of you this has been going on since day one and I will never forget how horrible you made me feel. I still don't know if you really just didn't care, or if you just didn't know what to say, or maybe you just hate dealing with sadness so its easier to just try and pretend it didn't happen and feel its easier to just change the subject to a happier topic. The ones who act like this pregnancy replaces the last and need I say it again, want me to move on, be happy, and be over it already. But you know what, it did happen, and I am no longer the person I once was.
I have heard the commments from "it was God's will" to "everything happens for a reason" and so on. Most of those comments made me furious at first but for the most part I can ignore them now and let people think whatever it is they want to think. Being pregnant again I have now been hearing some of these stupid comments again. One that really pisses me off these days is when someone tells me that my son was sick. Like you think me hearing you tell me that you think it should be easier for me to deal with or more acceptable that my son died because he was sick. Say that and you will move higher on my shit list than the people that just plain out ignored me and my feelings. If you think saying something like that to me will be helpful or thoughtful, keep it to yourself, because as far as I am concerned that is the absolute worst thing you could say to me right now. For anyone who thinks that "oh he was just sick" I want to share with you a facebook post that I read a few weeks back from a fellow spina bifida fetal surgery mom who's daughter is doing remarkable after having fetal surgery. This mother wrote, "Seven years ago today my daughter had fetal surgery to correct her spina bifida, today I signed her up for soccer, take that spina bifida." Many of these kids are doing remarkable, it just didn't work out that way for us.
Pregnancy after loss
Is so hard. Sure I want to be happy and as sane as possible for this baby girl, but when you know first hand that pregnancy doesn't always equal a living healthy baby, that sucks. After Liam died all I wanted was to be pregnant again because I thought that was the only thing that would make me happy again. I never thought that my 6 month wait to try again would ever come. I was so excited for the first time in so long when it did and actually felt happier than I had in a long time. When I didn't get pregnant right away though, I was back to feeling like a failure and that the world really was against me. I was really not happy then.
Then when I did get pregnant I instantly went from lost in grief to paranoid crazy lady. I was so scared of this baby dying again or having another birth defect. I was on a major folic acid craze, taking my 4g of folic acid a day plus consuming as much fortified food as possible. This baby was not going to have a NTD on my watch! I feared lotions, cleaners, certain foods, etc. If I had heard even the slightest thing about something possibly causing a birth defect, proof or no proof, I didn't want to be near it. Google became my best friend and my worst enemy all at the same time. This went on for months, it didn't matter how irrational something sounded, I could convince myself it was harming my baby. I have came along way in this pregnancy since then, but I would be lying if I said I didn't have moments where I still wonder if I'll ever be lucky enough to bring home a living baby.
Yes, I still get nervous about getting asked if "this is my first" or getting told "you must be so excited" or even being near other pregnant women. I am excited to meet and raise my baby girl but also am still very much defensive over my little boy. I have been looking at baby items for my registry a lot lately and for awhile was having a hard time picking out any strictly girl items. I am not a fan of pink and would prefer neutral colors anyway but when I look at stuff I tend to think about what would look good on my little boy also. I guess I am still holding onto this hope that one day I will get the chance to raise a little boy. That's yet just another thing I still need to work on. I know its not fair to her.
This blog has definitely changed a lot in the past. I have grown so much but so has the blog. This blog is first and foremost about Liam's life and how my life has changed because of his passing but if I didn't include this pregnancy with his baby sister and other things that I have done in my life since his passing I feel there would be many holes in the story. It is because of his life and the impact it has left on me that changes the way I view almost every other aspect of my life, including this pregnancy. It is getting easier as time goes by but its all about baby steps.
So there it is, a sum up of this blog and my life living with grief and pregnancy after loss for the past year, but let's face it, I still have a long way to go.
On Wednesday February, 9, 2011, just one year ago, this blog was created, of course it wasn't the type of blog I had intended on starting. It had been exactly 5 weeks and 6 days from the moment my life was completely flipped upside down. This blog was started for many reasons; 1. to have a record of Liam's story, 2. to have a place I can write down my thoughts and feelings, 3. hopes of connecting with other mothers who have experienced the loss of a baby, and 4. hopes that my story can help others through there loss as well.
I have met so many amazing blm's(baby loss moms) here that have helped me in so many ways. I have read blogs in which our babies deaths are within weeks to a few months of mine, others that were more than a year out, and others that were already pregnant again.. Many of these blogs I still read today. At first I thought I was so alone but their stories and daily/weekly posts helped me realize that they were experiencing the same heartache as I was and that it was okay for me to feel the way I felt whether I was weeks out, months out, and even now being over a year out. I have always felt that I have had a hard time really expressing my feelings and it was so nice to read another blm's blog and just be like "yes, that is exactly what I have been trying to say and feel that same way but just couldn't seem to be able to put it into words." And as many of you know that have followed my blog that I am pregnant again and many of these same blm's are pregnant right along with me. Like our losses, some of us are due within days to weeks of one another, some have just had there rainbows, and others are just in the first weeks of there pregnancy after baby loss journey.
Here is a little bit about my life after loss in the past year since losing my son and starting this blog:
Grief
I am still working through my grief and probably will for a long time. I know that the pain will never completely go away though, and I am okay with that. I will always love and miss my son and will always wonder why he had to die. Compared to a year ago though, I have came along way. At first I blamed myself, the world, even God, and thought I was being punished for something I did. I still have a few anger issues (that you will read about below) that I need to work on and am still having a hard time accepting that he died and that I have no answer as to why, but I no longer play the blame game.
At first I remember never wanting to sleep. For sleeping meant I had to walk up and face another day without my son. Then it changed and all I wanted to do is sleep and not get out of bed. I think that started about 2 weeks or so after Liam passed. I think I was still in so much shock at first. When it started wearing off and I was completely grief stricken my days were mostly consisting of crying and sleeping. When I started my blog and realized how many others out there were going through baby loss also my days started consisting more and more of blogging. I couldn't get enough of reading blogs. The more blogs I read the more I cried and the more exhausted I felt from so much heartache. You would think being surrounded by so much sadness would make things worse but honestly I needed it and glad I found this place.
When Liam died it was like my world had stopped, obviously the rest of the world didn't seem to get the memo though. There lives all carried on while mine just seemed to sit there. I tried to carry on the best I could. I started going to a grief group, which I still attend now and also started seeing a counselor, which I started seeing again a 3-4 months ago.
Going back to work at 6 weeks was exhausting and I was only working 3 days a week. Grief wears the crap out of you. Work kept me busy, but the grief went with me. Within the first month or two back I had many moments where I had to run into the bathroom for a quick cry before I could resume working. I was also very unsociable. I would x-ray the patients that needed x-rays and speaking only when I needed to and then would go back to my desk and keep to myself. I rarely even spoke to my coworkers. As time went on I started coming around more and more at work though and getting back to my old talkative self, but it wasn't for at least a good 6-8 months I would say before I really felt like my old self at work again. I even remember the first time a coworker pointed it out to me that I looked happier than I had looked in a long time and I could feel it too. I was actually already pregnant with my baby girl then, that definitely helped bring some light back into my life.
I tried to get out with friends but it didn't seem to matter what I did, I always thought about what should/n't be. I shouldn't be at this party because I should be at home with my newborn or I should be spending my summer out pushing Liam in his stroller. I had lots of thoughts where I'd be like "I remember when I was happy and naive about pregnancy loss like that." The thoughts went on and on. I go out a lot more now and any random baby related thoughts I have now tend to be on the more optimistic side, not that the paranoia is gone, but its nice that it doesn't come up as often as it once did.
The fear of firsts was also always there; the first Easter, Thanksgiving, Christmas, and Liam's first birthday/first anniversary of his passing. I have now made it through those firsts and feel that the 2nds, 3rds, 4ths, and so on will be easier. Liam will always be thought of though. You see when your child dies it isn't just the holidays and birthdays that you as a parent miss out on with them, its so much more. From the little things to your hopes and dreams for them as a person are gone also. Things like hearing them say momma or dadda for the first time, to see them crawl and then walk, to saying goodbye as they head off for their first day of school and one day graduation, to meeting there first girlfriend/boyfriend and be at there wedding, and so on. I might be lucky enough to have all that with this baby girl and hopefully one ot two more kids after that, but I will never get that with Liam. Even while being pregnant with him I thought of all of that and more. Most of all I wanted to see the type of man he would grow up and be.
Friends and Family
A year of learning who my real friends are and learning the true meaning of family. The ones who knew little to know nothing of what I was feeling but tried to reach out to me at the worst time in my life. The ones who just listened and never made me feel like I should be over "it" and just be happy. The ones who still remember I have a son and that this baby girl I am carrying has a much loved and missed older brother. The ones who talk/ed about wanting to meet him when I was pregnant with him and the ones who still talk about him and how they love and miss him too. The ones who know I am pregnant now and don't criticize me or walk away when I have share my paranoid thoughts no matter how crazy they may sound. And the ones who understand that saying stuff to me like "don't worry things will be fine this time" really isn't helping.
To all of you that have been there for me this past year, you are all my family and I am so blessed to have you all in my life.
Then there are the ones that have hurt me more than they will ever know, and most likely they have no idea who they are. The ones who ignored me and my loss when I felt like I was dying inside. For some of you this has been going on since day one and I will never forget how horrible you made me feel. I still don't know if you really just didn't care, or if you just didn't know what to say, or maybe you just hate dealing with sadness so its easier to just try and pretend it didn't happen and feel its easier to just change the subject to a happier topic. The ones who act like this pregnancy replaces the last and need I say it again, want me to move on, be happy, and be over it already. But you know what, it did happen, and I am no longer the person I once was.
I have heard the commments from "it was God's will" to "everything happens for a reason" and so on. Most of those comments made me furious at first but for the most part I can ignore them now and let people think whatever it is they want to think. Being pregnant again I have now been hearing some of these stupid comments again. One that really pisses me off these days is when someone tells me that my son was sick. Like you think me hearing you tell me that you think it should be easier for me to deal with or more acceptable that my son died because he was sick. Say that and you will move higher on my shit list than the people that just plain out ignored me and my feelings. If you think saying something like that to me will be helpful or thoughtful, keep it to yourself, because as far as I am concerned that is the absolute worst thing you could say to me right now. For anyone who thinks that "oh he was just sick" I want to share with you a facebook post that I read a few weeks back from a fellow spina bifida fetal surgery mom who's daughter is doing remarkable after having fetal surgery. This mother wrote, "Seven years ago today my daughter had fetal surgery to correct her spina bifida, today I signed her up for soccer, take that spina bifida." Many of these kids are doing remarkable, it just didn't work out that way for us.
Pregnancy after loss
Is so hard. Sure I want to be happy and as sane as possible for this baby girl, but when you know first hand that pregnancy doesn't always equal a living healthy baby, that sucks. After Liam died all I wanted was to be pregnant again because I thought that was the only thing that would make me happy again. I never thought that my 6 month wait to try again would ever come. I was so excited for the first time in so long when it did and actually felt happier than I had in a long time. When I didn't get pregnant right away though, I was back to feeling like a failure and that the world really was against me. I was really not happy then.
Then when I did get pregnant I instantly went from lost in grief to paranoid crazy lady. I was so scared of this baby dying again or having another birth defect. I was on a major folic acid craze, taking my 4g of folic acid a day plus consuming as much fortified food as possible. This baby was not going to have a NTD on my watch! I feared lotions, cleaners, certain foods, etc. If I had heard even the slightest thing about something possibly causing a birth defect, proof or no proof, I didn't want to be near it. Google became my best friend and my worst enemy all at the same time. This went on for months, it didn't matter how irrational something sounded, I could convince myself it was harming my baby. I have came along way in this pregnancy since then, but I would be lying if I said I didn't have moments where I still wonder if I'll ever be lucky enough to bring home a living baby.
Yes, I still get nervous about getting asked if "this is my first" or getting told "you must be so excited" or even being near other pregnant women. I am excited to meet and raise my baby girl but also am still very much defensive over my little boy. I have been looking at baby items for my registry a lot lately and for awhile was having a hard time picking out any strictly girl items. I am not a fan of pink and would prefer neutral colors anyway but when I look at stuff I tend to think about what would look good on my little boy also. I guess I am still holding onto this hope that one day I will get the chance to raise a little boy. That's yet just another thing I still need to work on. I know its not fair to her.
This blog has definitely changed a lot in the past. I have grown so much but so has the blog. This blog is first and foremost about Liam's life and how my life has changed because of his passing but if I didn't include this pregnancy with his baby sister and other things that I have done in my life since his passing I feel there would be many holes in the story. It is because of his life and the impact it has left on me that changes the way I view almost every other aspect of my life, including this pregnancy. It is getting easier as time goes by but its all about baby steps.
So there it is, a sum up of this blog and my life living with grief and pregnancy after loss for the past year, but let's face it, I still have a long way to go.
Wednesday, February 1, 2012
24 Weeks + 5 Days and a Counseling Appt
Today I had another appt with the Perinatologist, the same one that did my anatomy scan. Baby girl is measuring in the 32nd percentile with her head measuring a little on the small side. The Dr. said she isn't too concerned about this so I am trying not to be either. It kind of bugs me though because Liam's head measured big and it turned out to be because of the hydrocephalus from the spina bifida and now hers is exactly opposite being on the small side, hmmm.
Strong heartbeat of 159bpm and weighing in at 1lb. 9oz. It surprised me that already at 24 weeks + 5 days she already is bigger than Liam was at 25 + 6 days.
On top of wanting to make sure things were still measuring on track we checked the incision, which still looks good. She then wanted to look at where the placenta was sitting according to the incision, which she said sometimes it can happen that the placenta will attach itself to an old c-section scar which can cause problems. She said that everything looks good though and she will see me back in a month to check it out again. Love hearing good news!
She also said that she had done a bunch of research since I last seen her on other fetal surgery moms who had transverse fundal incisions like mine and what the statistics showed for uterine ruptures. It looks like my type of incision in that location shows about a 14% rupture rate. She also called UCSF and talked to my Perinatologist there to see what he would recommend. If you have followed other posts this has been something I have been a little concerned about and my Dr.'s have talked about anywhere from 37-39 weeks for a c-section, with 39 scaring that crap out of me. It looks like as of right now, even though its still many weeks away, I will be getting the steroid injections at 36 weeks with or without an amnio. The c-section will be at 37 with the NICU team prepared, which makes me feel more reassured. I personally don't want the amnio since they said we will do the c-section whether the lungs are matured or not and don't want to risk going into labor a week early when she will be delivered a week later anyway. So technically as of Friday I only have 12 weeks to go.
We tried to get good pics of her face but she liked to keep it buried in the placenta. In the pic to the top right you can see one of her legs up by her face. She kept it there almost the entire time and looked like she was kissing her knee. So here she is at 24 weeks + 5 days. Can't wait to meet you baby girl!
Counseling
I had an appt with my counselor yesterday. If I cry much these days it tends to be at these appts because we talk strictly about my emotions, and now that I am pregnant again we talk a lot in regards about what happened to Liam and how it affects this pregnancy.
She has known me since about 2 months after Liam passed and so she has seen me at my some of my worst moments in grief and has also heard all about my paranoia and fears about this pregnancy. She, like many others, friends, coworkers, and Ob dr., and has seen how much I have changed since the beginning. But yesterday she talked to me about really needing to find away to make peace with what happened to Liam because she really thinks its going to affect my little girl, if it hasn't already. She also feels that I am a perfect candidate for postpartum depression and suggested either starting on some antidepressants now or try doing some EDMR.
I don't know what to think about this. I don't want to be on drugs and I think if we do EDMR I will end up depressed. I think I am doing really well for someone being a year out. I read through many blogs and feel like where I am in my grief is pretty comparable to what other blm's are feeling for this stage in their grief, pregnant again or not. Am I wrong on this? I actually think I will be overjoyed when I finally can hold my living baby girl in my arms.
She mentioned that she is afraid that unless I can make peace with this that my little girl will grow up feeling like she is living in the ghost of her brother. She also would like it if Dereck would start coming to my counseling sessions till the baby is born to get his perspective and learn more about how he is processing everything that has happened.
It's a lot to take in and I just feel so overwhelmed by everything she said yesterday. I could hardly sleep last night and even got up this morning still feeling down and had to have a good cry before work. I really feel I'm doing better and have made so much progress.
Strong heartbeat of 159bpm and weighing in at 1lb. 9oz. It surprised me that already at 24 weeks + 5 days she already is bigger than Liam was at 25 + 6 days.
On top of wanting to make sure things were still measuring on track we checked the incision, which still looks good. She then wanted to look at where the placenta was sitting according to the incision, which she said sometimes it can happen that the placenta will attach itself to an old c-section scar which can cause problems. She said that everything looks good though and she will see me back in a month to check it out again. Love hearing good news!
She also said that she had done a bunch of research since I last seen her on other fetal surgery moms who had transverse fundal incisions like mine and what the statistics showed for uterine ruptures. It looks like my type of incision in that location shows about a 14% rupture rate. She also called UCSF and talked to my Perinatologist there to see what he would recommend. If you have followed other posts this has been something I have been a little concerned about and my Dr.'s have talked about anywhere from 37-39 weeks for a c-section, with 39 scaring that crap out of me. It looks like as of right now, even though its still many weeks away, I will be getting the steroid injections at 36 weeks with or without an amnio. The c-section will be at 37 with the NICU team prepared, which makes me feel more reassured. I personally don't want the amnio since they said we will do the c-section whether the lungs are matured or not and don't want to risk going into labor a week early when she will be delivered a week later anyway. So technically as of Friday I only have 12 weeks to go.
We tried to get good pics of her face but she liked to keep it buried in the placenta. In the pic to the top right you can see one of her legs up by her face. She kept it there almost the entire time and looked like she was kissing her knee. So here she is at 24 weeks + 5 days. Can't wait to meet you baby girl!
Counseling
I had an appt with my counselor yesterday. If I cry much these days it tends to be at these appts because we talk strictly about my emotions, and now that I am pregnant again we talk a lot in regards about what happened to Liam and how it affects this pregnancy.
She has known me since about 2 months after Liam passed and so she has seen me at my some of my worst moments in grief and has also heard all about my paranoia and fears about this pregnancy. She, like many others, friends, coworkers, and Ob dr., and has seen how much I have changed since the beginning. But yesterday she talked to me about really needing to find away to make peace with what happened to Liam because she really thinks its going to affect my little girl, if it hasn't already. She also feels that I am a perfect candidate for postpartum depression and suggested either starting on some antidepressants now or try doing some EDMR.
I don't know what to think about this. I don't want to be on drugs and I think if we do EDMR I will end up depressed. I think I am doing really well for someone being a year out. I read through many blogs and feel like where I am in my grief is pretty comparable to what other blm's are feeling for this stage in their grief, pregnant again or not. Am I wrong on this? I actually think I will be overjoyed when I finally can hold my living baby girl in my arms.
She mentioned that she is afraid that unless I can make peace with this that my little girl will grow up feeling like she is living in the ghost of her brother. She also would like it if Dereck would start coming to my counseling sessions till the baby is born to get his perspective and learn more about how he is processing everything that has happened.
It's a lot to take in and I just feel so overwhelmed by everything she said yesterday. I could hardly sleep last night and even got up this morning still feeling down and had to have a good cry before work. I really feel I'm doing better and have made so much progress.
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