Hollywood, CA - Continuing their whirlwind tour of southland venues such as the Kaiser Permanente in Anaheim and then a follow up show at Kaiser Permanente in Downey, The Smiths are now playing a (hopefull) limited engagement at the Kaiser Permanente in Hollywood right on the Sunset Strip. Seating is limited to dad and two adult guests and there is a no drink maximum...for anybody.
[facepalm]
Monday, July 12, 2010
Tuesday, July 6, 2010
Scary Stuff
I realize it's been awhile since I've posted, please forgive me.
On Wed, June 24th we took our pre-term birth class, where we met Amy one of the OB Nurse people responsible for looking after the patients outside of the hospital. (This becomes important later)
On Sat, June 26th, I took Megan to the hospital because she was having contractions and had an infection. They gave her a shot of Terbutaline (not sure if I spelled that right) which didn't do a lot for the contractions, but they were already pretty irregular. They also started her on Flagyl for the infection. At that point she was pulled from work and sent home, put on modified bedrest, which meant potty breaks and the occaisional trip to the fridge.
On Wed June 30th, Megan gets a welfare check phone call from Amy. After Megan updates Amy on the previous weekends activity, Amy insists on putting Megan on home uterine monitoring.
On Friday July 2nd, the nurse arrives at the house to setup the monitoring system. Megan is to record 2 hour long sessions, one in the morning and one in the evening. After each session she is to upload the data to them for the nurses to analyze. We were told from the beginning that the home uterine monitoring would lead to more trips to L&D (labor and delivery) as they tend to be extra conservative with that stuff.
So on Megan's first monitoring session that evening the desk nurse gives us a call within a minute of uploading the data. Drink a boatload of water, relax and do another hour long monitor starting in about 30 minutes. They called us back again after that hour and uploading the data, and said do it one more time, more water relax and start over. After the third upload the nurses advised us to go to L&D.
At Lakeview, they gave another shot of Terbutaline (here to fore called Terb) and proceeded to check her cervix at which point she measured about 1cm dilated, and had shortened to about 2.5cm (down from 3.2 at our last ultrasound about 2 weeks prior). At that point the Dr. admitted her for observation.
We stayed the night and over the course of the rest of the night she continued to have contractions. They gave her a catheter (spelling?) so she didn't have to keep getting up every 20 minutes (which is not good for a pregnant woman in contractions). They switched her to Magnesium Sulfate (Mag) and rechecked her cervix and now she measured about 2cm. Since she's only 23 wks 3 days at this point (too young for Lakeview) they moved her to Downey who can handle the younger ones (24 wks is considered viable).
The ambulance ride over was kind of bad for the contractions and they seemed to get worse. However they slowly started to subside.
After an uneventful Sunday morning and afternoon, we had a waterbreak scare. After a nerve-wracking hour, and an ultrasound, what we thought was a water-break was residual infection. The ultrasound showed the fluid levels were still great.
Contractions are still under control and now we're in the waiting game, each day is a goal.
Hands down the worst weekend of my life.
On Wed, June 24th we took our pre-term birth class, where we met Amy one of the OB Nurse people responsible for looking after the patients outside of the hospital. (This becomes important later)
On Sat, June 26th, I took Megan to the hospital because she was having contractions and had an infection. They gave her a shot of Terbutaline (not sure if I spelled that right) which didn't do a lot for the contractions, but they were already pretty irregular. They also started her on Flagyl for the infection. At that point she was pulled from work and sent home, put on modified bedrest, which meant potty breaks and the occaisional trip to the fridge.
On Wed June 30th, Megan gets a welfare check phone call from Amy. After Megan updates Amy on the previous weekends activity, Amy insists on putting Megan on home uterine monitoring.
On Friday July 2nd, the nurse arrives at the house to setup the monitoring system. Megan is to record 2 hour long sessions, one in the morning and one in the evening. After each session she is to upload the data to them for the nurses to analyze. We were told from the beginning that the home uterine monitoring would lead to more trips to L&D (labor and delivery) as they tend to be extra conservative with that stuff.
So on Megan's first monitoring session that evening the desk nurse gives us a call within a minute of uploading the data. Drink a boatload of water, relax and do another hour long monitor starting in about 30 minutes. They called us back again after that hour and uploading the data, and said do it one more time, more water relax and start over. After the third upload the nurses advised us to go to L&D.
At Lakeview, they gave another shot of Terbutaline (here to fore called Terb) and proceeded to check her cervix at which point she measured about 1cm dilated, and had shortened to about 2.5cm (down from 3.2 at our last ultrasound about 2 weeks prior). At that point the Dr. admitted her for observation.
We stayed the night and over the course of the rest of the night she continued to have contractions. They gave her a catheter (spelling?) so she didn't have to keep getting up every 20 minutes (which is not good for a pregnant woman in contractions). They switched her to Magnesium Sulfate (Mag) and rechecked her cervix and now she measured about 2cm. Since she's only 23 wks 3 days at this point (too young for Lakeview) they moved her to Downey who can handle the younger ones (24 wks is considered viable).
The ambulance ride over was kind of bad for the contractions and they seemed to get worse. However they slowly started to subside.
After an uneventful Sunday morning and afternoon, we had a waterbreak scare. After a nerve-wracking hour, and an ultrasound, what we thought was a water-break was residual infection. The ultrasound showed the fluid levels were still great.
Contractions are still under control and now we're in the waiting game, each day is a goal.
Hands down the worst weekend of my life.
Thursday, May 27, 2010
We drew a flush!
Three Girls!!!! Holy moley! I'm gonna have to put a T.V. in the garage one day I just know it.
In other news....the nursery is done...though...now looking at it, we might have to add a little more pink.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/webjedi/sets/72157624068846310/show/
They say it's not 100% certain, but from what I could see (or rather not see) it looked pretty convincing to me.
:-)
PS. I was going to title this post "Girls, Girls, Girls" but after just finding out I'll be the father to three of them....I thought better of it.
In other news....the nursery is done...though...now looking at it, we might have to add a little more pink.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/webjedi/sets/72157624068846310/show/
They say it's not 100% certain, but from what I could see (or rather not see) it looked pretty convincing to me.
:-)
PS. I was going to title this post "Girls, Girls, Girls" but after just finding out I'll be the father to three of them....I thought better of it.
Wednesday, May 5, 2010
A crapload of water...
So last Friday we had an appointment, this time with a new OB. We seems to have met the entire staff ovder there.
So Megan and the doctor are discussing diet etc, and the doctor tells us how important water is and how proper hydration can stave off contractions. She advises Megan to drink 'a crapload of water'. Kind of funny to hear your doctor use language like that. :)
In other news, at the time of the appointment Megan was 14 weeks 4 days, but was measuring 18 weeks. Hold the phone!
So far, what they say about the 2nd trimester is true, the nausea has subsided quite a bit. That is good news indeed.
So Megan and the doctor are discussing diet etc, and the doctor tells us how important water is and how proper hydration can stave off contractions. She advises Megan to drink 'a crapload of water'. Kind of funny to hear your doctor use language like that. :)
In other news, at the time of the appointment Megan was 14 weeks 4 days, but was measuring 18 weeks. Hold the phone!
So far, what they say about the 2nd trimester is true, the nausea has subsided quite a bit. That is good news indeed.
Tuesday, April 13, 2010
The first trimester is over (almost)!
Technically we're in week 12, but whatever close enough for government work I say.
We're now in the thick of the every other week appointments. This week it was back to the perinatologist and the awesome equipment.
Everything is proceeding normally, babies are all the right size plenty of fluids etc...
Today we saw even more movement, still to early to feel, but amazing to watch on screen. I recorded some video on my phone, which I'll upload to Facebook tonight. It's not great footage (camera phone) but you can hear the heart beats and a get a sense of what we see. Very excited now!
We're now in the thick of the every other week appointments. This week it was back to the perinatologist and the awesome equipment.
Everything is proceeding normally, babies are all the right size plenty of fluids etc...
Today we saw even more movement, still to early to feel, but amazing to watch on screen. I recorded some video on my phone, which I'll upload to Facebook tonight. It's not great footage (camera phone) but you can hear the heart beats and a get a sense of what we see. Very excited now!
Tuesday, March 30, 2010
Another Appointment
Today we had another appointment, this time with an Ob-Gyn, our previous visits were with the Perinatalogist. Pretty routine stuff, all the normal questions. Then they busted out the Ultrasound...*sidebar* Each one of these ultrasounds brings a new experience. This time it was seeing a little squirm from Baby A. At first we thought we were seeing things, then the Dr. pointed it out.
With each visit and glimpse of the babies it gets more and more real...
Sidebar:
The perinatology department has waaaay better equipment. It's like going from HD to rabbit ears.
With each visit and glimpse of the babies it gets more and more real...
Sidebar:
The perinatology department has waaaay better equipment. It's like going from HD to rabbit ears.
Thursday, March 18, 2010
It's getting pretty real now.
Today we had our first appointment with our OB who'll be the one in charge of us for a bit.
But first it was the ultrasound technicians turn. The equipment that this tech had in comparison to our RE's equipment was amazing. This thing looked like a video production panel...faders, knobs...a trackball. It was impressive.
It was at this point they labeled the babies, Baby A is on Megan's right side, Baby B is on the left and Baby C is kind up top. Baby A measured at 8 weeks 2 days, while Baby B and Baby C were both 8 weeks and 1 day. Right on track as we are 8 weeks 1 day.
Something that was amazing and unexpected was with the same ultrasound equipment, they were able to let us hear each of the heartbeats. We had no idea this was coming, Megan and I looked at each other with shock and big grins.
If you're a parent and reading this, you probably know the sensation we felt. If you aren't, let me just say that hearing your baby's heartbeat has this uncanny way of making life stand still.
*Warning Schmaltzy Sappyness Ahead*
Hearing your baby's heartbeat is seriously a life altering event. I suddenly went from having this self image of a happy go lucky, free wheeling dude, to expectant father of three.
And now comes the task of planning everything....need a new car in April...mini-van? Erp.
But first it was the ultrasound technicians turn. The equipment that this tech had in comparison to our RE's equipment was amazing. This thing looked like a video production panel...faders, knobs...a trackball. It was impressive.
It was at this point they labeled the babies, Baby A is on Megan's right side, Baby B is on the left and Baby C is kind up top. Baby A measured at 8 weeks 2 days, while Baby B and Baby C were both 8 weeks and 1 day. Right on track as we are 8 weeks 1 day.
Something that was amazing and unexpected was with the same ultrasound equipment, they were able to let us hear each of the heartbeats. We had no idea this was coming, Megan and I looked at each other with shock and big grins.
If you're a parent and reading this, you probably know the sensation we felt. If you aren't, let me just say that hearing your baby's heartbeat has this uncanny way of making life stand still.
*Warning Schmaltzy Sappyness Ahead*
Hearing your baby's heartbeat is seriously a life altering event. I suddenly went from having this self image of a happy go lucky, free wheeling dude, to expectant father of three.
And now comes the task of planning everything....need a new car in April...mini-van? Erp.
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