Kristy elevated the alert status from Yellow to Red, so we drove to the hospital and I dropped her off at the entrance and parked. It was around 2:30-ish PM and I found a parking spot fairly close and grabbed the bare essentials, our cameras and headed inside.
By the time I got in she was already in a Triage room getting checked out. I wasn’t sure if I was allowed to just go into Triage and start looking around until I found her, so I asked they told me to just head straight back. She was in room five, except that she wasn’t in room five, her coat was, she was in the bathroom. After she got out they outfitted her with the baby heart rate monitor and the contraction monitor. She was having some pretty serious contractions; they looked like mountains on the graph print out. The nurse came in looked at the graph and said they were pretty regular, spaced apart by about two and a half minutes in time. Then they checked her and she was 7cm dilated and they seemed to move a little quicker after that.
Since Joy was galavanting around Bend, we had Caroline the midwife on duty taking care of us. Cheryl was the nurse that took care of us. Cheryl had actually just worked her shift but they asked if anyone could stay and help out and since she overheard that Kristy was 7cm dilated she said she would stay but only if she was assigned to Kristy. She had already delivered a baby earlier in the day and I think she really wanted to deliver one more the same day.
Cheryl asked Kristy if she could walk to her room or if she needed a wheel chair. Kristy said no, she could walk and joked with me about needing a wheel chair, why would she need one, she had been doing everything else normal the past two weeks at around 5cm, what is 7cm. So we made our way into room 137 and I stayed with her until her mother and Nana (Grandma from Florida) arrived. After they got there I ran out and pack muled in all our stuff. Let’s see, there were gift baskets from her Aunt in Florida, our main camera bag, a portable HP photosmart printer, Kristy’s laptop bag, my laptop bag, my work backpack, her overnight bag, a blanket for me and a bag with croissants, oranges and my pajamas.
Then we just had to sit and wait. Eventually her contractions started getting harder and harder, she was doing great, just breathing right through them. Kristy’s Mom was really helpful too; she was rubbing pressure points on Kristy’s hands and feet to help reduce the pain. She was also helping coach, reminding Kristy to breath and letting me focus on being near Kristy which I think really helps Kristy emotionally and psychologically. The expression on her face was similar to the one she has when she is thinking really hard, like when we are playing scrabble and she is about to throw down some serious points with a triple word score, a double letter score and the use of the letters “Q” and “Z” (For example Quizzers with the second “Z” as a blank) and she gets the super Scrabble bonus for using all eight of her letters. Kristy was hardly breaking a sweat and then Caroline, Cheryl, Her Nana, Her Mom and I all convinced her to break her water.
Now theoretically, breaking her water should have acted like a suction cup, pulling the baby’s head straight down into position and she should have given birth shortly after. This is what happened with Carter so the logic was sound and previously proven, but every baby is different. It seems that this baby was turned so that her head was sideways, 90 degrees from where it should have been and this slowed things down. After Caroline broke Kristy’s water Kristy handle the first contraction with ease, then the second and the third she started to notice something. The fourth was a little harder and the fifth described in her own words “Frack!”. Now for those of you who aren’t dorks and don’t watch Battlestar Galatica, Frack is the made up word used on the show to replace a more common profane word commonly used in English that also has four letters and begins with “F” and ends with “K”. I keyed in on her using this word because we use it with some friends that watch the show and not too long ago I saw a bunch of people talking about this word on the VH1 show best week ever. This was followed by another show I saw with a bunch of famous celebrities talking about how this relatively new remake show of the original 1970’s show already has a huge fan base and is affecting pop culture. So with all these stars and planets aligned, as soon as she muttered the word I knew it had to find its way into the blog. Okay, that’s taken care of.
Now the pain was cranking up and Kristy couldn’t bear it any longer, she wanted an epidural and since I’m not that one who has to pass something the size of a bowling ball out of something the size of straw, I fully supported her decision and request. It seemed like everyone else really wanted her to not have it and I understand because there is a lot of risks. I kind of had some second thoughts when they started reading them to her. Like possible headaches for a week afterwards, possible permanent paralysis and permanent nerve damage just to name a few. Brian, the anesthesiologist had to read her all of these risks and he had to be sure she was listening so he paused during a contraction and Kristy was getting mad, she said “I can hear you, keep going!”. Later she told me that made her mad that he paused because it was one more contraction that she had to suffer through. Evidently you need to be well hydrated before having an epidural so they required an entire bag via Intravenous Therapy (IV) be in Kristy before they gave her the goods. This seemed like a stall tactic that was being employed to postpone the epidural in the hopes that Kristy would give birth before she got it.
Eventually Brian placed the epidural, at which time Kristy had to remain completely still on the edge of the bed while contracting and nearly fully dilated. Cheryl asked Kristy how she felt and Kristy said that her legs felt warm, to which Cheryl replied, that is the correct answer. Kristy kept saying how weird it was that she couldn’t feel her legs, then she said that there was still pain in her left leg in a small area. Cheryl said that it was called a “window” and sometimes you get a window for various reasons, but she would call Brian back in. Brian came in and gave Kristy a second dose and rolled her over so she was leaning on her left side, right side up in the air. This would help the gravity force the dose into her left side where the window was. It started getting better but still wasn’t working completely, so Brian gave her one more dose and hooked her up to the little plastic box that is all locked up and has a timer and a mechanism to release a set dose of the pain killer every so often. Brian mentioned that he thought he had hit a blood vessel on the way in, which is one of the risks from the sheet he had to read off, so he pulled the line back a bit. He said that it was so close that he thought it would work, but you never know with these things. Then he was all frustrated and pulled it out and waited to bit while we discussed putting in another line, then Kristy said it worked, she didn’t feel a thing anymore. Brian said, okay, well we can’t put another one in now, so you probably have about 30 minutes or so before the medication wears off and you start feeling again.
At this point Kristy didn’t even know when she was having a contraction, we had to tell her and she didn’t really feel a need to push, so Cheryl had to check her and when she was fully dilated and ready to go, we started forecasting contractions and when she should push. It turns out Kristy was too good at pushing and she had to stop and wait out a couple of contractions while I ran outside our room and called her Dad so her Nana could make it back for the birth. Her Dad, Nana and Sister had gone to get something to eat in the hospital cafeteria. And she also had to stop so Cheryl could go find our midwife to deliver the baby. Of course no experience is complete without something like, our midwife was already in another room delivering another baby at the same time, that’s right, simultaneous deliveries. So we had another doctor come in and she spent about thirty seconds getting acquainted with us and getting dressed and off she went to delivering. I missed her name, but she was really nice and she seemed familiar, she even asked if we had met before, but then Kristy, the doctor and I all said “I don’t think so” at the same time.
A few pushes later our baby girl was here! Now I had to act kind of quickly because I was videoing and then I had to also take still pictures with our other camera and I had to also maneuver around so I could get into position to cut the cord. Kennedy was a little bit different than Carter, she wasn’t crying right out of the gate, she needed some suction from her nostrils and mouth and then she introduced us to her crying / lung capacity that is every bit as capable as Carter’s was. And when I cut the cord with Carter it was quick and clean, but when I cut the Kennedy’s cord I got sprayed with blood, like when someone across the table bites into a piece of citrus, maybe a juicy orange and then you get sprayed with all the juices and it’s burning in one of your eyes and on your nose and forehead. If you don’t know what I’m talking about, your day is coming because this has happened to me more than once in my short lifetime. Kennedy scored an 8 on her APGAR and she had her bath later when I actually ran to get some food. This time instead of Kristy’s mom dialing like thirty people in thirty seconds she just she got right next to Kristy and her Nana was right behind her and I got some sweet pictures of four generations of a family of strong women. I even got some synchronized tear wiping by Kristy’s mom and Nana, they are totally ready for the 2008 Emotion Olympics.
The best part was out in the hall Carter could hear Kennedy’s heart beat on the monitor and when she started crying inside the room with us, Carter heard her outside the door and he starting yelling “Baby Sissy, Baby Sissy!”. And ever since that moment he always needs to know where she is in whatever room we are all in. He is always gentle and he only says goodbye and goodnight to “Baby Kenndy” now, Mommy and Daddy are old news. Now we have two kids, let the fun begin!
Friday, April 11, 2008
March 28th 2008
Driving down the hill (Brady Road) to get to the 192nd street exit on highway 14 we were following a really slow truck that was annoying me. They had their breaks on the entire way down the hill and I was thinking, you need to apply them every so often, not constantly or you’ll warp your rotors. I noticed that he also had a busted passenger side mirror and told Kristy to look and I was just about to call him an idiot out loud when Kristy said “Maybe he hit a bridge too!” and totally humbled me. It humbled me because a few weeks back I gently tapped Kristy’s Volvo XC 90 on the side of a bridge breaking the turn signal lens. So I didn’t call him an idiot.
Collette was working the desk as usual. “Hello, how are you? Oh, about ready to be done! Do you want the big receipt or the small receipt?” Then she got on the phone, “I thought I was getting Arthritis, okay, send me the info on the one that is just like mine, not some other one, the one that is just like mine.” And I figured out that she was talking about her chair and so she must have been having some ergonomic issues. Waiting for appointments goes by so much quicker when Collette is the administrative assistant checking you in, too bad she couldn’t check you in for every appointment that required you to wait to be seen, like the dentist and getting your tires changed, et cetera.
Well it’s the middle of Oregon State’s Spring Break and one of my co-workers Bryan and his family is in Hawaii. It is snowing here in the Portland-Vancouver metropolitan area. Bryan should be jet setting around Maui with a personalized google map we made for him, complete with beach reviews, number of parking spaces and best times of day to visit, but he forgot to print it out and hasn’t been able to download it yet to his laptop. If only he had an iphone, then he could bring it up anyplace, anytime. How did we ever live without those things. Well, hope he is enjoying Hawaii, Kristy and I really miss Hawaii. We are still trying to figure out a way to go back to Maui for two or three days in May and catch a Jason Mraz concert while we are there.
I was suddenly snapped out of these thoughts by Collette’s voice. “Thank You! I appreciate you and have a blessed day!” I had forgotten that she said that to folks, but then I started thinking about how much more pleasant things might be if we all had a similar attitude towards other people, including strangers.
The nurse called Kristy’s name so we went back to weigh in. Kristy and I both noticed Collette walking around the nurses’ stations collecting two dollars from different nurses here and there. So was saying “Jeans on Friday, if you were up pay up!” We asked our nurse about it when she brought us to our room and she said that if they want they can wear Jeans on Fridays but they have to pay two dollars to the social committee to support social stuff like Jeans on Fridays. Our nurse was wearing scrubs, not because she didn’t want to pay the two dollars, but because she said that scrubs are like pajamas, they are way more comfortable to work in than Jeans, which is exactly what Kristy said she was thinking.
Well, Joy didn’t think we would make it this far but she said she’d check Kristy’s Cervix again (Ladies remember the leg lift fist under back/butt trick). This time she was 4-5cm dilated, so a little progress and also a little more effaced. The head position was at minus two and if you don’t know what that means than google and Wikipedia are great tools and since you are reading this blog you have access to them and I suggest you try them out.
The baby’s heart rate was in the 140’s as it should be. Joy asked who had Carter and we told her she was visiting with Kristy’s parents. Then we started going over Joy’s schedule to see if we could plan around it, like if we walked a few miles maybe we could induce labor on the days that she worked. Let’s see, on tomorrow night (Saturday), on Monday, on call Wednesday and maybe Thursday, but in Bend, Oregon next weekend for a big conference. She also told Kristy that as soon as she was 39 weeks, which was next Thursday, we could call her and schedule an induction, but Joy didn’t think we’d make it that long.
As we were leaving she said “Think Saturday and Think Monday”. So we are still on Yellow Alert. Who knows, maybe the next blog will be the hospital blog?
Collette was working the desk as usual. “Hello, how are you? Oh, about ready to be done! Do you want the big receipt or the small receipt?” Then she got on the phone, “I thought I was getting Arthritis, okay, send me the info on the one that is just like mine, not some other one, the one that is just like mine.” And I figured out that she was talking about her chair and so she must have been having some ergonomic issues. Waiting for appointments goes by so much quicker when Collette is the administrative assistant checking you in, too bad she couldn’t check you in for every appointment that required you to wait to be seen, like the dentist and getting your tires changed, et cetera.
Well it’s the middle of Oregon State’s Spring Break and one of my co-workers Bryan and his family is in Hawaii. It is snowing here in the Portland-Vancouver metropolitan area. Bryan should be jet setting around Maui with a personalized google map we made for him, complete with beach reviews, number of parking spaces and best times of day to visit, but he forgot to print it out and hasn’t been able to download it yet to his laptop. If only he had an iphone, then he could bring it up anyplace, anytime. How did we ever live without those things. Well, hope he is enjoying Hawaii, Kristy and I really miss Hawaii. We are still trying to figure out a way to go back to Maui for two or three days in May and catch a Jason Mraz concert while we are there.
I was suddenly snapped out of these thoughts by Collette’s voice. “Thank You! I appreciate you and have a blessed day!” I had forgotten that she said that to folks, but then I started thinking about how much more pleasant things might be if we all had a similar attitude towards other people, including strangers.
The nurse called Kristy’s name so we went back to weigh in. Kristy and I both noticed Collette walking around the nurses’ stations collecting two dollars from different nurses here and there. So was saying “Jeans on Friday, if you were up pay up!” We asked our nurse about it when she brought us to our room and she said that if they want they can wear Jeans on Fridays but they have to pay two dollars to the social committee to support social stuff like Jeans on Fridays. Our nurse was wearing scrubs, not because she didn’t want to pay the two dollars, but because she said that scrubs are like pajamas, they are way more comfortable to work in than Jeans, which is exactly what Kristy said she was thinking.
Well, Joy didn’t think we would make it this far but she said she’d check Kristy’s Cervix again (Ladies remember the leg lift fist under back/butt trick). This time she was 4-5cm dilated, so a little progress and also a little more effaced. The head position was at minus two and if you don’t know what that means than google and Wikipedia are great tools and since you are reading this blog you have access to them and I suggest you try them out.
The baby’s heart rate was in the 140’s as it should be. Joy asked who had Carter and we told her she was visiting with Kristy’s parents. Then we started going over Joy’s schedule to see if we could plan around it, like if we walked a few miles maybe we could induce labor on the days that she worked. Let’s see, on tomorrow night (Saturday), on Monday, on call Wednesday and maybe Thursday, but in Bend, Oregon next weekend for a big conference. She also told Kristy that as soon as she was 39 weeks, which was next Thursday, we could call her and schedule an induction, but Joy didn’t think we’d make it that long.
As we were leaving she said “Think Saturday and Think Monday”. So we are still on Yellow Alert. Who knows, maybe the next blog will be the hospital blog?
March 19th 2008
The morning didn’t start off well for us in terms of going to another appointment. Carter needed to go to the bathroom but he was all stopped up and so “Tummy, Hurts!” was how he put it. His stomach ache set his mood and so it set the tone for what we were expecting at the Doctor’s office.
The plan was the same as the previous appointment, I would drive my car to work and Kristy would follow me and we’d drop my car off and go from work. The only problem was that my car battery was dead. So the plan was modified to go to the appointment and then go to get a new battery right after the appointment, then go home and install the new battery and then go to work. The dead car battery was just another small, unplanned inconvenience to add to the morning’s already rocky start.
We arrived at the Doctor’s office with no additional incidents and went straight in to see our favorite personality in the office, Collette. She checked Kristy in and reminder her to get her brown paper bag. Then she was talking to someone on the phone and said “You are now free to fly”. I didn’t get to listen to her always entertaining words after that because I was distracted by Carter.
Carter wanted to get in and out of the “Hooge (Huge) Chairs” and whenever he got up in the chairs facing the east windows he would point out the window and say “See the cars go Bye Bye? Hi Cars!”. Then he put his John Deere wheel loader in my pocket, his backhoe in his pocket and he kept playing with his Dig Dig (Excavator) on the chairs.
My mind was also preoccupied with thoughts about a sign I had read on the way into the building. The sign said that as of some date that I don’t recall, no smoking would be allowed on the campus to comply with a new Washington law that prohibited smoking on medical campuses.
Kristy noticed that Collette had a new iphone, which awe struck both of us. Then I heard her mumbling “I’ll have a fit” while looking at a small device in the palm of her hand with a frustrating glare. Then before we knew it a nurse was calling out Kristy’s name.
We went back and weighed in and then went to our room. Kristy had her blood pressure taken and Carter started chomping on “Fish Mama!” which is gold fish crackers for those of you who don’t have small children and aren’t familiar with this standard issue weapon in child soothing and containment. The goldfish cracker in all its various forms, baby goldfish, regular goldfish and colored goldfish, made by Pepperidge Farm is like the AK-47 assault rifle that every bad guy has in every action movie, it’s standard issue and you see these crackers in the seats of friends mini vans and left behind in shopping carts in every store. And I myself can eat a few hundred in one sitting if I’m not careful, so these little bite size crackers are powerful tools to parents with young children. Sorry for the digression but I felt it important for any potential future parents that might be reading this blog to commit this point to memory.
This was the first of our all booked out appointments and this time we were given the rest of our remaining pamphlets telling us all about our pregnancy. This was looking to be another quick in and out appointment. Kristy just needed to have her Cervix checked and we’d be done. A note for any ladies that are reading, when you have your Cervix checked, you should take your hands and put them on your low back, right near your butt and make them into fists, the same way you would if you were at the gym and going to do a leg lift. This gets you into better position for being checked and helps make it a less painful experience. Joy taught Kristy this trick and judging from the expressions on Kristy’s face and amount of discussion around how painful the checks were afterwards, I have to say this works. If you don’t believe me, just lean back and get checked and then try it the next time and then don’t try it the next time and eventually you’ll figure out if I’m crazy or if I’ve passed on valuable information to you.
Anyways, back to our appointment. So Kristy got checked and she was 3-4cm dilated, yes, 3-4cm! She was also about 50% effaced (thinned out for those of you that didn’t read my Carter blogs). Joy thinks our baby girl will be making her debut into the world sometime next week.
This means that I’ll be on “Yellow Alert”. According to Star Trek terminology a yellow alert is a Star Fleet vessel with a ship wide state of increased preparedness for possible crisis situations. Shields and deflectors are brought to full power but the weapon systems remain off until a “Red Alert” is issued. What can I say; one of my fondest memories of being a kid is discovering Star Trek re-runs when I was six and watching them on TV every night at 6:30pm.
We did get an Ultrasound on one of the small portable office units. We had never had one of these done before and the machine was really pretty cool. It was a small laptop looking device and it actually had decent resolution. We could see the fluid sacks and a full bladder and everything looked good. So, we were basically done with this appointment. I made a comment about how it would be cool to have one of those little laptop units and Kristy called me Tom Cruise which really hurt my feelings. Will the next blog be a hospital blog?
The plan was the same as the previous appointment, I would drive my car to work and Kristy would follow me and we’d drop my car off and go from work. The only problem was that my car battery was dead. So the plan was modified to go to the appointment and then go to get a new battery right after the appointment, then go home and install the new battery and then go to work. The dead car battery was just another small, unplanned inconvenience to add to the morning’s already rocky start.
We arrived at the Doctor’s office with no additional incidents and went straight in to see our favorite personality in the office, Collette. She checked Kristy in and reminder her to get her brown paper bag. Then she was talking to someone on the phone and said “You are now free to fly”. I didn’t get to listen to her always entertaining words after that because I was distracted by Carter.
Carter wanted to get in and out of the “Hooge (Huge) Chairs” and whenever he got up in the chairs facing the east windows he would point out the window and say “See the cars go Bye Bye? Hi Cars!”. Then he put his John Deere wheel loader in my pocket, his backhoe in his pocket and he kept playing with his Dig Dig (Excavator) on the chairs.
My mind was also preoccupied with thoughts about a sign I had read on the way into the building. The sign said that as of some date that I don’t recall, no smoking would be allowed on the campus to comply with a new Washington law that prohibited smoking on medical campuses.
Kristy noticed that Collette had a new iphone, which awe struck both of us. Then I heard her mumbling “I’ll have a fit” while looking at a small device in the palm of her hand with a frustrating glare. Then before we knew it a nurse was calling out Kristy’s name.
We went back and weighed in and then went to our room. Kristy had her blood pressure taken and Carter started chomping on “Fish Mama!” which is gold fish crackers for those of you who don’t have small children and aren’t familiar with this standard issue weapon in child soothing and containment. The goldfish cracker in all its various forms, baby goldfish, regular goldfish and colored goldfish, made by Pepperidge Farm is like the AK-47 assault rifle that every bad guy has in every action movie, it’s standard issue and you see these crackers in the seats of friends mini vans and left behind in shopping carts in every store. And I myself can eat a few hundred in one sitting if I’m not careful, so these little bite size crackers are powerful tools to parents with young children. Sorry for the digression but I felt it important for any potential future parents that might be reading this blog to commit this point to memory.
This was the first of our all booked out appointments and this time we were given the rest of our remaining pamphlets telling us all about our pregnancy. This was looking to be another quick in and out appointment. Kristy just needed to have her Cervix checked and we’d be done. A note for any ladies that are reading, when you have your Cervix checked, you should take your hands and put them on your low back, right near your butt and make them into fists, the same way you would if you were at the gym and going to do a leg lift. This gets you into better position for being checked and helps make it a less painful experience. Joy taught Kristy this trick and judging from the expressions on Kristy’s face and amount of discussion around how painful the checks were afterwards, I have to say this works. If you don’t believe me, just lean back and get checked and then try it the next time and then don’t try it the next time and eventually you’ll figure out if I’m crazy or if I’ve passed on valuable information to you.
Anyways, back to our appointment. So Kristy got checked and she was 3-4cm dilated, yes, 3-4cm! She was also about 50% effaced (thinned out for those of you that didn’t read my Carter blogs). Joy thinks our baby girl will be making her debut into the world sometime next week.
This means that I’ll be on “Yellow Alert”. According to Star Trek terminology a yellow alert is a Star Fleet vessel with a ship wide state of increased preparedness for possible crisis situations. Shields and deflectors are brought to full power but the weapon systems remain off until a “Red Alert” is issued. What can I say; one of my fondest memories of being a kid is discovering Star Trek re-runs when I was six and watching them on TV every night at 6:30pm.
We did get an Ultrasound on one of the small portable office units. We had never had one of these done before and the machine was really pretty cool. It was a small laptop looking device and it actually had decent resolution. We could see the fluid sacks and a full bladder and everything looked good. So, we were basically done with this appointment. I made a comment about how it would be cool to have one of those little laptop units and Kristy called me Tom Cruise which really hurt my feelings. Will the next blog be a hospital blog?
March 15th 2008
It was exciting that we would get to see our baby girl again. I was excited; I cleared my calendar and made sure I could attend. We brought my car to my work and dropped it off and then I grabbed my backpack and laptop because Kristy would have to bring me straight back and drop me off at work.
So we headed north on I-205 towards Salmon Creek. We were a bit early so we stopped so I could get a tall white chocolate mocha, 1% and no whip crème from Starbucks because I was a little tired, probably from my late night video gaming habit.
Then we zipped over and Kristy went in ahead of us because she needed to go to the rest room. And if you remember from previous blog entries when Kristy was carrying Carter, this place has a fountain out front that really does wonders for pregnant ladies with full bladders and small babies pushing on them from the inside.
Carter and I trailed behind and a big truck pulled in behind us and Carter stopped “You Heared It? Hooge Truck!”. Carter really likes any type of large vehicle or machinery. As soon as we got inside Carter started acting up a bit and right on cue, he just turned 2 years old 26 days ago (not 25 because this was a leap year) and the Terrible Twos are definitely here now.
He wanted to walk because he saw an older boy walking around another fountain structure inside the main lobby. I tried using the iphone and “Cars” and that was old news, I tried the YouTube “Excavator vs House” videos that he likes and those didn’t work. Usually he says “Dig Dig, Broke, House” or “Digger, Broke, House”.
Kristy came back out and tried to help calm him down, but he just arched his back in my arms, I think that he would make a fine wrestler and be able to bridge his way out of a number of potential pins, but I hope he plays basketball instead, then I can teach him some moves and he won’t have cauliflower ear from the wrestling mats and head gear. Right when it seemed like things were going to get out of hand the ultrasound technician came out and called Kristy’s name.
We went back and I sat in the chair with Carter and Kristy got up on the table and got ready for the ultrasound. This was the first time she didn’t have to undress and get in a gown because it was just for dating and the measurements didn’t require a lot of different positioning of the ultrasound device.
I told Carter to watch for his baby sister on the black and white monitor they have setup for guests, partners and husbands. Carter looked at it and said “Oh, Chomp, Chomp” which translates to Alligator or Crocodile in Carter’s language. Kristy and I said “No, I don’t think there are any Chomp, Chomps there”.
And then the measurements began. I could see some fingers here, some toes there, the head being measured, the bladder, the abdomen. All the while Carter was screaming like a Banshee and arching his back and clenching his fits and biting down hard on his teeth. I was working very hard to restrain him.
And then it was over, I guess I missed a lot dealing with Carter. We got a side profile print out, I heard the mention of a side profile but I didn’t see it on the screen. It was hard to make out in the picture because she is so big in there now that the whole profile doesn’t actually fit on the screen.
Carter just kept screaming, “I want to walk, I want to walk”. Another ultrasound technician came in and gave Carter a sticker, but all he wanted to do was walk. Kristy cleaned the ultrasound gel off, took the side profile print out and we left, letting Carter walk of course. He was sniffling heavily.
He walked all the way out to the Car. We stopped, looked both ways and crossed the street. He would tell you “No, no, cars, street, bonk! No cars, quick” Which translates to, “freeze your body, don’t run out in the street or the cars might hit you, stop and look both ways, okay there are no cars lets hurry across the street.”
We tried to explain to him that it was not okay to scream like that inside and that we needed to use or inside voices. I’m sure it will take some more time for him to understand but eventually he’ll get it.
So we headed north on I-205 towards Salmon Creek. We were a bit early so we stopped so I could get a tall white chocolate mocha, 1% and no whip crème from Starbucks because I was a little tired, probably from my late night video gaming habit.
Then we zipped over and Kristy went in ahead of us because she needed to go to the rest room. And if you remember from previous blog entries when Kristy was carrying Carter, this place has a fountain out front that really does wonders for pregnant ladies with full bladders and small babies pushing on them from the inside.
Carter and I trailed behind and a big truck pulled in behind us and Carter stopped “You Heared It? Hooge Truck!”. Carter really likes any type of large vehicle or machinery. As soon as we got inside Carter started acting up a bit and right on cue, he just turned 2 years old 26 days ago (not 25 because this was a leap year) and the Terrible Twos are definitely here now.
He wanted to walk because he saw an older boy walking around another fountain structure inside the main lobby. I tried using the iphone and “Cars” and that was old news, I tried the YouTube “Excavator vs House” videos that he likes and those didn’t work. Usually he says “Dig Dig, Broke, House” or “Digger, Broke, House”.
Kristy came back out and tried to help calm him down, but he just arched his back in my arms, I think that he would make a fine wrestler and be able to bridge his way out of a number of potential pins, but I hope he plays basketball instead, then I can teach him some moves and he won’t have cauliflower ear from the wrestling mats and head gear. Right when it seemed like things were going to get out of hand the ultrasound technician came out and called Kristy’s name.
We went back and I sat in the chair with Carter and Kristy got up on the table and got ready for the ultrasound. This was the first time she didn’t have to undress and get in a gown because it was just for dating and the measurements didn’t require a lot of different positioning of the ultrasound device.
I told Carter to watch for his baby sister on the black and white monitor they have setup for guests, partners and husbands. Carter looked at it and said “Oh, Chomp, Chomp” which translates to Alligator or Crocodile in Carter’s language. Kristy and I said “No, I don’t think there are any Chomp, Chomps there”.
And then the measurements began. I could see some fingers here, some toes there, the head being measured, the bladder, the abdomen. All the while Carter was screaming like a Banshee and arching his back and clenching his fits and biting down hard on his teeth. I was working very hard to restrain him.
And then it was over, I guess I missed a lot dealing with Carter. We got a side profile print out, I heard the mention of a side profile but I didn’t see it on the screen. It was hard to make out in the picture because she is so big in there now that the whole profile doesn’t actually fit on the screen.
Carter just kept screaming, “I want to walk, I want to walk”. Another ultrasound technician came in and gave Carter a sticker, but all he wanted to do was walk. Kristy cleaned the ultrasound gel off, took the side profile print out and we left, letting Carter walk of course. He was sniffling heavily.
He walked all the way out to the Car. We stopped, looked both ways and crossed the street. He would tell you “No, no, cars, street, bonk! No cars, quick” Which translates to, “freeze your body, don’t run out in the street or the cars might hit you, stop and look both ways, okay there are no cars lets hurry across the street.”
We tried to explain to him that it was not okay to scream like that inside and that we needed to use or inside voices. I’m sure it will take some more time for him to understand but eventually he’ll get it.
February 15th 2008
This appointment we really didn’t wait long, it was like “Kristy Ray, Come On Down!” right as we entered through the doors. So Kristy took her brown bag and went and did her duty and then she came out and we went straight to the scale for the “weigh in”.
After the “weigh in”, we went to the room which was very close to the scale and Kristy had her blood pressure taken while I struggled with Carter on my lap as at sat in the chair next to the door.
Carter was upset because he thought that we were there for him and the doctor’s office isn’t his favorite place to go because he’s always getting shots. He was basically freaking out. We got him calmed down a bit by giving him a snack, a granola bar and then we brought out the new weapon in the war on Toddler entertainment, the iphone loaded with his favorite movie (this week) “Cars”.
When Joy came in the room he lost interest in the movie and wanted to see what she was doing. She gave a listen on the Doppler and then did the first Fundal Height Measurement of this pregnancy for us and Kristy was measuring small, just like with Carter. So Joy said we would be having another ultrasound (Yessss! Said like Napoleon Dynamite) just to make sure our due date was still April 10th – 12th.
Kristy asked if Joy could feel the belly and see if she could tell what position the baby was in, but Joy said that it was tough for her to feel and so she really didn’t know. We got the latest Kaiser “This is your pregnancy handout” and then Joy said to schedule out the rest of our appointments if we could along with the Ultrasound for the due date verification.
And that’s it, we were done. It was 8, maybe 9 minutes total from when we entered the room until when it was time to go and make the appointments. Then we went and schedule with the nurse, not Toni this time, a new nurse.
She seemed a little more rigid and less flexible when it came to schedule, so instead of fitting us in on Fridays when I’m off work, we will be going on Wednesdays and I’ll be ducking out of the office for a bit. But everything is scheduled out, even the later weeks which may not be needed, based on history and Carter’s 10 day early arrival last time.
After the “weigh in”, we went to the room which was very close to the scale and Kristy had her blood pressure taken while I struggled with Carter on my lap as at sat in the chair next to the door.
Carter was upset because he thought that we were there for him and the doctor’s office isn’t his favorite place to go because he’s always getting shots. He was basically freaking out. We got him calmed down a bit by giving him a snack, a granola bar and then we brought out the new weapon in the war on Toddler entertainment, the iphone loaded with his favorite movie (this week) “Cars”.
When Joy came in the room he lost interest in the movie and wanted to see what she was doing. She gave a listen on the Doppler and then did the first Fundal Height Measurement of this pregnancy for us and Kristy was measuring small, just like with Carter. So Joy said we would be having another ultrasound (Yessss! Said like Napoleon Dynamite) just to make sure our due date was still April 10th – 12th.
Kristy asked if Joy could feel the belly and see if she could tell what position the baby was in, but Joy said that it was tough for her to feel and so she really didn’t know. We got the latest Kaiser “This is your pregnancy handout” and then Joy said to schedule out the rest of our appointments if we could along with the Ultrasound for the due date verification.
And that’s it, we were done. It was 8, maybe 9 minutes total from when we entered the room until when it was time to go and make the appointments. Then we went and schedule with the nurse, not Toni this time, a new nurse.
She seemed a little more rigid and less flexible when it came to schedule, so instead of fitting us in on Fridays when I’m off work, we will be going on Wednesdays and I’ll be ducking out of the office for a bit. But everything is scheduled out, even the later weeks which may not be needed, based on history and Carter’s 10 day early arrival last time.
January 18th 2008
Today Kristy had her appointment and because it was supposed to be a long one due to the cocktail she had to drink and then wait 45 minutes and have the glucose test done to see if she had developed diabetes, so we decided I would stay home with Carter.
She also had to have blood drawn and have a number of other tests run at this appointment. It's like the midterm design review for any design engineers that might be reading this.
The day started with the usual, wake up, have some milk, some oat meal, watch my friends tiger and pooh and then we ran around the house. It went pretty well, but that wasn't the case for Kristy.
When she got there they couldn't find her appointment in the computer, even though we had the print out from when they put her in the computer at our last appointment. So she called me all flustered and said maybe they could fit her in, but it wouldn't be for like 20 minutes, but she had to wait 40 minutes for the lab to complete her diabetes testing, so what should she do? I told her to get in if she could, but she wasn't sure she wanted to do that because it wouldn't be with our regular doctor, it would be with whoever was available.
Eventually she got in with some other doctor and she got her labs done. The doctor said if there were any concerns they would call her.
So this is the first appointment that I didn't make it to and it didn't go very smoothly, coincidence? I think not, this only goes to show that husbands do play an important role all through pregnancy, not just by running out at all hours to satisfy cravings, but by acting as the stabilizing force that makes appointments run smoothly.
The lab results came via email to Kristy & she didn't have diabetes but she was concerned because her white blood cell count was high. Usually this can indicate that the body has some type of infection, like a bladder infection or something like that and it can also indicate a blood disorder and in the worst cases it can indicate Leukemia. Kristy went upstairs to lay in bed worried and nervous because the doctor hadn’t called yet and she didn’t know what to make of the white blood cell count.
So I did some research online and found that it is common for women to have high blood counts during pregnancy, especially as the pregnancy progresses. Normally you have blood cells that are floating around in your blood, but there is some number that sticks to the insides of your blood vessels and they exit through pores in the walls of the vessels to reach tissues that need them. So when you draw blood for a normal white blood cell count, you get the cells floating around in the blood but you don't get a large percentage of the white blood cells that are stuck inside the blood vessels.
In Pregnancy "Demargination" can occur where some of the white blood cells that are usually sticking inside the blood vessels actually detach and start floating around in the blood, which leads to the higher white blood cell count for pregnant women. I told Kristy all of this later and she said "Yeah, I read that too, so I am less worried than when I read the Leukemia stuff, but I'm still worried".
Eventually the results came in the mail or the doctor called and everything was fine but it took a few days. And the next time we saw Joy, she also went over the lab results again and said everything looked good and there were no concerns.
She also had to have blood drawn and have a number of other tests run at this appointment. It's like the midterm design review for any design engineers that might be reading this.
The day started with the usual, wake up, have some milk, some oat meal, watch my friends tiger and pooh and then we ran around the house. It went pretty well, but that wasn't the case for Kristy.
When she got there they couldn't find her appointment in the computer, even though we had the print out from when they put her in the computer at our last appointment. So she called me all flustered and said maybe they could fit her in, but it wouldn't be for like 20 minutes, but she had to wait 40 minutes for the lab to complete her diabetes testing, so what should she do? I told her to get in if she could, but she wasn't sure she wanted to do that because it wouldn't be with our regular doctor, it would be with whoever was available.
Eventually she got in with some other doctor and she got her labs done. The doctor said if there were any concerns they would call her.
So this is the first appointment that I didn't make it to and it didn't go very smoothly, coincidence? I think not, this only goes to show that husbands do play an important role all through pregnancy, not just by running out at all hours to satisfy cravings, but by acting as the stabilizing force that makes appointments run smoothly.
The lab results came via email to Kristy & she didn't have diabetes but she was concerned because her white blood cell count was high. Usually this can indicate that the body has some type of infection, like a bladder infection or something like that and it can also indicate a blood disorder and in the worst cases it can indicate Leukemia. Kristy went upstairs to lay in bed worried and nervous because the doctor hadn’t called yet and she didn’t know what to make of the white blood cell count.
So I did some research online and found that it is common for women to have high blood counts during pregnancy, especially as the pregnancy progresses. Normally you have blood cells that are floating around in your blood, but there is some number that sticks to the insides of your blood vessels and they exit through pores in the walls of the vessels to reach tissues that need them. So when you draw blood for a normal white blood cell count, you get the cells floating around in the blood but you don't get a large percentage of the white blood cells that are stuck inside the blood vessels.
In Pregnancy "Demargination" can occur where some of the white blood cells that are usually sticking inside the blood vessels actually detach and start floating around in the blood, which leads to the higher white blood cell count for pregnant women. I told Kristy all of this later and she said "Yeah, I read that too, so I am less worried than when I read the Leukemia stuff, but I'm still worried".
Eventually the results came in the mail or the doctor called and everything was fine but it took a few days. And the next time we saw Joy, she also went over the lab results again and said everything looked good and there were no concerns.
December 11th 2007
This appointment we brought Carter with us again. No Collette today. We didn't wait long and we were lead back, by Toni again and the weight was checked then the blood pressure.
We waited by ourselves for a little bit, Carter started to get a little wrestless. Joy came in and this was another really quick appointment. She gave Carter some of those Popsicle sticks you use to check your tongue and throat and then asked if we had any questions. She gave us our hand out, Kristy asked what she could take for her severe heart burn and joy said she'd prescribe some extra strength Pepcid to handle that. Kristy also asked about the kick count and was worried because she kicks less than carter did. Then we had a listen via the BSG doppler listening device and then we were done (BSG is explained in the October 2nd 2007 post).
It took a couple minutes to get the prescription for the Pepcid, and then it took a long time to actually get to a counter in the pharmacy and get the Pepcid. we were only like 8 or 9 numbers down on the now serving number blank list but it was taking forever.
Kristy wanted to just leave but I made her stay because she is so miserable every night and if we left early she would continue to be miserable every night, she'll thank me for this later.
So carter and i walked up and down the hall of the cascade park office from module A to module C, stopping in the middle every time to look at the metal sculpture of wild stallions in an enclosed courtyard. Carter would stop and say “Horse, neigh, neigh”. Occasionally he would see a baby or another kid and veer their direction to look at them and maybe try and say hi.
We looked at the fish in the pharmacy a couple of times, but Carter was actually more interested in the older 4 year old girl that was naming each fish in the tank. All the way down the hall by module C there is a water fountain and paper cups and Carter wanted to walk down there, climb into a chair, order me to get him a cup of water and then he would drink it, climb out of the chair, throw the cup away and run back down to module A area where Kristy was impatiently sitting, then we would say hi to some people, this older couple next to Kristy for example and head back down for a drink again, repeating the routine about 6 or 7 times, then we finally had the Pepcid and we were out of there.
Our next appointment was set and it's the drink 10 gallons and take a bunch of tests appointment. It will be the first appointment I miss but I have to watch Carter and he just won't last 45 minutes in a doctor’s office with hardly anything there to keep him entertained.
We waited by ourselves for a little bit, Carter started to get a little wrestless. Joy came in and this was another really quick appointment. She gave Carter some of those Popsicle sticks you use to check your tongue and throat and then asked if we had any questions. She gave us our hand out, Kristy asked what she could take for her severe heart burn and joy said she'd prescribe some extra strength Pepcid to handle that. Kristy also asked about the kick count and was worried because she kicks less than carter did. Then we had a listen via the BSG doppler listening device and then we were done (BSG is explained in the October 2nd 2007 post).
It took a couple minutes to get the prescription for the Pepcid, and then it took a long time to actually get to a counter in the pharmacy and get the Pepcid. we were only like 8 or 9 numbers down on the now serving number blank list but it was taking forever.
Kristy wanted to just leave but I made her stay because she is so miserable every night and if we left early she would continue to be miserable every night, she'll thank me for this later.
So carter and i walked up and down the hall of the cascade park office from module A to module C, stopping in the middle every time to look at the metal sculpture of wild stallions in an enclosed courtyard. Carter would stop and say “Horse, neigh, neigh”. Occasionally he would see a baby or another kid and veer their direction to look at them and maybe try and say hi.
We looked at the fish in the pharmacy a couple of times, but Carter was actually more interested in the older 4 year old girl that was naming each fish in the tank. All the way down the hall by module C there is a water fountain and paper cups and Carter wanted to walk down there, climb into a chair, order me to get him a cup of water and then he would drink it, climb out of the chair, throw the cup away and run back down to module A area where Kristy was impatiently sitting, then we would say hi to some people, this older couple next to Kristy for example and head back down for a drink again, repeating the routine about 6 or 7 times, then we finally had the Pepcid and we were out of there.
Our next appointment was set and it's the drink 10 gallons and take a bunch of tests appointment. It will be the first appointment I miss but I have to watch Carter and he just won't last 45 minutes in a doctor’s office with hardly anything there to keep him entertained.
November 14th 2007
When we made the appointment it seemed like the appointment was a thousand years away, but now it's here upon us before we could blink.
Today is a big day because it is our first ultrasound of this pregnancy and we find out the sex of the baby today. The Salmon Creek office hasn't changed much in two years. We showed up 15 minutes early and we only waited maybe 5 minutes and we were brought back. Kristy had to change from her clothes into her gown and then we were in the first room on the right.
The machine looks the same, but it seems like it has better resolution and I noticed that GE has made a lot of improvements around user interface and usability for the operators. So our ultrasound technician was great, she took all her measurements and walked us through each one again, measuring the arms, legs, head, kidney, spine, back, everything. Then she went back and worked pretty hard to get us a lot of good pictures of hands and feet and face.
The baby was kind of hiding from her a bit but she did eventually get to the part we are all waiting for, the sex, she walked us through what we are looking for and that info combined with what we saw on the screen revealed.........
....you'll have to wait because!
Now Kristy and I know, but we don't know how we want to tell all of you family and friends out there, so stayed tuned, something will happen soon but I don't know what yet so expect anything!
Update See our Blog Entry at www.casadelray.blogspot.com
Today is a big day because it is our first ultrasound of this pregnancy and we find out the sex of the baby today. The Salmon Creek office hasn't changed much in two years. We showed up 15 minutes early and we only waited maybe 5 minutes and we were brought back. Kristy had to change from her clothes into her gown and then we were in the first room on the right.
The machine looks the same, but it seems like it has better resolution and I noticed that GE has made a lot of improvements around user interface and usability for the operators. So our ultrasound technician was great, she took all her measurements and walked us through each one again, measuring the arms, legs, head, kidney, spine, back, everything. Then she went back and worked pretty hard to get us a lot of good pictures of hands and feet and face.
The baby was kind of hiding from her a bit but she did eventually get to the part we are all waiting for, the sex, she walked us through what we are looking for and that info combined with what we saw on the screen revealed.........
....you'll have to wait because!
Now Kristy and I know, but we don't know how we want to tell all of you family and friends out there, so stayed tuned, something will happen soon but I don't know what yet so expect anything!
Update See our Blog Entry at www.casadelray.blogspot.com
November 6th 2007
This appointment we didn’t have to wait too long to get in. Collette was there but she was a bit quieter than normal. She was talking to another nurse, something about not being able to talk to Husbands, they can handle it…. Transitioning right to Kristy, “How are you, go do your little gift bag”. Kristy totally left me with her very large and noticeable purse so I was totally the cliché husband holding the purse, waiting for the wife.
While she was doing that, Carter and I were looking at magazines. We started looking at a travel magazine Carter was interested in. There was some good stuff in it, especially if you are looking at going south of the border, just check out www.bahiadelaluna.com, www.mexicoboutiquehotels.com/azucar, www.posadacarmina.com and www.lazebra.com.mx, potentially future trips for us. Maybe family trips or maybe a wedding anniversary or two?
Then Collette was complaining about some program and how she didn’t understand it and didn’t want it and how come there was no more “Lotus Notes” where did it go and she liked that program. I happened to forget my all-knowing book this time so I didn’t have time to prep on what to expect at this appointment, but it ended up being fast like all of the appointments have been this pregnancy.
I was also tired because Kristy hasn’t been able to fall asleep when I go to bed at the same time as she does. Normally she wants me to go to bed the same time she does because she feels safer and more secure, but due to the pregnancy it takes her awhile to fall asleep, where as I fall asleep instantly, sometimes while she is talking to me and then she just gets angry with me and she says she lightly nudges me to stop me from snoring but I think she may be abusing me while asleep.
So because of all this she prefers that if I can a stay up a little longer and then come to bed after she has fallen asleep. Easy enough, now I play my Xbox 360 and hook up with my friends online on Xbox Live and I go to bed at around 2:00 AM every night. The only problem is that I have to get up and go to work and Carter also wakes up at 7:00 – 7:30 AM everyday and expects me to get him up because that is the regular routine he has grown accustomed to. And after doing this for a couple of weeks straight, I’m starting to get a little worn out. This pregnancy has caused me to fall right off the wagon, the coffee wagon that is.
Kristy came back and sat with us for a minute or two before Toni came out and called her name. Then we went back to the scale for the “weigh in”. It’s funny because Kristy doesn’t really dread the “weigh in” but she does prepare for it. To illustrate this point, part of the preparation the night before had a time slot dedicated to trying on different outfits and then weighing in on our bathroom scale to see how much each outfit or outfit combination added to the scale. I guess after 17 weeks and 5 days you begin to pay attention to the weight of each individual article of clothing because it gets hard to handle the ever increasing weight gain numbers.
I totally understand; I’m eating more often because Kristy is eating more often, only I don’t have a person growing inside me. Instead I have a life preserver growing around me. She also gets full sooner, probably has something to do with the person growing inside her taking up extra space and squishing her stomach. So I finish a lot of her snacks. I have to break this habit or she’ll have the baby and return to normal, but I’ll be pregnant looking!
We passed on the genetic testing (Quad Screen or Multiple Marker, See my August 19th 2005 Posting if you want to know what we did the first time around.)
Joy asked if we had any questions and we didn’t have any prepared. She said Kristy was still too small for Fundal Height Measurement so maybe next time. Then Joy told us to go with Toni and schedule out our next appointment and our ultrasound.
She also asked if we were going to find out the sex and we said “Heck Yes!” She asked if we had a name and we said we did, but we weren’t sharing that, we have to keep some things a surprise.
While she was doing that, Carter and I were looking at magazines. We started looking at a travel magazine Carter was interested in. There was some good stuff in it, especially if you are looking at going south of the border, just check out www.bahiadelaluna.com, www.mexicoboutiquehotels.com/azucar, www.posadacarmina.com and www.lazebra.com.mx, potentially future trips for us. Maybe family trips or maybe a wedding anniversary or two?
Then Collette was complaining about some program and how she didn’t understand it and didn’t want it and how come there was no more “Lotus Notes” where did it go and she liked that program. I happened to forget my all-knowing book this time so I didn’t have time to prep on what to expect at this appointment, but it ended up being fast like all of the appointments have been this pregnancy.
I was also tired because Kristy hasn’t been able to fall asleep when I go to bed at the same time as she does. Normally she wants me to go to bed the same time she does because she feels safer and more secure, but due to the pregnancy it takes her awhile to fall asleep, where as I fall asleep instantly, sometimes while she is talking to me and then she just gets angry with me and she says she lightly nudges me to stop me from snoring but I think she may be abusing me while asleep.
So because of all this she prefers that if I can a stay up a little longer and then come to bed after she has fallen asleep. Easy enough, now I play my Xbox 360 and hook up with my friends online on Xbox Live and I go to bed at around 2:00 AM every night. The only problem is that I have to get up and go to work and Carter also wakes up at 7:00 – 7:30 AM everyday and expects me to get him up because that is the regular routine he has grown accustomed to. And after doing this for a couple of weeks straight, I’m starting to get a little worn out. This pregnancy has caused me to fall right off the wagon, the coffee wagon that is.
Kristy came back and sat with us for a minute or two before Toni came out and called her name. Then we went back to the scale for the “weigh in”. It’s funny because Kristy doesn’t really dread the “weigh in” but she does prepare for it. To illustrate this point, part of the preparation the night before had a time slot dedicated to trying on different outfits and then weighing in on our bathroom scale to see how much each outfit or outfit combination added to the scale. I guess after 17 weeks and 5 days you begin to pay attention to the weight of each individual article of clothing because it gets hard to handle the ever increasing weight gain numbers.
I totally understand; I’m eating more often because Kristy is eating more often, only I don’t have a person growing inside me. Instead I have a life preserver growing around me. She also gets full sooner, probably has something to do with the person growing inside her taking up extra space and squishing her stomach. So I finish a lot of her snacks. I have to break this habit or she’ll have the baby and return to normal, but I’ll be pregnant looking!
We passed on the genetic testing (Quad Screen or Multiple Marker, See my August 19th 2005 Posting if you want to know what we did the first time around.)
Joy asked if we had any questions and we didn’t have any prepared. She said Kristy was still too small for Fundal Height Measurement so maybe next time. Then Joy told us to go with Toni and schedule out our next appointment and our ultrasound.
She also asked if we were going to find out the sex and we said “Heck Yes!” She asked if we had a name and we said we did, but we weren’t sharing that, we have to keep some things a surprise.
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