Preggo Colleen just passing thru to say hi

Only 7 1/2 weeks to go til my due date for little Edward Charles!! I wasn't sure I could get this far without going nuts, but here I am, getting big as a house, sleeping terribly, TOTALLY not nearly as organized as I'd hoped. A lot of the nursery is ready but a lot is not. I had my baby shower and got tons of wonderful gifts. mom sent me money to buy the stroller/car seat system this week too. That really helps. Healthwise, I can't manage to gain any more weight no matter how often I eat. the last few days I have had zero appetite but I force food down anyway. The baby's growth so far is fine, I guess he is just digesting me since I look at my arms and the arm is getting thinner (and the DOUBLE bubble batwings are getting longer, SIGH!!!) . We had some worrisome lab results taken 11-18, my iron fell 75% as did my B12 since my labs 3 1/2 months ago. If we can't get my b12 back up before delivery I guess I could get nerve damage. the calcium is borderline, but if it falls further and we cannot get it raised back up the docs may not allow me to nurse. it is a wait and see situation. I am also borderline anemic now, but dilutionally anemic is a common thing during pregnancy Doc says. strangely enough my cholesterol levels stayed the same, with LDL and HDL both looking great, but my triglycerides went from mid 100's to over 300+? I wondering if that is something related to the other issues. I am doing my best not to stress on these issues. I had months of bleeding and bedrest so a few lowered labs won't send me into a panic. NOTHING about my pregnancy has been easy except the conception itself but I am at the point now where all I can do is just do what the Docs tell me, fondle baby clothes to remind myself what all the headaches are for and wait for my little boy to jump into my arms. I tried so hard to do everything and take all my vitamins and follow the food plan but this just happens sometiems with WLS (weight loss surgery) post-ops. I truly wanted to nurse for 6 months, but with some of my labs low I wouldn't be doing my baby any favors to make him healthy but put my long-term health in danger. I knew it was a possibility at the start of this pregnancy but my 1st and 2nd trimester labs were so good I thought I was in the clear. I will just hope and pray we can raise them up enough in the few weeks I have remaining. (Sis is sending more cheese from wisconsin just to up my calcium! hahahaha!!!) Anyway my surgeon's group and I have been playing phone tag for 5 days so I wasn't sure what in his opinion was the fastest way to up my b12. I was taking them every other day from 3 months post-op til my 2nd trimester but 2nd trimester labs showed iron getting a little too high so they decreased the frequency to every 4th day, well obviously we decreased by too much. I just don't have any idea how long it will take to recover the lost levels. I saw the OB yesterday morning. I had thought I upped the scale but it was down 3 lbs from last visit. sigh!!! on again off again pounds. I know other pregnant gals fretting over too much weight gain are thinking I am nuts, but I am just as worried about my weight loss/weight non-gain. Doc scheduled me for an ultrasound in 2 weeks to check baby's growth and my fluid levels. she will recheck my iron and B12 then too and hopefully I will have improved. She finally said I can start practicing kegels and pelvic tilts with the birth ball but said to wait til after week 36 for perineal massage. She said to keep taking it easy, no bending, lifting or stretching. she still makes me a little nervous as she is obviously worried bleeding might come back, but I ALWAYS feel better after any appt with her. she seems so experienced and confident and thorough. I am SO going to aim for a wednesday to be sure she delivers me. My surgeon's group finally called me back Thursday(we'd played phone tag for a week and a half) and he thinks I should react well to liquid b12 under the tongue. if the levels are not up in 2 weeks he said IV b12 should work. I see the OB again in 3 weeks and it is wild to me how fast everything seems to be speeding up. After that visit I will be in for weekly tests and non stress tests to check babys movements. Before I can blink again it will be Xmas and I bet Edward will be here before the new year! I hope he goes full term but I just have a weird feeling he won't wait. I had my last labor prep class Wednesday night and it was good. lots more info and the guys got to practice with baby dolls changing diapers, burping and swaddling. hubby did darned good and I was proud of him. Other than that things are going well. The Xmas tree is up with lights on it and I put a few ornaments on each day (no more than a few because of the no stretching rule so I stick to the mid-range branches hahaha!). No decorations outside the house yet or hung in the windows because hubby was working late all week but he promised we could do that this weekend. I need my holiday fixings We are having my family over for Christmas (13-15 people) and hubby is doing all the cooking. He is chef caliber so it will absolutely be a treat. Last year he made roast duck with a brandy glaze, but my family is pretty purist and wants ham and turkey. I am only allowed to open up the potato chip bags and pour eggnog hahahaha!!! That's it for now, hugs all! Colleen 32 1/2 weeks preggo and due Jan 23rd!

Glad to see everythings going good.Things could be worse,just relax and try to stay as comfortable as possible.I bet it seems diffrent haveing a babay and loseing weight rather then gaining.I have a friend thats natrally small and when she has a baby you can never tell and the next day she in a two piece bathing suite....Well keep up the good work.

Honey, email me your address again so I can send you some vitamins. Vitamist has prenatals and B12. I want to make sure you get the B12. But go to the vitamist site and get all the information, then call your doctor and make sure it is all safe for you and the baby. I would hate for you to not be able to nurse if it is something you want to do. Well, just email me!!!!! LOL

Thanks Melissa, For now tho the docs have upped my trinsicon iron RX for now and gave me liquid b12 for under my tongue and in 2 weeks if it isn't improved I will get things IV infused to make sure we can fix things before the baby comes. I get my vitamins covered by insurance but only when I buy them thru walgreens and with doctor's note. they even pay for my citrical+D I am lucky to have no problem taking pills so I don't mind them much. I just mind when I swallow the pills and they don't work hahaha!!! The surgeon said while preggo and while nursing he will keep me on my current regimen then he wants to switch me to the optisource multivitamin bariatric pill, but not until after I'm done nursing. til then we are handling each nutrient separately (iron, calcium, b12, folic acid etc) to make sure I get just enough and not too much. I don't mind the extra pils to take so long as we get it right. thanks for thinking of me tho! Colleen

Colleen I would also encourage you to be in contact with MANY La Lache Leagues, they may have some ideas for you involving your labs, and ability to successfully nurse your little guy. I am pre-op BUT they may have some answers that even he doctor doesn't. I was told with my first and third children that I would NEVER be able to successfully nurse by SEVERAL doctors. And I nursed my first child for 3 months, my second for 5 months, third for 10 months ( he weaned himself) and my 4th child for over 2 years. I know you need to listen to your doctors but at the same time wanted to encourage you to also discuss your options with La Lache League and their knowledgeable nurses. Blessings, you and your little one are in my prayers, Katie

I appreciate your advice but I've already had my run-ins with the lactivists online and the local LLL and have been told things like "Don't you love your child enough to put him first?" ""Well you have to make your own decisions, biut wouldn't you rather do the right thing?" (implying of course that to choose anything other than breast milk is the wrong decision) and even the comment that if I am too unhealthy to nurse then I have no business making a child at all and that is a selfish thing to do if nursing for more than 6 months could compromise my health. Some of these ladies are kind and well-intentioned but many are not and can't see the forest for the trees. I need to be a good mom to my child not just for 9-18 months but for the next 50 years and if that means he may be formula fed to preserve my long-term health that is the only right decision to make for my family. the only way I won't nurse is if the docs tell me I do not possess enough nutrients to do it safely and not endanger my health or the baby's growth, but these boob nazis use emotional blackmail, sentimental rhetoric and outright misinformation to further their agenda which often does little to take into account the long-term health ramifications to the mom. Sorry if I sound so strongly against them but I am. I didn't fall for their crap but saw others in the group fall for it and come to tears because of these thoughtless and cruel lactivists mean comments and "boob above ALL else" mentality. In one onlien rpegnancy group these boob nazies REGULARLY tell women to go off needed prescribed meds if it means they can nurse, meds for seizure disorders, heart problems, depression etc, "Put your kid first even if you may spend years recovering your own health, if you are lucky enough to recover it all" phew that's a rant, sorry but they sure get me riled... Colleen

I'm sooo sorry you had this experience with them!!!!!! I had a totally different experience. They are NOT supposed to be this way I'm sorry again. Blessings, Katie