First High Risk OB Appointment

I am a sexist. I admit this and I was proven wrong. When I found out my new High Risk OB was a male I had a mini freak out. But a man can't get pregnant or have their own children, he could never possibly relate to me and my pregnancy experience. I want a woman! I wasn't expecting much. A lot of paper work and history and...well that was about it. The appointment was 25 minutes from my house, but I work in a small town 25 minutes from my house in the opposite direction so it was quiet the trek. Living in the city I don't usually travel for doctors appointments. In fact, my CF clinic is about 10 blocks from my house and walkable if I wasn't so lazy! Talk about spoiled. I survived the 50 minutes drive and here is how the appointment went.

The hospital was HUGE and beautiful and we got a little lost on the premise thanks to me and my non existent sense of direction. I was nervous although I wasn't sure why and had no idea what to expect. It started like any other appointment with weight and blood pressure. My weight was up 3 pounds!!!! Woohoo! So excited that I am getting some fat for this baby. I don't even feel like I am working for this weight. I am eating uber healthy (obscene amounts of leafy greens, veggies, fruits...) and trying to avoid any unhealthy fats/processed foods although I do need a little junk once in awhile. I am eating more, but not anything different from my usual besides trying to make even healthier choices than before because my little peanut does not need to be developed with preservatives and high fructose corn syrup. Anyways, I digress.

So I am in the room and instantly see my favorite thing ever since being pregnant- an ultrasound machine!!! OMG now I am excited and wish the doctor would get his male (that I wish was female) butt in here. So in comes this man with a great smile and an awesome personality. I instantly like him and I could sense my husband did too! He went over my history and I have to say he was super impressed with the work I put into my health. I think we forget how much work CF is and it is so nice to have someone commend you for all the hard work you do. He works with a lot of asthmatics and it was actually really helpful since I have an asthma/inflammation/allergy component. He was asking me about what I do to control my environment in which I do pretty much nothing. He explained that there was so much I could do to help out the inflammation by changing my environment  Everything from wrapping my mattress and pillows in allergy/dust free products to having a minimalist bedroom. I actually really want to take some of his advice. He was also freaking out that when I do my home peak flow I usually hit 400-450. I guess that is good!

Anyways a quick overview of the appointment and why I love him. He hates the word high risk and said I am normal with a few potential challenges. They are going to watch baby closely to make sure the birth weight is good. They are going to watch my health closely to watch out for diabetes, preterm labor, and my lungs. He said that other than those challenges I am really just a regular pregnant woman. He said that I know my body and should have a zero tolerance uncertainty rate. Meaning no matter how silly it seems to CALL if anything seems abnormal or worrisome or for questions. He made me promise. He said that if things run smoothly and I get to delivery healthy that I should have any type of birth I want. He wrote in my chart to not be scared of any decision birth wise just because I am high risk. He said I could have an OB, a midwife, whatever as long as at the time of delivery everything looks good. He also talked to my husband in very thick American accented Spanish which my husband thought was cool and I know it was one factor that won him over.

We then got to my favorite part, we got to look at our little baby!! When he turned on the machine I got so nervous. What if the baby stopped growing, what if the baby wasn't even there, what if the baby was missing something vital like his/her head. Yes, I had these thoughts race through my mind in the 3 second it took to turn on the machine. The second my baby showed up on the screen I saw the heart beating away which melted away any fears. I knew my baby was alive and well. I then went into shock at how enormous this baby was. Last time little peanut was a little tiny thing with a head and a body, but now peanut was a baby with visible limbs and hands! Right after we saw the baby, he/she decided to jump twice! Ha, so cute! I think the baby went to sleep after because there wasn't much movement after that. The little baby had one hand straight up in the air as if to wave to us. I have to admit that the first ultrasound was much more clear because we could see a better outline of the face. I think because it was an internal ultrasound the first time and this time it was a regular ultrasound and so it was a little more blurry, but still obviously our sweet baby. The doc pointed out the body and then pointed to the skinny legs as he called them. This made me laugh because the baby may already take over me with skinny legs. The baby measured 2 days ahead of schedule which made mama proud that little peanut is doing well and growing just as he/she should! It was surreal to see this little life and think that the little baby is wiggling around in my body and I can't feel it. I feel like I love this little peanut so much and think about my little baby all the time! We got a video of the ultrasound on my husbands phone and I can't stop watching it. I want to meet this little person so bad and get to know his/her personality. I cannot wait until June to meet my sweet little June bug!

High Risk OB

I thought I would mention that tomorrow I am going to a new high risk OB. I loved my original OB and I may be able to use her, but because of weird insurance issues I may have to switch so I am going to meet another OB through a different hospital to establish a relationship. I basically have special circumstances because my insurance does not have an accredited CF center that they are affiliated with so I can go outside my plan to see my CF doc. The high risk OB that works with my doc is not technically under my insurance. Since my insurance does have high risk OBs (just not OBs that work directly with the CF clinic) I may or may not be able to get coverage if I go outside my plan. I am trying to be open minded about tomorrow and see how I feel about this new OB. I will be sure to update and am very curious as to what the appointment will entail!

Green Light

So I went to the high risk OBGYN and she gave me the green light! She said that she has very few concerns. Here is an overview of the appointment.

My weight looks good. She said I was one of the few patients she tell they can gain the whole 20lbs during pregnancy. She said most people start out overweight and need to gain much less. She said exercise is fine as long as I can gain enough weight otherwise I may need to cut back on the gym.

She said my FVC is fine (in the 90s), but my FEV1 is low. She said that even though my FEV1 is 50% she really wasn't worried especially with a high FVC. I asked her if she ever had to end a pregnancy due to FEV issues or other CF related complications and she said, "Never." She was so optimistic and really reassured me that everything would be okay.

I would be able to stay on all my meds and wouldn't have to change anything. The only problem is no cipro, bactrim, or levequin which are my oral tune up go to drugs. That is a little scary, but I will have to talk to the CF docs to see what backup I could use.

The only thing she was concerned about was gestational diabetes which CFers have an increased risk for. She did say she would be watching me like a hawk for CFRD and would do their best to keep it under control if it became an issue.

The only other concern I have is how long it will take to get preggo. When I asked if CFers seem to have a harder time getting pregnant she just said she wasn't on the infertility side and had no idea. Cross your fingers because I am not getting any younger!

Sadness With A Touch Of Relief

So last yesterday I had a mini pregnancy "scare" except replace the scare with hope(?) After ovulating I ALWAYS have 14 days till I get my period. I have been tracking (not with temperature) since we got married (I also off of birth control at this time) so it has been this way for a very long time. My period has never been even a day later than 14 days after ovulating. I know they say that a woman's body isn't always like clockwork and that it is normal to be a day early or a day late in to which I used to say, "That's not true for me." Now I officially have to say, "Sometimes that's true for me too." Blah! I knew that it very well could be a little on the late side and mean absolutely nothing, but last night I couldn't sleep with the what ifs. Part of me was sad to see AF here this morning around 10:00, but a little part of me was relieved too. I was NOT expecting to get pregnant before talking to the OBGYN tomorrow and so I had a few glasses of wine (or a little more than a few) this week and several glasses of coffee. I know a few glasses of wine can't really hurt a zygote and will probably not hurt a blastocyst but considering I am already considered high risk I didn't want any other worries on my shoulders! But rest assured, AF has made her grand entrance and I will be ready next month, alcohol and caffeine free and filled with knowledge from the OB.

Speaking of the OBGYN I have my appointment tomorrow!! I am so nervous and excited. I wish I knew a Cyster that has been to the high risk OB because I would LOVE to hear what to expect. I have written down over 20 (yes, 20!) questions to ask. I am hoping she answers most of them before I have to ask them. My dad hasn't told me what he wanted me to ask for him yet so that will probably be 20 more. He is a scientist and always asks the most in depth, scientific, probing, mumbo jumbo questions that always flusters the Drs, but he finds fascinating. That is the great thing about having a genius for a father, the Drs always love him because they respect how smart he is and it is neat to see their face light up with surprise when he asks an in depth question and then go into this long complex explanation. I think they like being able to share their knowledge rather than the dumbed down version the rest of us get.