I'm Turning Into A Crying Lady

I am naturally emotional in my non-preggy state. But now that I'm pregnant my emotional borders seem to have come crashing down. I cry at the most trivial things.

Early this evening, my husband while hurrying out of the house said to me that he's going out to get his cellphone he left at his friend's shop and that I wait up for him for dinner because he was going to buy me pork liver barbeques. I thought that was so sweet of him and told him to get some pork barbeques to go with that.

After more than hour, I texted him, asking him to hurry up because I was already getting hungry. Five minutes he later, he arrived and immediately called me to the dining table. So I hurriedly left the PC and sat on the table. But when I saw only pork liver barbecues, I asked him where the pork barbecue was. He immediately said sorry and explained that he forgot about it.

I felt the disappointment creeping up on me, but because I was hungry I didnt say another word. I was expecting and relishing the pork barbecue that I could almost taste it while waiting for it. And there was no pork barbecue. I was so disappointed that I didnt even finish one stick, and ate only a couple of spoonful rice. My husband noticed and asked why I ate so little, I told him that I can only eat pork liver barbecue with pork barbecue. Then I stood up and went back again to my PC.

He finished dinner and stood beside me and started to tell me something when I stopped him in mid-sentence and asked him why he did not buy even one stick of pork barbecue. Before he could reply I rattled on, saying that had I only known that there wouldn't be any pork barbecue, I wouldn't have waited for him and just ate what was on the table while he was out.

Then it happened. I cried. Cried with big tears rolling down my cheeks. My husband went red with a pained look on his face. I could see that he really felt sorry to see me wanting that pork barbecue so bad and crying for it. Immediately, he reached for his wallet and said that he'll buy me that barbecue, now. I told him no, that it was too late, and that I had lost my appetite for it. Then the thought of crying unabashedly over some food hit me, so the next moment I was already stifling my laugh.

Pregnancy has always been one big emotional period for me, and that includes the post-pregnancy phase when I seem to turn into one big drama queen of the house. I have read time and again that this is caused by the hormones of pregnant women going haywire as the pregnancy progresses.

Good thing though that I am aware of this natural tendency for pregnant women to turn into crying ladies for the flimsiest of reasons, because I do acknowledge when it hits me and I manage to laugh in the end.

But the best reason why I manage to cope with this emotional rollercoaster ride is my ever understanding, patient, and loving husband who has seen me from bad to worse bouts of crying during my first and second pregnancies.

Excuse me while I go finish my dinner with hot pork barbecue sticks. Yup, he really did go out again and buy me pork barbecues.

3rd Prenatal Visit

Weight : 118 lbs/53 kilos
BP : 90/70.

I went to see my previous OB-Gyne this time because she's back from Manila where she had her specialty training on sonology. Of the 5 or more doctors I had seen for check-ups. she is the one so far I am completely at ease with. While the fact that she is my husband's family's friend might have helped, the truth is that she is one genuinely friendly person and she takes time to explain things to her patients. She is still young, around late 30's, and she heads the Women and Children's Protection Department of the regional hospital where she is also a resident doctor. Her name is Dr. Emily Ugdang.

It was just a routine prenatal visit, no serious findings to worry about except that of my weight. You see, I only gained 2 - 3 lbs in my entire first trimester. While this does not call for some serious remedy or treatment, things would have to be different in my case. You see, my second child was born with a congenital defect, duodenal atresia.

Here's a description of Doudenal Atresia, a defined by the UCL Institute of Child Health :

What is duodenal atresia?

Duodenal atresia means the
duodenum (first part of the small intestine just beyond the stomach) is closed off rather than being a tube. This stops food and fluid passing from the stomach into the
intestines.

How is it diagnosed?

Duodenal atresia can sometimes be discovered during pregnancy as it often shows up on antenatal ultrasound scanning. Some babies with this condition are born prematurely. Many babies appear well at birth but when they start to feed, they are sick and their vomit is green. An X-ray scan can confirm this diagnosis.

Duodenal atresia is a rare condition and occurs in about one in 10,000 births. It can be associated with other problems, so the doctors will examine your child closely to check if this is the case. One third of all children with duodenal atresia have Downs’ syndrome.

How is it treated?

Duodenal atresia is repaired in an operation under general anaesthetic (so your baby is deeply asleep), which lasts around 90 minutes.

Are there any alternatives?

No. Duodenal atresia always requires treatment to allow your baby to feed.

What happens before the operation?

Your baby will be transferred to the hospital soon after birth. To begin with, your child will be nursed in an incubator and will have a naso-gastric (NG) tube passed through his or her nose into the stomach. This will drain off the contents of the stomach and stop your child feeling and being sick. It also releases any excess air from the stomach, which could make your child uncomfortable. He or she will also have an intravenous infusion (drip) of fluids and medicines.

The surgeon will explain about the operation in more detail, discuss any worries you may have and ask you to sign a consent form giving permission for your child to have the operation. An anaesthetist will also visit you to explain about the anaesthetic.

What does the operation involve?

The surgeon will cut the blind end of the duodenum and connect it to the rest of the intestine. This provides a clear passage for food and fluid to travel from your child’s stomach to his or her intestine.

Are there any risks?

All the doctors who perform this operation have had lots of experience and will minimise the chance of problems occurring. All surgery carries a small risk of bleeding during or after the operation. Every anaesthetic carries a risk of complications, but this is very small. Your child’s anaesthetist is a very experienced doctor who is trained to deal with any complications.

What happens afterwards?

Your baby will come back to the ward to recover, and you will be able to visit as soon as he or she is settled back in the incubator. For a while after the operation, your baby will need help with breathing so will be connected to a ventilator. All babies are closely monitored after the operation, and so your baby will be connected to monitors to check his or her breathing, heart rate and oxygen levels. He or she will also be given pain relief through the intravenous infusion (drip).

While your child’s intestines recover and start to work, he or she will be fed through a tube into his or her veins (total parenteral nutrition or TPN). This will gradually be replaced by breast or bottled milk, given through the naso-gastric tube when your child is able to tolerate this. As your baby recovers, you will be able to feed him or her from the breast or bottle. Over time, the drips and monitors will be removed one by one.

The nurses on the ward will encourage you to look after your baby as much as you feel able while he or she is recovering. This can be daunting, especially while your baby is connected to drips and monitors, but it will become easier with time. If you are worried about caring for your baby, please talk to the nurses.

You will be able to go home or be transferred back to your local hospital once your baby is feeding properly and gaining weight. Your local health visitor or community paediatric nurse will visit you regularly. We will send you details of your outpatient appointment in the post, soon after you leave hospital.

Emergency

You should call your hospital if your baby:

• vomits when feeding

• has a swollen stomach

• vomits green liquid is not gaining weight

The doctors there will discuss any concerns with the team at Great Ormond Street Hospital.

But my son is doing fine now.

So, since I have a history of a difficult pregnancy, I have to take extra care of my and my unborn baby's health . Here's my doctor's orders:

1. Take an iron supplement;
2. Take a lot of sleep

My husband told my doctor how I spend too much time in front of the pc working, and
sleeping early in the morning (yes, at 2 or 3 a.m.), not getting an afternoon nap and rest while
my body clearly calls for it.

3. Eat some more and healthily

Hubby again reports to her how picky I can become with foods, not eating well, and eating lots
of junk like chocolates, softdrink, etc.

Target for next prenat visit : Gain at least 5 lbs.

Look! A New Header!

It's 2:42 a.m. and I have just finished what I set out to do since 9 p.m. last night:

1. Turn to Blogger Beta;
2. Edit the html to remove the default text-only blog title; and
3. Replace it with my own designed blog title image.

No. 1 was easy.

Doing No. 2, my problems started. When I started to edit the html of my blog template, everything just went wrong! The navigation bar which I managed to hide before in the old Blogger reappeared, and on top of the blog title at that! Every tweaking just made it all worse. So I decided to start from scratch and download the template, and tried to upload the text file using the new template upload feature of the beta version. It didn't work!

I panicked. There was no way I would go back to those default templates. So I googled "hiding blogger title". Went through a lot of links, until I finally got to this forum.

And there it was, somebody posted a query :

amestsanders

Jul 23 2005, 5:03 PM

I want to just display the background image. How do I hide the blogger title?

seriouslynikki

Jul 23 2005, 6:23 PM

um. This should be in the Blogger help section.

jamestsanders

Jul 23 2005, 6:29 PM

its not

Maestro

Jul 23 2005, 6:52 PM

QUOTE(jamestsanders @ Jul 23 2005, 6:29 PM)

its not

What?

Anyway. Please post this in blogger help, or can a mod move this?

jamestsanders

Jul 23 2005, 6:54 PM

if i can learn how to do that sure

Sherlock.

Jul 23 2005, 9:17 PM

A. You're not a mod
B. If you are really going to want help, plz, change the 'tude.

avalon*

Jul 23 2005, 11:43 PM

Moved to Blogger Help
I don't know how I did it, but my blog titles aren't there in my Blogger.

jamestsanders

Jul 24 2005, 11:21 AM

My friend Rachel at bitchalicious.com helped me out. Thanks guys!

craziethao

Jul 24 2005, 1:46 PM

Well then I hope all goes well . .. but just incase I was going to suggest taking out the and <$BlogItemTitle$> tags.

Then I made my own blogtitle image by Photoshop and voila! There's my new cutesy, baby-design title header. As a relatively newbie blogger, I consider this as another blogging milestone. After all, I want to go pro-blogging so I'll just have to start somewhere. But I have to make a sticky note that I haven't done my quota of articles for 2 days now and clients are now getting suspicious that I've ran away with their money.

It's 3:01 a.m.

Time to hit the sack.

Looking Pregnant

My preggy book info says that by this time, now that I'm on my 4th month I should begin to look pregnant, and that I should be gaining about 12 pounds in the next 3 months. About 2 pounds would go to the baby.

Believe me, I am so looking forward to that. I have been checking my weight twice daily, once as soon as I get up in the morning, and before I sleep at night. I notice that I am heavier and that my tummy looks bigger at night.

Today, I weighed in 117 lbs. So I gained 1 pound. My milk supplement must be working.

I do look pregnant now. I now have difficulty fitting into my jeans. Good thing that I kept some of my previous preggy clothes and need not rush out and go shopping for new ones, well, at least for now.

Weight Watch

My tummy is getting bigger, but my weight stays the same at 116 lbs since my last prenatal visit some 2 months ago. And as what I consider as my bible nowadays would say, "What To Expect When You're Expecting", a pregnant woman is supposed to have gained at least 4 lbs during the first trimester.

I'm on my 4th month now, and everyday I pull out the bathroom scale and weigh myself. So I stuff myself with almost any kind of food I can lay my hands on. But I have a special craving for mais. I can consume at least 3 of them daily, in just one sitting. But my stomach gets a squemish feeling right after that.

I am not gaining weight. Maybe because I stay up too late in the evening, sometimes up to the wee hours of the morning, and always resist my body's urge for afternoon siesta. I eat well, take my vitamins, drink milk, and just stay at home (but spending the whole day and night sitting in front of the PC and typing away articles after articles).

If it remains this way 5 days from today, I'll go and see my OB-Gyne.

It's 12:13 a.m. on my watch. In the meantime, I still haven't made up my mind whether I should make a go for my 2nd Tofiluk candy bar for tonight.

Really now, I should get back to my articles and finish up this 1,000-worder on kitchen cabinets. I have been doing nothing but procastinate on my writing projects.

Okay, I've made up my mind. I'll save the other Tofiluk for tomorrow.