Friday, March 16, 2007

I've got a date for St. Patrick's Day w/ me, my OB/GYN, & the hospital. The plan? Irish dancing? Nope. Inducing the baby.


Yeah. I know. Not exactly the kind of plans one would expect for a Saturday celebration of St. Patty's day, but I don't have much of a say in this anymore. So... anyone who will be imbibing for the holiday, please feel free to raise a green beer and think of me. My OB/GYN is very nervous about the protein levels I have in my urine due to my scary blood pressure spikes, so the decision was made this week to schedule my inducement for 7am this Saturday. The good doctor does not want to risk me going into total kidney failure as I did when pregnant with BabyGirl b/c it is NOT a wise idea to do so twice in less than 5 yrs. I hear that bodily organs aren't fond of such treatment. When induced w/ BabyGirl, I faced 28 hours of chemically forced labor, so hopefully, since this is our 2nd baby, this kind of hard labor will be shorter in length. Besides... we hope that the labor doesn't cause the baby to arrive on March 19th... ya know... the horrific anniversary of the Iraq war. Hubby and I are very scared and very excited all in one. We had an ultrasound this past Weds (March 14th) and Baby to Be appears to be doing very well and is VERY active. We were also able to see the baby's diaphragm moving as the baby "breathes" in the amniotic fluid, which is excellent news for lung development. And we were also able to clearly see the baby's face. He/She seems to have very chubby cheeks and a lot of hair on his/her head. Oh yeah... this belly pix was taken by Hubby to show you all just how massive my baby belly is at this point. I won't dare tell you how much weight I've gained in the past month, but you'll notice my incredibly bloated hands, which along w/ my face, legs, feet and ankles, are so filled w/ retained fluid that Hubby says they should have "Hormel" stamped on them b/c they resemble chubby little hams. You'll also notice my "linea negra" that goes up my belly all the way to my boobs, and that I dare not show you my belly button. This is not only due to the fact that my poor "inny" is stretched to the point of pain, but also due to the fact that I have a very real phobia of belly buttons. Yes. I am absolutely serious. Such a phobia is called omphalophobia. In addition to this crazy phobia, I also have a very real fear of clowns, which appears to be fairly common and understandable, but I simply cannot STAND to have my navel touched by someone (which drives Hubby insane and I barely tolerate myself touching it), but I also do not like to even have people look at my belly button, either. It took everything I had within me to provide the proper "post birth navel care" for BabyGirl when she was a newborn b/c I am so phobic of belly buttons. I can't explain this inexplicable phobia nor will hrs of therapy be sought for this, but I do know that I am not alone. Our ultrasound tech said that she has encountered several women who suffer from the same fear and that she takes great care with them during an ultrasound procedure b/c a few of these women actually freaked out when the sonogram wand touched their navels, but if ya don't believe me, just Google "fear of belly buttons" and you'll see I'm not alone in my weird phobia. So, I guess what all this phobia talk adds up to is this: I won't dare be showing you my poor "inny" that is so sensitive and stretched to the point of pain, nor will I ever be having my belly button pierced by the likes of Chuckles or Bozo the clown. Anyhoo... Wish us all luck for Saturday. Our greatest hope is that all goes well and that Baby to Be's lungs are mature enough at 36 weeks gestational age to avoid a NICU stay completely. And I promise I'll post baby pix as soon as possible.
Posted by Tina :: 1:45 AM :: 17 Comments:

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