Everyday is Monday

I need today to go away. The deployment gremlins are out in full force.

First, I have a plumbing leak somewhere. It leaked and the varnish soaked off the entertainment center and onto the rug. Last night they came to move the entertainment center and turn on a huge fan to blowdry under the rug. This of course had to stay on all night. This of course sounded like a freight train moving through the living room.

Now the plumber is coming tonight, possibly to cut a hole in my wall.

The house is still under warranty, so it will probably all be taken care of...but I still have to deal with it. Not to mention I can't take care of other errands while I am waiting for all these other people to show up.

After a GREAT day and decent night last night, Lilah is having an AWFUL day. She wakes herself up screaming. Not fussing--screaming. With Tetralogy of Fallot, I am supposed to keep her calm.

She cries unless we are holding her, sometimes while we are holding her, until I feed her and then cries until she passes out for a nap again.

I already tried eliminating cow's milk from my diet but that doesn't seem to have done much of anything except make me feel hungry all the time (I am a vegetarian and get much of my protein and fats from cheese). On the bright side I already weight what I weighed at my 8 week pregnancy appointment.

I suspect she has reflux, so I wanted to make an appointment for her so they can try to track down what is going on.

I am trying to have Lilah see a doctor that her cardiologist recommended and trying to have her see this doctor consistently. So, I went to the TRICARE (health insurance) office to fill out the PCM change paperwork. The representative told me that I should be able to make an appointment right away with the recommended doctor because the appointment line should not have ANY PCM info in their system yet...even though they claimed they are showing her for a different clinic.

WELL...TRICARE doesn't have this PCM change on the file yet, and no one can tell me WHEN the PCM change will be effective. I just spent an hour trying to make appointments for her. The Appointment Line transfered me to the Patient Rep, who obviously knows about Tetralogy of Fallot but was not listening to me. He kept thinking that (A) Lilah was having a Tet Spell (in which Tet babies turn blue) and (B) I was trying to make an appointment with a Cardiologist. Finally, he calls the apointment line to report exactly what I already knew--that they can't make an appointment until the change is in their system.

Honestly, I understand that the changes need time to take effect; what I don't get is how come no one can tell me HOW LONG those changes will need to take effect.

I am also P*SSED that this guy who is supposed to be my advocate is so obviously not listening to a word I am saying.

In the middle of juggling phone calls with the patient rep and the plumber, Lilah wakes up screaming again.

I'm just going in circles with bureaucracy; my entertainment system is dismantled and sitting in the study; my rug is stained; and, most frustratingly, my poor little baby seems to be in pain and I can't take her to the pediatrician her cardiologist recommended. Instead, I have to involve yet another pediatrician in her care.

I know Lilah will be fine. We'll either track down what is bothering her or she will just grow out of it by around 3 months. I can survive three sleepless months alone if I need to. I'm sure this pediatrician is perfectly competent. I'm just frustrated.

Right now Lilah is passed out so I should do some work before she gets hungry or wakes herself up screaming again...but I just had to vent a little first.

Usual exam can miss potential breech births

Yeah, no kidding...

Usual exam can miss potential breech births

THURSDAY, Aug. 3 (HealthDay News) — The usual examination that doctors perform to determine the position of a baby in a mother's womb in late pregnancy
isn't sensitive enough and misses breech and other abnormal fetal positions, a new Australian study suggests.

Knowing the position of a baby in the womb is important, because if the fetus isn't in the normal head-down position — called cephalic presentation—vaginal delivery may be difficult or impossible. A non-cephalic presentation discovered after the start of labor can increase complications and even result in the death of mother or child.

Just for the record, I am far from obese (the article notes this increases the difficulty of determining fetal presentation)...but my midwife did not notice my transverse.

I agree with this recommendation:

One expert thinks that ultrasound should be done in late pregnancy to
accurately determine the infant's position in the womb.

In light of this, I hope these late ultrasounds become standard.

Of Mice and Babies

Our best laid plans...well, they often go awry.

I have been listening to Hypnobirthing tapes in hopes of having a "natural" birth (without medical pain killers).

Today I found out that Lilah is transverse...at 38 weeks. If I present in labor with a transverse lie, I cannot have a vaginal birth. If my water breaks, or if I labor too long in this position, serious complications are likely.

Mom is not here yet, DH is not here yet. In laws are expected at some unknown date for some unknown length of time.

I need to just hold out at least until Mom gets here...hopefully safely holding out until DH gets here.

I am a little miffed at the Women's Clinic (again) because:

(A) I realize now that her transverse position should have been obvious...why was this not address at my 36 week appointment?

(B) I did not see my regular midwife today (38 week) appointment and the doctor (and the semi-retired "expert" she called in for consult) acted like "typical" doctors. They just said, "Come in at the first sign of labor." No explanation of why...no examination to determine if I developed late placenta previa (apparently a possible cause)...no discussion of scenarios...no suggestions for exercises or anything that might fix the problem. Of course I asked questions, but without any base knowledge of this issue, I had no idea what specific questions to ask. My general questions were basically answered with the sentiment that there is nothing I can do.

When I got home, I began my usual strategy of researching every issue to death...and what I found suggests babies in transverse at 38 weeks don't turn. Still, I am praying and hoping for a turn.

Of course, I will be very happy with any birth that results in DH and I holding our healthy baby girl.

So, I am braving the phone system of the Ft. Hood Women's Clinic tomorrow to try to get some answers...what are the odds of her properly positioning at this point? what can I do to increase these odds? at some point, is it safer to schedule a c-section rather than wait for a potentially dangerous labor to start and have to do an emergency c-section anyway?

I also contacted the Austin Hypnobirth center to see if they could give me a session to encourage Lilah to turn.

In the meantime, I have been doing pelvic tilts, while shining a flashlight at my pelvis. Tomorrow I buy headphones for the same purpose. Amusing, no?

Care Package Fun

Today I felt a sharp pain in my tummy. That scared me a little because I had heard sharp pain = bad. But it was very quick and I have a tendency to overreact to these things so I decided to call the women's clinic rather than go in.

No answer.

Called again later. Someone picked up after two rings (WOW!) and put me through to a nurse. The nurse said this is normal... if the pain is severe and sustained and/or is accompanied by bleeding, that is a problem.

So, I went about my errands. I finally got all of DH's equipment off and sent my first CARE package. (DH, if you are looking, stop reading)

This is a food one--powdered gatoraid, pretzels, summer sausage and cheese pack, Starbucks coffee, spices, etc.

The next one will be a sports package. A 1st Cav guy told me that one of the best packages they received contained footballs, soccer balls, and frisbees.

I also baked cookies (not for DH, I'm waiting until he gets to his final destination for that to ensure maximum freshness) for my Daddy. A couple of years ago, Daddy complained that since I moved out, we haven't made Christmas chocolate chip cookies together. Now, I do not remember this tradition, but I went along with it last year and baked him some yummy cookies. This year, I am sending them with the 4th ID gifts.

I'm such a Daddy's girl.

DH was able to IM and webcam tonight so I got a real treat. I have not been getting much work one with all these errands and the pregnancy exhaustion so I should get some work done.

@#$%&**! Ft. Hood Women's Clinic

I did not want to lay this on DH so I am going to vent here.

Trying to get an appointment at the Women's Clinic is tougher than labor.

Well, I cannot really say that yet, but it is pretty darn tough.

First, you cannot use the normal appointment line. You have to call directly.

Then, they never pick up the phone. Not even an, "We are experiencing high call volume, your estimated waiting time is..." or a "Women's Clinic, please hold."

It just rings and rings and rings. The five or six times I've called (at different times of day), I've allowed it to ring about two minutes before giving up.

When you FINALLY get someone to answer, they can't give you an appointment for a month...and I said I could take ANY time on ANY day.

The first available appointment is almost a month away, in my 10th week. That appointment is to FILL OUT PAPERWORK...it is not even the first exam... no doctor, not even a nurse.

Lord only knows when my first examination will even happen...probably not until the 14th week (or more) since I am not high risk.

When I say this is unacceptable, they rattle off the number of women they treat. That they are busy is no excuse for the powers to have no procedures in place for making appointments at least!

I was polite, explaining that I am not questioning their individual job performance. I felt like screaming at them though, for their absolute lack of empathy.

I do not understand why the service has been so good at all the other clinics on post but they leave the women's clinic so backed up. They REALLY need to staff this place.

You would think pre-natal care would be a priority. Everything I read has emphasized its importance. The sad thing is that even as I worked up the chain to ask that they look into this, no one seems to care. They seem to think it obnoxious (and I swear, I really was polite) that a pregnant woman is interested in getting pre-natal care in a timely manner. What if I was not a big researcher? What if I did not have access to information? I could make some big mistakes before that appointment...isn't that the point of decent pre-natal care? To help women care for their babies early on in the pregnancy in order to PREVENT problems from happening???

GRRR....

Okay, happy thoughts, happy thoughts...do not want to stress out baby.