OB Updates and other miscellany!

Darlings! I have so many good things to tell you!

First off, we saw Dr. Mama this morning. I've gained a whopping five pounds since my last visit (not bad!). He doesn't want me to gain more than another 15 or so pounds, so here's hoping I can do it. Everything else is normal, normal, normal!

He is the best OB ever. EVER. Seriously. He answered all my questions; mostly about things like position of the baby (fine, even if I can't close my legs while sitting), whether or not I'll need bed rest (not yet, but maybe), my hip pain after walking (normal for fat pregnant chicks, and sit down if it's bad), and other things.

Today's appointment was the complete opposite of the last one. Dr. Mama is such a dear he even tried to gamely defend Dr. Dismissive, but understood why we wouldn't like him. He's fine with us doing so much monitoring on our own. Currently, I check my blood sugar daily, my blood pressure morning and evening, my weight every day (big weight gains are a sign of preeclampsia), and use the doppler to check on the baby. We're going to also pick up those urine protein strips (thank you, Atkins people, for making them readily available) so we can check for protein in my urine (currently, there is only a trace).

The only sad thing is that Dr. Mama wants me to slow down my orange juice consumption (sob!), currently at about oh, a quart or two a day. He pointed out that juice is full of sugar, and even though my glucose levels are fine now, they may not stay that way and I should try, if I can, to avoid sugar in all forms as much as possible. Private note to Nancy: yeah, my doctor too. Bummer! I plan to go buy actual oranges and eat them instead. One at a time. Sigh.

After our fun times with Dr. Mama, we headed around the corner to see the cardiologist. I wasn't worried that there was anything wrong with my heart, but I was expecting to be at worst sternly lectured by the doctor, and at best to be nearly ignored.

But the cardiologist was divine. He was kind, first of alll; when he looked at my history and saw that I'd lost the boys, actually sympathy flickered across his face. Then he told me that he and his wife also struggled with infertility and eventually adopted (and sadly, then divorced). He listened to my history, agreed that I was remarkably healthy for my weight, and agreed that it would be good if I could get back to my pre-infertility treatment weight again (sigh) and get more active after this baby is born (ha!). He even laughed when he asked me how I planned to lose the weight and I said, "I'm considering anorexia."

LOVED HIM.

It was really a treat. And, my heart is just AWESOME, and he can't imagine needing to see me again.

After that, I headed off to my favorite diner to grab lunch. This diner has been THE place to go through most of my sobriety (even if some people, Catherine, thinks it's a hellhole), and I love it. Sadly, because my city has changed from a grungy place with lots of greasy spoons to a town full of sparkling expensive restaurants (how they all stay in business, I'll never know), my fave place is up for sale and may be turned into a glittering spot I can't afford in the near future. As sad as I am about the potential loss, I'm not nearly as sad as Harriet, the waitress who has been there for FORTY YEARS. She's been there so long she's actually in the menu. She waited on us today.

But, for now, it's still there, and they deep-fried my home fries like I love (yeah, I know, but WHO CARES THEY ARE DELICIOUS. Seriously). And then I got to read all of your wonderful comments to my final James Frey post, and I love you all even more.

Final, final thing I'll say about poor James: I think we all need to keep him in our prayers (if praying is a thing you do). He's hitting an awful emotional bottom now, and life sucks for him. I hope he can stay sober through it, so let's all pray that he gets the help and support he needs to get through this.

Also, keep Sarah's family in your prayers as well. Her great-uncle just passed away, and she's heading up to the funeral tomorrow. I met her uncle at her wedding, and he was absolutely hilarious. Sad day for everyone.

And my last silly detail: all of you who  (Em, I believe it was you! And you, Christy; and Angela) mentioned the TV series Firefly to me recently, thank you thank you thank you. My local cable giant is running the old episodes on-demand and I've been enjoying them tremendously. I had no idea that it was the exact same cast that was used in the movie Serenity (which I loved)! The writing is phenomenal, the production quality amazing, and the characters captivating. LOVE IT! Thank you. I'll probably watch more tonight instead of watching the idiot, I mean our president, drone on and on during the State of the Union address.

It's been too good a day. The baby is fine! You know, for now. Yee-ha! Jesus, is this post giddy or what?

Comments

[Noelle]

1.

I'm loving the giddiness! In fact, I think it's contagious... my spirits lifted 100 times just from reading this post. So happy that you had such a wonderful day!

[Celeste]

2.

My dear, the universe owes you some giddiness and I'm so glad to see you collecting it!!!

One of my sisters absolutely packed the pounds on guzzling the juice. My only suggestion is to get a little juice glass and savor small amounts of it. I think that diluting your juice is equivalent to spending a shitload on that "carb reduced" stuff which simply has less concentrate in the cartoon (I tell ya, these marketing geniuses are somethin' else). Fact is, fresh squeezed juice doesn't compare to the stuff made from concentrate--the concentrate has way more of the sugary part of the orange in it than you would otherwise get from just squeezing an orange. But it's way cool to eat the whole orange and get the fiber; fiber does great things for the blood sugar.

[Lisa]

3.

We've been drinking the Minute Maid Light Orange juice which only has 50 calories and 10 g of sugar per serving. It's really tasty! We love it! You could also make frozen OJ but water it wayyy down so that you still get the OJ flavor w/out all the sugar...

[Stacy Quarty]

4.

Thanks for sharing your very real and honest experience of pregnancy. Cograts on your great OB visit! I wouldn't worry about the OJ too much... after a few more weeks you may have so much heartburn you might not tolerate even a sniff of it. I had to give up my favorite pink lemonade drink in my 6th month. Horrors! Enjoy what you can, while you can I always say!

[Katie]

5.

Here's to giddiness! Giddy can be great!

[Menita]

6.

Mega-giddy, and it sounds so good! Glad things wentso well. ABOUT FRIGGIN TIME!!!

[ASM]

7.

So glad the visit with Dr. Mama went so well! I have the highest of hopes and giddiness and glee for you!

[martha]

8.

Well, by God, you deserve a giddy post! I'm so so glad. And I'm a huge fan of Firefly--I want to throw all those morons at Fox who doomed it to failure into a pot of boiling oil. Or boiling... well... something. Maybe someone will come to their senses and pick it up again as a series.

[Kelly]

9.

Giddy is good! Fantstic news. My husband rec'd Firefly for Christmas so good to hear it is a worthy view.

[Becca]

10.

You sound so happy, and I'm so glad.

[Jessica]

11.

Wonderful news, C - absolutely marvelous!

[Shelli]

12.

"Final, final thing I'll say about poor James: I think we all need to keep him in our prayers (if praying is a thing you do). He's hitting an awful emotional bottom now, and life sucks for him. I hope he can stay sober through it, so let's all pray that he gets the help and support he needs to get through this."

I am glad someone said this. He looked pretty upset in the interview with Oprah and I kept thinking that I hoped he didn't fall off the wagon over this. Even if he is a liar, you would sure hate to see someone let his life fall apart after all that.

I have already expressed my sympathies to Sarah, but you can give her a hug for me if you like.

I am so glad you are doing well with the pregnancy and I will continue to pray for your health in that area as well.

[Catherine]

13.

Fucking right!! WOO HOOO!!!!!!!!!!!

See you tomorrow night?

Sorry about SC, I'll never forget that rat trundling across the floor like a beagle... ;)

[Spacemom]

14.

Sounds like a great day for you! Good to hear you in such good spirits!

[Julie]

15.

I love diners. There is just nothing like good diner food (grilled ham and swiss w/french fries and ranch dressing for dipping). You'll have to email me and let me know which one you are talking about :)

Sounds like a great day all around!

[Sarah]

16.

What a great post to read! It made me grin like an idiot. ;-)

I'll try praying for Frey...though I'm having a hard time believing he's even an addict.
Hehehehe.

[Jane]

17.

Giddy is good. Happy is wonderful. Empathic docs are priceless. Enjoy!

[RainbowW]

18.

we have a breakfast place here called the paris coffee shop (google paris coffee shop, i'm feeling lucky, and you're there). it's been in business since like the 1930s, at the same spot, in a little rented building.

a couple of years ago, walgreens tried to buy the building, raze it, and put a drug behemoth there. the community outcry was amazing: somebody led a drive to raise money to buy the building for the owner, who couldn't afford it otherwise cuz it's now a pretty nice part of town and values are rising.

they managed to buy the building, fend off walgreens, and save an icon.

maybe.

just maybe.

[Val]

19.

Good Times! I'm glad you had a absolutely awesome appointments. Maybe you can actually enjoy your pregnacy at the moment, the next moment and . . . :-)

PS Being a diabetic I should have warned you about the OJ. Too processed and too easy to drink too much!

[Lindy]

20.

All fantastic news! Well, except for the OJ thing. That kinda sucks.

And I hadn't thought to look for Firefly On Demand. I've been trying to figure out when the SciFi channel shows it without much success.

And here I just returned from renting a couple of "State of the Union Night" movies.

I seriously can't watch the man on T.V. unless Jon Stewart is there to make faces and get me through it.

[Sheri]

21.

Effin' A Skiipy - I love this post! My God - you sound so happy!

I'm so glad you had a fantastic day with great doctors all around.

[Sheri]

22.

Oops - meant to say that if there is any way that you can get fresh oranges from Florida.... they might just do the trick for a substitute for the OJ. We had some last week from a friend who's Dad sends them up from his yard and OMG - they were better than fresh squeezed juice.

Off my soapbox now.

[Renee]

23.

Hooray for Dr. Mama! It's amazing how great a good (and kind) doctor can make you feel.

I actually am friends with one of the guys in Firefly/Serenity. He will be glad to know that lots of wacky ladies on my new-found blog are fans.

[Peggy Nature]

24.

Wow, you really *are* sunshine now! It's nice!

[Abby]

25.

So happy for you! I knew it would be a good visit. I felt it inside! My husband LOVES Serenity and Firefly. I can't sit through it. He also loves all thing Science Fiction and Space - or is that an oxymoron?

[Kristine]

26.

Haven't been over in a while, so I was just catching up. I see we have some common ground-- I too was very disappointed about the whole James Frey thing. To me, it matters very much if it was real or made up. That's why there are two sections at the library: fiction and non-fiction.
As for your fab doctor's visit...congrats! So glad to hear all is well and you're moving right along!! :)

[Kate]

27.

I'm so glad your pregnancy is doing well! Three cheers for Dr. Mama and the cardiologist! How is your morning sickness doing? Better I hope. I absolutely loved Firefly. So much that Serenity disappointed me, but I won't say more since you haven't seen the whole series yet.

[Cath]

28.

So when ya gonna post of picture of the pregnant mama then??

[Cece]

29.

I'm glad to see you so happy - and to hear that the baby is well! Yippee!

[baseballmom]

30.

Yay! You deserve some great news. I hope the rest of the pregnancy goes just as well! If you are anything like me, we probably won't get to see cute belly shots like Amalah's...I would NEVER even let my husband take any. I preferred that he take them of the end result (the babies) instead. I also told him that I'd break any video device that was present in the delivery room if it was pointed at me. Shy I guess.

[Bluestocking]

31.

Wonderful baby news, sorry about the OJ babe. Dr. Mama does indeed sound wonderful. I love finding you so chipper.

And I love diners. LOVE. www.rudfords.com - where I spent many happy hours involved in deep conversation about the important things - boys, poetry, boys, feminism, boys, politics, and of course boys. They had the best older waitresses, the kind who called you "hon" but brooked no nonsense.

All right, I'll send a little good energy towards Mr. Frey but only because you ask. He has his millions to keep him warm. I know, I'm a bitch.

Hey, I hear Dumbya's speech is going to be "upbeat". After all, there is so much to be upbeat about. An unwinnable two front war, crap economy, how many millions without health insurance and rampannt corruption and cronyism in the House and Senate. Yippee!

[beth]

32.

IMMM SOOOO GLAD THAT EVERYTHING IS GOING GOOD1! big time hugs! and belly rubs :)

[Elise]

33.

YAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! What a fabulous post. Here's to awesome doctors with great bedside manner.

[Michele]

34.

Cec- SO glad you had 2 great appointments today. WOO HOO!!!!!!

[Michele]

35.

Cec- SO glad you had 2 great appointments today. WOO HOO!!!!!!

[maia]

36.

WHOO HOO!!! Bet you were never so happy to be NORMAL, NORMAL, NORMAL! ;) Here's to your NORMAL pregnancy! (Sorry, about the !'s, cannot contain myself).

As for the orange juice addiction, it could be worse. For my pregnancy it was cheeseburgers with fries and gravy, like daily, and only from a certain greasy spoon joint (read: REAL hamburgers). Not good.

Great idea on eating the oranges though, should satisfy the craving and provide some fiber while you are at it.

I am SO happy to read this post and hear things are going so well!!! (sorry ;)!!!

[dee]

37.

Isn't Nathan Fillion just dreamy???

Very glad to hear you and baby are doing well. Keep up the good work!

[Sam]

38.

I don't comment much, but I wanted to take a second and tell you that I was so happy to hear your giddiness in this post. You sound as if you are glowing, and I am incredibly excited for you. Here's to many more normal doctor's visits, and even more happy days! :)

[victoria]

39.

I'm raising my glass of orange juice t a happy healthy normal pregnancy for you.

[Sara]

40.

If you're liking Firefly -- go someplace to rent the DVDs. The whole sad half-season is available, and there are unaired episodes (which, I suppose, might be airing in the reruns, now that I think about it, so perhaps nevermind after all).

Glad to hear everything is going well. NBHHY. It's good to hear that from you right now.

[sandra]

41.

I heart OJ. I used to rate diners based on the size of their OJ glasses, 'cause I always thought everyone was too stingy. Over the past few years, though, I've learned to enjoy it watered down. It's less thick, which I actually like (more like fresh squeezed). Sometimes I add a splash of cranberry juice to the top, just for kicks. You may not like it that way, but then again, you may.

[Jill]

42.

Would sucking on Vit C lozenges help with your need for OJ? Just a thought.

Yay for your great news today. If you're really thinking you may end up on bedrest, you may want to go to the video store and make a list of every movie you want to see. Then you can send someone with your list. Same goes for library books.

[Rebekah]

43.

Sooooo glad that everything went so well. Yay! Doctors who a) have a sense of humor and b) actually CARE about their patients are one of life's greatest blessings, I think. It's hard to explain the positive impact they can have on a person/family.

I totally agree that, no matter what your thoughts on this whole mess is, Mr. Frey definitely needs our prayers. I can't imagine how incredibly strong the desire for a drink must be right now. I hope to God that he is able to stay strong and sober through it all.

Keep on keeping on, girl! You're doing awesome. =)

[mirabel]

44.

I'm so happy your doctors appointments went well. Giddy is good!

[Julia]

45.

Glad to hear everything is going well.

You only just now started watching Firefly?? Then you probably haven't heard of Veronica Mars. Joss Whedon, the creator of Firefly, has said many a time that the best show on tv right now is Veronica Mars. Weds at 9 on UPN. But rent the first season. And leave yourself a whole weekend to watch it, since you won't want to stop watching.

[MFA Mama]

46.

Braaaghhh...hilarious. Truly, without any sarcasm, it really is. Cecily goes giddy...if my head didn't hurt so bad I'd jump up and down on your behalf. I'm glad you ate the greasy garbage. I hope you put ketchup ALL OVER the plate mmmmmmm...

[Calliope]

47.

YAY! What a wonderful, happy, cheerful post!
Love that you had two great doctors - what a treat.
This giddiness becomes you.

48.

Glad everything is going well... so far, so good!

I'm not feeling sorry for Mr. Frey in the slightest. He might be a liar and emotionally battered, but sniffly-wiffly-woo... how much money has he made and will continue to make off this scandal? I'd console myself with those piles and piles of cash in his situation ;-P

[kate]

49.

You sound so great! I'm happy for you. :-)

[Maura]

50.

I love love love to read your giddiness. It's such a joy to share in it.

BTW, not only is Dr. Mama amazing, but that cardiologist sounds priceless. Seriously, I'd consider driving down your way for a visit to a doctor like that. I DREAD doctors who can't see beyond my fat. I've been to far too many who see only my fat, not me.

I recently read that obesity is a "risk factor" for not getting regular doctor's checkups. As if the fat itself stands in the way of making a doctors' appointment. No - DOCTORS of fat people who can't see the PEOPLE in "fat people" are risk factors for fat people not seeing the doctor regularly.

You're amazing, Cecily. :-)

[Heidi]

51.

Awesome post! So glad to hear you had such a great day with the doctors.
I love the "I'm considering anorexia" part, priceless!

[mindy]

52.

What a great post. I'm a week behind you so if you ever want to talk about pg, or overweight & pg just e-mail me.

[Mary]

53.

YAY for all the great doctors visits! WOO HOO!

I heart Firefly too! My DH found out I hadn't seen it and got the CDs from NetFlix right before Serenity came out. Only bummer about starting to watch it now is that there are no more episodes after the last one. sadness.

[Shara]

54.

Great news! Your happiness has made my morning :)

Firefly, how do I love thee?? I'm not a sci fi or fantasy fan, but LOVE, LOVE, LOVE this show and cast and the whole shebang. C'mon, it's a western in space! We got the Firefly DVDs for xmas a year ago and gave it to everyone for xmas this year. I also just picked up Serenity on DVD and watched it and half of Firefly again last weekend.

Do you mind if I post a link?
Fans can check out this plea for the future of Firefly http://www.fireflyseason2.com/index.asp

[liz]

55.

I'm a serial lurker on many blogs mostly because I have a strict rule about not commenting on anything I don't really have experience with. But OJ is my specialty.

I've had a serious OJ problem since I was a baby. In recent years I know it's contributed to my weight gain so I tried everything to cut it out and water it down. The only thing that has worked for me is to mix it with orange flavored seltzer water (make sure it's just orange essence and has no added sugar). It keeps the orange flavor high but cuts out alot of sugar and even tastes a little like Orangina or soda so I feel indullgent when I drink it even though I know it's not so bad for me. And the carbonation makes it hard to chug which prevents me from chugging one glass and then refilling like I used to do with pure OJ.

[spit]

56.

Yippeee for good baby news!

Fast weight gain is a sign of preeclampis?Can you have preeclampsia if you're not pregnant cause when I gain, I always gain it fast. When I first got sober, I'd put on a pair of jeans for work and by 5 they were too small. 30 lb gain in 4 months! Sure wish I could blame it on preeclampsia instead of chocolate

[Amyesq]

57.

Man, you so deserve to have a giddy post. I hope it continues for the next 20 weeks!

[lisamc]

58.

absolutely delighted with ur awesome news :) thinking of you and hoping that everything is equally great the rest of the pregnancy :)

[R]

59.

It truly is wonderful to read this. Yayay!!

[karla]

60.

I'm so glad to hear everything went well. Giddy agrees with you. :)
I will be praying for Sarah and family.

[Ornery]

61.

Loved this post. You're giddiness is so contagious! Thanks for brightening up my day!

[Sandy]

62.

Congrats on your great visit. You've been on my mind a lot ... I just haven't been around to visit much. So I, for one, enjoyed your giddiness today...gave me a lift. Tanks :-)

[Nancy]

63.

woohoo for you!
which diner is it? why no shout out?
at least your dr didnt tell u to stop eating fruit entirely! i ate an orange today anyway, AND had a glass of milk for that matter

glad u had good appts!

xoxo

[Amanda]

64.

I haven't posted in quite a while, but I lurk often. Just wanted to tell you that I am so happy that you and baby are doing so well. And it sounds like you are feeling much better.

[Trish]

65.

Wow, I love this happy, giddy post! Yippee for great doctors :)

[KellyH]

66.

I loooove hearing you so happy!

[Christine]

67.

Oh yeah, I remember the no-OJ. Total bummer.

Otherwise, sounds like a normal fat pregnant chick to me. :)

[Lisa T.]

68.

Firefly is great, if you like it try to new seasons done of Battlestar Gallactica... really awesome! Other great ones....Joan of Arcadia and Wonderfalls...

[Cathy]

69.

Cecily,

One line jumped out, perhaps someone has noticed already, but I'm on a deadline so I can't procrastinate any more than I have in reading your blog--you wrote, "And, my heart is just AWESOME."

I think your bloggy friends and fans have known that for a while, if not in a medical way.

All best to you--I'm feeling really happy for you these days.

[julie]

70.

It's really really good to hear you sounding so happy and, even more, to be being treated properly by your team of docs.

[Carrie Jo]

71.

Your giddiness is contagious! I'm so glad. *hugs*

[CJ]

72.

See... :) You are doing good! I am very happy to hear everything is progressing as it should. Its amazing how different pregancies can be apart from one another. It certainly doesn't change the past but it does set the stage for the future. I hope the good health and optimism continues for you all.
Thinking of you!

[Simone]

73.

Giddy & great!
Love checking in on you Cec.

[Greta]

74.

OMG - I am so excited that you are watching Firefly. It is a GREAT show. And watching it will actually make you like Serenity more, in my opinion, because it will give you all the back story. I have the series on DVD and watch it all the time. And I will forever curse the name of Fox for cancelling it after 14 episodes.

[m]

75.

Glad things are going well.

The urine strips have always been widely available; Type I diabetics must test for ketones.

[liz]

76.

Fabulous post, so glad you're giddy!!!