The GODDESS of multi-tasking

Scene 1: Holding Baby M in my left arm, her bottle propped up against my chin, the phone sandwiched between my ear and shoulder, typing on the computer with one hand. I was troubleshooting an issue at work and was talking to the user who reported it over the phone. (Yup - they still call me sometimes when something breaks that only I can fix)

Scene 2: Holding Baby M in my left arm, her bottle propped up against my chin, shampooing S' hair with my right hand. (Why the hurry, you ask? Couldn't it wait? No - because S was being picked up by a friend's mom to go to the movies in the next 15 minutes)

I am SO good at it!!!

:D

Sheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee's here!!

Well, I know that everyone knows that she is here - has been here for over 3 weeks now. But I still can't believe that we finally have a baby that we were so desparate for! I call her my "miracle baby". Not because she was conceived with IVF - it is a fairly common procedure these days. But because I had given up all hope and never imagined in my wildest dreams that I would hold another baby in my arms ever again - unless it was someone else's. After the last IVF cycle, my doctor called me to say he didn't have very high hopes of that cycle succeeding either but not to lose hope. He said if this cycle fails we will meet to discuss further options. Given all this, I didn't have any hopes of getting pregnant with that cycle. When the nurse called me on October 10th with the pregnancy test results, I was expecting her to say "I am sorry, you are not pregnant this time either" like she had 4 times before that. So, when she said "You are pregnant" my response was "You sure???". So you see why this one is my miracle baby?

Baby M was born on Tuesday, June 5th at 1:33 pm. When I heard her first sqawk (I swear that is what she sounded like!) I was overcome with emotions. I first congratulated J, who was right by my side, then I started crying. The anaesthesiologist, who was monitoring me constantly, came and wiped my tears with a tissue. That was the sweetest thing and I forgave him for sticking me with a big scary needle in my spine earlier.

I wish I had the time to write about my birthing experience this time (and the first time too - for that matter) but I really don't. I probably will - have been thinking about it for along time - but not right now. Right now, all I can think of is what I have (and not what I have been through) - two beautiful daughters. The reality that I have two kids now to take care of hasn't sunk in yet.

The little one is an angel - when she is not screaming her head off. Yup! She is a screamer :D All I can say for her screaming abilities is that her lungs are getting stronger each day. When she was born, I immediately noticed that she didn't cry as loud as her big sister did when she was born(Remember? "Sqawk"??). But boy! She has more than tripled her screaming and screeching capacity in these 3 weeks!! Feed her and she sleeps like an angel. If she wants to be fed, dillay-dally at your own risk. It is better to jump to attention and do what Her Highness demands!

Things haven't been easy so far. As it happened the first time, this time around too I am having lactation problems. The day I was discharged from the hospital, Baby M went without pooping for almost 20 hours (3 days, as it later turned out) and without wetting a diaper for over 6 hours. That concerned me and the nurse I called for help said I should start supplementing her with formula after every feed.

So I have to supplement her with formula almost after every feed. And pump milk to increase supply. The pumping is killing me - even a 15 minute session leaves me feeling like someone is sucking blood out of me. My breasts and nipples are so sore and swollen they hurt even if I look at them. Yet, I grit my teeth, curl my toes and shut my eyes tight and put her on the breast every 2 hours even though I feel I couldn't go through it another time. All in the hopes that my milk supply will increase enough so I can stop supplementing her. Oh, how I wish I were one of those women who lactate like a cow! I really, truly wanted to nurse exclusively this time. But, as J pointed out one day when I was especially depressed due to this - having Baby M is the most important thing. We never imagined we would have another baby. Lack of lactation just doesn't figure as high on our priority list in the scheme of things. More so because S was on formula from almost the beginning and she turned out fine. In fact, she didn't fall sick as much as other kids I saw around us. I am not disputing breast milk's effect on building up a baby's immunity. It was probably my obsessive compulsion in cleaning and boiling the milk bottles that kept the infections at bay. And anyway, this time at least I am nursing. I didn't get to do that with S at all.

Apart from this, we are managing well. There is so much to write about how we coped those first couple of weeks, how certain friends drove me crazy with their non-stop advice, how the Big sister was excited when the baby got here, how I was scared sh**less (:D I somehow love that experssion) before the C-section and a lot of other things. Maybe later. I have this huge jumble of thoughts in my mind right now that doesn't make any sense through that sleep-deprived haze that I am in.

I am breaking my self-imposed ban on posting any personal pictures of myself or my family and leaving you with a picture of Baby M. I also have one of the two sisters together - will post it as soon as I can get it out of my camera onto my laptop.

Ciao!!

This is how its goin' folks

Thank you very much for your concerned comments to my last post. I will reply to each and every one of them - I promise. But first, here is the latest update on The Peanut's arrival plans.

I know I have already posted some of the following details, but just to give out complete details, I am adding them again. Please bear with me. It was well established in the last post that I CANNOT be brief.

Last month has been pretty hectic - at work as well as at home. Suffice it to say that we were very busy. And the blood sugar that I had been managing so well started getting out of hand every once in a while. So I swallowed my pride (yes, I have loads of it!) and went to my endocrinologist to ask him to put me on insulin. He had been DYING to do that - the only reason he didn't was that I had previously stood up to him and told him I WAS NOT GOING TO TAKE ANY INSULIN AS LONG AS I FELT I WAS CONTROLLING MY BLOOD SUGAR LEVELS WELL and he can go take a long walk if he wants. So as soon as he got the chance, he started me on the lowest dose of insulin (4 units). Now I already told you I have tons of pride, didn't I? I wasn't going down that easy. So what I have been doing is still controlling my diet and take insulin ONLY IF my meal is going to have more carbs than the allowed 45 grams. And I am very happy to inform you that I have been able to control my blood sugar levels well with diet control and exercise (walking and riding my stationary bike) even on the days that I skipped the insulin shot. (Pssssssssst - Don't tell Dr. Siegel, OK?)

As I mentioned in the last post, all seemed to be going well despite the blood sugar monitoring, which I believe I was managing quite well. I was just praying that The Peanut would mind his/her momma's wishes and stay inside at least until June 6th. I desparately needed TWO weekdays off of work (June 1st was my last day at work). Well, what do you know? The Peanut didn't mind but momma dearest had to put in 24 hours of work on Tuesday, May 29th which sent her blood pressure high (150/105 ***GASP***) and worried her OB/GYN that she might be getting preeclampsia. So tests were done and it was decided that if the test results came back positive for preeclampsia, we will bring The Peanut into this world by Friday night (June 1st) or Saturday morning (June 2nd). Thankfully, test results were negative for preeclampsia (Hallelujiah!!) and the blood pressure went down as soon as the crisis at work was resolved and momma got some rest. So now the situation is this -

• Blood pressure under control - so no medications for that.
• No preeclampsia - so no worries.
• Blood sugar under control - pride intact.
• Office work - almost done. (Well yes, I am still winding up a few things - remotely)
• Hospital bag - packed.
• Baby clothes - washed and folded.
• Older sibling - excited.
• Dad - nervous.
• Mom - kicking back and relaxing, spending LOTS of time online.
• House - messy. But who cares?!
• Friends - recruited for help and waiting with bated breaths.
• C-Section - Scheduled for Thursday, June 7th but will be performed on Tuesday June 5th if possible.

So there! You have all the facts now.

Short update on what's going on

I am going to have trouble keeping this update short as A LOT has been going on. But I think I need to hit the sack if I want my blood pressure to behave tomorrow so I WILL have to keep it short.

Been busy at work - first interviewing, then training an intern to take over part of my responsibilities. Then there were three emergencies in the last 10 days or so. The last emergency that occurred on Tuesday (May 29th) had me working from 8 in the morning to 8 at night and then straight THROUGH the night. That resulted in a high blood pressure and the current health crisis. Now my doctor is testing me for pre-eclampsia and has said that he will deliver me immediately if the test results for pre-eclampsia are positive. That is not so terrible given the fact that I am past 37 weeks now and hence "full-term" AND that we are all eager to see the baby now. I was/am scheduled for a C-section on June 12th anyway. BUT - I need more time to get things ready for the baby!! I am keeping my fingers and toes (and eyes) crossed that the baby will give me at least until next wednesday or thursday so I can get everything ready AND enjoy a few days AWAY from work. Things do look good even if I say so myself (without any medical experience :P). My blood work for presence of liver enzymes, which would have indicated pre-eclampsia, came back negative and I don't have any other symptoms to indicate this condition. The 24 hour urine test will give a definite answer and I should get that answer by tomorrow morning, 11 am.

I have also been struggling to keep my blood sugar under check. I had to go in for the 3 hour glucose tolerance test and though the test came back negative for gestational diabetes, one number was high enough to concern my doctor who suggested I keep an eye on my blood glucose levels just to make sure I didn't develop GD later during the pregnancy. And sure enough, I have developed a border-line case! I was initially able to manage it well with diet control and exercise. Then it started getting a little difficult (which I was expecting) so now I am taking a minimum dose of insulin (4 units) before dinner. Just started about 5 days back. Some days, when I am sure that my dinner is going to be well within the acceptable range for carb content, I skip the insulin and am proud to say that it has been GOOD!! I am eating more greens than a rabbit ever could and that, combined with walks/riding my stationary bike after meals is helping in keeping the blood sugar under control too. I even got away with eating RICE!! and TOOR DAL!!!!!!! tonight - I just made sure I loaded up with salad and then did some mild exercise later on.

So all seems to be good so far. I plan on taking my laptop with me to the hospital and will hopefully be able to put up a little post when the baby comes. I can't wait!! But I am not ready yet... Does it even make sense???

Told you I couldn't keep it brief!!