Tough decisions about pets

After much thought, the hubs and I made the decision to rehome our pets.  I feel quite terrible about it., but I know in my heart it is the best thing for them and for us.  I have remained fairly quiet about our decision, because I have been very critical of people who get rid of pets after they have kids, but this is now the reason for our decision, and, as someone who grew up with cats and dogs around throughout my childhood, I am very sad that my kids will not have that in the immediate future.

The hubs had a cat before we met, which he got for DSD.  A few months after the hubs and I started dating, I got a dog.  Although I grew up with pets and had roommates that had pets, this was my first pet.  I researched for a long time and settled on a particular dog breed - a weimaraner.  Then I spent several months working with a few rescue organizations to find the appropriate dog for me, and the hubs (then boyfriend) traveled with me to a different state to pick up the dog.

Cat is high maintenance.  He was born on a farm, and still has some farm cat in him.  He loves to go outside, demands to go outside, but expects to be let back inside when he desires, even if it is 4 am. He catches rodents, is highly susceptible to UTIs (as most male cats are) and has a penchant for peeing in bathroom sinks for some reason.  He can open lever handle doors, but also can just repeatedly pull and release the lever handle to make the optimum level of annoyance noise in the middle of the night.  He knocks over water glasses and shreds the weather stripping on doors, even though he is declawed.  Although I like cats, I like them less as I get older, and I have had zero attachment to this Cat, and DSD and the hubs are not climbing over each other to clean up after Cat, so the litter box and his hair invade our house.  Ick.

Dog is also high maintenance, which I knew going in.  He is a breed that is highly prone to separation anxiety, and he is no exception.  He is also highly intelligent and intuitive and very attention seeking.  He has also grown protective as he has gotten older, particularly of me, and has lunged at people that he perceives to be a threat to me.  We our twins were born, he became very protective of them as well, and would be very nervous is anyone other than immediate family were holding them, and would often try to position himself between guests and the babies.  I was very happy he was so accepting of our babies.

However, all that changed when they became mobile.  Suddenly, although still protective of them, he hated them.  He didn't want them anywhere near him. He paced and growled and and would try to hide from them.  We worked for some time on helping him be more comfortable with them.  We let them feed him treats and encouraged him to relax and let them pet him.  We did not allow the twins to bother him - they weren't allowed to pet him or touch him or even go in his general direction if he was in any way showing signs of agitation.  We pretty much prevented any contact unless he was getting treats from them.  Nothing worked.  He still was very unsettled and unhappy whenever they were awake, essentially.  We were very worried that sooner or later his agitation would turn into aggression.  It didn't help that SB and BW love him, wanted to play with him, pet him, feed him.  They were just as excited to give him treats as he was to receive them.  Finally, after a lot of hard thinking, we decided that this type of environment was not fair to Dog, and we couldn't take any risk that he would have to resort to aggression out of frustration with the babies.  For a while I hoped that as they got older and he got older, things would improve.  But then I saw pictures of my friends and their toddlers, using their dogs as pillows, or sitting on top of them, and realized that things probably weren't going to improve.  He is just not a dog that is comfortable with small children. 

We were still in limbo a bit, but then the hubs happened to be talking to a co-worker.  Her husband wanted a dog.  She was willing to get a dog if it was a rescue dog of this particular breed.  They weren't planning on having children.  We met them.  They came over to meet Dog, who loved them, and they loved him.  We were honest about Dog's faults and his many great qualities.  They were perfect for Dog.  Dog went to live with them a few weeks ago, and they send us updates.  A part of me still feels like I failed Dog, because I didn't keep him, I didn't keep my promise to give him a forever home.  But another part of me feels like I had to do this so Dog wasn't miserable.  Being in our home and being subject to constant agitation and nervousness was not fair to him, and he loves his new owners. They live close enough that he could visit if we wanted him to.

I feel a bit more guilty about Cat - but I also made the deal with hubs that if Dog goes, Cat goes.  However, I also said that I wasn't going to dump Cat at a humane society or anything like that - we would wait for the right opportunity and home that genuinely wanted a cat, and Cat in particular.  Then, out of the blue, my MIL called.  She wanted Cat.  Her house would be perfect for Cat, as it backs up to woods and he could explore outside to his heart's content.  We could still visit and see Cat and get updates on how he is doing.  Cat is still living at our house, but he will probably soon be moving to MILs house.  Newsflash - I won't miss him.  But he will have a lovely woman who will love his snuggles and won't mind his fluff, which is more fair to him than our house.

No growth problems here!

Although there was a miscommunication following our last growth scan, my OB scheduled me for a follow-up the following week to get the actual measurements.  So far, baby nugget is right on track - her head even caught up a bit and is now right in line with gestational age.  The continue to confirm via ultrasound that I do have circumvallate placenta, and I can recognize the edges of the placenta curling up as well now on the u/s.  My mom went with me to this u/s and lucked out, because the tech was really enjoying doing the u/s and spent probably 10 or 15 minutes just trying to get some good 3D pictures for us, so we got to see baby yawn, and move her hands around and stick her tongue out.

I'm on the cusp of the 3rd tri now (how did that happen?) so I'm glad baby is growing okay.  I am operating under the assumption right now that everything is going to be just fine.  My mom, surprisingly, has stayed off google so far and hasn't researched the placenta issue - she said if she did she would probably just worry, which is probably true.  I haven't really told anyone else, because I don't want to blow it out of proportion or get people worked up when everything may be just fine. 

Baby is very active - although there was a lot of movement during my twin pregnancy with the two babies, they were also getting pretty crowded by this point in my pregnancy, so kicks and jabs had limited momentum.  I swear this baby thinks she is a pinball sometimes, and she gets some good whacks in.  I love it. 

I also continue to have almost zero back and hip pain, just a few twinges here and there.  Considering I am hefting 28-30 lbs  of toddler several times a day, I am very thankful for this.  I am sleeping well, and haven't even had to add pillow props (in fact, I've been trying to avoid, and I think sleeping with a pillow between my knees puts my SI joint out of alignment).  I'm seriously considering sending my chiropractor flowers or a big basket of candy for their office as a thank you.

Placenta update

I'm trying to follow along with the riveting saga that is my circumvallate placenta just so there is another resource out there besides the various chats you may be able to unearth or the scary statistics you may come across.  I had a follow-up ultrasound recently that was intended to (1) check baby's spine, as the tech was not able to adequately visualize the upper spine at the anatomy scan, and (2) check on placenta and growth of the baby.  Unfortunately, there was a miscommunication between my OB's office and the imaging lab, and despite my insistence to the tech that a major reason for the follow-up ultrasound was to check on baby's growth, the tech did not do any measurements or try to verify if she should be doing measurements.  So, we received confirmation that baby's spine is fine, I do have the circumvallate placenta, but no word on whether baby is growing appropriately. Argh.  So, I have another ultrasound next week to check baby's measurements.  I really hope she is growing okay.

I'm a chiro convert

So, when I was pregnant with SB and BW, I had really bad pelvic pain, which I self-diagnosed as sacro-iliac (SI) joint pain and SPD (symphsis pubis dysfunction).  SPD can be quite debilitating and seems to be fairly common in twin pregnancies.  It sounds a bit comical, but it basically hurts to spread your legs at all.  So, getting into a car, turning over in bed, trying to push something aside with your leg - all cause pretty ridiculous pain.  Any activity would pretty much increase my pain drastically the next day.  Turning over in bed was something I would have to talk myself into and required tensing and contracting certain muscles to hold my pelvis in place as much as possible.  I talked to my doctor about my pain, and he prescribed a maternity support belt, which did nothing.  It took a few months after SB and BW were born before I wasn't feeling constant shifting and rubbing in my pelvis.

Fast forward to this pregnancy.  I had some concerns about pelvic pain, but I thought I would probably be in the clear since I was only carrying one baby this time.  I hosted a baby shower for my niece, at around 22 weeks, and by the end of the day I had soreness in my upper pelvic area in back.  I chalked it up to being on my feet for the whole day and didn't think much of it.  Then, a few days later, I tried to lean over to look into a storage bin.  I immediately had shooting pain in my pelvis that made me crumple up on the bed.  I finally got upright and hobbled upstairs.  I tried all sorts of yoga poses and stretches but nothing helped.  Turning over in bed was suddenly impossible without serious pain.  I was having to grab the waistband of my pants and physically pull my pelvis around to avoid aggravating the pain. I googled pelvic/tailbone pain in pregnancy and read that the cure is delivery.  I wanted to cry, as I didn't know if I could face 18 more weeks of the pain.  It hurt to pick up SB and BW. It hurt to get up from a seated position. It hurt to stand.  I started developing severe sciatic pain on top of my pelvic and tailbone pain.

I've been a bit distrustful of chiropractors, and I've read some pretty yucky medical malpractice legal cases resulting from chiropractic care, so I've never been to a chiropractor before.  But I could tell something was not right, so I bit the bullet and went to see a chiropractor who is also an acquaintance of the hubs and I, and who I know had experience with chiro care during pregnancy.  She evaluated me, stated my left SI joint was out of place, and the inflammation was pressing on my sciatic nerve, and then proceeded to pop it back in.  It made a massive popping noise when it went back into place, and I had an immediate feeling of relief, almost an endorphin rush.  My pain got progressively better throughout the day, and was gone, literally gone, by that night.  She advised me to ice and not pick up SB and BW for the next few days and return for a follow up.  I did not ice or avoid picking up the girls, but remained pain free.  She did a small adjustment a few days later and realigned things again, and said I don't need to return unless it goes out of alignment.  It's been a few weeks now, and I am still pain-free.  I am amazed at how completely it alleviated my pain.  I'll probably go back one more time in the third tri (which is fast approaching) and make sure everything is in alignment before delivery.

Takeaway?  Don't rely only on your doctor to point you in the right direction regarding pain in pregnancy, and don't rely on google.  Explore other options. 

Amber teething necklaces

So, with SB and BW having total craptastic sleep lately, a marked increase in drooling that should not be normal for a toddler, SB struggling to pop her bottom canines through for what feels like a year now, and 2-year molars on the horizon, I decided to hop into the game late and buy some baltic amber teething necklaces.  They don't really wear them much because they can't sleep in them, (they apparently have baby cankles so  I can't do the double wrap around the ankle that some moms recommend), and they can't wear them to daycare, so they basically wear them on weekends.  But if it results in a non-meltdown toddler for the weekend, I'll take it.

I didn't know until I started shopping for these necklaces that baltic amber was such a counterfeit product.  I'm fairly confident that the ones I eventually purchased were real, although I still don't feel 100% sure.  Initially you would have thought I put a terrible torture device on them, they love their necklaces now.  Do they help?  I can't tell for sure - the most definitive change I've noticed so far is a decrease in drool.  SB was literally drooling down her shirt sometimes like a 5-month-old baby previously, and the drool has pretty much stopped.  Plus, SB's one canine did finally cut through this weekend, so hopefully we only have to work through one more of those. 

Even if they only have some minimal effect - they are super cute, and SB and BW should be done with them right around the time that I can consider them for the baby that is currently gestating, then I'll probably try to re-sell them for close to what I paid.

Placenta Pizza

Ew, I know, that's the grossest blog title ever.  However, according to my OB, this is the easiest way to describe circumvallate placenta.  A normal placenta is smooth and uniform.  With a circumvallate placenta, the membranes curves up on its edges, like a pizza crust.  Because the hubs loves my OB and loves to joke with him, there were additional comments about lunch and eating pizza and red sauce that I will not include here.

Bottom line - my OB is not concerned about the placenta diagnosis at this time.  I will have ultrasounds every four weeks to check on baby's growth, (the next at about 24 weeks) and we need a follow-up ultrasound anyway because they were not able to properly image baby's spine. On my own, I'm trying not to overdo things and trying to really focus on eating healthy, even more than before, to make sure baby is getting all the nutrients it needs.  Baby is a bit of a night owl, and usually is pretty chill during the day, but has a definite active period around 9-10 pm, then usually throws some kicks in for good measure whenever I wake up during the night (which, with two toddlers teething and sick, is far more often than I would like).

Why hello, pregnancy curve ball.

While I was very happy to find out that our latest child, still cooking, is a singleton, I did lament to the hubs that I would miss getting all the ultrasounds that we did with the twins.  Because of my awesome OB that I switched to after kicking first mediocre OB to the curb, we had a number of monitoring ultrasounds (for a total of nine, I believe) to make sure the girls were growing well and weren't at risk for complications.  So, since we're just having one this time, I expected that we would have just our initial dating ultrasound, and the anatomy scan.

I should just stop complaining.  Seriously.

We recently had our anatomy scan, and a few days later, I received a notification that I had new information posted to my electronic health record.  I went and looked and was surprised that they posted the ultrasound findings, as usually these results aren't posted until after my OB appointment to discuss the findings.  In reviewing the results, the findings included a finding of circumvallate placenta.  I had to google it, as I hadn't heard this one before.

Circumvallate placenta is apparently very rare, occurring in 1-2% of pregnancies. Because it is rare, it's hard to find a lot of information on it online.  Basically, in my totally uneducated understanding, the placenta implants too deeply, takes up too much room, and then curls in on itself to compensate, which results in less surface area for the baby.  There can be a number of complications arising from this.  Bleeding. Placental abruption.  Premature rupture of membranes. Premature birth. Growth restriction for the baby.

However, all this must be taken with a grain of salt, as it apparently can be quite difficult to definitively diagnose circumvallate placenta via ultrasound, and the only way to definitively diagnose is after birth.  Bleeding is quite common, and I haven't had any so far this pregnancy (knock on wood) so I'm hoping it is either a misdiagnosis or I have a less serious case. I'll update again after speaking with my OB - but I wanted to blog about this since it is SO difficult to find info about this condition.