A Sad Story for the Time Away

Wow, I can't believe it's been so long since I last wrote.  This has been a trying year to say the least.

  I found out I was pregnant with baby #2 in late January. We were ecstatic.  I was due October 4 of this year.  I had my first appointment with the coordinator in late February which was nothing more than a discussion and blood work.  All of which was normal.  I had the first ultrasound 2 weeks later.  My husband, baby D, and I all went into that little room.  I couldn't see the screen from where I was but I could see the tech's face and my husband's and knew something wasn't right.  The tech mentioned that I was much earlier than I thought I was (I should have been 9 weeks at the time).  I knew there was no way as I knew exactly when my last period was and knew about when I ovulated.  The baby was showing at 6 weeks and had a weak heartbeat.  Another round of blood work was done.  That came back normal.

Two weeks later I went back for another ultrasound.  Husband and baby D couldn't make it as baby D was sick.  It was then I received the worst news I could ever think of, our new baby had passed.  I was now 11 weeks.  I was going through what they call a missed miscarriage.  Meaning, my body still thought it was carrying healthy pregnancy and had not realized that the baby passed.  Thus I still had all the symptoms, my belly was growing, and my beta counts were good.  Luckily I was also scheduled to see my OB that same day as it would have been the appointment to hear the baby's heartbeat.

I had sometime in between appointments so I called husband and let him know what had happened.  I've never felt so alone.  I really wish he could have been there.  I went back in to see my doctor.  I was nervous, would she have just said sorry about your luck?  Would I have to have a d&c?  Thankfully my doctor was really good with the situation.  We discussed everything and she really took the time to make sure I didn't have any additional questions.  She also didn't push a d&c or the medication to induce the miscarriage.  In fact, she really didn't mention them much at all.  I was sent home to miscarry naturally.

The actual miscarriage took almost 2 more weeks.  Lucky for me, it started on a Thursday night and I was working from home that Friday.  The miscarriage took 4 nights to complete.  Unfortunately Friday night I ended up in the ER thanks to too much bleeding.  However, it was found that my body was compensating well and a blood transfusion was not necessary.  Again I was sent home to finish miscarrying.

As part of the plan with my OB, I had weekly blood draws to watch my beta levels drop back to negative.  That took weeks.  I can honestly say I am no longer afraid of getting blood drawn/needles.

The emotional aspect of my miscarriage was something else.  I've been sad, I've been angry, I've questioned everything I did during the pregnancy that could have caused something to go wrong…  It has been a rough roller coaster.

In all honesty, I never knew what a miscarriage was like.  I never thought about the emotional aspect of it.  I really never knew what it was like going through the physical aspect.  I have a new respect for anyone who has gone through one.

If you know anyone who is going through a miscarriage, give them extra hugs.  Please watch what you say around them.  Hearing that maybe baby is better off as it could have been really sick does not help whatsoever.  Remember that the healing process takes weeks.  The pain of the loss never goes away.  It gets easier to deal with in time, but it never goes away.

The Race of The Sippy/Straw Cup…Who Will Win?

Baby D is at the age now to start working with sippy cups and eventually away from the bottle.  We received one sippy cup at our baby shower and I purchased the rest in the last couple of months.  We gave baby D a cup with some water in it at either lunch or dinner for the last month or two and allowed him to choose which cup he likes best (as if he didn't have a choice!).

The Contenders:

First Up: Take and Toss Sippy Cup

This sippy cup is nice as it is inexpensive and comes with 4 cups, 4 lids, and a handle.  The cups are lightweight and come in a variety of colors.  They do not come with a lid and the handles can be a pain to attach to the cup.  The handle snaps onto the lid.  Here's a view with all the pieces:

Cup #2: Take and Toss Straw Cup

Like the Take and Toss Sippy Cup, the straw cup is inexpensive and come 4 to a package.  The straw cups come with 4 cups, 4 lids, 4 straws, and handles.  The cups are just like the sippy in that they are lightweight and come in different colors.  The handles attach the same way the sippy cup does as that it snaps onto the lid which can be a pain.  The straw is a hard plastic straw.  Here are the pieces:

Cup #3: Dr. Brown's Sippy Cup

This cup we received as a gift so I'm not sure of the retail value.  It comes with a hard plastic lid, sippy lid, sippy insert, handles, and cup.  The sippy is a hard spout and has an insert to make it more leak less I suppose.  It also makes it harder to sip through.  For a beginner, I didn't use the insert which made it a basic sippy cup.  The handles just sit on the rim of the cup and move around easily.  The lid is kind of tough to attach.  The was the first and only time I attached the lid was for the picture.  Here are the pieces:

Last, but not least: Zolibot

The Zoli cup I believe is the priciest of the four cups.  It's also probably the heaviest.  It has a sliding lid, handles, weighted silicone straw, and cup.  The handles are attached to the lid.  The straw is also attached.  The straw is really nice as it is soft and bendable so that baby D can hold the cup wherever and be able to drink.  The weighted portion is nice to get the liquid at the bottom.  The pieces are below:

So which cup won?  The Zoli is a winner for my mommy and baby.  Baby D has only drunk out of the Zoli out of all the cups which is great since it's a straw cup and better for his teeth.  Mommy also loves this cup as there are fewer parts and easy to take care of.