Strangers Who Care

My week started out on Sunday (duh) when I went to get my handicap permit from Dan's car. It was on the passenger side so that's the door I went to. His car was parked on the street so I had to walk on the grass between the sidewalk and the curb. Not a big deal, I do it all the time. I opened the door and got the permit. After closing the door and setting the alarm, I proceeded to step with my right leg and OUCH! My foot sank into a dip in the grass and my ankle twisted. I almost fell. It hurt, my ankle because I twisted it and my belly because I tensed up. I was OK within a few minutes, but it scared me. What if I had fallen? No one was around and I had put my purse in my car along with my cell phone before I went to Dan's car.

Getting it off my mind, I made my way to my parent's house and my Dad took a drive with me to Kohl's. I had a 30% off everything coupon that expires tomorrow (Friday) if I use my Kohl's charge. I can't resist the sale, especially because the 2 long sleeve maternity shirts I have will not be enough to get me through the fall and winter. I bought 2 long sleeve t-shirts, 1 3/4 sleeve shirt (that my Dad picked out), 2 cardigans, and a poncho. I saved $150 and got $20 Kohl's cash. Good shopping trip!

Because I had gotten the $20 Kohl's cash and still had the 30% off coupon, I decided to go back to Kohl's Monday. Before I went, I picked my Dad up and we went over to the VFW to leave a deposit to rent out a room for a welcome to the world party (in lieu of a christening) Dan and I will be throwing Lily in June. Yeah…I like to plan ahead. Anyway, after I dropped my Dad back home and sat outside to talk for a bit, I left to continue my shopping. I got 3 things for the price of just one, saving about $58. Love it! When I got to the line there were 2 people ahead of me. I was getting tired of standing and started to feel hot. One of the two people were called to a register. I moved up in line and an older couple came in line behind me. I continued to feel really uncomfortable and hot. I put my items over the pole they had for the line, took my sweater off, and I bent over resting my hands on my knees. I was not only hot now, but dizzy. I started to black out. As the woman in front of me got called up to a register, the couple behind me noticed there was something wrong. The husband asked if I was OK. I couldn't stand up straight and I just said that I was really hot. The gentleman held onto me saying that I needed to sit down. He noticed a wheelchair by the entrance/exit and told his wife to get it for me. She wheeled it over, took my sweater and purse out of my hands, and they both helped me into the wheelchair.

It was my turn to be rung up. The lady behind the register saw everything that was going on and did nothing. The nice couple got my items and rolled me over to the register saying that they will even roll me out to my car. All I kept saying was "sorry" and "thank you." Sitting down definitely helped. I cooled down a bit and when I got up to sign the credit card pad I knew I would be able to walk out to my car.  The gentleman was hesitant to let me walk out by myself, but I assured him I was OK to do so and I thanked him again for his kindness.

How nice it is to know that there are people out there in this world that will help out a stranger in need. I wish I got their names and address, I would have liked to send them flowers and a thank you note.


So, I tell Dan all this and he's nervous to begin with, always worrying about me. I tend to be clumsy at times. So I vowed never to walk on the grass again during these last three months of pregnancy and to always take off layers of clothing when I'm in a store. I hope these things don't happen again because both times I was alone, except for the kind strangers at Kohl's who came to my rescue, but there won't always be a kind stranger to help. I gotta take better care of myself because I'm sharing my body with Lily and I never want anything bad to ever happen to her.

OK, speaking of the kindness of strangers, I saw this video this morning and it made me cry. Probably the pregnancy hormones, but really… if this doesn't get you going, then there may be something wrong with you.

This video shows us the importance to step in if something just doesn't seem right. Like my kind strangers stepped in when they saw I needed help, let's hope and pray that some kind stranger will help out a child. I was so glad to see the two guys run in to help and the other man in the car that was getting out to help. Our children are so vulnerable and people may have just thought that this little "brat" was saying "you're not my daddy" because he might have been her step father or something. "STRANGER!!!" should also be yelled out. Luckily this was just a news report, but it can and does happen and it's up to the community of strangers to know when to step in. Hey, better safe than sorry, right?

BTW: I am now 26 weeks along and this is my last week of my second trimester!! WOOOHOOO!!!!

Please help our friends John & Natalie!

Cord Blood Banking

From the moment we found out we were pregnant (the first time) Dan and I knew we were going to bank our baby's cord blood. Now that I'm 25 weeks along, we have come to a decision about who we will bank with and what options we want. We did not realize the choices and technological advances that we have now.


Dan's brother Greg and sister-in-law Bonnie sent us an email a while ago in regards to the cord bank they used for both of their boys. It's amazing how much less expensive it was to bank cord blood 9 years ago. They use a place called Cryo Cell and bank only the cord blood for 18 years. The options are much better these days.

How cute…seriously?

We wanted to know all of our options, so I did some research on Cryo Cell and two other banking places. These were my finding:

Cryo Cell:

• Four banking options - (1) Cord Blood (2) Cord Blood and Cord Tissue (3) Cord Blood and C'elle (menstral blood - I'll explain further in a bit) (4) Cord Blood, Cord Tissue, and Celle
• Bank for 21 years
• Cryo Cell is in Florida
• Been around the longest of all cord blood banking companies (1992)
• Has the best price out of the three banking companies if doing more than just banking the cord blood
• Has a 12 month payment plan for the first year - interest free (the first year is more expensive due to  shipping, testing, and storage)

The cord blood right now is the only thing that can actually be used to treat diseases. Cord tissue and Celle are still in the testing phases.

CBR - Cord Blood Registry:

• Two banking options - (1) Cord Blood (2) Cord Blood and Cord Tissue
• Bank for 18 years
• CBR is in California
• Been around since 1999
• Has a special collection bag

Nothing too special about this one except for the collection bag. Plus only 18 years of banking? I'd rather be able to store the blood and tissue longer.

Viacord:

• Two banking options - (1) Cord Blood (2) Cord Blood and Cord Tissue
• Bank for 20 years or 25 years
• Viacord is in Ohio
• Been around since 1993
• Is the most expensive out of the three banking companies if doing more than just banking the cord blood

The only thing I really liked about this one is the fact that we can bank the cord blood and cord tissue for up to 25 years. It's the longest out of the three banking companies.

We chose to go with Cryo Cell. We liked the idea of banking not only the cord blood and cord tissue, but also my menstrual blood. Sounds really gross, I know. Here are the facts:


Cord Blood:

• non-Hodgkin's lymphoma
• leukemia
• sickle cell disease
• severe anemia's
• severe combined immunodeficiency
• Experimentation for expanded uses of stem cells holds great promise. Current research is being conducted on the use of stem cells for the treatment of cardiac and neurological diseases, to name a few

Cord Tissue:

• Stem cells from cord tissue have demonstrated the power to heal spinal cord, brain, and cartilage injuries in laboratory studies. 

C'elle:

• Exciting new research shows that menstrual fluid contains self-renewing stem cells. Stem cells from menstrual blood may potentially be utilized in the future to treat a host of life-threatening and debilitating medical conditions such as diabetes, stroke and heart disease, as well as neurological disorders such as Parkinson's disease and Alzheimer's, osteoporosis and spinal cord injury, just to name a few.
• Any woman, any age  (who has a menstrual cycle) can utilize C'elle. 

OK, now you know all the reasons we chose to do the three options through Cryo Cell. With all that "insurance" for about $29 per month, why wouldn't we take every opportunity to utilize what may one day save our child's life and possibly our own? 

Now to the strange and some-what funny part of the whole screening test. Well, I don't know if they were screening me, but the questions that I had to answer were a bit odd.


Here are just a few of those wacky questions:

• Have you in the past 5 years received compensation for sex? 

Umm?? No? lol. What the hell type of question is that? Yes. I am a prostitute and I charged money to have sex to get pregnant (insert sarcasm, for those who don't get it). Idiots. If I charged money to have sex, I probably wouldn't care about storing my baby's cord blood, nor have the money to pay for it after using it for all those drugs I do.

• Have you in the past 12 months had intimate contact with a male who has ever had sexual contact with another male?

Oh God I hope not! I have nothing against same sex, sex, but I really don't want to be married to a guy who has had it. I should be the only one in the relationship who has ever slept with a guy! And luckily for me, I am.

• In the past 3 years have you been outside the United States or Canada?

Not sure what this has to do with collecting our baby's cord blood, but it was the only question out of about 20 that I answered "yes" to. In 2009 Dan and I went to Ireland and Wales for our honeymoon.


So that's it. We ordered our kit. Now we just have to wait about three and a half months until Lily arrives and hope we never have to use it.

Pregnant with Primary Lymphedema

Had my 6 month checkup with my lymphedema doctor on Tuesday and it went better than I had anticipated. First of all, for those who are unaware of what lymphedema is, I'll explain in my own words. 

There are two types of lymphedema: Primary and Secondary. Secondary is when something injures your lymphatic system. It can happen if you have lymph nodes removed due to cancer for instance. Without the correct amount of lymph nodes, the fluid that used to be easily moved throughout your body now builds up in the area/limb where the lymph nodes were removed. I have Primary lymphedema. I was born with a screwed up lymphatic system (missing and impaired lymph vessels) and the onset of my fluid buildup was when I reached puberty. No one knows the cause of why the lymphatic system is screwed up with primary lymphedema, it just is. I have it in my lower extremities: both legs from my hips to my toes. Fluid runs down your body with toxins and is supposed to be "flushed" clean before traveling back up. This is where those lymph nodes come in handy. Because of my lymphedema, I don't have enough lymph nodes to get all the fluid back up, so it just stays in my legs and I get swelling. Sometimes I even get an achy pain in my legs due to the toxins that are in that fluid. 

There are different stages of lymphedema. 

Stage I lymphedema is an early accumulation of fluid that is relatively high in protein content. There is visible swelling with protein-rich lymph. This swelling can be temporarily reduced by elevation of the limb; however, the swelling soon returns when the limb is returned to a normal position. The swollen tissues are soft and pitting edema is present.

Stage II lymphedema is an increase in the swelling and a change in the tissues. Elevation of the limb will not reduce the swelling. The tissues become increasingly firm due to fibrosis. Fibrosis is the formation of fine scar-like structures within the tissues that cause them to harden. Pressure against the limb produces only a slight indentation or no indentation at all. The tissue changes at this stage increase the risks of even greater swelling, fibrosis, infections, and skin problems. Stage II lymphedema can usually be improved with intense treatment.

Stage III lymphedema, which is also known as lymphostatic elephantiasis, is a condition in which the tissue becomes extremely swollen and thickened due to a blockage in the flow of lymph and a buildup of fluid in tissues. The tissues become increasingly fibrotic (hardened). Pressure does not produce any pitting. Normal elasticity is lost and the skin hangs in folds. The skin may change color. Papillomas, which are small solid benign tumors that project above the surrounding tissue, may develop. Hyperkeratosis, which is an increase in the thickness of the outer layer of the skin, can develop. These changes in the texture of the skin are disfiguring and can limit mobility. Infections become more common because of increased risks of breaks in the skin. These infections include fungal infections and open wounds that form within the folds of skin.

 I have Stage I lymphedema. Even though it took doctors about 16 years to diagnose me, my swelling has stayed pretty consistent and I have not progressed to stage II - thank God! 

People with lymphedema are more susceptible to infections such as cellulitis. This can be a serious infection that can cause hospitalization. Anything can cause a cellulitis infection, such as a bug bite, a nick from a razor, a scrape or cut, even an ingrown hair, or an ingrown nail. Taking care of your skin is so important. Most of the time people with lymphedema are covered up with compression  garments. These are those very tight stockings, thigh highs, or knee highs, that you have to get on with donning gloves (rubber gloves). 

OK, back to my story. 

So, I went to my lymphedema appointment I made when I was still working. I made the appointment so I would go before work. My appointment was for 8:15 am. I never thought to change the appointment to a later time once I went out of work on disability, and when I did finally remember, it was too late to change it. Oh well. It was hard to get going that early, but I managed it. I know 8:15 is not that early, but when you're pregnant and were up at 3 am, for God knows what reason, and you couldn't get back to sleep, an 8:15 am appointment is torture! I was 15 minutes late. Not too bad.

Right away I was greeted with "Oh my God!" and "Congratulations!" from all the ladies in the office. I get weighed, normally at the end of my appointment, but they were quick to get me on the scale that day. UGH! Now, I weigh myself every morning. My scale is accurate with a weight of not wearing clothes, and having just woke up with no food in my stomach. I don't mind that weight too much. But get me on the scale at my appointment with my boots and clothes, and some food in my stomach, and I'm quick to defend the weight I was earlier in the morning. But, of course, they stick with what they see on their scale. It's a conspiracy! 

Once I got into a room to be measured (they measure different points in both legs to make sure swelling isn't getting worse) I get asked by my lymphedema therapist if I'm wearing my garments. I can't lie about this one so I say no. I told her that almost the entire first trimester I wasn't wearing them because I was so sick, but I was hardly ever on  my feet because I wasn't working and I was on the couch most of the time. I did try a couple of times during this second trimester to wear them, but they were so hard to get on and I felt way too constricted. I asked if I could get knee highs instead of the thigh highs I typically wear. Better to wear something than nothing. She agreed and ordered me a couple of pairs. Now I just have to make sure I'm not lazy about wearing the knee highs once I get them. Luckily my legs have not gotten much more swollen than 6 months ago. Just a slight increase and that is most likely due to the weight I've gained with this pregnancy. So now I don't feel too bad about not wearing my garments!

Because primary lymphedema is hereditary (although I don't know who has had it in my family) I've done some research about those women out there who have lymphedema and are or were pregnant. Not much to be found, just little things that don't really give too much information. There is this one article on the website LymphNotes that explains a little bit of what needs to be done when you are pregnant and have lymphedema. For the most part, I should be wearing my compression garments everyday, keeping my weight under control throughout the pregnancy, and doing manual lymph drainage everyday. Duh. Things I already knew.

Now, since lymphedema is a hereditary disease, will I pass this on to Lily? I have done some research on this as well. What I've found was that I have a 50% chance of passing this gene on to our child. Hopefully lymphedema stops with me, but anything is possible. I've read a lot of stories of women with primary lymphedema who have children and none of them have developed it. So there is hope for our little one.

You can read more about living with lymphedema on my other blog: Lymph Girl

Finding a Pediatrician

One important thing we need to do before Lily Emma is born is find a pediatrician. I decided to make an appointment with the pediatrician my siblings and I went to. I saw Dr. Cheruvanky for the first time at the age of twelve when I no longer wanted to go to the pediatrician I had since birth. He was a man and I no longer felt comfortable having a man examine me. From what I remember, Dr. Cheruvanky was extremely nice and knowledgeable. Since we liked her so much, my mother recommended her to my aunt to use for a pediatrician as well. I figured she should be our first choice for a doctor for Lily.

Our meet and greet was this past Monday. I thought it would be a good opportunity to discuss what we would have to do once Lily arrives and a good opportunity for Dan to meet the pediatrician to make sure he will be comfortable using her. Before the appointment my mother was adamant that Dr. Cheruvanky would remember who I am. I didn't really think so, especially since I don't have the same last name and it's been, like, sixteen years or so since I've seen her. When Dan and I walked into her office, she introduced herself and said it was nice meeting us. I asked, "You don't remember me, do you?" She looked at me more intently and said that I looked a little familiar but she couldn't place me. She asked if I used to be a patient of hers and I said yes. I told her my maiden name and right away she got so excited and said she does remember me. She asked how my mother was, and how my sisters were. I think my brother didn't really see her, but she did remember that there are four of us. She also has such a great memory that she remembered my two cousins that went to her, Anne and Thomas, and asked how they were. Dr. Cheruvanky is exactly how I remember her. A very nice and caring woman.

She asked who our obstetrician was and we told her we have a midwife and are doing a water birth at Nassau University Medical Center. She said that she "lived" there for four years and knows the pediatricians very well and that we will be in good hands. Dan told her that when we were thinking of a pediatrician for Lily, two doctors came to mind, her and Dan's old pediatrician. Since Dan's pediatrician is no longer alive, we decided to see her. Dr. Cheruvanky then asked Dan where he is from and who his pediatrician was. Once Dan said the doctor's name, she told us that she trained under him. Wow! Small world. This makes us even more pleased and excited to know that Lily will be in great hands when it comes to her medical needs.

Dan and I had a few questions for Dr. Cheruvanky.

1. Will she come to the hospital to initially see Lily or does she wait till our first appointment with her? Even though she does have privileges at NUMC because of her four years there, she will wait to see Lily at her first appointment, unless there is an emergency.
2. When will Lily's first appointment with her be? Two days after she is dismissed from the hospital.
3. There is an option for Lily to get a Hepatitis B shot at the hospital. Does she recommend it? No. It is best to wait until Lily gains a little more weight and is stronger before any immunization is given.
4. We don't want Lily to be injected with immunization shots all at once, or even two or three at a time. She agrees. She will spread out the shots by weeks or months.

OK, so she is on par with our thoughts and concerns. Love her! Dan does too.