Baby Merz’s First Home Page
Baby at 19 weeks
The real reason I finally
felt the impetus to create a Merz Family website: Our soon to be baby. In fact, I feel some kicks right now, as I
type this page!
Our first baby is due
October 10, 2006 (or thereabouts). We’ve
done chromosomal testing and all signs point to a healthy baby. We opted to keep the baby’s gender a surprise
to us, and therefore to you as well.
And yes, we’ve created a
baby registry filled with things we think we’ll need for the baby (and
mom!). Click here for the registry
The
latest and greatest:
3 October
‘06
Week 39: Still waiting!
Had an exam
with Dr. Maioriello this morning -- 1 more week to due date!
Unfortunately, even though I'm feeling increased pelvic pressure, things don't
seem to be progressing. Dr. Maioriello is concerned that the baby's head
is still not engaged ( i.e. locked in to place in my pelvis). As the
"dropped," about a month ago, he'd expect the baby's head to be
engaged by now. When he did a pelvic exam, he could not feel the head,
and when he checked externally, he could still fit his fingers between the top
of the baby's head and the top of my pelvic bones. So his concern is that
the baby's head could be too large for the internal opening to my pelvis.
At the same time, he's said all along that he doesn't want me going beyond 40
weeks. Initially that meant that he'd start inducing labor if I was at 40
weeks and hadn't spontaneously gone in to labor. However, with the baby's
head still not engaging, the worry is that I could easily be in the hospital,
going through induction for a couple of days and still not be able to deliver
(and the baby continues growing while we're waiting). So yes, he's
thinking that a c-section is entirely possible next week. We'll see how
things change between now and our next scheduled appointment at 8:15 next Tuesday
morning.
Meanwhile, I'm healthy and baby's heart rate is good. This morning’s NST/AFI
tests showed baby’s still healthy. Just
stubborn!
26
September ‘06
Week 38:
Waiting
2 more weeks until the due date and everything seems to be fine. This morning’s weekly exam with Dr.
Maioriello showed that the fundus is 39cm, and he’s still not calling for a
caesarean section birth. That is, he’s still not worried that the baby’s too
big to be delivered naturally. His first
question today (after asking how I’m feeling) was, “So have you had any signs
of labor?”
I replied, “I’m not sure. I’m
having Braxton Hick’s
contractions, usually more in the later afternoons, but nothing painful. Some occasional, mild lower back
cramping. Some pelvic pressure when I
get up and walk around. It’s getting a
lot less comfortable to go for walks.”
He did an internal exam to see how “ripe” I am and found that the
cervix is about 50% effaced
and not dilated. Baby’s head is still down, but there’s still
a little distance between the top of his head and my pelvis, so he’s not yet
quite locked in. So likely we won’t be
having a baby today. Though he did say,
“Hey, you can start having contractions and go in to labor without any
dilation. So don’t count it out as
impossible today.” But it’s unlikely.
Meanwhile, I mentioned that I’ve noticed the baby’s not moving quite
as much the past few days as he was previously, and that his movements haven’t
been as vigorous. Dr. Maioriello said
not to worry, that it’s actually pretty normal, that it’s getting pretty
cramped in there and that the baby’s heart rate is showing that the baby’s
fine. Okee.
Later this morning is the first of this week’s NST/AFI testing, then we’re going to Heller’s
to have them install the car seat for us.
At some point we’re going to hit up Babies
R Us to use a gift card we received (thank you Tom, Lucy, Ian and Elena!)
to complete some of the newborn necessities.
By then, I’m sure it’ll be time for my requisite afternoon nap.
20
September ‘06
He's officially "fully cooked"
That
is, I'm now in week 37 and the baby is now considered, "full term."
He could be born anytime now and thrive. Come on baby!
Had
two good doctor's appointments yesterday morning. Dr. Maioriello (the
And, by the way, HAPPY BIRTHDAY
Now it's time to go finish emptying out the baby's dresser (formerly my
Granny's), wash all those baby clothes, put 'em away and start writing thank
you cards. Nest, nest, nest...
Ahhhh… and a big sigh of relief that we signed on our doula today. Her name is Susan Hollander and I got the
best vibe from her when she taught our childbirth class a couple months
ago. I felt so comfortable with, and
good about her, as soon as she said she does doula work, I knew she’s who I
wanted. We spoke this morning and she
said she’d, “be honored.” We’re so happy
about this. Phew! And for those that like credentials (don’t we
all?) she’s a Nurse
Practitioner (specializing in obstetrics and gynecology) as well as a Certified Nurse Midwife,
and works in Dr. David Galland’s office (a highly respected OB/GYN in Marin
County – formerly my OB/GYN, in fact).
18
September ‘06
Plushy Patrol is Ready and Waiting
Wow, this baby is loved!
Yesterday we celebrated the impending birth of Baby Merz with a
baby shower. Mom, Mick and Bonnie threw a
fabulous party with fabulous decorations, food and a terrific ambience (big
shout out!). And so many people that we
love showed up to help us get ready to bring our little one in to the world. Thank you all! We were overwhelmed
with the gifts… so many cute outfits, practical items, hand-made blankets,
stuffed animals… a stroller and a car seat.
Baby will need it all and we really
appreciate it. We’ll thank everyone
individually, but for now, I’m a little wiped out from all of yesterday’s
expended energy, so a big group ‘THANK YOU’ for the moment.
12
September ‘06
Week 36 and maternity leave are both here. Wow, it’s all really happening!
Today was the first official day of maternity leave, though it was
kind of the “overlap day,” where I kept an eye out for urgent email (none –
excellent) and answered the phone if it rang (only once, for last words of
advice with Debra). Now that the work
day is done, my office phone now goes directly to voicemail and emails to my
work address get an “Out of the Office” automated reply.
The day started with this weeks obstetric visit. Dr. Maioriello took a culture to check for
Beta Strep (routine check) – cross your fingers! Also, upon external palpation, he said it
feels like the baby’s “dropped.” That is, the baby’s head has dropped deeper
in to the pelvis and is engaged, getting ready to go. Yay! I
read up on this in What
to Expect When You’re Expecting and it doesn’t really predict when
labor will begin. It could begin
tomorrow. It could begin in six
weeks. But it’s good to know that he’s
stayed head-down and he’s getting “locked in.”
Then it was off to Marin General
Hospital for the first of this week’s non-stress
testing (NST) and Amniotic
Fluid Index (AFI) testing. Baby was
awake and cooperative today, making the NST go quickly (and he was “perfect,”
according to the nurse) and the AFI showed about 16 centimeters of fluid, which
is great. The sonogram did, indeed,
confirm that the baby has dropped. His
head is way down in my pelvis
now. Plus I got to see his sweet little
head, a hand, a foot and… hey! proof of his gender…
Baby boy Merz is definitely on the way!
Oh, and meanwhile… We bought some Dreft detergent and washed the
bedding for the crib. The crib is now put together and waiting:
We got a changing table on Sunday.
Mark gets to assemble it now. Let
the nesting begin!
5 September ‘06
Week 35, here
we are! Today was a day all about doctor
visits.
Then Mark and I went to interview Dr. Martin Joffe, a
pediatrician. I knew that his name was
familiar to me and that people really like him a lot. So, as he has an office in
THEN, a quick bite for lunch as I drove to
Today Dr. Maioriello gave me the note that said my last day of
work should be September 11, with a due date of October 10. Tomorrow I meet with Sybase’s HR department
to get the paperwork going for the maternity leave. Holy moses… I’ve got 4 working days left!
Yesterday, while I was at Polly & Garrie’s for a family dinner
(fun!), Mark said he was going to work.
But you know what he was really doing?
Oh, that sweet man… he was buying a great crib, bringing it home and
setting it up. 
Excellent!
It’s used, but beautiful. Hard
wood, cherry stain, in great shape and a lovely style. Phew!
Now to find a changing table to coordinate…
30 August ‘06
Hey there!
Yesterday marked the beginning of week 34 and also my
birthday! Mark took the day off to spend with me, doing whatever I
wanted. Ah, how nice. I had work to do, of course, but I worked
extra hard on Monday so I'd not have a lot of responsibilities.
We started with a fetal stress test at Marin General
Hospital. We both got to hang out and hear the baby's heartbeat for
20 or 30 minutes and then watch the sonogram while the nurse measured the
amniotic fluid levels in baby's home. The nurse said that his heart-rate
and range were great, that there was plenty of amniotic fluid (good!) and from
what she could see, baby looked healthy. Meanwhile, we got to see the
little guy's face, fingers, spine, ribs, etc. Nice and reassuring.
The nurse said that the equipment she uses is not adequate for gauging the
baby's size, so I still have no idea how big he is. She said we'd have to
do ultrasound to get that kind of measurement. I wonder if my doctor has
that in our plans?
Afterwards, we continued my birthday with a trip to Heller's, the
Later in the afternoon my mom and dad both showed up to visit for
a bit. Great to have time to hang out with them for a while. Then
Mark, Mom and I went to the movies, where we met up with Mick and saw "Little Miss Sunshine."
If you haven't seen it yet -- GO. It was wonderfully, darkly funny!
After the movies, we met up with Polly at Moylan's for dinner. The
nurse practitioner at the endocrinologist said to go ahead and have dessert on
my birthday and not worry about having a high reading for that one meal.
In fact, she said to go ahead and share a glass of wine with dinner if I wanted
to. It turned out I didn't actually feel like having any wine.
However, I did forgo the mashed potatoes that came with my steak, in favor of
sharing a warm fudge brownie with ice cream, caramel and fudge sauce with
everyone. Yum! Very rich and very sweet, but darn it, it was great
to have sugar for the first time in seven weeks.
And yes, my glucose numbers were quite high for the last readings
of the night. ;-)
All in all, it was a really lovely birthday.
18 August
‘06
Woo hoo -- the
tile's going in to the shower! Mike showed up today and started the
tiling job in the shower.
Looking good so
far! Hopefully this'll be done quickly.
I met with my
Starting Monday, I'll go in for weekly (or possibly
2x/weekly) fetal monitoring at Marin General. If my blood sugars are
doing well and the baby's looking good, then I'll only need to go in once a
week, probably. For the past couple of weeks, my blood sugar readings
have been within acceptable ranges
and the baby's been very active, so I'm hoping for the 1 visit a week
schedule. But if it needs to be twice a week, so be it. Perhaps
I'll have some new images of baby to share by Monday afternoon.
Have a great
weekend!
P.S. I've lost a
little more weight. I'm now up a total of 8lbs since pre-pregnancy
weight. As my
12 August
‘06
Hi all!
I started out the week with a check-up with the
endocrinologist. Because of 3 high glucose readings during the road-trip,
my nurse practitioner was concerned that it will soon be time for me to start
taking fast acting insulin before each meal. So she gave me a
"pen" filled with fast-acting insulin and plenty of extra "tips,"
and gave me a brief explanation of how to use it. However, she said that
I didn't have to start using it immediately -- she just wanted me to have it in
case she feels I need to use it before our next appointment (a week from Monday).
But guess what? Not one high glucose reading all week so
far. It's definitely easier to make sure I eat every 3 hours and eat
properly when I'm home and not on the road. So that's all good news, yay!
Meanwhile, little baby is rockin' and rollin' inside all the time.
By some of the fast riffs he plays, maybe he'll grow up to be a drummer.
Scary. :-p
The weather is beautiful here again. Not too hot, not too
cold. I think today will be a good day to explore used baby furniture
stores! Mark has to work this weekend, but I'm ready for shopping!
Maybe a movie will be in order, too. Perhaps "Little Miss
Sunshine."
Isn't life nice?
4 August
‘06
We're home!
After a fun-filled, whirlwind 3000 mile road-trip, we're home from
vacation. We spent nights in
And then we got home this evening to
find that Bonnie, my mother-in-law, did unbelievable work at our home while we
were gone. Our gardens, which I so dearly love and which have been so
disastrously overgrown while I've been pregnant are COMPLETELY cleaned up,
weeded, trimmed... oh, it's heaven! I'll take photos in tomorrow's
morning light. All that was a TOTAL bonus, in that we only expected her
to paint the baby's room (so the paint fumes would have time to dissipate
before I got home). THAT she did as well, and beautifully. Here's a
first shot of the room with the new color, freshly painted trim, my
grandmother's dresser, the rug my mom bought and the gifts that baby Merz has
accumulated already...
Now that the room is cleaned out and painted, we can start getting furnishings
for the little guy... time to decorate and shop -- oh boy!!
28 July
‘06
Hello insulin!
Eh, it was bound to happen, right? I had a slightly high
glucose reading after lunch today, so I dutifully called it in to the doctor.
She said, "You have a choice to make now."
"What's the choice," I asked?
She replied, "You can come in this afternoon or on Monday to
learn about more fun with needles."
As Mark and I are leaving on a week long road trip tomorrow
morning, this afternoon had to be the time! So off to the doctor's office
I went. She's starting me off with a low dose of insulin, once a day (15
units at bedtime). I'll have a follow-up visit a week from Monday and
we'll see how things are going. Meanwhile, I'll call her from the road
when/if I'm not feeling well, having high or low readings, etc. And now I
get to check my glucose levels before and after every meal and, if I'm awake
anyway, between 2 and 3am. Woo hoo!
But the road trip... I'm really looking forward to that.
Seeing the
See you all when I get back!
11 July
‘06
Two weeks ago
we did routine testing for gestational diabetes. Last Thursday the results came back that I’ve
got gestational diabetes. This is a form of diabetes that occurs during
pregnancy only, going away after delivery of the baby. You don’t have to have had other types of
diabetes prior to the pregnancy to get it.
The American Diabetes Association says the reasons for why some women
get it aren’t exactly known, in fact.
The basic gist is that pregnant women need up to 3 times the insulin as
non-pregnant women. And for some reason,
some women build up a tolerance to the insulin.
This means there’s excess glucose in the blood. The excess insulin doesn’t get passed on to
the baby, but the excess glucose does. In response to the excess glucose, the baby’s
pancreas creates extra insulin and also stores the excess glucose as fat. This can lead to “macrosomia,” aka “fat
baby,” syndrome in the baby, which can lead to an overly large baby, leading to
complications with labor and delivery.
Such as shoulder dystocia (the baby’s head gets through the pelvis but
the shoulders are too large to get through).
This increases the chance for caesarean section or large
episiotomies. Lovely. Also potential issues for the baby, once he’s
born are: Hyperglycemia immediately after birth, lethargy, poor feeding,
jaundice, plus an increased potential for obesity and type 2 diabetes as an
adult. LOVELY. There are other, rarer, worse things that can
happen to the baby if it’s not kept under control, but I don’t even want to go
there.
Obviously this is something I need to take care of and take very
seriously.
I had my first appointment with the endocrinology clinic yesterday,
seeing a nurse practitioner as that was the fastest way to get me in
there. I'll have a follow-up with the doctor (Dr. Linda Gaudiano) on
August 28, as well as with the nurse that day. Here's the run-down of how
thing went yesterday:
The nurse and I basically just talked a lot yesterday. Talked about my
lifestyle, how the pregnancy's going and the basics of gestational
diabetes. She gave me a glucose testing kit and showed me how to use it,
plus a journal where I'll keep track of my readings and what I eat. 
If any of my readings are above the max. allowed,
I'm to call her immediately. We'll try to take care of this gestational
diabetes via diet if at all possible.
Diet-wise, I'm to eat 3 meals a day with two to three snacks in between.
Always allowing at least two hours between meals and/or snacks. No meal
should have more than 30 grams of carbohydrates, and absolutely no sugar or
other "natural" sweeteners (including honey). No juice. Fruit
is okay, but because it's high in natural sugar, smaller portions than usual
(i.e. 1/2 piece of fruit is a serving). From what I can glean so far,
there's not much limitation on protein or fat. The only thing is to
ensure that each meal includes some protein and fat in addition to the
carbohydrates.
I'm feeling a bit overwhelmed about what to eat, as how do I ensure I'm getting
enough calcium? No O.J. supplemented with calcium as that's too much of a
mainline for sugar. Non-fat milk is good, but it's relatively high in
carbohydrates, so I can't overdo it on that. The nurse said she hopes I
like string cheese -- that it becomes a snacking staple for lots of gestational
diabetes patients. I've got an appointment with the clinic's nutritionist
at 11a tomorrow, where we'll put together some meal plans.
Testing-wise, I'll test my blood 8 times a day, plus testing my pee once a
day. Nice. After waking up, test my blood (should be <90 for
glucose at this read) and test my ketones (pee on a strip) and log it.
Then test my blood one hour after breakfast, before lunch, one hour after
lunch, before dinner, one hour after dinner and before bed. The glucose
reading should be <130 for those 7 readings. So far, of the few
readings done since 4p yesterday, I haven't been close to reaching any of those
numbers.
Also, exercise helps burn the excess glucose. She said that a simple 30
minute walk each day should do the trick. "Just put on some
headphones, walk out the door and when it's been 15 minutes, turn around."
The nurse also said that usually the numbers will get higher as the pregnancy
progresses. Hopefully I won't start getting high readings. If I do,
then it could mean adding insulin to the treatment plan, which I really don't
want to do...
That's all for now... stressing out.
Oh yeah, speaking of stress. I was told that stress actually raises
glucose levels, and to avoid stress whenever possible. Easily said.
3 months to go…
27 June
06
Alrighty, 25 weeks, here we are.
Not only am I feeling big, but
I’m getting big. Today I had my regular 4-week visit with Dr.
Maioriello where he measured the height of the fundus (baby’s home), checked me
for fluid retention (I’ve got a little bit – it’s been hot), weight, etc. Okay, so at the previous two visits, I’d
gained 2 pounds in the previous 4 weeks.
I.e. I had a 1/2lb per week weight gain, on average.
This visit, we found I’d gained EIGHT pounds in the last 4 weeks.
2 pounds per week! YOW! My eating
habits haven’t changed, however, and the height of the fundus increased in height
by 6 inches. Picture this – the fundus was previously measured at just slightly
shy of underneath my belly button. Now
it’s just below the notch in my ribcage – a growth of 6” in 4 weeks. I’m really looking pregnant (not just fat)
now. What did the doctor say? “Don’t worry, you’re right on track. He might just a big baby!”
June 24, 2006 in front of the ’56
Deluxe
I asked him a bunch of questions today… such as:
What is your
rate of caesareans? (“16%” -- that’s great – it’s quite low)
How do you feel
about me having a doula? (“No problem,
they’re great! They’re expensive, but I
have no problem if you want one.”)
How much will
you be in the room with me while I’m laboring?
(“You won’t see me a lot, unless there are problems. If everything’s going well, you’ll just see
me occasionally and then when it’s time to push. If there are complications, I’ll be with you
all the time.”)
What if you’re
not available when I go in to labor? (He named the 3 other doctors that are on
call at Marin General and said, “If it’s late at night when you go to the
hospital, whoever’s on call will get the call and they’ll check in on you. As long as I’m in the Bay Area, they’ll give
me a call to let me know you’re laboring, and they’ll call me to come in when
it looks like it’s time for you to push.
I always try to be there for my patients.”)
Have you found
any particular birthing method/schooling better than others for your patients?
(“I think Lamaze is better than Bradley for in hospital births. The classes taught at Marin General are
actually very good and allow you to get to know some of the nurses there, as
well as get more comfortable with the facilities. Bradley is good, too, but more geared towards
home birthing and can be very critical of any kind of intervention.” When I mentioned “hypnobirthing” he said, “Oh
yeah, that can be great! Whatever you
feel is going to work for you best.”)
2 June 06
Alright, alright… I’ve had enough requests that I asked Mark to do it
this morning… take the first “belly shot.”
Belly at 21 weeks, 3 days
Please forgive the pajamas, not-yet-made bed in the background, messy
hair and bad lighting. I just wanted to
get it over with. Yesterday afternoon I
realized that the kicks felt strong enough to be felt externally so when Mark
got home last night and said hello to the baby, I suggested he hold his hand
still, in one place, for a little while.
Sure enough, he felt a couple small bumps. Hello baby!
Oh, by the way… it’s a boy. :-)
30 May 06
Today begins week 21, and was started off with my regular checkup with
Dr. Maioriello. I gained two pounds in
the past 4 weeks, which puts me on average at gaining ½ a pound per week during
the second trimester, which Dr. Maioriello said was perfect. The blood test taken last exam showed that
the baby’s spinal column has sealed (which is good) and that it does not have a
rare disease that prevents it from metabolizing cholesterol properly. It was easy to pick up on the baby’s heart
beat today, and it was still beating a steady 150 beats per minute. Go, baby,
go! He said that the results of the
ultrasound showed that there’s nothing for us to worry about and basically…
“life’s great and see you again in 4 weeks!”
We hosted a fun family BBQ yesterday for Memorial Day. Lots of family and a few friends and, of
course, too much delicious food. It
wouldn’t be a Freiberg BBQ without too much food, right? And of course we went insane on desserts:
Polly made chocolate chip cookie bars and lemon bars, while I made
strawberry/rhubarb crisp, cherry pie and coconut/ginger/lime ice cream. Oy – glad I’m supposed to eat extra calories
for a while!
Both of our moms were at the BBQ yesterday, both professing that they
want to throw the baby shower. Thanks
Moms! I asked them to coordinate and
work together on the shower. My only
request is that it not be just “for the girls.”
Guys should get to come to the party too. So now you know who to talk with if you’re
curious about it!
20 May 06
This week I’ve been feeling the baby move somewhat regularly. It feels like fizzy carbonation or sometimes
faint taps from the inside. It’s really
neat, but still so slight that it’s almost hard to believe it’s real. When we can feel the movement from the outside I think it’ll really hit home.
Last week we did an ultrasound to check on everything and it looks
like the baby’s doing fine. At least the
ultrasound technician didn’t blanch, mutter, “Oh my god,” or anything else
worrisome. The next checkup with my
Meanwhile, we’d told the ultrasound technician that we didn’t want to
know the gender. So he didn’t say
anything. However, when I went back this
week to pick up a CD of the images taken during the ultrasound, imagine my
surprise when I got to the last image, which turned out to be a report, which indicated the baby’s gender. We talked with the genetic counselor, who
definitely knew the gender, just to confirm.
So yes, now we know the sex of the baby.
This will make picking out names easier, eh? Not sure if we’re sharing this news with the
world yet…
Email: jessicafm (at) mindspring.com