AJ Ceniccola

We have had quite a week.... Tuesday (3/9) Anthony and I received a phone call from a Pediatric Endocrinologist who talked a bunch of mumbo jumbo to me over the phone and told us to come in with the baby immediately to discuss a possible low salt count in AJ. I didn't understand ANYTHING she said, but I just figured I'd understand better once we go to the Dr's office. Turned out some of AJ's blood was dangerously low on a specific salt steroid and it wasn't working properly. So she sent us for more blood work right after visiting with her. Later that night at 10:30pm we received a phone call from her saying to go to the ER immediately to have it checked out over night. This was the WORST night of our lives!!!! We spent the night in a cubical looking hospital room with 2 "reclining" chairs, a jail cell looking crib and a cot without a pillow. The only thing separating us from the cubical next to us was a sheet hanging from the ceiling. It wasn't a very comforting place at all! We would get woken up throughout the entire need and meet Dr after Dr.... It was quite irritating to say the least! My poor baby was so miserable and had to get his blood drawn at least 10 times through the entire stay. And it's very hard for nurses to find his veins so they have to keep pricking the poor kid  Then as they were discharging us the following day at about 3pm they put him on 3 different types of salt/steroid meds! In addition to the ammoxicillin he's taking for his kidney for the next 4 and a half weeks. So thats FOUR meds!!!!!! One had to be taken 4 times a day, one 3 times a day, and the other 2 once a day, but 2 of the meds were in pill form and had to be crushed and mixed with water, put into a syringe and squirted into his mouth -- Supposedly for the rest of his life!!!!!! After we went home, we sat there with our moms trying to figure out a good feeding/medicine schedule and we managed to figure one out. He had to take some kind of med every 3 out of 24 hours in a day except for 3. He was not liking it one bit! Then the next day the endocrinologist called me and told me his salt levels were now normal and that I could stop all salt/steroid medications!!!!! I was soooo extatic!!!!! The next day our pediatrician called saying that his acid levels were now showing higher, but that it could be from getting so much blood drawn or from the medications too. So she wanted him to get blood drawn one more time and to look and see what they read. So this morning was the one last time and I just got a phone call saying ALL blood work is perfect!!!!!! Man, God is GOOD!!!!!! I have a perfect little baby!!!!! Now all we need to wait on is the kidney. I am waiting to hear back from Dr Hittelman's office to schedule his appointment for the follow-up visit, they said it should be 6 weeks from birth, so sometime mid-April. I can't wait for that appointment to be done too just so AJ can be off his antibiotics too! My little boy is such a trooper!!!!! He makes mommy & daddy sooooo happy!!!!!

On Tuesday night before I went to bed I started to feel some pinching under my right rib, I knew something was wrong, but I just dealt with the pain and tried to sleep it off... It lasted all night and the next day. So on Wednesday at about 4:30 I called my OB-Gyn group and they on call Dr (Dr. Messner) called me back and told me to make an appointment for Thursday morning, even though I had an appointment on Friday afternoon. So this morning (Thursday) I went into my appointment and the Dr. (Dr. Kopel -- a Gyn, not an OB) diagnosed me with Pre-Eclampsia because of my swelling and elevated blood pressure. And also said the pain I had been feeling under my right rib is not a good sign... Freaked me out a bit to be honest. So she told me to go to Yale to the early birth floor and be assessed and get my blood work done there instead of going to Quest to get it drawn and have to wait 24 hours blah, blah, blah.... If it turned out I had severe pre-e they would INDUCE me today!!!!! So to make a long story short, I got hooked up to monitors and my blood pressure lowered, then the blood work all came back perfectly and there was no protein in my urine... This all meant I didn't have pre-e!! I was so happy because as ready as I am to have my little boy.... my mom wasn't here! She will be moving back here next Friday! So if AJ can just wait till then we'll be fine!! That is all I'm concerned about. I just want my mom to be here when I deliver. She was actually on her way to the airport and was going to wait there until I told her it was ok for her to go home. She was going to come!!!!  But it will just be so much more convenient if he can just wait till Feb 26th or later!!

So when we were on our way home from L&D I called my boss to tell him I needed to start my maternity leave now and that I am on strict bed rest. He was so great about it! I have the worlds best boss!! And he told me he would mail me my next 2 paychecks. I just felt horrible having to give him that news, but he is such a great boss and totally understands. I am so fortunate!!!

HOLY PELVIC PRESSURE!!!!!!!!!! AJ is getting lower and lower by the day!! I will be VERY shocked if I go longer than 2 more weeks without having him! It hurts so bad to move/close/open my legs!!!!! And every little movement I make HURTS!!!

Yesterday I did a WHOLE lot of nesting!!!! I put pics of everything I accomplished onto my photo page so you can check it out  ENJOY!

AJ has definitely dropped! For the past few days I have been feeling lots of pelvic pressure when I open and close my legs. I am getting more and more anxious every day to see my little baby boy. I can't believe that in a matter of a few weeks Anthony & I will be having out little bundle of joy here with us!

Tomorrow Anthony and I will be off from work together because of a bad snow storm we're supposed to get and I'm really actually looking forward to just spending the day home relaxing with my hubby. Maybe even get some things done in the house to prepare for the baby (can you tell I'm already nesting?)...

I'm also counting down the days until my parents and my Nunnie (grandma) move back to CT! 14 days from today is when my grandma is moving back and 16 days from today is when my mom and dad will be back for good!!!! My dad has been here for about a month, but he's going back on Saturday, February 20th and coming back the 26th with my mom. SO EXCITED!!!!! So as long as AJ waits till the 26th to come then we'll be good... my whole family will be here for the birth of my first son!!!! EEEK!!!!!

5 days and counting until my baby shower!!!! I cannot wait! My mom is coming in Friday afternoon and I'm looking forward to that too! It's going to be a really fun weekend. Saturday all day my mom and I will be baking cookies for the shower then at night we're probably going to order Thai food and watch "This is It" all together. I've really been wanting to see it! Then early to bed for the morning of my shower!!!! I just can't wait to see everyone and enjoy the day! Then Monday Anthony and I both have off from work to relax and look over our gifts and whatnot. I'm looking forward to that!!! My mom also mentioned she wanted to go to Babies R Us probably to look for a new crib since the one we have now can't be put together properly and it's also an older crib that probably has tons of recalls on it....

My next ultrasound is Feb 5 and I'm very much looking forward to that too because we will find out if the baby is breach or not. And I am soooo praying he is head down!!!! But if not then so be it, thats ok too!

PS. 7 Weeks to go!!!!

My ultrasound today went well, AJ's kidney is still the same, but at least its not bigger which is a good thing  I have to go back again in 4 weeks and in the mean time I need to call the pediatric urologist, Dr. Hittleman, to discuss after birth options. AJ def has ant's nose though!!!!! He weighed 2lb 12oz today  SO CUTE!!!! I'll be scanning the pictures any minute too! He was breech today and the tech said if he's still breech in 4 weeks we're going to have to schedule a C-section. She also said that usually women who have children will have babies that are the same size as you were at birth, and sometimes even bigger, which is another reason they think i might need a C-section since I was 9lb 1oz!!!!! We shall see what needs to be done in a few weeks though!!!

HOLY HEARTBURN!!!!!! I have been getting soooo much heartburn lately and I've been living on tums. Thats my only option, I guess... It stinks though, but it'll be over in 11 weeks (77 days), give or take a few....

This morning I just felt like checking on my registry to see if anything had been purchased since my baby shower invitations have gone out and low and behold, 3 things have been purchased!!!! I was so excited!!!! I can't wait for my baby shower!! Only 33 more days!!!

So this morning I told Anthony and my mom how I'm concerned AJ isnlt moving AS MUCH and they both told me to call the Dr so I did and then the Dr called me back almost immediately and she said it's normal and as long as i'm feeling movement it's good. She said maybe he moved positions and is now head down, bottom up, or vice versa. and the reason I might not be feeling him at night lately is because maybe he's picking up on our sleeping routine, which is a really good thing! but now I'm actually looking forward to my appointment tomorrow because of this, but now I know I have nothing to worry about. She said it may be too soon to count kicks, but I can if I want to around a time when he's active, so maybe after lunch today I will for 1 hour? I need to get 10 kicks at least durring 1 hour. This morning I was sooo afraid that I'd be told to go to the hospital for an emergency C-section! I'm a crazy person!

Today we went for the ultrasound to see how AJ's kidneys are progressing. We were almost 30 mins late for the ultrasound appointment because of stupid traffic, but they took us almost immediately when we got there. His kidneys are still the same, but the Dr. said he probably won't need surgery after he's born, which is GREAT news!! He'll just need some antibiotics, not sure for how long, but that was very exciting news!!! The Dr. we saw today said the ONLY surgery he'll need (or should have) when he's borning is the circumcision, which we were planning on doing anyways. He said it will prevent him from getting lots of uriniary tract infections, which I didn't even know boys can get. We will find out how long he'll need to me on antibiotics, after he's born, closely following the next ultrasound visit (if the kidney's are still the same) when we meet with Dr. Hiddleman, the urologist. The Dr. said they'd do some ultrasounds on him when he's about 2 days old or something like that and as long as the kidney is just clogged then it's ok, as long as it's not backing up into a wrong tube he'll be fine. They said everything else still looks good on him though. I put up some new pictures from todays scan too. Now he's weighing 1lb 5oz!!!!! Our next ultrasound appointment to check on his kidneys is January 7 at 9:15am.

Yesterday we also booked our 1-day childbirth prep class. It's from 9-5pm on January 16. They told me to bring 2 pillows, one for me and one for Anthony, and to wear comfy clothes. They go over exercises, relaxation, breathing techniques, positioning for labor and birth, comfort measures, medication, anesthesia options and give a tour of maternity facilities and provide lunch and snacks. I'm nervous and excited at the same time because it's really REAL now!!!! I cannot believe theres only 16 more weeks left to my pregnancy!!!!! Or 3 and a half months!!!!! Or 112 days!!!!! EEKK!!!!

I was checking my voicemails at home this morning and noticed I had 2 voicemails so the first was from my grandfather and the 2nd was from Dr. Lima, the OB I saw last week who initially told me about AJ's kidney situation. He called me from his HOME! I thought this was so nice and so professional and it really made me and Anthony VERY happy!! He told me to call him back at home if I got the message or to call him tomorrow at the office so I obviously didn't get the call till this morning so I called him at the office this morning. He just called me back now and told me the other Dr I saw on monday said theres nothing to be worried about and he told me if I have any questions to call him. He is seriously the nicest Dr. I have dealt with YET!!!!! And who woulda thought because I never wanted a male OB!!!!  He also told me that a Urologist is going to be calling me and I told him everythings a little overwhelming but then he reassured me to call him anytime I have a question. Very impressive!

Today we had the ultrasound at the Dr's office and we are now 100% SURE it's a BOY!!!!! The ultrasound tech was doing the exam and she said he is weighing 9oz everything was measuing correctly and perfectly, except for his left kidney, it's a little small. So the Dr I saw today (Dr. Lima) said it is VERY common in boys to have one kidney smaller than the other and he ordered an ultrasound to be done Monday morning at one of Yale's branches on Longwarf in New Haven, just tobe safe. Their ultrasound machines are MUCH more advanced than the ones at my Dr's office so they want me to go there and just make sure his kidney is ok. The Dr warned me that they are going to make me feel HORRIBLE and to not let them do that to me. He said for me to just be calm and relax and know that everythings going to be fine with the baby. Plus, I told myself.... People are able to live with ONE kidney and my baby has 1 normal sized one and a smaller one so the odds are definitely in his favor!!!! Other than the kidney problem our little AJ is kicking up a storm and it was so cool because as we were watching him kick this morning on the ultrasound video I could actually feel the kicks simultaneously -- AMAZING!!!!

All we are really able to do is keep my little baby boy and his left kidney in our prayers. My next prenatal appointment is on November 20th at 2:45pm.