so as a precaution for my pregnancy, i was referred to a achd (here they call them GUCH - grown ups with congential heart defects) card for a 17 week check-up. he did an ekg and an echo, and all looks great. my heart is responding well to the pregnancy and my new valve doesn't seem to be affected at all.
he will see me again at 30 weeks, and at that point he, my high-risk OB, and an anesthesiologist will meet to discuss how to proceed with labor and delivery. the good news is that my heart condition will not likely be any concern. other than a big fat dose of antibiotics, but hey - who am i to complain? my shortness of breath, dizzy spells and arrythymias are just pregnancy issues, not heart issues. great news.
the truly amazing thing is the socialized healthcare system that is in place in sweden. i've heard many things about how difficult socialized systems can be, but from my experience, it's some of the best care i've ever recieved... and it's free!
you don't get to choose your docs, you're just assigned to your neighboor hood clinics unless you need to see a specialist. but i get notices in the mail for my appt times and where to be, and that's it. i show up, get great care, and leave. it's all extremely efficient. for some specialists (achd included) there is a $10 copay. however, no patient can pay more than $100 in copays per year. so if you hit that max, then even your specialist copays are free.
this turned into a bit of a rant, but when are we going to get our heads our of our asses in the U.S. and offer this kind of care to EVERYONE?! FOR FREE!!!!
anyway, we have an ultrasound with a pediatric cardiologist in 2 weeks to make sure the baby's heart is developing normally... but other than that i've had a very uneventful pregnancy so far. we also have a normal mid-pregnancy ultrasound that week, and we're hoping to find out if we're having a Zack or a Zoe.
OH! and i'm starting to feel our little peanut moving. a little everyday. so cool!
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
Tuesday, February 3, 2009
Shannon's Birthday
What a great birthday I had! The day started w/jeff cleaning the apt. for me before i got up... neat. Then i made myself waffles in my new waffle maker and headed out to lunch. I met my trainer Charlotte for lunch at my favorite lunch spot, Condecco. She bought be a beautiful carrot cake from one of the local bakeries.
After a nap, Jeff and i headed to the Pasta Haus, a really yummy pasta place near us. when we got there, our friends Valby, Gustav and Lena were already there. Jeff had surprised me... i thought it was just going to be the two of us. After a great meal, we all headed back to our place for carrot cake and tea.
Valby, Gustav and Lena sang happy birthday in swedish and added their "hoorah, hoorah, hoorah" at the end. It was very charming... thanks guys!
After a nap, Jeff and i headed to the Pasta Haus, a really yummy pasta place near us. when we got there, our friends Valby, Gustav and Lena were already there. Jeff had surprised me... i thought it was just going to be the two of us. After a great meal, we all headed back to our place for carrot cake and tea.
Valby, Gustav and Lena sang happy birthday in swedish and added their "hoorah, hoorah, hoorah" at the end. It was very charming... thanks guys!
Copenhagen, Denmark
Finally, a new blog post! it's been a while and we've got a few things to post now. We went to Copenhagen for 4 days just after the new year. It was freezing!!!!! But it was also very beautiful. We ate at a lot of brewpubs, which jeff liked, and overall we found there to be a great selection of food choices.
Our hotel was fabulous, and very close to Central Station (we took the train from Gothenburg... approx. 4 hours). Taking the train was great, we enjoyed it much more than air travel. we were able to book 1st class seats, because for some reason, they were cheaper than 2nd class. we had 4 seats and a table, and it only cost us about $200 for both of us.
We didn't hit many of the tourist stops, we mainly did a lot of shopping. everything is copenhagen is expensive! food, clothes, etc. one day we travelled to the geological muesum and the art muesum. we really liked the art museum, especially the sculpture hall. on the way back, we stopped at a castle, unfortunately, we had missed the opening hours. i believe the castle is still in use, because there were very heavily armed military guards walking the grounds. the interesting thing about this castle was that is actually had a moat! i didn't think those really existed. We also stopped to see the original "little mermaid." we got lost trying to find her, and froze for a while before we did. it was worth the trouble...
anyway, enjoy the pics!
Our hotel was fabulous, and very close to Central Station (we took the train from Gothenburg... approx. 4 hours). Taking the train was great, we enjoyed it much more than air travel. we were able to book 1st class seats, because for some reason, they were cheaper than 2nd class. we had 4 seats and a table, and it only cost us about $200 for both of us.
We didn't hit many of the tourist stops, we mainly did a lot of shopping. everything is copenhagen is expensive! food, clothes, etc. one day we travelled to the geological muesum and the art muesum. we really liked the art museum, especially the sculpture hall. on the way back, we stopped at a castle, unfortunately, we had missed the opening hours. i believe the castle is still in use, because there were very heavily armed military guards walking the grounds. the interesting thing about this castle was that is actually had a moat! i didn't think those really existed. We also stopped to see the original "little mermaid." we got lost trying to find her, and froze for a while before we did. it was worth the trouble...
anyway, enjoy the pics!
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