11 Weeks

So I thought I would put one of these little pregnancy surveys up.  I don't know if I'll do it every week, but I didn't do an official one with the boys, so I thought it might be fun.

How far along? 11 weeks. Baby is the size of a lime!
Total weight gain/loss:  As of the beginning of last week, I was down about 12 lbs. I haven't weighted myself since.

Maternity clothes? I've been wearing all maternity pants, although I've been folding down the band this time, something I did not do with Tyler or AJ. My nausea and gas seem to be much more in my upper tummy, so the band is often uncomfortable.
Stretch marks? No new ones
Symptoms: Nausea (though I am taking some medicine and it's much better), fatigue, sore breasts (still!), vivid dreams (seriously! All. Night. Long), gas (I've never burped so much in my life), food aversions.
Sleep: I love sleep. I often fall asleep on the couch around 8:30 and sometimes I'll just go on to bed by 9:00 or 9:30 if I'm still awake then. If I feel sick, I go to bed earlier. I often rest or catnap on the drive home from work and if I'm at home I sometime doze off when AJ is napping in the afternoon.
Best moment this week: Seeing baby on ultrasound, always a relief
Have you told family and friends: Yes, pretty much everyone knows. We told family and close friends by about 9 weeks and we announced on facebook after our first official appointment last week. People are still finding out at work as word travels, but all official announcements have been made.

Movement: Too early
Food cravings: I don't really have cravings.  Maybe pickles? I'll just list a few things I'm tolerating. I'm snacking on a lot of cheese and crackers and sweet pickles. That sounds weird, but it's something we always have lying out on Thanksgiving, so it's a natural combo to me. I'm not very into food right now, so I'm leaning on a few things that taste good. Apples (I have to peel them though, which is weird for me), bagel thins with cream cheese, cheese wraps (tortilla smeared with cream cheese, then topped with cheddar cheese sliced and lettuce. Most people would also put ham or turkey on it, but I never do, even when not pregnant. Oh and I eat it dipped in BBQ sauce.  You'd think it was a pregnancy thing, but it's really not), and those little popsicles in the plastic sleeves.
Anything making you queasy or sick: Eggs.  Most meat. I'm managing on a little bacon, lots of cheese, and peanut butter for protein.  I went off meat with Tyler and shied away from it with AJ too. I can't drink soda or coffee and even hot tea isn't very appetizing. Basically I'm drinking water, occasionally iced tea or strawberry lemonade.
Have you started to show yet: I don't think so. I'm pudgy already, so I could pass for pregnant, but I don't think it's the real deal yet.
Gender prediction: We are hoping for a baby girl way too much to be subjective

 Labor Signs: No and it had better stay that way

Wedding rings on or off? On. I took them off with Tyler, but not with AJ
Happy or Moody most of the time: Up and down. This week I've been a little stressed.
Milestones: Another week down!

Other notes: At my ultrasound on Tuesday my SCH had grown to 7 cm, which stressed me out. The ultrasound tech talked to the doctor to be sure they didn't want to change my restrictions, and they just ended up saying I should make even more of an effort to take it easy this week.  I'm trying.  That's difficult.  Baby still looks great, but was at an odd angle so the pics weren't great. Another ultrasound Tuesday morning and then the next week I have my first trimester screening.

My bloodtests all came back fine, although my white cell count was a little low--I assured her the number was higher than it usually is. I have AB positive blood, as a point of interest. I knew before, but always forgot. They made me stop in for a weight check on Tuesday too, since I'd lost weight. Their numbers showed a 2 lb gain since last week (I was sure to eat and drink well Tuesday and I hadn't used the bathroom yet, so it was probably a little less than that, but it satisfied them).

Subchorionic Hemmorhage

**Disclaimer** this is my account of my very scary bleeding experience on June 6.  As of right now, baby is doing great, has a strong heartbeat and is measuring ahead of where we thought I was, so those are all good signs.  This may get a little graphic/tmi, but I want to document it.

On Monday, June 6th at about 10:00 pm I started getting ready for bed. I put away some laundry, went to the bathroom, brushed my teeth, etc.  I laid down in bed and basically immediately felt a gush of fluid.  I knew immediately that wasn't a good thing. I jumped up and ran to the bathroom and even then I could see blood running down my legs.  It was a lot of blood. I think I was just in shock at first and couldn't even think.  I started yelling for Adam and for  my sister because she was closest and I knew she'd hear me. Adam ran upstairs and kind of froze. My mom came up too and we all took in the scene. My mom got me a washcloth and she and Adam cleaned up the floor a little and Adam got me some clean clothes.

I got myself together and cleaned up as best as I could. I put a pad on an got dressed and we rushed out the door.  I just kept saying I couldn't believe this was happening.  I'd felt "fine". Fine as in pregnant and nauseated and the same as I'd been feeling for weeks.  I thought it was over and that I was miscarrying for sure.

We got the ER and Adam dropped me off at the door and went to park. I checked in and was quickly offered a wheelchair, which I accepted.  They took me right back to a room and a nurse came right in.  She was super nice and sweet.  It's all a blur, but I think the doctor--actually she was a PA, and accompanied by a medical student, came in pretty much right away.  They asked a lot of questions and I told them everything that had been happening. At that point, just by my last period, I thought I was 8 weeks and 3 days.  She explained that they'd take some blood to check my hormones and do a pelvic exam to start.  

The nurse took some blood and put in a IV shunt. The PA said all they could really offer me for the nerves was Benadryl, which I declined.  She checked my pulse and listened to my chest, noting that she could hear a heart murmur. I told her I'd never been told that before. She said it probably was nothing to be concerned about and it might just be a pregnancy thing, since pregnant women has a much higher blood volume than normal.

Then she did the pelvic exam.  Those are just never fun.  She had to clear a sizeable clot before she could start, which made my heart sink. I tried very hard not to think about what that might be. She said I was dilated about a fingertip, but that can happen so the clots can pass.  She indicated that it wasn't necessarily an indication that things were bad.

At that point, we just had to wait to get the blood test back. The PA said if my hormone level was over 3000 (and at the point I was in the pregnancy, it should be well over that), then they would do an ultrasound. If the hormone level was lower than that....well we'd know things weren't good and there probably wouldn't be anything to see on the ultrasound.

It took over an hour to get the results, which was just awful. Adam and I talked some, and we really were kind of defeated.  I don't think of it like we were being pessimistic, but I think we were trying to prepare ourselves for the worst.  I talked to the nurse and the PA about what they knew so far and IF this, THEN what, and all that, explaining that I knew they didn't have all the answers, but that it helped me to know the details of all the possibilities.  

It was surreal to talk about miscarriage and DNC and all that, but somehow, even while I was crying and upset to think about it, I wanted to know what I might be facing. 

Finally, the PA came in and said, "Your level is 181--" I cringed. "thousand."  So that's super high and it was a good sign for now. The nurse said I was super pregnant.  I knew that it wasn't a sure thing, but I definitely started to gain back a little bit of hope.

Soon after, they took me for an ultrasound. The technician said she would do an external first and then an internal. I asked if she would tell us if there was heartbeat. She hesitated, but said yes, she would. She said if she was quiet, that was a bad sign, but that the external would be harder to see much. So I told myself not to get upset during the external. She got started and during the external she didn't say much. Adam could see the screen but I couldn't. At one point I mouthed to him, asking if he could see anything and he sort of shrugged.  She did her measurements and whatnot and then told me to use the restroom and undress for the external. My bleeding was slowing a little bit at this point.

The internal seemed to take FOREVER. Toward the beginning she did tell us that she saw a heartbeat. She showed me the screen for just a second and honestly I thought the heartbeat looked slow, so I didn't even let myself feel a lot of relief. So then she went back to measuring and all that.  The worst part was when she wanted to examine my ovaries. I had to physically push down on my stomach with my hands and hold it there for a long time.  My arms ached and I was so tired--at this point it was probably after 1 am and I had taken half a unisom before I went to lay down at 10 pm. So that part sucked. Finally, she was done and she asked me if I was sure about my last period date. I said I was very sure (April 9th). I turned to Adam and said that I thought that meant the baby wasn't measuring correctly.  Then the tech said that I was actually measuring ahead at 9 weeks (actually I swear she said 9 weeks 3 days, but later they told me 9, so I'm going with that until my next ultrasound). I think that was the moment I felt relief. She also said the heartbeat was measured at 185 beats per minute, which was very good. She said the PA would tell me more after the report was processed.

So after we got back to our room, we waited some more. The sweet nurse came in and she was so happy to hear that we had a heartbeat! I updated my mom (I'd been calling her every time we had a shred of news) and my facebook baby/ttc group and then we waited. The PA came back and confirmed what we knew, that the baby measured great and had a great heartbeat. She said the bleeding was caused by a subchorionic hemorrhage. She described it as "small" measuring 5.2 x 0.6 x 3.8 cm. She said that it puts me at a higher risk of miscarriage, but for now the baby looks good. She said to take it easy and follow up with my OB the next day.  Later I read the ultrasound report and they measured the baby as 2.31 cm which corresponds to 9 weeks 0 days and that the cervix was closed and measuring 3.6 cm.

I stayed home Tuesday and Wednesday, resting and taking it very easy. I spoke to my OB office and they said my upcoming appointment scheduled for the following Tuesday was  a perfect time to check on everything. They said to take it easy, but that I could work as long as I was sitting most of the time. They said to call if I went through more than a pad in an hour.

Tuesday and Wednesday the bleeding slowed to mostly spotting and later in the week it turned from red/pink to brown, which is old blood and I took as a good sign.  I'm still spotting two weeks later, to varying degrees.

All in all, I feel ok. I'm obviously more nervous than I was before this happened. I have moments where I'm sure it's going to be ok, and I have moments where I worry. I never pictured going through something like this.  I'm so grateful that the baby is still with us and I pray every day that it stays with us.

Right now, they just want me to have weekly ultrasounds until the SCH resolves. My next ultrasound it tomorrow. The doctor's office also called today and wants me to be seen for a weight check too.  I've lost between 10-15 lbs since I got pregnant, which is very normal for me, I lost weight in the first trimester with both the boys. But for one reason or another, they are watching that too.

Thank you in advance for any prayers or well wishes you can send!  Baby number 3 really appreciates it and so do we!

SURPRISE!!!!

Yes, that's right, BABY NUMBER 3!!!

I still can't really believe it.  It's still sinking in, for sure.  By the way, I'm writing this Monday, May 9th, two days after I found out.  This will be published at a later date, and I'm sure there will be updates at the end. But I wanted to document this before I forget any details, because pregnancy brain is REAL!

So I'll start off by saying my cycles have changed a lot since I had AJ.  For the past 6 months, my cycles have only been 26-27 days. And I hadn't had a ton of success pin pointing ovulation. I had actually been starting to think I was probably ovulating too late in my cycle to get pregnant on my own.  But we were so busy, we basically had been sort of trying/not preventing.  I figured once the house was ready we would start focusing more on it.

So I wasn't really focused on my period, but I knew it was probably due around the end of the week before Mother's Day.  By the end of the week, a thought had entered the back of my head, but I still really didn't think much of it.  I had looked at my tracking app earlier in the week and it had predicted I would start Saturday, but it's usually more optimistic than I am, and usually I beat it to the punch.

Saturday morning, I woke up at 5:30 and couldn't sleep. My brain started whirring and so I got up and went to the bathroom, because I knew there was only one way to stop thinking about it.  The trouble was, I'm not in the habit of keeping pregnancy tests around and the only ones I had were from an auction Adam bought, and they'd expired in June 2015. I figured it would be negative anyway, so why not use it up?

Except it wasn't. I never look at my tests while they are processing--the whole "a watched pot never boils" thing....so I fiddled around in the semi-darkness, eventually counting to 120 so I knew three minutes has passed. I flipped on the light and there were two solid lines staring back at me. I think I whispered oh my god a bunch of times, but I was also reminding myself that the test was EXPIRED and therefore unreliable.  I snapped a picture with my phone and hid the evidence, then when back to bed. I used my phone to post a picture on my facebook group with my old Infertility buddies.  Their consensus was it was probably positive, but to get some more tests ASAP!

Now, I have had a BFP (big fat positive) three times before this.  With the boys, of course, and with my miscarriage in 2011. And each time, we had been really trying to get pregnant and Adam always knew when it would be time to test. This time, I had a slight edge. This time, it would be a surprise.  So I didn't say anything and acted casual. He needed to finish mowing the grass, so I was going to run errands with the boys by myself, then he was going to meet us for lunch and we would go to the hardware store to pick up somethings. So I had the perfect opportunity to buy pregnancy tests in secret.  I bought an 88 cent test to take that afternoon and a package of First Response.

After all of our running, I got the boys settled and Adam went upstairs to work on installing our closet doors.  I slipped back out to the van and grabbed the bag with the tests.  I put the First Responses and the box for the cheap test in my purse and took the test downstairs to the bathroom.  The test showed up positive right away!  I had a little moment by myself there.  It was really true.  And we weren't even trying hard. Somehow, on the day before Mother's Day, when there was only ONE possible day it could have happened, here I was, pregnant.

No doubt about it!

So now I had news to tell.  I planned on telling everyone together on Sunday, revealing it to mom through her present.  I had bought a kit of little foam owl crafts for Tyler to make her for Mother's Day/her birthday (her birthday fell on Mother's Day this year). So after AJ was napping, I took Tyler upstairs and told him the news!  We've talked about it before, and his friend Luke's mom is expecting, so he knew what it was about and was excited!  He won't stop talking about how he hopes it's a girl because we don't have any girls!

So Tyler made an owl for Gaga and I make two more. On the backs, we put the boys' names and on the third, I wrote "Baby #3, January 2017".  Later we were hanging around downstairs and Adam said, "Aren't you supposed to get your period pretty soon?" I tried to play it cool, casually checking my phone, looking at my app.  "Yeah, probably today or tomorrow." I said.  So he said we should play around that night, because he thinks that makes my period come. Uh oh. I decided I had better tell him. So I said I wanted to go up and see the new closet doors he'd hung. I snuck the test out of my purse and into my pocket and went upstairs. He came up after and so did my mom.  We looked at the doors and then mom when back downstairs. I closed the door and pulled out the test. I don't even remember if I said anything. He just started laughing and we hugged and laughed about how it only took once this time around!  I think he said are you kidding or are you serious or something.  LOL Then he admitted that he'd gone to get a receipt out of my purse and seen the box of tests. He thought I was going to test though, he had no idea I already knew!

So I still planned on telling my mom Sunday, but Adam started saying we should go ahead and tell her. I didn't need much convincing!  So I went upstairs and wrapped up the owls and gave Tyler the package. We took it to her and said, "Tyler made this and he didn't want to wait to give it to you." She opened in and oohed and ahhed over the owls. Then I told her he'd put his name on the back. The first one she turned over was the one that said baby.  She looked at me and then back at it and back at me. "Are you pregnant?" I nodded.  "Are you really?!" Then she screamed and jumped up and hugged me. Michelle came in too and everybody was talking and laughing and I was telling them about the whole day.  It was great!

Our family of owls

With the new addition!

On Sunday Angie came over and we showed her the owls too.  She BURST into tears!!  I was surprised, she'd never gotten so teary before, but she said it was because she wasn't expecting it.  It was really sweet!

So that's it for now!  I'm 4 weeks and 2 days according to my last period, but my guess is that I might be a couple of days further along than that. I don't know exactly when I ovulated. My OPK was close to positive on day 12, and less so on day 13, and I pretty sure it wasn't positive on day 11 (which is the day we conceived), so I don't know, somewhere around there.  I don't even have a doctor's appointment yet.  I called my OBs office but they haven't called back yet. I have a call into my rheumatologist too, just to be sure there isn't anything I should be aware of, given my lupus. I know my medication is safe to take.

So as of now, I'm due around January 14th. Given my history and previous C-Section, I will just schedule this one, which is kind of a relief.

What a ride this will be! Goals before baby number 3 arrives: Finish the house, sell it, move, and potty train AJ!  God help me! :-)

UPDATES:
 
WOW, I wrote this over a month ago!  A lot has been happening!  Tomorrow is my first Doctor's appointment. I will also have an ultrasound.  It's not my first ultrasound, however.  This post will get very very long if I tell the whole story, so it will get it's own post that I will publish in a day or so. Last Monday night (June 6th), I suddenly started bleeding.  I went to the ER and long story short, blessedly baby is okay!  The ultrasound showed the baby with a strong heartbeat (185) and actually measuring ahead at 9 weeks (by my last period I would have been 8 weeks, 3 days then).  I was diagnosed with a subchorionic hemorrhage (SCH). It was SUPER scary, but they aren't uncommon.  I was instructed to take it easy, NO lifting more than 10 lbs (no more picking up AJ), and put on pelvic rest.  We were SO relieved!

Symptoms: Morning sickness started about a week after we found out (BOO!). Also major gas (sorry), sore breasts, serious fatigue and many many food aversions.  I'm just hoping and praying these subside at some point, since with Tyler they really never did.  No throwing up yet, so that's a plus, I guess.  I've been taking the Vitamin B-6 and a half a unisom at night, per my doctor's advice, but it's not completely alleviating it. We'll see how it goes.

FIRST DOCTOR'S APPOINTMENT W/ULTRASOUND
Everything went well today (6/14)!  The baby still looks awesome, with a heartbeat of 183. We could see it wiggling it's little arms!  When I asked if I was really seeing it move it's arms, the baby bobbed it's head and the ultrasound tech swore it was nodding!  SO CUTE! Adorable profile!  My SCH is still there and had grown a tiny bit. They'll continue to watch it with weekly ultrasounds until it starts to get smaller and resolves itself. She gave me some samples of dyclegis (which is similar to the B-6/Unisom combo I've been using) to see if it helps my nausea a little more. Everything looks great!

Already so photogenic!

AJ's Arrival!

WARNING--this post contains details of my labor and delivery and might be a bit TMI for some.

As of Tuesday (10/9, the day after my due date) my cervix was still long and closed. I left the doctor's office discouraged and fully expecting to come back in a week to make a final decision between induction and c-section. 

I felt completely normal Wednesday and Thursday, so imagine my surprise when I woke up at 2:30 am on Friday, rolled over, and felt a gush.  Then another.  I got up and went to the bathroom.  My underwear were soaked with fluid.  I was pretty sure it wasn't urine, it seems thicker somehow.  There was a tiny bit of blood on the TP as well.  I sat there for several minutes, unsure somehow of what I should do!  I felt crampy, but I didn't think I was having contractions.  I cleaned up and went back into the bedroom and woke up Adam.  I told him what was going on and we lay there for a few minutes until I realized I was having some small contractions and we should probably start timing them.  Adam got my phone for me and I started to try to track my contractions.  They were very mild, but coming about every 3-4 minutes and lasting 45-60 seconds each.  Adam started googling labor facts on his phone while I timed for about an hour.  It seems like this was the real deal, so I called my doctor's office to have the OB paged.  There are three doctors in the practice and one of the two I don't know well (Dr. B) was on call.  She called me and said I should definitely head to the hospital and they could check me out and make sure it was my water that had broken and see if my cervix was changing.

It was strange.  I don't know why, but I just never though my water would break, much less at home without any warning signs before.  But we pulled ourselves together, got dressed and threw a few extra things in my suitcase.  We went downstairs and woke up my mom so she could keep an ear out for Tyler.  We said we'd call when we knew if it was real or not and off we went.

On the drive to the hospital, I was getting more sure that this was really happening.  I had a few contractions that in my words "weren't fooling around".  We got to the hospital about 4:00-4:30 and filled out some forms and then they took me to the triage room.  I changed into a gown and the nurse did a quick check.  She said it was definitely my water that had broken and I was 1 cm dilated, so I was definitely being admitted and we would have our baby definitely within 24 hours!

They moved us to our own room and got me all hooked up.  AJ was looking good, so they said they'd let us sit tight and see if I could make progress on my own.  I would have liked to be able to get up and walk to help the progress along, but Dr. B said no because my water had already broken.  Apparently when the water has broken there is risk of the cord prolapsing if you're up and moving too much.  So at about 6:00 am the checked me again and I was 2-3 cm.  I was happy because that meant no pitocen yet!  They waited a few more hours and while my contractions were good I hadn't progressed, so pitocen was started.  I really hate that stuff!  After a few hours I'd progressed to 3-4 and the contractions were getting really painful.  I decided to go ahead and get my epidural.  Everyone was sent out but my nurse April (who was awesome) and the anesthesiologist.  He placed my epidural and my heartrate went up and my blood pressure went down.  I could feel my heart racing but I felt okay otherwise.  The doctor said it was possible that the needle hit a blood vessel, so to be safe they wanted to take it out and redo it.  The second time I started to feel lightheaded and faint.  They put me on oxygen and after a few minutes I felt a little better.  The doctor said the first epi didn't hit a vessel (no blood when he removed it) so it probably had something to do with the baby's position in the uterus.  I didn't seem to "like" being on my left side and the doctor said that could effect the epidurals effectiveness on my left side, but we'd see what happened.  Things calmed down a little after that and my family came back. Tyler was even there, he was so excited that "his" baby was coming!  For awhile, the epidural worked well and I felt okay.  My cervix was progressing but baby wasn't coming down very quickly.  After awhile I started having pain low down on the left side, so they decided to let me try to lay on the left for awhile.  Then I ended up laying too flat for awhile and my left arm and upper back were getting numb, so they sat up up and turned me over again.  The nurse checked me and thought I was probably about 7 cm, but she couldn't feel my cervix on the right, so she had another nurse come in to check and she said I was completely dilated!  They had turned down my epi a bit because of the extra numbness up high, so I was starting to get more uncomfortable again.  The anesthesiologist and I had a few words about pain vs. pressure, to which I assured him I knew the difference.  Dr. A was on by then (still not my usual doctor, but very nice. She was on all weekend so I knew she'd end up delivering AJ) so she came in and we got set up to start pushing.  I noticed right away that pushing wasn't bringing the relief I remembered from my labor with Tyler.  When I was in labor with Tyler, it felt so much better to push with the contractions.  This time I didn't feel better at all, in fact it seemed to hurt more.  They were also having some trouble keeping track of AJ. Sometimes they thought they might be getting my heartbeat instead of his (because mine was still high) but they weren't sure, so they put an internal monitor on his head, but they were still getting some low numbers they were a little concerned about.  I pushed for about 2 hours total, and we tried to labor down for awhile, which sucked because by then I was feeling a lot of pain and the contractions were really close together. 

We pushed awhile longer and Dr. A told me that I was pushing really well, but the baby wasn't coming down and they were pretty sure he had turned face up.  Babies are usually face down, which allows them to pass under the pelvic bone more easily.  AJ was getting caught on mine, making my contractions more uncomfortable and causing him some stress.  Dr. A tried to turn him while I pushed (OW) but it just wouldn't work.  I finally took a moment and came to the tearful decision that the risks to the baby and me were too great at this point to continue.  Dr. A asked if I wanted to keep going or switch to a C-section and I agreed to have the surgery.  I was scared that something was going to go really wrong.  Once the decision was made I just wanted it to be over!  It took awhile to get everything set up though. By then I was feeling every contraction, one on top of the other.  I was scared and in a lot of pain.  It felt like ages before the took me back to the OR. I'd been sweating and terribly hot all day and the OR was, of course, freezing.  I was shaking too, from the medications.  A new anesthesiologist was on by then (thankfully) and he was amazing!  While they got me prepped and everything he talked to me about what was happening and assured me they were going to make sure I was good and comfortable very soon.  We'd been worried that since I didn't seem to react quite right with epidurals that it might be a problem for a csection.  He assured me that it's a different kind of medication and they'd be very sure it worked before they started.  Fairly soon after that the medication kicked in and I couldn't feel the contractions much anymore.  Adam came in, all garbed up and he and the anesthesiologist were up near my head reassuring me and comforting me.  I can't say enough about how awesome the anesthesiologist was.  It was such a blur during the surgery.  It took longer than I though, really.  But at 5:05, AJ's arrival was announced!  He was brought to a warmer up in corner of the room.  I could see him a little (his feet) and Adam could see him pretty well.  His first cry brought tears to my eyes. I was so relieved it was over and he was safe!  They held him up and at very first glance he looked just like Tyler, although strangely that's the only time I thought so.  Now he just looks like AJ, to me.  They cleaned him up and weighed and measured him.  I was shocked he was so much smaller than Tyler was and WAY smaller than the 8 lbs 14 oz that I'd been told 10 days before he was born.  He'd had meconium like his brother too, but luckily they think it was after I had stopped pushing, so he didn't breathe or swallow any.  His first APGAR was 8 followed by a 9, both great numbers. Before long, Adam was holding him and showing him to me.  He was perfect and his hair was sooooo dark! Even darker than Adam's! 

After that, we just waited while they stitched me up and all that.  They got me some warm blankets because by then I was like ice.  Then they took us back to our room and got us settled.  My mom and sisters and Tyler got to come back for a few minutes before they needed to get Tyler home to eat some dinner and get some rest--it had been a long hard day for all of them.  Tyler's face was PRICELESS when he saw his brother!  I'll never forget it! He just lit up! We stayed in the hospital until Sunday night. They gave me the option to stay until Monday or go home Sunday. I wanted to be home with both of my boys and it was easier when no one had to split time between home and the hospital. AJ is now two weeks old and we are starting to get settled into something resembling a routine. He likes to fight sleep, like his brother. He likes his bottles and his paci and being swaddled (sometimes, though he likes to wriggle his arms free so he can use them to keep himself awake). While Tyler was always a little heater, AJ seems to be more apt to get cold. We visited our doctors office last week and he was up to 8 lbs 6 oz already! Our PA, Amber (who I adore) said he looks wonderful. I'm healing up pretty well after my c-section, although I'm still pretty sore. The first few days were rough but after that I actually found the recovery easier than I had with Tyler when I had the fourth degree tearing! And that's the big story! I'm officially a proud mommy of two boys! Oh and here's a few pictures!

Waiting

Yes I'm still pregnant.  No, there are no signs of labor yet.  I've been getting a lot of phone calls and texts and every time I call anyone they think it's "the call". LOL  But no, even though I'm technically over 40 weeks pregnant I have not have my baby.  In fact, according to yesterday's appointment, I'm still not making any progress.  My final appointment is Tuesday and at that point we will schedule eviction.  I think it's sort of ironic that first I couldn't get pregnant, and now I can't seem to get un-pregnant!  LOL It's only a matter of time and I'm not in a huge hurry, but obviously there are concerns so I'm just anxious for everything to be done and over and him to be here and healthy!  AJ is still doing well and passed the NST and BPP well.  He's still pretty active and everything looks good. So we wait.

Annoyance of the day...I didn't get paid.  When I called to investigate, the quickly discovered it was just an issue of the approval being misplaced and therefore not processed.  They cut a check by the end of the day and Adam picked it up before coming home.  Trouble is, the number didn't seem quite right to me, to the tune of $180.  I compared two of my paystubs and realized it was a tax issue.  According to our corporate office, short term disability is taxed differently than regular pay.  A LOT differently.  GRRR Uncle Sam!  I'm going to check on this, and I think my mom is going to check with the IRS, because that just seems pointless and unfair.  It would have been nice to know this soon, right?

*sigh*

At Peace with the Plan

So I saw my OB today for another cervical check.  Still no progress on dilation and she wasn't able to strip my membranes, although she tried very hard.  I did lose my plug when she checked me though.  I'm frustrated about the lack of progress, but I feel so much better because she was suddenly totally on the same page as me.  We are giving it more time and we will induce at 41 weeks if I get that far.  I'm still hopeful that things will change and progress quickly and naturally, but I am at peace with this plan and that feels good!

Final Countdown Frustration

Well, I have made it to October!  And how!  Tuesday I went to the doctor and discovered that I've made zero progress.  My cervix is long, closed, and posterior.  I was really really disappointed.  My OB asked me if I want a C-section.  I do not want this at all.  I was totally taken aback, I'm not even to my due date yet.  The NST and BPP had gone fine, AJ seems to be doing perfectly fine, just no interest in being born yet!  They are estimating him as 8 lbs 14 oz.  I know they are concerned for me to delivery a baby of that size, considering the fourth degree tearing I had with Tyler, but I know that the estimate can be wrong, even way wrong!  Plus, there is no reason to think I'll have that problem again.  Last time I agreed to using the vacuum, something I won't do this time. I think that really contributed to it.  And why are we jumping to c-section, not discussing induction?  Granted, I don't want either one, but I'd rather try induction again than major surgery.

My OB suggested I come back Thursday to be re-checked.  I don't really expect a lot of progress, given that it will only have been two days.  I'm doing what I can to encourage progress, but I still haven't dropped and haven't noticed any physical signs that I might be progressing, so I'm prepared to tell them that I don't want to consider a c-section or induction until my due date has passed.  I have an appointment Tuesday and we'll see where we are then.  I also want them to explain why they are so concerned and why they think I need a c-section. I'm not scared to tear again.  I don't want to, obviously, but if it happens I can deal with it. I really doubt it would be really terrible.  I know there is a chance of some real damage, but I don't think that will happen. I also get that with NO progress at all, induction might not be effective, but couldn't we try?  We could always switch gears later, if nothing happens or AJ doesn't tolerate it. 

It's frustrating. Of course I want my baby here.  But I just wanted this to happen they way it's supposed to, without drama.  I am determined to give it a little more time.  Then I will consider my options.

So for now, me and my watermelon sized baby are enjoying pineapple (with the core), raspberry leaf tea, and LOTS of walking.  I don't assume any of this is a miracle fix, but it can't hurt, right?

And if my blog world could send some labor vibes my way, I'd appreciate it!  Come on AJ, let's do this!

Pumpkin Pie

I went to look up how big AJ is this week and found out he's the size of a pumpkin!  And now I want pumpkin pie! 

I went to the doctor today and things are about the same!  My uterus is "irritated" and they are picking up contractions on the NST, but my cervix is still long and he's very high, so she didn't fully check for dilation, but I assume I'm not making a lot of progress.  He was hanging out on my right side today, which isn't the norm, but he's still head down and she said she couldn't see his face because he was facing down, so at least he's going the right direction.  I don't think he's really dropped at all though!

Being off work has helped my pain a lot.  This morning was the first time I started fretting about work--I woke up at some point last night and starting thinking about something I needed to call my boss about.  Trouble is, I don't remember what it was now! 

So I'm measuring 41 weeks--whew!  They didn't estimate the baby's size this week, so we'll have to wait until next week for an update on that.  Aside from that, we're getting some things done around the house--not that I'm helping much!  All the baby clothes have finally been washed and we moved Tyler's playhouse to the garage to make room for the pack n play.  Hopefully the baby's room will be pretty much done and set up by the end of next weekend!  My bag is partially packed and outfits have been bought for coming home from the hospital. 

Another purchase, thanks to my big sister, AJ's Halloween Costume!!

HOW CUTE IS THIS?!

That's about it for updates...Just sitting around waiting for things to start happening!  Oh, one last thing, if I could ask for some prayers--one of the dear friends I mentioned in my last blog got bad news regarding her pregnancy today....it's not viable.  I'm absolutely heartbroken for her...she's been through way too much, most of it in the course of the last 12 months.  Sometimes life is so unfair...if any of my readers could say a little prayer or send her some good thoughts, I'd really appreciate it. My heart breaks for her. :(

Until next week, unless I have anything exciting to report until then! :)

Something to celebrate!

37 weeks and we have officially made it to term!  Baby is as long as a stalk of swiss chard.  Sunday my mom and sisters threw me a baby shower to celebrate.  We had a lot of fun!  We took on some ambitious projects--we love these, but so often they don't come out right. This time I was thrilled with the results!  Take a look:

Fruit cradle!!!  SOOOOO YUMMY!

Baby cupcakes

Gotta have chocolate cake!

Having fun!

It was a fun party and it was nice to celebrate AJ's coming arrival!  I got some adorable things too!  His room is shaping up!

A gift from big brother!! Tyler painted this!  I love it!

Friendly monster from Aunt G!

Love these sparkly letters from Aunt Patty!

Monster decals!

This adorable blanket is super soft and matches the set we picked out for his room. Thanks Auntie Roxy for sending it!

Frame, monster book and toy!

I also got a huge surprise at work!  My coworkers pitched in and gave us a great new glider for the baby's room!  We had just agreed that we were going to have to make due without a second glider because we just didn't have the extra money right now.  I was so surprised I cried!

LOVE IT!

Tuesday I had my OB appointment.  AJ was lazier during the NST this week, but they got what they needed and he aced the u/s.  He's estimated at 7 lbs 10 oz and measuring about 40 weeks already!  Apparently some contractions were showing up on the NST so that give me hope that my body will do what it's supposed to!  My belly measures 38 weeks and my blood pressure and everything looks fine.  However, my OB decided that it is time I slow down and stay close to home, so I am officially on maternity leave.  It was hard to go to work and set everything up and know I wasn't going to come back until after the baby is born!  It was harder than I thought to let it go and leave!  I'll miss my coworkers, but staying home has already improved the pain I've been having and it's nice to be able to get some extra rest while I can!  Tyler is enjoying having me home and he likes to come in and "visit" me!

I can't believe how close we're getting to AJ's arrival!  I feel so lucky!  The last couple of weeks has brought some great news to several of my wonderful online friends that have had terrible struggles with infertility and pregnancy loss.  Four friends that have have had devastating losses are expecting again.  One has had a ton of miscarriages and the terrible loss of her son who was born at 23 weeks.  Another gave birth to her son early in the second trimester.  A third has had too many miscarriages to count and the fourth had an ectopic, two chemical pregnancies, and then a horrific loss of her baby daughter at around 20 weeks, who had a severe heart defect and chromosomal problems.  These ladies are true survivors, but they have been through hell and I am praying my hardest that these pregnancies will result in healthy babies for them.  My rainbow baby will be here soon and I hope they will get this same this time.  It really reminds me just how lucky I am!

Final Month!

36 weeks pregnant and we're into the final month (hopefully) of this pregnancy!!!  In some ways I can't believe how fast it's gone and yet 4 more weeks seems like a lot!  AJ should be the size of a crenshaw melon this week, whatever that is.  My guess is that he's already closing in on the watermelon sized full term baby!  No weight estimate this week, but odds are he's about 1/2 lb more than this time last week, so he's probably 7 lbs 4 oz by now.  Just 1 lbs, 3 oz more than his big brother weighted at birth!  If he puts on weight at the rate of 1/2 lb per week (and if he's born around his actual due date) he might weight around 9 lbs 4 oz!  WHEW!  We'll see!

My body is still taking quite a beating at this point.  The hip and pelvic pain has gotten really bad, especially when I first get up from sitting or lying down.  I'm walking around work fighting a grimace a lot of the time!  Also on Saturday morning I woke up at 4:30 am with a horrible charlie horse in my left calf, followed by waking up at 7:00 am with an identical one in my right calf!  The muscles are still really sore!  Ah, late pregnancy :)

This week I met the second of three OB doctors at the office I go to.  They like to schedule each patient with an appointment with the other two doctors during the last month of your pregnancy so that you are comfortable with whoever happens to be on call during your labor. She was nice, but I felt a little rushed, so I didn't really get the chance to ask questions.  She didn't even mention what I was measuring.  I was at the OB's office almost 3.5 hours today, but my NST and BPPs went great and AJ looks good and is still head down, though not engaged yet.

So we're plugging along!  AJ does lots of rolls and I feel him high and low--he's really stretching out in there and running out of room!  He gets the hiccups a lot too!  I even think sometimes I can see him practicing breathing as my tummy rises and falls--it's too quick to be my pulse, too slow to be his, so I'm guessing it's his little chest rising and falling!  Sunday my mom and sisters are throwing me a small baby shower, so I'm excited about that.  I'm getting very anxious to meet my new little man!!!

Two miscellaneous things I wanted to mention...Though I'm reaching the end of my pregnancy and obviously pretty removed from my infertility struggle, I have not forgotten what it was like.  Although it was more documented in my countdowntopregnancy.com blog, it was mentioned here and I have shared some of that journey.  That struggle has opened me up to an huge online community of forums and blogs.  I am an avid reader of at least a dozen blogs of woman who are or have struggled with infertility.  One of those dear women suffered a devastating loss last week. So here's a tiny shout out to Sometimes.  My thoughts and prayers are with her.

Finally, I can't post on this particular date without acknowledging it.  Eleven years ago the world changed forever.  That day and in the days since, our country and the world lost thousands of innocent people.  Today my heart goes out again to the people effected by the events of that day and the war that has ensued.  For my "where were you" post, go here.  God Bless America. I will never forget.

Lwaddling

This week AJ should be the size of a coconut.  According to our ultrasound this morning, he weights around 6 lbs 12 oz.  He aced his NST and BPP and was really active after a quiet weekend!  My belly measures 37 weeks and I had group b strep test.  The nurse also checked my cervix but it’s still long and thick, so AJ should be staying put awhile longer.

I'm feeling okay, but I am having a lot more pain and discomfort this time around!  My hips, back and pelvis are really sore all the time.  Today in particular I'm having trouble walking.  I'm  limping AND I'm waddling.  I'm Lwaddling.  I imagine it's comical to watch!

We finally made some progress on AJ's bedroom! We finished clearing everything out and cleaning and yesterday we painted the walls and ceiling.  We are doing a theme called “Peek A Boo Monsters” and we will be stamping and painting accents on the walls later to go with some decals we are going to get.  The background is basically white with a tiny tinge of blue (called Ice Castles).  I am so glad we finally made some progress!  Adam was a trooper, spending hours taking down the one wall of wall paper and painting the ceiling and my mom and twin did a ton of painting too.  Tyler and I helped as well before succumbing to naptime!  Still left on the to-do list is putting up a chair rail and adding our stamps and accents, plus cleaning the floors and bringing in furniture.  My mom also came up with the idea to let Tyler paint his own picture on a canvas to put in the baby’s room, a present for his brother!  I’m really excited about that!

5 more weeks!

I need someone to come up with post titles for me.

Whew!  34 weeks and I'm carrying a cantaloupe around what used to be my waist!  It feels like much more than that!  My appointments went well and AJ cooperated nicely with the NST and ultrasound.  I saw my OB as well and so far everything is looking good.  My belly measures about 36 weeks and my blood pressure and AJ's heartbeat are both perfect.  She agreed that I'm probably having quite a lot of braxton hicks contractions.  Of course her recommendation is to rest and lie down and drink lots of water.  I can't really rest and lie down at work, but I'm trying to be good and drink more water, as much as my body protests all the long walks to the bathroom.

I have all the typical complaints of a heavily pregnant woman--fatigue, back, hip and pelvic pain, bouts of nausea and indigestion, etc etc etc, but for the most part things seem to be going smoothly.  I am very happy to be finished with the most hectic parts of work this week--this was the week I needed to get through the most at work.  We are preparing for an upgrade of our system, so month end was rushed up a bit.  I also finished writing up procedures for literally every task I do and most of the people who will be doing them in my eventual absence have been trained.  I am relieved to know that if something happens and I have to be out tomorrow, I've done what I can to responsibly prepare everyone as well as I could.  For now, I don't have any immediate plans to be out of work, but it's nice not to worry about it.

We're hoping that the long holiday weekend (and the huge amounts of rain we are expecting thanks to Tropical Storm Isaac) will allow us to make more progress on the baby's room.  My personal goal for the weekend is to clear it out completely and get it totally cleaned.  I'd love to have the wall paper removed from the one wall (who does that?) so that it's ready to paint too, but we shall see if we get that far!

Next week yet another OB appointment (of course with NST and BPP including another weight estimate) and the dreaded Strep B test :-P  I officially see my OB (or one of the other OBs on staff--they want their patients to meet all three OBs so that we are comfortable with whoever is on call when we deliver) every week from now on.  Unbelievably I have only 39 days until my due date!  8-O  It's hard to imagine being a mommy of two!  I hope I'm ready!

Check Out Baby Big Head!

5 points for knowing the movie this post title is from :D

33 weeks pregnant!  Little Alexander is the size of a honeydew melon this week, according to my ticker.  According to Tuesday's ultrasound, he's estimated at about 5 lbs 12 oz--in the 95th percentile for his gestational age.  Overachieving little chunker!  He's doing well and my fluid measured fine for the second week in a row, which makes me think the first high measurement was probably off.  He was nice and active for the NST too--a little too active, he kept running away from the monitor which makes the test take forever.  That and the fact that the medical assistant kept leaving the room and coming when he'd been off for awhile.  I'm going to start "finding" him again myself when she's not in the room.  No OB appointment until next week, but so far everything looks good.

I think I had some braxton hicks contractions yesterday.  It occurred to me I never had any contractions with Tyler until they started me on petocin, so it's sort of new to me.  My belly got tight and I felt like I needed to catch my breath.  Luckily, drinking some water seemed to make them go away.  And resulted in a few extra trips to the bathroom during the night.  *sigh*

AJ finally showed his face during the ultrasound!  He has chubby cheeks and I think he was sucking his fingers!

So cute, right? :)

Another week, another appointment

32 weeks pregnant and baby is the size of jicama (google it!  I've seen them use it on Chopped!).  Today was my first non-stress test and biophysical appointment.  Well, it was actually supposed to be yesterday. I called on Monday to ask the receptionist a question about my appointment schedule and she casually mentioned that I had an appointment on Wednesday.  I told her that my paperwork said Tuesday.  She looked again and informed me that the appointment had been rescheduled because the ultrasound tech was sick.  I was annoyed, first of all because they had rescheduled me without even informing me (she claimed that they may have planned to call me later in the day), and secondly because they rescheduled me not for my usual morning appointment, but rather for 3:00 pm in the afternoon.  That causes issues for me with transportation, since Adam and I carpool to work up north and my doctor is on the south side.  Anyway, there wasn't much I could do about it, so I accepted the new appointment time.

Today I had planned to take our van to work and leave early for my appointment, but instead I ended up staying home with Tyler, who has a nasty sore throat and has been running a high fever.  Thankfully it's down to a reasonable level now, but boy is he pathetic when he's sick!  It just breaks my heart!

So first up today was my non-stress test.  If you have never had one, basically they just put a monitor on my belly where one part monitors for contractions and the other monitors the baby's hear rate.  They are looking for a certain number of accelerations within a certain amount of time.  The medical assistant hooked me up and left the room for a few minutes.  After maybe 10 minutes, she poked her head in the door and said "Your baby is boring."  Apparently AJ had chosen that moment to be napping.  She gave me a glass of ice water to try to perk him up, but it didn't really work. A few minutes later she had me roll onto my right side and drink another glass of water (I wish she'd have let me drink the water, then turn, I ended up with a wet shoulder from that move) and then gave me a sucker.  Finally, after much waiting and running away from the monitor, he gave them enough movement to satisfy them, since I was also going to have an ultrasound done.

Next was the biophysical, which is just an ultrasound where they watch for breathing and movement.  They also checked the fluid levels, which were much lower this week.  Then I had a quick appointment with my OB.  Actually, it ended up when they rescheduled me they set my appointment with a nurse instead of the doctor, but when I explained my confusion they had my OB come in anyway (*rolls eyes* communication please!).  She was pleased with everything they had seen and cautiously optimistic about the fluid level, although she noted that it's not an exact science and if the umbilical cord was in a fluid pocket it wouldn't be counted.  The bottom line is things look very good, but I will still be monitored with weekly biophysicals and non-stress tests and bi-weekly appointments.  Next week they will also check the baby's size again.  Let's see if he's still packing on the pounds quickly!

So AJ is doing well!  Tyler is on the mend, I think and I'm back at work this week and trying to get things in order to my upcoming maternity leave.  In other news the baby's room is still no where near done--really not even started--but I am considering a new theme of cute little monsters.  And that's about it for now!

Living large!

This week I'm thoroughly enjoying being off of work!  The week is flying by though, of course! Monday we went to the State Fair, a summertime tradition in my family!  It was pretty hot (though not as hot as it has been) and kind of crowded, but we had a good time!  The food was delicious!  I rented a motorized cart because I just can't walk very far without feeling pretty crummy!  Even so, my hips and back and even my shins have been sore all week!  I have found that if I stretch out my hips and back before I got to bed, I am sleeping better, which is a huge relief!  Tyler had a fabulous time, especially riding the kiddie roller coaster and the big slide on the midway. Thank goodness Daddy was there to ride with him!

Today I had my last regular appointment with my OB.  I'm 31 weeks pregnant now and next week I start going for my biophysicals and non-stress tests.  At 31 weeks, AJ should be as long as a stalk of bok choy LOL!  The appointment went well, my blood pressure is good and AJ's heartrate was in the 140's.  My OB read the ultrasound report and told me that they will be keeping a close eye on the fluid levels, since they were a little bit high. They measured at 22 at the ultrasound and anything of 25 is considered polyhydramnios.  Everything else looks good. I'm still measuring around 35 weeks and I really am feeling huge!

Squashed

29 weeks this week!  My ticker--which I think I have figured out only changes once a month now--proclaims baby boy to be the size of a squash!  That's getting pretty darn big!  It says the baby could be 3 lbs or more by now.  My ticker also tells me I have only 77 days left until my due date.  That seems like a very short amount of time!

I'm still feeling decent.  Evening naps aren't an absolute must anymore, but I find that it's better to limit skipping them to just a couple of times a week or else I pay for it!   My discomfort level is rising fairly rapidly, between AJ invading my lung space and stretching pains along the sides of my belly.  I'm also more uncomfortable at night in strange ways.  My shoulder, ship and even my EAR feel bruised and sore after laying on them for awhile.  It's really bizarre!  You'd think I was sleeping on a wooden board instead of a pillow top mattress.  I'm starting to be pretty encumbered by belly as well.  Putting on  shoes and pants is starting to be more challenging.  I'm (sort of) glad it's warm because sandals are much easier to put on myself than shoes with laces and there is no need for socks EVER.  My stomach appears to be getting a little sensitive again...I'm hoping it's not signalling the full blown third trimester return of morning sickness--I had that with Tyler.  For now, it's sending me back to the Tums container and turning me off of food just a little bit from time to time.  Hopefully it doesn't get worse.

Thursday is my next appointment.  I will be having an ultrasound to check the baby's growth and make sure the fibroid hasn't grown.  My OB is on vacation this week, so I'll have an appointment with the nurse. I'm a little bummed about that, because of course now, two weeks after she told me I'm considered high risk, I have lots of questions to ask.  But I guess they'll keep until my next appointment.

We spent Saturday running errands and then worked on cleaning out the baby's new room.  We have almost everything sorted out, just two more small bookshelves (they aren't very full), the desk (very little storage, mostly just cleaning it off), and a file cabinet (just emptying it, the contents are old and will be put in a box and taken to a shredding place) and then we just have to move stuff OUT.  We're throwing out or putting a lot of the stuff into a yard sale.  We do have a few things that we're trying to figure out where to store.  Namely our board games and paperwork. I think we'll move the file cabinet to the garage, it's fairly small.  The games may have to go on the shelves in my bedroom closet, we just don't have anywhere else to store them.  There will be a few more boxes that may end up out in the shed until we move to a bigger place.  Hopefully we can finish it up soon. I'll feel a lot better when it's cleaned out and we can start to fill it up again!

We also had our anniversary date night on Saturday.  We went to eat at Texas Roadhouse, our favorite and it was delicious!  I ordered my favorite thing on their menu and was happy that I was able to eat it! Then we went to a movie (appropriately "What to Expect When You're Expecting").  It was nice to go out together and just talk, we don't do that very often.

So that's about it!  Update to come after Thursday's doctor's appointment!

Great Eight

Today marks my eighth year of marriage to my wonderful husband!  It's hard to believe that it's been so long, and yet look how far we've come!  It also means that we've been together for a whopping 10 years!  Amazing!  We'll have a little date night on Saturday so I'm looking forward to that!

This week I am 28 weeks pregnant!  A.J. is the size of a head of iceberg lettuce, apparently LOL.  No word from the doctor's office last week means that my glucose tolerance test results came back fine, so YAY for that!  (And BOOYAH to the mean old OB that thought for sure I'd have all kinds of issues because I'm overweight.)  Unfortunately, they also haven't called with my next appointment time.  Since I'm switching to every two weeks now and they want to do an ultrasound at my next appointment, they told me they would set things up and then give me a call. My appointment was last Tuesday, so it's been almost a week. I called the office this morning and they just told me that they are still working on it.  I'm anxious to know when it will be and I'm looking forward to a little glimpse at the baby!  Plus I want to see that pesky little fibroid and make sure it's not growing.

So that's about it for updates!  I thought I'd share a few pictures too, because I haven't recently.  First, I'm gritting my teeth and posting this bump shot--I take them weekly but rarely share them, mostly because I don't like having my picture taken. And then, some pictures of Tyler to distract you :)

28 weeks

Tyler at the carnival a few weeks ago, with Daddy

At our friend's wedding on the Forth--So handsome!

Having his first ice cream cone this weekend, thanks to Mommy's pregnancy craving for mint chocolate chip!

Hello Third Trimester

This week marks the beginning of the third trimester! I can't believe 2/3rds of this pregnancy are over, but I'm not complaining!  This week my little man is the size of a rutabaga.  I'm not super clear of exactly how big that is LOL, but I know he's also probably upwards of 2 lbs now!  He can hear and open his eyes and everything! So multi-talented already!

So yesterday I had my check up and glucose tolerance test.  If I don't get a call by the end of the week I'll know that the glucose test came back fine, which I expect it to.  I'm glad that's over (assuming the test is normal) because I don't enjoy eating a hard boiled egg for breakfast followed by a really sweet orange soda that keeps giving me brain freeze.

I expected the rest of my appointment to be fairly routine--blood pressure check, measure fundal height, and listen to the baby's heartbeat.  My blood pressure was fine and the baby's heartrate came in at a solid 150.  However, I'm still measuring a little big, around 29 weeks as opposed to my 27 weeks.  Most likely, this is due to the stubborn little fibroid that was first mentioned at my 13 weeks first trimester screening.  My OB says that because I'm measuring larger, because I have the fibroid, and because I conceived while taking letrizole (femara--the fertility drug I was using when I got pregnant), they will now consider me high-risk and we'll be doing additional monitoring of the baby.

Basically, this means that I'll have an ultrasound in two weeks to check the size of the fibroid, and then starting at 32 weeks I will be seen weekly.  I will also have bi-weekly non-stress tests and biophysical profiles done.  I had a non-stress test with Tyler, it just involved being hooked up to a fetal monitor that measured his heartbeat and registered movements and any contractions I was having.  The biophysical profile apparently involves a detailed ultrasound that looks at several criteria:  heartrate increases, breathing movements, body movements, muscle tone, and amniotic fluid volume.  The baby will get a score out of 10 in these criteria.  If we get a bad score it could mean there is a problem.  They'll also be watching his growth carefully to make sure that the fibroid isn't restricting weight gain and watching for signs of preterm labor.

My ob emphasized that most of the time these fibroids don't cause any problems at all and that they just want to be extra cautious.  I'm glad that they will be watching things closely, but I can't say I'm not a little surprised.  I anxious to see what the fibroid measures at my next appointment and I guess I can just be happy that I'll get to see my little one on screen again.  I was wondering if I'd have another peek at him before the big day and apparently I'll get a lot more than that!

I am left wondering how this fibroid wasn't detected by my RE's office.  I had monthly ultrasounds with them, as well as an HSG test and an ultrasound when I was 6 weeks pregnant.  My OB even asked if I'd had an HSG and when I told her yes and that it was normal aside from my left tube not filling (which my RE attributed to cramping), she said it could have been that the fibroid is near the tube's opening and that is is actually closing off the tube.  She says it's not always easy to see a fibroid (especially one in the muscle, like mine is), especially in an HSG ultrasound, but she would have thought they would have detected it at some point.  I guess I can't be sure when this little bugger showed up, but it does make me wonder!

I also wonder what kind of concerns my OB has regarding my use of letrizole to conceive. She mentioned it when, but we ended up talking more about the fibroid and I didn't think to ask if she has any specific concerns or has seen anything worrisome in other patient's who have used the drug. I know it's not as widely used in the US as Clomid is (remember I maxed out on Clomid cycles and was using letrizole while we considered other more expensive treatment options), but my RE said it was very safe.  I guess I'll have to ask my OB at my next appointment.  The office is supposed to work on getting me scheduled for the next few appointments and then call me.

After I have the baby, they'll watch to see what the fibroid does and consider what (if anything) to do about it at that point.  Usually if they aren't causing problems, you leave them alone, but they can interfere with fertility, so we may have to address it at some point if we decide to have more children.

So, all in all not exactly what I was expecting, but the bottom line is all is well and baby and I will be watched carefully over the next 12 weeks.

Oh and yes, I believe this little one finally has a name...Alexander Jacob.  We all really like it and it lends itself to lots of possible nicknames: Alex, Xander, AJ...I'm leaning toward AJ personally.

'Til next time!

Goodbye Second Trimester!

26 weeks pregnant!!  Our baby is the size of a head of lettuce!  And his eyes may be opened for the first time!!  Maybe that explains the increase of ROLLING and SPINNING and HEAD-BUTTING I've been feeling!  A lot of girls in my due date buddies thread online have talked about the concerns of preterm delivery and it's got me very thankful that I've made it this far, since at 26 weeks the chances for survival soar to 80% from 50% and below earlier in pregnancy.  The strain of having a preemie would be terrible and scary, but it still lets me sleep a little better knowing that the baby would have a good chance! I've heard and read too many stories about late losses because the baby was too early. I can't believe I'm getting so close to the end of the second trimester!

In other news, it's still hot, which isn't really news as I'm pretty sure it's about this hot EVERYWHERE in the country right now.  We had a bad windstorm on Friday so I'm just thankful we never lost power or anything!  It's Fourth of July week, which means I only have to work three days!  Unfortunately it's a weird Monday, Tuesday, Friday work week, which means Friday will be long and boring, but I'll take it over the alternative!  One of my best friends is getting married on Wednesday, so we'll be celebrating that as well!  I stressed over what to wear, since my maternity wardrobe is pretty limited.  I considered buying a dress, but I ended up settling on a really pretty cream colored lace top and black capris--I hope it's not too casual!  Now I'm on the hunt for bright shoes and accessories to bring in some color.  Yeah, I know I'm running out of time.

I got Tyler to feel the baby moving the other day.  I'm not sure if he was freaked out or just not that interested in the whole thing.

Next week is my next OB appointment complete with glucose tolerance test.  My 8th wedding anniversary is also fast approaching!  It's going to be a busy July!

Viability

24 weeks pregnant and we have reached viability!  24 weeks is the earliest that most babies can survive if they are born early.  But no ideas, kiddo!  Keep on cooking in there!

Baby is the size of a cantaloupe this week!  Even though my ticker STILL says papaya!  I even generated the ticker again and it still says that, for the third week running. :-/ What's up with that?

My doctor's appointment last week was pretty uneventful. It was nice, for the first time, to not be worried about if they would find a heartbeat, since I could feel the little booger moving around!  As soon as my OB touched my belly with the dopplar, he kicked it! LOL  Heartrate was good, I've gained a couple of pounds now and everything else looks good.  My glucose test is in three week and then I start having appointments every two week!  I can't believe we're almost there already!

My sides ache since baby is stretching me out and I've having loads of fun trying to find a decent outfit for an upcoming wedding. :-P

In other news, my husband tore up the carpet in my mom's bedroom so we could lay new laminate flooring.  Unfortunately then she spent the rest of the weekend sick as a dog, even going to the ER at one point, so we didn't actually get to put the flooring in.  It only reminds me that I could never live in a house that was undergoing major renovations.  What a pain!  Hopefully we (lol he) can tackle it this weekend.  I've been watching Tyler the last two days, enjoying some time together while my mom tries to recuperate.  I realize that Tyler and I won't have that many more days with just the two of us! It's hard to wrap my head around that!