Thursday, April 17, 2014

21 week appointment

The latest appointment was normal and boring, just like we like 'em! I am up 9lbs so far - doc is happy with that, so maybe my cookie binges aren't doing too too much damage. I have developed a couple new patches of spider veins, gross. I suppose they wouldn't bother be so much if they weren't below my knees, where summer dresses won't always cover. I guess I will just consider them "life lines" and hope that they go away after the pregnancy, once blood flow decreases.

This is the belly today:


Pregnancy fatigue is still kicking my butt -- seems like that will be the running theme for these 9 months! My next appointment is in a month; I will be tested for gestational diabetes, and get to drink that yummy glucola. Blech!

We have a more exciting appointment next because we get to have another ultrasound, yay! 

Sometimes I wish I had more to post but this pregnancy has been pretty textbook so far, and the less drama the better!

Friday, April 4, 2014

20 week update (with pics)

Adding pics always makes the post worth reading, right? We are 20 weeks (officially tomorrow), and moving right along. We had our big anatomy scan a week and a half ago, and everything looks good. Baby is healthy, measuring about a week ahead..which means we could have a bigger baby on our hands! Little babe was moving ans shaking during his "interview," but I do not need ultrasounds to tell me that these days. As we move along and baby gets bigger, movement is definitely following suit.

IPs are excited, but cautious still, I think. Once we get to viability - around 28 weeks - I think they'll breathe a little easier. That's understandable after all they've been through of course. My next ultrasound is in a few weeks. I always love those moments to take peeks at baby!


Little baby's crossed ankles!


I am officially in maternity clothes, although they are still a little big and don't always look quite right. I think those clothes aren't really meant to look "right" until the belly is 3rd trimester big. I am headed that way:


A little bit of nausea has returned the last few days. I know that's normal heading into the 3rd trimester, but I was hoping to have another month or so before that. I haven't had any pregnancy cravings much either, except for meat every now and again (hamburgers, gyro meat, etc...no chicken or seafood, really). I'm also still making it to the gym 3-4 days a week, but this pregnancy's fatigue is really limiting me. I'm content to leave the gym before my workout is finished: "I'm tired, time to go home." ;) Round ligament pain has been making me a bit uncomfortable the last couple weeks too, but that should dissipate in a few weeks, or so I read.

Enough about me (that's typical pregnancy stuff anyway - nothing exciting). Let's talk about baby:

At 20 weeks, baby is about the size of a banana, measured from crown to rump (not including lower limbs since baby is "folded up" inside) and weighs approximately 11oz. Baby's hair is also starting to grow. Baby can hear sounds outside the womb. *This little one apparently likes country music.

Thanks for reading, friends! More updates soon.

Friday, March 14, 2014

17 weeks, bumping and moving

There's the bump, friends! (Pics are always fun.) We are 17 weeks and moving right along. I'm still in some of my pre-pregnancy clothes but have a feeling I will be transitioning out of those very soon as they are getting uncomfortable.

I had a typical prenatal visit this week: BP = 116/70, Weight = I don't ask, they don't tell ;), Baby's heartrate = 152 bpm. We are healthy. Love these boring appointments!

I've been feeling baby thumps over the last few days as well; that's one of my favorite things about pregnancy! We're still early so flutters are sporadic but Baby is making his/her presence known.

And as if the first trimester rhinitis wasn't enough, I am now nursing an annoyingly uncomfortable cold. The husband had it last week and decided to share his germs -- isn't he sweet! I've been sneezing, coughing, sniffling, headache-y, and not sleeping for about 3 days now. I'm hoping it's almost done. I'm over being sick and uncomfortable.My crew is out for Spring Break next week; they need a healthy momma! I'm ready for that second trimester sweet spot, where I feel good, have energy, and maybe even glow a little. Just kidding -- I've never been one of those "glowing" pregnant chicks.

Our next appointment to check on Baby will be the big ONE. Anatomy ultrasound is in a little less than 2 weeks. We will measure major organs and growth of baby, amniotic fluid, placental placement, and the like. It should be a fun appointment!

Leaving you with fun pregnancy stats:

At 17 weeks, Baby measures approximately 5" from crown to rump, but would be 9" if outstretched.  Baby's retinas are becoming sensitive to light, and baby is beginning to hear sounds. Fat cells are beginning to accumulate under his/her skin. Eyebrows, eyelashes and head hair are starting to fill. My uterus is the size of a cantaloupe (explains the tight pants!).


Friday, February 14, 2014

Almost 13 weeks!

An update for you, as promised: We are almost 13 weeks along, yay! Baby is about the size of an egg, and eyelids have formed and arms and legs are moving all around!

Our ultrasound on Wednesday went great: nuchal scan was negative as well as the Materni21 blood test. Doc said baby was absolutely perfect! We will get another peek at the little in about 6 weeks when we have the big anatomy scan. Since all is well, I am carrying on as usual.

The ultrasound was fun as I had a fantastic tech who kept commenting on how cute the baby was and how much bean was moving around. I love having a tech that really enjoys her job...not like those tight-lipped ones that I seem to get lately. She took several pictures that I was able to send to C. Here are my favorites:



I love how baby looks like he/she's smiling in the first pic; really, he/she was gulping the amniotic fluid. Baby also kept waving his/her little hand around. I'm not feeling any movement yet, but I hope to be able to in the coming weeks. That's almost my favorite part of pregnancy!


My pants are definitely getting snug and it's likely I could need maternity clothes soon...sooner than my previous pregnancy even. Baby is measuring about 5 days ahead, so maybe that's it...yeah, that's what I'm going with. ;)

I'm off to spend a quiet Valentine's evening with my two youngest boys; the hubby is traveling for work and my eldest are doing their own thing with friends. The boys and I are grabbing a movie, a heart shaped pizza, and dessert'ing with a strawberry shortcake. Happy Valentine's Day, friends!

Monday, February 3, 2014

Forgive me again?

My apologies again for not keeping you all updated as promised. I always have the best of intentions, then life gets in the way. Although I do have a super good excuse: terrible, awful first trimester nausea and incurable fatigue! Shortly after my last post, my rhinitis symptoms calmed down, but those icky first tri feelings kicked themselves into high gear, and I spent most of pregnancy weeks 6 - 9 on the couch either sleeping or trying not to be sick. It was miserable! I was sleeping for 10 hours at night and was also napping during the day; I could NOT get enough sleep. And when I wasn't sleeping, I was just laying around. I know fatigue is normal, but I don't remember being this tired of my past pregnancies. Maybe it's my age (I'm no spring chicken ;)), or maybe it's one of those "every pregnancy is different" things. Whatever the reason, it totally kicked my butt.

I have started to feel better in the last 2 weeks. The nausea has moved out and an insane appetite has taken its place. Seriously, I'm ravenous -- making up for lost time, perhaps? I have a little less than a week on the fertility hormones, so I'm hoping my mood and appetite will balance out after that. If they don't, I'm going to gain 100 pregnancy pounds and be too moody for anyone to put up with!

But enough about me. I know y'all come here to check on the  little one. And there is only one healthy baby in there. While I'm a little sad that both embryos didn't stick, I'm happy that we have a good strong heartbeat!


The little guy/gal was moving those little limbs all over the place. That's always so cool to see! 

We had a nuchal scan done at the 10 week appointment last week. The nuchal scan is a soft marker for Down Syndrome and other chromosomal abnormalities. It's performed by measuring the tissue at the back of baby's neck. The measurement can determine risk factors for Down Syndrome. Our test did come back positive. I had some blood drawn as well that can measure fetal DNA; my OB and a high risk OB will use that in conjunction with a follow-up scan next week to decide baby's risk factors. My OB shared with me that it was a little early for the nuchal scan (they usually do them between 11 and 13 weeks), so this could be a false positive. We will know more after a re-test on November 12. IM and I are not very concerned yet as this sweet baby's egg donor was a healthy 23yr old and the embryo had PGD testing. In the meantime, we wait. 

And I will try really, really hard to update after that appointment.

If you're still keeping up and following along, bless you for your patience. See you all next week, hopefully. ;)