Pregnancy

16 Week Bumpdate

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The baby is supposedly the size of an avocado.

mmm guacamole  

Some women can feel movements by now but me, not so much.

I had my second tri ultrasound and amnio Wednesday. I have to say I am SO GLAD I went back to the Perinatologist I saw with Kaili, so glad. The ultrasound went well. Baby looked good, measuring a week ahead. Unlike Kaili at 16 weeks, she didn’t want to pose for the camera.

I don’t have velementous cord insertion this time around but I do have placenta previa. The Dr. told me sometimes it resolves itself, sometimes it doesn’t and different doctors recommend different restrictions. She said my OB would fill me in next week at my appointment. From what I read, previa tends to pose more of a problem after 20 weeks. In the words of Shane Snyder “it’s always something.”

The amnio wasn’t as bad as I remember it. It did hurt and it seemed to last longer than last time but once again I am really glad I went through with it. I followed it up with 24 hours of bed rest and am feeling just fine. We should get the results in 10 days.

Today I am 17 weeks and ready for this baby to make herself known. I turn another year older this weekend and am going to treat myself to a birthday cake, a mani pedi, a date night and a hot bubble bath.

15 Week Bumpdate

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This past week has been boring and long and boring. Kaili got hit with a bad cold and we were pretty much quarintined to the house. Shane was working from home so that meant we were forced to watch every.single.minute. of Seahawk television and there was a lot of it. I am now overly prepared to see that category on Jeopardy, let’s make it a true daily double, Alex.

Since I don’t have much to share with you, lets talk about the bump.

My morning sickness is officially gone, thank the baby Jesus. The contractions had slowed way down during the week and only started happening at night. I would get a couple right around 8pm, but last night nothing, holla!

Baby is the size of a naval orange. Did you know that the color orange was named after the fruit and not the other way around? You’re welcome.

Still no distinct movement. Every once in awhile I feel a little plop in my stomach but it could be anything.

I have my 2nd trimester blood test scheduled this week and the amnio the week after. Once we get the results we can start focusing on whatever it is I should be doing around 5 months. Part of me wants to put it all off but another part of me wants to make sure I have what I need incase bed rest is in my future. I will not worry about that now, now is the time to procrastinate.

Annoying

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Pregnancy wise I felt a lot better yesterday, thankfully. I got a good nights sleep and tried to take it easy most of the day. Kaili is sick so there isn’t too much we can do anyhow. As soon as I think whatever contractions were happening last weekend are gone bam I get one. I am chalking them up to Braxton Hicks but I’m not exactly sure what I should do, if anything. I know the nurse said to head to the hospital if they came back but having 1 every once in awhile doesn’t warrant hours in Triage…does it? And the fact that I am getting them at night is just plain inconvenient. Advice? I guess I will call the Doc back and see what they suggest.

Meanwhile.

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Kaili has been showing more interest in the potty. She seems to be grasping the concept, when she says she needs to go potty she does. I find that if I initiate it with a timer she gets discouraged so as of now I am following her lead. I need to bite the bullet and pull the diaper but I don’t want to jump the gun either. Advice?

Say What?

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Should I start with the good or not so good? Ok the good. How bout them Seahawks? They did a little bit of murdering Sunday and it was a thrill to watch. Our house was booming.

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I made too much food but it was all delicious. Soft pretzels with cheese sauce…drool, buffalo chicken potato skins, baked jalapeño poppers and Carne asada. To say we ate well was an understatement. We drank [and by we I mean them] delicious wine from Walla Walla, a few from California and a couple from Australia.

Skinny Baked Jalapeño Poppers

*Picture is before they were baked, my bad
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Closet Cooking:Buffalo Chicken Potato Skins

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Yammie’s Noshery Copycat Pretzel Recipe

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Drew Bledsoe’s Doubleback Winery

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2009 Syrah

Saturday I spent the day in the OC with family. After getting home and putting K to bed I noticed I was having what felt like contractions. Contractions? At 14 weeks? I know right?  I had some anxiety so I thought that might have been the cause. They went away a few hours later. I felt fine the next day until later in the afternoon, then they started up again. They lasted longer this time and the longer I had them the more uncomfortable I was feeling. I researched everything I could, which isn’t much because it seems pretty rare. They finally went away and I was able to fall asleep. I called the Doc as soon as I woke up and I anxiously waited a phone call back. When the nurse called she told me that due to my history I need to head to Triage if they came back. It’s probably nothing serious but it could be “super early pre-term labor”. Ahem, excuse me? No way man.

Monday evening came and I started feeling them again but they weren’t too bad so I told myself I was fine. I took it easy, took a bath and fought every reason to go to the hospital. The contractions were not very strong but I started  to feel uncomfortable. Since it is so early on in the pregnancy it’s hard to tell what is what anymore. I have some minor cramping and a dull backache as I write this. I am really hoping this is gone by morning, I’m sure it will be, but if it’s not I will head over to Triage to see what the hell is going on.

14 Week Bumpdate

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I had my monthly Dr. appointment this week which was so reassuring. Being able to jump around…aka workout this pregnancy, I was a little nervous about the baby. I know, I know it’s totally fine, but I didn’t get to do any of this moving around business last time so it’s all new to me. My appointment was with Dr. French, the doc who delivered Kaili. We spent some time chit chatting, she sent a referral to the specialist I saw last pregnancy and we did the ultrasound. Baby was super active and looked just fine.

I am thrilled I was able to cancel my appointments with the other specialist group.  We were not happy with there services which made me nervous about going to them for an amnio. Now I have my second trimester ultrasound and amnio scheduled with the Dr. I wanted all along. Relief.

Sleep hasn’t gotten much better and the morning sickness is about the sameome days are great and others are not. Cravings are less prominent although I am making soft pretzels Sunday and I salivate at the thought of them…oh and some good bread and brie may have to happen.

Since another girl is on the way I feel like I don’t have too much to do this time. I am keeping the bedroom paint color the same, Kaili’s furniture will be moved into the new room and I have tons of baby clothes, I just have to go through them all. I have a nursery theme picked out and we are pretty sure of the name. It’s a lot more relaxing this time around, at least in the decorating department.

Now all there is to think about is the big game Sunday. Go Hawks.

It’s A….

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“Now I want y’all to repeat after me, penis, penis, penis, vagina, vagina, vagina!” Name that movie!

I got the results back from the Harmony test I took. The results were good. The risk for Downs and Trisomy were really low, less than 1 in 10,000.  The results were so good I got them twice, once from my Dr. and once my the genetic counselor.

Then I was asked if I wanted to know the sex. Duh

Here was Kaili’s reaction when I told her what we were having.

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She was the first person I told while I impatiently waited 30 minutes for Shane to message me back. Longest half hour evah!

I am anxious for my Dr. appointment today. Now that we know what we are having and that things are seemingly on the right path I find new things to worry about. Looking forward to hearing the heartbeat and having a little reassurance things are still going strong. Do all expecting mothers feel like this or just the ones that struggle to get pregnant?

Oh wait, I forgot to tell you what we are having huh? It’s a girl. This gal is getting a little sister.

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13 Weeks Bumpdate

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Hello second trimester!

We should be getting our Harmony results back any day. Gender wise, we both think it’s a boy but I may or may not be secretly wishing for a girl. In the end, healthy is all I really want.

(Rolls eyes), she has to say that.

Anthem Blue Cross has been nothing but a nightmare. We finally received our insurance cards and it seems that all will be OK in the end, meaning I should  be able to keep all my doctors. Otherwise I may have a complete breakdown. I am crossing my fingers that the Perinatologist I saw with Kaili accepts our new insurance so I can go to her for my amnio. The doctor group I saw last week left something to be desired.

Morning sickness has decreased to an almost non existence..almost. I have started working out and it feels amazing but it zaps all of my energy and afterwards I could crawl in bed and go to sleep. Cravings are the strangest thing, I didn’t have them like this with K. Sometimes a food pops into my head and I have to have it. HAVE to. This week it was bananas with peanut butter and chicken piccata. Gawd, the chicken piccata was so so good, best I am ever made.

Sleep isn’t the greatest, I toss and turn, the slightest noise wakes me up and I hit the bathroom countless times a night.

I think I have felt some flutters in my stomach but not sure if it was the baby or something else. I had a lot of round ligament pain yesterday and my belling has gotten bigger in the past few days. Hopefully the working out will help the other body parts stay the same size.

I am not missing much of anything now that I am up and moving around. I have one cup of coffee a day. I eat deli meat when I want it and I am not worried about soft cheeses, we aren’t in France people. I’d like to say I miss my wine but I actually don’t…yet. I have had a bad run with allergies the past few months, maybe I am allergic to being pregnant…wouldn’t doubt it. I take Claritin when I absolutely have to and it helps SO much.

I am looking forward to that phone call from our genetic counselor with our results (taps fingers on desk). And I am looking forward to this month to end, it seems there are 100 days in January this year.

 

 

12 Weeks

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My Nuchal scan was uneventful. I was sent to a different specialist this time and I wasn’t impressed but it got the job done. The results came back and my percentage of having a baby with down syndrome is 1 in 540 and Trisomy 18 was 1 in 52,000. Those also go down since the embryo was from my former 34 year old self, boo ya! But then they go back up since it is an IVF pregnancy, confusing huh? It took awhile for the tech to get the measurements since baby wasn’t cooperating, must have been that delicious coffee I had that morning. I am 12 weeks today but the estimated due date based on yesterdays scan shows me at 12 weeks 5 days. No doctors ran in telling me about a hematoma so I am going to take it that it’s healed and I am good to go. I am going to start upping my activity level, cautiously of course, and see how that goes.

After a long genetic counseling session, which in my opinion is a waste of time, I went ahead and had my blood drawn for  the Harmony genetic test. Overkill? Nope, not for me and I will most likely opt for the amnio in 6 weeks too, we will see. I should get the results back in 8-10 days, then we will know whether we keep the baby clothes we have or switch them out for more masculine attire.

I have to go back next week for a high risk consult, not exactly sure what that means but hey, I am game.

In the meantime I have decided to start a culinary bucket list for 2014. I will make 2 recipes I have never tried each month and post a review and a picture to hold myself accountable. Kristi, will also be joining in on the fun so be sure to check out her recipes. I will start with 2 Chinese recipes for our dinner party {themed} Chinese New Year.  It’s the year of the horse which of course means it will be a great year. Gong Xi Fa Cai!

The One With An Ultrasound Photo

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Kaili is starting to grasp the concept that there is a baby in my belly, well when she wants to that is. She started talking to to my stomach, “hello baby”. I told her that when the baby gets bigger she can talk to it all the time and maybe sometimes she will see it move. She then said, “open tummy”, in due time kid.

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The nausea pills seemed to make a lot of difference yesterday, in a good way. Now if it just goes away on its own here in a couple weeks, oh who am I kidding a couple weeks is TOO LONG to want to puke all day. I would rather not have to take anything at all but whatever works, am I right?

With my moms help I was able to do some purging around the house aka make room for baby and since the weather has been just lovely we spent some time at the park. Speaking of purging, did you ever see that movie The Purge? Creepy!

I have a first trimester blood screen test Friday, still have to find out if the MaterniT21 blood test is covered by our insurance, need to make an appointment with my Perinatologist and maybe take a trip to “Bed, Bath, & Beyond, I don’t know, I don’t know if we’ll have enough time.” See what I did there?

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July 26th

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I had a long and thorough Dr. appointment Friday. 10 weeks, baby looks good, heartbeat is strong, morning sickness has gotten worse and spotting has stopped…for now.

My Dr. wasn’t too concerned with the bleed, she told me to keep doing what I have been doing and she thinks it will heal itself as the baby grows. She was more concerned with going over all my genetic testing options. Being over 35 and high risk I am now given an option for a safe, non invasive blood test that tests for certain chromosome conditions. I am leaning towards doing this if our insurance covers it, this test can be done after 10 weeks. I think I will still opt for an amnio for my own piece of mind but that doesn’t happen until the second trimester.

She gave me a prescription for the nausea that is kicking my butt. I am still waiting for it to be filled but I sure hope it helps because I have felt so bad. The nausea starts around 11:00 am and lasts until 5:00 pm. and I feel better after eating dinner. I have been staying up a lot later these past few days because that is the time I feel the best and I am addicted to The Walking Dead. We have been watching 4 episodes a night, it’s so good.

My due date is July 26th as long as Pre-E doesn’t screw with me this time. Once I get ahold of my insurance company which I have been on hold with for almost 2 hours with I will make an appointment to have my routine blood panel test taken. They are going to start monitoring the Pre-E early on this pregnancy. Let’s hope the next few months are a breeze.