pregnancy

22 Week Bumpdate

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The weeks seem to be flying by but somehow I am only 22 weeks, shouldn’t I be at least 6 months by now?

Sigh.

I had an uneventful Dr. appointment last week, the kind that has me in and out within minutes. I was reminded of my previa, how I should be taking it somewhat easy and what to do if contractions or bleeding start. I said, “don’t worry doc, I got this.”

Baby A is a mover and shaker these days, she seems to be awake all through the night and most of the day, so my future looks bright and sleepy.

Kaili and I spent the week playing, getting her old baby clothes washed and put away, cooking, and of course eating.

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I worked hard on this puzzle
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Working on fine motor skills

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Cuban for dinner

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I  got a head start on my April culinary bucket list, the recipe was easy and very tasty. Can’t wait to share it with you.

20 Week Bumpdate

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20 weeks people, half way! This pregnancy is moving along at a nice speed, being able to move around really helps the days go by a tad quicker.

Baby is the size of a banana, who comes up with these fruits? I am feeling baby A move more each day. Yes, we have settled on a name, no I can’t tell you yet.

I have been feeling great these last couple months, somedays I even forget that I am pregnant. But, the past few days have been met with contractions, the more I have the more uncomfortable they get. They do tend to go away with rest but sometimes they come back while resting…soo…. Anyways, lets just hope they don’t act like a bitch and land me on bed rest.

I have my monthly checkup next week. Seems like forever since I have seen a doctor, so different from when I was pregnant with Kaili.

I still haven’t done ANY shopping for the babe, I really can’t believe it.  I haven’t gone through K’s baby things, put much thought into her nursery or done much of anything now that I think about it. Probably should get on that. Maybe today…

You’re My Friend

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Lately when Kaili sees my hideous c-section scar she comments on how I have an owie like she does and points to her hand. I always tell her how that was way the Dr. got her out of my stomach, then she replies, “ya, you let me out.” Ha, more like dragged you out kid.

"I'm in the mighty forest."
“I’m in the mighty forest.”

She says some wild things that just remind me how great this age is. While strolling around SeaWorld she was pointing out every man saying “that’s not my dad!” At least she wasn’t asking them if they were her dad, awkward. She had less interest in the actual mammals and fish this time around, poking around the stores and just being on the go was more exciting. We wandered around the entire park until mama had enough. We visited Shamu last, he was her favorite this time.

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My favorite is when she takes my hand and says “I love you, you’re my friend” in the cutest little voice. My heart flutters.

Twins?

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I have been day dreaming  about this little one inside me, who will she look like, what color eyes will she have? From what I have read she is basically Kaili’s “twin” or in other words, a genetically unique sibling conceived on the same day but born years later. Since they are from the same batch of embryos and the same treatment cycle, how similar will they be? Will they have a special bond, same personalities or is that all hogwash? It’s all a little surreal and surely fascinating scientific stuff.

{Here is a nice article about another couples story “Twins” born 5 years apart”.}

The many faces of Kaili

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17 Week Bumpdate

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I considered skipping this weeks blog post because there isn’t much to say but then I got the amnio results. I will make this a quick one to fill you in. Everything is good under the hood. Chromosomes are as they should be, there are no signs of a nural tube defect and it’s still a girl. I had to ask.

I had my monthly Dr. visit this week as well. The wait was three times as long as the actual appointment and all that happened was I heard the heartbeat and got put on some restrictions.  Due to placenta previa I am now on pelvic rest, no running, no extreme activities and no lifting more than 15 lbs. If I have any bleeding, spotting or contractions that don’t stop with rest I have been directed to head straight to Triage.  Let’s hope we can skip that part this pregnancy.

See, that was painless.

Onwards to 18 weeks.

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.

 

 

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.