My snuggle bug who is really enjoying his new "seat"
Monday, January 16, 2012
26 Weeks
At week 26, Baby is certainly interfering with my sleep, messing with my brain (forget much?), and even giving me a stress headache or two. It’s normal to be experiencing some mild swelling, but around this week, it’s important to watch out for swelling severe or sudden -- it could be the sign of a dangerous condition called preeclampsia.
How far along: 26 weeks
Total weight gain/loss: +12 lbs
Pregnancy Symptoms: Unable to see my feet when standing straight up, back pain, sciatic pain, difficulty sleeping, left foot pain from my previous break and wow is it hurting, excessive foot and hand itching, especially at night when I am "trying" to sleep, increased urination... Here we go!
Maternity clothes: Yep, yep, yep.
Stretch marks: Nope
Maternity clothes: Yep, yep, yep.
Stretch marks: Nope
Sleep: 5-6 hours
Best moment last week: The nursery is finally underway!!!
Movement: Getting stronger by the day! Based on Baby's movements, Baby seems to be a laid back!
Food cravings: Ice Cream Sunday - Yum! Daddy even went out to the store and surprised me by bringing home all the ingredients!
Gender: Boy
Labor Signs: None
Belly Button (in or out): I'm an outie!!!!!!!!!!!!
What I miss: Miles being able to sit on my lap easily to read him books. Poor little guy can barely sit on my lap without wiggling like crazy to find space.
What I am looking forward to: Seeing Baby again
Milestones: The bump is growing... I noticed I can't see my feet anymore if I look straight down... Here we go!
Best moment last week: The nursery is finally underway!!!
Movement: Getting stronger by the day! Based on Baby's movements, Baby seems to be a laid back!
Food cravings: Ice Cream Sunday - Yum! Daddy even went out to the store and surprised me by bringing home all the ingredients!
Gender: Boy
Labor Signs: None
Belly Button (in or out): I'm an outie!!!!!!!!!!!!
What I miss: Miles being able to sit on my lap easily to read him books. Poor little guy can barely sit on my lap without wiggling like crazy to find space.
What I am looking forward to: Seeing Baby again
Milestones: The bump is growing... I noticed I can't see my feet anymore if I look straight down... Here we go!
Monthly OB Appointment
This morning started off as a very typical morning, the alarm went off more times than anyone should allow, followed by lots of kicking until I finally got out of bed. Once I was finally moving, I was on my way to my monthly OB appointment.
When my OB arrived, we spent some time small talking and then it came time for the doppler. For the first time ever, my OB was not able to immediately fine Baby's heartbeat. After multiple tries, I could tell she felt something was wrong. Just as I thought she was going to tell me that I had lost Baby, I felt a bunch of kicks. She opened her mouth to say something and I cut in with Baby is fine, I can feel Baby moving. She then performed an ultrasound and found the root of the problem. My placenta is positioned in an abnormal way, therefore was blocking the doppler from the normal location to find Baby's heart beat at this stage. On examination, it was discovered that my placenta is covering my cervix by about 50%. This is a major concern, as typically by late second trimester, early third trimester the placenta is towards the top of the womb, therefore not blocking Baby's only route of entrance into the "real world."
My OB and I spent a great deal of time talking about what this meant in regards to both Baby and my health as we move forward in the pregnancy. I learned quite a bit that I had no idea about today. Apparently as Baby grows, the placenta can shift as it grows, so the placenta could move away from my cervix, stay where it is or cover my cervix completely. My OB assured me that this is something at this point that we cannot do anything about and that there was no way that I could have caused this to happen, so it is just one of those fluxes of nature.
The medical term for what was found is Placents Previa. This complication apparently occurs in 1 out of 200 pregnancies, so not that terribly uncommon. In speaking with my OB, this can be found more commonly in women who have already had a c-section. I am having minimal side effects from this at this time. My OB feels that the contractions that I have been having all along could in part be related to the placenta location, as well as the 2 times that Daddy and I almost went to the hospital due to the pain/contraction combination that I have had over the past month. At this point both Baby and I are safe and doing just fine, however are now requiring closer monitoring, so are now considered high risk. Things that we have to watch out for is sudden heavy bleeding. The amount of blood loss is the concern with Placenta Previa, and if that were to occur, we would be admitted to the hospital and possibly given blood transfusions, meds to stop labor or sent into the OR to have a c-section for both of our protection dependent on how far along we are.
So, what does that mean to us right now... Well, I have been put on modified bed rest and lifting restrictions. I am allowed to stand no longer than 2 hours at a time with a minimum of a 30 minute rest before standing again. I have also been put on lifting restrictions of 20 lbs with one exclusion, I may carry Miles for no longer than 20 minutes as a time, with the recommendation of no longer than 20 minutes every 2 hours. Thank you Miles for being such a peanut at 23 lbs that I am still allowed to pick you up!
This also means that unless the placenta drastically moves up in the womb, we are heading to another c-section. I am fine with that, as I understand that in my case this will actually be our safest bet. My uneasiness comes with the thought that they are not willing to let me go any further than 38 weeks at the current moment and I had wanted to make it to 41 weeks and 1 day for a few reasons:
1) At a minimum, I wanted to make it to my due date for Baby's development
2) I made it to 41 weeks with Miles and he still did not seem ready to "meet the world"
3) I really wanted to be at work on April 29 and 30 for the opening of the new hospital... As silly as that may sound, this has been a professional goal of mine for 7 years, and to miss it by a week is absolutely crushing.
I am now working hard to put these thoughts aside as I have to do what is medically recommended for both Baby and I now that I am experiencing the complication.
When my OB arrived, we spent some time small talking and then it came time for the doppler. For the first time ever, my OB was not able to immediately fine Baby's heartbeat. After multiple tries, I could tell she felt something was wrong. Just as I thought she was going to tell me that I had lost Baby, I felt a bunch of kicks. She opened her mouth to say something and I cut in with Baby is fine, I can feel Baby moving. She then performed an ultrasound and found the root of the problem. My placenta is positioned in an abnormal way, therefore was blocking the doppler from the normal location to find Baby's heart beat at this stage. On examination, it was discovered that my placenta is covering my cervix by about 50%. This is a major concern, as typically by late second trimester, early third trimester the placenta is towards the top of the womb, therefore not blocking Baby's only route of entrance into the "real world."
My OB and I spent a great deal of time talking about what this meant in regards to both Baby and my health as we move forward in the pregnancy. I learned quite a bit that I had no idea about today. Apparently as Baby grows, the placenta can shift as it grows, so the placenta could move away from my cervix, stay where it is or cover my cervix completely. My OB assured me that this is something at this point that we cannot do anything about and that there was no way that I could have caused this to happen, so it is just one of those fluxes of nature.
The medical term for what was found is Placents Previa. This complication apparently occurs in 1 out of 200 pregnancies, so not that terribly uncommon. In speaking with my OB, this can be found more commonly in women who have already had a c-section. I am having minimal side effects from this at this time. My OB feels that the contractions that I have been having all along could in part be related to the placenta location, as well as the 2 times that Daddy and I almost went to the hospital due to the pain/contraction combination that I have had over the past month. At this point both Baby and I are safe and doing just fine, however are now requiring closer monitoring, so are now considered high risk. Things that we have to watch out for is sudden heavy bleeding. The amount of blood loss is the concern with Placenta Previa, and if that were to occur, we would be admitted to the hospital and possibly given blood transfusions, meds to stop labor or sent into the OR to have a c-section for both of our protection dependent on how far along we are.
So, what does that mean to us right now... Well, I have been put on modified bed rest and lifting restrictions. I am allowed to stand no longer than 2 hours at a time with a minimum of a 30 minute rest before standing again. I have also been put on lifting restrictions of 20 lbs with one exclusion, I may carry Miles for no longer than 20 minutes as a time, with the recommendation of no longer than 20 minutes every 2 hours. Thank you Miles for being such a peanut at 23 lbs that I am still allowed to pick you up!
This also means that unless the placenta drastically moves up in the womb, we are heading to another c-section. I am fine with that, as I understand that in my case this will actually be our safest bet. My uneasiness comes with the thought that they are not willing to let me go any further than 38 weeks at the current moment and I had wanted to make it to 41 weeks and 1 day for a few reasons:
1) At a minimum, I wanted to make it to my due date for Baby's development
2) I made it to 41 weeks with Miles and he still did not seem ready to "meet the world"
3) I really wanted to be at work on April 29 and 30 for the opening of the new hospital... As silly as that may sound, this has been a professional goal of mine for 7 years, and to miss it by a week is absolutely crushing.
I am now working hard to put these thoughts aside as I have to do what is medically recommended for both Baby and I now that I am experiencing the complication.
Monday, January 9, 2012
25 Weeks
How far along: 25 weeks
Total weight gain/loss: +11.5 lbs
Pregnancy Symptoms: Back pain, headaches, sciatic pain, difficulty sleeping, left foot pain from my previous break and wow is it really starting to hurt, excessive foot and hand itching, especially at night when I am "trying" to sleep
Maternity clothes: Yep, yep, yep. Some of them are beginning to get a bit snug if you ask me.
Stretch marks: Nope
Maternity clothes: Yep, yep, yep. Some of them are beginning to get a bit snug if you ask me.
Stretch marks: Nope
Sleep: 5-6 hours
Best moment last week: Participating in our second round of the research study - Another ultrasound!!!
Movement: Getting a little bit stronger and more frequent in the evenings, mostly from 10-11 PM
Food cravings: Skyline Chili
Gender: Boy - mostly based on the fact that everyone thinks Baby is a girl
Labor Signs: None
Belly Button (in or out): I'm an outie!!!!!!!!!!!!
What I miss: My feet and hands not itching so bad at night
What I am looking forward to: Beginning the nursery
Milestones: Moving forward with planning Miles and Baby's new room
Best moment last week: Participating in our second round of the research study - Another ultrasound!!!
Movement: Getting a little bit stronger and more frequent in the evenings, mostly from 10-11 PM
Food cravings: Skyline Chili
Gender: Boy - mostly based on the fact that everyone thinks Baby is a girl
Labor Signs: None
Belly Button (in or out): I'm an outie!!!!!!!!!!!!
What I miss: My feet and hands not itching so bad at night
What I am looking forward to: Beginning the nursery
Milestones: Moving forward with planning Miles and Baby's new room
Saturday, January 7, 2012
Baby Benefits from Some Outlet Shopping
Today we were at Arundel Mills doing some outlet shopping and I just couldn't help myself... Baby had to have a gift...
This is going to be terrible adorable come December!
Wednesday, January 4, 2012
Research Day #2
Today was day #2 in the research study and we had another great ultrasound. During the ultrasound, Baby was having a wonderful time practice breathing. I did not think that was a very big deal, as we saw Miles practice breathing on multiple occasions, however the woman running the study informed me that Baby's only practice breathing 1/3rd of their day and many have not yet begun to practice breath by 24 weeks, so Baby is doing really well. Baby was again very active during today's session, causing a bit of chaos, as they tried to keep the monitors recording their heart beat. I can already tell, Baby is going to be a fun little one!
Look at that BEAUTIFUL Spine!
Baby scratching their eye
Baby resting their hand on their cheek
Baby's head where you can see the right orbit
Baby's face
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