26w5d - updated bump pic & yoga pic *edited

I'm just getting all picture happy on my blog lately aren't I?? Well, not much else going on really.

Here's the latest belly pic for 26 weeks.

I thought it might be tacky to take a picture of myself in yoga class to have something to remember this time by, but my teacher said he thought it was a great idea. So, I brought the camera in with me yesterday and got a few pics snapped while I was in handstand. 6mo+ pregnant and I can still do this. Crazy! Don't tell my chiropractor though, he was less keen on the idea of me doing it still, but I swear yesterday it felt better than ever. I was upside down for a lot longer than I usually can do and the energy boost it gives me is incredible!

Here's my Adho Mukha Vrksasana (Handstand).

Edited to add: Ok, so after posting this and noticing the differences between
the pic on yoga journal's site and my pic, I decided to focus in class today on
lengthening thru my sacrum up thru my heels. Much to my complete and utter shock my heels came off the wall and I was balancing on my hands. I was so surprised I literally said out loud, "Are my heels off the wall? Am I balancing??? Holy cow!" And that's about how long it took before I came down the rest of the way. Who knew that not only would I still be doing yoga at 6mo+ pregnant, but that I
could still do handstands and that (SHOCKER!) I would be able to make progress
with my practice? I certainly never would have expected that. By this point in
my pregnancy with NSWO, I was feeling so tired and heavy that I had pretty much
given up yoga. Now, I feel like a totally different woman. By the way, The Bean
liked the handstand today and was dancing around in there for quite some time
afterwards.

Hubby helped me get one of the storage boxes of baby clothes out of the attic to start going through them. Surprisingly, things are more stained than I recall and several items are yellowed from storage. I guess I'll try cleaning them again and maybe even sunning them to get them stain-free, but I might not have quite as much baby clothes for this one as I thought I would considering The Bean's due date is just 3 days before NSWO's due date. Oh well, I've gotten a few things already myself and I'm sure the grandmas are itching to do a little shopping. (Don't worry grandmas - if you don't want to shop, I still think I've got plenty.)

Picked up some yarn at the craft store and a pattern to do a 'simple cable knit blanket' for him too. I've been knitting a bit for a couple of years, but nothing beyond knit & purl, so now I'll try to add a cable stitch to my repertoire. Grandma Jan, I may be calling you for help!! That extra cable needle is a bit intimidating right now.

26w2d - Happy Easter

Things are going well, we had a lovely Easter this year with 2 different egg hunts for NSWO and absolutely gorgeous weather. Sorry to all of you stuck in a freaky spring freeze. It was in the 70's-low 80's here and the weather held just long enough to enjoy the hunts outside. By 3pm today, the clouds had returned, the temps dropped, and the rains began to fall yet again.

Our neighbors had us over for brunch and took some lovely photos of the entire family.

NSWO decided it would be sweet to give his brother a kiss, but unfortunately, with a dress on, it just looks - well, odd. It was the thought that counts.

25w2d - Big Boy Room is finished!

I've been slowly working on NSWO's new big boy room for a couple of weeks now. The furniture arrived this weekend, so now it's 'done' and I can post pics.

Here's a pic of the bedding - aka the inspiration for the room.

Before pic - originally, the room was all the tan color that's at the bottom, including the ceiling. I painted the ceiling white, then did the blue and the red stripe. Next, I sketched on the trains around the room. Here's a pic of the train nearly completed.
Next, I finished the trains and outlined everything in black like the bedding design.
Here's a pic of NSWO running around his new room.
And here are a couple with the new furniture in place.

I think he likes his new room.

24w5d - Ultrasound report

I had another ultrasound today to check on The Bean's kidney/bladder. Good news is that things are within normal limits at this point. The left kidney is still a bit big, but as long as it stays the same at the next ultrasound at 32wks, it won't be an issue. The bladder wall is also a bit thinner which means that it's draining more regularly too. Whew! He's vertex (heads down) and facing my spine still. Great positioning for a vaginal birth IF I WAS HAVING ONE!! Unfortunately, not so good for getting ultrasound pics so we only have one decent 3D pic from today. They even had to do a transvaginal one to measure my cervix as he would NOT move out of the way to let her see it with the abdominal transducer. Cervix is nice and long at over 5cm and no signs of funneling at the top. Also, he's measuring about 2wks ahead still. Overall, a great ultrasound. Here's the one pic we got that's decent (little stinker!).
Other great news from today is that Hubby got to go with me to the ultrasound which was great since he missed the last two by being out of town and sick with the flu. So frustrating how behind the office is though, today, we were only 30 minutes late for our appointment which is, sadly, an improvement. Oh well, what can you do. Also, my fasting blood sugar this morning was 78. They want to see it <95 and it's been around 85 or so most mornings. This was the hardest number for me to control last time, so I'm hopeful that this is a good sign for the future. We'll see.

24w3d - belly pic update

Doesn't seem to be much bigger than 2 wks ago. Weight gain is about the same too, depending on the day I'm up about 14lbs total. Blood sugar numbers still holding strong. Yay!

We have another ultrasound to check on The Bean's kidney on Wednesday. Keep your fingers crossed that things are at least not any worse. Hubby will get to go this time which will be nice as he's missed the last two by being out of town or sick with influenza. We should be getting more 3D pics too.

Had a great time with my fellow bloggers at lunch on Sunday - thanks ladies!!

24w0d - OB appointment update

OB appointment went great. Blood pressure was 110/62, he's happy with the weight gain (14lbs total), and the fundal height (measurement from the pubic bone to the top of the uterus, should roughly equal the number of weeks pregnant) was 27cm. That's a whole 3 wks ahead folks! I grow 'em big! My blood sugar numbers are holding nicely and my OB was very impressed and surprised that I'm still doing handstands in yoga. Yay me! :) He wants to do an ultrasound next time at 28wks to see just how big he's getting. He and I are negotiating the c-section date too. The earliest he's readily willing to do it is 7/4, but neither of us wants to do it on the holiday so I am lobbying for either 7/3 or 7/7 (preferably 7/7) since 3 & 7 are my lucky numbers. Silly, I know. Plus, how cool would it be to have a birthday of 7/7/07?!?! Problem is, 7/7 is a Saturday, so he's going to look ahead at his schedule to see if he's going to be in town and is considering scheduling my surgery for 7:30 that morning - again, my lucky numbers!! We'll see, but I'm hoping that's how it works out.

I do my 1-hr glucose screening test next time too at 28wks. For the first time since I got pregnant again, I'm actually entertaining the idea that I just might pass this puppy! Four weeks is a long time from now and a lot of things can change, but we'll see and if the diabetes does come back, well, we'll just deal with that when it gets here. IF it gets here.

The other night, as we were laying in bed, The Bean was going nuts in there and I just watched my belly jump all around - such a trip! Hubby gets a bit freaked out by it, but he did glance over for a bit. I'm definitely going to have to get some video footage of this kid's antics for posterity.

My cold is getting better and my injured hamstring/hip is recovering well too. It's going to take a long time to get back to 100%, but it's not hindering my yoga practice so that's good.

I'm working on painting a train border on the walls of NSWO's new room and hope to be done soon. I'll take pics to post when I'm done. It's coordinating with his new bedding. I found wall stickers for The Bean's room that will work great and be easy to change once he's ready for a big boy room. I'd paint in there too, but I'd rather make it less permanent and I'm getting a bit tired of painting right now.

Very excited to be meeting a couple other fellow bloggers for lunch on Sunday too. See you ladies then!

23w2d - Happy Birthday to Hubby!

Yesterday was Hubby's birthday so we had a combo St. Patrick's Day/Birthday Party for neighbors and a few other friends. Lots of kids in the house and since the weather decided to be authentically Irish as well with lots of rain, we were all in the house. What a madhouse! So much fun though. I got a great idea to pull a small portion of NSWO's toys for the kids to play with and hide the rest of them. I also put the toys in the front living room so the adults could hang out in the kitchen/family room. Worked out great and later when we fired up the Wii (LOVE THIS THING!) there weren't tons of toys all over the floor. Only one toy got broken, but I think we can fix it, I hope. NSWO was soooo sad when he came over with his remote control spider and it's broken off leg. It was really sweet. Then again, he was really tired and overstimulated by this point.

Last week in yoga my teacher let me go up into handstand and it was so awesome! I was worried that I wouldn't be able to get up since it had been a while, but with him spotting me, I got up and it felt more stable and strong than ever. Next, I decided to try the forearm balance that I'd finally been able to do earlier this year and had a bit of trouble getting up with the belly in the way. I re-injured my left leg - the ligament that connects the hamstring to the bone got strained a bit last year while I was pregnant and it got re-injured - ouch! Seems to be doing pretty well so far. If I sit in one position too long the glutes get tight so I try to remember to sit on the heating pad for a bit to keep things loose. With the relaxin in my system it might take a long time for this to fully recover but if I'm careful it shouldn't be any problem.

I've got yet another cold - so over it. Hubby had something last week and I guess I picked it up too. Hoping to get over it quicker than the last one.

Oh, here's last week's belly shot too.

I know I promised no bare belly shots here, but the stretch marks didn't show up in this one so I thought heck, why not? Soon enough I'll look like a tributary map of the everglades, why not enjoy it for now? This was my 22wk pic. Only 12.5 lb weight gain and look at that belly! I'm gonna need to wear a weighted backpack by the end to keep from falling forward! LOL

21w6d - Feeling really good.

I am feeling a lot better at this point in the pregnancy than I remember feeling with NSWO. I'm nearly 22wks (tomorrow!!) and physically I feel really great. I'm so glad. Hubby and I went to the gym on Saturday and I got my butt back on the elliptical machine - man that was good! I had to go slow to keep my heart rate under 140 (per OBs orders) so it took 30min to get in 1 mile, but that still felt great. We're going again this weekend.

Yoga has been great too. I'm keeping up with everyone else in the class except for poses I can't do while pregnant and the only modification I have to do is to come out of the pose a little earlier than the others when my heart rate goes up. I did have to come down out of headstand early on Tuesday when this baby put too much pressure on my stomach and I could feel the stomach acid start to go up into the esophagus. Hope that doesn't continue, I really enjoy headstands and shoulder stands.

Got some great news today. I post on Fertility Friend and am in a few buddy groups of gals. One group of us got together when we were all gearing up for IVF in October and November. Nearly everyone got pregnant with their IVF. I got pregnant all on my own (well, Hubby helped, obviously) and all but 3 got their BFPs with IVF. Of the 3, one got her BFP on her 2nd round, 1 had a chemical pregnancy with her 2nd (hugs to you Shelby!), and one other was hoping for good results with her 2nd round as well. This particular gal also has stubborn ovaries like me and does not have the luxury of insurance coverage. I had a fridge full of IVF meds so I sent all my gon*alF to her for this cycle. I had 3600IU of that stuff (told you I have stubborn ovaries). She just posted today that she got her BFP!!!!!!!! I cannot tell you how amazingly excited that made me, it's almost as if I was getting mine all over again. I'm so happy for her I literally had to type my response thru my tears of joy.

Paying it forward - Good for the karma, and good for the soul.

21w0d - Ultrasound & OB appt updates

I had a faboo time in California with my best friend and will update about the trip more later with pics.

Got back Tuesday evening and had an ultrasound scheduled for Wednesday morning. We got some really great 3D images this time and like a dork, I forgot the DVD they were saved on at the clinic. I had to wait until today when I went back for my OB check-up to get the disc so I could update the blog. Pregnancy brain strikes again!!!

Anyway, the ultrasound went pretty well. His left kidney is still measuring too big, not extremely too big, but bigger than 'normal'. The Perinatologist (high-risk OB) said that he thinks the earlier scans where his bladder was too big was not a fluke and that there is some level of blockage/obstruction in the urethra. The fact that the bladder is now normally sized is good though b/c it means the urine can drain, it just take a bit longer than ideal. The bladder wall is also a bit thicker than normal, but that is expected with the blockage. As he put it, the muscle needs to build up thicker so that the bladder is strong enough to hold the increased amount of urine and the fact that it's happening is good and means that if the bladder gets backed up, it can handle it and is not at risk for rupture. Whew! We'll keep an eye on it with at least monthly ultrasounds and if the bladder or kidneys get 'too big' we'll assess then what to do. It could range from as minor as doing nothing or a simple round of antibiotics for him after birth or at the more extreme end, they may decide to deliver him early so they can go into the urethra with a scope to essentially clear out the obstruction (poor guy). If it gets worse than it is now, we'd probably meet with a pediatric urologist before he's born to figure out the game plan. If he were to need a minor surgery, they might decide it's best to delay the circumcision until then and to do them at the same time. Lots of speculation at this point, but none of the doctors are worried and neither am I. We'll see at the end of March how things look and we'll just keep getting to peek in on him to watch it. I'm ok with that.

The other news from the ultrasound is that he's measuring big! I was 20w5d by ovulation and he is already measuring at 22w5d! They estimated that he's already 1.5lbs - already! I'm only halfway thru this pregnancy and man oh man do I grow big babies! LOL He's heads down (vertex) already too so those thumps I've been feeling down low are his mean left hook and right jab apparently. We've got a future middle weight champion cooking here. Just getting ready to defend himself from big brother I think.

My OB appointment today went well too. My blood pressure is very good at 115/70 today and weight gain is 9lbs and Dr. was very happy with both of these.

Physically, I'm feeling really good, better than I think I felt at this point with NSWO's pregnancy which is great. I'm hoping that means I'll be feeling good longer too. I think the yoga, the lower weight gain and being in better shape in general are all contributing to that.

Ok, so enough rambling from me, time for some pictures! We got to do some 3D ones this time and here are my favorites. That face is so cute, I'm already in love!

This is the best one of his face.

He was doing a lot of yawning or swallowing or whatever and here's a cute one of that.This one is my favorite, I think I need to frame this one, it's just so precious.

19w5d - Starting to feel better & latest pics

First, the pics.

Here's the nearly 20 week belly shot. Look at that bump grow! Weight gain is still at only 8lbs, don't ask me how cause I don't know, but I'll take it! LOL

Here is NSWO in the tub the other night, just being cute per his usual.

I'm finally feeling like I'm going to be well again. I woke up at 3am this morning to go to the bathroom and take more meds and actually felt normal again. It was quite a shock. I would say I'm 70% better today and hope for even more improvement tomorrow before the flight. NSWO and I are planning on going for it and hoping that mommy's ears stay clear for the flight. Soooooo excited to see my best friend, haven't seen her in person in over 4 years now. Doubtful I'll be updating this blog while I'm gone so I'll have to check in on everyone once we get back next week. I've got my tylenol, sudafed (the real stuff, not this new crap they sell on the shelves*), mucinex, and saline nasal spray. I'm set! Oh, and a whole bunch of tissues!

*Don't know if you've needed to purchase REAL Sudafed lately, but it's quite the ordeal now, at least out here anyway. Not only do you have to take a card from the shelf to the pharmacy, but then you have to show your driver's license and sign a form including your address. Worth it for meds that actually work. The new stuff just makes me jittery but doesn't help my congestion much at all. The real stuff makes me jittery too, but at least it helps the congestion. I know it's worth it to stop or at least slow down meth production, but man I'm sure sales have slipped tremendously due to all the hoops you have to jump thru.

19w3d - Being (sniff) sick (sniff sniff) sucks! (ACHOO!)

NSWO is doing much better by now. Still got a gunky nose, but even that's clearing up today. His fever kept spiking up to the 103's - 104's for a couple of days there, but seems he just runs hot I guess. Good strong immune system that one has.

I, on the other hand, have a somewhat suppressed immune system (Thanks to the Bean!) and have not fared quite as well. It started as a scratchy throat on Thursday and quickly progressed to a misery of congestion, sneezing, coughing, body aches, ear aches etc. by Sunday. First thing this morning I call my GP to get an appointment only to be told that they are closed for President's Day. WHAT?? Is that a real holiday? I thought it was just an excuse for school's to be out and banks to be closed. My OB is closed too. By now I'm thinking that the only way I'm going to be seen by a doctor today is to pack up NSWO and myself and schlep to an ER or urgent care facility full of other sick miserable people. NO, THANK YOU.

Luckily, Hubby works for a great company with awesome benefits and one of the new benefits they are trying out in a pilot program is MD house call service. Yes, you read that right, you can still get a house call. Turns out, for many non-emergency urgent cases, it's cheaper to send an MD to the patient's home than to have them go to an ER. So, I make a phone call to the 24-hr nurse hotline, ask for the MD service and within 15min the MD is calling to get my info and let me know how soon he can make it out my way. SCORE! Not only do I NOT have to sit around in a dirty, contaminated ER all day, but neither does NSWO thereby keeping us from being exposed to even more germs. Plus, I can do what I need to do in the comfort of my own home while waiting my turn in the cue. Very nice MD comes to the house, does some basic insurance paperwork and starts his assessment. As I suspected, I have a sinus infection. I was surprised to learn that I also have the beginnings of a double ear infection as well. Lovely. I started amoxicillin this afternoon and cannot wait to start feeling better.

NSWO and I are supposed to be flying to San Diego to visit my best friend and her twin girls later this week, but if either of us is still sick, we have to postpone since we don't want to get her or the premature babies sick. I do not need that on my conscience.

18w6d - Our Budding Artist

NSWO isn't into art projects as much as other kids in his preschool class. He'd much rather play with the cars or in the play kitchen than to put on a smock on and paint a picture. When he DOES actually do some art though he's sooo proud. It's cute. The other day, totally unprompted, he got out his little Magnadoodle and drew this pic. Since it wasn't on paper to be preserved for posterity we had to snap a picture. How cute is he???











Poor guy has been home sick the last couple of days with croup. Nasty stuff that croup. Luckily I got him to the doctor yesterday morning and he got a dose of steroids to help keep his throat from closing up overnight. What do you get when you take a 3.5 yr old boy and add steroids? You guessed it - the tazmanian devil! Thank goodness Granddad sent that trampoline so he could bounce off a lot of the excess energy. (Thanks Granddad!!) Given his reaction to croup last time he got it a couple of years ago, I was expecting a hard night last night of him coughing up a lung and being unable to breathe well. Hubby slept in the guest room so NSWO could room in with me so I'd be there if he woke up with an episode. Glad to say there were no episodes, but man, now I remember why we don't co-sleep with him. He fidgeted for two hours straight before I finally made him go back to his room and I hooked up the old baby monitor to listen in. We both slept better after that.

Today, he's in what I call the "sort-of-sick crankies". That's when the kid is not quite well enough to go back to school, but not so sick that they want to sleep. They just bounce off the walls instead and have ZERO patience. I had to take away his small legos today because it took him two hours to pick up about 7 of those little buggers before I had had it and cleaned them up for him. We'll try bringing them out again in a few months when he's better about cleaning things up. (I know all you moms of older kids are laughing at me right now!)

Luckily, he's got swim class tomorrow so we won't be stuck staring at each other all day long.

The Bean is doing great, nothing new to report there.

17w6d - Movin' and a Groovin'

Not much going on these days with The Bean. We're still on the hunt for a name, but I think we're narrowing it down. I won't be able to announce on here the name for the baby because my in-laws and maybe my parents read this blog and we keep the name secret from most people, including family until after baby is born. Since we find out the gender, we want to keep something as a surprise. Add to it that I had a scheduled c-section with NSWO and will again with this one, even the birthdate is known ahead of time. The name is the only thing we can keep secret. So, sorry, no name announcements on here until July.



Even without a name yet, this kid is definitely moving around in there. With NSWO my placenta blocked much sensation of movement until 20+ weeks, but this one doesn't have that pillow in the front so I'm feeling lots of kicks, punches and even some rolling several times a day now. I love it! Now, granted, when I get closer to delivery, I may wish I had that pillow to block some of the stronger kicks, but for now this is so much fun!!!



My weight gain is staying well within control and that makes me happy too. As of this morning I'm up 8lbs total and the books say that it should be between 8-14 lbs for a singleton pregnancy so I'm happy to be within normal but at the lower end. I only gained 28lbs with NSWO and I'd like to keep the weight gain with this one nice and healthy too. Even with only a 28lb weight gain, I was still HUGE at the end. I don't think I've posted this pic before on here (forgive me if I have - preggo brain!), but this is from the night before NSWO was born. The little white squares on the cabinets are post-its labeling what's in each cabinet so anyone who was staying with us or visiting wouldn't need to ask me where to find stuff. If you know me IRL, you'll know that's soooo me! It was pretty much the extent of my nesting with him. Anyway, see how big my belly was? It was about the size of a blow-up beach ball. My OB guessed he would be 10lbs - luckily she was off by 1.5lbs.

16w5d - Boy oh BOY!

Had the big ultrasound today and we were right, that was a penis we saw 3 weeks ago! He's still all boy and looking great! Measuring about 1.5 weeks ahead and bladder looks good too.



This is the "money shot". I'm not good at photoshoping to put a nice arrow at the right spot, but if you see the black area that's sort of shaped like a crescent wrench, in the crescent area - the white part is the penis.


Here's a cute shot of his left foot.




And here's a nice profile, head on the right. That's his arm laying above his tummy.






Now, to find a name for this guy. He had the hiccups during the u/s and we've got a VHS tape of it, but have to get Hubby to encode it to digital so we can share it.

Speaking of Hubby, poor guy has the flu. Not the tummy variety, but the "Did you get the license of the truck that hit me?" type. Luckily, he listened to me and went to the Dr. yesterday and is on an antiviral now so hopefully he'll get better soon. NSWO and I both had the vaccine, so hoping this strain was covered by that. Especially since I can't take anything for it if I do get it.

16w1d - Belly pic & NSWO update

This was taken today 16w1d. By the end I'm going to be HUGE again!

I got my first official kick on Thursday. I've felt little thumps and bubbles and even some rolling, but that was the first decent kick. Made me smile. It's odd to think that with NSWO I didn't feel anything until after 20 weeks and now I'm already feeling this much. I'm also getting some mild Braxton Hicks contractions too. Didn't get them this early with NSWO. This pregnancy is just so different.

In other news, NSWO was so cute yesterday. I was busy vacuuming downstairs and he was upstairs being a bit too quiet. At one point, I turned off the vacuum and he came to the stairwell to give me a status report. "Hey MOM! I was playing with your shoes and trying them on, and then I was jumping on your bed, and then I turned on my favorite movie in the office!" I had to stifle my laugh at ratting himself out and asked him to 1) put my shoes back on the shelves, 2) remind him of why we don't jump on beds, and 3) ask him if he had turned off the TV. How can you get mad at him for doing 3 things he isn't supposed to do when he so excitedly tells you about them?

We are getting him a new bed soon. After the u/s on Wednesday we'll hopefully know for sure which room he's going into (staying in his if this one is a girl, and moving into the current guest room if it's another boy) so we can schedule delivery of the furniture. I found a killer deal on a twin bed with trundle drawer, nightstand and 5 drawer chest for less than $900! Sweet! And it's neutral enough in finish that if this one is a girl (yeah, right!) she can use it in the future. If it's another boy, they can share a room too and The Bean can sleep on the trundle. I had to remind NSWO that if he jumped on his new BIG BOY BED that he might get hurt or he might break his bed. I told him that the only thing he's allowed to jump on is a trampoline, asked him if a bed is a trampoline ("No.") and said he'd have to wait until he gets a trampoline someday. Little does he know that there is one on the way right now from Grandad! (Thanks Grandad!) We tried to get it last year for christmas but it was backordered. Same thing this year so we bit the bullet and decided to go for it anyway and it should be here next week. The kid is going to have sooo much fun! Here's a link to it: http://www.leapsandboundscatalog.com/product/118/490758/118.html

Too bad it only goes to 88lbs. Bummer.

16w0d - Neo ain't got nothin' on me!

You know the scene in The Matrix where Neo dodges the bullets? Well, he's not the only one with this skill. Heck, I even had a dream about dodging bullets a few months back. Apparently, it was more prophetic than I thought.

A bit of history first. This pregnancy resulted from a dodged IVF bullet. Then, we had the scare with The Bean's bladder, but turns out we dodged that one too. Now, I have a third (and hopefully last) bullet that we've dodged.

After my OB appointment last Friday, I got a call from my OB. He'd been going over my records that were transferred from the MW upstairs that I'd seen at 8wks. At that appointment, the MW had me do the basic OB bloodwork panel. In those test results my new OB saw that I had tested positive for the anti-Jk antibody. (Huh?) He wanted me to get some more blood drawn to double check and to measure the amount of antibodies in my blood. I was taking NSWO to swim class so I didn't have time to ask much more so I got straight to work researching this issue when I got home. What I found wasn't very good.

Bear with me, this is fairly complicated, but I'll try to explain as best as I can. Most people are aware of the Rh blood grouping system. Most people are positive for Rh (A+, AB+, O+, etc.) but some are Rh negative (A-, B-, O-). There is a protein on the red blood cell's surface that determines your Rh status. There are other proteins on the red blood cell as well and one of them is called Jk, from the Kidd group. About 15% of the population is Rh- and the number of people with blood that is Jk- is far smaller (maybe 1-2%). If the mother is Jk- and her partner is Jk+ there is a chance that the baby could be Jk+ as well. If the blood between mother and fetus mixes, the mother's body will see the presence of the protein as a foreign invader and develop antibodies to it. Most women who are Rh- get an injection called Rhogam to prevent these antibodies from being formed by her body. Unfortunately, there is no equivilant injection for people who are Jk-.

If the mother develops antibodies to the blood of her fetus, it is more likely to affect subsequent pregnancies if the next fetus is also Jk+. The antibodies she makes are small enough to pass thru the placenta to the baby and they start attacking the protein on the fetus' red blood cells causing them to explode. This causes anemia for the baby because it has too few red blood cells to carry oxygen to the body's cells. Depending on how much antibodies the mother is making it can have anywhere from no effect up to a severe effect on the fetus. If the level of antibodies gets too high, they have to monitor the baby for effects. The old way of doing this was repeated amnios every few weeks. Luckily, there is a better way that isn't nearly as invasive. Using doppler imaging with ultrasound they can measure how fast the blood is flowing thru the middle cerebral artery of the baby. If it's too fast, that means the blood is too thin so the heart is working harder to get the oxygen where it needs to go. If that happens, they will often need to perform an IUT (intra-uterine tranfusion - giving the baby new blood via the umbilical cord while in utero) of the baby to give it less anemic blood that the mother's body doesn't see as an invader (Jk- blood). Over time, the baby's bone marrow will replace the baby's blood and the mother's antibodies will attack again. IUTs may need to be repeated until the baby is big enough to be delivered early, often around 34 weeks gestation. (Full-term is 40 weeks). Sometimes, the baby will need another transfusion after birth and can suffer from HDN (hemolytic disease of the newborn) including severe jaundice as well as the other risks associated with premature delivery. These babies can spend weeks in the NICU trying to recover. Most do well, but it isn't an easy road for the pregnancy or the newborn.

So, after all that doom and gloom, back to my original point, we dodged another bullet. The lab results came back from Monday's blood draw and apparently there are no anti-Jk antibodies in that sample. Since the original test went to a different lab, there's a chance that it was lab error or perhaps there are so little of the antibodies in my blood that they are not showing up at this point. In any event, we have been cleared of this possible complication and couldn't be happier about that. Now, I'm just hoping that we don't need to dodge anything else, but at least I'm getting good at it.

15w4d - OB appt update

My appt was actually Friday, but I haven't gotten around to updating yet. Sorry.

Everything went well. My OB does not want to move my due date up though since he prefers to go by the early u/s dating which puts my due date back at July 13. Oh well, guess I don't get to lose that week of pregnancy after all.

Great news is that once I reminded my OB about having already done the 1-hour glucose screening test and passing, he said that I don't have to repeat until 28weeks! Yay!!! I'll probably start checking my fasting blood sugar level at about 20 weeks or so a few times a week to see if it's going up, hoping that it doesn't. The fasting number was always the one I had the hardest time controlling last time.

Baby's heartrate was 140bpm which just reaffirms my belief that it's a boy.

I have another u/s at the perinatologist on the 31st.

Feeling mostly good these days, still a bit tired sometimes, but not nearly as bad as it was with NSWO. My hips are already achey while I'm sleeping so I'm hoping that yoga will help keep that mild for a while longer. I've started feeling this little one moving a bit which is really cool. I didn't feel NSWO until after 20wks due to my anterior placenta and it's so neat to be feeling this one so much earlier.

13w5d - Ultrasound pics - a retrospective

I finally got the scanner up and running, so here's the history to date of ultrasound pics.


This first one is at 6w5d and, granted, doesn't look like much. The circle in the upper left corner is the yolk sac and the blob at the bottom center is the Bean. The yolk sac provides nourishment for the baby until the placenta is large enough to take over that job.

This 2nd one is at 8w5d and you can more clearly see the yolk sac (it's smaller now as the placenta is growing and will take over nourishment of the baby soon.) The Bean is the bigger blob on the left of the big black circle (the gestational sac).


This third pic is from 12w2d. I was technically 11w3d by ovulation date, but baby was already measuring big so they moved my due date up. Here, finally, the Bean is starting to look like a baby - albeit with a VERY big head. The head is on the right, the rest of the body is sort of curled up on the left. You can see the sort of dotted line across the bottom that is the spine. Squint and you can see it better. LOL

The fourth and fifth ones are from this week at 14w2d. We didn't get any print outs last week, but that's ok, my bladder was so full, all I wanted to do was be done and find a bathroom!

In this one, you can get a much clearer profile of the Bean. What a cute little nose!!!


This last one is my favorite. It's, again, not extremely clear, but you see that little blob in front of it's face? That's the Bean sucking it's thumb. How cute is that???






The other news from yesterday's ultrasound is that the bladder was even smaller. In fact, the tech had to hunt around a bit to get a good view to be able to measure it. We're very happy that this scare seems to be behind us. We go back in 2 more weeks for an anatomy scan where they will take a longer look and measure several parts of the Bean. We expect that at that ultrasound they will also confirm that we are having another boy. Yes, Hubby and I are about 90% sure we saw a penis yesterday while the tech was looking around to measure the bladder. At one point, the view was as if the Bean was sitting on the camera lens. This is the same view we got of NSWO at 14 weeks that confirmed he was a boy, so we're pretty sure of what we saw. Granted, the tech didn't confirm anything, but he also wasn't trying to look for gender. I'll guess we'll see for sure in a couple of weeks.

I admit to being a bit saddened by this news. Not because the baby is a boy (not at all!), but because this is/was my last chance of ever having a little girl. I know that in the long-term I will grow to appreciate that not having a girl is going to be better - no teenage girl drama!! - but I am sad about missing out on the short-term fun parts. The shopping for pink stuff, playing dolls with her, taking my daughter to ballet class.

My best friend who had identical twin girls in September suggested we should arrange the marriages now. Her girls to my boys. I hope the kids don't mind too much not being able to choose who they marry. Ahh, they'll get over it! Don'tcha think?

13w3d - belly pic

You're not going to see a belly shot here with any exposed skin. I wouldn't subject you to that. NSWO's pregnancy did a number on my belly and the road map of stretch marks are just not pleasant.

Instead, I'll try to keep updated on clothed belly shots.

Here's a 13 week shot.

13w0d - Combined screen results are in.

We had the NT scan about a week or so ago and at the same time, they took a sample of blood to run some tests. That info was combined with the NT measurement, the size of baby in terms of dates, and my age to give us an adjusted risk for Downs Syndrome and other trisomies and birth defects.

I don't have recorded anywhere the NT measurement with NSWO's pregnancy, but I do have what we got for adjusted odds with his pregnancy.

Downs Syndrome adjusted risk: 1/5100
Spina Bifida adusted risk: 1/4600
Adjusted risk for other trisomies: negative (risk was less than 1%, no fractional odds given)

NSWO turned out just fine.

Now, on to this current pregnancy. For The Bean, we got:

NT measurement = 1.7mm.

My age based risk for Downs Syndrome is 1/374.
My adjusted risk for Downs Syndrome is 1/7461.

My age based risk for other trisomies and birth defects is 1/667.
My adjusted risk for these is 1/13,321.

No need for an amnio or CVS. I can't stop smiling. Not that I expected there to really be an issue, especially after the great NT measurement, but when you're diagnosed with diminished ovarian reserve, they emphasize to you that running out of eggs also can mean that what you have left is the bottom of the barrel and might not be any good. I guess we showed them! My 33 yr old egg seems to be a better risk than my 29 yr old egg was!

12w4d - Ultrasound update

We had a follow-up ultrasound today (12w4d, baby is measuring 13w2d) to check on the baby's bladder. Last week it was measuring at 8mm - too big. We are very happy to report that today, the bladder was 6.7mm - nearly within normal range. We will go back next week for another look just to confirm that the bladder stays 'normal' but the perinatologist today said that he is very confident that everything is going to be just fine. Whew!

12w3d - 2006 - A Year in Review

So, as I sit here on January 1st, it seems only appropriate to take a look back at this last year and think about what 2007 might bring.

January 2006
This is when the bad news really started to roll in. After approximately 18 months of TTC a 2nd child, we had our first appointment with an RE (reproductive endocronologist - fertililty specialist). I had done 3 rounds of Clomid with no luck. At least I was sure I ovulated on the crap, but otherwise, it was NOT a good drug for me. I was moody and the hot flashes really sucked. After some basic testing (cd3 bloodwork) I got some seriously crushing news. My cd3 FSH level was 16.5 - this is not good. I'm officially diagnosed with Diminished Ovarian Reserve, nearly a death sentence in the world of infertility. My consultation with Dr. Google gives me nothing but a poor prognosis and talk of donor eggs. I start to believe that my dream of a 2nd child is all but over. Luckily, I also started seeing Lee, my acupuncturist, in January and saw that there might be a bit of light at the end of this tunnel. She helped me to start believing that FSH is just a number and not what defines me.

February 2006
We got yet another bit of bad news. The RE decided not to waste the Clomid I took for the CCCT and do an IUI. Since I'd been pregnant twice already by Hubby, we had no reason to suspect that there could be a problem there too. But alas, there was. The sperm count came back miserably low - post-wash was a mere 800,000. Most REs won't do IUI if the count is below 2 million. We were significantly below that, but since the sperm was already ready to go, we did the IUI anyway. We were crushed to realize that this was not likely to be our magic bullet.

March 2006
We re-group and decide to get going with IVF as soon as possible to not waste any more of my eggs. We have a trip to Hawaii already planned and it looks like my cycle isn't going to cooperate to allow us to start the IVF, so I go on progesterone suppositories to attempt to lenghthen my cycle so we can start the IVF upon our return from vacation. On the day of my last bit of pre-IVF testing (mock transfer & final bloodwork) I decide to take a hpt on a whim, just in case. Lo and behold, it's a BFP! Are you serious? We're supposed to not be able to do this on our own! Since I'm already at the clinic, they do a beta - it's a 6. Levels have to be above 5 to be considered positive. I'm not even worried about the level because I'm so surprised it was positive at all. Betas jump up nicely in the following days and we head to Hawaii on cloud 9.

April 2006
Hawaii was a blast and we anxiously await our first u/s to see this little bean. Finally, it's time and we see one baby with a heartbeat! Hubby is very happy, my RE, not so much. The baby is measuring several days behind where it should be and the heartrate is very low - 81bpm. I can tell from the look on her face that she doesn't expect this to go well, but they have us come back in a week to see. THE LONGEST WEEK OF MY LIFE. My acupuncturist helps me to 'get out of my head' and listen to my inner voice. I wake up one morning hearing a female voice telling me, "This pregnancy isn't going to make it, but it will be ok." Surprisingly, this brings me peace.

May 2006
Our second u/s showed that the heart had stopped and the gestational sac was already beginning to collapse. The D&C is scheduled for the next day, May 5. Happy friggin Cinco de Mayo to me! The next few days/weeks are a bit of a blur, filled with lots of tears and anger and hopelessness. Not a good time.

June 2006
My period shows up 28 days after the D&C, at least one thing was normal about the process. My RE wants me to have one more normal cycle before IVF so we wait. We get the karyotyping results back from the D&C - a normal baby girl. No known cause for the loss.

July 2006
Still waiting. No AF after 30 some days so my RE has me come in to take a look at what's going on. Here begins the battle with the cysts - 35mm on the right ovary. We decide to use an hCG trigger shot to get the cyst to pop so I can start IVF once we get back from a trip to the New Jersey shore for a family reunion. I also find out that my mom has 2 clotting disorders, Protein C & S deficiencies. Testing will later show that I have neither of them, thankfully. While in NJ, my period shows up too early and is heavier than I've ever experienced. No way to get cd2 monitoring done, so we have to wait another month to do IVF.

August 2006
Once again, my cycle goes beyond 30 days so off I go to the RE to take a look. This time the cyst is 30mm and estrogen is low, but we trigger again anyway and hope for the best. AF shows up and I go in for cd2 monitoring. The cyst is still there, but it's down to 15mm (just at the cut-off) and we decide to go ahead with the bcp for the IVF. My FSH has gone up a bit to 16.9, but whatever.

September 2006
After 11 days of bcp, I go in for suppression check to see how things look and WTF? the cyst isn't gone and it's recruited a friend - 23mm & 28mm. I have the buggers surgically aspirated and my protocol gets switched from MDL (micro-dose lupron) to Antagonist which I'm very happy about. 2 days later, we take another look and the 2 cysts are smaller, but not gone and there is a 3rd one popping up! All of this was for naught though as after 5 days of stims, my cycle is cancelled due to no response. Not poor response, but no response. My estrogen only climbs as high as 81. Due to the scheduled lab closure, I have to wait until November to try again. Fuck! Our post-cycle review appointment brings further bad news. My RE thinks that based on my response (or lack thereof) that we need to be very aggressive and plan to put back all the embryos I can make, if any. Up to 6. That absolutely freaks Hubby out and me a bit too. Our best odds for success with IVF is 15% - that's the best we get. I'm so over this and just want to be done already.

October 2006
Ah, yet another waiting cycle. I bring out the old thermometer so I'll have some idea of what's going on with my cycle and lookie there, I ovulated on time! This should time out perfectly for my IVF to start in early November. Finally, something's going right. In the 2ww, my temps are crazy high and I start to worry that my FSH is skyrocketing, that would not be good.

November 2006
On Nov 3, I'm 14dpo and temps are higher than ever. I finally give in to the POAS gods and they offer up the best reward ever - a very strong BFP! You hear about women who get pregnant on their own right before IVF, but not twice in one year! I'm scared that this pregnancy will echo the last one, but try not to stress about it. That BFP is already darker than anything I got last time. I'm supposed to be going in for cd2 monitoring on the 5th, but instead, I go in for a beta. It comes back at 331. 2nd beta is 592, we scheduled the u/s and wait and hope. First u/s shows one baby, in the uterus nice and high with a heartbeat of 128bpm, very healthy and normal - finally!

December 2006
2nd u/s shows that the baby is doing great with a heartbeat of 176bpm and measuring exactly on for dates. My 1 hour glucose screening test comes back with a very good score of 75. The NT scan shows a nice thin NT measurement. The bladder is big, but we're hoping that our streak of good news continues and the bladder measures smaller at the next u/s.

It's been quite a year and it ended waaaay better than I expected it to during most of the year. I hope that 2007 continues the positive trend, but after last year, I know not to take anything for granted and enjoy the good stuff as much as you can.

12w1d - Personality Test Results

Advanced Global Personality Test Results Extraversion 83% Stability 50% Orderliness 60% Accommodation 56% Interdependence 76% Intellectual 70% Mystical 30% Artistic 56% Religious 10% Hedonism 43% Materialism 63% Narcissism 70% Adventurousness 10% Work ethic 43% Self absorbed 56% Conflict seeking 63% Need to dominate 76% Romantic 56% Avoidant 36% Anti-authority 76% Wealth 50% Dependency 50% Change averse 70% Cautiousness 56% Individuality 36% Sexuality 36% Peter pan complex 43% Physical security 90% Physical Fitness 50% Histrionic 43% Paranoia 30% Vanity 50% Hypersensitivity 63% Female cliche 43%

Take Free Advanced Global Personality Test
personality tests by similarminds.com

Stability results were medium which suggests you are moderately relaxed, calm, secure, and optimistic.
Orderliness results were moderately high which suggests you are, at times, overly organized, reliable, neat, and hard working at the expense of flexibility, efficiency, spontaneity, and fun.
Extraversion results were high which suggests you are overly talkative, outgoing, sociable and interacting at the expense too often of developing your own individual interests and internally based identity.

Trait snapshot:
clean, self revealing, open, organized, outgoing, social, enjoys leadership and managing others, dominant, makes friends easily, does not like to be alone, assertive, hard working, finisher, optimistic, positive, likes to stand out, likes large parties, respects authority, practical, high self esteem, perfectionist, dislikes chaos, busy, not familiar with the dark side of life, controlling, high self control, traditional, tough, likes to fit in, conforming, brutally honest, takes precautions.

So, what results do you get?

11w4d - NT Scan today & new due date

I had my nuchal translucency ultrasound today. This u/s is useful with some blood tests to help adjust odds for Trisomies, including Down Syndrome. The NT measurement ideally is below 3, our measurement was about 1.7mm, so a very nice result. We'll get the adjusted odds later after the blood has been analyzed too. My standard odds based on my age are about 1/300.

They did notice that the baby has a large bladder. This could be nothing or it could be something. It could be that the baby needed to pee and just hasn't yet, or it could be that there is a slight blockage in the urethra making it difficult to empty the bladder. We'll go back next week to take another look as see if the bladder is getting bigger. Hopefully it will be smaller by next week and we'll be in the clear. If it's bigger, then we'll probably come back again in a week to track the measurement. They said that one measurement isn't very useful, that they need to see the trend to know if there is an issue or not. The doctor said that they see this a lot and almost always it resolves itself by the next look.

They adjusted my due date based on the measurements today, so once again, I get to essentially skip a week of pregnancy!! Yippee!! I was about 11w3d based on my ovulation date today and baby measured at 12w3d, so my new due date is July 8, 2007. My OB likes to do repeat c-sections (which I'll probably end up with) about a week or so early, so we're more likely looking at a due date in the first week of July. Fine with me, that's before most of the heat hits around here!

Hubby and I thought we might have seen a penis today. The u/s tech said it's too early to say, which we know, but still. The doctor admonished us to not assume anything - that increased estrogen from me can cause more swelling of the genitals in the baby and what looks like a small penis could very easily be an enlarged clitoris at this point. He said that a friend of his and her husband came in for an u/s. Her husband is a radiologist and he was convinced that he saw a penis and was quite surprised at her 20wk u/s that they were having a girl. So, we still don't know gender yet. Maybe we'll see more next week, but not counting on it that's for sure. My acupuncturist still says girl, so we'll see.

Overall, it was a great appointment, even with our inconclusive bladder results. My parents are still in town and were able to come with us and see their last grandbaby on ultrasound which I know was very special for them. I do have some pics, but still haven't found a working scanner to be able to scan them in. I promise to work harder on that this week. I want to scan the pics before they start to naturally darken up.

11w2d - That was a weird dream.

I've had a few weird dreams with this pregnancy, but last night's was the oddest so far. And the fact that I remember it so clearly, even now, is unusual for me.

I dreamt that someone sent me a real live stork as a present (symbolism, much?). It was a juvenile one and it came with a few baby presents, all in pink. Apparently, someone thinks for sure I am having a girl. (That would be good!) I couldn't figure out who had sent this gift so I was looking through the paperwork that came with it and there was info about how the stork would eventually need to migrate back to it's own home and depending on where you lived and the time of year and what type of stork you received, it would migrate at different times. My stork was going to need to stay with us until May-early June (I'm due in mid-July). Then, at that time, I'd have to find a very tall building or tree or something and take the stork to the top to release it so it could find it's way home. There was a diagram included showing possible options for the release point. In searching through all the paperwork, I came across a name that I recognized and figured it had to be the person who sent this gift to me. The name was James Denton. Yes, the actor who plays Mike on Desperate Housewives. Why him? I haven't the earthliest clue. I mean, he's pretty darn cute and all, but I have no idea why he ended up in my dream. I could only deduce that he was a reader of this very blog and that was how he knew that I'm pregnant. I planned to put up a post thanking J.D. for the lovely gift.

Ok, let's analyze this one and see if we can figure out what it means. Any ideas?

10w5d - Ahhh, heat is good...so is a doppler

I'm happy to report that as of yesterday afternoon, our power was restored. Five nights of no power, no heat, no phones (VoIP doesn't work w/o power), no TV, no internet is just insane. Yes, I know others have had it worse and I feel for them, but this was my situation and I was soooo over it after about 2 days of 'camping in'. And it didn't help that the temps were dropping into the 20's overnight - BRRRR!!!

And on even better news, my doppler just arrived and I found the heartbeat!!!!! S/he moved after a few seconds and was hiding, so I couldn't measure it. Also, I swear I rented the digital version so I wouldn't have to count heartbeats, but I need to confirm that. Yay! My baby is still alive!!

9w5d - It's good to be back.

I finally got back to yoga class on Tuesday for the first time in a few weeks. I didn't realize how much my body missed it until after class. I just feel so much better when I've moved my body a bit.

We were snowed in a couple of weeks ago and Not So Wee One's preschool was cancelled. Not that I could get out of town to get to the gym with the ice on the roads either. Then, there was the field trip to a pottery studio where NSWO slapped some paint on a snowman and I painted the other two ornaments. And last Thursday was my day to work in the classroom so I missed yoga yet again.

I was happy to find that I hadn't lost too much in the way of flexibility and now that the nausea is gone (knock wood!) class was very enjoyable physically. There was some bad news too though. Another gal in the class who was pregnant with identical twins lost them at about 20 weeks to TTTS (Twin to Twin Transfusion Syndrome). She seems to be doing amazingly well given the circumstances. Yoga provides a safe haven for her I think. I know it did for me after my loss in May.

My teacher gave me a very nice compliment yesterday too. He was giving me a pose to do for a bit while everyone else was doing their warm-up which I don't do while pregnant. Even though it's been a few weeks, I remembered exactly the plan and got right to it. He said that I have a really good memory for this stuff, including the sanskrit names for poses and that I should consider teaching someday. Very kind. I feel like I'd have to practice yoga a lot longer and achieve a higher level of proficiency before I should be teaching, but apparently you don't have to be able to do all the poses perfectly to understand them and be able to help others understand them too. Who knows what the future might bring, but it was sure flattering. Especially from him. We practice Iyengar yoga first founded by B.K.S. Iyengar and my teacher's teacher studied with B.K.S. Iyengar himself, so I guess there are only 3 degrees of separation between me and this renowned yoga master. That's pretty darn cool. Not that it's helped me with my arm balances yet. Oh well, all in good time, right?

8w6d - 1 hour glucose screening test results

I am OVER THE MOON to be able to tell you that I passed my glucose screening test!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I'm not diabetic - yet.

Back with NSWO, I did the 1 hr test at 25 wks due to a large family history of diabetes and failed with a score of 175 - ouch! Yesterday's test result was a mere 75, so my cute little pancreas is handling things just fine for now. The midwife said I don't need to repeat until 28 weeks.

I swear I feel about 15 lbs lighter right now!

8w5d - 2nd ultrasound report

Today was our 2nd u/s and I'm very happy to report that all is well. The baby is measuring exactly at 8w5d and the heartbeat measured at 176bpm which is wonderful! We've got some more u/s pics of the blob-looking thing and as soon as we can figure out a scanner, I'll post them.

I'm officially released from the care of the RE which is such a great feeling.

I also did the 1hr glucose test today and thought I'd timed it well to drink the orange junk in the car at 9:15am, do the u/s at 9:30am and have plenty of time to walk the 2 min to the lab for the blood draw at 10:15am. That would have worked out perfectly except that the RE was running 30 min late this morning. I've had great luck lately at this time of day and haven't had to wait more than 10-15 min to go in, but today not so much. I got thru the u/s (time stood still there for a few minutes) and raced up to the lab and made it with 2 min to spare. Whew! I did NOT want to have to come back another day to do that test again. I'll hear later this week what the results were. Keep your fingers crossed, ok? I really don't want to be diabetic already.

Today, I finally allowed myself to have the thought, "I'm going to have a baby!" Hehe.

8w3d - a significant milestone

To most pregnant women, 8 weeks & 3 days is probably just another day in a pregnancy. For me, it holds some pretty big significance. Last time I was pregnant, 8w3d was the last day I was pregnant. The ultrasound at 8w2d showed that the heartbeat we'd seen the week prior was gone. They were able to get me in for the D&C the next day. At 8w3d, I started out the day technically still pregnant, but by the end of the day, I was not.

This time, 8w3d has a better outcome so far. I have another ultrasound on Wednesday (8w5d) with the RE and I'm hopeful that everything will show up just fine. I got myself a bit freaked this weekend when on Saturday, I woke up and suddenly the nausea and constipation were gone. Nothing like a sudden lack of symptoms to make a pregnant lady assume the worst. Especially when the worst has happened before.

Also, today, I had my first appointment with the midwife practice. I am hoping to be able to attempt a VBAC (vaginal birth after caesarean) with this one and figured that if I was with a midwife I'd have a better chance at achieving that goal. The CNMs (certified nurse-midwives) are in the same practice as my former OB, so I'd also have access to OBs if needed. Unfortunately, the MW informed me today that if my gestational diabetes comes back and I end up on insulin again that they won't be able to allow me to try a VBAC due to their insurance limitations. Apparently, there's too much of a risk that the baby will be too big due to the GD and the risk is more than their insurance company will allow. I think the final decision is ultimately based on u/s measurements late in the pregnancy, but odds are, I'll have a baby that is estimated to weigh too much. The cut-off is 4000 grams (8.5 lbs). NSWO was 8.5 lbs and 2nd babies are often bigger. So, I may be out of a VBAC before we even start.

I also have to do the glucose screening test this week. Yes, at only 8-9 weeks pregnant, I have to check to see if I'm already diabetic, this is usually done at about 26-28 weeks. I guess for some, it comes on way early in subsequent pregnancies. Gosh I sure hope not - that would S-U-C-K! It was hard enough being diabetic for 3-4 months, doing it for 7 months would not be fun at all. I feel for people who are diabetic all the time - so rough. I'll probably do the test on Wednesday since I'll be up at the hospital for the ultrasound anyway. Wish me luck.

Just in case I am already diabetic (which would mean no VBAC for me) I also made an appointment with a highly regarded OB in a different practice. I have several friends who saw him or are seeing him for their prenatal care and he's supposed to be THE GUY to go to if you need surgery. Trying to keep all my bases covered.

The nausea is still pretty much gone, although the grocery store tonight was a bit more than I could handle, so I'm happy to mostly have my tummy back to normal. The fatigue is starting to take over as the strongest symptom now. That's ok, napping is fun.

8w0d - P.U. (Pregnancy Un-pleasantries)

I debated whether or not to even post about this topic because it's just not very pleasant, but in the spirit of documenting this pregnancy, I decided to risk the humiliation. Besides, it's not even my fault.

So, I've been dealing with nausea for a couple of weeks now. It comes and goes, and when it's here (most of the day really) it's relatively mild. This is tolerable so far, and expected really. What I didn't expect is the constant constipation. I mean, I sort of did expect it because I do get backed up in my luteal phase, but this is a bit more than I'd reckoned for. I'm on psyllium husk capsules (4/day) for extra fiber, stool softeners (2/day), and upping the fluid intake to try and help. I've even taken to having either Raisin Bran or Grape Nuts (aka Colon Blow) for breakfast every day to attempt and battle the beast that is stuck within. So far, it's not making much of a difference. And when I get too backed up, it makes the nausea worse.

But the absolute worst side effect of the constipation is the gas that gets trapped because of it. When that stuff escapes it's downright frightening. I've actually had the dog whimper and move off my lap. The dog! They come out of nowhere and are the worst SBDs (silent but deadly) known to mankind. I have no control over when they will escape and I quite literally have to leave the room when they do because the stench is so strong that it makes me want to hurl. I think I need to start carrying a box of matches around with me. At least until Beelzebub finally makes his way out of my colon for good.

My poor Hubby, it's worst at night in bed too and I apparently woke him up from a deep sleep the other night. He's been out of town for a few days and the relief I have felt from not worrying about my stinkiness bothering anyone else has enabled me to get some much needed rest.

We have decided to nickname the baby "The Bean" in honor of this oh-so-lovely symptom. Fitting, don't you think?

Ok, so there you have it. My pregnancy un-pleasantries all laid out for you to laugh at, gag at, whatever. Enjoy. P.U. indeed!

7w3d - Yea for my blog friends! Yea for my blog friends!

Yes, I meant to repeat that title. I have TWO (count 'em TWO) blog friends who are also pregnant and due near me, Alli & Heather. Well, both of them found out today that they are each having TWO babies!! Yep, both of them are incubating twins! How awesome is that??

Some of you might be thinking that I might feel left out of this perfect trifecta, but you know what? You'd be wrong. I have no desire for twins and am happy beyond words for both of them (both of them) and even happier that I'll get to experience their twin pregnancies from a slight distance.

What a great Monday update! And we're having snow - even out here in the valley. Fun stuff.

6w5d - We Have a Heartbeat!

First ultrasound was today. I was so scared heading into it that it was going to be either a blighted ovum or twins. I wasn't sure which was the better option of those. I'm so very happy to report that there is only one baby and it's tucked in nice and high in the uterus with a heartbeat of 128bpm. I was measuring about 2 days ahead too. Doesn't really mean much to measure a couple of days ahead given the margin of error with the machine, but it's always better to measure ahead than behind. We go back in two weeks for a 2nd ultrasound and if all is well, I get officially released to the OB - well, midwives.

Hubby and I both let out a big sigh at the same time and then laughed and looked at each other. "We're going to have another baby. Hehe." We know we're not completely out of the woods yet, but with a normal heart rhythm, our odds for miscarriage drop to like 3-5% depending on who you ask. I sure hope this is the beginning of only positive things for this pregnancy.

NSWO was so cute the other day. We were at a friend's house who has 5 mo old twin girls from her 2nd round of Clo*mid. I was holding one of the girls and NSWO walks over and says, "Ahhhh, she's so cute." Then he turns to my friend and says, "My mommy's going to have another baby." Now, realize we hadn't told him anything officially, but he obviously picked up on it. My friend asks him, "Are you going to be a big brother?" His response, "Well, not THIS week." Gotta love kid logic.

UPDATE - we do have ultrasound pics, but the scanner is buried in the garage. I'll try to post a pic ASAP.

6w2d - Now this is different.

Well, the nausea is officially here. Not too bad, hoping it doesn't get too much worse in the coming weeks. I didn't have any with Not-So-Wee-One (save for a more sensitive gag reflex while brushing teeth) so this is all new to me. It's been building up slowly over the last few days and most of the time it's just a mild anxious/nervous stomach. I made an Italian meatloaf a couple days ago and it was soooo yummy. I tried to eat some leftovers the next day and could only get 3 bites in. Then today, Hubby heats up the last of the leftovers and I literally couldn't handle the smell and made him take it up into the office upstairs to eat it. Then I had to turn on the exhaust fan to clear out the smell. It hasn't affected my appetite yet though, I'm constantly starving! Just have to figure out what to eat that won't make me feel ill. Mac-n-cheese hit the spot today. Thanks to NSWO for suggesting it.

I'm pretty scared for the ultrasound on Wednesday. I'm trying to remain hopeful, but part of me is also preparing for the possible worst. I have no reason to think that there is anything wrong with this pregnancy, but I didn't last time either and that's what bugs me the most. I'm trying to hold onto the fact that the nausea is new and hopefully that means good things for the pregnancy, but still...Can't I just go to sleep and wake up on Wednesday at the clinic? Is that asking too much?

I probably wouldn't sleep well anyway. The past couple of nights, the insomnia is back too. I wake up to roll over or something and my silly brain gets latched onto something and won't let me go back to sleep. Last night it was the guest room. We live in a 4 bedroom house and right now the allotment is; our room, NSWO's room, guest room, and office. If this baby is another boy, we'll put him in NSWO's room, move NSWO to the current guest room and need to combine the office & guest room into the current office. (If this baby is a girl, she gets the current guest room and NSWO will stay in his room. Less re-painting to do that way.) The problem is, the office isn't that big to accommodate a queen size guest bed, desk and the TV that Hubby wants to put in there when he gets a new on for the family room. (Don't ask. :rolling eyes:) We have thought about doing a Murphy Bed in that room so that the majority of floor space could be used for play space since we don't have guests all that often, but when we do, they need a real bed. My brain went around in circles last night off and on for about 2.5 hrs trying to figure out a solution to this problem. Why? I have no earthly clue. When I got up this morning, the 'problem' didn't even bother me much, so why did I obsess about it last night? To rob me of valuable sleep I guess. I'm still no closer to a solution. Man, I hope my brain doesn't do that again tonight, I could really use some better sleep.

6w0d - Good things happen in threes too!

You know how people say that bad news comes in 3s? Well, it turns out that good news does too. Congratulations to Alli who also got her BFP this week. That makes three of us in the Seattle area who are all due within a week of each other. How cool is that?

Ladies, this is going to be quite a ride, so glad to be able be on the ride with you.

5w0d - Pinch me.

This still doesn't seem real. I am officially 5weeks pregnant today and aside from a few mild symptoms, I feel exactly the same. I've had some pretty intense hot flashes which started even before I knew I was pregnant. At swim class, the pool area is heated for the comfort of the swimmers, but when you're pregnant with extra progesterone flowing thru the veins, it's not comfortable to be in there for long. By the time we left I looked like I'd applied my blush with a mop, my cheeks were sooo pink. I'm still getting occasional pinching & pulling cramps and my breasts get pretty tender every once in a while. And my pants are already starting to not fit right. This happened with NSWO too, pretty much the day the test was positive, I was bloated enough to not fit into my jeans. I'm actually very glad to have these symptoms though because it helps me feel more at ease and hopeful that this pregnancy is going to stick around.

But overall, I feel so normal and not pregnant. I may be changing my tune in a couple of weeks when morning sickness typically sets in. I never got it with NSWO, so I'm hopeful to be able to avoid it again, but if that's what it takes to get a healthy baby, I'll take it I guess.

I also wanted to send out a HUGE congratulations to Heather who found out this week that her IVF was successful and from the look of her betas, I'd say VERY successful. Way to go girlfriend!

4w4d - 5 things you may not know about me.

I've been tagged by Heather to write a post including 5 things you may not know about me, so here goes:

1. I played the cello for over 10 years. I started in 5th grade when the cello was bigger than me. I had to take that thing on the school bus twice a week. It is NOT easy to get a full-sized cello onto a school bus, trust me. I played thru part of college (scholarship helped pay tuition) until my major got too busy to allow time for it.

2. My major at university was Musical Theatre. Yep, I did it all, singing, acting, and dancing. I decided to stop doing it professionally after a stint doing dinner theater (ACK!) in Boca Raton. That was enough to make me not need to do that for a living any more.

3. I'm tall. See, all of you are out there over the internet and you have no idea about stuff like that. It seems like such an obvious thing about a person, but not necessarily. So, yeah, I'm 6 feet tall. I could have been shorter - my mom is only 5'2". I could have been taller though - my dad is 6'6". I was average-sized until Jr High when I grew 6 inches in the course of 8-9 months. That hurt like a mother-fucker!

4. I don't LOVE chocolate. I enjoy a nice Milky Way every now and then, but it's more for the caramel than the chocolate. I still have a lot of Halloween candy in my garage and not much of an interest in eating it. Now, the Chewy Sweet-tarts and Hot Tamales I had before Halloween? Let's just say none of them made it into a trick-or-treater's bag!

5. Before college, I was trying to decide between Theater and Medicine for a career. Somehow I got it in my head that I could always play a doctor on TV and that would be enough. Looking back, I should have chosen medicine. I swear I know more than most of the nurses at the IVF clinic (well, not all of them, a few are pretty darn cool). Maybe once this baby is old enough I'll go back to school to be a nurse or nurse-midwife. That would be cool, except for the crappy hours, but oh well, can't have it all.

Ok, so now I get to tag some folks:
Heather (a different one)
Alli (just cause she's so darn cute)
Beth (if her stomach will let her)
S (I don't think I've ever seen her post her name, hmm....)
Gabby (I think she could use a silly thing to post about)

Enjoy ladies.

4w3d - 2nd beta results - still looking good

My beta today went up to 592 which puts the doubling time at 57 hours. Well within the range of normal.

First ultrasound is November 22. I'll be nearly 7 weeks by then so we should be able to see a nice strong heartbeat (oh please, oh please, oh please!).

4w1d - 1st beta is good

With NSWO, my 15dpo beta was 407. Today, this bean's 15dpo beta is 331. My progesterone is >20 so I don't need to supplement either -whew! I go in for a repeat on Monday.

4w1d - Did I have any clue? No, not really.

As for any symptoms or indication that I might be KU - my chart has been crazy good this cycle. Temps in the 99's lately and they've just gone up and up. That was my strongest hint, but I've had charts where my temps stayed up until 15dpo (today) the day AF is due and then they plummet, so I was trying not to count on anything. I've had a lot of little pinching cramps too, but kept vacilating between thinking it was early pg ones or more cysts popping up. I had convinced myself that the test was going to be white, and that I'd have cysts again and not get to do IVF either.

Night before last (13dpo) I was so tired and felt feverish all day long. I wanted to crawl into bed right after NSWO at 8pm, but Hubby convinced me to stay awake for Grey's Anatomy. Then at about 2am I woke up and had to pee (sometimes happens, not really a sign) but then I could NOT get back to sleep for hours!! This made me suspect too since it happened in March and probably in 02 with NSWO. That seems to be a trend for now cause I was up from 2-4 this morning again.

I actually had a dream about getting morning sickness last night. Let's hope it's not prophetic. I was able to get thru pg with NSWO with no real m/s and I'd love a repeat of that.

Well, NSWO and I have a birthday party to get to and I have to swing by the clinic this morning for my beta. I'll post my results when I get them. Wish me luck.

4w0d - No way!

I don't exactly know what to say, so I'll just let a picture be worth a thousand words.


Today is 14dpo. I was/am supposed to start AF tomorrow and do cd2 baseline stuff on Sunday. Instead, I'm going in tomorrow morning for a beta. Who'da thunk it?

ETA - This is my horoscope for today. Thought it was neat.

Try to come to a place of serenity today, dear Cancer, in which you free yourself from desire and jealousy. It is important that you take time to recognize the incredible growth that can spring forth from this position of calm and pure satisfaction. Rid yourself of excess baggage that you cling to as some sort of support or means of comfort. The less you carry, the more you free up your arms to create.