Here is a quick update on me this week. I can't believe I'm 21 weeks!!
Weight gain/loss: Still down a few pounds last I checked. I feel like I’m getting huge though!
Maternity clothes? Absolutely! Pants anyway. I tried to wear my other pants and I had to unbutton them an hour into my work day.
Stretch marks? Still not 100% sure. A couple of red marks on my belly but I’m sure if they are from too-tight pants or if they are early stretch marks
Sleep? Not bad! Zantac helps so much and the extra hour with the time change was heavenly.
Best moment of the week? I feel the babies!! I was able to confirm it with the Doppler. I thought I was feeling them and we had the Doppler on and I felt the kick and heard the movement at the same time.
Food Cravings: Milk and ice cream. I wonder if I need more calcium?
Belly button in or out? Still in
Movement: Now that I know I am feeling them, I feel them all the time! It’s amazing and creepy all at the same time. LOL
What I miss: I’ve had a few nights where I really wanted a drink, but overall I’m doing alright.
Saturday, November 12, 2011
Monday, November 7, 2011
Anatomy Scan was Today
And the babies looked great!!! Scrappy was in a great position so the tech started getting measurements right away. No abnormalities (aside from a single umbilical artery on Scrappy, which can be totally incidental). 2 little hearts, 2 little brains, 4 little kidneys, everything on both babies was where it should be and looked totally normal. Scrappy is small, measuring about 2 weeks behind, but that could be from the single umbilical artery and me not being able to eat much in the past few weeks.
And the sexes are......
Girls!!! We are team Pink all the way. Two little girls! I am so excited and ready to move forward with this pregnancy without constantly worrying about major genetic issues.
Thank you for all of the thoughts and prayers. I truly believe that they helped with the wonderful results we got today. :)
And the sexes are......
Girls!!! We are team Pink all the way. Two little girls! I am so excited and ready to move forward with this pregnancy without constantly worrying about major genetic issues.
Thank you for all of the thoughts and prayers. I truly believe that they helped with the wonderful results we got today. :)
Sunday, November 6, 2011
The high highs and the low lows
I'm pretty sure in the past 4 months, this pregnancy has resulted in as many tears as the 2 1/2 years we spent trying to conceive. Don't get me wrong, a lot of those tears have been happy, but it has certainly been a roller coaster. From the moment I saw the flickering of those two little heartbeats on the ultrasound screen, I have felt some of the happiest and some of the scariest feelings in my life.
One thing I have absolutely loved about being pregnant is how much stronger I feel things, particularly in relation to the babies. I hear a song on the radio that makes me think of the babies and I will cry, no matter where I am and what is so awesome about being pregnant is that I don't care that I'm crying. I have no shame. I have pulled up to the Starbucks drive thru with tears running down my cheeks from a song on the radio and I'm not embarrassed.
The flip side to that is when we get bad news or I feel that the pregnancy is threatened, the emotions I feel are amplified beyond my imagination. I have had several bleeding scares during my pregnancy. The first was around 8 weeks. I was at the point where I was feeling pretty confident about things. I hadn't had any spotting or cramping in the first month of pregnancy and I was really starting to get smug about how well things were going. Then I went to the bathroom and there was blood. I was so scared and in total shock. Being forced to face the fact that this pregnancy can end at any time without warning was the worst feeling. I cried and hugged Tim and prayed that everything would be OK. An ultrasound the following morning showed both babies where they were supposed to be with strong heart beats.
More recently, I received some not-so-good news from my MFM (maternal-fetal medicine doctor). I had a first trimester screen done at 13 weeks and the results were not normal (my bloodwork was lost and we didn't get the results until 16 weeks!). My bloodwork showed a 1:46 chance of either trisomy 18 or 13. I was devastated and I cried big ugly tears when we got home. Tim and I spent the next 2 days in a state of shock, fear and depression. We talked about the 'what ifs' at the same time trying to squash the horrible sadness and fear that kept creeping up.
Follow up bloodwork showed a dramatic reduciton in the risk of trisomy 18, unfortunately, there is no way to gather more information about trisomy 13 without doing an amniocentesis and Tim and I decided that the risks of the amnio outweighed the benefits of knowing the results. After speaking with my OB, we feel that although there is a chance we may have a child with a genetic issue, it is still unlikely, and if our anatomy scan does not show any major abnormalities, we can feel fairly confident that things will be alright.
Tomorrow afternoon is my anatomy scan. I am so excited to see the babies, but at the same time, I am so incredibly scared about what they might find. I don't know how I will handle it if one of the babies is sick. I would give anything to be a blissfully ignorant teenager right now. I'm sure that 16 year old girls who get pregnant don't spend a lot of time fretting over the possibility of genetic abnormalities in their babies.
Any thoughts and prayers you can spare for the scan tomorrow would be appreciated. I will update as soon as I can.
One thing I have absolutely loved about being pregnant is how much stronger I feel things, particularly in relation to the babies. I hear a song on the radio that makes me think of the babies and I will cry, no matter where I am and what is so awesome about being pregnant is that I don't care that I'm crying. I have no shame. I have pulled up to the Starbucks drive thru with tears running down my cheeks from a song on the radio and I'm not embarrassed.
The flip side to that is when we get bad news or I feel that the pregnancy is threatened, the emotions I feel are amplified beyond my imagination. I have had several bleeding scares during my pregnancy. The first was around 8 weeks. I was at the point where I was feeling pretty confident about things. I hadn't had any spotting or cramping in the first month of pregnancy and I was really starting to get smug about how well things were going. Then I went to the bathroom and there was blood. I was so scared and in total shock. Being forced to face the fact that this pregnancy can end at any time without warning was the worst feeling. I cried and hugged Tim and prayed that everything would be OK. An ultrasound the following morning showed both babies where they were supposed to be with strong heart beats.
More recently, I received some not-so-good news from my MFM (maternal-fetal medicine doctor). I had a first trimester screen done at 13 weeks and the results were not normal (my bloodwork was lost and we didn't get the results until 16 weeks!). My bloodwork showed a 1:46 chance of either trisomy 18 or 13. I was devastated and I cried big ugly tears when we got home. Tim and I spent the next 2 days in a state of shock, fear and depression. We talked about the 'what ifs' at the same time trying to squash the horrible sadness and fear that kept creeping up.
Follow up bloodwork showed a dramatic reduciton in the risk of trisomy 18, unfortunately, there is no way to gather more information about trisomy 13 without doing an amniocentesis and Tim and I decided that the risks of the amnio outweighed the benefits of knowing the results. After speaking with my OB, we feel that although there is a chance we may have a child with a genetic issue, it is still unlikely, and if our anatomy scan does not show any major abnormalities, we can feel fairly confident that things will be alright.
Tomorrow afternoon is my anatomy scan. I am so excited to see the babies, but at the same time, I am so incredibly scared about what they might find. I don't know how I will handle it if one of the babies is sick. I would give anything to be a blissfully ignorant teenager right now. I'm sure that 16 year old girls who get pregnant don't spend a lot of time fretting over the possibility of genetic abnormalities in their babies.
Any thoughts and prayers you can spare for the scan tomorrow would be appreciated. I will update as soon as I can.
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