OB

We had our OB appointment at 9w6d.  It was a rough day all around for me.  I woke-up really nervous about the appointment.  And it did not help that I have been extremely nauseous and fatigued over the past several days.  So I was dragging a bit.  I was tired.  I realized as I was sitting in the waiting room that a lot of my nervousness surrounded around our previous pregnancy.  I never really had a great experience in that office.  Not because we didn’t get sufficient care but because most times I was entering that office it was because something was going wrong with the pregnancy.  And here I was sitting in the waiting room a “normal” pregnant woman.  But am I really a “normal” pregnant woman?  It turns out we just have no way of knowing the answer to that question.  We met with a different OB yesterday.  I think this ended up being a good decision for us.  Both of the OBs are wonderful in the practice.  But the OB we met with yesterday had a much calmer demeanor.  This personality seemed to align a bit more with my personality.  So what do I know?

(1) I’ve gained more weight.  But I woke-up today with the decision to no longer stress about the weight gain.  My eating has turned healthier over recent days and that brings me some peace.  The OB was not concerned in the least bit.  I will not eat through my entire pregnancy.  A lot of my weight gain has simply been the only way I can deal with the nausea and hopefully the nausea passes in the next couple of weeks.  The OB still indicated I am very healthy.

(2) My blood pressure was high.  It was 132/78.  But I was NERVOUS.  My blood pressure last week at the REs office was 106/70.  The OB is not worried.  Me either.

(3) I had more b/w done yesterday to get a check of my TSH level.  It is important this level stays in check during the pregnancy.  We also need to make certain my sluggishness has nothing to do with an elevated TSH level.  An elevated TSH level can increase you chance of preterm labor.  We do not need that.

(4) I am of advanced maternal age (AMA).  This was news to me.  I thought the medical community went by the age of the egg at the time of conception.  But instead they go by the age of the mother at the time of delivery.  I will be 35.  I really thought I had gotten lucky and missed the cutoff.  So immediately I gained the gift of additional non-stress tests (NSTs) and u/s during the 3rd trimester.

(5) We have no way of knowing whether or not I will experience preterm labor with a singleton pregnancy.  This is what causes me the greatest amount of stress.  It also causes the OB some stress.  All my previous pregnancy complications could have been simply due to the fact that I was pregnant with twins.  Or I could have a crap cervix and uterus.  So what do we do?  My OB is not certain at the moment.  She plans to consult with the MFM (high risk doctor) and determine if I am a candidate for P17 (progesterone injections) beginning at week 16 and going through week 37.  These weekly injections have been shown to reduce the risk of preterm labor by 33%.  This is great.  The OB is leaning towards the injections.  If I had experienced preterm labor with a singleton, then there would be no question to the importance of the injections this time around.  But I experienced preterm labor with a twin pregnancy.  We also aren’t certain if my insurance company would cover these rather expensive injections.  But then again my insurance company probably doesn’t want a $100k+ NICU bill again either.  So stay tuned.  

(6) Genetic Testing.  There is new genetic testing available to us.  It is called free cell DNA testing.  It is noninvasive b/w that can be done anytime in pregnancy after 10 weeks.  The test reports positive or negative results for Trisomy 21, Trisomy 18, and Trisomy 13.  This is a test that can be done as an alternative to the traditional NT Scan and Quad Screen which is what we did in our prior pregnancy.  It could also be done in conjunction with those tests.  Most insurance companies do not cover the fee cell DNA testing unless you are of AMA.  That’s me!!  The free cell DNA testing is not a guarantee.  It simply means if a result would be positive then it would be advisable to do a more invasive test such as an amniocentesis.  So after much discussion Kara and I have decided to move forward with the free cell DNA testing at our next appointment.  We are not going to do the NT Scan this time around.

(7) My anatomy scan will be done with the MFM.  This is simply because I am considered high risk due to my AMA and my previous preterm labor.  This will be our next u/s and will not take place until about week 20.  YIKES!!

(8) I've been getting headaches.  I had them with my twin pregnancy too.  The OB told me to take 800 mg of Magnesium Oxide before bed each night.  We picked-up the vitamin last night and I took some last night before bed.  I woke-up today headache fee and I have gone ALL day without a headache.  I'm not going to hold my breath.  But I consider it a win!  Today was the first time in over a week I didn't have to pop any Tylenol.

(9)  The OB was able to find little blob’s heartbeat with the fetal Doppler.  This is great considering I am only 10 weeks.  Our little blob has a heartbeat of 175 bpm.  This was literally the best moment of the entire pregnancy for me.  The actual heartbeat of our little blob.  

(10) Our next OB appointment is January 12th.  So I get to be a normal pregnant lady for at least a bit.  And hopefully longer.

I think another favorite moment of the day came when we ran into the sonographer at the OBs office.  Her greeting to us was “congratulations on the one baby ONLY pregnancy” … I could not agree more.

That is all for now.  

Mary

9w1d

We had our final appointment with the RE on December 11th at 9w1d.  Here is a picture of little spot measuring 9w1d and with a heartbeat of 180 bpm.

We graduated.  It's still so surreal to wrap my head around the speed of which things are happening this time around.  I honestly, because we got pregnant so fast, am still trying to get my brain to understand I am pregnant.  Let's look at some #'s from our time at the RE.

I went to 36 appointments over a span of 10 months to get pregnant with Jakob and Alex.

I went to 15 appointments over a span of 3.5 months to get pregnant with Baby #3.

So we of course graduated, for what we hope is the final time, from the RE with many mixed emotions.  The place literally feels like home.  But at the same time I NEVER want to go back.  We are so grateful for all that both our doctors did to help us get our family.  They work magic in that facility.  And not only do the folks create life, when otherwise it might not be possible, but they guide so many families along on what is an emotional journey.  And they do it with grace and often times with unselfishness.  

We also had another discussion with our RE and the reality of the situation is that I should never have successfully gotten pregnant with a natural IUI and on attempt #1.  So we are forever grateful to the luck we got this time around.  And we continue to prayer that little blob grows big and strong.  We are also glad that we decided to try for Baby #3 this year.  It appears my body will be done with it's baby making ability sooner rather than later.  

The boys gave the baby a nickname of "Scout" this week.  We like it.  They are very aware of the fact that a baby is growing in my belly.  They are constantly asking to give kisses and hugs to the baby.  It melts my heart.  Last night Jakob told me "Mama.  I think if I go to sleep tonight.  And I sleep good.  The baby will be here when I wake-up." And when I responded with the fact that baby won't make an arrival until summer Jakob responded with "Then I just sleep until summer."  I love them.

So how am I feeling?  Not the best.  The nausea is fairly constant.  It gets a bit worse at night.  My appetite has slowed down a bit.  But still eating is the only thing that gets rid of the nausea.  I'm are tired all the time but I struggle a lot with insomnia.  I tend to be ready to sleep right as my alarm clock goes off.  I'm also getting a bit of a belly.  It's all bloat at the moment.  I do think it is growing at a rapid speed though because of my previous twin pregnancy.  I took a picture last night just to humor myself.  Remember it's nighttime ... I had a lot of food in that belly!!!  The belly does not look this big in the AM.  

But here I am at almost 10 weeks.

We have our first OB appointment tomorrow.  

Mary  

a preview

Here is a preview of our announcement photo.  We love it!  

I promise to be back with a proper update soon.

Mary

8w0d

I think you can decipher how I am feeling these days by the length of time it takes me to get new blog posts up.  Blah...

We had our last u/s at 8w0d.  I was nervous.  That's typical.  I have nightmares in my head.  All the time!  But little blob was measuring right on track at 8w1d and had a heartbeat of 169 bpm.  Here is our picture.

We were able to schedule our first OB appointment for December 16th.  I will be 9w6d.  The RE, being so very gracious, agreed to let me come back this week, at 9w1d for a final u/s.  I SO appreciate it.  My insurance is already fairly maxed out this year anyhow.  So an u/s for peace of mind is find with me.  

Otherwise I am feeling OK.  I still have several periods of nausea during the day.  I'm hungry ... ALL THE TIME.  I've already put on about 4 lbs.  And just for some perspective I only gained 2 lbs with the boys during the entire 1st trimester.  I have a problem.  I'm very fatigued during the day but then I have a really hard time sleeping.  None of my clothes fit.  I look about 16 weeks pregnant!  I think my belly is going to give this pregnancy away before I am ready to announce it to the world.  But despite all this ... I am trying to maintain a level head.  I know that weight can be lost.  I know that I am eating because I am hungry and because I am dealing with nausea.  If this all means that there is a healthy baby growing then I will be just fine.  I also know I won't continue to gain 2 lbs a week.

We have our family photographer coming to our house this weekend to take some announcement pictures.  We hope to give them to our family at Christmas.

Please continue to cross your fingers that little blob is growing big and strong.

Mary