some good news

We found out we are having a little .... BOY!!

We originally planned to be surprised by the sex of the baby at birth.  But this little one continues to keep us on our toes.  We felt a strong desire to get to know as much about the baby as possible.  We also wanted to give the baby a name (which will remain a secret).  So we had the free cell DNA testing done last week.  Not only did the results tell us that the baby tested negative for Trisomy 13, Trisomy 18 and Trisomy 21 but that we were having a little boy!

So a brief story.  I often listen to music at work.  I had turned on a random Spot*ify playlist minutes before I received the call about the free cell DNA test.  The song, One of Us, was playing when my phone interrupted with the telephone call.  After what continues to be an extremely stressful pregnancy I took a lot of solace in the timing of that telephone call.

If God had a name
What would it be?
And would you call it to his face?
If you were faced with him in all his glory…
What would you ask if you had just one question?

And yeah, yeah
God is great
And yeah, yeah
God is good
And yeah, yeah
Yeah, yeah, yeah

What if God was one of us?
Just a slob like one of us
Just a stranger on the bus…
Trying to make his way home

If God had a face
What would it look like?
And would you want to see it?
If seeing meant that you would have to believe
In things like heaven and in Jesus and the Saints
And all the prophets

And yeah, yeah
God is great
And yeah, yeah
God is good
And yeah, yeah
Yeah, yeah, yeah

What if God was one of us?
Just a slob like one of us
Just a stranger on the bus…
Trying to make his way home

What if God was one of us?
Just a slob like one of us
Just a stranger on the bus…
Trying to make his way home
Just trying to make his way home
Just trying to make his way home
If God had a name
What would it be?

The tears immediately began to fall after I hung-up with the nurse.  We are beyond thrilled to be adding a little boy to our family.  I actually surprised Kara with the news after work that night.  I bought a little bib that said, "Mommy's Little Guy" and gave it to her after work.  Her reaction was priceless.  I got it on video.  She really had not idea that I was revealing the sex of the baby to her.  And when she realized what was going on she got a look in her eyes I will never forget.  She then turned to the boys and said, "OHHH NOOOO!  You are having a little brother."  It was great.

So that is where I leave this post.  Only good news.

Mary

and we dance on

The baby is OK.  But our nightmare continued this past weekend.  It was a very long weekend.  I still had episodes of bleeding Friday, Saturday, Sunday, and Monday.  I also had period like cramps the entire weekend.  I allowed myself some time to emotionally deal with the situation on Saturday afternoon and it allowed me to get through the remainder of the weekend more at peace with all that was going on.  I experienced the most significant bleed about 1am on Monday morning.  And it actually happened while I was asleep.  And the strange part was I woke-up and immediately realized I was not experiencing any cramps.  We had our regular OB appointment scheduled for Tuesday but I still gave the OB a call first thing Monday morning to let them know about the weekend.  To my surprise they wanted me to come in right away for an u/s.  So off Kara and I went for another scan.  Our precious little baby popped right up on the screen and was moving around like crazy.  Insert huge sigh of relief.  The baby was measuring 13w6d and had a heartbeat of 153 bpm.  Perfect.  The area of concern that the u/s tech saw on the u/s the previous week was completely gone.  The OB believes this is the bleeding I experienced over the weekend.  The OB also did a quick exam and saw nothing of concern in terms of dilation or a different source of bleeding.  So we were sent off to wait it out again.  I am not over 48 hours since the last bleed.  I have also not experienced any additional cramping.  So we continue to take it day by day and pray that perhaps the blood clot is completely gone.

We still had our OB appointment the following day.  It was with the NP for just my annual physical.  All looked good.  And the best news ... I have not gained any weight in 4 weeks!  Because at my previous rate I was going to become a whale.  The baby had a heartbeat of 150 bpm and we heard it right away on the doppler.  My blood pressure was also back to normal at 114/68.  Perfect.

The OB and high risk doctor decided it was in our best interest to do the P17 (progesterone) injections.  So a referral was sent off.  We will see if my insurance company actually covers the shots.  I might not get approved for them.  The injections would be weekly and typically start around week 16 and continue until week 36.  I will let you know when I learn more.

We also had blood drawn for the MaterniT21 test (fee cell dna).  This blood test will test for fetal chromosomal abnormalities such as Trisomy 13, Trisomy 18, and Trisomy 21.  It can also provide sex information.  We should get the results in about 8-10 business days.

My nausea is much better.  I only experience it at night.  It typically begins about 4 pm.  I tend to go to bed early each night.  But will wake-up at least one time in the night with about a 2 hour period of insomnia.  I have an occasional headache but the headaches have not kicked up like they did in my twin pregnancy.  I burp all the time.  I have a bit of a baby bump.  I'm definitely in maternity pants much earlier this time!  But I'll rock them with pride.  I pee a lot.  My cravings have gone away for the most part.  Though I'm not digging sweets at the moment.  I love meat.  And milk.

That is about all for now.

Mary

a scare

I am now 13w1d pregnant.  My greatest wish is a healthy full term baby that arrives in July 2016.  And secondary to that desire was my wish for a completely uneventful pregnancy.  That wish dissolved into a million little pieces this past weekend.  I woke-up on Saturday (12w2d) with a backache on my lower left side.   I immediately had a bit of fear.  The backache completely mirrored the backache I get about 24 hours before I start my period each month.  I continued on with my day.  Before I went to bed that night I started to get some cramping in my lower belly.  It had been a long day and I thought perhaps I was dehydrated.  I feel asleep as normal.  I got woken-up by Alex at about 4:30am on Sunday (12w3d) morning.  He had wet the bed and needed to be changed into new pajamas.  Of course when I woke-up I had to pee.  It had been all night.  But Alex was upset and so of course I focused on getting Alex taken care of before I took care of business.  I was sitting on the floor getting Alex in his clean pajamas when I felt a sudden gush.  I was immediately soaked.  I giggled to myself and told Alex, “Oh boy.  Mama just peed her pants.”  But when I stood up I realized it was blood.  I immediately panicked.  And cried.  I calmly asked Alex to go wake-up Mommy.  But the time Alex managed to actually get Kara awake the bleeding had slowed down some.  I sat on the toilet for about 10 more minutes and it eventually let up all together.  I knew in the back of my mind that there was a possibility that I still had that blood clot that the RE mentioned at 5 weeks.  I just kept praying that it was the blood clot working itself out of my body.  Once I got up I called the doctor on-call at the OB.  I knew there was nothing I could do but I needed to call for my peace of mind.  The OB told me to sit tight for the day unless the bleeding and/or pain got unmanageable and I felt that I needed to go to the ER.  That is the last place I wanted to go.  So I just took it as easy as possible.  My parents took the boys for part of the day to give Kara and me a much needed rest.  And the bleeding slowed to just some “old blood” spotting.  I still had the cramping and the lower backache though.  I called my OB in the AM and they got me in for an u/s ASAP.  I was a nervous wreck.  The only thing calming me down was the fact that the bleeding had stopped and my pain was not any worse.  The u/s tech (who we love) immediately got the baby up on the screen and went “My … baby has a big head!” …. (cue immediate relief) … cause that’s my kid!!!  The baby was just fine.  The u/s took a look around and she could no longer see an obvious clot.  So we think baby got mad about something and kicked it out of me.  There was some questionable areas that might cause me some bleeding issues in the future but the u/s tech could not be certain.  So that was the extent of the appointment.  I went on to have another minor bleeding episode later that afternoon.  Since that episode I have only had periods of “old blood” spotting.  The backache is gone and the cramping is at a minimum.  I wish I could say I’m not worried.  But I am.  I will always worry.  But I am taking it one day at a time.  

Mary

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