17.5 weeks

Today K & M drove down for an appointment, which included the anatomy sonogram. We found out baby is a boy! They planned on telling the big siblings tonight about the baby, then later do a gender reveal for them with balloons in a box! Funny thing is, although they still did not know about the pregnancy and soon-to-be sibling, one of the boys recently requested "a baby brother that is a boy". So cute! Although big sister argued she'd prefer another little sister! I'm sure either way all four big siblings will be so excited to welcome their baby brother in five months!
We also found out at the appointment that the placenta is on top (anterior) which is what I was suspecting since I have yet to feel any for-sure fetal movements. It still may be a few more weeks before I can feel anything because of this. Its fairly common and shouldn't cause any issues with the pregnancy or delivery.
When Dr Reeves was adjusting the due date back to April 4th, (it had somehow got changed in the computer to April 2) he said March 28th would be when he would recommend scheduling the repeat c-section for! That will be on Olivia's 4th birthday! I think that would be so special if it works out to have him on that day! One of the happiest days of my life, and now might be the day I deliver a family's bundle of joy to them! Olivia was thrilled to hear this news!
The baby was measuring 18 weeks today (will be 18 weeks on Thursday this week), and my uterus is measuring 23cm, big I know!


17weeks1day

16 weeks

Tuesday night I started getting worried that I hadn't felt the baby's movements yet. I couldn't remember when I felt Olivia and Conner's first flutters, so I tried looking back through old emails and such, and found I had probably felt Olivia around 18 weeks, and no clue about Conner. Once I got myself worrying it was hard to shake, so I told Mike yesterday morning that I was worried and was going to call my doctor and see if I could go in for a quick heartbeat check. I let K know and she was praying and nervous too. I think we both still felt that everything was okay, but better to check and have peace of mind. I called and got an appointment for 2:30, and me and the kids headed to my moms house to visit my nephew who was visiting. The kids stayed while I went to the appointment. Once there, the nurse did the routine checks and then used the doppler to find the baby's heartbeat. It felt like it took sooo long to find, but once she caught it for a split second we heard why. The baby must have been turning flips because we could hear the commotion. He/she then calmed down and let us listen to the heartbeat for a while at 154 beats per minute. Dr Reeves came in and talked to me and reassured me that I do everything I'm supposed to, my previous pregnancies have had great outcomes and so will this one. He also said its common when you're dealing with someone else's kid (he calls them kids, even when they're itty bitty in utero) to be more cautious. We are keeping our next appointment on October 29, which will include an ultrasound! K will be coming and will likely have the sonographer write down baby's gender and do a "gender reveal" with her family. I'm also having Mike come with me to this next appointment. I want him to be able to see the doctor again too before the day of delivery.
Yesterday evening I went to a friends house to pick up a pocket doppler which she's letting me borrow. Olivia and I tried it out this morning and I love it!
Today is exactly 16 weeks, less than a month away from halfway!
Baby's heart is pumping about 25 quarts of blood per day, his/her toenails have started growing, and baby will double in weight over the next few weeks.
I'm feeling good, and haven't had any crazy cravings lately, just been on this lemon water kick, with a very high lemon to water ratio! So sour but so good. I of course don't do it too often since I need it to be real lemon. I tried the packaged kind and it is not the same! In fact I'm going to squeeze the other half of the lemon I have left and have some now! Yum!
Thanks everyone for all the support, it's really great having such positive people around me during this!
The avocado picture is from babycenter.com; the other is Olivia helping me with the heartbeat "microphone."

Recent picture

It seemed like my belly has started growing quite a bit this week, here's a picture from Wednesday (one day shy of 15 weeks)

change in plans

Last friday (Sep. 28) K and I went for another OB appointment. It was great seeing her again, and I'm really glad that it looks like she'll be able to make it to many/most of the appointments. We had talked about a week before that and decided to see the doctor, Dr. Reeves, who I saw when I was pregnant with Conner (and also delivered him.) I had originally ruled him out as I was wanting the option of a VBAC. Dr Reeves doesn't do VBACs and we talked to him about that. I'm still a little torn but I do trust him as a doctor. Mike was a little upset too because he knew that it was important to me to have the option, although he trusts me and the doctor to do what is best. Its weighed heavily on K's heart too and I feel there's always a reason for things like that. She also loves Dr. Reeves. We did an ultrasound and got to see baby moving around, and heard the heartbeat. I think the heart rate was 136 this time but I've slept since then so I can't be sure! The baby was measuring a couple days big. Conner was the same way, and he was a big baby when he was born! I've also read that for some reason babies that were "frozen" embryos tend to have higher birth weights, so I'm guessing this baby will be pleasantly plump! K&M's other children have been big too.

 

K and M's little one at 13weeks 1day

Our next appointment is in 3 weeks at 17.5 weeks gestation. We forgot to ask if we will be doing the anatomy ultrasound then, but I'll probably call and check. If I remember correctly, we did Conner's right at 20 weeks. Today (Oct 8) we are 14 weeks and 4 days. OH! Good news, I've been off all meds for a couple of weeks now! Yay! I'm starting to show a little but I think I really just look bloated still. Baby is 3 1/2 inches from head to bottom, about the size of a lemon now, according to babycenter.

Here's a picture Olivia took, one day shy of 12 weeks:

 

I'll take an updated one soon, but I don't feel like getting dressed today. And yes, the day is almost over, haha!