34 weeks

Yesterday I had an OB appointment and sonogram. K wasn't able to make it to this one, but both K and M are planning to come to our next appointment Tuesday. The sonogram went well, and B was head down, but "oblique", he was laying diagonally across my abdomen, and facing out! He measured 6lbs 13oz, which is pretty large since average for 34 weeks is 4.75lbs! We will do another sono next week to see if these measurements were just "off" for some reason, and to check fluid again (which was fine this week.)

Dr Reeves looked at my rash again and advised me to see a dermatologist as soon as possible. Since I had class yesterday afternoon, K called the dermotology office for me and got me an appointment this morning. I brought my munchkins with me and they did so well during the appointment :) Dr H says he believes it is PUPPPs, although its definitely not a "textbook case." He have me some samples of a cream and wrote me a prescription to fill if its helping. He also suggested talking to Dr Reeves about an antihistimine to help relieve the itching. It likely won't go away until a week or so after delivery. It certainly is an aweful itch and the best relief seems to be when I'm in the bath or shower. Luckily it doesn't itch ALL day long, it comes and goes, but when it itches, it is very irritating!Here is some info about PUPPP (Pruritic Urticarial Papules and Plaques of Pregnancy)
http://dermatology.about.com/cs/pregnancy/a/puppp.htm
Other than that, the pregnancy is going perfectly! I can't believe we are less than 5 weeks from delivery now!

33 weeks

Well little "B" cooperated for his second 3D sonogram! I was sad that his family missed it, but glad the tech was able to get some great shots this time!

1/28/13 30weeks+4days

He still has been having the hiccups alot, at least a few times every day!
The pregnancy has been going well. We had an appointment February 7th, measuring right on track. The C section has been scheduled for March 27th. After our appointment, K and I met Wendy and Denise at the hospital and met with the head nurse there to discuss how we wanted everything to go, and for a quick tour. We also pre-registered and met with the birth certificate worker. Everything is good to go for the big day! I am so pleased with the hospital, they were wonderful when I had my son there, and I anticipate everything will go smoothly with this delivery and recovery. It made it seem like we are getting so close to the end to go and have that meeting. We still have a little over 5 weeks from now, I'm sure part of it will fly by but it seems to fluctuate with how fast and slow different parts of this pregnancy has felt. It was so great to get to spend time with K again, and she'll be here Wednesday for our next appointment too. I'm so glad she's been able to come to nearly every appointment despite the drive.
Not long after the appointment I started noticing bumps on my belly. In a few days there were quite a bit and it was itching so bad. I went in on Wednesday the 13th to have Dr Reeves look at it. Lo and behold, I have poison ivy! He put me on a med pack and its stopped spreading. Its looking better but still itches quite a bit. K suggested calamine lotion and I've been using that alot the last couple of days too.
According to babycenter.com, B weighs as much as a pineapple, just over 4 pounds, and is over 17 inches long.

Quick update

K and M and all their little ones came into town Thursday for an appointment. The visit with the doctor went well. B was practically turning flips to avoid us hearing his heartbeat but we finally got a couple seconds here and there! We could see him moving around, pretty funny! We discussed the c section again, and looks like March 28 will be the big day, as long as I'm not showing any signs of labor. After the dr visit, we all gathered into the sonogram room for a 3d ultrasound. It was great to catch a couple glimpses of B but the tech really couldn't get a good clear shot. When his hands weren't covering his face, he had his face right up against the placenta, making it impossible to get a clear view. I was pretty disappointed since the whole family was there to see him, but that's just how it goes sometimes! We are going back in on Monday to try again, and K will be coming alone most likely. Fingers crossed we get a better look this time! From the little bit we saw, you can already see similarities with his siblings! Very cool!

29 weeks

Today marks 29 weeks! Baby boy (I'll call him "B")  has the hiccups right now, and has been having them alot since I first felt them about a week or two ago. According to babycenter.com, he is around 15 inches long, and about 2.5 pounds. Yesterday I did the glucose lab, and today I got the call that all is good with my insulin and iron levels. I talk to K today and she and the family are very excited about our 3-D sonogram next week! I can't wait! K and M and their oldest 3 children will be attending the appointment. They will be bringing a sitter for their youngest, and my kids and mom will likely be keeping them company during our appointment. This week we submitted all the paperwork to insure K and M go directly on "B"s birth certificate, and if all that is done in time, we will go to the hospital after our appointment Thursday to get everything prepared! I can't believe we're only about 10 weeks away from delivery! I'm so thankful that this pregnancy has treated me as well as my others, and so far I haven't even been having the hip pain I had in my pregnancies with my kids. I have been having those fun Braxton Hicks contractions in the evenings, just as I did while pregnant with my son. I actually kinda enjoy them especially since I won't be laboring with this delivery. (Not sure if that makes sense to many, but it does to me!)

27 weeks + 6 days - Jan 9

A couple weeks ago, K and I decided to get together for lunch and have all the kids finally meet! (And my first time to meet their older kids.) It was alot of fun! We went to Cheddar's for lunch, then went to the Ellen Trout Zoo in Lufkin. The kids all had a blast and the zoo was really nice. I loved seeing the kids together! It was pretty cute when we first got seated at the restaurant, one of the boys said "Hey! You have our baby in there!" when he noticed my belly. Then when it was time to leave the boys wanted to take B home with them. Almost, but he needs to grow a bit more!

K and M's kids and my kids- Jan 3rd

25 weeks

Yesterday marked 25 weeks! Moving right along! K came into town for a regular OB appointment on Monday. She came by the house to pick me up, and she brought some Christmas presents for the kids and each of them a shirt from their family trip to Disney world! So sweet and the kids love the doll and pirate ship!
At the office, we ended up having to wait a while. Two of the ladies from the agency met us up there and kept us company in the waiting room. Everything looked good with my health and the baby's. I am a tad concerned with my recent weight gain (6 pounds since the last appointment!) but my doctor isn't so I suppose I'm doing good! Baby's heart rate was 141 this time. He was kicking around while the nurse was doing the Doppler, but sadly K didn't get to feel him this visit. In a few weeks I will go in just for the glucose lab (diabetes screen), then on January 24 K and M (and probably one or more of baby's big siblings) will be able to come to the next appointment which will include a 3-D ultrasound! How fun! I had one done during my first pregnancy and it was so neat! I think it will be really special for baby's family to get to "see" him before he's born! Oh and they have decided on a first name! Yay!

 

Here's one from 25 weeks 4 days (Christmas Eve)

20 weeks

Thursday marked 20 weeks! The baby has been moving and I think we're almost to the point of feeling his movements from the outside of my belly! I can still tell the difference though with the anterior placenta (as opposed to with my kids, posterior placentas). My next OB appointment is tomorrow, and K may not make it to this one if she doesn't find a sitter for the kids. But hopefully the next time I see her she will get to feel her little one's kicks!
I woke up early Friday morning sick and it continued throughout the day. I started having sharp cramps that felt like contractions to me during the day so I called my OBs on call line and he got back to me and said to only drink water, Sprite, and Ginger-ale, no food, for at least 24 hours. He said that cramps and even contractions are common when you are sick and dehydrated, but if they got severe or persisted to go in to L&D at the hospital. He said if the cramps had stopped within the 24 hours that I could switch to the BRAT diet. (Bananas, rice, applesauce, toast). It was a little scary having the sharp contractions, but they were up higher only, and I knew everything would be okay. I checked the baby's heartbeat and continued to feel him moving, so besides feeling terrible, I was at peace. Thankfully this morning I'm feeling almost 100% better and my appetite is back full force, just a little weak from not eating much the last two days.
Here is a picture from Thursday. The left side of the picture is from babycenter.com.
K & M's baby is about 10 inches long from head to heel now; and is producing meconium which will accumulte in his intestines until he's here and makes that first poopy diaper, which his wonderful parents will be so happy to change!

20 weeks

Sono picture

This is from the last appointment, baby was sucking his thumb in the bottom picture, so cute. K&M have now shared the news with their family and friends, and their kids are so excited of course!
I started feeling some movement two days ago, they're still subtle but I am glad to feel the kicks/stretches!

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!

rancho grande!

Last week was our first OB appointment! K was able to drive down and Denise and Wendy from the agency also met us there. K arrived into town a little earlier than expected so she met me at my house (I was waiting for my hibernating bear to wake up) and then we went to eat. My mom met us at my favorite Mexican restaurant Rancho Grande and we all ate and mom took the kids with her afterwards. We also got to see some wonderful friends while we were there too! K loved the food and has been craving it, and after talking to her again today so am I!
We got to the doctor's office and I started filling out all the wonderful paperwork, then we were called back. The nurse had a ton of medical questions for myself and K. Once the doc came in, he had some more questions for us and we got to discuss some things with him. Then was the fun part- the sonogram! We weren't expecting to do one but since there had been some fluid noted in the last ultrasound he went ahead and did another. The baby had clearly done some growing and developing in the week and half or so since the first ultrasound! He/she was wiggling around and dancing for us. Over all the appointment went well although there were some overwhelming moments. He discussed different invasive tests that we are already certain we aren't going to do. Also talking about the risks involved with a VBAC was a bit scary. He does do them in the right circumstance, and says the risk of uterine rupture is .8%, but when it does happen it can be a very bad situation. I'm not sure where I stand on that now but I think I am more comfortable with a repeat C section than I was before! I just want to do whats best for the baby and myself.
In other news, I've been going to the lab once a week to have my hormone levels checked in order to start weaning me off the meds. Last week I switched from three pills daily of estrogen, down to two. And today I got to go down to one pill daily of estrogen, AND from 1.5mL to 1mL of progesterone injections! yay!! my hips will be so happy with my smaller injection tomorrow! Although strangely I was a little nervous this time when I was told to go down on the meds. I think I've considered them my safety to keeping things going right, but obviously the doctor is reviewing my labs and my body must be taking over the hormones so the artificial ones aren't going to be necessary. So now that I've thought about that, I'm less nervous and super excited to be moving past the meds part of this soon!
Our next appointment will be September 28th, at 13 weeks (yay, second trimester time!)


Things I've been craving the last couple weeks:
Iraqi bread, and now Rancho Grande salsa!!

How I've been feeling:
TIRED! very tired! Much like the first trimester of my pregnancy with Conner. Could also have something to do with my rambunctious duo!