14 Weeks

How far along? 14 Weeks HAPPY 2nd TRIMESTER!

The baby is the size of a..... 

Total weight gain/loss? +6-7lbs

Maternity clothes? Yup

Stretch marks? Nothing new

Sleep? I was having great sleep until I got a sinus infection.

Best moment this week? We started cleaning out the spare room and we pulled down all Nate's baby clothes. squeeee

Miss Anything? Medicines that can be taken when not pregnant. Ugh what I would kill to take advil or motrin over this awful, pointless tylenol.

Movement? Feel little pops and flutters. 

Food cravings? Food in general....nothing specific

Anything making you queasy or sick? nope

Have you started to show yet? I guess bc I wake up with a bump now.

Boy or Girl? BOYYY!!!!

Labor Signs? No

Belly Button in or out? In but I fear not for long. Sucky shallow belly buttons.

Wedding rings on or off? On

Happy or Moody most of the time? Happy until I got sick.

Looking forward to? Feeling better. Seriously, this infection is making me miserable.

Upcoming Appointments?  OB Appt Aug 7th

Other ramblings and musings: My head hurts entirely too much to have any ramblings or musings today. If someone can find me the release valve for this pressure, that would be great.

14 Weeks with baby #2 vs Baby #1

No pic for baby #1 at 14 Weeks

Felt like crap today so I expertly covered my face with my phone...lol.

Bonus pic from today if you didn't already see it:

13 Weeks

How far along? 13 Weeks OH EM GEE!! Last week of 1st trimester!

The baby is the size of a..... 

Total weight gain/loss? +5lbs

Maternity clothes? Yea, my need for comfort made me embrace the maternity clothes fully.

Stretch marks? Nothing new

Sleep? Pretty good this week. 

Best moment this week? Finding out that our baby is healthy and finding out the sex of our baby!

Miss Anything? Sleeping through the night without having to pee.

Movement? Feel little pops and flutters. 

Food cravings? Food in general....nothing specific

Anything making you queasy or sick? nope

Have you started to show yet? meh

Boy or Girl? We are happy to hear that #2 will be a baby BOY!!

Labor Signs? No

Belly Button in or out? In

Wedding rings on or off? On

Happy or Moody most of the time? Pretty happy this week

Looking forward to? Not having a doc appt for a couple weeks. I've been to the doc every week since my pregnancy started (and many weeks even before it) and now that I have graduated from my RE I have a few weeks off before my monthly OB appt.

Upcoming Appointments?  OB Appt Aug 7th

Other ramblings and musings: My feelings on having another boy...
While I would have loved for this baby to have been a girl I am tickled pink (or blue lol) that I am going to be the mom of 2 boys. I am not disappointed in the least. A few months ago I didn't even think I would be pregnant again so when I said that the sex of the baby didn't matter, it wasn't a lie. This baby boy is a blessing to our family and he is going to be an absolute wonderful addition. Today I went and bought a little brother onesie. It's the one piece of baby clothing I needed to get, feel, embrace. When I got home and got it out of the bag I started tearing up just knowing that there is a little boy in my belly right now that will be in that onesie one day. My heart feels full.

13 Weeks with baby #2 vs Baby #1

No pic for baby #1 at 13 Weeks

I have a secret! And it answers the question of pink or blue...

Ok first...no cheating to the bottom. I want to explain how we know the sex of our baby and we aren't even 13 weeks yet.

Science is a wonderful thing. I mean, it's the reason that I am pregnant right now. There are a few companies recently that have started marketing their NIPT's or Non-Invasive Prenatal Tests. These tests take mom's blood and separate baby's DNA from it. They can then tests for many chromosomal abnormalities, gene deletions as well as sex specific issues. They are over 99% accurrate and are even more comprehensive than the NT test.

Since our baby was created in a lab and the whole IVF process is still relatively new we wanted to take any and all opportunities to make sure our baby was as healthy as can be without being invasive. So when this test was offered we jumped at the chance. 2 vials of blood is nothing when it can give me peace of mind.

Thursday July 10th at the end of my RE appt I had my blood drawn and sent out. The specific test I did is called Panorama and is said to be the best one out there since it tests for a few more things than some of the other NIPT's available. I was told results would take 7-10 calendar days to be faxed to my doctor. We knew that the geneticist would call with the results so we waited patiently.

One day 11 (Monday) I called Natera (Panorama's lab) and inquired on the status of my results. No use in playing phone tag with the geneticist when I can just call the lab. The man on the phone told me my results were going through final review and should be faxed over later that day or the next day but that my office should have the results, no matter what, tomorrow.

Today I watched the phone. I willed it to ring. I seriously didn't leave the room without it.

Finally a little before 11am it rang. It was the RE office. I answered and tried to act cool but I swear you could hear my heartbeat through the receiver.

The geneticist told me my risks were all very low for everything they tested for. Such a relief. The lowest risk was 1:10,000 and went all the way up to 1:50,000. Such.A.Relief.

At the end of the news she asked me if we were interested in finding out the sex of our baby. To which I answered....YES!

And we were told that we are having a ......

baby....










BOY!!!

So I found this awesome polka dot cake on Pinterest and thought 'hey, I can do that'. So today I baked the circles (cake balls) and then put them in the cake pan and cooked them. We planned on taking the cake to my parents to reveal the sex of the baby. Yea, well the cake pretty much fell apart when I was taking it off the cake rack. I'd say I totally nailed this Pinterest idea.

NT Results

We had our NT test today and baby cooperated wonderfully. Nuchal fold was 1.6 and there was a nasal bone...those results with the blood put my risks very low. My risk before the u/s for downs was 1:700 but was raised to 1:1463 after u/s. And my risk for trisomy 18/13 before the u/s was 1:1274 but was raised to 1:>10000.

The baby was so calm during the whole thing and the tech could not have been happier. The sonographer was wonderful and talked and explained a lot as she went. She printed me out so many pictures and she even printed Nate out his own pic to show anyone he wanted.

She said that my placenta was presenting as previa and that they would watch it and she feels as though it should fix itself. Also, they test something called PAPP-A which, according to some research, can cause low birth weight, pre-eclampsia, placental issues, IUGR, and premature birth. My number was .28 MoM which puts me in the 2%. Both of these issues would be a cause for concern to bring me in for further monitoring but because of this being an IVF baby they already had me on the books for further monitoring. It's just a couple more things to check on each appointment.

I am on the books for my anatomy level 2 u/s beginning of Sept, the fetal echo end of sept and my first growth u/s end of oct. She also said that closer to my due date they would also be doing biophysical profile tests. Eek!!

Oh and the baby still had its feet crossed like last week. It look so lax and cozy up in there on the screen.

Anyway, here are today's pics. They are either full body, hand or profile. I'm in love already!!

 

 

            

12 Weeks

How far along? 12 Weeks

The baby is the size of a..... 

Total weight gain/loss? +5lbs

Maternity clothes? Bought some clearance shirts from old navy for fall/winter. Other than that I pretty much wear maternity pants or dresses/skirts but no tops....yet.

Stretch marks? Nothing new

Sleep? Had a rough week. 

Best moment this week? Well of course it's when I see my baby so I'll keep saying that until the RE appts are over (possibly this week). 

Miss Anything? Not really

Movement? Feel little pops and flutters. 

Food cravings? Food in general.

Anything making you queasy or sick? not really

Have you started to show yet? Not that much. 

Gender? No idea but I did put up a poll over there ------->
Start taking some guesses people....more than 5 of you!

Labor Signs? No

Belly Button in or out? In

Wedding rings on or off? On

Happy or Moody most of the time? I was a bit more moody this week.

Looking forward to? Bruno Mars concert tomorrow!! 

Upcoming Appointments?  RE appt tomorrow then NTscan on Monday.

Other ramblings and musings: I'm done PIO shots guys! I can't believe I've been on them for 10 weeks nightly.

12 Weeks with baby #2 vs Baby #1

11 Weeks

How far along? 11 Weeks

The baby is the size of a..... 

Lime

Total weight gain/loss? +5lbs

Maternity clothes? Bought some maternity bermuda jean shorts this week. Love them!

Stretch marks? Nothing new

Sleep? Good.

Best moment this week? My meeting with the OB yesterday. You can read about it here.

Miss Anything? Being able to take advil. sigh

Movement? na

Food cravings? Food in general.

Anything making you queasy or sick? not really

Have you started to show yet? Baby? No. Bloat? Yes. 

Gender? No idea but I did put up a poll over there ------->
Start taking some guesses people....more than 3 of you!

Labor Signs? No

Belly Button in or out? In

Wedding rings on or off? On

Happy or Moody most of the time? I was a bit more moody this week.

Looking forward to? Bruno Mars concert on the 17th!!!!

Upcoming Appointments? Next u/s at the RE office is tomorrow

Other ramblings and musings: I've started looking for some nursery stuff and just some odds and ends for the new baby. Things have changed since I had Nate so I feel like I need a refresher course. Oh and Mike and I scored a Britax car seat from Target for $50!! We brought it home and pulled it out of the box so that we could see how everything works and just seeing an infant car seat in my living room made me weepy.

11 Weeks with baby #2 vs Baby #1

(nothing to compare it to since I don't have a                                                                                                    11w shot from Baby #1)

First OB appt update

So I will usually include my appt updates in my weekly blogs but since this was the first appt with my OB and we discussed quite a few things I decided to make this a whole separate post.

First thing we discussed is VBAC....or vaginal birth after cesarean. This is something I've wavered about since I had Nate. There are pros and cons for wanting a RC (repeat c-section) as well as pros and cons for going for a VBAC. I decided that since the only reason I had a c-section in the first place was bc Nate was breech and not because of anything medical, that I wanted to give a VBAC a try. The doc agree with my choice, and we are going to try for a VBAC. She said that we will schedule a c-section date...possibly as late as 41 weeks...but it all depends on my overall health at that point.

We were able to find the baby on the doppler even though she didn't press down very hard. The little booger kept moving away from the probe but we were able to hear it and it measured 173 beats per minute.

I asked about my Synthroid. I'm not even sure if I ever mentioned being on that medicine here on my blog so let me back up. My thyroid levels were a *smidgen* higher than they like them to be while ttc/pregnant so I was put on one Synthroid pill a day. I asked if that was something I would continue throughout my whole pregnancy and she said, yes. It's all for the greater good but it sure does suck since I have to take the meds on an empty stomach AND wait 30-60 minutes before eating/drinking. Hello, that is a lifetime to a hungry, pregnant chick.

We discussed my upcoming NT scan at maternal fetal medicine. Then she blind-sided me with the following information. Because I conceived this baby via ivf I will be monitored monthly starting around 20 weeks at maternal fetal medicine. They will be checking the growth of the baby to make sure s/he is growing appropriately. She also said that I will have a fetal echocardiography (tho I am unsure when/how often) to check the workings of the 4 chambers of the heart.

I am used to being the 'typical patient'. One where I have little to no issues and where my appointment lists are far, few and in between. It's strange to me that this pregnancy will be monitored so differently than my first one. I am thankful that after everything I have been through to conceive this baby, that I will have many different doctors and offices during my 9 months watching over our health.

After my appointment, on the way out of the office, I ran into (almost literally) Dr. Bachman as she was coming in the building. She gave me MANY hugs and told me that even though she isn't seeing me (since I just see the nurses for the u/s appointments) that she is still following me and all my progress. She told me I needed to stop in to show off my baby bump. Awww. While I will rejoice in my graduation from the RE, I will be sad since this place is full of so many amazing people working there.

10 Weeks

How far along? 10 Weeks

The baby is the size of a..... 

Prune

Total weight gain/loss? +3-4lbs

Maternity clothes? Bumming it with stretchy clothes still but I find it hard when I actually have to look nice since not much of my old stuff fits unless its a dress.

Stretch marks? Nothing new

Sleep? Pretty good week, sleep wise.

Best moment this week? Well during my appt last week the baby was moving all over the place. It was amazing. Then, a couple days ago, I found the baby with the doppler. I *LOVE* hearing those galloping heartbeat sounds. 

Miss Anything? Fitting into clothes and not looking like I ate one too many desserts. 

Movement? na

Food cravings? Salt and Vinegar Boardwalk chips. OMG so good but so bad since my mouth is tore up from eating them. 

Anything making you queasy or sick? not really

Have you started to show yet? Baby? No. Bloat? Yes. 

Gender? No idea but I did put up a poll over there ------->
Start taking some guesses people.

Labor Signs? No

Belly Button in or out? In

Wedding rings on or off? On

Happy or Moody most of the time? I think I was pretty happy this week....

Looking forward to? Second tri in a few weeks and stopping my PIO shots

Upcoming Appointments? Next u/s at the RE office is tomorrow and my first actual OB appt is Tuesday

Other ramblings and musings: So, the first thing I *HAVE* to talk about is The Vampire Diaries. I've spent the better part of June and the beginning of July marathoning this show and OMG. THE. FEELS. Yes, its supernatural vampires and werewolves and witches but the boys are yummy and the show is just amazing. Gotta wait until October for the next season...and OMG The Walking Dead starts then too!!

Also, I reposted this on FB but a friend of mine tagged me in a post with this article in it and I've probably read it 10+ times now. And I react to it now the same as I did the first time...with tears of sadness and then joy knowing that I could have written almost this exact post (minus me being late) a few months ago and now I have a sweet snuggly baby nestling in my body for the next 7 months.
http://www.scarymommy.com/waiting-for-baby/

10 Weeks with baby #2 vs Baby #1

Head chopped off since I just got back from the pool looking a mess

 (nothing to compare it to since I don't have a                                                                                                    10w shot from Baby #1)