32 Weeks!

Another milestone down! At this point of the pregnancy, she will do extremely well if she were to be born from now til here on out! Very relieving to have made it this far! I am getting bigger by the day it seems, and more and more tired. All normal pregnancy stuff. But everything still seems to be moving along as they should. I have been feeling a lot of pelvic pressure and get a lot of braxton hicks, which is always somewhat unsettling. But from what I read, all normal things.

 I am officially going off prednisone today and hydroxychloroquine. I have dwindled down to 2mg of prednisone over the past week and I feel I am ready to completely be off of it now. The hydroxy stays in your system for like 50 days after going off and I would like it to be out of my system by the time she is here so there are no issues with it being in my breastmilk. Even though they say that it doesn't cause harm - still would like to be off of it. Less drugs, the better. Still a little apprehensive coming off of them since I have been used to being on them for so long, but I am also excited to NOT be on steroids anymore!! I just hope I keep thriving without them. But at this point - I am comfortable enough to do without.

  We are starting to receive gifts from the registry and we are going to be officially setting up the nursery this weekend. Crazy to even think about! I keep having to pinch myself that this is all really happening! These 8 weeks are going to fly, but will still be the longest 8 weeks of my life all at once. I am anxious to meet her. She is so active in there, kicks away and even has the hiccups on occasion.

   Here is the latest 32 week bump pic! I think I might topple over if I get any bigger! haha!

                                                                       32 Weeks

So that's about it! Til next time! xo
                                                                   

Hello Third Trimester and 28 Week Scan!

Well technically 28 weeks in 2 days...but close enough. So today is the day we had our scan! We hadn't seen her in 2 months and I was VERY nervous going in. Obviously I want everything to be perfect and know she is growing well! Well, we went in and.............everything is perfect! She is 2.8lbs and in the 46th percentile! Everything looks great and measuring right on time! She was in a very awkward position to get really good photos - so we didn't walk away with the best pics! But she did move her hand away from her face long enough to snap a few decent shots!

                                                                       Nice butt shot! haha!

           So she is going to look a lot like her father!! I can already tell! I cannot wait to meet her! <3


                           As for myself, I have been getting bigger. Here is the latest bump pic:

Yeah - definitely a lot bigger than last time I posted! I am having tons of acid reflux, backache, knee and joint aches, and have gained almost 20lbs. I still am having sleepless nights filled with uncomfortable positions, pee breaks and insomnia. I am also insanely emotional lately as well. I cry at anything it seems!! SOOOO not me. I have been getting a lot of Braxton Hicks Contractions as well. One time was concerning at 26 weeks because they were pretty regular at every 10 mins. I had a total of 5. 1 every 10 minutes. I finally called my doctor and she didn't seem too concerned. I went in the next day for a checkup and again - they didn't seem concerned and told me to just call again if I get 6+. It hasn't happened like that since then - although I still get at least 5 a day. Very sporadically though. I talked to my fetal medicine dr. about it and she seemed a little more concerned about them and even measured my cervix. My cervix is still at almost 4mm so it looks great. After that she just said that some women's uterus just get more irritable than others and contract more. So she thinks that's probably what's going on with me. But it's something I definitely need to monitor for any changes in patterns with them.

Other than that, I am doing good. We got the crib and changing table in over the weekend and I will start on her nursery in a few weeks. I am also starting to plan my baby shower. I never thought I would actually be comfortable with doing any of that stuff - and don't get me wrong - I am still a huge ball of nerves! But now that I have reached a milestone again, I am settling down a little bit. I have over 2 months to go. Just need to relax and try to just enjoy this time.

 Oh....we are also officially going to announce the pregnancy tonight. I will upload our picture once we do so. (We still have to take it when we get home from work today). haha! It will be nice to finally let the cat out of the bag to the rest of the world!

Thanks for reading and Hope all is well out there!
xo


***update***

   Here is the announcement picture! We didn't do anything super creative...but cute nonetheless! Cats officially out of the bag now and everyone is very excited!!

 

24 weeks!

Today I reached a milestone, 24 weeks! If God forbid anything were to happen, she could have a 20% chance of surviving at this point! So naturally, I am finding myself slightly more at ease as the time progresses. Slightly. haha.

  Yesterday I had my Glucose test. I should get those results in a couple of days. Hope that all is well with that and have it be one less thing to worry about. My next appointments are in 4 weeks. It will be the 28 week checkup with the Maternal Fetal Medicine to measure her growth and another standard checkup with my OBGYN. So I am hoping for a relaxing and easy 4 weeks leading up to the next appointments.

  Things with me are going good as can be expected in pregnancy. I don't sleep well, my joints and knees ache, I get restless leg syndrome often before bed, the acid reflux sucks, and I wake up to pee every 2 hours at night. But other than that, I feel great! haha! I feel her moving around a lot more frequent now. She is now around my midsection and bounces from one end of my tummy to the other. She is going to definitely be a handful! haha!

Here is a 24 week bump shot:

So yeah, definitely rounding out there! (pardon the lovenox bruising). I hate those damn shots!

Anyway, that's the latest for now! I will keep you posted on the Glucose results when I learn more!

xo



***UPDATE*** Got the Glucose test results and I am in normal range. No Gestational Diabetes for me! Woohoo! One less thing to worry about! :)

Halfway Mark! 20 Weeks!!

I can't believe I have reached the halfway milestone! It blows my mind! I am still a nervous nelly about everything but as time goes on...I'm starting to relax a tad bit more. Especially now that I am feeling her move on an every day basis now. That is SO comforting to me. I haven't even had to use the doppler since that is enough for me to know she is still kicking in there (literally).

  I had my regular appt with my OBGYN the other day, and it went really well! They pass me around each visit to different doctors because they want me to be familiar with everyone. That way if I go into labor and one of them is on call, I have a familiar face to see. Well this time it was a male doctor - first male gyno I've ever seen. (I tend to stick with the ladies since, well, they can relate more and obviously less awkward). Anyway, he was super nice, professional and made me feel very comfortable. We listened to baby, and she sounded great. He had to chase her around my belly because she was bouncing all over! She's an active one, I tell ya! We are going to have our hands full!

 We discussed everything as far as medications, and I told him I have decided to stay on the prednisone. I'd rather have that extra something to fight inflammation than risk anything at this point. I have done as much research as I can about it, and since I am going to be on a very low dose - I shouldn't have any bad effects for myself or baby. I am not crazy about staying on it - but I feel more comfortable knowing I am doing everything I can to keep my inflammation issues at bay.

  Anyway, we have our "20" week scan (even though I will be almost 21 weeks then) on Tuesday the 21st. I am not thrilled with doing all of these ultrasounds because I hear it could be bad to constantly do ultrasounds. They link everything to Autism these days and this is one of them. So I'm not sure if I am a believer in that or not - but it does plant a seed in your head and make you paranoid. Anyway, we are going to make sure she's growing nicely and check her heart and whatnot. Hopefully all is ok in there! I feel her kick so much now that I definitely know she has grown! haha!

  Speaking of grown, here is a 20 week belly shot. Not much different from the last belly shot, but figured I would include the milestone pic anyway! ;)

I am in desperate need of some maternity clothes now since I am outgrowing all of my shirts and pants! It also better start warming up soon, since I am having trouble zipping up my winter coat now! haha! 

Anyway, other than the heartburn/indigestion and the insomnia at nights, I'm feeling pretty damn good! I have gained energy back and I am feeling slightly like my old self again! I will touch base again after Tuesdays appt! Fingers crossed all goes well! 

xo

17 Weeks

Hello there! Yesterday was our 16 week ultrasound and everything went fantastic! She is measuring 16 weeks 6 days yesterday so that would make today 17 weeks!! Crazy!! We had an early morning appt. which I like because waiting around all day for an important ultrasound is nerve wracking in itself. So I'm happy to fight the morning rush hour to have the appt first thing. Our ultrasound tech was super nice and jolly. She made me feel comfortable as she was walking us through what we were seeing. Everything looked perfect and she's growing right on schedule. Her spine is fully closed so no worries for Spinal Bifida. And her lips and palate are perfectly formed so no worries for cleft lip! Woohoo!

   She was bouncing all over and we think she even had the hiccups! It was really sweet to watch and the tech snapped and snapped so many pictures for us!! I walked about holding practically a book of pictures! She even attempted a 3D pic even though she said they just always look weird at this stage because they are still so young. Ava had her hand to her face like "no more pictures!!" haha! They also did a transvaginal ultrasound to take a closer look at my cervix which they said looked "beautiful". I think I might have blushed! haha jk.

  Anyway, here are a few pics of my little girl:

 

I adore this little one so much already. So our next ultrasound will be the 20 week one in about a month. Technically it will be a 21 week ultrasound by the time I get there. But that's the one where they do all of the nitty gritty observation. I am nervous of course, but everything seems to be going pretty well so far so I am optimistic for the next. 

A few things we did discuss that were important were staying on the prednisone and going off the progesterone shots. Two important things that I credit mostly getting me this far. To think of going off those scare the crap out of me. It's like I am trusting my body to do it's job, when we all know very well my body can be an asshole.

My placenta is fully developed and my doctor told me she feels comfortable if I go off the shots. She stated the placenta produces more progesterone than the shots could give and that I just don't need them anymore. I am going to take a leap of faith and just trust her. It's hard for me to do that, since I am a control freak, but I really need to let go and let her do her job. So last night, I didn't take a shot...and I am on pins and needles of how well my body is going to react to that. Everytime I go to the bathroom I'm scared to death. But today, still seems good so I am hoping it just continues to go well. And man, I really am glad to not have those shots anymore. They were brutal.

The other concern is the prednisone (steroid). I am to wean off of those by 20 weeks. However, I have weaned down from 40mg to now 10mg. It's the only thing besides the hydroxychloroquine I am taking to help keep my inflammation at bay. And I am scared to go off of it entirely because if I do...I am taking a risk of inuterine growth restriction, and preterm labor which is caused by tnf and inflammation. If I stay on the prednisone - I still run the risk of both - but the risk is much lower. I also will have to take a cortisone stress shot at delivery so my body doesn't freak out. If I don't take that shot - my body could shut down and I could die. Yeah, fun. And even though I am out of the woods with the cleft lip concern that they say could be caused by prednisone, I am nervous about any other side effects it could have on her. So I have to decide if I want to take the risks and stay on it, to help give me just one more thing to tackle my inflammation issues, or do I want to go off it and take the risk that the hydroxychloroquine will be enough to maintain everything. Clearly I have a big decision to ponder. Not one I am taking lightly. I will let you know what I decide. 

Lastly, I finally let the cat out of the bag at work today. Several had grown suspicious because I am starting to really show - and I knew I couldn't hide it much longer. So now that it's out, it's kind of nice to have everyone's support and also be able to wear normal "non baggy" shirts. Haha. I can finally show off the bump with pride. 

Everything is still very exciting but still very scary. I am reluctant to let myself get too invested because I am trying to keep one foot grounded since we still have a very long way to go here and so much can go wrong at any given time. I hate being that way and it sounds so negative especially after such a great news day yesterday. But that's just my jaded history refusing to let me forget just how fragile this situation is as much as I would love to. 

So I will continue to just take one step at a time. Day by day. And hope all ends on a happy note. 

xo

2nd Trimester

Hey all, checking in over here! Well I am now entering the 2nd Trimester! Can't believe it! Today I had a regular obgyn appt just to check in on things. She busted out the doppler and we instantly heard babys heart just beating away. She said it sounded beautiful and perfect. Right where it needs to be. Nice and comforting when I get to hear her.

  We talked about progesterone and the fact that I would like to remain on it at least until my 16 week scan. Reason being, when I was at my 12 week scan, my placenta wasn't fully developed yet. So I didn't want to come off the shots until I knew my placenta was up and running properly. Well now that I am 14 weeks, things *should* be working as they should. But keep in mind - this is MY body we are talking about. Everything goes wrong with my body! haha! So I don't want to go off progesterone if things aren't how they should be, and risk losing the baby. I have heard numerous stories (damn you google) of women going off progesterone at 12 weeks and then have placental failure and lose their little ones. If I can prevent that, I will.

  The shots suck, they are taking a drastic disastrous effect on my skin, but it's also what I know is helping keep this little one healthy. Both doctors say there is no harm staying on them until my 16 week appt, so no harm no foul right? So I will be poked in the butt a few more weeks and see where we are at at the ultrasound on the 21st.

  Other than that, nothing really new to report. My morning sickness is finally subsiding! And I am starting to gain a bit of my energy back. I am starting to feel like myself again, only a more pimply, bumpier version of myself. haha

 Speaking of bumps, I do have a tiny one showing now. Since I am not posting any social media announcements, I can share my bump pics here! :)

 

Not the greatest pic...but it will do for now. 

So the next scan coming up is another one I am nervous about. They will look for issues such as cleft lip, spinal bifida, and heart defects. I was offered to do a blood test to determine if they could tell these things earlier - but I just decided to wait for the scan. I would rather just enjoy my moments right now and see everything at once. Although, on the ultrasound at 12 weeks they got really good shots of her spine and said everything looked great, so I am praying for the same feedback on the 21st (obviously) haha. Anyway, that's all for now!! xo