17 Weeks

Today was amnio day. We dropped the kiddos off at the babysitter and headed 2 1/2 hours to the MFM office. The first part was a meeting with the genetic counselor. She was very sweet, but made some comments condescending comments about fertility clinics and researchers that I thought were interesting. She basically said that the studies they’ve done on mosaic embryos are worthless because there’s no regulation on them and it’s the “wild west.” I don’t know if those were fair comments to make since it doesn’t seem like that’s her area of expertise. I took it with a grain of salt.

After that we had a full ultrasound. It was like the anatomy scan with lots of measurements, but because it’s about 3 weeks early for the true anatomy scan, I’ll still be having that one next month. Baby looked great and was very active. He confirmed he is in fact a boy. His head was measuring about 6 days ahead so I told him he can quit overachieving with that measurement 😆

The doctor then came in and introduced himself. He was a very very nice man and I liked him immediately. He picked a spot to insert the needle then called the rest of the team in to get started. I could feel the needle being inserted obviously, but it wasn’t awful. There was a little cramp when he went through the uterine wall. Then he drew up the fluid. The most painful part was withdrawing the needle that was a fairly sharp cramp like feeling that wasn’t pleasant, but only lasted a second. Then I was sent over for a blood draw and that was that.

I knew going in that the anticipation was likely going to be worse than the actual procedure and that proved true. I’m glad it’s over and done so I don’t have to think about it. It will take 2-3 weeks to get the results so that’s kind of a bummer. Hopefully the wait doesn’t drag by too much.

Weekly Update:

How far along: 17 Weeks

How big is baby: Size of a pear, about 5in. Baby was measuring about 7oz today

Symptoms: The nausea continues to be rough. I’m hoping it’ll be gone in the next 3-4 weeks. That seems so long, but it’s a realistic timeline. Other symptoms include round ligament pain, insomnia, and heartburn

Movement: I think I can finally add this section. I haven’t had any feelings that were really obvious, but I’ve felt a couple things that I’m fairly certain are baby moving around in there. I’m looking forward to it becoming stronger and more consistent. Feeling the baby moving around has always been my favorite part of pregnancy.

Sleep: Not great. I either have a hard time falling asleep or staying asleep or both. I’ve been trying to walk for a bit in the evening and it seems like it may be helping so I need to make sure to stick with it.

Food cravings?  Fruit, especially nectarines. I finally had some cobbler last weekend. It was blackberry which isn’t my favorite, but it was still yummy

Food Aversions? I still can’t cook meat. I can eat most of it. We get Hello Fresh meals and I really struggle if we get one with ground pork. We had some sort of rice bowls last week with ground pork. I took one bite and said nope.

Anything making you queasy or sick? waking up too early, having an empty stomach, eating too much

Best moment of the week? Seeing how big babe has gotten and how active he is

Next appointment:  My next OB appt is 9/6 and the anatomy scan will be Sept 16th

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16 Weeks

Last weekend the intended fathers and I had a video chat to catch up and discuss the possibility of having an amniocentesis done. It was great to see them and their daughter and catch up a bit. They let me know that after a lot of deliberation they’ve decided to go ahead and have it done. They would like the peace of mind of knowing for sure that everything is normal. I sent a message to my OB’s office first thing Monday morning to get the referral process going. Tuesday morning I got a call from the MFM (maternal fetal medicine) office to set up the appointment. The office is 2 1/2 hours away so the hubs and I will head over in the morning for the early afternoon appointment and drive back home afterwards. The kids are going to hang out at their awesome babysitter’s who said she can keep them as long as we need that day.

I would be lying if I said I wasn’t anxious about the procedure. The whole thought of it gives me the willies. The thing I’m holding onto is that it tends to be a very quick procedure so lets hope that hold true for me too. I feel good that the results will come back normal and the IFs can relax a little and just enjoy the fact that they’re expecting without worrying about baby boy.

Weekly Update:

How far along: 16 Weeks

How big is baby: Size of an avocado, about 4.5in

Symptoms: This week the nausea has ramped up. I don’t know why when it’s supposed to be going away, but I know this happened last time as well. I hope we can move on soon. I’ve been tired this week as well. I haven’t slept great and work has been hectic.

Sleep: I have had a hard time falling asleep or falling back asleep when I wake up in the middle of the night. My stomach is usually upset when I go to bed so I don’t think that helps.

Food cravings?  Fruit, especially if it’s cold. Plumcots (plum & apricot cross), nectarines, green grapes, pears, peaches, even bananas which I don’t usually care for that much. I still randomly crave cobbler, but haven’t gotten any yet.

Food Aversions? most of the time nothing sounds good which means I wait until I’m starving to try and find something to eat and that makes the nausea worse…it’s a vicious cycle 😆

Anything making you queasy or sick? waking up too early, having an empty stomach, eating too much

Best moment of the week? having a date night with the hubs while the kids are at grandma’s for awhile.

Next appointment: The amnio appointment is 8/25. My next OB appt is 9/6 and the anatomy scan will be Sept 16th

15 Weeks

Two days ago I had a check up with a midwife at my OB practice (my OB wasn’t available so I saw another provider who I really liked). Baby was doing great, heart rate was about 155. Before she checked his heart rate she goes “let’s see if we can even feel your uterus yet” so she starts feeling around and goes “wow, it’s all the way up here already!” The top of it was just below my belly button. We both agreed that it sure knows what to do after carrying 5 babies haha! Usually it would be just expanding out of the pelvis, but mine is an over achiever I guess. It makes me feel better that this bump is legit and not just too much left over fluff!

Weekly Update:

How far along: 15 Weeks

How big is baby: Size of an apple, about 4in

Symptoms: Going back to work Monday was a bit rough. My stomach was not thrilled with getting up early and was on edge all day. It was better the next day and by yesterday I was feeling back to the normal up and down nausea that’s been standard since the beginning. I have more round ligament pain too thanks to my over achieving, stretching uterus. I still get tired pretty easy, but I am of “advanced maternal age” this time so I think that’s to be expected 😜

Sleep: It hasn’t been too bad. My pregnancy pillow came and I like it. The cover on it is kind of slick so sometimes it slips out from under my belly if I’m not holding onto it. It’s nice to not have to take a pillow with me every time I roll over though.

Food cravings?  Still no really strong cravings, but things that have sounded good are pineapple, nectarines, really cold milk (this has been consistent with all my other pregnancies), and ice water

Food Aversions? not really, sometimes nothing sounds good, but no real aversions

Anything making you queasy or sick? waking up to early, having an empty stomach, eating too much

Best moment of the week? Having a good check up

Next appointment: 9/6 is my next OB appt and the anatomy scan will be Sept 16th

IFs are deciding whether they want to have an amniocenteses done. Because this baby was a mosaic embryo and the regular first trimester screenings don’t check on the chromosome that was affected an amnio is the best/only way to make sure everything is good. I’m not worried about what the results would be, in all the research I’ve done and studies I’ve read embryo’s that are segmental (only a part of the chromosome was affected) low level mosaic have pretty much the same chance of resulting in healthy baby as embryos that test normal. IFs and I are having a video chat this weekend to touch base and discuss it. It will ultimately be their decision on whether they want to go ahead with it or not. It’s their baby and they’re entitled to get all the information they want so I leave the final decision to them. In the meantime we’ll just keep trucking along!

14 Weeks 2 Days

We’ve been on vacation for the last 2 weeks so I’m a bit behind, but didn’t want to wait another 5 days since I already skipped 13 weeks.

Weekly Update:

How far along: 14+2 (yay for second trimester!! Can’t believe we’re there already!)

How big is baby: Size of a nectarine, about 3.5in

Symptoms: Still having on and off nausea. Sometimes it’s really strong and other times I feel great. I still have round ligament pain. I’m tired a lot, but can rally pretty well if we have something going on. The belly is definitely growing. I have more sinus drainage the last few weeks as well. I always forget that’s a pregnancy symptom/

Sleep: It hasn’t been too bad. There were some days on vacation when I couldn’t sleep past 7 or so and those days I was utterly exhausted. The last week has been good though. I fall asleep pretty easy and go right back to sleep when I wake up at night. I’m very excited to sleep in my own bed tonight though. I also just ordered my pregnancy pillow and I can’t wait to try it when it comes in a few days. 

Food cravings?  I have no had very many cravings. There are things that sound good, but I really haven’t had any strong cravings (maybe for the first time in a pregnancy, I don’t remember not having cravings before)

Food Aversions? not really, sometimes nothing sounds good, but no real aversions

Anything making you queasy or sick? eating breakfast…it seems like no matter what I eat or how much I pretty much always get really nauseous and tired after breakfast. It’s only with breakfast, other meals I typically feel fine after, unless I eat too much.

Best moment of the week? Spending the last days of our vacation at the coast where it was sunny and cool. We came from a lake where it was mid to upper 90s pretty much the whole time. While it was so much fun, the heat was rough

Next appointment: 8/9 is my next OB appointment (although it’s with a midwife at the practice not my regular OB)

Baby bump 💙