As I briefly mentioned in the 26 week post that I retro posted, I had some more kidney trouble last week. It would take to long to type out all the details, but I ended up going to labor and delivery Wednesday night so I didn’t have to wait in the ER. The gave me fluids and ran some labs. I ended up having a UTI. They started me on antibiotics that evening and it took until Sunday morning to finally start feeling better. I’m really hoping we can make it through the rest of the pregnancy without any more excitement.
Weekly Update:
How far along: 27 Weeks (Some places consider this the start of third trimester, some say it starts tomorrow, and still others say it starts in a week 🤷🏼♀️)
How big is baby: Size of a bunch of bananas ~14.4in/36.6cm weighing in at almost 2lbs
Symptoms: If I remember to take my heartburn meds in the am and pm I feel pretty good. I’m having more aches and pains in my back and hips, but it’s not too bad. I’m still trying to walk or do yoga most days to help.
Movement: He is still fairly active unless I’m up and about. Sometimes he makes my whole stomach shake with his acrobatics
Sleep: eh, it’s been okay, kind of hit and miss.
Food cravings? Nothing very strong.
Food Aversions? not really
Anything making you queasy or sick? heartburn, which gets worse when my stomach gets empty. Eating too much
Best moment of the week? We had a great weekend last weekend. My parents were in town, my son had his last soccer game and played great, we saw friends, and Monday evening did some trick or treating
Next appointment: My next OB appt is tomorrow Nov. 4th.
*Disclaimer* I’m retro posting this because I had it all typed up and ready to post on Thursday, but then ended up dealing with kidney pain and a UTI for several days so I never got around to adding pictures and posting
We were on a long weekend trip to the coast last week so I skipped posting. We should be around for the next several Thursdays so I hope to keep on track now.
Weekly Update:
How far along: 26 Weeks
How big is baby: Size of a butternut squash ~14in/35.5cm, weighing in at around 2lbs
Symptoms: My stomach has been wonky as of late. I think it may be because I forgot to take my heartburn meds for a few days and now the extra acid isn’t sitting well in my stomach. It will take a few days of consistently remembering it to see if that’s the issue. My rest less legs have been pretty good as of late. I’m trying to gather the energy to do a yoga video most nights to help. My back gets more sore these days
Movement: I finally caught one little kick on video for his dads last night. He gets quiet when I’m active just like all the other babies I’ve carried. He likes to have midnight dance parties, fortunately they don’t last too long
Sleep: I’ve been sleeping pretty hard as of late which has been really nice. I’m still up a couple times a night to use the bathroom, but I’ve been able to fall back asleep pretty easily.
Food cravings? Nothing very strong.
Food Aversions? We got hamburgers on the way home from the coast and I only took a few bites. I normally love hamburgers, especially when pregnant, but I just could do it
Anything making you queasy or sick? heartburn, which gets worse when my stomach gets empty
Best moment of the week? Enjoying the coast with the family. It was nice to get away for a few nights.
Viability day is when baby is thought to have a reasonable chance of survival if born (although recently the experts are leaning toward viability being closer to 23 weeks). Obviously we want this little guy to stay put for another 16 weeks, but it’s great to know that from now on, every passing day he has a better and better chance of survival if something were to happen.
Weekly Update:
How far along: 24 Weeks
How big is baby: Size of an eggplant ~11.8in/30cm
Symptoms: I have been feeling pretty good this week. Less GI issues which has been great. I’ve been having more back pain, but that’s to be expected. I try to do a yoga video at least every other day to help. Once soccer season is over I want to start going to the yoga class I’ve gone to with all my other pregnancies. Eventually I might look into a chiropractor as well just to make 3rd trimester more comfortable (I can’t believe we’re only 3 weeks from 3rd tri!)
Movement: He is still a very active little guy. It’s much easier to feel his kicks with my hand, but he’s shy and usually stops when I try to feel him or catch him on video
Sleep: It actually hasn’t been too bad (knock on wood). I usually wake up a half hour or so before my alarm goes off, but that’s better than 2 hours. During the week when I have to wake up early to get the kids to school and get to work I’m pretty exhausted by the afternoon so I never get as much done in the afternoon/evening as I’d like. On the weekends when I get to sleep in I feel great and usually want getting out and enjoy the very warm fall weather we’ve been having.
Food cravings? This week I did have a craving, for orange juice. I’m still so surprised that I haven’t had more strong cravings this time around.
Food Aversions? Nothing this week
Anything making you queasy or sick? eating too much
Best moment of the week? My son scoring his first goal in soccer, even though I wasn’t there to see it. Attending a baby shower for my nephew’s wife who is due 2 days after me
Next appointment: My next OB appt is Nov. 4th. Yesterday I called my dr’s office and got all my appointments through the rest of the pregnancy scheduled
I know I missed last week…that was honestly because I was just too tired to do a post.
Things have generally been going well. Kidney stone is still in a position that isn’t currently causing any issues.
Weekly Update:
How far along: 23 Weeks
How big is baby: Size of a bunch of grapes ~11.3in/28.7cm
Symptoms: Still having a lot of bloating/GI discomfort. Heartburn has been increasing. I had been able to get away with one anti-heartburn tablet a day, now I have to take one in the morning and one in the evening. Restless legs are hit and miss. I stopped taking the epson salt baths most nights. I have been trying to either do 30min on the stair stepper or a yoga video in the evenings to help.
Movement: He is super active. I’ve even been able to see some kicks/movements, but haven’t been able to catch it on video yet.
Sleep: The last couple nights I’ve slept pretty well. The day before yesterday I woke up up at 4:15 and couldn’t go back to sleep. That was a rough day.
Food cravings? Still no real strong cravings which is so strange for me. Things will sound good, but there hasn’t been anything I absolutely have to have.
Food Aversions? I don’t think I’ve had any aversions this week
Anything making you queasy or sick? the extra bloating can cause some nausea, but overall it hasn’t been too bad.
Best moment of the week? Getting our induction date officially scheduled! We are scheduled to go in the morning of 2/1/23, the day before our due date.
Next appointment: My next OB appt is Nov. 4th. We’re onto just normal appts. Likely no more ultrasounds until around 35ish weeks and no more genetic testing.
Kidney stone situation is the same. It hasn’t caused any pain for the last two weeks. It would be great if stayed that way, but I know it’s only a matter of time.
We did end up getting the amino results last week. She called right as I was heading out the door to pick up the kids. She had all good news. Baby boy’s results were all perfect and she said she has no reason to think he will be anything other than totally healthy. It was great to hear that news and with it IFs decided they felt comfortable telling their family and friends over the weekend that they’re expecting!
We had the anatomy scan last week and he passed with flying colors. All his measurements were on track and he looked great!
Weekly Update:
How far along: 21 Weeks
How big is baby: Size of a baby bok choy, about 10.5in/26.7cm
Symptoms: This last week I’ve been feeling pretty good. My stomach has been feeling pretty good, but my lower GI tract has been messed up the last couple weeks, but I’m not sure why. I’m trying different things to help, but haven’t found it yet.
Movement: He has had some kicks strong enough that I’ve been able to feel them with my hand. He is an active little guy, and makes the ultrasound techs work for the images they need
Sleep: I finally caved and took a Tylenol PM last night because I haven’t been sleeping well and it was catching up with me. I finally got a good night’s sleep last night and it felt great. I’m still doing the Epson salt baths before bed most nights.
Food cravings? No real strong cravings lately. Fruity candy made a comeback, but not as strong as before
Food Aversions? I don’t think I’ve had any aversions this week
Anything making you queasy or sick? eating too much
Best moment of the week? Getting the good amino results, having the anatomy scan, and watching my son play his first soccer game last weekend
Yes, I skipped last week…I was dealing with a kidney stone that was causing pain for 3 out of 5 days. Good news is I haven’t had any pain since last week. Bad news is that they found a 7mm stone in my left kidney at an ultrasound on Tuesday. At 7mm, it’s almost for sure too big for me to pass myself. Since I’m pregnant they can’t do anything about it. Right now it’s unobstructive so there’s nothing to be done except wait. When the pain comes back if it gets over an 8 out of 10 with pain meds they will do another ultrasound to see if it’s become obstructive. If it has, we have to consult with a urologist since they can’t do the normal treatment because it involves radiation. I just got the results so I’m still processing all this information
We are still waiting on the amnio results. I called 3 days ago and they didn’t have it. I called again this morning and spoke with the genetic counselor. She called the lab while I was on hold and said they were sending it over and she would call me back in a few minutes after she got it and reviewed it. That was a hour or more ago. I know she has patients throughout the day so I’m hoping that she gets back to me by the end of the day.
Weekly Update:
How far along: 20 Weeks
How big is baby: Size of a Belgian Endive, about 10in/25.5cm (we’re measuring from head to toe now instead of crown to rump)
Symptoms: I’ve been feeling pretty good. My stomach has good times and bad times in the nausea department. I’m still pretty tired most of the time, but we are also adjusting to the school schedule which means waking up earlier than summer.
Movement: He’s definitely getting strong in there. I feel him several times a day and some of them are strong!
Sleep: I’m still doing the Espson salt baths most nights. I always regret it if I don’t take the time to do them. I haven’t been sleeping great though. I’ve been waking up around 4:30-5 (either on my own or because a kid hit her loose tooth on her water bottle and now it hurts) and I haven’t been able to go back to sleep very well before it’s time to get up.
Food cravings? My fruit craving has subsided for now. I haven’t been strongly craving anything as of late
Food Aversions? Not too much. Sometimes I start eating a meal and it’s just not appealing so I force myself to eat a bit, but don’t finish it.
Anything making you queasy or sick? eating too much
Best moment of the week? The kids starting and enjoying school,
Next appointment: Tomorrow is the anatomy scan and my next OB appt is Oct. 3rd
We’re a week out from the amnio and everything has been going great. I didn’t have any cramping or issues after the amnio. I’ve checked on bubs a few times with the doppler and he seems to be doing great. I’ve been feeling him moving more as well so that’s been reassuring as well.
Weekly Update:
How far along: 18 Weeks
How big is baby: Size of a sweet potato, about 5.5in/14cm
Symptoms: It seems like I might be going through a “better” stretch in this department. It’s not great, but seems better than last week
Movement: I definitely felt him move a time or two. I don’t notice it so much during the day when I’m busy, but when I’m sitting or laying down at night I can feel him sometimes.
Sleep: I started taking short epson salt baths/soaks before bed and it’s really been helping with the restless legs which had been making it hard to fall asleep. So I’ve been sleeping a bit better the last few nights
Food cravings? Still fruit, especially nectarines and peaches. Milk and orange juice
Food Aversions? Not really so much this last week. I’ve even managed to cook meat for dinner a time or two
Anything making you queasy or sick? having an empty stomach
Best moment of the week? not having any issues after the amnio and being able to feel baby more
Next appointment: My next OB appt is 9/6 and the anatomy scan will be Sept 16th
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
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
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!
I'm Just The Stork 