36 Weeks and Tough Decisions

Yesterday was my 36 weeks appointment. I got to have my last ultrasound, which they pretty much did a complete anatomy scan again just like at my 20 weeks appointment. They looked at her heart, kidneys, spinal cord, everything. She is looking great and in a head down position and still weighing in at 5 lbs. Once again when we went to get a picture of her face, she had her arm blocking it. It’s like she knows! Ugh, oh well, I guess we will just have to wait to see her cute little face. Yesterday was also my very last progesterone shot! I cannot believe I made it to the end of that journey. It has definitely been worth it though to be currently still pregnant at 36 weeks! We have come so very far.

I am currently 2 cm dilated and my doctor said my cervix is actually not that thin yet and will probably still be a few weeks until baby girl is ready to go. Though she is pretty much fully developed at this point and it will be safe for her to come whenever she is ready now. No NICU stay for us this time! My due date is actually only 3 weeks away now and I can hardly believe it. Then Dr. C completely caught me of guard by suggesting I think about being induced! Umm excuse me, what?? I never dreamed I would even make it this far along in the pregnancy and here we are talking about actually forcing my baby out. She said it isn’t something I need to do at this point obviously but to just start thinking about it as we don’t know how big my pelvis is since Adeline was born so small. So she doesn’t feel comfortable letting this one go too far after my due date if it came to that. Also because my due date is Dec. 21st I am risking still being in the hospital on Christmas day. She said if I wanted to, she could induce me as early as a week prior or just a few days… I honestly don’t know how to feel about this news or this discussion. I would prefer to let baby girl come when she is good and ready, though it is very tempting to be able to plan out when she is coming and have my mom already in town and ready to watch Adeline. AC is all for being induced and thinks we should go for it. I am just not sure I feel right about it.

Have any of you chose to be induced? How did it go? Are you happy with the decision? I am just hoping it doesn’t even come to that. Now that I am done with progesterone shots, maybe she will just come soon naturally. After all, even on the shots my body is dilating and getting ready for birth.

Quick Update at 34 Weeks

Today I went to my regular progesterone shot and doppler appointment at my ob. The shot still hurts but only 2 left! I cannot believe it. Also baby girls heart rate was 152 and sounded great. I did mention to my doctor though that occasionally I was feeling a cramp or pain in my lower stomach. Nothing consistent or anything. She offered to check me though, if I wanted. I decided that would be best this time around. I learned my lesson with Adeline about ignoring things my body was trying to tell me. Sure enough, I am 1 to 2 cm dilated and my cervix is thinning! The doctor said not to stress yet though, that it could stay this way for several weeks. We will just have to be on the look out for if contractions start. She said she was glad that I was no longer going out of town for Thanksgiving as I had originally planned. I guess I am too! So I am slightly concerned that I will be going into labor early with this pregnancy too, but thankfully I am far enough along that hopefully there will be only a short NICU stay if any at all.

On a side note: AC got the job! It pays more and has great benefits. We are so thankful! That is also the reason I couldn’t travel to my grandpa’s this Thanksgiving because AC has to work Black Friday and can’t take off since he just started working. But I guess that too was a blessing in disguise.

Halloween and 33 Weeks Pregnant

I hope you all had a Happy Halloween! Adeline went as a llama this year. It was her 1st real year getting to Trick or Treat. She loved it! She wouldn’t say trick or treat to any of the neighbors but she would march up to each house and then proceed to put her candy bag in front of each person’s door making sure to have it opened to receive her candy haha! We did get her to say thank you to everyone at least and Happy Halloween a few times. We were the 1st ones and possibly the only ones to many of the houses in our little neighborhood so a lot of the neighbors gave Adeline handfuls of candy or insisted she take many pieces herself, to which she happily obliged. She also insisted that she drag her candy bag from house to house herself without any help, even when it was getting very full! She was too cute and AC and I had a blast taking her door to door.

33 Weeks with Baby Girl

I haven’t done one of these this whole pregnancy so I figured I better stop slacking!

How far along: 33 weeks/ 8 months

Total weight gain: I think so far I have gained close to 20 pounds at this point…I am hoping I don’t go too crazy this last month and a half.

Maternity clothes: 90% of the time I am in maternity clothes at this point. I have a pretty big baby bump! But some flowy dresses and sweaters still fit, so I wear them as well.

Stretch marks: None yet! Though my stomach is starting to get kind of itchy and I am wondering if I am not careful if that means stretch marks could start appearing. I need to start using lotions!

Sleep: Not the best. I wake up several times a night to pee now and when I am not waking up from that, I am waking up to rotate which side I am sleeping on because my hips are aching so bad. And then there is Adeline, who is still waking up once a night on occasion…

Best moment of this week: This week just started but I am looking forward to the Million Bulb Walk at a local botanical gardens this weekend! I know Adeline will be thrilled to see all the Christmas and holiday lights.

Miss anything: deli meat, just because I can’t have it lol.

Movement: All of the time! Baby girl kicks up a storm once I get to work and then again later in the day and then again before I go to sleep. She is much more active than Adeline was! Though Adeline never made it this far, maybe she would have been.

Food cravings: Root Beer! haha not sure why but I crave it everyday.

Anything making you queasy or sick: No morning sickness or queasiness with this pregnancy at all. Not with Adeline either though, I have been very lucky with that! I am occasionally having horrible heartburn now though and my hips ache at night. Also, if I walk to fast for any distance, it becomes painful, so I really try to be careful with that.

Have you started to show yet: Absolutely! It is very obvious.

Gender: Girl!!!

Belly button in or out: In for now, but it has gotten very shallow. I think it could be popping out soon.

Wedding rings on or off: On, though I think that wont be for much longer. It is hard to take them off before showering and I am afraid they are going to get stuck soon. I might need to stop wearing them shortly.

How does this pregnancy compare to last pregnancy: Pretty much the exact same through 29 weeks at least. No morning sickness, a felt good mostly and the only real issue was my hips hurting. This time I had to do the 3 hour glucose test though, that I didn’t have to with Adeline. The one major difference this time is that I made it past 29 weeks!!! So all of these new 3rd trimester symptoms are brand new and I can’t really compare them.

Turning Around

Things are slowly starting to get better around here. AC still does not have a new job yet but he had a 2nd interview with a place yesterday and should hear back soon if he will get the job. I pray that he gets this job and that it is good for our family! So far it is our only option, though he has been submitting many applications, went to a job fair, and spoke with a head hunter. He actually has another company interested in him but it’s in upstate New York and would be a big move for our family. But at least it’s another option. I truly believe AC lost his job to be pushed out there for something better. I was extremely stressed out that on our current salaries combined we still weren’t going to be able to make ends meet once we have 2 little ones in daycare. It’s a huge weekly expense that we couldn’t afford but at the same time, we couldn’t afford for both of us not to work. The job he interviewed for yesterday should pay quite a bit more money if he gets it and would really make everything so much better for us. Maybe I could even be a stay at home mom! That might be a stretch lol but it’s possible. Until we hear back, fingers crossed and lots of prayers that this is all part of a better plan for us!

As for my 3 hour glucose test, I got the results right before we left out of town to celebrate our 5 year wedding anniversary in a cabin in the mountains. My numbers came back beautifully they said! I do not need to worry about having gestational diabetes anymore, which is a huge burden lifted!

The Hits Just Keep on Coming

Hey guys, sorry for the lack of blogging yet again. I am currently 29 weeks and 5 days pregnant! That is a new record for me!! Adeline was born at 29 weeks and 1 day, so I am heading into all new territory with this pregnancy and I could not be happier that so far this baby is comfy and content to get us closer to full term. Maybe these weekly progesterone shots are really helping! That’s the highlight, because currently my family is in a period of struggle. It seems to be one thing after another going wrong right now.

I had my glucose screening last Tuesday at 28 weeks only to get the results at the end of the week that my numbers had come back high. I knew going into this that there was a significant risk of me not passing the test because of my PCOS. With Adeline I was on Metformin the first 2 trimesters up until 2 weeks prior to me getting my glucose screening. I think that played a huge role in me passing that time around. I am not on Metformin this time, and that seems to show. I was pretty bummed about the results and knowing I now had to take the 3 hour glucose test the next upcoming week.

One good thing that did come out of that 28 week appointment was that I got to have an extra ultrasound to make sure everything was looking good and that baby girl wasn’t trying to come out anytime soon like Adeline. My cervix looked great and she was measuring normal at 2 lbs 11 oz.

The technician even tried to get me a 3-d picture of baby girl but unfortunately she was sleeping with not only her arms in front of her face but also her feet as well! She was curled up into such a tight little ball I really couldn’t see her face at all.

I did get to see her face in the regular 2d ultrasound though. Overall, I am just glad she is healthy and has a chance at going full term. I love getting to see her on ultrasound. My next one won’t be until 35 weeks, if I make it that far.

By the end of last week right before I got my glucose screening  results that were too high, AC had just found out that his work was downsizing and his position, along with a few others, was being cut. They gave him no warning whatsoever, just today is your last day and we will give you a few weeks severance pay, good luck. I couldn’t believe that! He was working at a little family run company that knew we had a baby on the way and that would be here very shortly. Thankfully God is so good and is seeing us through this rough time. AC’s Army Reserve unit is letting him work a few weeks there to fill in the paycheck gaps and get us covered through November. I think that will buy us enough time for AC to get another job lined up. I sure hope so! If those 2 things weren’t bad enough, Adeline has come down with Hand Foot and Mouth so we were also scrambling to find someone to babysit her while she had to be out of daycare this week. Thankfully AC’s family has agreed to taking turns watching her.

Yesterday was my 3 hour glucose test. I went in just before 9am and got my initial blood draw and then drank the highly concentrated glucose drink. It was labelled at 100 ml of sugar. That first hour was the hardest. I felt slightly queasy and starving at the same time. I had had to fast from midnight on until the test would be over at noon. I couldn’t even drink water! After getting my 2nd blood draw I started feeling better thankfully and even my hunger pains had subsided for the most part. Right before my 3rd blood draw (they are each spaced 1 hour apart) the power to the whole building went out! it flickered back on twice and then stayed out for good. Luckily, the nurses continued on with my testing in the dark. I would have cried if I had to redo all of this another day! They were able to take me back and draw my blood by cell phone light lol.  Then I went back into the waiting room to wait another hour in the dark for my final blood draw. While waiting, they were sending many people home and the place was almost entirely empty before I was taken back for my 4th and final blood draw. Just a crazy experience but I am so grateful it is over and I was able to finish it even in the dark. I really hope I pass this test because I have no idea how to handle gestational diabetes or what that involves.

20 Week Ultrasound

One week ago AC and I met up at my doctor’s office to get my 20 week ultrasound. We finally were able to get to see our little baby again after not having an ultrasound since at 7 weeks. This ultrasound tech was much more thorough than I remember Adeline’s being, which was great but also made me nervous that something could be wrong. Especially after she had me undress for a vaginal ultrasound! I did not remember having to do that with Adeline. Thankfully, everything was normal and developing beautifully though. Apparently they just have you do that to check your cervix. But the heart, blood flow and everything was all perfect. Our little baby was even moving around a lot and had the hiccups! Too cute! And then, even though AC and I were both positive it was going to be a boy this time, we found out we are having another little girl! We are both extremely happy that Adeline will have a sister to grow up with and go through life with ❤

I still continue to receive weekly progesterone shots in my arm. They are very painful and burn for awhile afterwards but they up this baby making it closer to full term by 40%. I will have another ultrasound in 7 weeks to make sure my cervix isn’t shortening as I will be about 29 weeks at that point, which is when Adeline decided to be born.

Catching up: June & July

Sorry I haven’t posted since May! I had no idea it was that long ago. I have been keeping up reading everyone else’s blog posts but failed to update mine. So here is what has been happening so far!

The very beginning of June, we celebrated Adeline’s 2nd birthday! It went much smoother than her 1st. We definitely learned some valuable lessons from the first one, like not choosing a venue an hour away from home just to make it easier on everyone else! That was the biggest problem we faced last year. This year we chose a nearby park that is under 10 min from our house and everything came together much more easily. We had a really good turn out of friends and family who came, despite the distance they had to drive. And even though it was calling for heavy rain and thunderstorms all weekend, it was a gorgeous sunny day for her birthday at the park!

Adeline has become a pro at blowing out birthday candles since she got a mini cake on her actual birthday plus another cake at her birthday party!

Also in June, Adeline had her 2 year development check that she is required to have every 6 months do to her being a preemie born almost 3 months early. She now weighs 21 lbs and has tested in every category at 24 months or higher! This means she got to officially graduated from needing these checks now that she has caught up! So proud of her.

AC set up a big play house for Adeline in our backyard from my parents. She immediately loved it! We also decided that would be the day to announce to everyone that Adeline would be a big sister in December since I was already 13 weeks.

June has been quite a busy month actually, we also got to take Adeline to the aquarium! She loved seeing all of the fish swimming around and the guy wearing a turtle costume. She was afraid of some of the noises and sounds they played in some areas but overall seemed to really enjoy it! We will definitely be back since a family membership was one of her birthday gifts from AC’s awesome sister! (who by the way, is having her first baby just 3 weeks after I am due!)

For the 4th of July, we chose to stay inside and just have a low key day.

That weekend right before it, we had gone with all of AC’s family to a Lavender Festival and after being in the hot sun for several hours I thought I was going to pass out. 

I was ok once out of the sun and drinking more water, but the whole drive home and for the rest of the evening I had some cramping. After having Adeline so early I was pretty scared that I might have over done it and triggered labor. Thankfully that didn’t happen and though they did last for hours, they didn’t get worse, pain wise. At my next doctors appointment last Tuesday Dr. C said it was probably due to dehydration and to just be careful. I was 16 weeks at that appointment (17 currently). I got to hear the baby’s heartbeat again by Doppler. Still no ultrasound since 7 weeks! grr. Anyway, all was well with the baby though, thankfully and I got more blood draw for the quad tests. This appointment was also the start of my weekly progesterone shots. I got my first one in the back of my left arm, it actually didn’t hurt going in, for being such a thick shot. But it quickly started hurting right after, feeling like I had been pinched pretty badly. Then it got progressively worse and remained sore until about Friday. It is going to be rough getting these every single Tuesday until I am 36 weeks!

Florida

 

This time last week Adeline and I were in Daytona Beach, Florida! And spent a day in Orlando too. She and I drove up to my parents house last Monday night after work so that my mom, Adeline and I could fly out together Tuesday morning. It was Adeline’s very first flight! We had to

sneak this trip in quickly because Adeline turns 2 years old in June and would no longer fly free after that. She actually did a pretty great job on her first flight, no crying at least! She was enjoying watching us take off out the window until the engines got very loud. That scared her a bit but after being held tight she went to sleep! She slept a good chunk of the time thankfully, because once she was awake she kept kicking the seat in front of her. Which I am sure the person in front of us did not appreciate! Luckily the flight was under 2 hours so it wasn’t too bad and she really did do a great job.

We flew into Orlando, Florida, picked up our rental car and were off to hang out in Disney Springs for a few hours before checking into our hotel in Daytona Beach. I love Disney Springs, AC and I have been there at least twice together. It made me bummed that he wasn’t on this trip with us. Adeline loved seeing all of the Disney character’s in the old part of Disney Springs, and the Dinosaur restaurant and the lego store.

She actually seemed to like all the water fountains the most. Go figure :p The main reason for the trip was to visit my grandpa, my mom’s dad, who turned 90 years old last Thursday! He is in a nursing home and not doing the best so it was nice that some of his kids, grand kids, and great grand children were able to travel in and be with him for his birthday. I am not sure he even knew who I was but he really enjoyed visiting with Adeline and meeting her for the first time. The rest of out trip was spent visiting with all of my mom’s siblings and cousins, going to fun restaurants, playing on the beach, and site seeing a little. Then on our last day we visited Disney Springs on our way out to get some souvenirs and walk around for a couple of hours before our flight. Overall, it was a great trip and I am glad we were able to go and spend that time with my mom and be there for my grandpa on his birthday. I wish the trip was longer, it went by way too fast! 

 

 

1st Ultrasound and a High Risk Pregnancy

This week was a busy week for doctor appointments. First, Adeline had a hearing test on Tuesday morning. She refused to cooperate on her last appointment so this one was to make up for that one now that she is almost 2 years old. I still can’t believe she will be 2 in less than a month!! I believe she will continually have an annual hearing test like this until she is 5 years old because of the risk from one of the medicines she was administered when she was in the NICU. Anyway, she thankfully passed her hearing test with flying colors and sat still and cooperated much better this time around. The tech administering the test was smart and was distracting Adeline from the ear pieces in her ears by blowing bubbles.

Then Wednesday morning was my very 1st ultrasound for baby #2! I was nervous but I love Dr. P and knew I was in good hands at the specialists. Luckily, right away there was a strong heartbeat at 147 bpm and a tiny little peanut on the screen! It measured at 7 weeks and 4 days, which is right on track. Dr. P also informed me that I was being released back into the care of my regular ob for all future appointments. She thinks I am ready and will be in good hands. She also said that I am to stop my progesterone inserts by Saturday…I was not prepared for that one, it seems so soon! I am very scared about this and really hope my body will be able to pick up the slack and is producing enough progesterone on its own. I guess I just have to trust that it is, I didn’t have a problem with low progesterone with Adeline in the beginning and I only have to go until week 14 without before I start on the progesterone weekly shots. I guess that is when we are switching gears and trying to prevent early labor. So I suppose I should just try and enjoy the few weeks where I am not on progesterone rather than worry. Hopefully this little babe will cook to full term and I will actually get to experience a 3rd trimester this time around! 

One and a Half Years

As I was looking back on my previous blogs I wanted to find out just how long it took AC and I to conceive this miracle baby #2. It was a year and a half! Adeline was only 5 months old when I started blogging about AC and I deciding to start trying for baby #2 since we knew it would take a long time. That was back in Nov 2017! I am actually greatly relieved it didn’t work out all those many many months of trying because frankly, it would not have been safe for me or the baby. I didn’t know it at the time but after having a premature baby born at 28 full weeks, we were not supposed to start trying for another baby until Adeline reached 18 months at the earliest or it could put the new baby and myself in danger and very high risk of an even earlier preterm baby or miscarriage. My body was not healed yet from being put through something so dramatic.  Adeline is 22 months now, so we are in a much safer place to be having a healthy pregnancy and giving this baby a much safer journey as it grows. I am thankful for God’s timing, which is way better than my own.