|
|
|
|
 |
||||||||
|
2nd Pregnancy Journal ~ 2nd Trimester |
||||||||
 |
Week 14 | Week 15 | Week 16 | Week 17 | Week 18 | Week 19 | ||
| Week 20 | Week 21 | Week 22 | Week 23 | Week 24 | Week 25 | Week 26 | ||
|
Week 13 (Dec 20 - Dec 26, 2004) We
made it! If the constant urge to
puke is truly a sign that our baby is still doing well, then we’re over the
hump that is the 1st trimester! :)
We had a lovely visit with Tracy & Em, and a delicious brunch at the
B&B with Auntie Becky, too! The
trip to sit on Santa’s knee was a tad less successful than the mommies among
us had hoped. Neither Jake nor
Emily wanted anything to do with Santa Papa at all... I find it so strange that Jake didn’t recognize his own
Papa when dressed all in red! He
didn’t recognize Dad’s voice even, despite Grammy, Nana Kathleen, and Uncle
Mikey all being right there as Santa Papa called Jakey by name! The mystical power of Christmas legend is awe-inspiring!
We were even moved to decorate our own Christmas tree, finally.
I should say that Daddy decorated the tree while Momma wrapped Christmas
gifts – just the thought of all that bending over to hang ornaments was enough
to turn my stomach! I recall still
having “morning sickness” into my 2nd trimester with Jake, so
I’m not betting on a reprieve any time too soon this go ‘round...
Week
13 +4 Days Well, after the initial excitement earlier this week of finally
crossing the threshold into our 2nd Trimester, we had a bit of a
scare yesterday. I woke up with
uterine cramps that had me hunched over. The
severity decreased, but I was still cramping an hour and a half later, so I
called the OB’s office. They,
naturally enough I guess, wanted me to come in right away. With Jake & Grammy in the waiting room, Kraston & I
paid a visit to Dr. Jenkins. He
believes the cramping was/is my uterus stretching and pulling at the scar tissue
from my previous c-section. My
cervix looked good (whew!), so he used the Doppler to check for Junior’s
heartbeat. We couldn’t hear one
(ugh!). So off to the ultrasound
room we went for an abdominal scan. On
the screen, the baby was absolutely still (a stark comparison to our last
ultrasound), and Dr. Jenkins couldn’t see a heartbeat (panic!)... He went to get Dr, Pearce for a 2nd opinion.
At first, there didn’t seem to be a heartbeat at all & they called
for a vaginal scan (terrified!). But
just as Dr. Pearce was about to remove the wand from my belly, he stopped.
“Did you see that?” I
hadn’t seen a thing (perhaps because my eyes were closed in prayer).
But Dr. Jenkins had seen something, too.
They continued with the abdominal exam & suddenly we could all see
the flicker of Junior’s heart (thanks be -- deep sigh -- sob!).
And with that, our scare was over (no thought of pictures this time,
sorry). To celebrate the great
relief of it all, Momma, Daddy, Jakey, Junior, Grammy, & Papa all went out
for lunch. Afterward, the three
(& a half) of us went Christmas window-shopping at the mall (mass insanity),
as we’d originally planned to do on the day of Christmas Eve Eve.
J |
||||||||
 |
||||||||
|
||||||||
|
||||||||
|
Week 14 (Dec 27, 2004 - Jan 2, 2005) Merry Christmas, Junior! :) We had a lovely celebration at Grammy & Papa’s house, where Santa’s excessive generosity overwhelmed! Jake was beside himself marveling at all the presents under the tree, and played Santa very well himself. (If I had to guess, his favorite part was taking off everybody’s bows!) The abundant theme of Christmas for Momma centered on Junior – maternity clothes were high on my Wish List and I was not let down! :) Daddy – having his 2nd childhood, as well as his 2nd child – received skateboarding gear in numbers too high to count. Jake’s supply of toys grew incalculably! We all went home satisfied, stuffed, and happy! I can’t wait for Christmas 2005...the festivities with two children will be amazing, I’m sure! And on the note of celebrations – our 7th wedding anniversary coincided with the start of Week 14. Momma spent her 1st night away from Jakey since his birth as we revived a tradition abandoned 2 years ago. Our anniversary found Momma & Daddy back at our reception hotel after a delicious dinner out and a funny movie, too! Breakfast “in bed” capped our stay & we reunited with our son once more! I figured it was time to take the leap – now or not for quite some time, since I imagine leaving Junior overnight won’t be any easier than it was to leave Jake. Even if he did have a blast at his sleepover with Grammy & Papa. Week14 + 4 Days Well, the results are in. My genetic testing came back positive for the Factor V Leiden gene, an inherited abnormal blood clotting protein, which caused Dad’s 2 pulmonary embolisms. It’s not a shock to me at all, but things are in high gear now at the OB’s office! Since blood clots are a risk factor of pregnancy itself, discovering that I have the gene for the propensity to clot means that now this pregnancy is considered at “elevated” risk. (As though I somehow didn’t have the gene when I was pregnant with Jake!). What does all this mean? It means that now I have to go in for genetic counseling (Jan 18) and an in-depth fetal ultrasound (Feb 7) at the hospital in Newport News. What it really means, though, is that Grammy is called upon twice more to watch Jake! Week14 + 6 Days Happy New Year, Junior! :) We’ve been doing quite a bit of celebrating around here lately, but we rang in 2005 rather quietly. Like many parents of lil’ ones, I presume, we had a favorite meal, watched a movie (Tom Hanks – Ladykillers – funny, but odd), and tuned in to Dick Clark’s Rockin’ New Year’s Eve in time to kiss & see Regis count down until the ball dropped as 2005 began! Then we sat on our front porch and watched some neighbors light fireworks in the cul-de-sac. Our toasts were, naturally, with Martinelli’s sparking cider (aka Champagne, around here), and most of them pertained to the health and happiness of our family in this next year! Jake slept thru it all, and Junior didn’t seem to mind either, so the evening was a success in our book! |
||||||||
|
||||||||
|
||||||||
|
||||||||
|
Well, another week has begun... I had a teeny tiny bit of spotting yesterday, but nothing significant. I do have a regularly scheduled appointment with Doc Jones on Friday (fetal heart tones, blood work) and I’m nervous about this one... The whole “can’t find Baby’s heartbeat” thing really has me freaked out. I’m a tad panicky that something was wrong with Junior’s bee-bopping at that Week 10 U/S, since everything I’ve read says the baby doesn’t start to actually move around until Week 12½ or Week 13. So why was ours jumping on the trampoline that is my uterus 2 full weeks ahead of schedule? There is NO question as to the dating of this pregnancy at all, so that is not the simple answer. I’m fearful that it was some sort of seizure or something like that, and perhaps tied to the unseen heartbeat.... Ugh! It’s just me being crazy and having a restless mind! I’ll be so much better when I know that it’s Junior I feel kicking away inside! (Every now & then this week, I feel fluttery twinges that I'm sure are the baby, but it seems too much to hope for that all is truly well...) In the meantime, I’m still nauseated all day long, for the most part. Though yesterday I did hop on the recumbent bike (for the 1st time since the nausea started) while Kraston was on the treadmill...so perhaps the morning-noon-n-night sickness is weaning a bit...I’ll believe it when I see it. I’ve had absolutely no energy at all this pregnancy, which I had attributed to the Prometrium progesterone supplementation I was on – but Christmas Day was the last time I took one. I’m still exhausted, perhaps more now than before... I’m cranky, too – like a bad case of PMS! Either something is “wrong” with me, or this PG is just totally different from my 1st. I was glowing & radiant while pregnant with Jake -- my usually fine hair became full with body -- my skin was perfectly clear -- I felt sick only 1st in the morning, last at night (oh, and when in the car...and if I smelled garlic or lotion!) -- my year-round allergies nearly vanished -- I wanted fresh fruit all the time -- I had tons of energy -- it was GREAT!! J This time -- my facial skin is greasy, rather than dry & more broken out than ever before -- my hair hangs like a limp mop on my head -- I'm positive I stink at all times (though hubby assures me otherwise) -- I'm not puking nearly every day like I did with Jake (only 6 times the whole pregnancy), but I'm nauseous all day long & especially any time I bend over -- my allergies are killing me -- I want very savory, comfort-type foods constantly -- so far, bananas (Jake's favorite!) and chocolate make my stomach turn -- I feel miserable -- it is GREAT!!! J We're so happy to be pregnant, but I did say to Kraston that if our first go-round had been like this, he'd have had to convince me to go through it again! I'm wondering if this difference means that Junior is a girl? I don't have a preference either way, really! Again, we won't find out IF I get the final word -- but if Kraston insists, I will most likely give in since I won with Jakey. J Still, I vote for keeping it a secret from the rest of the world!! |
||||||||
|
||||||||
|
||||||||
|
||||||||
|
Week 16 (Jan 10 - Jan 16, 2005) Lots
to report since I last checked in!
Our OB appointment with Dr.
Jones on Friday went well – still
couldn’t find Junior with the
Doppler, so Momma, Daddy, and Big
Brother Jake all got to take a peek at
Baby via a quick ultrasound (again, no
pictures).
Junior was awake & kicking,
so all is well there! :)
Jakey wasn’t all that
impressed in the exam room, but now he
keeps talking about “taking
momma’s tummy tempy to see the
baby” – too cute!
I’ve gained 5 pounds in the 1st
16 weeks of this pregnancy – right
on target.
Dr. Jones did express general
concerns about a new study regarding
vaginal births after cesarean section
(VBAC), and presented his case for why
we should opt for a 2nd
c-sec.
Yada, yada, yada – that’s
all I have to say about that!
He was concerned about
the genetic testing results, and
prescribed 81mg of aspirin & had
my appointment rescheduled for the 11th. That’s brings us to yesterday.
I went down to the hospital in
Newport News with the assumption that
I knew what I needed to know already
about the gene mutation that caused
Dad’s pulmonary embolisms, since
I’d read up on it when Dad got his
results.
Boy was I wrong! Apparently, my OB’s office only gave me part of the
genetic testing results.
Along with the single “Factor
V(5) Laiden R506Q” mutation, I also
have the “MTHFR mutation C677T”
which can cause elevated homocystein
levels. And one of the things elevated homocystein levels can do is
cause blood clotting, among other
goodies!
So now...I’m to begin a
regimen of the Heparin-based blood
thinner Lovenox by twice daily injection to prevent
clots from now until the baby is 8
weeks old – not that I have a
history of clotting at all, but as a
precaution during pregnancy.
Kraston & I calculated it
last night: 33 weeks of injections 2
times a day is about 460 hypodermic
syringes of heparin!!
(Not to mention that I have a
fear of needles!)
Another big thing that elevated
homocystein levels are related to is
an increase in the rate of fetal open
neural tube defects (think March of
Dimes). So I’m also going to be given monthly shots of Vitamin B-12
at the OB’s office, and I’m
supposed to take even more
folic acid than the dosage I’ve
already been taking!
And this is all precautionary,
since the same genes were present when
I carried Jake – and neither he nor
I had any complications during my
pregnancy!
The general attitude at
yesterday’s “high-risk
obstetrics” appointment was that
both he & I were (to put it
bluntly) just lucky. Good thing
the genes are also part Irish! J
Ah, such fun... Anything, however, for Junior!! :) |
||||||||
|
||||||||
|
||||||||
|
||||||||
|
Week 17 (Jan 17 - Jan 23, 2005) We’ve
had quite a lot to think on since my
last post.
Both Kraston & I are having
trepidations about my starting the
Lovenox shots without thorough
baseline testing to make sure this is
the best course of preventative
treatment in our case.
From what I’ve read, one of
those tests just has not been
performed for me, and the other one I
had to request myself.
So the battle to advocate for
our baby and myself has begun.
I have a regular check-up
scheduled on Thursday with Dr. Pearce,
and hopefully all the testing will be
completed beforehand...
I hate to dig my heals into the
ground, but I learned with infertility
and with Jake’s first few months of
life that if you don’t speak up to
the doctors treating you, it’s YOU
who suffer from the unanswered
questions – not the doctors!
As I write this entry, I have
calls in to both my OB for the blood
tests and our family doctor for a
referral to a blood specialist for a 2nd
opinion on treatment options.
Wonder when either office will
call me back?!?
Speaking of waiting for
things...
I had routine bloodwork &
that baseline test I mentioned drawn
on Friday, and the results are still
pending!
(ARGH!)
The quad-screening (moving up
in the world, it was only triple
screening with Jake’s pregnancy),
which tests my blood for indications of
the baby having open neural tube
defects such as Spina Bifida, and
chromosomal defects that cause Downs
Syndrome, is the test that will really
put our minds at ease – assuming it
is negative!
A positive result is cause for
more in-depth investigation, and not
definitive in any way.
Well what do ya know!?!
Both offices just called me
back!
The quad-screen is negative,
and in that baseline test my
homocystein level is 3.5 with a rage
of 3.0 – 10 being normal so it is
not elevated in any way.
YIPPEE!!!!
Now I’m even more convinced
that I need a stronger reason than
“just because we ought to” before
starting these heparin shots...
Dr. Fitz will give me the
referral to a hematologist, too, so
now the ball is rolling & soon we
might have some real answers! J |
||||||||
|
||||||||
|
||||||||
|
||||||||
|
Week 18 (Jan 24 - Jan 30, 2005) Baby
names are the hot topic of late!
Kraston & I knew before we
even married that baby boy #1 would be
either Kraston the 4th or
James Kraston.
Changing addresses when leaving
home for Virginia was the final straw
on another generation of his name for
Kraston, as Daddy had all sorts of
problems with getting Grandpa
Kraston’s mail!
So baby boy #1 was destined to
be James Kraston from that point on. (His credit report and his father’s were even mingled when
we applied for a mortgage on our
house, and we continue to get credit
card offers in Grandpa’s name!)
We were hard pressed to settle
on the name for a girl even by the end
of our 1st pregnancy
though!
A week before Jake was born
(so, in reality, a week after
our baby was due), we finally agreed
on a daughter’s name.
As luck would have it, Jake
came along instead!
I say “luck” because early
on in this pregnancy we eliminated
that final choice as an option at all
for this baby, should we have a girl!
I don’t want a repeat of that
scenario again, so picking baby names
for Junior in either case is one of
the happy issues occupying my
thoughts!
Since Jake’s name has so much
significance on our family tree, being
named after both our grandfathers
& our dads (not to mention
carrying on Daddy’s name itself), I
think it would be odd to give Junior a
name we just pulled out of the sky.
Sticking to family names for
this baby is very important to me.
It’s far to early in our
naming journey to say for sure, but I
think we may have settled on a name
should Junior be another boy, and
we’re down to two choices for a
girl!
We shall see how that changes
over the next 22 weeks... |
||||||||
|
||||||||
|
||||||||
|
||||||||
|
Week 19 (Jan 31 - Feb 6, 2005) This
week we marked an historical moment
of this pregnancy:
Daddy felt Junior kicking! J
I’ve been feeling the baby
inside since Week 15, with the
intensity growing stronger as the
weeks went by.
But Kraston had yet to feel the
baby himself.
Daddy & Jakey were having
bath-time, and I was resting through a
particularly bad wave of nausea with
my hand over Junior.
Suddenly, I realized the kicks
were on the outside as well as from
the inside!
After we’d tucked Jake into
bed for the night, Momma & Daddy
lay on our bed, hands prone on my
belly, and waited for Junior to say
hello.
The first kicks Kraston felt
were soft and pulse-like, but spanned
the width of 3 fingers.
We stayed in bed feeling the
baby kick, and letting the realization
wash over us that we’re almost a
family of four.
In other news...I have my
check-up with Dr. Pearce (regular
OB’s office) on Friday.
We left it at his intending to
review the blood clotting issue as it
pertained to my case, and we’d
discuss the heparin shots when we next
met.
I’m sure he’s going to tell
me to start the shots now.
Which I will if it is
necessary, for Junior. So I’m preparing myself for the inevitable... Week
19 +5 days
Well, that wasn’t so bad!
Dr. Pearce reviewed the
high-risk OB report, and the current
research on Factor V Leiden &
MTHFR, and came to the same
conclusions I did.
Basically, the “better safe
than sorry” thinking is that heparin
should be used in all Factor V Leiden
pregnancies to ensure no clots
develop. But the data out there doesn’t actually support the
generalized treatment in that people
with no personal history of clotting
in previous pregnancies aren’t more
susceptible to forming a clot in
subsequent pregnancies than their
“have clotted before”
counterparts.
He said that from a legal
standpoint the recommendation is to be
on heparin throughout the pregnancy
because of the two clotting related
genes.
But that in my case, the MTHFR
gene hasn’t caused elevated
homocysteine levels so that
gene doesn’t really increase my
current likelihood of clotting beyond
the Factor V impact.
And the research on Factor V
Leiden in pregnancy alone just
doesn’t support the blanketed
treatment of heparin injections in
patients without a previous clot.
He basically said it was up to
me if & when I should begin the
heparin.
I told him that I just wasn’t
comfortable with that invasive a
treatment for preventative medicine.
I do have an appointment on Feb
18th with the hematologist
to discuss the whole clotting matter,
so it’s not like I’m just dropping
the subject entirely.
But I won’t (yet?) begin the
Lovenox.
On a more pleasant topic...we
heard Junior again on the Doppler –
no problem finding the baby this time
since I was quick to remind that
Junior’s heart-tones were heard up
near my bellybutton last time.
Sure enough – the baby was in
nearly the same spot this visit! J
Jake didn’t pay any heed to
the heart-tones, or so it seemed at
first.
But after the doctor finished
up with me, Jake came over and lifted
my shirt asking if Baby was under
there!
He’s a great big brother
already! J
Next stop:
Tuesday’s ULTRASOUND! |
||||||||
|
||||||||
|
||||||||
|
||||||||
|
Week 20 (Feb 7 - Feb 13, 2005) I
feel as though a great weight has been
lifted from my shoulders...
The question of “to heparin
or not to heparin” is still out
there, but I’m comfortable with our
choice to hold off unless this
pregnancy becomes complicated.
(For example, if I were to
require bed-rest (God forbid), that is
a situation that increases the risk
for blood clots.
Naturally, I would begin the
heparin to combat clots at that
point.)
But we’re not predicting
those kinds of complications!!
So unless there is some
unforeseen turn of events in our
pregnancy, or somebody presents
compelling evidence in my case for why
I ought to start the shots...
With that out of the way, and
with Junior’s kicks getting stronger
every day, I am really starting to
enjoy this pregnancy! In the beginning, it felt so unreal that we conceived
naturally – despite my fertility
problems – the reality of a pending
#2 didn’t really sink in!
And then the whole blood clot
issue became the focus of our
attention, rather than relishing in
the mere fact that we’re expecting
again!
But now, we believe we’ve
decided on baby names one way or the
other (withholding that final
information, sorry) & we’re
about to see Junior by Ultrasound
again!
(On
that, Daddy & Momma have switched
positions. I am dying to
know the gender, but now Kraston wants
to hold out. We can find
out tomorrow!!!! In either case,
we are in full agreement that nobody
ELSE will know before Junior's
arrival!) These are the
F*U*N parts of pregnancy, and our minds
are free now to cherish them! J |
||||||||
|
||||||||
|
||||||||
|
||||||||
|
Week 21 (Feb 14 - Feb 20, 2005) Happy
Valentine’s Day, Junior!
How can we be midway through
February?!?
Can I possibly be 5
months along already...?
I can’t believe how fast the
time is flying...and on the other hand,
I am so anxious for this baby to
arrive that time can’t move fast
enough!
This weekend Kraston has plans
to begin work on one of two counter
tops for our built-in entertainment
center.
That project is a major hold-up
& must be completed before we can
start clearing out the 3rd
bedroom... NBA season really gets in the way around here,
especially in the Spring.
This is one of the only
weekends in the foreseeable future
without a real game (though there is
the All-Star Games to contend with),
so I hope he’s able to make real
headway on the project!
On Friday I met with the
hematologist, mostly to confirm or
contradict our rationale behind not
taking the heparin injections.
Dr. Ellis was in complete
agreement with my assessment of the
situation, as it is currently.
He would want me to start
Lovenox if complications arise in our
pregnancy that require me to be off my
feet for periods longer than one or
two hours.
And he feels that blood
thinners are the appropriate treatment
after a c-section, for the period of
time I would be in the hospital -- but
not for the 8 weeks postpartum that I
was originally prescribed. All of this is reassuring news to my ears!
I’m to go back when Junior is
2-months old (t’hee J) to check in & formulate a plan for addressing the Factor V
Leiden & MTHFR genes as
life-long issues.
I have another appointment on
Monday with the genetic counselor at
the high-risk OB’s office, so it
will be interesting to see if she had
anything new to add.
|
||||||||
|
||||||||
|
||||||||
|
||||||||
|
Week 22 (Feb 21 - Feb 27, 2005) Well, the genetic counseling
appointment was a complete waste of my
time, not to mention my wonderful
mother’s, as Grammy watched Jake.
The whole point of the visit
was to discuss the fact that my
bloodwork revealed I am a carrier of
one Cystic Fibrosis gene, which could
be passed to the baby!! Gee, really?!? I
thought we established that, um,
oh, over TWO YEARS AGO when my son
was hospitalized!!!
She didn’t even discuss
the Factor V or MTHFR except to
include them in the reference that at
some point we’ll need test Jake
& the baby for these genes, too...
And to comment that most people
have 3 to 5 gene mutations that they
are blissfully unaware of, so it’s
good to know we’ve already probably
identified most of mine.
The main reason for the
appointment was to get a complete
family history down on paper, and
schedule having an amniocentesis done
to check for the CF gene in Junior. Kraston
& I decided with Jake’s
pregnancy that we would not
have the amnio done, and nothing has
changed our position on that at all.
ARGH!!
So I essentially blew an hour
and 15 minutes down at the hospital in
Newport News, with an hour
drive each way in holiday traffic, for
no reason at all.
On the way back home, I did
drop off the registration paperwork to
enroll Jakey in preschool come the
Fall...
As of today, he’ll be taking
classes twice a week for 2 afternoon
hours each day at a parent cooperative
preschool which requires Mom &/or
Dad to participate in supervising the
class once each month & be
involved in one other “bigger”
school project.
I can’t believe my baby
will be starting preschool in
September!!!
L
And that he’ll be a big
brother by the end of June!!!!! J
Week 22 +4
days Two new things to
report:
1) The pelvic pain I
experienced in my 1st
pregnancy has begun.
Yes, the pain that feels as
though my pelvis is going to break in
half started on Tuesday.
It is very mild compared to how
I remember it from Jake’s pregnancy,
BUT it also started about 10 weeks
earlier than last time, according to
this journal!
By Week 38 of the last
pregnancy, my diagnosis changed from
that of “not unexpected” symphysis
pubis pregnancy pains to Symphysis
Pubis Dysfunction (SPD).
SPD commonly recurs with each
pregnancy, so I was mentally prepared
for its return, but I didn’t count
on it starting this early!
Oh well...
That was the bad news first.
And here’s the good news!
2) Junior kicked the clicker!
That’s right! :) Momma & Daddy were relaxing in bed after putting Jake
down for the night when Junior started
really moving around.
This baby is very active,
seeming to push off from very low in
my uterus to right by my belly button
and back again.
We were tracking this pattern
& I commented on how strong
his/her kicks were.
Recalling the “tricks”
Jakey performed inutero; I placed the
TV remote control on my belly to see
if the kicks were strong enough to
move it.
Nothing.
Kraston got up to dress for his
nightly treadmill workout, and I
continued to play with Junior.
Suddenly the clicker moved!
But Daddy hadn’t been there
to confirm Momma didn’t imagine the
whole thing, so I waited for another
kick.
Just as Kraston returned to the
bedroom, the clicker jolted!
Daddy saw it!
Momma saw it!
Junior did it! I can’t believe we’re at this point already...
For so long I could hardly
grasp the fact that we were pregnant
without fertility treatments, that
being at the “circus tricks” stage
seems impossible! J |
||||||||
|
||||||||
|
||||||||
|
||||||||
|
Week 23 (Feb 28 - Mar 6, 2005) Unlike Jakey, who kicked at anything & everything on my belly
(the keyboard included), Junior
appears to be the shy type.
The baby’s movements can be
seen jiggling my tummy about 3 inches
above my belly button, but put a hand
(or a book, or the clicker) on that
same spot & Junior goes into
hiding.
The differences between my two
pregnancies continue to astound me!
I’ve said it before, but here
it comes again...
Does this mean that Junior is a
girl?!?
At Auntie Tracy’s suggestion,
I just took the Boy or Girl test at www.childbirth.org that Tiffani told us of last go 'round.
With Jake’s pregnancy it said
I stood a “76%
chance of having a girl” so
I’m not really giving any merit to
the answer this time.
All the same, the results say
we have a “61%
chance of having a girl” this
pregnancy!
The Chinese Lunar Calendar at www.babyzone.com also predicted Jake would be a girl, just as it says this baby is
destined to be.
(What do y’all think?
Click over to Survey
Says & let us know!)
We shall see...
In fact, we could see as early
as next Tuesday, if Junior feels like
cooperating at that time.
But I am fairly sure Daddy is
set on saving the surprise for
Delivery Day!
Not that I blame him, it was
really quite a moment when Dr. Jones
announced, “It’s a BOY!” during
my cesarean...
That’s just what the doctor
is “scripted” to say, ya know... I sure am ready to cave in & find out ahead of time
however!
The pregnancy is really showing
now & everyone asks if we know the
gender, which only fuels my curiosity
– despite our intention to keep it a
secret.
But it truly doesn’t
matter to me either way!
If Junior is a GIRL, she will
have a Princess nursery in the 3rd
bedroom, comprised of items gathered
since before Jake’s gender was
known.
If Junior is a BOY, he &
Jake will share the Pooh Bear nursery
once Baby out grows the bassinette,
with bunk-beds in their future.
The 3rd bedroom will
be converted to a playroom for the
guys, as well as serving duty as the
guestroom – which is the only
additional plus a 2nd BOY
brings that GIRL does not.
I love that I don’t have a
secret longing either way, especially
since it’s out of our hands! I always imagined wanting one of each, which is what Kraston
still thinks of when he pictures our
family of four. But I have this serene lack of caring that goes beyond
just wanting a happy, healthy baby.
It’s as though our family is
completed by this pregnancy, come what
may, and I am wholly content in that
knowledge! J |
||||||||
|
||||||||
|
||||||||
|
||||||||
|
Week 24 (Mar 7 - Mar 13, 2005) Well, Tuesday was the big day: our 2nd
“major” ultrasound! J
We still need to go in for another
one (Mar 28 - Week 27) because,
yet again, the baby's heart could not
be seen. This time the sonographer
had turned on the sound to track the
heartrate, so there was no panic that
Junior was in trouble (plus I had just
felt the baby kicking in the waiting
room). Apparently, the placenta
(a.k.a. Afterbirth - the organ that
attaches to my uterine wall & attaches
to the baby by the umbilical cord) is
attached between my belly & the
baby, effectively blocking the view of
Junior's heart in the current
position.
Which now explains why
we weren't able to hear the heartbeat
by Doppler early on & why it
wasn't visible on that scary
day back in Week 13 & then
suddenly WAS. The issue all
along seems to have been that the
placenta is at the front of my uterus,
meaning that the ultrasound &
Doppler devices not only have to
penetrate my tummy before getting a
good view of the baby, but the
placenta, too. Anyhow - the
placenta's position isn't an issue for
the baby or me at all, but just
makes the ultrasound much more
difficult. (And that
means the pictures we get from this
pregnancy are in no way as clear as
those from our first pregnancy.)
With that, gender remains a
mystery at Junior’s insistence,
though we can report that our
baby is now 20cm from head to tuchus
(almost 8 inches long) & is
weighing in at a whopping 1 lb 7 oz! J After the
ultrasound, we had a consultation with
Dr. Jones. He took the news of my not using the Lovenox in stride,
saying that it made his treatment of
me easier anyhow. I received the gestational diabetes screening information
& my orange glucola drink, which I
will be tested for in Week 26 (Glucose
Tolerance Test, something to look
forward to...I think not).
And, with a quick reminder that
I really ought to go with a 2nd
C-section rather than trying for a
VBAC (Vaginal Birth After Cesarean)
delivery (yeah, yeah, yeah -
whatever), we were on our way.
Having left Uncle Mikey &
Jake to secure the fort, we headed
back to hearth & home! |
||||||||
|
||||||||
|
||||||||
|
||||||||
|
Week 25 (Mar 14 - Mar 20, 2005)
We
learned some happy news at Papa’s
birthday party (that I think it might
be okay to post...)! Tiff & Chris are expecting Baby Bowman #3!
They’re very early in this
pregnancy, but
I’m fairly sure we don’t share a
close enough circle that people
important to them would find out about
it here before they did
from the expectant parents.
I’m so excited for them –
and can’t help thinking she’s a
crazy woman!
Three kids all a year and a
half apart in age!
YIKES!
My brother & I have always
agreed the 3-½ years between us was
the perfect spacing, and just 2 kids
seems to be a family rule.
Though I was convinced for a
time that #2 should come as soon as
possible after #1, I now
can’t imagine having 3 little ones
so close together, let alone three at
all!
The 2-½ years between our
babies is advancing my original ideal
by a whole year, but then my own years
advanced quicker than I’d hoped
they would before we were able to finally
expand upon our family!
Time flies...
I marvel at the little person
Jake’s becoming right before my
eyes!
And I often find myself rubbing
my belly in a daydream of this
baby’s future!
With my first pregnancy,
everything was such a mystery...
Now I have in Jake an “end
result” example of what Kraston
& I are capable of to factor in
with other family characteristic when
trying to picture this baby outside
the womb!
I really didn’t picture my
child(ren) with Kraston as having
sandy brown, wavy hair like Jake does; I
thought they’d have straight,
dark-as-night hair as kids of Asian
descent commonly do (despite Daddy
having waves of his own)...
I prayed for Kraston’s feet
(flat though he feels they are) to
pass to our kiddies, rather than the
Brennan feet I’ve offered up to my
son.
And where did Jake’s nose
come from?
It certainly isn’t mine, and
I’m not sure it’s Kraston’s
either...
Could Jake have the nose of
some unknown relative from Grammy’s
birth family?
I didn’t imagine for a moment
that a picture of my own legs at two
would come to life before my eyes, but
that’s what I see as Jake scampers
around clad only in a diaper! Who is this inside of me now?
What’s his personality going
to be like?
What will she become?
What will Junior look like?
Will this baby have the exotic
eyes Jake had at birth?
What about that wavy hair I’m
so jealous of...?
Will Junior be cursed with my
feet the way poor Jakey seems to be?!?
Will the family resemblance to
his or her big brother be obvious, or
obscured by a completely different
selection of genes?
Even seeing the beautiful boy
we’ve made already, our new child
remains a mystery just as much as Jake
ever was...
I am anxious to meet this 4th
and final member of our family, and
can’t wait to hold our baby in my
arms! |
||||||||
|
||||||||
|
||||||||
|
||||||||
|
Week 26 (Mar 21 - Mar 27, 2005) We made it to the last week of our 2nd trimester... How can it be that I’m 6 MONTHS pregnant!!?!! Time really is flying by now! The last trimester is the longest, or so everybody told me in my 1st pregnancy. It flew by as far as I was concerned. I wonder if this one will drag on forever or come swiftly to an end? We have quite a lot to do in preparation for Junior’s arrival, so I wouldn’t mind it taking forever in that respect. But I am so anxious to meet this final addition that I hope the next 3 months zoom by as quickly as Jake’s last trimester did... J I waited a bit before posting this next lil’ update to be sure that it really happened: Junior dropped low in my pelvis this past Friday. I was in the living room playing with Jake & we got up to go change a diaper. Somewhere on the way from the couch to his room, I felt the baby settle onto my pelvic bone with a thump. I literally made a mental note to watch out for my water breaking, that’s how dramatic the change of position was! The entire shape of my belly changed in a day. The pressure on my pelvis is staggering every time I stand up. And now I’m officially waddling like a duck. K Kraston’s concerned because the “dropping” sensation didn’t happen nearly this early in Jake’s pregnancy, so I will mention it at my Tuesday check-up – but I’m sure everything is normal, just different this time. Before the appointment I go in for my GTT (glucose tolerance test), where I’ll get pricked, chug down the orange Glucola, & wait an hour to have my blood drawn a 2nd time for comparison. Hopefully all will go well with that... Grammy’s fairly recent Type II diagnosis has the OB’s watching me closely for gestational diabetes this time around. I didn’t have that complication with Jake & haven’t sent up any red flags at my zillion & one check-ups yet, so I hope their vigilance is overkill! Week 26 +6 days Happy Easter, Junior! Well, there was all sorts of confusion about the orders to draw my GTT bloodwork... I ended up having even more blood taken after the OB visit – not my favorite thing to do! I’m supposed to have heard back already about the tests, but since I’ve not we’re operating under the “no news is good news” mindset here! I’ll give them a call on Tuesday for the results it they don’t call us first... Other than that, all went well at my check-up. And Daddy can rest easier knowing that Junior’s new position in my uterus poses no problems. Junior’s heartrate was at 140bpm on the Doppler, for those of you keeping track! I was reminded that it’s time now to register for Lamaze if we’re going to (we are), and that we need to ready the car seat situation for the new addition! That the time is here for such tasks really drives home the fact that our prep-time is running out! What will become the 2nd nursery isn’t at all hospitable, and there is SO MUCH to do before this baby gets here.... Ahhhh!!! Third trimester here we come!!! J |
||||||||
 |
Home | Picture Pages | Baby Milestones | Pregnancy Journals | Survey Says | Family Links | Guestbook | Contact Us |