3.26.2010 - 27w

HR = 150s
my weight = ...nevermind

I go back in 2 weeks for the glucose test (for diabetes) and to have my blood levels checked (re: platelets and/or anemia)

Discussed VBAC some more with another doc.  My current plan is to schedule a c-section a few days after the due date... and hope that I go into spontaneous labor on my own before then.  The jury is out on how successful I might be - obviously no one knows.  But they will not induce (I already knew that). 

Less than 3 months to go!  BabyBrother is very active these days and has found my ribs on the right side.  I've had a few contractions here and there but I think it's just Braxton Hicks.  (I never had those with Travis).  Obviously I mentioned it to the doctor and she told me the signs for "when to call".

3.15.2010 - lab results

My platelets are back up to normal - yayyy!   But now I'm anemic - booo.   So I've got to start taking iron supplements.  Oh joy.  But at least this explains why I'm so tired all the time and why I've been having more-frequent-than-usual headaches.   Regardless, the end result (i.e. BabyBrother) is more than worth the minor and temporary setbacks.

3.12.2010 - 25w

Had my platelets drawn this morning but won't know the results until next week.   Below is the comparison from pregnancy with Travis.  I had just chopped off my hair (the first time - it continued to get shorter through the pregnancy).  While I'm not crazy about my current hair situation, I don't plan to chop it off again this time.

3.8.2010 - 24w and sick

I am sick.  Going on 10 days now.  Stuffy head, coughing, etc.  I tried not to complain.  I kept thinking it's just a cold... it will go away.   Over the weekend my eyes and teeth started hurting and I realized it was not just a cold.  So I finally went to the doctor this morning and got some antibiotics.  I hate taking medicine when I'm pregnant.  But I took a Z-pack for strep when I was pregnant with Travis.  And now I'm taking a Z-pack this time for a sinus infection and some sort of respiratory infection.  I'm supposed to be asleep right now.  I took the afternoon off work to rest.  But I'm so stuffed up I can't relax or fall asleep.  I've tried saline spray.  It helps a little.  For a few minutes.  Then it's back to zero air movement through my nose.  If I sound like I'm complaining now... I am.  This is so miserable. 

3.2.2010 - Moving belly

I have reached the moving belly stage!  It seems like it has come much earlier than it did with Travis.  While laying in bed watching tv this past weekend, not only could we feel him move but we (yes, Eric too!) could see knees/elbows/feet poking out here and there.  Of course it's not extreme yet - he still has lots of room to move around in there so we just see a lump here, a lump there, and then it's smooth again.  I remember towards the end with Travis my belly would morph and contort into all kinds of weird shapes as he rearranged himself.  Some days I even had corners.

2.26.2010 - 23w belly shot and a checkup

heartrate = 140ish

Found out I'm not a good candidate for a VBAC (G.oo.gle it if you're not sure).  Since I couldn't deliver a 7 pounder the first time, chances are that my bones just aren't designed for delivering babies.  But I still have plenty of time to consider my options.

Platelet recheck in 2 weeks.  If they are too low at delivery I can't have an epidural or spinal.  Not sure how that would work if I end up with a c-section.  That's something I don't want to worry about right now.  Hopefully my level will come back up towards the end like it did with Travis.

Thought I had lost a couple pounds this month.  But then the nurse said the batteries in the scale I had used might be getting low. So I got on another scale to discover yet another 4 pound weight gain for the month!   I think that brings me to 13 pounds total weight gain in 23 weeks.

Here's the belly...

Funny story about today's appointment...

Apparently my doctor's office was really behind schedule this morning.  And I actually arrived about 15 minutes early. They let me go ahead back and pee in a cup anyway- they know not to make pregnant girls wait to use the potty!  While I was back there, a nurse from the lab said "oh just come on back and I'll check your BP and weight now".    After that, instead of sending me back to the waiting room, she sent me on to the waiting chairs in the back, by the docs' offices and exam rooms, and put my chart in the little bin outside my doc's door.  It still wasn't even my original appointment time.  I saw my doc racing around from room to room.  She even said "Sorry for the wait, guys, it's a little crazy on Fridays".   I didn't think much of it.  I kept reading my Baby magazine.  I noticed a girl outside another door must have been waiting a while and seemed impatient.   A few minutes later my doc looked at me and said "Heather, come on in...".   She was tinkering with my chart and seemed a little confused for a second and said "You're not Heather R___ you're Heather M___ right?"    Yep, that's me.  So she tinkered with her weird laptop tablet pc thing (they've recently switched to electronic charts)  Ok, there you are... and my appointment continued.  I finished my appointment and then had a visit with the insurance lady to discuss what insurance pays, how much I owe, blah blah blah for the entire pregnancy and delivery process.  I came out of that appointment and random girl in the hall was still waiting.  I went to the desk to pay and schedule my next appointments.  As I walked away, random girl from the hall was now behind me at the desk and I hear her say in a huff "I'm going to need to reschedule.  This is ridiculous.  I've been waiting well over an hour and I need to get back to work...".   The girls behind the desk of course were a little flustered and scrambling.   Then I heard them ask her name... Heather R___ !  Ooooops.  They called me back for her appointment.  So I waited like 10 minutes and she had been waiting for almost an hour and a half.   Sorry Heather R!

2.09.2010 - Platelet results

No surprise... they are low.  Not below the critical level, but lower than they like to see.   And lower than the original check early in pregnancy.  We'll recheck again in a few weeks. 

2.5.2010 - Half way there!

Today is 20 weeks!  20 down, 20 to go.  I'm hoping Baby Boy comes sometime really close to his actual due date.  If he's 8 days early, he'll be born on Travis' birthday.   I don't want that.  Of course if it happens there is not much I can do about it, but it's definitely not my first choice.  Eric thinks it would be fun because later in life they can say they are twins born 2 years apart - ha!   And the whole 6-days-past-the-due-date business that Travis pulled, well that's just not necessary either. 

2.3.2010 - Bumps in the road

19w5d

Bump #1… After a few weeks of minor leg pain it reached the excruciating point last night. I called the OB on call and, since I didn't have any swelling or discoloration, he prescribed Tylenol, a hot bath, and to make an appointment in the morning. He did say I was welcome to come see him in L&D at the hospital but that he didn't think it was necessary (due to the lack of swelling/discoloration). Since going to the hospital would mean getting Travis up in the middle of the night, I chose to wait until the morning. After a terrible night of sleep I woke up with moderate leg pain that started getting worse as soon as I got out of bed. Long story short, after seeing an OB and my GP, we're thinking it's a pinched nerve. The doc gave me some pointers on how sit to not aggravate it more and prescribed a narcotic, which I have no plans of taking. The OB will refer me to a physical therapist if I continue to have issues.   I'm feeling better tonight after putting some of the pointers into practice.  We'll see how it goes.


Bump #2… I had low platelets while I was pregnant with Travis. There is a big fancy name for it… gestational thrombocytopenia… but it’s much easier to call it low platelets.  Cause that’s what it is. It didn’t occur until about mid-way through the pregnancy and they fixed themselves right before he was born.  Come pregnancy #2, I had low platelets when they did my first prenatal bloodwork at 6-8 weeks.  Not dangerously low, just slightly below the preferred level. They attempted to recheck them last week at the big ultrasound appointment. But I found out today the results are inconclusive. Apparently my platelets clumped up and could not be counted – the doc said this usually means they are low. So they took more blood today to try again. I guess we’ll find out in a day or two how low. 

1.29.2010 - Belly shot - 19w

1.29.2010 - IT'S A...

19w

The gender is in my possession in a sealed envelope... will open later tonight!
update: IT'S A BOY!!

Baby is breech.  Not a big deal at this point.  Baby had its knees curled up against its belly most of the time, like it was doing a somersalt.  He/she was very active during the ultrasound!

Measured at 19w5d.  Weight = 12oz  Heartrate=155

Hi guys!

alien face and a leg

12.31.2009 - 14w6d

heard baby's heartbeat on doppler - 150-something

anatomy scan set for 1.29.2010!!

12.16.2009 - 12w5d ultrasound!

CRL = 7.71cm (3in) [crown-rump length i.e head to butt]

11.26.2009 - the big announcement!

9w6d

Thanksgiving!

Travis told the family that baby #2 is on it's way!

11.25.2009 - 9w5d

heard the heartbeat on doppler!

11.2.2009 - 6w3d

HB = 128

10.16.2009 - 4w

Getting pregnant the first time was not easy. After 15 months, several unsuccessful rounds of mild fertility treatments, and a diagnosis of unexplained infertility a "specialist" told us we had about a 3% chance of getting pregnant on our own. She recommended we try very invasive and costly procedures.  We said no thank you. 3 months later we were pregnant. On our own.  Around the timeTravis turned 1 we decided to stop preventing pregnancy and see what happened for a year or so. 3 months later we were pregnant. On our own.