13 Weeks, Nuchel Fold Scan, Blood Test

Here is what I posted to the Subsquent Pregnancy board:

We don't really know the results yet, of course, but I was so nervous going into the ultrasound - worrying that the baby was still there (still alive) - more than anything else! It was such a relief to see the baby again! The baby measured at 12weeks, 6 days, which is fine, since I am 13 weeks based on lmp today. We (DH was with me this time) saw and heard the heart beating again. We still don't know about the actual heart structure yet, but hopefully will in just a few more weeks. The baby's heart rate was between 140 and 160 bpm during the session - which is nice and normal! The baby was moving a lot - and we saw the baby stretch out, and then pull its legs back in (so no guesses for sex for now). We saw both of the legs and feet, and arms and hands. At one point during the measurements, the ultrasound person had to make the baby move its arm because the baby suddenly had it in the way near its face. The baby's profile looks MUCH different than Sam's profile - we could see early on that Sam had my head shape (and my grandpa's!), which my DH adored. DH's first comment was on this - how this baby looks so different already. I think this baby seems to have my husband's profile - and perhaps even DH's nose! (Sam also had my nose.)

I had a small fibroid, which was measured for future monitoring. Is this anything to be concerned about? I have had no spotting or bleeding at all during this pregnancy.

Hopefully all will come back well with the results of this test.

Nearly 13 Weeks

On Tuesday we are getting the NT Scan done. My husband also plans to meet this perinatologist for the first time. He is going to be the one to ask about when we will get a fetal echo done. I am still waiting to hear back from Sam's former doctor, who said that if we were ever back in the Chicago area and expecting to call and come in to get the new baby checked out. I hope they get back to me soon. I will have to call again, otherwise. We will be persistent.

I had not felt very nauseous in the last week, and started eating a more varied diet. I traded nausea for intense sinus-type headaches for nearly a week, and then spent most of yesterday sneezing and my nose running. I don't THINK I have a sinus infection - but I might visit my primary care physician this coming week if this doesn't clear up soon. Today I am somewhat nauseous again.

I have been craving jello lately - and specifically grape. My local Safeway does not carry grape Jello. I had to go to a different store to acquire this desire.

I think I am finally starting to "pop". That said, my pre-pregnancy clothes, including my denim shorts, still fit. I am still about 9 lbs down from where I was pre-pregnancy. However, I just have a little more "pudge". My uterus feels like it has started to "move up" now.

I have been missing Sam more again lately, while remembering my pregnancy with him. The plans for him that I'd envisioned at 12 weeks along, that never came to furition.

Almost 12 Weeks - A little less nausea and started a scrapbook

I have been a lot less nauseous in the last two days, which has been really nice! However, I apparently traded for extreme tiredness. Last night, I just HAD to go to bed really early - and then slept 10 hours! I did get up for the bathroom four times during that 10 hours, but practically collapsed back into bed each time, already almost asleep again.

It is 9:00pm here, and all I want to do is go to sleep already. My husband's response to this a few minutes ago was "It's too early! It's not even 10 pm yet." I think I am going to have to override his objections and go to bed. . .

Still, I think this exhaustion is preferrable to the nausea.

On Friday, I gave in, and made a scrapbook page for the baby's book. We haven't purchased an actual scrapbook to put the pages in, but hopefully will be able to in the next couple of months. I made the page for the 10-week ultrasound pics. It turned out nicely, and I do hope that we will be able to put it in an album soon.

I still have not gained any weight, but I haven't lost any more weight, either. I am still able to wear even my pre-pregnancy denim shorts that were a bit snug before I lost weight, and they are loose on me still right now. I think that I am having the same "problem" I had with Sam - the baby has to get pretty big before it will become at all evident that I am pregnant. I had a relatively long abdomen for my organs to get crammed in, and nice sized hips.

11 Week Update

I am past the 11th week mark . . . we have been thinking about a middle name to go with our choice of a boy's first name. We might not even have to make that decision if we find out the baby is girl. We've had a girl name picked out since before we knew Sam was Sam.

I am still nauceous and vomit-y. I last threw up two days ago, though. I've been waking up with heartburn the past few nights, too, which is strange, because I had relatively little heartburn/acid reflux with Sam.

We're very nervous about the heart, etc. We WANT to know already if his/her heart is fine!

Email That I Just Composed and Sent to author Jodi Picoult

Dear Ms. Picoult,

I am writing today because I have been reading your book Handle with Care. Although I generally like the book for many reasons (including your writing style, etc), I just have to speak up on one 'little' aspect that I have a problem with.

Here is the portion from page 11:
"He's a resident," she said. . . "He doesn't know the way to the cafeteria yet, much less the protocol for talking to a mother who's just watched her baby suffer a full cardiac arrest in front of her eyes."

This pushes on and on the idea that some people have that Residents are quite useless and not ever good enough. Granted, this MAY be true in a percentage of cases, but not true in ALL cases! I take a bit of offense to this from two directions:

1) As the mother of a little baby boy who is now an angel, I learned how to deal with all of the doctors from interns to the most senior attending in our son's case. I found that the majority of the Residents and Fellows - if they didn't know an answer to a question (and we asked lots, and often) - were generally willing to work/ask to find a reasonable answer to our questions. Our son was born with multiple heart, vein, and lung defects (and we did know about the main heart defect at the 20 week ultrasound, but we opted to continue the pregnancy, hoping that multiple heart surgeries would allow him to live a good life - we did not know about all of the other problems until after well after he was born, and could not get off of the ventilator.). We lived with him in the hospital for nearly four months after he was born, and were there with him when he died.

2) My husband started his own medical Residency a mere three months after our son died. He is one Resident who does in fact know what it's like to watch his own baby in cardiac arrest - more than once, too - and to watch his baby die. This experience has changed greatly how, as a doctor, he responds to patients, and to the family and friends of patients of all ages - because he has been there, on the other side.

Thank you for allowing me to email you with my concerns and defense of some Resident doctors. Yes, they are still learning, but people need to keep in mind that some of them do have life experiences of their own, and might actually know some things. . .

Thanks,

Heartbeat at 10 weeks

Two days ago, I had a quick "dating" ultrasound, at about 10 weeks along. The baby was the right size for gestational age for LMP, and most importantly, I saw the heart beating! I also heard the heart beat. In fact, I recorded it on my digital camera as video, since my husband couldn't be at the appointment. I cried.

We still don't know, of course, though, if the baby is heart-healthy. The baby's heart rate was 194 bpm - I worried that was too fast, but it's not, for that gestational age. I don't think Sam's heartrate was that high at that age, but I don't remember if they even told us Sam's heartrate at the 10 weeks ultrasound! It's not printed on his ultrasound pictures, either. So. . . we'll just have to wait.

I am still all-day sick. I am at least 10 lbs down from where I was 2 months ago. I do not really have a baby belly yet, and my clothes are all loose on me!

9 Weeks

1)I have had a cold (I think), and was miserable for two days. I took nothing for it - not even regular acetaminophen.

2) Even with all the sneezing, etc, still nearly constantly nauseous. This morning as I type this, I am lying on my side and chewing gum - and still fighting the urge to vomit imminently.

3) Night after night lately, I've been sleeping for hours on end. No waking up from weird dreams, nothing. Then this last night, I was so tired that I couldn't keep my eyes open, but I couldn't fully sleep either. In the middle of the night I was panicking because I had some insomnia the night before I started miscarrying in December. I finally got up around 4 am, got online, found that 78% of pregnant women experience periods of insomnia. That helped to relieve me a bit, and I also figured out I was too hot most of the night, too, as my husband had re-set the thermostat after I had already gone to bed! (He thought it was too cold! The colder it is the better I sleep.) Anyway, I am also relieved that I am still nauseous, too.

4) According to some of the pregnancy development sites, given that this is my second pregnancy (third, but second to get this far), I should be popping a belly already! No, my clothes still fit extremely nicely given that I am still down several pounds from pre-pregnancy. I am occasionally very bloated, which is very normal, but nothing to change the way my clothes fit.

5) My next OB appt is on Tuesday, and my first ultrasound is on Thursday next week.

6) I was getting frustrated by being told no, no fetal echo until 18 weeks. I have argued that I know it can be done earlier - at least to detect HLHS! They can detect HLHS as early as 12 weeks in Europe!! So I looked up Sam's team's website - and yes, they do offer fetal echoes for as early as 15 weeks along w/history of CHD. http://www.thic.com/fetalechocard.htm My dear husband asked today at the local hospital where he works, and they are willing to do a fetal echo at 16 weeks. This is fine - this is all I was asking for. They do need a referral from my OB, however. I'll get one, one way or another.

7) Still craving potatoes.