15 Weeks and a Trip to the ER

On Friday (exactly one week after my stitch) we had a very scary ordeal. I had walked a little bit more than usual during the day, and by that I mean barely at all, but around 8-9:00PM after using the bathroom I had a sudden loss of blood. It wasn't a huge amount but it was a lot for a pregnant woman to see! I was so scared that I just yelled to my husband, "I'm bleeding, a lot!!! Get in the car we have to go to the hospital!!" He kept me somewhat calm the whole drive (it was only about 15 minutes) and I kept my feet up on the dash with the seat leaned back. It was one of those moments when I thought that it was over, and that frightened us both.

My parents met us at the hospital and we got me admitted to the ER. To my surprise I wasn't going to be looked at in the Labor & Delivery, they explained to me that I would only go there after 20 weeks, which I don't understand in the least. So instead we spent hours getting my blood drawn, giving samples, checking my blood pressure and temperature, signing paperwork, etc. I was finally seen about 3 or 4 hours later.

They brought me back, alone, to the ultrasound room. I was not allowed to see the baby or hear the heartbeat, and apparently I wouldn't be allowed to know whether or not baby was doing well until AFTER, but I had a WONDERFUL technician sneak me some good news every so often and lift my spirits. She said baby was moving all over, heartbeat was in the 140's, and my cervix was completely closed with a perfectly in-tact stitch.

Afterwards they sent me for a pelvic exam to check the stitch and they confirmed that it was held in place, no tearing or dilating, which was great. I was still bleeding though but it wasn't nearly as red or plentiful as first noticed. They called my specialist and I was told to lay flat as much as possible and to go in to see him on Monday for a follow-up. Sadly the next day I was planning on going with my family to the March of Dime's March for Babies walk (in memory of my daughter) that I was fundraising for since February, but we got out at 1:30AM and there was no way I would get enough rest to wake up at 5:00AM or even try using the wheelchair that I had ready just to be safe. Our health is most important right now and I'll do whatever it takes to make sure this baby stays put. Maybe next year we can make it extra special <3!

I turned 15 weeks on Sunday:

So I have officially gained 10 lbs. from my pre-pregnancy weight. I have a noticeable tummy now and my hips have been aching from my stretching body parts hehe. The nice thing is that my skin is really much more clear now, but on the other hand my skin is so dry, especially my hands! One more week and I will be 4 whole months :)!

Today I had my follow up appointment with the specialist on call. The bleeding tapered off finally this morning. The baby looked healthy and squirmy as ever and my cervix looked great. The best news is that my cervix actually got longer! It went from 3.9cm to 4-4.5cm today! Let's hope that it stays this way for a long time coming! He said that the cause of the bleeding could have been from the stitch shifting slightly and causing irritation. I'm still going to be resting until I see my actual specialist on the 8th so he can see for himself how everything is doing before telling me to go back to normal activity, but right now I am so grateful that everything is going so well.

Also, have you guessed the gender yet? It's tied at 5-5 :).

Guess Our Baby's Gender

Boy

Girl



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Post-op Check Up

I went in to see my specialist a day earlier than scheduled due to having some minor cramping. They told me to ease my worries I could just move my whole appointment over to today, and I'm glad that I did! First we got to see our little bundle and (s)he was playing with his/her hand, and looked like thumb-sucking! (S)He measured in right on track at just under 4 inches long from crown to rump. Heartbeat was in the low 140's.

During this video my mom was giving me some flack about my shock to my recent weight gain haha. I am a very slender girl, but to my surprise in just over 2 weeks I shot up from 109 to 113 lbs.! I do need some weight on me but I also want to keep the gain steady, don't need to add gaining too much weight too fast onto my chart now haha!

After the abdominal ultrasound to check on the baby I had another one to see how my stitch was doing. First of all, the cramping is completely normal and mild (no contractions), and my cervix is measured at 3.9cm which thankfully that hasn't changed in almost 6 weeks. Anything over 3 is perfect :). My doctor was even joking with us saying, "How weird is it to have a job that compliments someone on their cervix? It sounds a little creepy, I must admit!"

My next visit will be in two weeks, and this one will be a busy one. I have an anatomy ultrasound (including finding out the gender!), another cervix check, another blood screening for abnormalities, and my first progesterone (17P) shot. Phew! Dylan may or may not be able to be there for this one as his job needs him for another trip to Reno, but I'll be sure to get a DVD for him regardless!

So now I can have a little fun in the meantime. What do you think the gender is? After my ultrasound I'll announce here and change the color scheme of the page ;).

Guess Our Baby's Gender

Boy
Girl



View Results

14 Weeks and Cerclage

Today I am 3 days post-op from my cerclage. On Friday I went into the hospital with my mom and step-dad at 6:20AM. I wasn't allowed to eat or drink anything since the night before so I was a bit cranky hehe. They hooked me up to an IV for liquids/antibiotics and a blood pressure monitor and asked me a ton of questions about my medical history. By the time 8:00 rolled around they wanted to hear the baby's heartbeat on a doppler, and (s)he was steady and strong in the upper 140's.

My Perinatologist arrived just before 9:00 for my procedure and he and my nurses wheeled my bed to the operating room. They had me walk up to the table for my spinal block which I was already familiar with. The nurse who took care of me was so wonderful; when the anesthesiologist had me lean over for the shots she wrapped a warm blanket around me and cradled my head. Before I could even lay down my feet were already going numb. Then they hooked me up for heart rate and oxygen monitors, and gave me nasal oxygen.

After all of this it finally turned 9:00 and my specialist came in to start the procedure. There was a radio playing music and I was awake for the whole time, but within 3 songs he was already finished! I barely felt anything at all, maybe a few dull sensations here and there but there was no pain. When they were finished with clean-up they lifted me up and put me back onto my bed and wheeled me back into my room. The entire time I was out of my room was literally only about 20 minutes.

The recovery time from the spinal is what kept me there for another 6 hours though! My lower body was completely numb and it slowly wore off. I was only going to be allowed to leave if I could stand up/walk steps on my own and use the bathroom, which took forever. They also monitored my belly for contractions which thankfully there were none. I was FINALLY able to eat and drink. They started me off with ice chips and water and after I devoured that I moved onto a muffin and decaf coffee, amongst many other things :P. They then listened to the baby's heartbeat a second time and little one was still doing great. Finally around 3:30PM I was feeling ready enough to get discharged. They gave me a wheelchair and my awesome nurse brought me out of the hospital.

Overall the entire procedure and hospital experience was much nicer than I expected it to be. I did have some flashbacks when on my way to the bathroom I thought my water broke (which was a false alarm of course), and then seeing a little blood afterwards was very hard for me. Thankfully I had a LOT of loving and supportive nurses there for me whenever I had a concern.

I did have some pain but I was given some pain medicine at the hospital and I took just one Tylenol when I got home. I am going to be on mostly bed rest this week and I'm not allowed to lift anything over 10 pounds for now. I have a wonderful man in my life that has taken great care of me so I am very grateful :).

This picture was taken on Sunday at 14 weeks:

And just before Easter dinner at my mother-in-law's place :).

I have been feeling some small flutters here and there this week. I also have another ultrasound/post-op appointment on this Thursday and I'm so excited to see our little one again. The very next ultrasound will be to find out the gender and for that one Dylan will be taking off work early to be there. Also that week will be the beginning of my progesterone shots (17P) and those will be given at the specialist's office weekly to help prevent preterm labor/contractions. Whatever it takes for a healthy baby!

Second Trimester!

This is my 13th week and I am officially into my second trimester. I'm still having trouble believing that all of this is really, really, REALLY real, but seeing my belly grow every week has given me some peace of mind that our baby is doing well.

Tomorrow I will be going in for my cerclage and I have to admit I am very nervous. It will only take about 10 minutes to do the actual procedure (if that) but I will be in the hospital before and after for a total of about 5-6 hours or so. When I get home I'll be in bed resting for at least 2 days and up to 1-2 weeks. I'm prepared for this though and have already bought several ready to make meals :). Thankfully Dylan is off of work for the weekend and can help me with anything I'll need!

12 Weeks and 4 Days -- Our Little Kickboxer

Today I had two separate doctor visits within a few hours of each other. My first was at my OB's office and I just had to do some paperwork and get a swab culture. Nothing crazy. My doctor wasn't aware, though, that my cerclage was going to be placed and since he was a bit a against me getting one (because he is so sure that it was solely the infection last time) he was a little upset. He's worried about the risks of the procedure itself, but in all honesty I trust the specialist's experience over his in this area. The risks of waiting and seeing if there will be any changes to my cervix are much more worrying to me than the slight possibility of infection during the procedure (which is his main concern). The good news is that my Perinatologist is going to call him today or tomorrow and have a lengthy discussion with my OB about why he is suggesting this to be done.

Right after that appointment I went to my Peri. for my weigh-in, ultrasound, NT defect screening and blood screening. Our little tummy tenant was kicking up a storm! I couldn't believe how feisty this little bugger was being. The heartbeat was around 158 or so but I don't remember exactly. My mom and I got to see this perfect little nose and mouth, tiny little feet and long skinny legs, swallowing movements, hands jabbing, and lots of stretching!

The NT stands for Nuchal Translucency, or Neural Tube, and the screening is to detect chromosomal abnormalities and other issues. My specialist wanted to have this done prior to the cerclage just in case there is anything unusual with the baby, but no matter what this were to show I will be carrying this baby. The NT screening is done on the nape of the neck and came back that baby was in the "upper end of normal, so that's good!" The blood test will tell me in a week or so the rest of the results. So far everything looks great though! At first I wasn't sure that I really needed the test because like I said, I will love this baby no matter what, but later on I understood the reasoning for them wanting to know more about this little one's health.

Here is some of the kicking that we caught on video:

Some legs and arms (and a face peek at 0:43):

A face and some feeties <3:

My cerclage is going to be done next Friday at the same hospital that I was supposed to deliver Evelyn in, and the hospital I first went to when I was in labor (before being transported). Please wish us luck <3.

12 Weeks and Interesting Signs

I was a little too close to the camera for my week 12 picture. Oops!

Symptoms: I'm very sleepy most of the day but thankfully my nausea only happens after I've eaten a LOT throughout the day and I go to lay down for bed. I've started to get the round ligament pains this week though. I've had a few sneezes that doubled me over but after a few deep breaths they go away. On the upside I've been able to actually COOK this week! I haven't cooked in months because of the smells and nausea but finally I've been able to get back to some of the things that I love :).

My husband has been one proud daddy and every day it shows more and more. When I picked him up from his trip he gave me a kiss and immediately went down on his knee to give the baby kisses. He also likes to reach out and touch my belly whenever and wherever. When we went food shopping I think he made a point to get belly rubs about 3 times. It warms my heart to see the smile return to his face after all that we've been through <3.

This brings me to something else that has been on my mind. I'm not a religious person by any means, but I do believe that my baby girl has given me many, MANY signs since she passed. I could literally go on for days about them. I also believe that in some way she has been watching over us and her little sibling. In January I posted in a private Facebook support group about a dream that I had and I felt she was in it:

"Still nothing and so far 3 negative tests... I set up an OB/GYN appt. for Feb. 5th in case nothing shows up by then though!

Last week I had a strange dream and heard a little girl giggling (I assumed it was my girl..) and then saw a man's face and he looked at me and said, "Happy birthday." It literally scared me awake and now I'm freaking out becauss my birthday is 4 days after the appt. I was given. Ahh it'd be amazing if that happened! I wanted to share the dream in case it came true lol!

January 13 at 10:26am"

I got the impression from my dream that the man I saw was my OB, and that I would be pregnant for my birthday. Sure enough, I was in this exact position and told, "Congratulations, and happy belated birthday! Mine was the 7th!" a week after my first appointment. My logical mind can't wrap around a lot of things like this too easily but I fully feel that Evelyn let me in on our little gift early. Another interesting thing is that she lived for 1 month and 8 days... And I got my first positive test 1 month and 8 days after our wedding. Also, my due date with Evelyn was August 19th (2012), and this little one's due date is October 19th, and for both of them my weeks start(ed) on Sundays. It brings a tear to my eye to know that they are connected in these ways.

Tomorrow is my next ultrasound to check on our little bundle. I'll be posting pictures and hopefully videos later that day :).