6 Months - Viability!

I had my worries that I would not reach this day, but here we are. Today is a bit emotional for me as I'm passing the stage that I had Evelyn. It's hard to describe. I'm so, so happy that Emily is doing so well and there are no signs of labor at this point, so our chances are looking good for making it to full term. But, I am sad that Evelyn didn't get to have this same chance. All I can really do is do my absolute best to make sure that we make every day special, because every day Emily is growing safely inside her comfy home is a day to celebrate. I know her big sister is watching over us <3.

I'm feeling really good this week, and aside from being a little uncomfortable when she is in a curled up position down low there is not much to complain about. Emily has been making my belly move and squirm now to the point where her Daddy and I can both watch her snuggle up. On Friday night she actually did a flip (like turning over onto her side or something) and shook my right side of my belly. Daddy was able to see it through my clothes and across the couch. It was a nice sight to see!

The only symptoms that I really don't like dealing with is this heartburn. To avoid being up all night I've been eating dinner much earlier before bed and avoiding eating anything that will trigger it after mid-afternoon (like tomato sauce and greasy foods). Thankfully it only really happens at night (for now!).

Another fun aspect is dealing with the Las Vegas heat that is getting more unruly by the day haha. We're coming into July now and it is no surprise for us to reach 110+ degrees outside, and right now we've been around 100-105 and so far it's been just so tiring to go anywhere outdoors. I'm making sure though that I'm toting around a LOT of water wherever I go!

At this point in my pregnancy I'm starting to work on her nursery and figuring out a baby shower. I cleaned out my sewing room and moved everything into our bedroom so that she will have her own room and in about 2-3 weeks we'll be painting the nursery a pretty color purple and giving it some time to dry before putting anymore furniture in there. I have a twin bed that has been in that room though for guests but that bed will now be for me when I'm up at night with her. I know a lot of people say to keep her in our bedroom, but with the manual labor that my husband does I don't feel right keeping him up as much as I'll be awake at night, only to send him to work to use heavy machinery. He can certainly stay awake if he'd like to but if he needs his uninterrupted sleep that will be best for his safety and I'm happy to give him that :).

The baby shower has been interesting to figure out. I originally had the idea of going to one of our favorite restaurants and renting their party room, but as it turns out they JUST had a small fire in there this weekend and they won't have it fixed in time for when we asked for it. What kind of timing is that?? It's okay though, we'll find a nice place (with air conditioning!) to get everyone together! I'm hoping to have it when I'm around 28-30 weeks so we have enough time to get the nursery and house ready for her arrival.

It's all happening so fast!

23+4 Weeks, Last Cervix Check!

My Perinatologist is very happy with how my stitch is holding up so after today we are completely done with the internal ultrasounds. The funneling from two weeks ago hasn't changed a bit. He said that it may just be the way my body is in that area because it hasn't changed since then and doesn't change with pressure on it, or when we do the internal exams it may just aggravate that spot and cause it to look slightly open there. It's great news though that at this point everything is looking so good. My cervix is actually around 4cm long right now, too, which is awesome!!

In 2 weeks I have one last abdominal ultrasound for quite a while, this one will be to check and see how Emily is growing. She was squiggling all over the ultrasound and kneeing me right in the bladder, which is always a nice feeling haha. Today she is transverse, which means laying from side to side, with her head a bit under my ribs on the right and her knees over on the left, and she is facing my back to I didn't get to see her pretty face today. I already knew she was over on my right side today though because when I woke up, my belly was completely lop-sided and she felt like she was curled up in a ball in that one spot. Interesting feeling!

I will keep seeing the nurses once a week for my shots, but I won't be seeing my specialist again for 13 more weeks. That will be when my cerclage is removed! And I will most likely be stopping the shots then, so yay! I will be 36 weeks and 4 days. By that time my OB and I will know exactly what we'll be doing as far as scheduling my c-section goes. I could be delivering at 37, 38, or 39 weeks (and 2 days, since they won't change my due date despite me knowing I ovulated 2 days early hehe). I'm hoping for 37-38 weeks but we will see how that goes soon enough. Wow, 13 weeks, there doesn't seem to be much time left to go!

23 Weeks

Alrighty.. T minus 7 days until I reach 24 weeks. Any day thereafter will not only be the longest I've ever reached in pregnancy, but after 24 weeks Emily will reach "viability", which basically means that if for any reason she were to be born so early she would have a good chance of survival (40-70%) with the help of the NICU. Each week after 24 weeks increases those odds and at 30 weeks and up she will have a 95% chance. So my absolute goal to bring her into this world safely is to at least reach 30 weeks with no problems but ultimately 37-38 weeks would be the safest time for us.

As far as my last week goes it has been pretty nice. She has been kicking me every morning and night! I can feel some twists and rolls every once in a while but more often than not it feels like she is doing jumping jacks. She has a very different way of moving than Evelyn did; Emily jumps up and down and kicks over and over and over for a duration of time, whereas Evelyn would roll and flip ALL the time with few strong kicks, and every loud sound would startle her into doing more rolls. Emily seems to be okay with loud sounds for now, except one hard sneeze of mine made her start kicking the other night hehe.

My symptoms this week have been easy to manage for the most part. I now have heartburn at night though which I can't say that I enjoy! I have to prop myself up with some pillows and sleep on an incline so that helps some. Also if I skip eating for more than 2 hours I suddenly feel like I'm literally caving in and I get pretty cranky haha. I need to start carrying around snack bars with me for this reason. I'm having a hard time getting onto my feet from sitting on the couch now, too, and Dylan just giggles at me and watches me try.

He has been such a great Daddy. Every morning before he leaves for work he gives the baby kisses and lays his head on her for a few minutes, and every night when he comes home he rubs my bump and smiles the biggest smile. That smile gets bigger as my bumps grows too :). Just this morning he was talking to my belly and telling her, "When you get here Emily I'm going to feed you so many potatoes (his favorite food). Mashed potatoes, garlic mashed potatoes, home fries, potato pancakes, french fries...." He's too cute sometimes.

On Thursday I have another cervix check and more P17 shots. We'll see how that goes. I'm crossing my fingers that nothing has changed a bit! We're on our way to 6 whole months!

22 Weeks and Father's Day

5 1/2 months already! Every Sunday that passes I'm closer and closer to my big milestones.

I officially have a mini watermelon in my opinion hehe. My last weigh in on Thursday showed that I was up a total of 16.5 pounds which isn't too bad at all, but oh boy does my body feel the gravity now. My feet have begun to swell a little when I'm on them too long, my belly feels like it's at it's limit for stretching out and gets "in the way" a lot of the time, my tailbone now is sore from the weight on it, and I can't forget the round ligament pains. My spine is also curving much more than ever. I don't want to complain though! It's crazy how a few weeks can have so many physical changes.

Today is also Father's Day. I am so proud of the wonderful man and father that my husband is. We went out for Dim Sum with my in-laws earlier today and Emily had her first "taste" of roast duck, Chinese broccoli and fresh red bean buns :P. Later today we'll be spending some time with my his dad and sister and will probably go eat yet again, another thing I won't complain about lol!

21 Weeks and Some Changes

These are my pictures from Sunday when I reached 21 weeks.

My belly button is now completely flat and my belly is becoming much heavier. I can feel Emily's kicks more often and I can even tell when she is in a position that makes my belly a little lop-sided. On Monday (21+1 weeks) she must have punched or jumped right up into my stomach area, because she made such a big movement that it made me groan, "OOOOF!" out loud haha. Dylan's co-worker also gave us a big bag of barely used newborn girl clothes (shirts, pants, onesies, hats, socks, shoes, etc.). It was very nice for him to do that for us :').

Another symptom I've been feeling this week is some low pressure and twinges in my cervix/stitch. It doesn't help when I can actually feel her kick my stitch either, which she has done about 5 times since my last ultrasound. The ache that I've been feeling was making me worry so I asked for another internal ultrasound during my appointment for my P17 shot on Thursday.

It turns out that the slight opening that was there last week is just a little bit bigger now. They call it funneling (because it looks like a funnel) when the part nearest to the baby begins to open up. The cervix is like a cylinder that comes off of the uterus that should be closed tight throughout pregnancy and then open when it's time to deliver the baby, but if it is weak the weight of the baby will put pressure on it and cause it to open, and it can eventually turn into premature delivery at any stage. The stitch is there to keep the funneling from going all the way to the point of delivery. My specialist will keep an eye on the funneling and I will definitely be resting again when I can just to be safe. It's a good thing I went and now know what's going on instead of waiting three whole weeks for another check while still being really active.

She is looking so good with a heartbeat in the upper 130's now, and she has the sweetest face ever. Still breech two weeks in a row. This little bugger had her foot INSIDE the funneling and wiggling her toes around in there, talk about ouch! I'm hoping she will turn over soon so that she doesn't keep pressing on it! Right after we left the office yesterday I bought a belly support band to help lift her up some, and so far it seems to be helping :).

It's now clear as day that this is my problem and is what caused my delivery with Evelyn. I'm SO happy that I went with my gut instinct and got the stitch despite my OB not agreeing that this was the original problem, at least I have some safety net to help keep her inside. Now to keep my fingers tightly crossed that there will be no further changes and we can make it to full term!

Another Quick Ultrasound

Today I am 20 weeks and 4 days and I saw both of my doctors. My first was my Perinatologist for my cervix check, quick baby check ultrasound, and P17 shot.

Our girl is looking as beautiful as ever :'). Dylan thinks that she has my chin just like her sister did, and I think that this time she has her dad's full lips. We'll see who she takes after soon enough!

Before the ultrasound tech. looked at my stitch I got to have a quick ultrasound to check on Emily. Her heartbeat is 142 BPM. I was flabbergasted when we were watching the screen and suddenly she opened her mouth BIG and wide for a long yawn! It was the sweetest moment!

My cervix check went very well. No shortening, but with some pressure on my belly the part that is closest to the baby opens VERY, very slightly. It's not concerning my specialist right now, but the cerclage is there for a good reason! I will have another check in three weeks to follow up, and after that I may start tapering off those ultrasounds. After a certain point it will naturally have some changes and as long as I am having no troubles with the stitch all should be good.

After the ultrasounds I talked to my specialist about my E.R. visit and what could cause that. He said without a doubt it was pregnancy related and it is very common, but I did the right thing getting looked at if I was having unexpected pains. If it starts happening a lot and is bothering me though(which it only happened that one time) then he would have me monitored. The best news though was that he said drinking decaf coffee would have no connection to it, so Dylan agreed with him and took my coffee can out of hiding lol! I also got my test results back for Down Syndrome today and my numbers are now 1:10,000. I am very grateful that Emily is doing so well.

I then went to my regular OB's office for heartbeat check, all still looked good, and he measured my belly from top to bottom. I'm right on track :). I have just two more visits with him and then they will go from every 4 weeks to every 2 weeks, it's all happening so fast!

5 Months! And Yet Another E.R. Trip

This Sunday marks 20 weeks, exactly half way to my due date (although I'll be delivering before then).

My belly is getting more round each week, and I am getting a LOT of kicks and rolls from Emily! This passed week I have felt kicks, thumps, what felt like a knee, rolls, stretches, and her curling up into a ball on more than one occasion. Yesterday I felt really low down on my belly a hard spot and I tried to rule out what it was, I thought maybe it was my bladder (like I had to "go") or maybe some Braxton Hicks contractions. After a few minutes I decided to press a little on the hard spot, and surprisingly it was Emily's little body there. She kicked and stretched out against my hand and then seemed to squirm back up into my belly haha! I felt bad for disturbing her where she was, but it was a little uncomfortable having her so low hehe so I was thankful that she moved.

Another incident happened yesterday. Right after my husband and I woke up I had my morning cup of decaf coffee and a bowl of cereal. Right in the middle of my breakfast I had these terrible sharp chest pains and nothing I did made them go away. I tried stretching my chest and arms out and rubbing the area (my left side) and it just hurt all over. I had Dylan listen to my heartbeat and he said it was thumping really hard and fast, and I could feel it pumping out of my chest. It was pretty scary! So we decided to run down to the quickcare and get me checked out.

As it turns out, the pain went away while I was in the waiting room and I was literally about to walk out the door when my name was called. It's a good thing I stayed because they checked my heartbeat and it was all over at 91-113 beats per minute. It would go fast and then slow down and then fast again. My usual resting BPM is in the 70s so that was probably why I could feel it so strongly. They gave me an EKG and some oxygen and then transferred me by ambulance to their E.R. for more testing. I had some blood taken (yet again!) and a chest x-ray, as well as an ultrasound to check on the baby. All looked good but my blood work showed that I was a little low on my potassium and calcium. So after my heart rate got back to normal (and the pains were gone for a few hours) they discharged me.

Dylan was pretty worried about me so he wants me to stay away from coffee/caffeine (since this happened as I was drinking my morning cup), even the little bit that's in decaf. I can do that even though I have a serious love affair with coffee and will miss it hehe. I certainly don't want to have any more issues with my heart rate! I will be asking my specialist this Thursday if it is common to have palpitations during pregnancy and if there is anything I can do to help, other than eat lots of bananas and drink more milk!