Monday, September 5, 2011

August 29th: 9(ish) weeks

Written 8/29/11: 9.5 weeks pregnant


Dear E,
I haven’t taken any belly shots yet this week, because a) there is never a moment where I don’t look like complete crap and b) I’ve been too busy puking, and trying not to puke, to remember such things! I promise to suck it up and take one sometime soon. Despite the fact that I’ve actually lost weight since becoming pregnant, the belly continues to grow and expand at a somewhat alarming rate!
Anyway, I had an appointment on Friday (my first “official” prenatal appointment with the Midwife at my doctor’s office), and an ultrasound and meeting with my doctor this morning.
Friday’s appointment was pretty boring. It was basically to go over all the do’s and don’ts (mainly dont’s!) during pregnancy, take even more of my blood, and as an extra fun surprise, I also got a pap smear! It was funny–during the exam “down there,” the Midwife said, “your uterus feels very full.” Since I freak out about everything these days, I said with alarm, “is that okay??” She laughed and said, “yes, it’s full…of baby!”
I also had to fill out all sorts of paperwork and go over my medical history and all of that. This might sound strange, but I really loved the fact that I got to include Stevie’s birth information on so many different forms. Writing down that I birthed a baby who weighed 1 pound, 13 ounces, who was 13.5 inches long, made me feel like a mom. Like she was really real. That she’s a part of my history. That she matters.
After Friday’s appointment, I spent most of the weekend at Grandma and Grandpa’s house while Dad was working. It was really nice to be babied by my mom (she went as far as removing the skins from french fry wedges when I wanted a baked potato and those were the closest she had!), and watching stupid crap on TV like “The Millionaire Matchmaker.”
Then it was time for today’s ultrasound appointment. Of course I was nervous as hell beforehand. I mean, I seriously go into these things with dread, not excitement. But thankfully, everything looked great once again! You are looking so much more like an actual baby. It’s really mind-blowingly amazing to watch you grow and develop from week to week. The only word I can think of to describe it is miraculous. Simply unreal.
Your big head is much more defined now, and your cute little arm and leg bus were jerking and twitching all over the place.
Here are a few pictures:
I can't get over those cute little foot nubs!
Your little heart was going crazy fast at 188bpm (up from 158 2 weeks ago!)
After the ultrasound, I met with my doctor to sort of finalize our “game plan” moving forward. She is having me finish up my last package of progesterone suppositories (I think I have about 10 days left), and then I will be starting once-a-day Lovenox injections immediately after. She doesn’t want me on both the suppositories and Lovenox at the same time since both can cause spotting and she knows that will only cause me to panic (and she’s so right!)
She is also referring me to a Perinatologist (high risk OB) who I will meet with in 4-5 weeks. The Peri will come up with a plan for doppler blood flow studies (basically, monitoring the blood flow in the cord) and some level 2 ultrasounds going forward. It sounds like I’ll be working with both the Peri and my regular doctor quite regularly. The nice thing is that the Peri’s office is in the same building as my regular OB’s office, so I won’t be driving all over the place for all these different appointments.
My next ultrasound and appointment is scheduled for September 16th, when I’ll be right around 12 weeks.
Can’t wait to see you again, Baby!
Love you more and more each day,
Mom

9 comments:

Danae said...

You are lucky that your peri and OB is in the same office. Mine are on exact opposite sides of Oklahoma City! lol!

Visiting the peri this time around in conjunction with my regular Dr. has helped quite a bit, but for me, the anxiety is still there. I hope it helps you too!

I'm so excited for you and Andy, and I know Stevie is excited for you too! Yea for little E!

Angela said...

I'm sorry you're not feeling well! With this pregnancy I was way sicker than the first time around and spent the first 14 weeks in a state of misery. Feel free to complain and whine a bit, throwing up - or feeling like you might - all day long is no fun.

So happy for you, mama.

Beryl said...

Glad to hear you will get to see a Peri and your OB. Like Danae, I also found it comforting to get those frequent level 2 sonograms. The more I got to see Brie and know she was ok in there the more calm I became as the pregnancy went on.

I hope your "all day sickness" starts to die down soon.

B. Wilson @ Windy {City} Wilsons said...

Looks like a real baby and less like a shrimp. ;) Those little nubs are quite cute little E.

crystal said...

I'm so happy for you!!! Praying that God will give you peace during this pregnancy ;)

Kim 'Nordell' Lawrence said...

Amazing Kristen!! So excited for you! I hope you start feeling better and will be praying for you, Andy and baby E! Make sure to take the time to enjoy this pregnancy like you did the first. In the end when you're holding your beautiful baby you want to be able to look back on your pregnancy as a good time.

Wishing both you all the joy in the world!

Annie said...

I'm so happy to see that you are pregnant again! I've checked in on your blog from time to time since you were featured on the news. I've lost babies to cord problems and have the MTHFR diagnosis like you. I went to the peri for my last pregnancy - had the dopplers done weekly and took Lovenox. That pregnancy just ended happily! If it would help you at all (don't know your insurance situation) I have 2-3 weeks worth of leftover Lovenox I'd be happy to give you. I'm in the west metro, too so it would be easy to get them to you. In fact, I think you may be going to the same peri I've been going to (France Ave S? main office at Abbott?) and they are wonderful!

Ashley said...

Hey Kristin,

I was so happy to see your updated blog this morning! Congratulations! I'm so happy for you and Andy. I can't wait to keep reading and I hope you start to feel better soon. :)

CourtneyAnna said...

This is so beyond exciting! I hadn't checked your blog in a few days and imagine my surprise when I checked today. Congrats!
I really get where you are coming from with being so scared and paranoid.
When I got pregnant again, I was constantly worried that I would go in for an appt, and there would be nothing there. I had a placental tear at 9 weeks had had bright, red spotting. I thought it was over.
I had four days of uber boring bed rest, and it healed up. It was so frightening. I am now almost 28 weeks and even though I am most calm, there are still moments where I just want to make sure everything is ok.
Now, this pesky toss-age of the cookies you are having, it sucks! I had vomiting EVERY DAY until 26 weeks. Gotta love hyperemesis. If you want, I found that the BNatal vitamin B suckers helped (Amazon.com) or the Preggy Pop drops (Motherhood maternity) or just mints helped. And if it gets really bad, ask your doc for Zofran. It is a meltaway pill and I find it helps.
The normal stuff like crackers and saltines didn't really quell the tummy like they say!
I can't wait to read more updates! Congrats again!

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