19 weeks 1 day

We had a wonderful time last week in Oregon at Lara & Chuck's wedding (Erik's sister) and Zack made an adorable ring bearer/dance floor manic. Back to the real world now...

Nothing new to report on the baby front. We finally went public to people last week as the word has started to spread a little. I'm not really able to "hide" any more and am now in maternity clothes, some of them make me look about 9 1/2 months along instead of almost 5!

Next Monday at 9:30 we have our Level 2 Ultrasound at the North Memorial Perinatal Center. For those that don't know, a Level 2 ultrasound, also called a targeted ultrasound, is done by a specially trained technician with more sensitive equipment. My Doctor wants us to get the more intensive U/S due to my age (I am AMA… of Advanced Maternal Age! YIKES!) My blood pressure issue and the Leukocyte compatibility issues that caused us to lose the last baby. They will be checking to make sure that the growth is on target as IUGR (Intrauterine Growth Restriction) is a big concern with both the high blood pressure and the Leukocyte problems. Zack had IUGR (VERY different reasons & circumstances) and was born at 38 weeks at a whopping 4 lbs 4oz! As much as I loved the nurses and doctors at the North Memorial NICU, we are hoping that we don’t have to spend any time with them for this one. I had a Level 2 with Zack as well. It's amazing to watch as they check all of the anatomy and even watch how the blood flows in and out of the heart. It usually takes about an hour. I'm planning on working that afternoon, so I will have an update as soon as I can. We will be finding out gender if the baby is cooperative. We figure it will be better to be prepared, plus Zack will want to know if he's getting his 'heart's desire' baby sister.

17 weeks 1 day

We got the results from the AFP test today. The screen came back normal. I'm not sure exactly what that means in terms of the risk score, but I would guess that a "normal" results would indicate it is not likely that the baby has spina bifida or any other type of neural tube defects. Good news. I have also been starting to feel some movement going on. It feels like the baby is doing laps and practicing flip turns. Every now and then I feel some taping too, like s/he is knocking on the "wall" to see what's going on out here. Zack still doesn't officially know, but he keep taking about his baby sister and wanting to pick up some chicken paste (our term for the Gerber Chicken baby food that he ate until he was 2) every time we are at Target. He's a pretty smart guy so he probably picks up on more than we think he does. He is adamant that his baby will be a sister, so it will be interesting to see what happens if it's a brother. Either way I'm sure he will be so excited when he knows he'll be getting "his" baby for his birthday.

16 weeks 5 days

We had the 16 week check up yesterday. Everything was fine. Baby's heart rate was 156 beats per minute and she found it right away. She did decide to put me on a low dose of blood pressure medication as my BP is still borderline. She said that it will only increase as we get further along so it's best to start controlling it now. She is also starting to wean me off of the prednisone. I'm have been on 20 mg per day up until now, but I'm going down to 15 mg until I see her again on August 5th. She also said it's likely that we will not make it to the due date (December 21st) as with the leukocyte compatibility issues along with my high blood pressure will be cause for an early induction. I can't say I'm surprised. If we go at 39 weeks this baby could be born on Zack's birthday!

We also asked her to give us a Little more detail on the Nuchal Transparency test that we had at 12 weeks. This is the test that gives us the odds of chromosomal defects specific to our baby. Someone my age generally has a 1/200 chance of a Downs Syndrome baby and a 1/160 chance of Trisomy 13/18 (these are fatal to 95% of babies who carry them) What we found out is that the risk for this baby for Downs is 1/680 and Trisomy 13/18 is 1/6000. We feel pretty good about those odds! They took a blood draw to screen for AFP (Alfa Feto Protein) which give an indication of neural tube defects (spina bifida, ancephaly) We should get the results of that next week.

Next Appointments
August 4th --Level 2 Ultrasound
August 5th -- 20 week check up
September 4th -- 24 week check up

15 Weeks 3 days

There is really nothing new to report. The only thing going on is that my Blood Pressure is ticking up a bit. I’ve had a few reading with the top number in the 140’s & 130’s, but the bottom number is consistently in the 70’s & 80’s. This morning it was 119/78, so that’s good. I’m sure it has something to do with the fact that I’m sitting on the verge of when we lost the last baby… 16 week. Today I am 15 weeks and 3 days.

Even though there is nothing wrong that I know of, I’m still so nervous. I think that I’ll start to feel better after our appointment next week, even though I’m really freaking out about it…. The last time I went in for routine 16 weeks prenatal check, our baby had died. I keep trying to remind myself that this pregnancy is different. I feel different. My body is not in overdrive trying to get rid of the “foreign body” like it was last time. In fact, I have not really been sick at all, thanks to the prednisone. Even with Zack I was nauseous up until 24 weeks. The down side of the lack of nausea? I have gained SO much weight! Yikes! My pants would barely button this morning! I’m hoping to avoid full on maternity clothes until 20 weeks (8/4), as that’s when we are “going public” with this pregnancy, but at this rate I’m not sure I can make it. If only I could wear yoga pants and sweats to work… Even the elastic waists are getting tight.

Next Appointments:
July 10 – 16 week prenatal check
August 4 – Level II Ultrasound at North Memorial Perinatal Center
August 5 – 20 week prenatal check