Well, at least that's the day that I started this particular blog post, anyway. But it will not post it publically until we pass the "12 week" mark...
That's right - if you are reading this post, it means that we are at least 12 weeks into our pregnancy with baby #2!!! And as I sit here and type this on January 27th, we are a little under 4 weeks in (I know, way early) and due early October!
Your baby is now 5/8 of an inch long, about the size of a kidney bean. New this week: Webbed fingers and toes are poking out from your baby's hands and feet, his eyelids practically cover his eyes, breathing tubes extend from his throat to the branches of his developing lungs, and his "tail" is just about gone. His arms have lengthened, too, and his hands are now flexed at the wrist and meet over his heart. His knee joints have formed, and his feet may be long enough to meet in front of his body. In his brain, nerve cells are branching out to connect with one another, forming primitive neural pathways.
What a crazy few weeks this has been. January has gone something like this:
- Week of January 9th: without much decision-making and conversation around the topic (we've sort of been passively talking about it the past couple of months), we decided that we would not "be careful" anymore...we decided to "not be not-trying."
- Saturday, January 21st: not sure why I thought a pregnancy test would show something so early, but a test did in fact come back negative. We proceed to the lake for an overnight getaway with some friends. That night, I have a bad stomach ache.
- Monday, January 23rd: feeling "different" all day at work, pick up a pack of tests at the grocery store on the way home. Test again that night. Faint double line shows up on the pregnancy test...it's POSITIVE!!! But barely.
- Tuesday, January 24th: Test again next morning with the same result! Faint double pink line. Call OB and they ask me to come in. Realize when I get there that it's still a little too early...(NOTE: most of the pricey pregnancy tests you can buy at the store are actually more powerful at detecting early pregnancy than the ones they use at the OB office...never knew that.) Anyway, the pregnancy test at the OB office turns up negative. Hmmmm. So they take a blood test. I go home and test with my last pregnancy test in the 3-pack that I purchased, and it once again turns up positive. You can imagine my roller coaster of emotions at this point.
- Wednesday, January 25th: Doctor calls and lets me know that blood results show traces of HCG, the hormone released with pregnancy. Progesterone levels look good. They want to bring me back in Thursday for another blood test to see if the HCG levels double...this would be the sign of a viable pregnancy.
- Thursday, January 26th: Back to the OB for the second blood test. This time, their urine pregnancy test shows a faint positive! More waiting...
- Today, Friday, January 27th: Confirmation of pregnancy and a "congratulations!" from my OB over the phone - the HCG levels doubled, and progesterone levels still look good. I am tracking at about 4 weeks into this pregnancy. Still very early, but definitely pregnant!
We are so shocked and thrilled, all at the same time! We "started trying" with the thought that it would take a while to possibly get pregnant, but as with all things in life, I know that we do not decide - it is all in God's time, and it seems that His time is right now. :)
So, this blog will stay hidden until we decide to post publicly, near the end of the first trimester. We are so excited! We are already referring to the "baby in mommy's belly." Kinsley will have a sister or brother - sometime in early October!
Up next: telling parents and siblings, and then the first ultrasound in a few weeks to confirm that this little baby's heart is beating strong!
See the faint, I mean very faint, line on the left? That was our first "sign" of pregnancy!
Sunday, January 29th: By now, all of our moms, dads, sisters, and brothers know the good news! But we will keep our secret for just a wee bit longer until we have heard the heartbeat of our baby before telling the rest of close family and friends. So far, we have managed to surprise everyone! We told my parents yesterday afternoon, Angela and Danny last night at dinner, Mary/Tom/Kelly/David tonight at dinner, and Jenn & the Stanford crew over the phone. But that phone call was on our way to CHOA where Kinsley had to end up getting 2 stiches after having a run-in (literally) with the coffee table. Just another reminder that with little ones, we always have to be ready for the unexpected.
Here is an example of how Kinsley told people about the good news! I still can't believe that our "baby" is soon going to be a Big Sister!
February 8th: We had our first scheduled U/S to see if we could detect baby's little heartbeat for the first time. Unfortunately, we discovered that we were a little earlier than we thought, and too early to see a heartbeat. Baby #2 is still a little embryo / sac, and we were told to wait 10 more days and come in again. It was disheartening, once again we seem to be on this emotional roller coaster. But the GOOD news is that both me and the baby "look" like we are supposed to look right now...measuring at exactly 5 weeks and 3 days. Our next appointment is Friday, February 17, to see if we can get a better look at a heartbeat. I think that we will all feel better after that. In the meantime, here's the first images of what will be baby #2!
See the little circle on the right side of the "black hole"? That's the beginning of our baby!
February 17th & 21st: Hooray! We finally got to see our little baby #2's heart beating! After not getting to see the heartbeat at our previous appointment, Philip and I met over at the ultrasound tech's office again on Friday the 17th to get the good news that we were hoping for, and we did! Our little baby's heart was beating at a steady 133 bpm's. All looks good so far, and we measured at exactly 7 weeks with a due date of October 5th. I had a routine follow-up appointment with my OB, Dr. Taylor, on Tuesday the 21st, where I got to see baby #2 once more, this time beating in the 150's. So the heartbeat is fluctuating high and low...not sure if this little one is a boy or girl - and oddly, I don't have a feeling one way or the other - but truly, I do not care one bit. (I just want a healthy baby...I know everyone says that, but when you have had a scary start to your first born's life, you never take healthy babies for granted). So anyway, we now have our hospital papers in hand and are likely going to be scheduled for c-section sometime in late September or early October. Although my due date is October 7th, I will likely go early (not sure how early) to avoid any risk like what happened last time with my placental abruption. I have also been officially categorized as a "high risk pregnancy" for that same reason. But overall I am feeling good - albeit, a little tired these days - and am just concentrating at the positive side of being "high risk:" I get to see my baby on the u/s screen LOTS more than I typically would! I really want to get as close to my actual due date as possible. My next step is to meet with the Maternal Fetal Specialists group on Thursday, March 1st. They will be the ones working with my OB on planning out the remainder of my pregnancy and delivery. (They were also the ones that took over when I got admitted to Northside Hospital's High Risk Care wing last time). Lots more to come on this journey, that's for sure!
Here are some updated u/s images from my first high-risk appt...starting to look more like a baby!
I am also starting to get some of the same weekly email updates, like in my last pregnancy. I thought that all of this would be somewhat routine this time around, but then I am reminded of the miracle of a life that is forming inside me and I am filled with the same wonder and excitement as the first time around. Here's our 8 week update:
Hello from BabyCenter!
Yep, it all just still amazes me...something that small with teeny, tiny fingers and toes. Amazing.
March 13th: My second high-risk appt, but my first appt. with a belly / extrenal ultrasound! We are a little over 10 weeks in and have a lively little baby already! Heartrate of 152 bpm's and moving little arms and legs all around on the ultrasound...so cool to see that, even though it is still so early. And I have stopped finally stopped the "spotting" that had been occuring from weeks 5-9! I continued to discuss the options of the rest of my pregnancy and delivery with my high-risk doctor, Dr. Lipscom-McDaniel (who was my doctor most of the time I was in high-risk care at Northside Hospital with Kinsley). It looks like even though we have a due date f 10/7, we will have a September baby, just not sure at this point when in September. We will very likely have a scheduled c-section between weeks 37 and 40 to try and avoid any chance of a placental abruption occuring again. I will be closely monitored throughout this pregnancy, but even more so starting at week 28. Regardless, the good news for now is that everything with both me and baby looks good so far! That's all I can hope for! Just taking it day by day, week by week, and trying my best to just take good care of myself and the baby! Here is a look at our little one from the last appt...the cool thing about the u/s machines at the high-risk appts is that with the flip of a switch, they can go to 3-D!
March 21: We had our 12 week appt at the OB today, even though we are technically 11 weeks and 3 days. But, baby #2 is already measuring a little ahead of us, at 12 weeks and 1 day. The appt went as well as could be expected! All tests came back normal, baby's heartbeat was strong and steady at 154, and everything looked good! It was so neat to see the teeny hands moving and the baby's facial profile becoming more distinct on the u/s.
I told work this week about the good news of a baby-on-the-way, as I have my biggest fundraising event of the year this weekend. I needed people to know that there might be a reason that I need to sit down and rest every once in a while throughout the day and night! Up next: "going public" on Facebook to all of our extended friends & family, and I already know exactly how we are going to do it...
...cause somebody is excited to be a big sister!!!
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