Half-Way There, 20 weeks

Last week, I had an appointment with my OB and MFM. They both went fine and Baby Girl is still growing great. My ob said that I need to rest more now that we are 20 weeks, and suggested 6 hours a day of lounging around. So far, that’s been pretty hard to achieve.  He also mentioned hospital bed rest at some point as a precaution. While I was at the office my blood pressure was 140/90, a little high but not stroke high. That night I checked it at home and it was a perfect 120/80. It seems I have a real anxiety problem when I go to the doctor. I had the same problem when I went to my MFM appointment but I told them that I check it regularly at home and it is always between 110/70 and 120/80. It’s really mind boggling that it gets so high because I don’t stress a lot before I go. The MFM didn’t seem worried about it. I also asked him about bed rest and he said that we don’t even need to be thinking about that right now because everything is going really well. I’m worried that if I did have to go to the hospital because of my blood pressure, it would not come down if it doesn’t come down at the doctor’s office. 

The MFM is over an hour away and while I was there I was able to go meet a friend from my on-line support group for women with FSGS. She just had a baby girl a few months ago after an experience similar to mine with Malakai. 

I guess some of the nervousness of this pregnancy is starting to subside since we have made it past 18 weeks when we delivered Teddy still-born. Now I don’t worry so much that we might not find a heartbeat, but I am concerned that we might not make it full-term.  We are staying positive and planning for a full-term, bring home baby. We have started stocking up on all the things we will need and I have found a lot of cute baby clothes at consignment sales. Matt ordered her Travel System and put together the stroller. We also moved the boxes out of the nursery that didn’t belong in there.  I have a sweet aunt that has sent me several packages of knitted booties, sweaters, hats and bonnets. She also made some really cute bonnets from my great- grandmother’s hankies and they are so cute.

I started to feel flutters from baby girl around 16 weeks, but last night they were really big kicks. On the ultrasound she is always very active. It’s so cute to watch her get comfy and roll around.  We still have not settled on a name yet, but we have a few ideas we are tossing around.

Please continue to pray for this pregnancy, specifically that my blood pressure does not get higher or uncontrollable, and that she continues to grow on target and does not fall behind. I am very thankful that we have made it this far without any problems and that my kidney function has even improved, we are praying that things continue to go this way.

18 Weeks

Yesterday, Matt and I went to our 18 week appointment to see our Maternal Fetal Medicine Doctor and have an in depth look at Baby Girl on the ultrasound. I was so nervous about this appointment! I feel like 18 weeks is one of several milestones since our first pregnancy with Teddy ended at 18 weeks.

 

The appointment went really well. The ultrasound tech was great and made the experience so much more enjoyable. I drank a lot of sweet tea before the appointment to make sure that Baby Girl was awake and moving around and I think it back fired because she was really active. Next time, I won’t drink caffeine before the appointment. During the ultrasound we got to see her flip around, hold her hands together like she was praying, wave at us, and wiggle a whole bunch. It was really cute for us but I could tell it was making the ultrasound tech have a hard time getting her images.  

 

With Teddy, my first pregnancy, we suspect that the antibodies in my body attacked the uterus cutting of blood flow to him at 18 weeks. Then with Malakai, he had already started to fall behind on growth at 18 weeks because of the anti-bodies again (he was below 40% on the growth charts at this time). Having Teddy pass away at 18 weeks and Malakai already showing signs at 18 weeks that there was a problem, it added to the fear of my appointment yesterday. So far, baby girl is still growing and she is maintaining her 61% on the growth charts. The MFM said that we should count on a big healthy baby since she is looking so good!

 

We continue to pray that she grows bigger and stronger every day. We are specifically praying that the antibodies don’t attack the placenta so that she continues to get all the nourishment she needs and her growth stays on track.