*I'm playing catch-up with my pregnancy updates. This post was originally written on April 30.*
The evening after our first ultrasound where we were able to hear the baby's heartbeat, we told the kiddos about their new sibling. They were just elated, and couldn't wait to tell the world! We let them call and tell a few close family members that evening, but we weren't quite ready to shout it from the rooftops just yet. We had plans to see Chris's parents and grandma that weekend, so we waited just a few days and let the kids tell them in person. After we told them, we went ahead and shared the news with a few close friends, as well.
Brianna was so excited about the baby that she could hardly contain herself! After telling the kids the news on Thursday evening, we told them to keep quiet about it for a little while. Friday morning, Brianna said that she wanted to tell her teacher and friends at school. I told her that we weren't ready for that quite yet. When she got home on Friday afternoon, she confessed that she did tell one friend during Rise and Shine because "she just couldn't hold it in any longer!" This made me laugh . . . Rise and Shine is their morning program, so she didn't even make it past 7:45am before she spilled the beans, haha!
During our first ultrasound, the baby measured 6 days behind what it should have according to my cycle dates. This made setting a due date or knowing exactly how far along I was a little bit difficult. If we went by my cycle dates, my due date would be November 19th, but if we went by how the baby measured, my due date would be November 25th. Of course, the first question we got from pretty much everyone was, "When are you due?" Since we didn't know exactly, we just went with "the middle of November". We were hoping to nail down a due date a little better at our 2nd ultrasound.
Our 2nd ultrasound was scheduled for April 17th at 11:15am. Chris met me at our doctor's office and took the three younger kids to lunch during my appointment. I had been experiencing quite a few symptoms, so I was much less nervous at this ultrasound, although my blood pressure was still higher than normal for me.
As soon as Dr. P began the ultrasound, he said, "There's chicken little!" and I could see the baby moving all around on the screen. This time, the baby measured 8 weeks and 4 days (so 5 days "behind"). Because my cycles are so crazy, it's definitely possible that I ovulated late, and I wasn't quite as far along as what my cycle date would indicate.
That beautiful heart beat was going strong at 166 beats per minute. This was significantly faster than the first ultrasound . . . does that mean girl?!?
Dr. P took his time with the ultrasound and even put it in contrast mode where we can actually see the blood pumping through the baby's body. I love it when he does this!
After the ultrasound was over, Dr. P came back into the room and said, "Everything looks great and healthy. I don't think I need to see you back." I was surprised as I generally see him for three ultrasounds before he releases me to my regular OB. However, I was so incredibly grateful for a healthy baby and strong heart beat! He did go ahead and set my due date at November 19th, based off of my cycle date. This is really different for us, as all of our other kiddos have February birthdays. However, this is special in its own way because my birthday is November 17th, and I share it with my dad. We love the idea of having three generations born on the same day! Even if that doesn't work out, though, this baby should be born right close to my birthday, which is only two weeks away from Chris's birthday. We'll just have two birthday seasons in our house!
Dr. P is always so sweet to me when graduating me to my OB. He patted my back, reminded me to keep him posted and come see him no later than 8 weeks postpartum to manage my PCOS. I joked with him that Chris and I felt like we should write him a $10,000 check just for the fun of it. He got a kick out of that! It's always bittersweet walking out of his office when I graduate.
Of course, I am still taking the Lovenox injections and will continue to do so until 6 week postpartum. These are nothing new to me as I took them the entire time I was pregnant with the twins, as well. They can be painful - and certainly cause some bruising in my midsection - but they really aren't too bad. I certainly don't enjoy them, but I'm thankful for modern medicine and its benefits for me and my baby! The Bigs (especially Brianna) remembered well when I had to do the injections before, but the little girls are just fascinated by the whole process. Brecklyn gives me so much sympathy when I have to have my shot and is very sweet and loving toward me. Brooke likes to "help", so I generally have her throw away the trash from my alcohol wipe.
It made me laugh one day when we were playing outside and I saw Brecklyn giving herself shots with a syringe from our toy doctor kit!
A few days later, Brooke was doing it, too (and right in the belly button, haha)!
As tough as it can be some days, I actually appreciate having symptoms because it helps ease my anxiety. Pregnancy after miscarriage can be difficult, even when we've had a successful pregnancy since our losses. I work diligently at not allowing my anxiety to grow or get out of control, but it's definitely something I have to stay on top of. No matter what happens at this point, we are humbled and grateful to have this child, and we thank and praise God for its life.
1 comment:
That is so neat about the November birthday! One of the first things I thought was "This baby won't have a February birthday!" That is so special he/she will be born around your birthday/your dad's bday and Chris's birthday. How special! And he/she was at least conceived in February. :-)
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