first kicks

First Images

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November 2013

18 weeks, still getting sick.

I was scheduled for our mid-pregnancy ultrasound, but it had to be rescheduled due to illness.

My husband and I didn’t want to wait.  We wanted to make our announcement, we wanted a picture to show everyone. But most of all, we wanted to make sure baby was ok.

We already knew a few people expecting and due around the same time as we are (April 2014) had made their announcements early on in their pregnancy.  We hadn’t wanted to steal anyone’s thunder, but we wanted our moment too.

So on November 22, we went and had 3D/4D ultrasounds done at My Little Me.  For $70, we were really hoping for some great pictures.  However, baby kinda had other plans.  We were able to get a few cute shots, but baby was breach.  Feet right by the face for most of the session, sitting at a weird angle.  We got one cute one, though.  Not sure which sibling the new baby looks like…

Samantha, 2005
Emmalee, 2006
Steven, 2008
Baby #4

It was an emotional moment, watching our son/daughter moving around, kicking it’s feet, even waving at us.  It creeped the kids out a bit, they didn’t quite understand how we could see inside mommy’s tummy.  But there is the newest member of our family.  Even if I’m sick everyday until the day the baby is born, as long as he/she is ok, it will all be worth it.

At 19 weeks, my official ultrasound was rescheduled.  Baby still breach.  It was hard to get measurements, but we estimate around 8oz in weight.  Couldn’t really get a length.  Again, baby was active, but this time it was harder to watch.  It was like there wasn’t enough room for him/her.  More waving, lots of hiccups.  Even a yawn.  We aren’t planning on finding out the gender.  Even if we wanted to, however, the baby didn’t cooperate.  Oh well, Steve wins this time.

Thumbs Up
Big Yawn!

Shots Shots Shots!

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Week 17 AKA:  my worst week yet.

Now that I’m not getting fluids through the IV, I really needed to try drinking more.  On a good day, I might get 20 oz in.  But I really needed 40-60 at least!  The Zofran helped me from getting really sick, but didn’t prevent the nausea.  The problem with it, while I could take 8mg every 8 hours, it really only gave me relief for 3 to 4 hours before it faded away.  It made for some unpleasant days at work.  The last thing I wanted was for anyone else to have to be around me when I was getting sick.

The doctor has tried to get me a prescription for Diclegis, but the insurance wouldn’t cover it.  They had some samples to give me, hoping that the insurance will cover it now, since we’ve exhausted every other option.  It took a few days, but they finally approved.

Because my 3 other children were born 2.5, 3.5 and 5.5 weeks early, the odds of baby #4 being early were pretty good.  With my son spending 10 days in the NICU, and then 2 months on an apnea monitor, I wanted to be sure to do whatever I could do to prevent another premie.

So to be proactive with this pregnancy, my doctor ordered me P17 (progesterone) weekly injections.  Yup, shots.  Every week.  For 18-20 weeks.  In the hip.  Every week.  And the medication is thick.  And it hurts.  Every week.  For the entire week until it’s time for the next one.  Granted, everyone has different pain tolerances, and my new nurse Kate said some patients say one side hurts more than the other.  But it is not pleasant.  However, the alternatives are worse, so I’ll stick with my shots.

Aside from the pain the first few days after the initial injection, I noticed my nausea wasn’t as uncomfortable.  I wasn’t getting sick at the thought of food, so I began to eat more.  Beverages were still a different story, but I was actually able to chew food for the first time since before I found out I was pregnant.  No more over-cooked pasta and mashed potatoes!

I wasn’t really sure if it was the shots or the Diclegis, so I tested it out by skipping the pills.  Bad idea.  The combination of the progesterone, Diclegis, and my Zofran all were working together.  Take anything out of the equation and I’d be asking for it!  So, now I know.

I feel really thirsty though.  I tried to drink, not just sipping like I had be, but properly drink a small glass of water.  Bad idea.  I tried juice, it stayed down, but I felt “swishy.”  From what I’m reading in a few support sites, many moms dealing with HG can’t tolerate plain water…  I wonder why that is…

First For The Kids

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14 weeks…

 

Yuppers… welcome to week 4 on the IV!

 

It’s gone from an annoyance to just a part of life.

 

At this point, all our immediate families know… We were timid about it, not really sure how everyone would handle it.  Especially the IV situation.

 

The kids had a day off school, and I happened to schedule my 14 week appointment for that day.  So my husband and I brought the kids with us to hear the baby’s heartbeat.

 

Usually, my doctor is pretty steady with getting their patients in.  I arrived, checked in, gave my urine sample like every visit, and waited.  And waited.  And waited.  It was 90 minutes before I was called in to the examine room.  My weight went up, but it was all water weight from the last 90 minutes of just sitting.  We checked again after a potty break – only a 2 lb increase from my last visit.  Still under my pre-pregnancy weight.  Yay.  😦

 

It was such a great moment for my husband and I to hear that baby’s heartbeat, knowing that baby is ok.  And it was great for our kids to hear it too.  We hadn’t really come right out and told our 5 year old son that I was pregnant, but we’d been prepping him.  After the heartbeat was echoing in the room, we told him.  The most priceless moment was him saying “I want a baby brother.”  It didn’t even seem to bother him that he wasn’t going to be the baby any more.

 

I began to feel movements around 15 weeks.  It was subtle, but as it is the 4th time around, I knew what  to be “looking” for.  I know my kids were eager to feel the baby, and would say that they could feel it, but I wasn’t quite sure that they did.  Either way, they developed a connection to the baby.