Oh Boy, Oh Boy

Well, so I haven't posted in eons. Been a lot going on, not a lot that I've felt sharing. And now I need a distraction from a very stressful World Series game.

Shortly after I ran my first 10K (not a race) we did one last round of IVF, our Hail Mary. And it took. I found out a week later that I was pregnant. Anxiety then took up what seems like permanent residence in my brain. First trimester was rough. Bleeding is not uncommon in the first trimester and it usually doesn't mean anything. But, as we all know, it can also lead to miscarriage. With Ellie and Lexie I had sub-chorianic bleeds (old blood) that caused panic but not a trip to the ER. Both resolved and babies were fine. This pregnancy was different. It wasn't 'old blood'. And of course, it had to have happened on the weekend when my OBs office was closed. So after 2 days of light spotting and one day of heavier bleed, I freaked out and went to the ER. That was at 8 weeks. ER doc, not my favorite. They checked, baby still had heartbeat but that was about all. We were released pretty quick after that but I was definitely shaken. A follow up with the OBs a few days later showed all was well. Pelvic rest for a bit after that. The next weekend, same issue just not as bad. Called into nurses, didn't need to go into the office. Started taking 'rest' more seriously after that. Fast forward 7 weeks and all was pretty quiet. No extra trips to OBs, just counting the weeks to viability.

This last week I had spotting again but it was 'old blood' so I knew nothing to worry about. Called into the nurses got put briefly on rest again. Saw Maternal-Fetal Medicine doctor (MFM) at week 16 (just a few days ago) for baseline cervical length and talk to doctor for the first time this pregnancy. He's a new doctor to our hospital but has been an MFM for some 30 years, we liked him a lot. He took the time to read our history and all the hospital notes from Lexie and really did a good job of breaking through to my brain that still wants to blame myself for what happened. He called it a placenta eruption. They happen frequently, they don't know why, and there is nothing they can do about it. It also means that its not likely to happen again.

We also were able to learn the gender of our little miracle baby at that appointment. This whole pregnancy I've been thinking boy. Next to no morning sickness, no end-of-first trimester week long migraine, extreme fatigue, no leg cramps at night, no food aversions but more cravings, and (TMI) no sex drive (probably more due to anxiety/spotting issues). Every time we asked Ellie if it was a brother or sister, every time she said brother. And we were RIGHT! We are having our first boy! We are very excited and praying hard for a normal and uncomplicated pregnancy.

We are 8 weeks away from viability. We will hit 24 week just a few days before Christmas. Talk about the perfect Christmas gift! I cannot bring myself to buy anything for him until that time. I bought too much for Lexie too early and had to get rid of it all. Not happy times. We have hopefully a solid 3 months after Christmas to get everything we need for him. Ellie is moving to a big girl bed in a few weeks, a lot of items we will borrow from friends not currently in need of their things. We have lots of time yet. I see OB tomorrow and then both OB and MFM just after Thanksgiving for the anatomy scan and to check on the placenta. Which we hope will be in a better place since its low right now.

We are also considering a move again and some pretty significant future plans. But that will wait for the next blog. Probably tuesday night when the series will resume (given they keep the lead they currently have!). This one is long enough!