NT Scan

I had my NT scan yesterday and I must say - it was the best ultrasound I've ever had! My doctors office scans stink. I've actually gone to appointments for cervical checks where they don't even show me the baby. This u/s was done at the hospital and it was incredible - she showed me everything and took me on a baby tour. This one moves around so much more than any scan I had with Arianna. Bad news is that I have an anterior placenta so I won't feel any movement until much later, but I doubt I'll have problems with previa as its high - but everything looks marvelous so I'm very happy about that. I left with two sets of pictures and its amazing how clear they are - this one has the same nose as Arianna (which is very different than mine or my husbands - its actually cute). I was there for about 20 minutes and left with 2 sets of 4 pictures - one for hubby and I (no fighting! haha). I was so happy I had it done.

I'll have pictures to post soon - I just have to find a reliable scanner!

Next up - 3 days until my cerclage! I'm nervous with anticipation!

Week 11

Week 11 is already here - where has the time gone?! Things are better, overall with my morning sickness but still not perfect. I find that most of the time I eat stuff, thinking I want it, only to find it tastes horrible and then I feel sick. Not fun. But I'll take that over all day nausea!

I find the hormones are totally wrecking with my patience. Last night we went to dinner (cause the thought of cooking was gross to me) at a local restaurant and ordered Arianna's macaroni and cheese immediately. Of course, she finished her food before ours arrived and wanted to get down and run around. Um... no. So she whined and cried which of course set me off cause I can't stand the thought of other people staring at us wondering why we took such an unruly child to dinner. So we spent dinner hurriedly trying to eat our food and keep her entertained. It didn't work and we ended up leaving before we were done. I was so made at her for being such a brat! Why? Its perfectly normal for her age to have acted like that. It seems the new baby is already zapping my patience!

The next week is my last week of freedom - things will definitely change after my cerclage. I'll be doing my own sort of modified bed rest and will be relying on family/friends to help me more. I think things will still be hectic until after we come back from vacation but then its 'feet up' for me!

Dehydration

This pregnancy is very different from my first in a variety of ways. First was the morning sickness (aka all day sickness) - I didn't get it with Arianna at all. I had/have it very bad with this one but its getting much better - instead of all day nausea nothing tastes good.

Second has been my lack of 'thinking about it'. With Arianna I thought about being pregnant every day - looking up all sorts of baby/parenting information and obsessing over my pregnancy. This time I generally don't think about it much at all - I'm actually hoping I can start 'bonding with this pregnancy' a bit more after the cerclage surgery.

Thirdly its my dehydration. I'm naturally NOT a thirsty person - never have been. I probably live the majority of my life in a mildly dehydrated state. Last weekend I don't think I drank much at all - we were busy, out and about so I didn't take the time I needed to drink many decaf fluids.

Monday morning I came into work and my lips were dry/cracked. My legs were itchy from being dry and my hands were cracking. Hmm... I should probably drink something. So I brought in a pitcher and some decaf iced tea sweetened with sugar - the only thing I can drink unlimited amounts of. I'm not kidding when I tell you I drank 2.5 Liters of tea at work and only used the bathroom 3 times.

HOLY DEHYDRATED BATMAN!

It's now Thursday and I've been drinking about 3 liters a day and not really using the bathroom all that much - its obvious my body really needs all this fluid. But its horrible that its sugary iced tea! So today I went to the store and got some decaf iced tea sweetened with splenda which my OB told me is a much better alternative, so as soon as the original container of iced tea mix is gone I'll switch to the no sugar kind.

Being dehydrated can trigger pre-term labor and it makes me wonder if that's what happened with Arianna. The day I went into labor I was working the cat show at the convention center and on my feet all day. I can't really recall drinking anything that day. I met my mom for lunch and drank 2 big glasses of seltzer water that day but in the bathroom I had lost my plug (not knowing that was what it was). I was in active labor 5 hours later.

Well... you can rest assured I won't make the same mistake this time - I'm drinking tons of fluids and staying hydrated. Just finished my 2 liter pitcher and its only 1:45 PM!

Pre-op appointment

Yesterday I met with the OB who will be placing my cerclage next Friday. She is one of the few in my OB practice whom I have not met yet. She was a bit abrasive to start but we got to talking and things softened. I did have to chuckle when she said:

"Your cervical length on ultrasound is 4.0 right now, that's good. But I take it you still want the cerclage? Have you been pregnant before?"

I know she's busy - they're all busy running from patient to patient (I waited in the waiting room for 45 minutes!)... but I'm there for cerclage placement, the LEAST you can do is read my chart and my history - it won't take long, promise!

I have a LEEP and 2 cone biopsies in 1998, followed by a 28 week gestation delivery in 2006 - these are MORE than reason enough for a cerclage. Then she commented, "Well, 28 weeks is good!". Um, ya, I guess. Compared to 24 weeks, 28 weeks is good. But compared to full term, 28 is bad! I'm not looking for 'good', I'm looking for full term.

She did a quick ultrasound, which was a welcomed surprise! I got to see my little bean baby bouncing around and s/he was waving! I was so happy - but no sooner did I see that, it was over. She then did a manual exam of my cervix and had to comment there "well, you certainly don't feel like you have a 4 cm cervix - you don't have much cervix up front but there seems to be a lot in back. I think the cerclage is a good idea". Duh.

The better part? She said I can go swimming when I'm on vacation! She said she didn't want me doing cannon balls into the pool or something but if I wanted to go wading into the ocean with Arianna or leisurely swim, I have permission. No sex until after baby though - sorry hubby!

The only thing that concerned me was that I won't be getting antibiotics to take after surgery. I'll get them in my IV during surgery, but nothing afterwards. Infection is a major cause of early cerclage failure and means end of the pregnancy - which is obviously scary... but then I started asking other women with cerclages and found many of them DON'T get antibiotics after cerclage placement so that made me feel less panicky.

So now I'm just biding my time until next Friday's surgery. I'm nervous but excited to get it over with.

Next Monday is my NT ultrasound which I'm very much looking forward to - any chance to see my little bean baby again make me happy!

10 weeks today!

I can't believe how fast time is FLYING! I'm 10 weeks today and so excited - my baby looks like a baby now and not some Martian blob! woo hoo!

And, to make it even better - my all day nausea is GONE! I'm able to eat whatever I want and not feel bad. I don't think I've even gobbled TUMS in a week! It's so nice to feel more normal. I still get queasy but not nearly as bad as it was the 4 weeks prior - this is so wonderful!

I'm in my maternity pants full time now. I'm still wearing regular shirts for the time being. I went shopping last weekend to get clothes for our upcoming cruise and managed to find two pairs of shorts and 4 shirts. I still have to find a bathing suit - even though I know I won't be able to go swimming I want one for getting some sun on deck!

This coming week I have my next OB appointment and pre-op appointment. No ultrasound this time but thats ok - the following week I have my sequential screening (history of spina bifida in my family recently) and it involves a very detailed ultrasound to check for trisomy disorders and SB. Then I have my cerclage on the 29th. I'm very happy I'm getting it as early as possible. I can't find the exact studies but I've heard from other IC patients that getting your preventive cerclage earlier means your cervix is even better protected - 12 weeks is the minimum many will get it at and I'm getting it at 12 weeks exactly. I just pray everything goes well!

Week 9

I made it to week 9 and I'm not having a good time. Earlier this week I think hubby and I got food poisoning - it was like morning sickness times 10. I ended up leaving work at noon to come home and crash into bed until 3. And then we were BOTH in bed at 7:30 that night. The only thing I could eat was a baked potato and I got so sick afterwards - it was horrible. Now I'm just back to my normal all day nausea and I can't wait for it to go away!

I had my first appointment with the OBs in my group on Monday. I dislike this particular OB that I saw - she was the one that admitted me when Arianna was born and her attitude turned me off then and now. She came into the room and said "So do you have any questions for me?"... um... a TON! And I told her so. She said (this is great) "Well, we'll watch you extra closely this time....". I cut her off right there. Why did I have a preconception appointment to discuss a cerclage when, at my first appointment, they'd ignore that?! I told her "No! That's what we did last time and we 'watched closely' as I had a 28 weeker!"... and she actually said "well, what do you want us to do?".

Oh geez.

So anyway, I have my cerclage scheduled for 12 weeks exactly on February 29th, a Friday. I can still go on my cruise scheduled for 2 weeks after that. So I have a pre-op and regular OB appointment on the 20th to start. I haven't met the doctor that will do my cerclage so I'm happy to have this appointment. On the 25th I have my nuchal translucency ultrasound and blood test and then cerclage on the 29th. I'm a little upset that my surgery isn't until 3 PM. I don't think I can eat ALL DAY because of it... yuck.

Otherwise things are going as well as can be expected and I just hope all this morning sickness is over by 11 weeks. With my first 11 weeks was the point where I felt normal again... so fingers crossed! Just two more weeks!

Thank you for all the wonderful emails! I read them all but haven't had a chance to reply. My morning sickness includes bad headaches that are light sensitive and I don't like to stare at a computer screen any longer than absolutely necessary - which is hard seeing as I'm a computer programmer - but you WILL get a reply, just give me a few days to feel better!

Week 8

Hello everyone!

Between stresses at home and my 'all day' sickness I haven't been very good about updating this week - I'm sorry. I hope to get better about it as I start to feel better!

I had my first ultrasound last Friday - it went well. I got to see the (one) little bean that is making me so sick! Bean's heart rate was 165, which was on track with development at 8 weeks 0 days.

Today I have my appointment with my high risk OB. We'll talk about my cerclage placement and 17p shots. I really hope I don't erupt into a volcano of tears like my preconception appointment!

Here's the ultrasound picture - It scanned very badly because the scanner here at work is junk: