So exhausted tonight. Will TRY to be brief, but there's so much I want to write!
I am 10 weeks pregnant today, yaaaaaaaaaay! I feel great being in double figures! It's always so wonderful to have the single digits behind me. Also, I am now exactly a quarter of the way through my pregnancy! My little Sausage is no longer an embryo as of today, but a fetus! His/her little tail stump has disappeared, and all the organs are finished and in place, with a little fine tuning left to be done. He/she looks like a real baby now, upright head and everything! It's SO exciting!!! The taste buds are forming, and the intestines are migrating into the torso from where they have formed in the umbilical cord (I love that amazing little bit of trivia!). Sausage measures 2.3cm long from head to bottom, and is making all sorts of spontaneous movement now, and has brain waves and everything! :)
It hit me the other day that sometime probably SOON I might even start to feel Sausage moving about in there! For some crazy reason that particular thing had totally escaped my thinking when I was looking ahead with glee to things around the corner like hearing the heartbeat on the doppler, starting to show, etc. I forgot that I have felt several of my babies move BY 10 weeks, for the first time! The other night, and also at 9w3d, which I brushed off as WAY too early, I wondered if I felt something, but it was sort of a dull "thud" type feeling, and just one, not a series of sensations. So I think probably not. Otherwise nothing felt just yet! Can't WAIT to feel my sweet tiny wiggling! :D
Today also happened to be my first midwife appointment! The letter said to allow 90 MINUTES for the booking appointment! Yikes! When I got there, I saw a midwife called Claire who is new to the team, so I hadn't met her before. She's really nice. I was amazed at how much has changed AGAIN, in the 10 months since I was last pregnant and seeing midwives - this happened in the short gap last time as well! This time the notes are all different. They used to be green notes that I kept after the 20 week scan, and which were held for me in the antenatal clinic until then. Now they're a huge WHITE folder of notes that are all filled in at the booking appointment (MUCH more thorough as well, hence the time I guess!) and I get to take them home with me right away! I like that.
I had blood taken, explained the various things I'm weird about, for the zillionth time (Yes, I'm rhesus negative. No, I will not be having Anti-D. Yes, I'm GBS+. Still planning a homebirth so far. etc.) and my urine sample was all clear. My blood pressure was 85/55!!!!!! Not sure how I was still standing up! My blood pressure is always low, especially when pregnant, but I've never had a blood pressure reading that low before. She took it three times to be sure, and then told me I need to drink 2 litres of fluids a day. I struggle with getting fluids in so much when morning sickness is going on, and I DO try - AND this time I know I need to anyway to prevent further kidney stones. But I still don't get 2 litres a day at the moment. Some days I get a litre or so maybe. Which is a LOT better than any day in the first trimesters of my other pregnancies! I am more able to drink fluids this time than any of the others, but still it's difficult. Ribena goes down better than water, but it's starting to seem icky and sweet to me now and I don't want it! I will NOT drink any fruit squash that does not just have sugar for a sweetener. Aspartame, sucralose, etc, etc, which are annoyingly in ALL other squashes that I've come across, are practically toxic substances that I am not putting in my body for my own health, let alone the body of a developing baby! I feel really strongly about artificial sweeteners. So that leaves me with just Ribena! :S There are some organic squashes out there, but the ones I've tried over the years are VILE. Seriously! Blech.
Anyway, so that's not ideal, a blood pressure that low. I did feel light-headed during my midwife appointment, and have done quiet a bit so far this pregnancy, but I just put it down to normal pregnancy stuff and ignore it as best I can. I didn't think of blood pressure... I also get very faint and totally breathless just lifting my arms above my head to adjust the kitchen blind, or standing up and starting off walking quickly at any time. I put that down to just feeling exhausted. Probably blood pressure though, isn't it? I will try really hard to up my fluids!
.
Neil worked from home this morning so I could go to the appointment without the boys, partly because the length of such an appointment would be waaaay inappropriate for five little ones to sit through, and also 4 of them are not well right now. Arthur and Matthew caught a cough from the doctor's waiting room when we went for vaccinations last week. Really yucky and chesty, but otherwise fine. Then after a few days of that, the COLD hit them. So it must have been the start of a nasty cold. Benjamin and Samuel started coughing two days ago, and are both really sad and poorly now - my poor little babies! Nathan is still standing, exactly as he was last time we had a cold that started with a nasty cough! He succumbed in the end last time, and ended up coughing for weeks. I suspect he will probably start coughing tomorrow. I feel a bit chesty and congested, and am praying that I'm just having a mild version, and not just starting to come down with something that will hit me like a ton weight in a day or two! :S Neil hasn't had any symptoms and REALLY does not need a cold, as he has been having to work so hard lately - late nights most of last week and yesterday night too. Anyway, so school has been a bit on hold this week while everyone convalesces (sp?!) and Neil put Mary Poppins on for them (they LOVE this movie!) and worked on his laptop while I was at my appointment and Samuel napped.
I eventually phoned the hospital to see when my scan appointment would be. They said they had sent out the appointment the day before, but the lady was so nice and found my information for me anyway while I was on the phone. She told me my scan is on November 10th. This is the day after Arthur's 7th birthday, and also the day I have already double-booked myself with a kidney scan and physio appointments for Arthur and Samuel's feet! Oops! So I asked to change that appointment. I will be 12 weeks and 1 day on the 10th, so actually I was secretly kind of happy to change it, because the later on I can have a scan in the 12th week, the more accurate the "angle of the dangle" theory will be, haha! At first she offered me a scan in my 11th week! Which I - ahem - "couldn't do" ;) I'm not at ALL obsessed, you understand! Just preferring an accurate assessment of Sausage's dangle! Hehe! So when she asked me, I said I could do later in my 12th week, and she booked me a scan on Monday 14th - 12 weeks and 5 days! I am SO pleased! :D And I can't wait to go to it now!
The scan is now my next antenatal appointment, followed by the inevitable consultant appointment at 16 weeks, which my midwife is going to book for me and let me know about tomorrow. I have to have that appointment because I am a grand multigravida, or grand multip (birthed 5 or more babies) which = increased risk of haemmorhage, but which in reality does not equal anything of the sort. It is NOT backed up by research, or real life experience of midwives of Amish women, for example, who routinely have many more than 6 children. NOT BACKED UP. My doula (who is fabulous) is really incensed about this particular mis-information and has done a lot of research on my behalf. I love her! :) But I have to see the consultant. Also for the Group B Strep thing.
So far I am presuming to do exactly what I have done the last two times - weigh the risks, and have a home birth, if all goes well and there are no other complications to consider. That would definitely be my plan. I do not like giving birth in hospitals. I mean, it's okay, but home is unbelievably wonderful! :)
I have a lot more to say, but I'm too tired! My eyes are feeling like sandpaper and I will have to go to bed! I will try to update again this week so that I can continue to waffle my thoughts out before they're old news and I forget them. Also I am due a belly pic this week!! Exciting! Nothing to show, particularly, I think. But I definitely feel a fullness at my bikini line that was not there before, so something is going to be changing soon! :)
Wednesday, October 26, 2011
Monday, October 17, 2011
8 weeks, 5 days - heart beat!! :D
Another update, just to say that I got my doppler out tonight! It's only a day or so earlier than two of my babies, and LATER than first hearing the heartbeat for my others, so I figured it was time to give it a try! :)
I searched for AAAAGES. Neil was sitting nearby waiting patiently! He hasn't been to the scans and has basically had no connection with the baby yet, so it was lovely to have him there, sans kiddies, to hear! I literally searched everywhere for like 10 minutes, and decided to give up, and then just before stopping I thought I would just try higher than I expected it would be possible for my womb to be, as I had a faint memory of that working once before. I went three inches above my pubic bone, and almost immediately, there was my little Sausage! :) SUCH a fast heartbeat - I counted 185 beats in a minute! It was a touch slower at first, but then to my surprise (I'm always surprised by this so early on!) he/she got really wiggly and started moving about, making it hard for me to keep track with the doppler sometimes. I tell you, this is one ACTIVE baby - that's the third bit of evidence now already, and I'm only 8 weeks and 5 days pregnant, lol! After starting to move about, the heart rate seemed faster, and that's when I counted it.
Oh it was just BLISS to hear that sweet precious sound!! And I was so glad to have Neil there to hear it too. He smiled and just shook his head and said, "Amazing!" We have had 5 other babies in the past nearly-7 years, and it. NEVER. gets. old. Never, people. It's an awesome miracle every single time, and the novelty does not wear off. So wonderful! :)
So after that Neil went to bed, and I stayed up a bit longer to take a little video clip and post it online! :) Here is my sweet precious 6th baby's heart beating:
How I love that little baby already! So very very much!
Thank you for the comments on yesterday's entry (already!) - interesting to hear that someone out there has had 5 boys followed by a girl! I guess anything is possible! :) I do know a lady online who had 5 boys followed by 3 girls, but I think she "swayed" for the girls, which I am not willing to do - God knows best for us! :) I know another family with 8 lovely sons. I'm so glad to know so many big wonderful families online! It gives me better perspective on so many aspects of life, and our family is actually pretty small in comparison, despite everyone's goggling eyes falling out in the street when we leave our house! ;)
Today my morning sickness is quite a bit better! And my energy is a lot better too. I don't know if it was just pulling myself together for Monday and school, etc, but I don't really think that's it. It just seems to have reverted a bit to its former not-as-bad-as-the-other-pregnancies level. I still feel nauseated most of the day (even mornings now, boo!) but it's not overwhelming me today like it has done for the last four or five days. A lady on MOMYS in my due date group there was saying how there must be some sort of hormone surge or growth spurt at 8 weeks because she feels DREADFUL - exhausted and worsened morning sickness. That's exactly how I've felt, but today has been better. I wonder if it's a true theory, and what exactly causes it?
I even managed to cook dinner (pot roast in the crock pot, so fairly easy)!!! I used onion and for once decided to wear plastic gloves to prepare it because I knew the faint smell of onion on my hands would have me absolutely green and sick for DAYS otherwise. It worked a treat! :) Absolutely no trace of onion smell! But it slow cooked for 8 hours and I felt pretty yucky every time I got a whiff of onions cooking, so maybe I'll avoid that sort of meal to make when I'm having a bad day! Yummy to eat though! :) And ohhhh the Tesco order came this evening and included Battenberg cake!!!!! Bliss! :)
Neil had to work late tonight (until 10pm in the end) and so I had to do the day as usual from 7.30am without Neil until well after the boys' bedtime. And it went fine!!! :) So pleased about that! My energy didn't flag, even at the end of the day, so I definitely thing something or other has lifted today. The boys were all asleep by 8pm which was a real result!
Well, it's late and I'm feeling pretty sick now so I should eat something to fix that and go to bed. I'll update again soon! I can't believe I'm almost 9 weeks pregnant! Yay! Going to phone the hospital tomorrow to find out my scan and midwife appointments, because they STILL haven't sent them in the post and Neil needs to know the date to book time off early enough. I'll be 12 weeks actually ON Arthur's 7th birthday, so the scan could fall on that day I suppose. I have a kidney scan booked for the next day (oh dear, I'm just remembering a physio appt for Arthur and Samuel's feet the same day! Hope I haven't double-booked!) so HOPEFULLY the scan will be booked for a different day. Although, hmmm, that could be tricky for Neil and work - he has already booked Arthur's birthday off work, and needs to cover me for a kidney scan too, as I can't take the kiddies to that and we literally have NO childcare options whatsoever, except for Neil taking time off work :S Oh well, if it's an inconvenient date I will have to change it, but the scan will probably be that week... Anyway, I will update about it when I know! :)
I searched for AAAAGES. Neil was sitting nearby waiting patiently! He hasn't been to the scans and has basically had no connection with the baby yet, so it was lovely to have him there, sans kiddies, to hear! I literally searched everywhere for like 10 minutes, and decided to give up, and then just before stopping I thought I would just try higher than I expected it would be possible for my womb to be, as I had a faint memory of that working once before. I went three inches above my pubic bone, and almost immediately, there was my little Sausage! :) SUCH a fast heartbeat - I counted 185 beats in a minute! It was a touch slower at first, but then to my surprise (I'm always surprised by this so early on!) he/she got really wiggly and started moving about, making it hard for me to keep track with the doppler sometimes. I tell you, this is one ACTIVE baby - that's the third bit of evidence now already, and I'm only 8 weeks and 5 days pregnant, lol! After starting to move about, the heart rate seemed faster, and that's when I counted it.
Oh it was just BLISS to hear that sweet precious sound!! And I was so glad to have Neil there to hear it too. He smiled and just shook his head and said, "Amazing!" We have had 5 other babies in the past nearly-7 years, and it. NEVER. gets. old. Never, people. It's an awesome miracle every single time, and the novelty does not wear off. So wonderful! :)
So after that Neil went to bed, and I stayed up a bit longer to take a little video clip and post it online! :) Here is my sweet precious 6th baby's heart beating:
How I love that little baby already! So very very much!
Thank you for the comments on yesterday's entry (already!) - interesting to hear that someone out there has had 5 boys followed by a girl! I guess anything is possible! :) I do know a lady online who had 5 boys followed by 3 girls, but I think she "swayed" for the girls, which I am not willing to do - God knows best for us! :) I know another family with 8 lovely sons. I'm so glad to know so many big wonderful families online! It gives me better perspective on so many aspects of life, and our family is actually pretty small in comparison, despite everyone's goggling eyes falling out in the street when we leave our house! ;)
Today my morning sickness is quite a bit better! And my energy is a lot better too. I don't know if it was just pulling myself together for Monday and school, etc, but I don't really think that's it. It just seems to have reverted a bit to its former not-as-bad-as-the-other-pregnancies level. I still feel nauseated most of the day (even mornings now, boo!) but it's not overwhelming me today like it has done for the last four or five days. A lady on MOMYS in my due date group there was saying how there must be some sort of hormone surge or growth spurt at 8 weeks because she feels DREADFUL - exhausted and worsened morning sickness. That's exactly how I've felt, but today has been better. I wonder if it's a true theory, and what exactly causes it?
I even managed to cook dinner (pot roast in the crock pot, so fairly easy)!!! I used onion and for once decided to wear plastic gloves to prepare it because I knew the faint smell of onion on my hands would have me absolutely green and sick for DAYS otherwise. It worked a treat! :) Absolutely no trace of onion smell! But it slow cooked for 8 hours and I felt pretty yucky every time I got a whiff of onions cooking, so maybe I'll avoid that sort of meal to make when I'm having a bad day! Yummy to eat though! :) And ohhhh the Tesco order came this evening and included Battenberg cake!!!!! Bliss! :)
Neil had to work late tonight (until 10pm in the end) and so I had to do the day as usual from 7.30am without Neil until well after the boys' bedtime. And it went fine!!! :) So pleased about that! My energy didn't flag, even at the end of the day, so I definitely thing something or other has lifted today. The boys were all asleep by 8pm which was a real result!
Well, it's late and I'm feeling pretty sick now so I should eat something to fix that and go to bed. I'll update again soon! I can't believe I'm almost 9 weeks pregnant! Yay! Going to phone the hospital tomorrow to find out my scan and midwife appointments, because they STILL haven't sent them in the post and Neil needs to know the date to book time off early enough. I'll be 12 weeks actually ON Arthur's 7th birthday, so the scan could fall on that day I suppose. I have a kidney scan booked for the next day (oh dear, I'm just remembering a physio appt for Arthur and Samuel's feet the same day! Hope I haven't double-booked!) so HOPEFULLY the scan will be booked for a different day. Although, hmmm, that could be tricky for Neil and work - he has already booked Arthur's birthday off work, and needs to cover me for a kidney scan too, as I can't take the kiddies to that and we literally have NO childcare options whatsoever, except for Neil taking time off work :S Oh well, if it's an inconvenient date I will have to change it, but the scan will probably be that week... Anyway, I will update about it when I know! :)
Sunday, October 16, 2011
8 weeks, 4 days - gender dream!
The days are going by fast! Which, right now, I LIKE. I am feeling really sick most of the time, and will be glad to get to the part where I don't any more! But meanwhile I'm bearing it much better than other pregnancies I think, because I guess the hours in the day go faster, so that makes it more manageable, and I just have so much to attend to all the time. It's hard to get myself to do meals when I feel grim, but I try to eat something whenever I feel particularly sick, and try to knock it on the head that way. Sometimes it helps a bit, occasionally it helps a lot, and most often now it doesn't really change much about the nausea. Still, going by 12 weeks for the start of the second trimester (which I steadfastly DO!), I've only got 3 weeks and 3 days left now!! Wow!
I really should get my doppler out, as I am sure I would be able to hear the baby's heart beat by now! :) I just haven't felt the need to, given that I saw the same sweet little heart beating on the screen at the scan just this week! :)
I am tired out of my BRAAAIIIINS this week. I did have some weird sinusy lurgy, and it's still rumbling along but I feel much better in that department than I did. The post-nasal aspect of it is reeeeeally aggravating my morning sickness. All smells are horrible to me at the moment (queasy-making) and some tastes, so I guess food aversions are kicking in maybe? My pasta sauce, which I make from tomatoes, pesto, tomato paste and herbs, etc, does not appeal, though I can eat it. It's one of the only things I feel WORSE for, after eating it. Today I made pizza for my family, which we have every weekend now (all the boys except Matthew LOVE it, and Neil does too). I did not fancy putting mushrooms on my part as I usually do, so I left them off. And then I ate it, and enjoyed eating it, but right afterwards I felt grim in the same way as I do after my pasta sauce. Also, on Friday night I made a simple dinner for the boys and then after they were in bed Neil and I had lasagne (Tesco's own) and I actually could not eat it. I tried! I was so hungry, but uggghhh I couldn't continue to put it in my mouth, I felt so sick. That time though, it was definitely the GARLIC in the lasagne. I don't use garlic at all when I'm pregnant, in my cooking. It has never gone down well in past pregnancies, so I presume it's a safe move to make! ;)
BUT! Things that I can eat that instantly improve my nausea: chocolate, flapjacks, rich tea biscuits - basically anything sweet. When I felt really nauseated on Friday afternoon (that was NOT a good day for morning sickness), even in the midst of that feeling, I felt like I could eat flapjacks. So I made some that evening and I was right, I felt lots better for eating them. I could eat half a piece of flapjack and be WAY better in 30 seconds, at any point in the day where the nausea kicked in. My flapjacks have 4 ingredients: butter, brown sugar, honey, and oats. So I don't know whether it's just the sweet aspect that helps, or the oats?? I don't know!
We were all in the car on the way to Arthur and Matthew's swimming lessons yesterday (Saturday) when SUDDENLY I had to have Battenberg cake!! That was so random, and I've never had that one before. Battenberg cake is very sweet... I'm fairly sure I was not a fan of sweet things at all in my first trimesters before now, but I might be wrong... I'll have to check. Of course everyone is saying, "GIRL!!!" haha! Maybe...
I weirdly have a girl hunch, though for absolutely NO reason whatsoever, and I do NOT trust it, lol! I have had girl hunches before and been utterly wrong! ;)
One thing that I think is new for me though - I had a very vivid dream early Saturday morning. We had an ultrasound machine at home (!!!) and I had it all set up and positioned right, ready to use. I was just sorting something out and Neil kept on moving the doppler thingy on my tummy, and I was getting so cross with him because I kept telling him to WAIT and he wouldn't, haha! I wanted to find the "bits" to find out the baby's gender myself. He let go but at that very second the screen showed the gender shot clear as day, and (obviously it was a dream!) I have never seen such a clear girl shot in all my life. There was no denying it! She was still a girl at other times we used our ultrasound machine as the pregnancy went on, and she would do cute impossible things like smile and pose for us, looking right at us, hahaha! ;) Gotta love pregnant dreams! I just fell in love with her completely, and could not WAIT for her to be born. At first it was such a breathtaking shock that she was actually a GIRL, but by the end it was just totally normal. She did not have a name, in the dream. I woke from it before she was born, and immediately thought, "Hmmm!" I think all the dreams I've ever had of ultrasounds during my pregnancies before have been accurate for gender. When I told Neil that I'd had a girl dream, he said, "Another one?!" And I remembered I'd already had one riiiight at the beginning of my pregnancy - I forget the details though. No boy dreams yet. I know dreams don't necessarily mean a THING, but it still makes me think, "Hmmm..." all the same! I feel absolutely DAFT saying that maybe I have a girl hunch, because it's rather hugely UNlikely that it'll be a girl, statistically speaking, and anyway I will feel silly in 3.5 weeks when I have another scan and see an angled "dangle" and know it's a boy, haha! ;)
I will just have to wait and see. The nausea is now exactly like the previous pregnancies really, so apart from its late start getting this bad, it's nothing different.
Neil asked me to tell him my ideas for names, so that he could veto them! ;) I told him I am waiting for God to let him know the name that I think He has told me, and then I'll know! ;) He said it doesn't work that way, and he wants a LIST! :) I love making lists of names, but for once I don't feel like doing it. I haven't even looked at girls' names for the last two pregnancies, so it has been 4 years since I last considered girl names for my babies. I am currently in a position where I will be overwhelmed with joy and gladness if this baby is a boy, and I do not want to rock that lovely boat by starting to fill my head with girly fancies, because by the time I get to the scan and see the obvious boy direction, I risk having a sense of disappointment if I've done that, which I WON'T feel if I continue without getting wistful about a baby girl. I would love a baby girl. I would love a baby boy. Right now I would love either, equally. I know that since I've never had a girl, if I start thinking of her name and little dresses, and PINK, and OH! doing her hair!!! And words like "little sister", "daughter", etc - I will basically take myself into a pink sparkly place where parting will be such sweet sorrow, and all because I am blessed enough to have a SIXTH sweet son! I do NOT want to feel that way. There's plenty of time for the pink sparkly place and girly planning and such if/once I DO find out that the baby is a girl.
I am trying to declutter the bedroom this weekend, and I have folded and put away 3-6 month baby clothes that Samuel has well and truly grown out of. They're so little and cute, and I spent some time looking at them. Even with a new baby coming, I always have that bittersweet pang putting baby clothes away! I wonder if I will have another boy... those baby clothes have been worn by all 5 of my little boys, and I loved seeing them in the clothes. I put them away every time, hoping and hoping and PRAYING that I'll get to use them again. If I have a girl, they will stay boxed :( Which is sad! I adore baby boys! I could have a dozen more of them! :D So I will be so glad of another darling baby boy. I have a few ideas for his name, and when I think of them (although Neil will probably veto the lot when he hears them, lol!) I feel a pang of sadness in case I don't get to use any more boys' names. So I will be glad either way, and that's a wonderful place to be! I don't want to allow myself to be influenced by starting to think, wonder, and ultimately plan for a girl coming, unless I KNOW it to be the case.
I'm just so very excited and blessed to be having another baby! I still have to keep pinching myself and squealing with glee! :) Not so much while doing things like homeschooling, haha! When the boys go out for a long walk with Neil at the weekends I tend to have my "Wheeeeeeee, I'm PREGNANT again!!!!" squealing moments, hehe! I can't tell you how excited I am, and how wonderful it is to have babies and babies and babies!!! So grateful to God!
I really should get my doppler out, as I am sure I would be able to hear the baby's heart beat by now! :) I just haven't felt the need to, given that I saw the same sweet little heart beating on the screen at the scan just this week! :)
I am tired out of my BRAAAIIIINS this week. I did have some weird sinusy lurgy, and it's still rumbling along but I feel much better in that department than I did. The post-nasal aspect of it is reeeeeally aggravating my morning sickness. All smells are horrible to me at the moment (queasy-making) and some tastes, so I guess food aversions are kicking in maybe? My pasta sauce, which I make from tomatoes, pesto, tomato paste and herbs, etc, does not appeal, though I can eat it. It's one of the only things I feel WORSE for, after eating it. Today I made pizza for my family, which we have every weekend now (all the boys except Matthew LOVE it, and Neil does too). I did not fancy putting mushrooms on my part as I usually do, so I left them off. And then I ate it, and enjoyed eating it, but right afterwards I felt grim in the same way as I do after my pasta sauce. Also, on Friday night I made a simple dinner for the boys and then after they were in bed Neil and I had lasagne (Tesco's own) and I actually could not eat it. I tried! I was so hungry, but uggghhh I couldn't continue to put it in my mouth, I felt so sick. That time though, it was definitely the GARLIC in the lasagne. I don't use garlic at all when I'm pregnant, in my cooking. It has never gone down well in past pregnancies, so I presume it's a safe move to make! ;)
BUT! Things that I can eat that instantly improve my nausea: chocolate, flapjacks, rich tea biscuits - basically anything sweet. When I felt really nauseated on Friday afternoon (that was NOT a good day for morning sickness), even in the midst of that feeling, I felt like I could eat flapjacks. So I made some that evening and I was right, I felt lots better for eating them. I could eat half a piece of flapjack and be WAY better in 30 seconds, at any point in the day where the nausea kicked in. My flapjacks have 4 ingredients: butter, brown sugar, honey, and oats. So I don't know whether it's just the sweet aspect that helps, or the oats?? I don't know!
We were all in the car on the way to Arthur and Matthew's swimming lessons yesterday (Saturday) when SUDDENLY I had to have Battenberg cake!! That was so random, and I've never had that one before. Battenberg cake is very sweet... I'm fairly sure I was not a fan of sweet things at all in my first trimesters before now, but I might be wrong... I'll have to check. Of course everyone is saying, "GIRL!!!" haha! Maybe...
I weirdly have a girl hunch, though for absolutely NO reason whatsoever, and I do NOT trust it, lol! I have had girl hunches before and been utterly wrong! ;)
One thing that I think is new for me though - I had a very vivid dream early Saturday morning. We had an ultrasound machine at home (!!!) and I had it all set up and positioned right, ready to use. I was just sorting something out and Neil kept on moving the doppler thingy on my tummy, and I was getting so cross with him because I kept telling him to WAIT and he wouldn't, haha! I wanted to find the "bits" to find out the baby's gender myself. He let go but at that very second the screen showed the gender shot clear as day, and (obviously it was a dream!) I have never seen such a clear girl shot in all my life. There was no denying it! She was still a girl at other times we used our ultrasound machine as the pregnancy went on, and she would do cute impossible things like smile and pose for us, looking right at us, hahaha! ;) Gotta love pregnant dreams! I just fell in love with her completely, and could not WAIT for her to be born. At first it was such a breathtaking shock that she was actually a GIRL, but by the end it was just totally normal. She did not have a name, in the dream. I woke from it before she was born, and immediately thought, "Hmmm!" I think all the dreams I've ever had of ultrasounds during my pregnancies before have been accurate for gender. When I told Neil that I'd had a girl dream, he said, "Another one?!" And I remembered I'd already had one riiiight at the beginning of my pregnancy - I forget the details though. No boy dreams yet. I know dreams don't necessarily mean a THING, but it still makes me think, "Hmmm..." all the same! I feel absolutely DAFT saying that maybe I have a girl hunch, because it's rather hugely UNlikely that it'll be a girl, statistically speaking, and anyway I will feel silly in 3.5 weeks when I have another scan and see an angled "dangle" and know it's a boy, haha! ;)
I will just have to wait and see. The nausea is now exactly like the previous pregnancies really, so apart from its late start getting this bad, it's nothing different.
Neil asked me to tell him my ideas for names, so that he could veto them! ;) I told him I am waiting for God to let him know the name that I think He has told me, and then I'll know! ;) He said it doesn't work that way, and he wants a LIST! :) I love making lists of names, but for once I don't feel like doing it. I haven't even looked at girls' names for the last two pregnancies, so it has been 4 years since I last considered girl names for my babies. I am currently in a position where I will be overwhelmed with joy and gladness if this baby is a boy, and I do not want to rock that lovely boat by starting to fill my head with girly fancies, because by the time I get to the scan and see the obvious boy direction, I risk having a sense of disappointment if I've done that, which I WON'T feel if I continue without getting wistful about a baby girl. I would love a baby girl. I would love a baby boy. Right now I would love either, equally. I know that since I've never had a girl, if I start thinking of her name and little dresses, and PINK, and OH! doing her hair!!! And words like "little sister", "daughter", etc - I will basically take myself into a pink sparkly place where parting will be such sweet sorrow, and all because I am blessed enough to have a SIXTH sweet son! I do NOT want to feel that way. There's plenty of time for the pink sparkly place and girly planning and such if/once I DO find out that the baby is a girl.
I am trying to declutter the bedroom this weekend, and I have folded and put away 3-6 month baby clothes that Samuel has well and truly grown out of. They're so little and cute, and I spent some time looking at them. Even with a new baby coming, I always have that bittersweet pang putting baby clothes away! I wonder if I will have another boy... those baby clothes have been worn by all 5 of my little boys, and I loved seeing them in the clothes. I put them away every time, hoping and hoping and PRAYING that I'll get to use them again. If I have a girl, they will stay boxed :( Which is sad! I adore baby boys! I could have a dozen more of them! :D So I will be so glad of another darling baby boy. I have a few ideas for his name, and when I think of them (although Neil will probably veto the lot when he hears them, lol!) I feel a pang of sadness in case I don't get to use any more boys' names. So I will be glad either way, and that's a wonderful place to be! I don't want to allow myself to be influenced by starting to think, wonder, and ultimately plan for a girl coming, unless I KNOW it to be the case.
I'm just so very excited and blessed to be having another baby! I still have to keep pinching myself and squealing with glee! :) Not so much while doing things like homeschooling, haha! When the boys go out for a long walk with Neil at the weekends I tend to have my "Wheeeeeeee, I'm PREGNANT again!!!!" squealing moments, hehe! I can't tell you how excited I am, and how wonderful it is to have babies and babies and babies!!! So grateful to God!
Thursday, October 13, 2011
8 weeks, 1 day - scan!
Great news! :) ONE baby, and looking healthy and strong as far as they can tell! :D
They were ready for me when I arrived 10 minutes early - just three staff members sitting around on chairs looking bored, lol! Never seen the waiting room so empty! They showed me right in - I didn't even need to sit down first!
I told the sonographer (since it was a different one) that I was back to determine whether there was one baby or two babies in there. She read the report on my bleeding. I have had a few days with no real spotting to speak of, but just this afternoon started some brown spotting again.
Anyway she was great. She kept the screen turned towards me the whole time. She started the scan and the black gestational sac came into view. For all the world, I was SURE I saw two babies, and at that same moment, she said, "Oh! It DOES look like two babies!" My heart did not skip a beat. I did not freak out or catch my breath. I was totally at peace, and prepared. God had me held fast :) Then as she zoomed in and got a better view, she said, "Oh. Only one after all." I was relieved because the "two" babies I had seen at the start looked like one strange-shaped symmetrical baby, which had me convinced that there were two babies joined together, for the few seconds it lasted. She checked all around and was sure that it was only one normal baby. She said that she had been confused for a moment because the baby was doing a "handstand", hahaha, my 8-week embryo does not have fully formed hands yet, so the fact that it was doing a handstand makes me laugh so much! Last time, my SIX-week embryo was wiggling almost too much for her to take an accurate measurement of length, lol! I feel SURE we're having another sweet little ball of energy like Matthew! ;)
So the baby measured 8w4d, a few days ahead from last time (and my dates) but she put on the report "consistent with dates" and kept my dates of 8w1d. Sausage is 16mm long from head to bottom - so little but growing so fast! The yolk sac looked so small next to the little one this time, and it's just the same size as it was last time, although the baby was only just a bit bigger than the yolk sac last time!
Here's a picture of my tiny precious:
It's not the best picture because I took a photo of it rather than scanning it in, as it was quicker! :) But it's clear enough. Sausage is standing on his/her head, which is by far the biggest part right now, and sort of folded forwards. The yolk sac is the white circle on the right, behind Sausage's little bottom! :) Sausage has arms, and legs like little paddles, and a tail even! But I didn't get to see much detail of those during the scan. I did see the sweet little heart beating.
As for the brown spotting, the sonographer found several patches of "bleeding" in my womb. I asked if any of them would mean I might experience red bleeding again, and she said it was possible. She showed me all of them, and noted that some were dark grey areas on the screen (black is fluid, on an ultrasound - hence the very black gestational sac, as it's full of fluid for my little one to swim in!). She said dark grey was probably old blood and thus I would notice brown bleeding from that. But one of them was more black than grey, and she suspected that might show up as red bleeding. If it sits around in there for 24 hours without me particularly bleeding it out, it will become old blood and won't show up as red bleeding. But she noted that I have more "bleeding" in there than I even did at my last scan, so I can expect to be bleeding and spotting for a while from now. Ugh! I am tired of bleeding this pregnancy! But very very very glad and grateful that my little one is okay! :) You can see two of the patches on the scan picture - one is sort of triangular shaped next to the gestational sac on the right, and the other is way on the left, almost out of shot, going up to the top of the picture.
She said she is not concerned about the patches of bleeding, and that so long as I'm not bleeding like a period, cramping, etc. then I shouldn't worry. They have seen the heartbeat and that is a great sign. I seem to be prone to bleeds for some reason, so that makes me a tiny bit nervous that I'll "randomly" have a bigger bleed at some point, which COULD threaten the pregnancy? I will try not to think about that sort of thing though.
I'm so glad I got a picture of my tiny one! :) After the boys were in bed, I phoned my parents as they were anxious to hear about it. And then I phoned Heather (my doula). She is SO excited, and we had a good long talk about it now that we know what's what with the scan. She said that she is so excited that I'm having all these babies! :) She wishes SHE had not stopped at two but had had six babies as well, and she thinks it's the right thing to do to trust God and just HAVE BABIES! ;) I could not possibly have ended up with a better doula. Seriously. I just love her soooo! :)
She told me that I should expect to have to see a consultant this pregnancy again, for elevated risk (should be in inverted commas), the same as last time. #1: I am now a grand-multigravida (= woman who has birthed 5 or more babies) - I feel like I need a gold star or some special badge to go with that title, haha! ;) Anyway, thus the alleged increased risk of haemmorhage with the 3rd stage of labour, blah blah blah (NOT supported by studies or real life!!). #2: My ever-existing Group B Strep status. But she said I should not stress about those things, because nothing has changed. I had the same factors last pregnancy, and chose to birth at home, and DID, with no problems. And the time before, I was GBS+ but chose to birth at home, with no problems. So two babies born at home to a GBS+ mother with no problems actually goes in my favour, and puts each subsequent baby at LESS risk for GBS infection due to having siblings born without issues, apparently.
I am also now elderly, haha! Having turned 35 since my last baby was born, I am now officially of "advanced maternal age". Heather told me they should not give me any trouble about that whatsoever - it's more once I've turned 40 that they might start waving that flag, and if they DO, she said she will find me a consultant to see who will not bother me about it! :D
Oh it was so sweet when I came home with the scan picture! The boys were so disappointed last time when I did not bring a picture home, and I told them I would be sure to ask for one this time. They jumped up when I came in and asked if I had had my scan, and when I said yes, they asked, "Is there a picture?!!" So I showed them. They were sooooo excited! Obviously I had to explain what was what in the picture. Arthur understood about the head part and so on, but Matthew just stood holding in in silence, as though he did not get it at all. In the end, he sighed contentedly and said, "Our little baby..." in SUCH a fond tone of voice, and then ran off happily to play! HEART that boy! :)
So now I wait until the end of the first trimester (how is it only a few weeks away?!!) which I will be very excited about! My nausea has been pretty bad this week - hopefully (oh hopefully!) it's just being aggravated by this weird "head cold" lurgy I've got, although I'm not streaming with cold and am feeling better, energy-wise, today, which is good. Tonight I am feeling really sick and Neil is boiling me an egg, which - PROTEIN!! Hopefully it will make me feel better. It's not overwhelming but I would still like to feel better than I do, if something can fix that before I go to bed!
I should get my appointments in the post soon, for my first midwife appointment (the booking in one that takes AAAAGES, lol!) and the 12 week scan! I'll update when I do! I am really looking forward to the next scan. Right now (literally as I type this), primitive germ cells are arriving at the zone for Sausage's genitals to be built from! Nothing more to speak of yet, but by that scan there will be a little something to spot, pointing either up or down, lol! ;) I am looking forward to that! And oh, just the WHOLE pregnancy now! Thank you Lord for one healthy baby. I would have loved two babies, even two poorly babies, but I'm so grateful for fewer complications and a healthy start so far. Yay, I'm so thankful to be pregnant! :D
They were ready for me when I arrived 10 minutes early - just three staff members sitting around on chairs looking bored, lol! Never seen the waiting room so empty! They showed me right in - I didn't even need to sit down first!
I told the sonographer (since it was a different one) that I was back to determine whether there was one baby or two babies in there. She read the report on my bleeding. I have had a few days with no real spotting to speak of, but just this afternoon started some brown spotting again.
Anyway she was great. She kept the screen turned towards me the whole time. She started the scan and the black gestational sac came into view. For all the world, I was SURE I saw two babies, and at that same moment, she said, "Oh! It DOES look like two babies!" My heart did not skip a beat. I did not freak out or catch my breath. I was totally at peace, and prepared. God had me held fast :) Then as she zoomed in and got a better view, she said, "Oh. Only one after all." I was relieved because the "two" babies I had seen at the start looked like one strange-shaped symmetrical baby, which had me convinced that there were two babies joined together, for the few seconds it lasted. She checked all around and was sure that it was only one normal baby. She said that she had been confused for a moment because the baby was doing a "handstand", hahaha, my 8-week embryo does not have fully formed hands yet, so the fact that it was doing a handstand makes me laugh so much! Last time, my SIX-week embryo was wiggling almost too much for her to take an accurate measurement of length, lol! I feel SURE we're having another sweet little ball of energy like Matthew! ;)
So the baby measured 8w4d, a few days ahead from last time (and my dates) but she put on the report "consistent with dates" and kept my dates of 8w1d. Sausage is 16mm long from head to bottom - so little but growing so fast! The yolk sac looked so small next to the little one this time, and it's just the same size as it was last time, although the baby was only just a bit bigger than the yolk sac last time!
Here's a picture of my tiny precious:
It's not the best picture because I took a photo of it rather than scanning it in, as it was quicker! :) But it's clear enough. Sausage is standing on his/her head, which is by far the biggest part right now, and sort of folded forwards. The yolk sac is the white circle on the right, behind Sausage's little bottom! :) Sausage has arms, and legs like little paddles, and a tail even! But I didn't get to see much detail of those during the scan. I did see the sweet little heart beating.
As for the brown spotting, the sonographer found several patches of "bleeding" in my womb. I asked if any of them would mean I might experience red bleeding again, and she said it was possible. She showed me all of them, and noted that some were dark grey areas on the screen (black is fluid, on an ultrasound - hence the very black gestational sac, as it's full of fluid for my little one to swim in!). She said dark grey was probably old blood and thus I would notice brown bleeding from that. But one of them was more black than grey, and she suspected that might show up as red bleeding. If it sits around in there for 24 hours without me particularly bleeding it out, it will become old blood and won't show up as red bleeding. But she noted that I have more "bleeding" in there than I even did at my last scan, so I can expect to be bleeding and spotting for a while from now. Ugh! I am tired of bleeding this pregnancy! But very very very glad and grateful that my little one is okay! :) You can see two of the patches on the scan picture - one is sort of triangular shaped next to the gestational sac on the right, and the other is way on the left, almost out of shot, going up to the top of the picture.
She said she is not concerned about the patches of bleeding, and that so long as I'm not bleeding like a period, cramping, etc. then I shouldn't worry. They have seen the heartbeat and that is a great sign. I seem to be prone to bleeds for some reason, so that makes me a tiny bit nervous that I'll "randomly" have a bigger bleed at some point, which COULD threaten the pregnancy? I will try not to think about that sort of thing though.
I'm so glad I got a picture of my tiny one! :) After the boys were in bed, I phoned my parents as they were anxious to hear about it. And then I phoned Heather (my doula). She is SO excited, and we had a good long talk about it now that we know what's what with the scan. She said that she is so excited that I'm having all these babies! :) She wishes SHE had not stopped at two but had had six babies as well, and she thinks it's the right thing to do to trust God and just HAVE BABIES! ;) I could not possibly have ended up with a better doula. Seriously. I just love her soooo! :)
She told me that I should expect to have to see a consultant this pregnancy again, for elevated risk (should be in inverted commas), the same as last time. #1: I am now a grand-multigravida (= woman who has birthed 5 or more babies) - I feel like I need a gold star or some special badge to go with that title, haha! ;) Anyway, thus the alleged increased risk of haemmorhage with the 3rd stage of labour, blah blah blah (NOT supported by studies or real life!!). #2: My ever-existing Group B Strep status. But she said I should not stress about those things, because nothing has changed. I had the same factors last pregnancy, and chose to birth at home, and DID, with no problems. And the time before, I was GBS+ but chose to birth at home, with no problems. So two babies born at home to a GBS+ mother with no problems actually goes in my favour, and puts each subsequent baby at LESS risk for GBS infection due to having siblings born without issues, apparently.
I am also now elderly, haha! Having turned 35 since my last baby was born, I am now officially of "advanced maternal age". Heather told me they should not give me any trouble about that whatsoever - it's more once I've turned 40 that they might start waving that flag, and if they DO, she said she will find me a consultant to see who will not bother me about it! :D
Oh it was so sweet when I came home with the scan picture! The boys were so disappointed last time when I did not bring a picture home, and I told them I would be sure to ask for one this time. They jumped up when I came in and asked if I had had my scan, and when I said yes, they asked, "Is there a picture?!!" So I showed them. They were sooooo excited! Obviously I had to explain what was what in the picture. Arthur understood about the head part and so on, but Matthew just stood holding in in silence, as though he did not get it at all. In the end, he sighed contentedly and said, "Our little baby..." in SUCH a fond tone of voice, and then ran off happily to play! HEART that boy! :)
So now I wait until the end of the first trimester (how is it only a few weeks away?!!) which I will be very excited about! My nausea has been pretty bad this week - hopefully (oh hopefully!) it's just being aggravated by this weird "head cold" lurgy I've got, although I'm not streaming with cold and am feeling better, energy-wise, today, which is good. Tonight I am feeling really sick and Neil is boiling me an egg, which - PROTEIN!! Hopefully it will make me feel better. It's not overwhelming but I would still like to feel better than I do, if something can fix that before I go to bed!
I should get my appointments in the post soon, for my first midwife appointment (the booking in one that takes AAAAGES, lol!) and the 12 week scan! I'll update when I do! I am really looking forward to the next scan. Right now (literally as I type this), primitive germ cells are arriving at the zone for Sausage's genitals to be built from! Nothing more to speak of yet, but by that scan there will be a little something to spot, pointing either up or down, lol! ;) I am looking forward to that! And oh, just the WHOLE pregnancy now! Thank you Lord for one healthy baby. I would have loved two babies, even two poorly babies, but I'm so grateful for fewer complications and a healthy start so far. Yay, I'm so thankful to be pregnant! :D
Wednesday, October 12, 2011
8 weeks - scan tomorrow!
So happy to have arrived at 8 weeks pregnant today! One-fifth of the way through my pregnancy - going fast already!
Not going to write much tonight, because I feel yucky. I have some sort of weirdo cold thing that I came down with yesterday evening. It's all in my head and sinuses and I feel dizzy and fluey (no fever, so NOT flu) and just ILL today. I haven't managed much of anything with the little ones, just laid on the living room floor ALL morning while they played around me or one or two of them nursed, etc. I have also had worse morning sickness today. I don't think whatever virus this is has nausea as a symptom, just that with everything else my body is dealing with, the morning sickness itself is worse for it. I never get morning sickness in the morning this pregnancy, but I did today. So the afternoon and evening have been pretty grim for nausea, but still only just getting towards the level of "norm" for a usual day with my other pregnancies. Bad day for THIS pregnancy though! ;)
I seriously hope to feel better tomorrow, but I'm not sure I will yet. I have my scan at 4.30pm and I hate hate HATE going places with germs. It's so wrong, people! I have such a thing about spreading viruses, it's inconsiderate, no matter how normal it is for everyone to do it - that doesn't make it right! Tsk! My children are all well (and hopefully I will not give this to any of them) - I guess I picked it up getting my ECG monitor fitted at the hospital on Monday. Urgh.
So hopefully I will feel better tomorrow, NOT be streaming with cold, wash my hands before I go and not touch my face whatsoever while I'm out. I hate giving germs to people. It's. Not. Right. [/rant]
I can feel a sweet little bulge above my pubic bone now! :) Just not flat there anymore, a definite little person growing! I'm not sure that I've known that this early in previous pregnancies - I would check except bleuurrgh I feel sick and yucky and am going directly to bed the moment I've finished this brief post.
Tomorrow I will find out how the little one is doing, and if he or she has a companion in there. I am not sure what to expect at all. I have no hunches. Just want to know that everything is developing normally, and I will be so happy and relieved, and be able to go back to calling the baby "Sausage" and think more normal thoughts about him or her, and so on. Not that I'd noticed having stopped using the name Sausage until just now. I really want to feel reassured about this pregnancy, and tomorrow's the day for that, so I feel really quite nervous about it suddenly. I think I will feel nervous right up to the scan, so I just hope the day passes quickly and I can get to that part without everything feeling like it's taking FORRREEEEVVVVERRR! The scan is at 4.30pm, so the evening is the earliest time I'd have a chance to update here. I will ask for a picture this time, unless I suppose I am totally freaked out or distracted hugely by something and forget! I don't think I will forget though... I hope I don't feel too sick. Today at 4.30pm was pretty bad :S
Anyway, yay for 8 weeks! :D Last pregnancy I got my doppler out at 8 weeks and ONE day and heard Samuel's heart beating, though I totally did not expect to catch it that early! So that would be tomorrow! But I'll hear it at the scan if all is well anyway. But yay, doppler time, almost!! :) I hope this first trimester whizzes by. It's always nice to stop feeling sick and to get past the nerve-wracking milestones and to the fun parts like scans, showing, maternity clothes, etc! Such fun! :)
If everything is fine in there, the baby should be starting Carnegie Stage 17 of embryonic development today (which lasts for a couple of days). The heart will seperate into four chambers, and the hands and feet are developing more. Sooo many things begin to develop just in the next couple of days! The pituitary, the intestines, the diaphragm, the trachea, the larynx, the bronchi, and the little teeth buds begin to form in this stage - just this 2 or 3 day stage which starts today!!! So amazing. Sense of smell is also developing right now.
Right, must go to bed! Will update tomorrow!
Not going to write much tonight, because I feel yucky. I have some sort of weirdo cold thing that I came down with yesterday evening. It's all in my head and sinuses and I feel dizzy and fluey (no fever, so NOT flu) and just ILL today. I haven't managed much of anything with the little ones, just laid on the living room floor ALL morning while they played around me or one or two of them nursed, etc. I have also had worse morning sickness today. I don't think whatever virus this is has nausea as a symptom, just that with everything else my body is dealing with, the morning sickness itself is worse for it. I never get morning sickness in the morning this pregnancy, but I did today. So the afternoon and evening have been pretty grim for nausea, but still only just getting towards the level of "norm" for a usual day with my other pregnancies. Bad day for THIS pregnancy though! ;)
I seriously hope to feel better tomorrow, but I'm not sure I will yet. I have my scan at 4.30pm and I hate hate HATE going places with germs. It's so wrong, people! I have such a thing about spreading viruses, it's inconsiderate, no matter how normal it is for everyone to do it - that doesn't make it right! Tsk! My children are all well (and hopefully I will not give this to any of them) - I guess I picked it up getting my ECG monitor fitted at the hospital on Monday. Urgh.
So hopefully I will feel better tomorrow, NOT be streaming with cold, wash my hands before I go and not touch my face whatsoever while I'm out. I hate giving germs to people. It's. Not. Right. [/rant]
I can feel a sweet little bulge above my pubic bone now! :) Just not flat there anymore, a definite little person growing! I'm not sure that I've known that this early in previous pregnancies - I would check except bleuurrgh I feel sick and yucky and am going directly to bed the moment I've finished this brief post.
Tomorrow I will find out how the little one is doing, and if he or she has a companion in there. I am not sure what to expect at all. I have no hunches. Just want to know that everything is developing normally, and I will be so happy and relieved, and be able to go back to calling the baby "Sausage" and think more normal thoughts about him or her, and so on. Not that I'd noticed having stopped using the name Sausage until just now. I really want to feel reassured about this pregnancy, and tomorrow's the day for that, so I feel really quite nervous about it suddenly. I think I will feel nervous right up to the scan, so I just hope the day passes quickly and I can get to that part without everything feeling like it's taking FORRREEEEVVVVERRR! The scan is at 4.30pm, so the evening is the earliest time I'd have a chance to update here. I will ask for a picture this time, unless I suppose I am totally freaked out or distracted hugely by something and forget! I don't think I will forget though... I hope I don't feel too sick. Today at 4.30pm was pretty bad :S
Anyway, yay for 8 weeks! :D Last pregnancy I got my doppler out at 8 weeks and ONE day and heard Samuel's heart beating, though I totally did not expect to catch it that early! So that would be tomorrow! But I'll hear it at the scan if all is well anyway. But yay, doppler time, almost!! :) I hope this first trimester whizzes by. It's always nice to stop feeling sick and to get past the nerve-wracking milestones and to the fun parts like scans, showing, maternity clothes, etc! Such fun! :)
If everything is fine in there, the baby should be starting Carnegie Stage 17 of embryonic development today (which lasts for a couple of days). The heart will seperate into four chambers, and the hands and feet are developing more. Sooo many things begin to develop just in the next couple of days! The pituitary, the intestines, the diaphragm, the trachea, the larynx, the bronchi, and the little teeth buds begin to form in this stage - just this 2 or 3 day stage which starts today!!! So amazing. Sense of smell is also developing right now.
Right, must go to bed! Will update tomorrow!
Saturday, October 8, 2011
7 weeks, 3 days
Hello! :)
Just a few things to "report" right now. I love being 7 weeks pregnant! Usually 7 weeks is a grim grim grim time with morning sickness, and I keep myself going by getting to the next week and the next. This time:
* Very minimal morning sickness! I thought it was really kicking in the last time I posted - it was much worse for a few days. It was getting to be about as bad as my "normal" level of morning sickness when I'm pregnant, all of my other pregnancies. It meant that I felt sick pretty much all the time from lunch time until bedtime, and in that time nothing I ate would make it any better. It distracted me completely and felt like a blanket over me, and made the usual things of the day seem way harder to deal with. In all my other pregnancies, that was my normal level, at the mildest it ever got. I would also have "bad days" or runs of bad days in a row, I suppose with hormone changes and such? Anyway, on THOSE days I would not be able to function to do anything for the weight of the constant feeling that I was going to be sick. Thank the Lord I never was! But it's a horrible feeling! Everything tasted bitter, especially carbs, and made my mouth water excessively. That added to the nausea. I had to eat or it would get worse, and when I did, ugggghhh! Forcing food down whilst that nauseous was awful. And it didn't really help much but at least I didn't get worse like I might if I did NOT eat. Occasionally I would find a food or drink that would take the very edge off the nausea, but that would usually only work for a few days or maybe a week, and then become a food aversion, so I would try to find a new one that worked. I had a lot of foods, drinks and smells that I absolutely could not tolerate. I couldn't stomach fluids, especially water, and with my very best efforts would maybe consume half a pint of fluids in a whole day. Sometimes I felt so sick that I could not bear to move my facial muscles even to smile at my baby, and that used to make me so sad! :(
One or two of my pregnancies were slightly worse so that this level of nausea was more like the normal level (Matthew's particularly, in the evenings, but his was the earliest to disappear! :) ). But basically all 5 of my previous pregnancies have been pretty much identical in terms of morning sickness, give or take a couple of days on the start time, a week or few on the finish time, and maybe whether I was blessed with part of the morning nausea-free or not. The feeling of nausea was exactly the same.
Not this time! :) It's sooooo different! I don't know what to think! I have nausea which is so reassuring - I am so grateful! I hope it means everything will be okay with my little one(s). I am hugely blessed with the entire morning free of "morning" sickness - although first thing when I get up I do feel slightly yeurghy in my stomach, but that is more like a feeling that I might get when I haven't had nearly enough sleep, and then got up too suddenly and tried to stuff breakfast in it, you know? It wears off pretty quickly, and the rest of the morning is fine, not the slightest queasiness. After lunch, or around lunchtime (noon - 1pm here), I might start to notice it, especially if I'm very hungry, creeping in. Just queasiness at first, and then nausea if I don't go and eat. Once it's arrived, it tends to stay to some degree. But it's so mild and manageable. I wonder if those few days where it got worse were just "bad" days for this pregnancy? I hope so! It went back to what I had previously been experiencing, after the few days.
I can TOTALLY function normally! I've never known this in pregnancy before, and I can't tell you how grateful to God I am. I actually prayed for this, and He is so faithful. I NEED to continue school, and last time I was just incapacitated by the nausea and had to stop for a while. Quite a while, as it turned out to be, since Samuel's morning sickness lasted until 20 weeks - my longest yet! But ohhhh the joy of just getting on with life as normal, and just being somewhat distracted or inconvenienced by nagging nausea or mild queasiness! :) Late afternoon/early evening is my worst time as usual. It's there until bedtime, and always gone when I wake in the night with Samuel. Such a relief! I can eat ANYTHING. I have no food aversions, and I am drinking normally. Biting my nails (naughty!) usually is impossible during my first trimester, and I am still biting away (unfortunately!). It does make me a bit queasy but not enough to really deter me. That's the only real downside to the mildness this time, lol! ;)
Some foods do help, especially when I was feeling worse. I discovered nibbling dark chocolate almost completely eased my nausea on the third evening of feeling worse, just by chance! My nausea doesn't always go when I eat, and I generally feel yucky and distracted and would like it to go away, just for the feeling of nausea not to be present any more, but otherwise I am able to deal with it just fine. Sometimes in the afternoon and evening, especially when I'm distracted with a ton of stuff going on (quite often these days!), I suddenly realise I don't feel sick at ALL, and worry that something is not right! ;) But when I think about it again, there it is - slight queasiness waaaay in the background, and I am reassured. I asked God to please bless me with just a little morning sickness, enough for reassurance, but mild enough to be completely manageable. I am so overjoyed to have my prayer answered! Faithful God! :)
When it has been a couple of hours since I ate something, I get hungry quickly, and with that comes nausea. So it ebbs and flows a bit. But in general, so very very different to all my other pregnancies!
* I can feel my uterus! I thought I could feel it above my pubic bone juuuuust about, at 6 weeks and 5 days. I absolutely did NOT plan on saying anything at that early stage when I wasn't sure, in case I was prodding a constipated bowel (sorry, lol!) and ended up looking stupid! ;) By yesterday, 7 weeks and 2 days, I was sure as sure that I can feel my uterus an INCH above my pubic bone. It's pretty flat and small, and not really obvious, but by pressing around gently I can be sure it's my uterus. I was nutty enough to dust off my doppler last night, haha! Of course, nothing to hear except for a lot of whooshing blood vessels. I feel my uterus just above my pubic bone at 8 weeks usually, every pregnancy. That is early, but that's just me. THIS is reeeeally early. Early enough to be twins? I remember reading on a multiples board once, a bunch of frequently asked questions there. The twin mamas basically answered by saying that not much predicted twins universally, for most of them they had greater exhaustion and hunger than their singleton pregnancies, NOT necessarily morning sickness, and that for many of them, their first clue was feeling the uterus above the pubic bone at 7 weeks. So that makes me wonder. It IS only a week earlier than I usually feel it there, but earlier all the same.
I'm not sure I can truly believe it's twins, partly because I am so much LESS nauseous than usual, partly because the sonographer did say that she's fairly sure there's only one baby, but also because I'm still trying to protect myself over the possibilities that it might mean if it IS twins. I will just have to wait for Thursday to find out. It's coming up quite fast, and the days are going quickly, so sooner or later I will find myself actually at the scan and then I will know. In some ways I am not feeling all that able to move on to things like plans and thinking of names (other than the one that popped in my head earlier) until I know what is what with this baby. I occasionally start to, absent-mindedly, and then stop myself. I just want to know first, and then I can relax about the baby and continue on. I already love this little one so very much! But my usual patterns of thought are a little bit on hold until I know what is going on in there.
There's not much else really. I am very very tired this past week. I am not going to bed early enough though, and I have had a sore throat for a few days so maybe I've been fighting something off? Anyway, tiiiiiired! We have managed school every day though, I am proud of myself! :)
My spotting has finally GONE - well, the slightest tint is left, but that's it. Normal CM otherwise. HOORAY! Long may it stay GONE! I do not like bleeding during pregnancy, never mind how common it might be!
Jemma, I forgot to say in my last entry that they did find yet another subchorionic haematoma around the gestational sac. I seem awfully prone to those, even though they are meant to be "one of those things" and totally random! My bleeding always seems to be due to a SCH in my pregnancies. It was small so although she said I might spot for a while, it should go away quickly enough. I think I must have had a few or something, because I have had several seperate red bleeds. But anyway. I hope I don't have any more of them! Interesting theory about the lost twin! I wonder if there's a possibility that a twin "start" to the pregnancy has caused an early increase in size, uterus-wise, even if the twin is lost shortly afterwards? Interesting...
Well, I am feeling sick so I should go and eat something. I ate cereal an hour ago but it hasn't really made it better so I'll try something else and then go to bed. I will update again soon! :)
Just a few things to "report" right now. I love being 7 weeks pregnant! Usually 7 weeks is a grim grim grim time with morning sickness, and I keep myself going by getting to the next week and the next. This time:
* Very minimal morning sickness! I thought it was really kicking in the last time I posted - it was much worse for a few days. It was getting to be about as bad as my "normal" level of morning sickness when I'm pregnant, all of my other pregnancies. It meant that I felt sick pretty much all the time from lunch time until bedtime, and in that time nothing I ate would make it any better. It distracted me completely and felt like a blanket over me, and made the usual things of the day seem way harder to deal with. In all my other pregnancies, that was my normal level, at the mildest it ever got. I would also have "bad days" or runs of bad days in a row, I suppose with hormone changes and such? Anyway, on THOSE days I would not be able to function to do anything for the weight of the constant feeling that I was going to be sick. Thank the Lord I never was! But it's a horrible feeling! Everything tasted bitter, especially carbs, and made my mouth water excessively. That added to the nausea. I had to eat or it would get worse, and when I did, ugggghhh! Forcing food down whilst that nauseous was awful. And it didn't really help much but at least I didn't get worse like I might if I did NOT eat. Occasionally I would find a food or drink that would take the very edge off the nausea, but that would usually only work for a few days or maybe a week, and then become a food aversion, so I would try to find a new one that worked. I had a lot of foods, drinks and smells that I absolutely could not tolerate. I couldn't stomach fluids, especially water, and with my very best efforts would maybe consume half a pint of fluids in a whole day. Sometimes I felt so sick that I could not bear to move my facial muscles even to smile at my baby, and that used to make me so sad! :(
One or two of my pregnancies were slightly worse so that this level of nausea was more like the normal level (Matthew's particularly, in the evenings, but his was the earliest to disappear! :) ). But basically all 5 of my previous pregnancies have been pretty much identical in terms of morning sickness, give or take a couple of days on the start time, a week or few on the finish time, and maybe whether I was blessed with part of the morning nausea-free or not. The feeling of nausea was exactly the same.
Not this time! :) It's sooooo different! I don't know what to think! I have nausea which is so reassuring - I am so grateful! I hope it means everything will be okay with my little one(s). I am hugely blessed with the entire morning free of "morning" sickness - although first thing when I get up I do feel slightly yeurghy in my stomach, but that is more like a feeling that I might get when I haven't had nearly enough sleep, and then got up too suddenly and tried to stuff breakfast in it, you know? It wears off pretty quickly, and the rest of the morning is fine, not the slightest queasiness. After lunch, or around lunchtime (noon - 1pm here), I might start to notice it, especially if I'm very hungry, creeping in. Just queasiness at first, and then nausea if I don't go and eat. Once it's arrived, it tends to stay to some degree. But it's so mild and manageable. I wonder if those few days where it got worse were just "bad" days for this pregnancy? I hope so! It went back to what I had previously been experiencing, after the few days.
I can TOTALLY function normally! I've never known this in pregnancy before, and I can't tell you how grateful to God I am. I actually prayed for this, and He is so faithful. I NEED to continue school, and last time I was just incapacitated by the nausea and had to stop for a while. Quite a while, as it turned out to be, since Samuel's morning sickness lasted until 20 weeks - my longest yet! But ohhhh the joy of just getting on with life as normal, and just being somewhat distracted or inconvenienced by nagging nausea or mild queasiness! :) Late afternoon/early evening is my worst time as usual. It's there until bedtime, and always gone when I wake in the night with Samuel. Such a relief! I can eat ANYTHING. I have no food aversions, and I am drinking normally. Biting my nails (naughty!) usually is impossible during my first trimester, and I am still biting away (unfortunately!). It does make me a bit queasy but not enough to really deter me. That's the only real downside to the mildness this time, lol! ;)
Some foods do help, especially when I was feeling worse. I discovered nibbling dark chocolate almost completely eased my nausea on the third evening of feeling worse, just by chance! My nausea doesn't always go when I eat, and I generally feel yucky and distracted and would like it to go away, just for the feeling of nausea not to be present any more, but otherwise I am able to deal with it just fine. Sometimes in the afternoon and evening, especially when I'm distracted with a ton of stuff going on (quite often these days!), I suddenly realise I don't feel sick at ALL, and worry that something is not right! ;) But when I think about it again, there it is - slight queasiness waaaay in the background, and I am reassured. I asked God to please bless me with just a little morning sickness, enough for reassurance, but mild enough to be completely manageable. I am so overjoyed to have my prayer answered! Faithful God! :)
When it has been a couple of hours since I ate something, I get hungry quickly, and with that comes nausea. So it ebbs and flows a bit. But in general, so very very different to all my other pregnancies!
* I can feel my uterus! I thought I could feel it above my pubic bone juuuuust about, at 6 weeks and 5 days. I absolutely did NOT plan on saying anything at that early stage when I wasn't sure, in case I was prodding a constipated bowel (sorry, lol!) and ended up looking stupid! ;) By yesterday, 7 weeks and 2 days, I was sure as sure that I can feel my uterus an INCH above my pubic bone. It's pretty flat and small, and not really obvious, but by pressing around gently I can be sure it's my uterus. I was nutty enough to dust off my doppler last night, haha! Of course, nothing to hear except for a lot of whooshing blood vessels. I feel my uterus just above my pubic bone at 8 weeks usually, every pregnancy. That is early, but that's just me. THIS is reeeeally early. Early enough to be twins? I remember reading on a multiples board once, a bunch of frequently asked questions there. The twin mamas basically answered by saying that not much predicted twins universally, for most of them they had greater exhaustion and hunger than their singleton pregnancies, NOT necessarily morning sickness, and that for many of them, their first clue was feeling the uterus above the pubic bone at 7 weeks. So that makes me wonder. It IS only a week earlier than I usually feel it there, but earlier all the same.
I'm not sure I can truly believe it's twins, partly because I am so much LESS nauseous than usual, partly because the sonographer did say that she's fairly sure there's only one baby, but also because I'm still trying to protect myself over the possibilities that it might mean if it IS twins. I will just have to wait for Thursday to find out. It's coming up quite fast, and the days are going quickly, so sooner or later I will find myself actually at the scan and then I will know. In some ways I am not feeling all that able to move on to things like plans and thinking of names (other than the one that popped in my head earlier) until I know what is what with this baby. I occasionally start to, absent-mindedly, and then stop myself. I just want to know first, and then I can relax about the baby and continue on. I already love this little one so very much! But my usual patterns of thought are a little bit on hold until I know what is going on in there.
There's not much else really. I am very very tired this past week. I am not going to bed early enough though, and I have had a sore throat for a few days so maybe I've been fighting something off? Anyway, tiiiiiired! We have managed school every day though, I am proud of myself! :)
My spotting has finally GONE - well, the slightest tint is left, but that's it. Normal CM otherwise. HOORAY! Long may it stay GONE! I do not like bleeding during pregnancy, never mind how common it might be!
Jemma, I forgot to say in my last entry that they did find yet another subchorionic haematoma around the gestational sac. I seem awfully prone to those, even though they are meant to be "one of those things" and totally random! My bleeding always seems to be due to a SCH in my pregnancies. It was small so although she said I might spot for a while, it should go away quickly enough. I think I must have had a few or something, because I have had several seperate red bleeds. But anyway. I hope I don't have any more of them! Interesting theory about the lost twin! I wonder if there's a possibility that a twin "start" to the pregnancy has caused an early increase in size, uterus-wise, even if the twin is lost shortly afterwards? Interesting...
Well, I am feeling sick so I should go and eat something. I ate cereal an hour ago but it hasn't really made it better so I'll try something else and then go to bed. I will update again soon! :)
Tuesday, October 4, 2011
6 weeks, 6 days - scan! :)
So sorry not to update last night - I know some of you were waiting! ;) I was just toooo tired out in the end to do a proper update, and still had school to prepare for the next morning so I had to do that instead. Tonight I am feeling exhausted, and more nauseous than previously (last night too), but at least school is prepared, so I will do a quick (QUICK, lol!) entry - okay, there's no way it will be quick, but I do feel really sick and just want to go to bed, so I'll try not to waffle for ages! ;)
So I had my scan yesterday. No picture though! :( I forgot to ask for one before they finished, and they said I should ask next time! Oh well.
I was so nervous at the last minute in the waiting room! It seemed to be a bad day at the Early Pregnancy Unit that afternoon. Everyone who went in to be scanned came out looking sad, and then one lady arrived in a wheelchair and sat next to me waiting for her scan, crying quietly :( So sad. I would have loved to put my arms around her and give her a big hug, but you never know if that's okay. So I sat and prayed for her and her little one silently. A fairly robust looking lady came in cheerfully with a sweet busy little toddler on her hip, and even she came out looking upset :( So by the time I was seen, I had waited nearly an hour, and was suddenly worried that my tiny might not be okay after all.
They don't show you the screen when you have these scans. I knew to just wait and look at the ceiling, and try to not hyperventilate or anything unhelpful like that. Thankfully within about 10 seconds of starting the scan, she said, "Looking good so far!" and I breathed out - I had no idea I had been holding my breath! She didn't turn the screen to me just yet, but I looked over at her trying to read her face for the rest of the scan, now that I didn't have to be so nervous. After a few moments looking at the screen and changing the angle of the scan loads of times, she got a sort of perplexed look on her face, and still looking at the screen, said, "I might need to get a second opinion..." Which made me nervous! So I asked, "What for?" and she said, "I don't want to freak you out (!!!!) but..." and then she turned the screen to me and pointed at what she was seeing, "I can't be sure whether this is a second baby or not." I saw a precious little blobble, all magnified, so very grainy, with a lovely beating heart - I could see all the valves opening and closing furiously like little trap doors, so fast! What a lovely sight! :) And there was a yolk sac, very obvious, next to the baby. And then MORE grainy magnified stuff, sort of to one side and down a bit. When she tried to change the angle or cross section the baby with the scan, it sorted of merged, and then separated again, so it was really hard to tell what it was. At one point she could not tell if there was another heartbeat, because it seemed like two RIGHT next to each other, but it was like a reflection (and exactly the same rhythm) so like part of the difficulty of scanning on such a tiny embryo which was squished up between the yolk sac and the wall of my womb.
I did not feel surprised at all at the mention of twins, even though it does (overall) look like it's probably a single baby in there. I just would NOT be surprised at a twin pregnancy one little bit, because I feel like it's something that God has opened our minds to in the past already, as a possible plan for us at some point. Also, Neil tells me he prayed for twins if I was to become pregnant again. And Nathey told me there were two babies (girl babies), although then he seemed unsure and said one baby was Samuel, and the other baby was the girl baby in my tummy :) Anyway, I would not be surprised. Twins absolutely do NOT run in my family, anywhere, even waaaaaay back on the family tree on various sides. Nada.
The sonographer continued to scan and scan. In the end she said she would take a look at my ovaries and then come back to the baby. My ovaries look fine. I ovulated from my left ovary this time (that's the 3rd time for sure, one unknown, and two from the right, lol!). I have some fluid in my left ovary but she thinks that's just to do with the cyst that formed after ovulating.
Then she went back to the baby (I just typed "babies"!). She was pleased because she said it had moved to a different position! I did not expect that it could at 6w5d, and for sure the only muscle movement is involuntary at this stage. But then as she was trying to measure the length of the baby (just 6.2mm, soooo teeny! And spot on for dates - 6w4d-6w5d), she said it was moving around quite a bit! Amazing! Another wiggler then? Matthew was by far my wiggliest baby, very vigorous and strong in the womb waaaay earlier than I thought a baby should be (!!), so perhaps this little one is going to be similar?!
She still could not be sure of whether something else was behind the yolk sac. She said that she could measure the length of the baby, but it was right between the yolk sac and the uterine wall.
So she suggested that I come back for a re-scan in 10 days. That way, if it's twins, they will be picked up for sure at 8 weeks, and if it's not, that will be very obvious too. She didn't want me to sort of slip through the loop, get to my routine scan at 12 weeks, and for them to find twins, see that I'd had an early scan and think the sonographer was incompetant, haha! She ummed and uhhed for ages about what to write on the report, and eventually said pleadingly, "Can YOU tell them?!" hehe! So after I finished there, I went through with my report and told the lady at the desk that I needed a re-scan in 10 days because it had not been too clear to measure the baby (what she said!)! ;)
She said that she THINKS it's a single baby, but that they just need to be sure.
I know a few things about the twin possibility, that I am sure I should not dwell on, and I'm NOT worrying about it! I promise! But I should probably do the right thing and put it out of my head until I know all the same. I want to write them here so all my thoughts are down anyway.
If it's twins, they will be identical twins. There is one gestational sac, not two. If it's twins, it looks to me most likely that they will be mono-mono twins (that is mono-chorionic, mono-amniotic twins). It depends when identical twins split into two as to what their "set up" in the womb will be. They can split early (I know this stuff due to a fascination with identical twins!) - up to 3 days after fertilisation, and then be like non-identical twins, each with their own sac and placenta. If they split between 4 and 8 days, they'll have a shared placenta, but two separate amniotic sacs side by side. If they split from 9-12 days after fertilisation, they will share both a placenta AND an amniotic sac. If they split from 13-15 days after fertilisation you will have conjoined twins.
I have one yolk sac - she could definitely confirm this. One yolk sac is indicative of mono-mono twins (both within the same amniotic sac) or conjoined twins - a late split. Both these types of twins are very rare (mono-mono twins make up 1% of all twins). Mono-mono twins are a HIGH risk pregnancy. The main risk is cord entanglement - old stats used to give a 50% chance of survival for both twins, but I think it's up to 80% or more now, but only with aggressive monitoring of the babies - you have to be admitted to hospital from 24 weeks or thereabouts for monitoring, until the babies are born, because at any time they might need to be delivered. I can't FATHOM that! All mono-mono twins are delivered by C-section no later than 34 weeks. Again, can't fathom. Scary prospect, if it is the case! More scary is the conjoined twins prospect, but HONESTLY I am not dwelling on either scenario. At first, even while I was looking at the image on the screen, I had a bit of a worry about conjoined twins, because what WAS that extra grainy blobbiness - not really another baby... and there was only one heartbeat.
Anyway, for the above reasons, I am actively praying for ONE healthy baby, because I think if there were two in some form, given the single yolk sac and no visible membrane within the gestational sac (which could separate twins), it would be a difficult and risky road. If we are blessed with twins, OH the blessing, the joy at having two!! But for the sake of my little boys I would hope that we are looking at one baby right now. In any other situation I would be SO excited about twins! :) And I still sort of AM, weirdly, even having said all of that! But I am just not going to think about it too much between now and the next scan, and see what happens then.
I'm feeling SICK. Bleurgh! It has been a really gradual increase in severity, for which I am REALLY grateful! It has made the transition to morning sickness much easier than my other pregnancies. It isn't as bad yet as it has been with the others, still. But not too far off in the evenings now. The evenings, as always, are my worst time, that and late afternoon. I'm blessed this time to have the whole morning free, and some days until an hour or two after lunch, before I start to feel queasy, which progresses to nauseous over an hour-ish, and then gets worse gradually over the remaining hours of the day. For the last 3 days, no foods that I eat are making me feel less sick any more, but I am doing my best to keep eating, and especially PROTEIN, when I feel sick. Sometimes eating makes me feel a little better for like 5 minutes, and then it creeps back again. One thing for sure is that if I DON'T eat, or if I delay eating by much time when it's a meal time or I'm hungry (and I am VERY hungry, quite frequently now!), I feel MUCH worse pretty quickly. So I eat. And water is going okay so far, which is a relief. I always struggle to get any fluids into me at this stage because I can't tolerate water at all, or any other fluids really. Foods aren't tasting bitter (yet?), which I'm grateful for too.
I am still a bit crampy and generally uncomfortable here and there, low in my pelvis. It's nothing to worry about though, I think. I am getting hot flushes more this past week, not related to the GORGEOUS hot weather we've been having (which is sadly now finished!).
I can't think what else to write, although I'm sure there's more, and I'm not entirely sure if I've missed something about my experience at the scan.... but it's late and Samuel is waking, and I'm soooooo tired. Have just eaten cottage cheese with some chopped up cucumber and tomatoes for the first time this pregnancy, and it was NICE to eat that, so maybe it's a boy? Haha! ;)
Thanks for being so supportive and excited for me on this pregnancy journey! :) I'll update again soon!
So I had my scan yesterday. No picture though! :( I forgot to ask for one before they finished, and they said I should ask next time! Oh well.
I was so nervous at the last minute in the waiting room! It seemed to be a bad day at the Early Pregnancy Unit that afternoon. Everyone who went in to be scanned came out looking sad, and then one lady arrived in a wheelchair and sat next to me waiting for her scan, crying quietly :( So sad. I would have loved to put my arms around her and give her a big hug, but you never know if that's okay. So I sat and prayed for her and her little one silently. A fairly robust looking lady came in cheerfully with a sweet busy little toddler on her hip, and even she came out looking upset :( So by the time I was seen, I had waited nearly an hour, and was suddenly worried that my tiny might not be okay after all.
They don't show you the screen when you have these scans. I knew to just wait and look at the ceiling, and try to not hyperventilate or anything unhelpful like that. Thankfully within about 10 seconds of starting the scan, she said, "Looking good so far!" and I breathed out - I had no idea I had been holding my breath! She didn't turn the screen to me just yet, but I looked over at her trying to read her face for the rest of the scan, now that I didn't have to be so nervous. After a few moments looking at the screen and changing the angle of the scan loads of times, she got a sort of perplexed look on her face, and still looking at the screen, said, "I might need to get a second opinion..." Which made me nervous! So I asked, "What for?" and she said, "I don't want to freak you out (!!!!) but..." and then she turned the screen to me and pointed at what she was seeing, "I can't be sure whether this is a second baby or not." I saw a precious little blobble, all magnified, so very grainy, with a lovely beating heart - I could see all the valves opening and closing furiously like little trap doors, so fast! What a lovely sight! :) And there was a yolk sac, very obvious, next to the baby. And then MORE grainy magnified stuff, sort of to one side and down a bit. When she tried to change the angle or cross section the baby with the scan, it sorted of merged, and then separated again, so it was really hard to tell what it was. At one point she could not tell if there was another heartbeat, because it seemed like two RIGHT next to each other, but it was like a reflection (and exactly the same rhythm) so like part of the difficulty of scanning on such a tiny embryo which was squished up between the yolk sac and the wall of my womb.
I did not feel surprised at all at the mention of twins, even though it does (overall) look like it's probably a single baby in there. I just would NOT be surprised at a twin pregnancy one little bit, because I feel like it's something that God has opened our minds to in the past already, as a possible plan for us at some point. Also, Neil tells me he prayed for twins if I was to become pregnant again. And Nathey told me there were two babies (girl babies), although then he seemed unsure and said one baby was Samuel, and the other baby was the girl baby in my tummy :) Anyway, I would not be surprised. Twins absolutely do NOT run in my family, anywhere, even waaaaaay back on the family tree on various sides. Nada.
The sonographer continued to scan and scan. In the end she said she would take a look at my ovaries and then come back to the baby. My ovaries look fine. I ovulated from my left ovary this time (that's the 3rd time for sure, one unknown, and two from the right, lol!). I have some fluid in my left ovary but she thinks that's just to do with the cyst that formed after ovulating.
Then she went back to the baby (I just typed "babies"!). She was pleased because she said it had moved to a different position! I did not expect that it could at 6w5d, and for sure the only muscle movement is involuntary at this stage. But then as she was trying to measure the length of the baby (just 6.2mm, soooo teeny! And spot on for dates - 6w4d-6w5d), she said it was moving around quite a bit! Amazing! Another wiggler then? Matthew was by far my wiggliest baby, very vigorous and strong in the womb waaaay earlier than I thought a baby should be (!!), so perhaps this little one is going to be similar?!
She still could not be sure of whether something else was behind the yolk sac. She said that she could measure the length of the baby, but it was right between the yolk sac and the uterine wall.
So she suggested that I come back for a re-scan in 10 days. That way, if it's twins, they will be picked up for sure at 8 weeks, and if it's not, that will be very obvious too. She didn't want me to sort of slip through the loop, get to my routine scan at 12 weeks, and for them to find twins, see that I'd had an early scan and think the sonographer was incompetant, haha! She ummed and uhhed for ages about what to write on the report, and eventually said pleadingly, "Can YOU tell them?!" hehe! So after I finished there, I went through with my report and told the lady at the desk that I needed a re-scan in 10 days because it had not been too clear to measure the baby (what she said!)! ;)
She said that she THINKS it's a single baby, but that they just need to be sure.
I know a few things about the twin possibility, that I am sure I should not dwell on, and I'm NOT worrying about it! I promise! But I should probably do the right thing and put it out of my head until I know all the same. I want to write them here so all my thoughts are down anyway.
If it's twins, they will be identical twins. There is one gestational sac, not two. If it's twins, it looks to me most likely that they will be mono-mono twins (that is mono-chorionic, mono-amniotic twins). It depends when identical twins split into two as to what their "set up" in the womb will be. They can split early (I know this stuff due to a fascination with identical twins!) - up to 3 days after fertilisation, and then be like non-identical twins, each with their own sac and placenta. If they split between 4 and 8 days, they'll have a shared placenta, but two separate amniotic sacs side by side. If they split from 9-12 days after fertilisation, they will share both a placenta AND an amniotic sac. If they split from 13-15 days after fertilisation you will have conjoined twins.
I have one yolk sac - she could definitely confirm this. One yolk sac is indicative of mono-mono twins (both within the same amniotic sac) or conjoined twins - a late split. Both these types of twins are very rare (mono-mono twins make up 1% of all twins). Mono-mono twins are a HIGH risk pregnancy. The main risk is cord entanglement - old stats used to give a 50% chance of survival for both twins, but I think it's up to 80% or more now, but only with aggressive monitoring of the babies - you have to be admitted to hospital from 24 weeks or thereabouts for monitoring, until the babies are born, because at any time they might need to be delivered. I can't FATHOM that! All mono-mono twins are delivered by C-section no later than 34 weeks. Again, can't fathom. Scary prospect, if it is the case! More scary is the conjoined twins prospect, but HONESTLY I am not dwelling on either scenario. At first, even while I was looking at the image on the screen, I had a bit of a worry about conjoined twins, because what WAS that extra grainy blobbiness - not really another baby... and there was only one heartbeat.
Anyway, for the above reasons, I am actively praying for ONE healthy baby, because I think if there were two in some form, given the single yolk sac and no visible membrane within the gestational sac (which could separate twins), it would be a difficult and risky road. If we are blessed with twins, OH the blessing, the joy at having two!! But for the sake of my little boys I would hope that we are looking at one baby right now. In any other situation I would be SO excited about twins! :) And I still sort of AM, weirdly, even having said all of that! But I am just not going to think about it too much between now and the next scan, and see what happens then.
I'm feeling SICK. Bleurgh! It has been a really gradual increase in severity, for which I am REALLY grateful! It has made the transition to morning sickness much easier than my other pregnancies. It isn't as bad yet as it has been with the others, still. But not too far off in the evenings now. The evenings, as always, are my worst time, that and late afternoon. I'm blessed this time to have the whole morning free, and some days until an hour or two after lunch, before I start to feel queasy, which progresses to nauseous over an hour-ish, and then gets worse gradually over the remaining hours of the day. For the last 3 days, no foods that I eat are making me feel less sick any more, but I am doing my best to keep eating, and especially PROTEIN, when I feel sick. Sometimes eating makes me feel a little better for like 5 minutes, and then it creeps back again. One thing for sure is that if I DON'T eat, or if I delay eating by much time when it's a meal time or I'm hungry (and I am VERY hungry, quite frequently now!), I feel MUCH worse pretty quickly. So I eat. And water is going okay so far, which is a relief. I always struggle to get any fluids into me at this stage because I can't tolerate water at all, or any other fluids really. Foods aren't tasting bitter (yet?), which I'm grateful for too.
I am still a bit crampy and generally uncomfortable here and there, low in my pelvis. It's nothing to worry about though, I think. I am getting hot flushes more this past week, not related to the GORGEOUS hot weather we've been having (which is sadly now finished!).
I can't think what else to write, although I'm sure there's more, and I'm not entirely sure if I've missed something about my experience at the scan.... but it's late and Samuel is waking, and I'm soooooo tired. Have just eaten cottage cheese with some chopped up cucumber and tomatoes for the first time this pregnancy, and it was NICE to eat that, so maybe it's a boy? Haha! ;)
Thanks for being so supportive and excited for me on this pregnancy journey! :) I'll update again soon!
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