Viability

I hit the 24 week mark yesterday (Saturday), which means one very good thing in pregnancy...viability! If he were born today there would be a chance he would survive. Don't get me wrong, it would not be the best scenario and chances would still be very slim, but it's good to know that we have made it to that point in the pregnancy.

I had an OB appointment on Thursday last week. It was a quick and easy appointment. I measured good at 23cm. She told us our son is an overachiever because he is already showing heart accelerations with movement, which is something they look for when they are doing the non-stress tests later on in pregnancy. Usually babies don't do this for another month. So, it looks like he is growing good and strong and healthy in there! I told her my concerns with pressure and cramps, so she checked my cervix, which is still nice and closed. She also asked me about movement and I told her how good and strong his movements are and that I know when his typical asleep and awake patterns are. She said I'm also about a month ahead from typical on that too.

I'm having so much anxiety now. I thought it would get better, but now that we are so close, the anxiety is worse than ever sometimes. I find myself fearful of pre term labor and stillbirth. I'm hoping once I start the higher level of monitoring in about 6 weeks that I will gain some peace of mind there. Logically I know our chances of this baby making it home safe and sound with us is high. It's just so difficult with our history to focus on that at times.

We started some baby registries at a few stores. I know we won't have any baby showers with a second baby (that's how things are done in the region where I live), but I know the stores send you a coupon to finish up your registry when you get close to delivery. I figured we would be buying all of those things anyway, why not get a good coupon too! It's been fun registering for boy things! We have a great start on some items and we started his nursery...

and here are some of the sweet baby boy clothes we have gotten so far (I didn't know that buying boy clothes could be almost as fun as buying girl clothes)...

And here's my 24 week baby belly...

Another 3 weeks and I'll hit the third trimester. I'm trying to treasure every moment, with the anxiety it's difficult to not just wish it were May already. I'm sure I'll have those moments once he arrives where I'll wish I had done a better job cherishing these pregnancy moments. I felt that way after my daughter was born and I couldn't wait to be pregnant again. I'm fairly certain this will be our last pregnancy, so I need to remind myself to enjoy the moments.

Fetal Echo and Cervical Check

I completely forgot that I didn't update my blog - I blame pregnancy brain! My cervical check on Friday looked good. It's closed up nice and tight and is about 4.0cm, which is normal and about what it was two days before. It turns out our little guy had his foot and tushie pressed firmly against my cervix and bladder, which explains the cramps and pressure. We got some more photos and a third confirmation he's a boy. After that we had some time to waste, so we went and had breakfast in the hospital cafeteria.

The fetal echo also went wonderfully! We got called back to the ultrasound room by the head of obstetrics at the hospital. He, along with a pediatric cardiologist from Children's Hospital did the ultrasound. They told us they would be mumbling back and forth a lot throughout and not to let that worry us, that it didn't mean anything was wrong and they would let us know the results at the end. They were both very friendly and had fun joking around with us, which put my husband and I both at ease. They spent quite a bit of time checking out his heart, we got to watch and hear. After about 15-20 minutes, they turned on the lights and told us his heart looked as normal as they see on fetal echos. There could always be small holes that they don't see because they are looking through my stomach at something very small to begin with, but from what they can tell everything looks great. I asked if we would need another after he is born and he said we wouldn't unless the pediatrician at the hospital hears or notices anything abnormal.

This was such a big week for us and we are feeling very blessed to have received such wonderful news from his tests. It really feels like he's coming home with us in May!

Here are the pictures from our cervical check ultrasound (20 weeks 6 days). They are a little blurry because they are pictures of the pictures.

His profile

His Face (looking at us)

His Heart Rate (147 bpm)

It's A Boy! (although I think it's really hard to tell at this angle, she said it's up against his leg but she's still sure it's a boy)

I'm feeling a lot of movement now, which is really fun. It seems that each day his kicks and rolls get stronger. I'm still totally paranoid about preterm labor or my water breaking early. I thought I would relax after these tests, but I just moved on to the next thing to worry about. I don't have another OB appointment until January 26th, and I don't think we'll see him on ultrasound again until 30 weeks. That seems so far away since we have been having them so frequently up to this point. It's funny because with my daughter I had 2 in the very beginning with my RE, then waited until 21-22 weeks, then only had another one because we paid for a private one at 30ish weeks. I've gotten spoiled seeing our son so frequently!

Eventful Day

Today is my husband's 37th birthday. I am truly blessed to have such an amazing husband and father of our children. Unfortunately his day has not been all about him, as it should have been. Let me back up a bit...yesterday we had our 20 week anatomy scan. Our son looks so adorable and so much bigger! Everything they looked at looks good and is measuring appropriately. He is close to 1 pound now (15 ounces) and measuring 2 days ahead. The ultrasound tech said his heart looks "pretty," and she saw all 4 chambers, checked the blood flow and several arteries. She also took a good look at his brain, spine, nose, mouth, head, stomach, diaphragm, kidneys, bladder, legs, arms, hands, and feet, placenta, cord and where it attaches, and my cervix and ovaries. I think that about covers it. Everything aside from the 2 vessel umbilical cord looked good. We were free to go with our 7 pictures of our little guy, no need to wait to talk to a doctor, what a relief! Here are photos from yesterday:

My favorite - I just loooove this one <3 His profile looks similar to his sister's, I wonder if they will look alike:

Profile with his hand by his face:

Looking at us:

Yep, looks like he's still a boy:

One of his cute little feet (can't wait to hear the pitter patter):

His little hand:

His legs crossed at the ankle:

So, we are beyond thrilled that he looks so good! We have even started buying things for him, which is a major step in confidence for us! Last night I started getting some stomach/menstrual type cramps, lower back ache, and some painless contractions. There goes the excited, good, worry free (or rather worry a little bit less in my case) mood. This morning it was still happening, so I called my perinatologist's office. The nurse I talked to thought it was most likely constipation mixed with Braxton Hick contractions, which is kind of what I was thinking too, but of course I am worried about preterm labor. Yesterday my cervix was closed and looked good on the abdominal ultrasound, so that helped calm me down a bit. The nurse talked to the doctor and called me back at 3 PM and told me the doctor ordered an ultrasound of my cervix. I set that up for tomorrow morning before the fetal echo we have scheduled. I think it will likely be okay, but I'm a little nervous still. The contractions have stopped and the cramping is a bit less tonight, so hopefully those are good signs. I was told to rest and drink plenty of fluids today, so that's what I've been trying to do as best I can with a very active 3 year old. My husband's birthday dinner out was put on hold and we just ordered pizza in, then had cake and ice cream. Hopefully I'll get a clean bill of health tomorrow and we can celebrate this weekend. To top off the day, my very rambunctious 3 year old accidentally head butted me in the nose so hard it made me sob immediately. I think it's fractured. It's swollen, red, bruised a bit already, a little hard to breathe, and hurts pretty bad. Poor thing felt so bad and was so worried about Mommy, but I just couldn't stop crying. So, my husband has not had a day for himself at all today, now he's picking up toys and getting me ice packets. I will certainly have some making up to do!