Second Trimester

Sorry for the long break between posts, but here’s my long recap of the 2^nd trimester! I promise I’m going to post more pictures and updates as the third trimester goes along! Is it just me or does the second trimester seem like it’s so much longer than the first? Anyways starting back up where we left of…

On 07/09/12 (13w1d) I had a checkup appointment with my doctor. They couldn’t find the heartbeat with the Doppler machine, so I had to get a quick sonogram to find the heartbeat. Baby’s heartbeat was 155. We found out all sorts of good results from blood tests at this appointment. All blood work was normal, negative for cystic fibrosis carrier screening, A+ blood type, etc.

The next day, 07/10/12 (13w2d) I had an appointment with another doctor to get my nuchal translucency sonogram done. The neck measurement and nose bone appeared normal. They also took blood and called a few days later to say that blood work looked normal, risk of down syndrome/trisomy 18 is 1 in 10,000, which are supposedly the best results we could get from that test. Also, she was able to tell us that she was 95% positive our little baby was a BOY! PK was beaming. We called family and texted friends telling them the gender news.

The next day, 07/11/12 (13w3d) I had lunch with my bosses at work and filled them in on my exciting news. Also, this day, we shared our news on facebook! Totally felt like a big secret weight was lifted off our shoulders!

My 25^th birthday was in July and I got some maternity clothes, some baby boy clothes and PK even got me some pacis with Texas Rangers on them! My mom, brother and grandparents came to visit the weekend before and we celebrated with mini-bundt cakes.

The next round of appointments occurred on 08/06/12 (17w1d). I got blood taken again for a follow-up 2^nd trimester screening. They called again a few days later and said blood work looked normal. Risk of down syndrome/trisomy 18 is still 1 in 10,000 and risk of spina bifida is 1 in 220. In my appointment with my regular doctor, they found baby’s heartbeat with the Doppler, 150 beats. I filled my doctor in on how I was still taking Zofran very consistently for nausea and occasionally Tylenol for headaches. At this appointment, I still had not gained any weight since becoming pregnant, meaning I was still definitely feeling sick and not eating normal. My belly measured at 17cm, right on track!

In August, we went to Austin to see family and saw PK’s parents off before they went to see Chris on a Mediterranean cruise! We started our baby registries at Babies R Us and Buy Buy Baby. We also got to meet sweet baby Sophia, who arrived a little bit earlier than expected to our friends, Whitney and Clint. We attended an expecting parents class at our church one Saturday, talk about a lot of information on one day. And over Labor Day, we went to Wagmore with my family for some colder mountain air.

Somewhere around 18-19 weeks, is where I would say my coat of crappiness was finally lifted. I was finally able to go for longer stretches without getting nauseous and taking Zofran. And slowly started eating more normal meals and portions and feeling more like myself. Yahoo!

On 09/05/12 (21w3d), I had a checkup appointment with my doctor and a sonogram! As far as my stats, I gained a bunch of weight from weeks 17 to 21, so it was obvious that I was back to eating normal and not puking as much. My tummy measured at 20.5cm, right on track. As far as the baby goes, heartbeat was 145, approx weight was 14oz, measured at 21w1d. The sono tech confirmed that baby is a boy and checked things like umbilical cord, appendages, stomach, bladder, kidneys, heart, etc. Baby was in breech position (feet down), so the sono tech said it was hard to get a lot of good images and the baby was making it hard on her. When we spoke to the doctor at this appointment, she said that they were unable to get a good picture of the baby’s heart. May have been too early, since optimal time to look at the heart is 24 weeks, may have been the breech position he was in, but regardless she wanted me to come back for another sonogram in 4 weeks. Also, she said that the placenta was positioned very low, close to the cervix, so the chances were still very good that the placenta would move up, but they would check the placenta location at my next sonogram as well.

Somewhere around 21-22 weeks is where I could officially feel baby moving. Still seemed very faint and sporadic, but around this time I could actually tell you that I could feel him moving, but I could never be too sure before.

In September, my best friend from TCU, Courtney had her baby girl Chloe! Can’t wait to get to meet her someday! Also, we made another trip to Austin to see family. While in Austin, mom and I found a cute rug & blanket with a striped pattern that is my inspiration for baby’s room. Good boy colors…blues, greens, and some red and yellow thrown in there too. We picked out a few fabrics and my mom is going to sew a few things like curtains, crib sheet and skirt! Later in the month, my parents and brother came up for a weekend and we all went to a Cowboys game (they even won!).

On 10/03/12 (25w3d), PK and I took off work with an agenda to get a bunch of baby stuff checked off our list. The night before we started our baby registry at Target. And we started off the day by visiting daycares. We really liked one of the ones we visited and were very pleased to find one we are comfortable with, that’s close and in our price range! Talk about another exhausting and overwhelming topic to tackle. We also had our next round of doctor’s appointments. At my checkup, belly measured at 26cm and gained a bunch of weight again. At the sonogram, baby’s heartbeat was 145 and measured about 1 lb 11oz (26% percentile for weight). Baby’s heart looked great, no issues there. Placenta still very low, partially encroaching the cervix and officially termed placenta previa. There’s still a good chance that the placenta will move up before baby is ready to come out, so that’s what we’re hoping for! If it doesn’t move up, then we’ll be looking at a C-section a few weeks before due date.

On 10/06/12 (25w6d), we started our local babymoon! We dropped off Ranger for boarding, went out for brunch and to see a movie. Then we drove downtown, found some food trucks for lunch and checked into a hotel. We went to fancy dinner, with a great view of downtown, and to a Cirque de Soleil show! The next morning, we laid in bed forever, watched a movie and got breakfast. It was a cold and cloudy weekend, perfect for lying in bed the rest of Sunday afternoon after we picked up Ranger. It was just what we needed to do some fun things that will be harder to do with baby in tow!

We just got back from a weekend in Austin, attended a baby shower and got to pick up Chris from the airport; he’s back in the USA for a vacation from cruising! We are ready to get the nursery all set up, buying a crib is on the agenda for this week. I feel like I’m in a “sweet spot” right now. I feel great most of the time and have energy to get things done, so I’m trying to take advantage before I get further into the 3^rd trimester! Also, in the third trimester, I’m looking forward to a few baby showers, baby classes at the hospital, cooler weather, holidays and getting ready for baby to arrive!