So we are still hanging in there. Today I have been contracting pretty strongly, but not too frequently. I have been resting and trying to keep this baby in! I have about 2 and a half weeks until I can register for baby stuff! I am getting excited about that. I am going to get a new digital camera too so I can take pics of my belly :) I still have not taken any pictures of my belly this time... not sure why.
So I hope I have a good week because I am really going to try not to go into the doctor this week before my scheduled appointment. I need to stay outta there and quit paying copays or I am not going to have any money to buy diapers :)
Melinda
Sunday, May 31, 2009
Friday, May 29, 2009
21 weeks and no hospital!!!!
We have officially made it to the 21 week doctor visit and I am not in the hospital this time!!
I saw Dr. Argeles today who measured my cervix at 4.0 cm, which is where he has always measured it since the beginning of the pregnancy. He says it looks like my cervix is "rock solid" for now. So, hopefully the contractions will continue to have no effect! I had a whole lot of contractions last night and woke up with them alot, but so far today has been pretty good. I have been handling them better emotionally for the last few days, so that is exciting. I would like to go this weekend and buy the baby and outfit. When we found out Oscar was a boy we bought him a little outfit. So, I am excited about little girl clothes... so cute!
So, first goal down, only a few more to go and then we will have a baby. I can't believe it! Please pray!
I saw Dr. Argeles today who measured my cervix at 4.0 cm, which is where he has always measured it since the beginning of the pregnancy. He says it looks like my cervix is "rock solid" for now. So, hopefully the contractions will continue to have no effect! I had a whole lot of contractions last night and woke up with them alot, but so far today has been pretty good. I have been handling them better emotionally for the last few days, so that is exciting. I would like to go this weekend and buy the baby and outfit. When we found out Oscar was a boy we bought him a little outfit. So, I am excited about little girl clothes... so cute!
So, first goal down, only a few more to go and then we will have a baby. I can't believe it! Please pray!
Thursday, May 28, 2009
21 Weeks...better day so far
I had a really good night last night and so far today I have been doing really well with the cramping and contracting. I am having hardly any. When I woke up and it didn't start really bad, all I could think was, "Maybe someone has prayed and this will just stop, like a miracle"! So let's hope that is the case... how exciting would that be!!! I am 21 weeks today! My ticker on the site is one day off for some reason. If I don't go to the hospital at my appointment tomorrow, which I won't, I have made my first goal date!
Well, at any rate, today has been good. I had a fasting glucose and thyroid level blood draw done this morning, so please pray that all is well with my bloodwork. As specially my blood sugar. I need some sweets, so I have to have good blood sugar!
On a funny note (or a gross one, depending on how you feel), we discovered a Blow Pop in our basement that had been "gnawed on" by "something" about a week ago. So we figured we either had some huge crickets that grew really big teeth, or a mouse. Eeeeeeewwwwww!!!! So we bought some mouse traps. The first night something ate off of all the traps and walked away and not one snapped! The second night we rigged them up different and caught this fat brown mouse. Well, we left the traps down there just in case and caught another one yesterday! I got home and Greg said, "I have a suprise for you"! So, our family has been growing, just not in the way we would want it to!
Well, at any rate, today has been good. I had a fasting glucose and thyroid level blood draw done this morning, so please pray that all is well with my bloodwork. As specially my blood sugar. I need some sweets, so I have to have good blood sugar!
On a funny note (or a gross one, depending on how you feel), we discovered a Blow Pop in our basement that had been "gnawed on" by "something" about a week ago. So we figured we either had some huge crickets that grew really big teeth, or a mouse. Eeeeeeewwwwww!!!! So we bought some mouse traps. The first night something ate off of all the traps and walked away and not one snapped! The second night we rigged them up different and caught this fat brown mouse. Well, we left the traps down there just in case and caught another one yesterday! I got home and Greg said, "I have a suprise for you"! So, our family has been growing, just not in the way we would want it to!
Wednesday, May 27, 2009
Went to the doctor
Well, I made it to the doctor this morning. They checked me and my cervix is measuring around 3.4 cm with no softening that is noticeable. A different doc measured, so I don't know how accurate the 3.4 is. It was good for me to know that the baby is okay for now so that I can sleep through the next couple nights til my appointment without thinking that I am really in preterm labor.
The doctor did say that this much contracting this early is concerning to him based on my history. There just isn't anything they can really do until I reach 24 weeks. So I just have to try to make myself as comfortable as possible. The contractions are as bad and as often as they were when I was in the hospital last time. I am really having them about every ten minutes or less sometimes now. It is lasting all day like that. I wish it wasn't! So I am hoping that Friday nothing changes and that my cervix keeps holding fast. Please pray. We REALLY want this baby to make it and be healthy!
The doctor did say that this much contracting this early is concerning to him based on my history. There just isn't anything they can really do until I reach 24 weeks. So I just have to try to make myself as comfortable as possible. The contractions are as bad and as often as they were when I was in the hospital last time. I am really having them about every ten minutes or less sometimes now. It is lasting all day like that. I wish it wasn't! So I am hoping that Friday nothing changes and that my cervix keeps holding fast. Please pray. We REALLY want this baby to make it and be healthy!
Horrible night
I am up at 3:30 this morning with almost constant contractions now. I was laying there for 20 minutes and had five of them with bad cramping. I am probably going to be awake with them until the office opens and I can call and tell them I need to be seen. They are way over four an hour and really have been for days now. The cramping is getting worse.
I called the on call doctor this morning and she says it could just be preterm contractions and not actually preterm labor. The shots I am receiving are supposed to prevent preterm labor. So it is possible that I am not having any change of cervix, but I just can't sit by anymore ignoring these. She did say that they don't make a practice of trying to stop contractions before 24 weeks because the pregnancy is still "not viable". Kind of funny, huh? A baby that is fully formed and is 10.5 inches long by this point and around 1 pound that I can feel kicking and moving "isn't viable". She said if I am having cervical change from contractions that it would just be "late miscarriage" at this point.
So I will probably sit here awake until the office opens. I am way past sleeping at this point as the contracting is waking me up. So I am gonna take a shower and hope I go in and get some reassurance this morning and not bad news. The doc did say that I may have an "extremely irritable uterus". She says she has patients that struggle with lots of contractions the whole time. We just have to wait and see if the pregnancy can take it :) Even if the baby can handle it and stay in, I may lose my mind from it!
I called the on call doctor this morning and she says it could just be preterm contractions and not actually preterm labor. The shots I am receiving are supposed to prevent preterm labor. So it is possible that I am not having any change of cervix, but I just can't sit by anymore ignoring these. She did say that they don't make a practice of trying to stop contractions before 24 weeks because the pregnancy is still "not viable". Kind of funny, huh? A baby that is fully formed and is 10.5 inches long by this point and around 1 pound that I can feel kicking and moving "isn't viable". She said if I am having cervical change from contractions that it would just be "late miscarriage" at this point.
So I will probably sit here awake until the office opens. I am way past sleeping at this point as the contracting is waking me up. So I am gonna take a shower and hope I go in and get some reassurance this morning and not bad news. The doc did say that I may have an "extremely irritable uterus". She says she has patients that struggle with lots of contractions the whole time. We just have to wait and see if the pregnancy can take it :) Even if the baby can handle it and stay in, I may lose my mind from it!
Monday, May 25, 2009
Memorial Day :)
Today has been a much better day so far than Friday and Saturday were :) Yesterday afternoon my cramping really subsided some. I am still having contractions alot, but not so much cramping and pain. So even though they continue, I am not feeling as much emotional stress as I started to on Saturday.
So please pray that the contractions are still not causing any changes in my cervix and that this little baby will stay in regardless of them. Please pray for Greg. I know that he is scared of the outcome of this pregnancy like I am, but he has the role of supporting me on top of it. So he has really had to be strong. He washed out and saved a pickle jar the other night so the baby can catch fireflies in it. You know, like four years from now. It will probably sit on my kitchen counter til then :)
Well, on a HUGE UPNOTE, yes, this is exciting! I thought that I turned 29 on Saturday, which means I am going on 30 now. Well, Greg was questioning that yesterday and we got to counting the years. I am pretty sure I am only 28!!!!!! So I actually got one year younger on my birthday!!!! That never happens, I am really excited. So if I miscounted and I really am 29, nobody tell me. I am enjoying the moment :)
So please pray that the contractions are still not causing any changes in my cervix and that this little baby will stay in regardless of them. Please pray for Greg. I know that he is scared of the outcome of this pregnancy like I am, but he has the role of supporting me on top of it. So he has really had to be strong. He washed out and saved a pickle jar the other night so the baby can catch fireflies in it. You know, like four years from now. It will probably sit on my kitchen counter til then :)
Well, on a HUGE UPNOTE, yes, this is exciting! I thought that I turned 29 on Saturday, which means I am going on 30 now. Well, Greg was questioning that yesterday and we got to counting the years. I am pretty sure I am only 28!!!!!! So I actually got one year younger on my birthday!!!! That never happens, I am really excited. So if I miscounted and I really am 29, nobody tell me. I am enjoying the moment :)
Sunday, May 24, 2009
Hard weekend
It has been a hard weekend. I was doing okay in the past couple weeks and then this week came! Friday I really started having alot more cramping and contractions. They really started to get bothersome. I didn't want to go into the hospital since I had just been to an appointment the day before. And of course it is the weekend (and a holdiay weekend) so the office is closed. I am trying to be a "big girl" and stay out of the office between weekly visits. It is just so hard to ignore the ever increasing discomforts and contractions. I just don't see how I will be contracting this much already and our little baby will stay in. Please pray for us.
The docs feel like the contractions are nothing more than an annoyance at this point since my cervix looks good. I just get concerned when they start ramping up because I don't have a way of knowing if I am in preterm labor when I am contracting all the time anyway. I was just really hoping that the shots they are giving me weekly to "keep my uterus from contracting" were going to keep me from noticing any contractions. I guess I am disappointed to find that I am having all the same symptoms with this pregnancy that I had with Oscar. I really wanted this one to go totally different and better.
So, on an upnote, this has been going on all weekend but hasn't gotten any worse. So I will have to decide on Tuesday morning if I can make it to my Friday appointment without stressing or if I will have to go in for peace of mind before then.
The resting isn't helping anymore either. I am having many more contractions now all day, even while resting. Please pray that I can get a break from the belly discomforts. We really want this baby to make it.
The docs feel like the contractions are nothing more than an annoyance at this point since my cervix looks good. I just get concerned when they start ramping up because I don't have a way of knowing if I am in preterm labor when I am contracting all the time anyway. I was just really hoping that the shots they are giving me weekly to "keep my uterus from contracting" were going to keep me from noticing any contractions. I guess I am disappointed to find that I am having all the same symptoms with this pregnancy that I had with Oscar. I really wanted this one to go totally different and better.
So, on an upnote, this has been going on all weekend but hasn't gotten any worse. So I will have to decide on Tuesday morning if I can make it to my Friday appointment without stressing or if I will have to go in for peace of mind before then.
The resting isn't helping anymore either. I am having many more contractions now all day, even while resting. Please pray that I can get a break from the belly discomforts. We really want this baby to make it.
Friday, May 22, 2009
Goal Dates!
So every week we pass now is one of our "goal dates". Basically, it will go something like this:
Thursday, May 28th
I will be 21 weeks. I have an appointment on Friday, May 29th. If all still looks well we will be really excited because last year at that time I was put in the hospital and I had no cervical length and was 1 cm dialated.
Thursday, June 4th
I will be 22 weeks. If all still looks well at that week's appointment then I have officially made it to the point I lost Oscar and will still be pregnant (and home hopefully)!
Sunday, June 7th
A little mini goal for me. The new season of "Army Wives" starts. Last year I watched the premier from the hospital bed the night before I lost Oscar. So I am really excited to be home and doing well still and watch it this year!
Thursday, June 18th
24 WEEKS!!!!!
This will be a huge goal for us as the baby has a chance of survival is born after this date. We were two weeks away from this when I went into labor last year. This year we are gonna make it way past this! As soon as I make it to this I will "officially" feel like I am actually having a a baby. This is the goal I am waiting to pass before I register for baby stuff and start buying things. I can't wait!
Thursday, May 28th
I will be 21 weeks. I have an appointment on Friday, May 29th. If all still looks well we will be really excited because last year at that time I was put in the hospital and I had no cervical length and was 1 cm dialated.
Thursday, June 4th
I will be 22 weeks. If all still looks well at that week's appointment then I have officially made it to the point I lost Oscar and will still be pregnant (and home hopefully)!
Sunday, June 7th
A little mini goal for me. The new season of "Army Wives" starts. Last year I watched the premier from the hospital bed the night before I lost Oscar. So I am really excited to be home and doing well still and watch it this year!
Thursday, June 18th
24 WEEKS!!!!!
This will be a huge goal for us as the baby has a chance of survival is born after this date. We were two weeks away from this when I went into labor last year. This year we are gonna make it way past this! As soon as I make it to this I will "officially" feel like I am actually having a a baby. This is the goal I am waiting to pass before I register for baby stuff and start buying things. I can't wait!
Thursday, May 21, 2009
20 Weeks!
We made it to 20 weeks! Just a quick history for those who don't know our background. Greg and I are expecting a baby girl after losing our son last year at 22 weeks into the pregnancy. He was our first baby and was conceived after four years of infertility. The doctors still aren't really sure what happened last year. They thought it could possibly have been because of an infection or a weak cervix that couldn't hold the weight of the pregnancy. So trying again has been really hard to get through!
I am excited to start this blog even though I have previously thought they were silly things that no one reads. I have really been hunting online for success stories from women who have had unexplained second trimester pregnancy loss and have found it hard to find them. I am hoping that someone else who is struggling with a pregnancy after losing a baby will find this one day and be able to get some encouragement from it. And since I am hoping to make it full term this time, I think it should be great encouragement! I think it will also be good for any family or friends who want an update. I have been trying to stay as calm and stress free as possible. So talking to people about the pregnancy and appointments hasn't really been the best thing for me. I feel bad not letting people know what is going on, so this way I will only have to tell it once :)
So here is my latest update:
I had an appointment today with my OB. They checked my cervical length by ultrasound and it seems unchanged. It is still measuring 3.9 cm to 4.0 cm. The pushed on my stomach and say that the cervix still seems firm and hasn't gotten softer, so that is a good sign. I have been having alot of belly discomforts and contracting that isn't painful, but concerning. I am getting some horomone shots once a week to try to prevent a loss if my horomone issues are to blame. The baby is moving all around in the last two weeks and seems well, so that is exciting. The doctor basically told me today that I need to be on "rest" as much as possible to help lessen the contracting. It is probably mostly for my own sanity as I start to get upset when it happens alot.
So, the doctor thinks we are still okay even though I am having the cramping. Please pray that he is right! We want this baby to survive and be healthy so badly... it has started to get exciting now that the baby is moving and things still look good. Pray that this one stays in for a long time to come. Greg told her the other day to "grab onto my liver or something" so she doesn't fall out :)
I am excited to start this blog even though I have previously thought they were silly things that no one reads. I have really been hunting online for success stories from women who have had unexplained second trimester pregnancy loss and have found it hard to find them. I am hoping that someone else who is struggling with a pregnancy after losing a baby will find this one day and be able to get some encouragement from it. And since I am hoping to make it full term this time, I think it should be great encouragement! I think it will also be good for any family or friends who want an update. I have been trying to stay as calm and stress free as possible. So talking to people about the pregnancy and appointments hasn't really been the best thing for me. I feel bad not letting people know what is going on, so this way I will only have to tell it once :)
So here is my latest update:
I had an appointment today with my OB. They checked my cervical length by ultrasound and it seems unchanged. It is still measuring 3.9 cm to 4.0 cm. The pushed on my stomach and say that the cervix still seems firm and hasn't gotten softer, so that is a good sign. I have been having alot of belly discomforts and contracting that isn't painful, but concerning. I am getting some horomone shots once a week to try to prevent a loss if my horomone issues are to blame. The baby is moving all around in the last two weeks and seems well, so that is exciting. The doctor basically told me today that I need to be on "rest" as much as possible to help lessen the contracting. It is probably mostly for my own sanity as I start to get upset when it happens alot.
So, the doctor thinks we are still okay even though I am having the cramping. Please pray that he is right! We want this baby to survive and be healthy so badly... it has started to get exciting now that the baby is moving and things still look good. Pray that this one stays in for a long time to come. Greg told her the other day to "grab onto my liver or something" so she doesn't fall out :)
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