Houston we have a heartbeat!

Pregnancy news first I suppose as my title is about it. We ( all three of us) went to my first maternal fetal appointment yesterday. Most of the people who work there were on the first baby journey ( some of them with us on several of the lost baby journeys also) and all were amazed by how much Ash has grown. Everybody was highly impressed by her gorgeous bright blue eyes. We spent the afternoon saying " thank you we think she is beautiful too." and "Oh those are daddy's blue eyes to be sure!" ( just a note here.... there is nothing in this world that can get you on my good side faster than to compliment my child!) At any rate I digress. So we went to our first MFM ( maternal fetal medicine) appointment yesterday. For those of you who do not know the significance of those powerful little letters MFM is the braintrust of obstetrics. These are the highrisk doctors who know everything about everything when it comes to a highrisk pregnancy. And I am a very high risk mom. So the first thing that we did was go in for an ultrasound. We were looking to date the pregnancy and get a good idea of the due date. Now this was already done at the OBs office but every office likes to do their own. So off we toddled and twenty minutes later we had pictures of the new guy and a whole lot of relief. It took a bit of time to find that little heartbeat and that caused some high drama in the US room. When the heart beat was found it was hiding behind the yolk sac and was 120 beats per minute. Our problem the earliness of the pregnancy.



This new ultrasound has shown that the new guy is in fact a week younger than we had thought ( or there abouts) We now have a due date of July 19 2009. This one is more accurate as we actually were able to see the baby and date the pregnancy off of the size of said baby ( well blob right now). We then went through the rigmarole of changing me all over to MFM. I am now in their hands through to the 6 weeks postpartum and will not go see my OB for the rest of the pregnancy. A plan was laid out for our approach and we have set off down the road.

As it stands now: We will be seeing the dietitian in early Dec., the endocrinologist in Mid Dec. We will have a clinic and take a "peek" at the babe in mid Dec. We will in very early Jan have an ultrasound and NT scan followed by a cerclage put in at 13 weeks. We will start the 17-P shots at 16 weeks at which point we will see the docs once a week from that point forward. At 20 weeks we will have targeted ultrasound where we will find out boy or girl ( as well as a few other things like the general health of the baby : ) At 28 weeks we will start NST and biofeedback once a week and then at about 32 we will have them 2 times a week. We will also be doing monthly growth ultrasounds, as well as a fetal heart and kidney study. I will 99% sure have to have a C-section for several reasons the top being that was how A was delivered. And I am sure that this one will be delivered at around 39 weeks just as she was. So we have a plan, we have a heart beat, we have a baby, and we are off and running.


A is cutting teeth.... seems like that is a constant pass time for her any more. That makes her slightly grumpy and her sleep pattern hard to follow. She had her first play date on Tuesday! YAY! We went to a little class put on by the local library with Dave's cousin C and her little boy J. We had so much fun! We have a bit of a runny nose now and that could either be from some of the kids in the group or the teeth ( although they are bottom teeth and do not usually cause nose probs. ) We made a craft and we played and had a snack and she had a ton of fun. I think that it was good for her to have a little bit of contact with children as most of her contact is with adults. I was thrilled when C called and we have tentative plans to go to a group once a week or so. We will of course play it by ear because if there is one thing for sure it is that kids are tough to plan around.

I am still nursing A.... and she is still going strong. The MFM doctors said that they would like to see me wean by 20 weeks but support my choice to continue nursing. I am so glad to have their support, as I didn't really want to go it alone. I love my daughter and I am committed to ensuring that she get the most out of our nursing relationship as she can. I have found in my research that 70% of babies wean themselves when mom is pregnant by the 20th week anyways. The cool thing is that about half of that 70% go back to nursing when the new babe comes if they are young enough. If my daughter has weaned herself and looks to nurse when the new babe comes she will once again become a nursing baby. Dave and I have discussed and agreed that extended nursing is extremely beneficial for her and we are committed to offering every benefit with in our power to our child. Not that we will force the breast by any means if A has had enough than so be it. However, with an allergy to milk as well as eczema and seasonal hay fever the need for extended nursing is huge in our daughter though and so we are both happy to offer it to her.


There is another benefit to continuing to nurse A that is like the white elephant in the room. The research I have done says that nursing a still young child through pregnancy and continuing after the birth of the new child cuts down significantly on sibling rivalry. The idea is that by rejecting your child ( i.e. refusing to nurse because of a different child) and then offering it to a second child ( who is an interloper in the eyes of child 1) an innate rivalry is created. The flip of that is that by offering the breast to both children you create a common bond early as well as offering a prime example of shared love and nourishment. There is enough for everyone, and mommy loves this new guy a lot, but she loves me the same as she always has. I truly look forward to offering this kind of example to my two children. Even though by all accounts tandem nursing is an exhausting endeavor. I am hoping that I am up to it.

I have injured my back. I picked A up the wrong way and I have had three days of hell because of it. Dave stayed home on Wed because I was not able to do the simplest task of A. I hate back injuries. This being my first does not in any way lessen or lighten the burden of hate that I carry right now. I cannot pick up my daughter to cuddle her and we are both feeling that lack terribly. Here is hoping that it will heal soon. ( every one says it sounds like I tore a muscle... for the record I don't care I just want it better!) I am hoping that within the next few days things will ease up enough that I will be able to swoop her up for the cuddles that she wants. I DO NOT like the fact that my back hurts worse right now than it did the last few weeks of pregnancy with A. I am supposed to be able to ENJOY the beginning of pregnancy this time. ( SIGH) Thank God for understanding husbands.... well thank God for a lot more than that but Dave is a God send worth mentioning right now.

Well my princess is sleeping and right now all I can think about is crawling into bed next to her and cuddling for the next hour.... so hey what do you know that is what I am going to do. Life can be blissful despite back aches, teething and the other irritations that make it all interesting. Hope you all find the time this weekend to find something that creates an equivalent amount of happiness in you.




P.S. Yes we have ultrasound pictures... and Dave is planning on scanning them in.... however they are really just a blob so I will not share them unless there is a popular consensus that you would like to see them... let me know.