This Pregnancy is So Different

 

Well, we successfully made it to 12 weeks this week!  I'll start with how this pregnancy is so different from the one I had with Gabriel (and our 3 other angel babies) and end on a happy note with new baby pics!

First, this pregnancy has made me soooo exhausted I can barely keep my eyes open.  I take a nap (unwillingly but thankfully) almost every adternoon and then hit the hay by 9pm if I don't fall asleep on the couch first.  But worse than the exhaustion is the nausea.  It lies somewhere between 'morning sickness' and the evil that is called Hyperemesis Gravidarum.  (You may recognize HG because Kate Middleton has had it will each of her babies.  It tends to require hospitalization for dehydration because the vomiting is so bad.)  Anyway, my nausea/vomiting lies somewhere in between the annoyance and the seriousness of these two.  I am nauseous almost constantly and the vomiting is at least weekly.  I tried a bunch of natural remedies (acupressure, vitamin B6, pregnancy candies, small meals, large meals, short periods of fasting, etc) all without much success.  Finally, after about a week of having to sit miserably on the couch while Craig did bathtime & bedtime with Gabe because I could barely move without feeling like I would puke, I called the doctor.  Now I have this miracle drug, Reglan, and I feel about 95% better.  Yes, there are still vomiting episodes and the nausea never fully goes away, but I can do a lot more than before.  I had missed doing bathtime & bedtime - that was my way of reconnecting with Gabriel after working all day.  So now I am back to almost normal and waiting out the 2 more weeks till my 2nd trimester which is supposed to be not filled with nausea and exhaustion.  At least school will be finished by then and I can be at home more.

I found myself mentioning to Craig that if this had been my first pregnancy, I'm not sure we would have tried for more!  I am so blessed and honored to be carrying this baby, don't get me wrong, but I miss the easiness of my pregnancy with Gabriel.  Here's to hoping it gets better soon!  At least the next 2 weeks will be filled with the fun of creating our pregnancy announcement!

Ok, now on to the good stuff - new baby ultrasound pics!!  On April 23rd (11 weeks and 4 days), we went in for another ultrasound.  Baby measured 5.83cm (about 2.3 inches) from crown to rump, and his/her heartrate was 160 beats per minute.  S/he was sleeping with his/her hand by the mouth, which is exactly what Gabe did at the same ultrasound.  So cute!!  Everything looked good and, other than my nausea misery, I felt good too.

 

It turns out when you hit 35 during your pregnancy, you become 'high-risk' - I tried to tell the doc it was ok to just call me old, haha! - because the chances of genetic defects increases, and that means they offer you additional genetic testing (which we declined) & require an upgraded anatomy ultrasound at 20 weeks (scheduled for late June).