Friday, July 20, 2012

OB appointment 25 weeks 5 days


From a single-celled egg (and sperm) to an eggplant.
Who would ever have thought?

Sorry for the silence - I have been very busy. The summary of this post is: All is continuing to go well.

I saw my OB yesterday and the first thing she said was, "Did you know you just made it through the two most important weeks of this pregnancy?!" and then, "Mo, I think you are going to be a mother!"

Huh! Maybe, just maybe, I am! So weird.

Tomorrow is 26 weeks! According to my research, this little girl's chances of survival if she were born now has increased to 80%. Still don't want her here anytime soon, but things are looking brighter. Someone asked in a comment if I had any reason to think I was at risk for preterm birth. The answer is no, I have no rational reason. It is just that when you have lost 6 pregnancies in a row that you tend to lose faith that things will go the way there are supposed to. There is definitely a sense of waiting for the other shoe to drop sometimes. So getting this little baby far enough along that she has a good chance of making it...well, it is very reassuring indeed.

In terms of the appointment, my belly is measuring 27 weeks - so one week ahead. According to one of the websites I read, Ms. Magpie is the size of an eggplant now. Holy Mackerel! My blood pressure is still looking good (117/79, I think?) and I actually lost a pound in the past two weeks (up 17 pounds total), but they weren't concerned. She didn't check my cervix this time - says it doesn't need to be checked. I was surprisingly OK with this. She asked me if I am feeling the baby move every day (yes). I asked her if the fluttering/shuddering movements I sometimes feel are normal, or if they could be seizures. She said I wasn't the first person to ask this, and that those movements were normal.

I had freaked myself out a bit looking at some literature from our hospital that listed episiotomy as being used  in 48.8 percent of vaginal births at this facility (yikes!). I talked to my OB yesterday and she said for her group of 3 OBs, the rate is more like 5%, which sounds much more reasonable to me.

She gave me a referral for a fetal echocardiogram with the pediatrics department, just to triple check there is no damage from my high vitamin E intake earlier in the pregnancy. My husband Will isn't that into getting it done (what if we find something?, he said), but I'd rather know if there's anything there so we can be prepared - even for small things - that may be an issue. I'm not expecting an issue, so mostly I think it will be reassuring, but if there were anything, I would want to know. Will, apparently, prefers blissful ignorance (opposites attract?)

The OB also recommended two doulas who work frequently with her practice. I am interviewing one of them tomorrow. It turns out she was also my sister in law's doula for her three births. So she's pretty highly recommended! Assuming we (me and her and her covering doula) click tomorrow, we will hire her.

So that's the pregnancy update for now. I will not leave you waiting again so long for the next post, I promise!

Mo

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27 comments:

  1. I love the posts where everything is going along nicely. Good luck with the interview tomorrow, I hope you guys click. My husband is pretty much the same way...he didn't know why I needed to get the blood work done for our 1st trimester screening when the doctor said the NT measurement was normal. It's the "planner" in us that needs to be prepared. Also, there's so much about TTC and IF (and RPL in your case) that is out of our control, I think getting these tests done to reassure us and help us prepare for any issue, is part of feeling like we have some control. Anyway, I'm very happy things are continuing to go very smoothly for you!

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  2. I am SO glad to hear that everything continues to go so well!

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  3. This is so wonderful. You are going the distance!!

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  4. I am so glad to hear from you and that all is well. I'm with you, I'd rather know and be prepared to handle any issues than be blindsided. But, g-d willing there will be none. And I'm so so so excited for you and Will. She will be here (full term and healthy) before you know it!!

    Hugs

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  5. Interviewing a doula! How exciting!

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  6. Whew! So glad to hear your continuing good news. Those longer pauses can sure get the nerves going! Ecstatic to hear your little one is doing well, and excited about the double digit milestone. Yay!

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  7. Congrats!! That is an important milestone. I cannot wait to join you! :)

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  8. I was really hung up about episiotomies before my first. It was really any damage down there that I was scared of... I was just hopeful that I would be the exception who didn't tear.

    My OB didn't do routine episiotomies, but we did go for a last minute one in my case. She was massaging mineral oil and everything, but finally decided that a cut was needed *now* at which point we had a very high-strung, fast-paced conversation about it. I have to say, once I could feel the baby's head pushing against that entrance the idea of a controlled cut rather than a random tear became a lot more appealing.

    The stitching and recovery were nowhere near as bad as I expected. I could feel a slight pain at that spot during intercourse for about four months and after that it was gone. We went through a similar experience with my second birth.

    All this isn't meant to be pro-episiotomy, but if it's something that you're worried about, I hope a firsthand account might reassure you. With any luck, you won't need one anyway.

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  9. I did the fetal echo. It isn't a big deal and I would rather know in advance so we can prepare. There was a woman at moms group last night who had to fight for a long time to find out her kid needed surgery for a hole in his heart because the pedi kept blowing off her concerns. Odds are nothing is wrong but it is better to know than not right. I am so happy you are so far along now. :)

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  10. Such a delight to see this post. Hoping for about 14 weeks more of similar (Do I have that math right? A nicely full term pregnancy is what I mean!), followed by a glowing birth story and then some groggy ones about the joys of welcoming a newborn to your household to follow ... :) !

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  11. Just sayin hi and oh wow, isn't it wonderful?! 26 weeks?! I am smiling from ear to ear. Keep thinking good thoughts. I'm thrilled for you guys!

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  12. Good. So good. So happy to read this! And, by the way, having a doula decreases the use of all sorts of optional medical interventions, so that decreases your chances of an episiotomy right there.

    Cheering y'all on, Mo.

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  13. Awesome update! So glad you are doing do well and it really sounds like you are starting to relax and enjoy this ride!

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  14. Awesome update! So glad you are doing do well and it really sounds like you are starting to relax and enjoy this ride!

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  15. When I was pregnant with my first, I felt STRONGLY that I did not want an episiotomy. I asked every doc in the practice,and all except one of them said they hardly ever do them. So of course she did my delivery. (aaaand delivered my second.) It wasn't my first choice,necessarily, but honestly, it was not THAT bad, and I still have very, very happy, positive memories from both deliveries.

    Oh, and I had two fetal echos with my second baby because she had an arrythmia. Definitely no biggie, and it really put my mind at ease.

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  16. So glad to hear that all is going well and that you've cracked into the under 100 days category of this pregnancy! You're interviewing (and hopefully hiring!) a doula! What wonderful progress towards meeting Ms. Magpie! So glad to hear this. Can't wait for the next belly shot, and then for pictures of your baby shower (making an assumption here that you'll likely have one-- will you?)

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  17. Great timing as I was just thinking that we hadn't heard from you in a while. 26 weeks! You go, mama! So many good things going on that you so deserve.

    Good things are good :)

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  18. Love this post! Love your OB! You ARE going to be a mama! Moxie is going to have to learn to share you. Just keep telling her Magpie is going to be her best buddy.

    So glad you're checking out doulas. I loved mine. It was great having someone there who was just for me. Not that Will won't be there for you, he'll have his own emotional journey that day. I also loved that she took notes and then wrote out the birth story for us. I'm looking forward to sharing that with Sunshine someday. I don't know if that's standard or not. Let me know if you're interested in checking her out. She took awesome pics in the OR as well.

    xoxo

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  19. Umm, there should be a "but" after the comma in that sentence about Will. :-)

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  20. Awesome update!thats so nice that you are starting to relax and enjoy this ride.

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  21. So exciting! here's hoping for a quiet uneventful final weeks!

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  22. Hi Mo!

    I wish we lived closer together. I'd be happy to be your doula :) Regardless, I'm so happy to hear you are hiring labor support. Having someone there JUST for you will be so comforting when it's "go time". I can't wait to hear your birth story :)

    Ashley
    Life with Busy Bea

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  23. Thinking of you... and so excited to see that things are going well. It shocked me to see that your little floating baby widget is down to double digits! You've got this, girl!

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  24. I am so happy things are going so well for you!! Look forward to more updates!!

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  25. I was worried about episiotomies as well, and did not end up having one with any of my deliveries. I did have a small tear with offspring #1 that required 2 stitches... and then I quite literally forgot all about it until the dr wanted to check it at my followup appointment.

    So, so, SO excited with your baby's progress. Thanks for all of the updates!

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  26. Can we get a 26 week baby bump picture? Just curious what it looks like now. I just had my first IVF transfer last week. So I am anxiously waiting to hear how my future with baby will progress. Staying positive.
    I'm so excited for you! :)

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  27. wow, I always learn something new from your blog! I am 25 weeks also, and I am feeling these increasingly jerky movements, but its good to know they are normal :) I have no idea what is an epistetomy, so I will now google it :) This is our first also, good luck to both of us :)

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