may 13- so far so good

we've been moving for the past few days, and finally got our internet up and running yesterday.. here's the update from my appointment on monday:

bp- 132/81
weight- +4lb (3 weeks since my last appt. after this weeks check-up i should gain about 1.5lbs a week.)
wren's heartrate- 140
fundal height-23.5

the swelling has begun! on sunday by the time i got home after church, lunch, and errands my feet had an indention from the straps on my (once loose) sandals. :( ick. and last night i had to take my wedding ring off, it woke me up it was so tight.
bring on the foot rubs! :)

ultrasound friday! stay tuned for more pictures!

other updates:
due to my anti-d antibody going back up i will now be having doppler ultrasounds every other week. (along with my growth scans every 4 weeks) the doppler ultrasounds will monitor wren's blood flow to her organs and make sure she hasn't developed anemia.
then at 32 weeks, as i've said before, i'll go to bi-weekly non stress tests, and weekly ultrasounds.

my vision is TERRIBLE!!! i thought it was bad before, but pregnancy has really definitely changed my opinion of bad vision.

wren has switched schedules. she's now the most active between 4am-6am. woo-hoo! this is a habit i would LOVE for her to kick before she decides to make an appearance. she's waking me up a lot. but, then again, i am poking at her a lot during the day... if she's still for a while i get worried and poke around on her until she kicks me back. :)

april 20- appointment today (on thadd's birthday-what a present)

so, here's the new news.

bp- good
fundal height- 21 (perfect)
weight- +5lbs (wow, better cut back on the cheetos!)
fetal heart rate-good

anti-D antibody update- it's continuing to go down. it's definitely because of the shot i got in jan. YAY!!!

today i had a TON of questions for my doctor. here's the overview:

-can i do shots in my butt? this was SO funny. when i asked her this question she sort of looked at me a little sad and said, "well, usually not because it has to go into fat, not muscle." to which i replied, "have you seen my butt?"... haha! like it's all muscled out or something. i assured her that, yes, i could find a chunk of fat on my butt to put the injection in. how hilarious! muscle. ha!
-what can i do for hemorrhoids? good 'ol tucks and prep H. here i come!
-what can i do about peeing myself when i sneeze? yeah. so this happened to me the other day. sheesh! i was like "isn't this supposed to be AFTER i have the kid????!!!" but, alas, she said it's really normal due to the shifting of my uterus on the urethra. apparently that weakens the mechanism which keeps us from regularly wetting ourselves. nice, huh? (don't worry, it was only a drop!) haha..
-how will my APS affect my labor? it shouldn't affect it at all! i should be able to have natural childbirth, (as natural as i want it :)... short of pitocin to induce the labor initially.
-why will i be induced? this is mainly for control of my blood thinners. they don't want me to go into labor unplanned and still be taking my regular dosage of blood thinner. being induced, in and of itself will raise my risk of having to have a c-section. i'm totally against this (unless it's necessary), and thadd's with me on it. we really want to do what we can to avoid this. we may decide not to be induced depending on wren's health, my health, and further research.
-sexy pelvic brace- it works like a charm!!! (not so much for sexiness, but for pelvic pain.) and yes, kate, i'm going to wear it! my pelvic pain has been intermittently TERRIBLE. i've heard from some of the ladies i know that this is just caused by the weight of the baby on my pelvic bone. i don't know if wren is just low or what, but sometimes i just can't get rid of this pain! i recommend this "hip band" for all ladies who have this pain. it's amazing!
-cystic fibrosis screening? i haven't taken it yet, but i'll take it this week.
-blood thinning test? did one test today, and will have one every few weeks.
-am i at risk for preterm labor? not any more likely than the average pregnant woman. which means be aware of my body, but i don't have to fret about it.
-at what weeks can i relax about the baby's health? she said that at 24 weeks i can breath a very small sigh of relief. this is when the baby is considered "viable". at 29 weeks the lungs are much more developed and wren will have a much better outlook for her health- this is a small sigh of relief. at 32 weeks i can breath a real sigh of relief! this is pretty much the same as 40 for the baby. all the organs will be developed and the prognosis is just as good! yay!
-should i make any preparations for early delivery? she said i should go ahead and do the walk-through at labor and delivery in the next month or so... so we're going to plan on that. also, we're doing hypno-babies... and we're ordering that this next week to get started early.

that's the new news! thanks for caring... thanks for prayers!

april 1- anti-D update

i just got an email back from my doc. it seems it is the anti-D that i tested positive for after all. this can be caused by blood transfusion, miscarriage, birth, etc. but you can also test positive for it after the rhogam shot.
i had a rhogam shot in january when i was having the spotting... and it usually lasts about 12 weeks. the last 2 blood tests that i've had show that the levels are decreasing. according to the doc this lends itself to the possibility that i'm only testing positive due to the shot i received. i'll continue to have blood work monitoring the levels of anti-D in my system until they are at 0.
really, i'm already giving a pint every time i go in, i'm not too worried about one additional test at this point. right?
keep praying!

march 20- doc's news

today i had my appointment... the last one until my ultrasound. here's the news:
bp- low and fine
weight- +3lbs (which the doc said is just about right)
heartrate- 150/minute healthy and strong

the bad news is that i have some sort of antibody. (yes, another one, other than the antiphospholipid antibody syndrome.) i'm working on finding out what it's called. i was a little shell shocked when she told me about it, and didn't get the name. apparently it's similar to the rh- antibody that women can get while pregnant. the doctor said that many women get similar antibodies, and as long as the level stays under 16 that it doesn't affect the baby. right now my level is at 1- the lowest it could register... so she didn't seem worried about it. if my levels rise then she said, worst case scenario, that they would give the baby blood transfusions through the umbilical cord. (but, she said that they'd never done that in the history of the hospital, that no one has ever needed it.)

apparently this antibody is caused most commonly by blood transfusions... which she assumed i had had. (i could be wrong, but i feel like i would remember that!) she said it less commonly can be caused by miscarriage. which, apparently happened when we lost max. (she checked back in my records and i didn't have the antibody during my pregnancy with him.)

looks like i'll be having more blood work done more frequently to monitor the antibody. i had several vials drawn on friday... haven't gotten the results back yet. i'll post when i have news.

seriously, how many obscure problems can i have? am i battling with natural selection here? :/

on the upside, if it weren't for the growing bulge in my belly i wouldn't even think i was pregnant. other than being a little more tired than usual, i'm almost completely free of side effects.
oh! but i did forget to mention i'm losing entire hand fulls of hair. eeek! i've heard that it will fill in a little more in the third trimester.. if not, i'm not above some hair plugs!
and.... i guess i also forgot to officially welcome- HEARTBURN! i'm bucking the system though... still eating all sorts of spicy food that i love. i mean, if a roll gives me heartburn, why not enjoy a burrito?:)