Things looking good

so far..

Best news, I no longer have placenta previa! Woohoo, well and truly clear of cervix and unlikely will be a prob now, phew!

Second best news, Griffin is measuring right on 50th centile and estimated weight is 560 grams. Woohoo! Piper was only 466 grams at 26.3 weeks when born..

Blood flow (dopplers) and fluid level is all normal.

BUT.. Still hiding his face! So no 3d pic for us. even the standard pic is non too exciting, but hey, we will see his face soon enough!

Will update later with all the tests and plans that were made/discussed today. Just enjoying this moment :)

Is it time yet?!

Pretty restless night but the day is here. I just want this scan over already! Please let this be a good experience.

Another week down.. Lots of piccies to share

Well I will 23 weeks tomorrow. Getting closer! I can't believe it is is less than 9 weeks till when I had Laci. And only just over 3 till Piper was born :(

The week was not too exciting but I definately kept busy. Shannon was away for work for this week. Getting back late on Friday night. He is home this week then away a bit in the 2 weeks after that I think.

I got everything for bub except the pram out of layby though which was pretty exciting. We decided to buy a new cradle instead of the old bassinette we had so that was exciting putting together. We also bought some old drawers second hand and have spent the weekend painting them. I think they will go nicely with the jungle theme.

Oh and YES that is his name on the blanket! :)







My cloth nappies also arrived this week. I used these with Laci and found them great. They are from bubblebubs. I think they are too cute!



Laci seems to be growing up so fast these days, took some piccies yesterday :)





I also did a belly shot, starting to fill out now I think.



Today I have been feeling a bit off, just not myself, but this is my usual before scans. I have had such negative experiences at scans in the past and i can't help but feel anxious. Tomorrow we will be checking the placenta (that it is still grade 4 - fully covering cervix) and hopefully seeing bubs face and getting a 3d pic :) I have also asked ob to do quick weight estimate so hopefully that wil happen also.

Won't be in to post till the evening I expect as is an afternoon appointment. Hope I sleep okay tonight :(

22 weeks today

and getting some lovely kicks :)

Pelvis is crap crap crap today, the pain really kicked up a notch over the weekend. I did miss my accupuncture and massage last week due to the hospital saga with Laci. New accupuncture booked for this Thursday and my massage therapist is away all week :(

Very quiet day at home today resting, a tad bored but its what is needed.

Only a week till next scan, more bloods and another 24 hour urine. A bit nervous mainly about the urine as this was a huge factor as to why Laci had to be delivered. With Laci I started spilling protein at 8 weeks (was 331 anything over 200 is a worry) at 23 weeks its was 531. It continued to rise until 31 weeks when was over 2500 (machne can only measure up to 2500) This time at 7 weeks it was normal! (under 200) so this one at 23 weeks will be interesting to compare.

Our day at the hospital with Laci

Well yesterday was not the day we thought it would be! To explain better I need to go back to Friday last week first..

So on Friday night, Shannon was away for work and not due home till prob 9pm. Laci does tend to play up a bit more when he is away. She is really getting into the story telling and basically well...lies. So that may help explain why the following occurred.

So Laci was in bed for the night on friday, she had been in there for about 15 minutes, so not asleep yet. The phone rang, it was a friend of mine. As soon as I started talking, Laci toddles out, asking who it is etc. She doesn't like the idea of me talking on the phone at all when it is just me at home, boy do we get some performances.. So anyhow I tell her to go back to bed.. A few minutes later, she is out again, "i want..." etc again tell her to go back to bed. A good few minutes pass and I am about to get of the phone and she comes out and says "I put something up my nose" So I tell friend I better go..

I go into her room, now remember she has never done anything like this before. And I say what have you put up your nose? she replies "I don't know". She says it is in her right nostril but refuses to say what it is. I see an plastic princess' crown she got from a party on her bed, crappy piece of plastic that I did notice a few weeks ago had a broken section. I ask "is it a piece from the crown?" she replies "yes" very quickly.. a little too quickly, so much so that I think she is probably just grabbing at my suggestion.

I tell her to lay down and I look up said nostril I see and feel nothing. I say are you sure there is something up there? She says yes, I go get tweezers. She asks what are they for? I tell her to get it out, she asks will it hurt? I say yes it might, I try once or twice, can feel nothing. She then says "mummy stop! there isn't anything up my nose".

I am a little stunned. I then clarify this. "Is there or isn't there something up your nose?" "No there isn't" she replies. I say "so you just lied to me?" she responds 'yes' so I said thats makes me very cranky, goodnight and that is it.

I figure if there truly is something I am sure she will tell me in the morning. I tell Shannon the version of events and he also can't believe the story that she seemed to just make up for attention, but we leave it. She has swimming lessons next morning, no complaints. Nothing mentioned again.

Fast forward to Wednesday morning, so this is now 4.5 days since. When she wakes up I see a red right nostril and it is oozing!!

Shannon sits down with her and asks is there something up your nose? She says yes, again won't say what it is. I figure it must be the piece of plastic crown.

So off to the gp, gp can see something white, but too hard to reach, she tries to no avail. So off to emergency dept. They try with suction (very traumatic) and loops and tweezers. No luck.... So then they say they have to sedate her. We go into the recus room where they inject her with ketamine, she is breathing but totally out of it. They put in a IV and proceed to try and get it out.. no luck! It ends up getting ushed further up.

So then we had to be with her as she came out of that, its not nice! Tongue thrusting, twitching, lip smacking etc.. She is slurry for a while then back to usual self but not at all impressed about iv in her arm.

So then we get seen by the ENT specialist who says we have to go to theatre under a general anaesthetic. It is at about this point that Shannon was no longer coping too well.

So we waited about 2 hours then off to theatre. I went in with her as she went under, again a highly non pleasant experience as she fought and screamed when the gas went on.

A very quick procedure, quite a bit of blood and all over. Within 25 minutes we were in recovery with her and she was happy and talking with the nurses.

So the foreign body? Yes a piece or silver plastic crown, wrapped in white fluff?? When the nurse said white fluff, I looked at Laci, she said "oh that is the bit of band aide I stuck up there the other day cause it was sore" god I was chuckling inside!

And there concluded the day. We got home just before 4pm after leaving the house at 8am. She watched a little cartoons, had a shower, dinner and bed. Had a great sleep and woke to her usual bubbly self this morning. Only complaint was thast arm was a bit sore from the injection of ketamine.

I was a little tired of telling the story you can imagine, cause here I was knowing exactly how long it had been up there! So you can imagaine the assumptions!

Ah kids! Never thought my little girls first theatre experience would be from something jammed up her nose. She was such a good girl all day though, no complaints, just took it in her stride, but am pretty sure (please please) that is has scared her off shoving anything else up there!

Kicks!

Last night Shannon felt his first kicks! Woohoo bubba boy, way to make your daddy smile!

What a day, I'm exhausted!

Well the appointment went pretty well, ob is happy with the way that things are at the moment. We had a good chat about how I'm feeling etc which was good. I think now that I am getting closer to the stages where things went wrong with Piper, it is playing on my mind.. I did say to the ob though that I am starting to believe I will probably get to 30 weeks now, just how much further than that remains to be seen. She agreed that it is looking promising so far, but obviously no gaurantees and alot could happen between now and then.

So next appointment is in 2 weeks at 23 weeks. It will be a pretty big appointment. I will have more bloods just to check on things (oh and I also started on extra iron now as haemoglobin is low) and also will do a 24 hour urine, I am a little anxious about this as this was one of the main issues that Laci had to come early and it starting showing preotein from very early, so I won't be able to help but compare. I am also having my repeat scan to hopefully see bubs face for final morphoology checks and also hopefully get a 3d pic. Also will be checking on placenta position again and also growth for bub. Will be good to have some results to hopefully reassure me.

So...

after the appointment I had to pick up Shannon so he could drop his scooter off for a service and he was dropping me home and taking car back to work. We decided to stop for a quick macca's lunch and well okay, that didn't go as planned..

Brief version... supposedly I 'pushed in' in the 'line' when I say line, we were the only ones waiting until 10 seconds before we were served.. So the woman who thought she should be next then proceeded to abuse me. It went on and on.. I couldn't believe it, there were choice words coming out of her mouth I tell ya! And a few personal jabs. I don't deal with confrontation at the best of times so my reaction was minimal, I think I was just stunned that you could seriously lose it over something so trivial..

Now the interesting response from yours truly.. I then say down and starting to sob, I mean really sob and cry. It felt like my whole world was crashing, for a moment I thought, 'so now I can't even venture out of the house!' I just felt so fragile :( I couldn't eat because all I could do was sob and sob. Poor Shannon didn't know what to do, this is so not the way I usually react. I am not a cryer! Eventually I ate a little and we left..

I then had a lovely friend pop over for a 1.5 hours visit which we had previously planned which was really good. But I just feel exhausted now. All that emotion, coming out of nowhere. Guess there is more going on for me than I realised or had let myself acknowledge :(

21 weeks today

Today I have my 21 week Ob appointment. YAY 21 weeks, getting there! Can't help but wish I was 31 weeks but still 21 weeks is good :) I am on fortnightly appointments until 25 weeks and then it will be weekly. Am noticing that my swelling in feet is increasing now, BP up a little, so will see how the protein check is on the pee today I guess and take from there.

Getting heaps of big kicks and movement now. So cool! He seems to have worked out that night is for sleeping and day is playing, so am pretty happy about that, I only feel the occassional tap at night when I wake for toilet stops etc.

I went through all the last of the baby things this weekend, was fun, got the bassinett out and went through everything to see what we need. Not much! I just want to feel organised as we just don't know what is around the corner.

My pelvis is crap! The groin pain is really gettig me down at times, I can walk only slowly and with a wobble, look like I am 9 months and bub has engaged lol. One good thing is that the sciatic and nerve pain down my leg has pretty much gone and that was what was waking me at night and hurting even when I rest. Now the pelvis pain is worse, but really only on movement or prolonged sitting.

Took some cute photos of Laci in new skirt, looking so grown up, will attempt to post them later this arvo when home again.

Photo's

Not much chance hiding it now I think. But eergh my face is looking a little round.. OKay I need to chill, gaining weight is such an adjustment after working so hard to lose it. I just need to keep telling myself that all will be a go when this pregnancy is over, I know how to lose serious weight and I will do it again and yay no more fertility drugs, miscarriages etc to mess with my emotional eating issues! What's important now is being healthy and our bubba boy! And I do feel truly blessed to be getting the chance to do this again.

Good to be home!

Long drive on friday down to Twonsville because of roadworks, took 5 hours and then today on way back was 5 hours again as drizzled rain the whole way. Had a headache most of day which wasn't fun, so am super glad to be home. Checked BP when got home and all good so I would say the headache was just from crappy bed, long days etc

Will update more tomorrow am just stuffed, but the I do have exciting news. Yesterday the first kick from bub was felt on the outside by..... Laci! Was such an awesome moment, seeing her face light up, she felt two big kicks. Now just for Shannon to feel some decent ones :)

A busy morning

So we decided to head to Townsville to the inlaws anyhow. It won't be long and we won't want to be doing the drive. It takes about 4-4.5 hours maybe longer with all my pee stops lol.

Shannon had to work this morning so Laci and I are home getting organised, forgot what yo have to do just for a weekend away. Clean up, take out the rubbish, pack bags etc. We are also taking food for the drive to save $$ on buying along the way. I am also taking my body pillow as don't think I could sleep without it :) Thankfully Shannon put his bag in the car this morning as we are picking him up on the way through. I am however thinking I am still going to be up for 2 trips down the stairs with rubbish etc which I was trying to avoid (we live up 2 big flights of stairs). Ah well, pace myself :)

So we will get to Townsville late afternoon/early evening I expect then we will have two days and then head back on Monday. Shannon was lucky that due to all the long hours he has time he can take off as TOIL (Time Off in Liew) QLD health really doesn't like paying overtime so instead you get the time off.. Not too bad, even after this trip he still has 2 days banked and I am sure he will accumulate more.

So 2 hours till we go, Laci still in nightie and watching playschool, I am almost packed. She wants to do our nails before we leave lol so I better get my shower.

Oh yeah I am really excited about being 20 weeks on Monday, yay the 20's are here! Here's hoping I will well and truly see the 30's before I know it :)

A sigh of relief

I found out yesterday that my claim for income protection insurance has been approved. Will still be over a week till the money comes through, but I will get weekly amounts equivilant to 75% of my income. Considering I was only working 3 days a week it is not huge but it is going to make a huge difference especially with ob fees, acupuncture and massage etc. The income protection will cover my until my maternity leave kick in 6 weeks before my due date. I asked about if bub comes earlier but that doesn't affect it. The thanks to QLD gov job I get 14 weeks paid maternity leave which I can take as half pay over 28 weeks. It means we will have some moment coming in until the end of 2009 finiancial year. This is big news for us as in both Pipers and Lacis pregnancies I was unpaid leave from very early on and then when they came early Shannon was also on unpaid for quite some time. It really did add to the stress.

On the night of the ultrasound this week, I had a bit of a freak out when I let it sink in that I have grade 4 placenta previa. I just can't believe I had to get that thrown in on top of everything else.. Anyhow, have decided to keep positive and think that probably in my case it hopefully won't affect me as I don't get very far into the third trimester anyhow and that is when most problems happen. Just hoping I don't get a bleed before 30 weeks because if contractions start then they will want to whip him out due to the condition of my uterus not being able to cope with contractions..

I am starting to feel the heat. Something that usually doesn't bother me too much, over the last couple of days I have needed the air con on at home for a couple of hours otherwise I just feel yuck.

Hmm what else, oh I have gained a grand total of 4 kilos since the pregnancy began. I am pretty happy with that, seems to be in the normal range. I feel like I am eating alot as am hungry every 2 hours or so, but I am making good choices. Feeling a bit blergh about my body image at the moment but am pushing that away. This is only a temporary situation and the health of me and bub is what is important. I certinaly know how to lose weight and am actually excited to be doing that after all this and keeping it off without all the fertility drugs messing with my moods and therefore my comfort eating!

We decided to tell Laci about bub being a boy, well actually I did :) She had been mainly referring to him as a he anyhow, but was a lovely moment. I also decided to tell the inlaws. I figure if we wait for the birth I miss out on the moment and I knew she would be thirlled. And yep she was! Was very cool.

Well off to have bloods done to check my platelets (I have a low platelet issue) and check on the usual stuff as well then its off to acupuncture.

We had planned to drive down to Townsville to inlaws for a long weekend this weekend, not sure if the $$ will stretch, guess we better make a decsion soon seeming its wednesday :)

Okay so its definately a boy!

Didn't get any other good pics though as he was laying with face facing my back. Having another scan in 4 weeks and will hopefully get good face and 3d pics then. All looks good with him though.

I do have full placenta previa though, completely covering internal os of cervix. Will confirm at next scan and clarify what this means for me (I can't have vaginal delivery anyhow but will prob mean increased risk of bleeding etc). She did say that mine looked like it completely covered the os, so not much chance of it moving as pregnancy progresses.

Ob made a comment or 'slip up' when talking about the rest of pg and said "IF" we make it 27 weeks and has completely freaked shannon out thinking that she is being negative. He said to her "When"! As there is no reason to believe I will go that early again.. AH this is so not not easy :(

Okay I'm nervous

And I hate scans. Please let this be a positive experience..

1pm, not long to go..