26-33 weeks

It's been a long time since an update. I'm doing pretty good this pregnancy compared to my last. I d feel like it is more challenging to be pregnant at 36 compared to 20 something. Baby Evelyn is doing really good. She wiggles around a lot and her movements are getting more painful. I love feeling her move though. So I passed my glucose test no big deal. I had a fall and had to go the L&D to get monitoring. All is well though. Evelyn was breech but after some exercises I got her to turn. I do have s Bactria that I'm treating that could put me into early labor. So hopefully I can get rid of that soon. Other than a few hiccups I'm having a good pregnancy. Of course there are the aches and pains that come with a growing belly. I'm doing good though. 

20-25 weeks

My pregnancy has been pretty boring because I've been taking it super easy. I feel her move around and that is fun. Other than a few BH contractions when I over do it I'm good. I never got my energy back. It's so different being pregnant at 35 compared to your 20's. My sleep is pretty good for now. I take extra calcium and magnesium which help a ton. Here is a few bump picture from the last 5 weeks. 

20 weeks

22 weeks

24 weeks

25 weeks

19 weeks

I had my ultrasound and baby is looking great. We confirmed that baby is a girl. We are so excited. She's weighing 10 ozs already which puts her at 3 days ahead. Not much but she's growing great. I feel her moving a lot more lately and Jonathan felt her kick as well. Almost half way there. 

18 weeks

I'm feeling some more movement but not much. I have my next ultrasound next week I'm excited. Still feeling good but I have some trouble sleeping. It's not that bad. I have Braxton Hicks when I do to much. I'm not surprised though. I'll talk to my dr about that next week as well. 

17 weeks

Nothing going on to exciting. I'm feeling good and I feel the baby move a tiny bit. I can't wait to have my next ultrasound. 

16 weeks

I feel like I've been this big for months!! At least I've stayed like this and not gotten progressively bigger. I would be huge! Things have been pretty boring. That's a good thing. I feel the baby on occasion but I'm still pretty early. We can't seem to pin down the name for the baby. We have never had this problem before. Maybe we've been out of baby naming practice for so long. Anyway I have my anatomy scan in 3 weeks so that will be fun. I just can't wait for summer break so I can sleep in. 

15 weeks

I'm 15 weeks and it seems to be going so fast. I'm feeling pretty good aside from the regular sleeping disturbances. I have felt the baby a little more this week. I have an appointment tomorrow and I'll see when we will do the big ultrasound. So it's been a pretty good week. 

NT scan

What an ordeal!!!!! So last Wednesday I had the first trimester screening that calculates your risks for Down syndrome and other chromosome problems. During the ultrasound they couldn't see the nasal bone which is a marker for downs. Then the blood work came back with increased risks. I was stressed for sure. I went back for a repeat ultrasound. I talked to the high risk dr and she said that my blood work came back normal and the one test that was causing problems was taken too early. So my risk went down right then. She had me get another ultrasound and the tech found the nasal bone right away. Things are looking so much better and I'm no longer high risk for chromosome issues. Just incase I got a test that will say for sure and we will know what the gender is 100%. We have a pretty good idea though. 

14 weeks

I'm 14 weeks and feeling pretty good. I feel baby once in a while but not that much. I'm not growing that much in the tummy. I still listen to the baby every day and will do so until I feel regular movement. Not much to report until my ultrasound. 

13 weeks

I'm in the second trimester. Some say it's 14 weeks but I say 13 weeks. I'm still not sick. I started having a hard time sleeping. I have to take calcium and vitamin D to help with pregnancy induced restless leg syndrome. I wish I knew about it 5 pregnancies ago. It has saved my life. I've embraced naps as well. Ok it takes an hour or more from my productive days but better than being cranky. The kids are looking forward to finding out the gender. So am I!!! We don't really have a preference and will be happy with whatever. Lily wants a girl because of our pattern. G/G, B/B, G/?  Emma thinks it's a boy. Peter is team boy. Benji is certain it is a boy. Miriam is soooo certain it's a girl. Jonathan thinks it is a boy. I think it's a boy but since I think that I think it's a girl. I'm always wrong when I try to guess with myself. I have a 98% accuracy when I guess others. So weird. This week I have an NT scan so I'm excited to see the baby again. 

12 weeks

I feel like I always look mad in my pictures. Anyway I'm not sick anymore!!!! I've been feeling better for a week now. I went my midwife appointment today for the first time. I really liked the office and they are taking measures to give me extra care. I'll be seeing a perinatalogist as well. I'll get more ultrasounds and then later in the pregnancy I'll get injections to prevent preterm labor. I'm really happy about the care I'm getting. It's not so crucial but it's always smart to be prepared. Who knows I may not have preterm labor this time around. But better safe than sorry. My dr was surprised how far up my uterus was. Usually by 12 weeks it's barely above the pelvic bone. Mine is 3 inches above it. She said even though ive had babies she's shocked by how high it is. She thought maybe my dates were wrong but that's not possible. Haha I guess my body has a great memory and moving long at a fast pace. 

I'm excited to get a ultrasound to check gender in the next 3 weeks. I don't have a gender preference and keep going back and forth about what I think it is. I felt boy strongly at first but I'm always wrong when it comes to me. So now I'm thinking girl. Who knows. I'm just excited to be close to my second trimester. Just one more week. 

11 weeks

It looks like shrunk some. My morning sickness is almost all gone. If I get dehydrated I feel bad but that's a easy fix. I had another US with my RE and decided I'm moving on to the dr that will deliver me. I have my first appointment April 20th. 

I'm so excited to be a couple weeks away from my second trimester. Babies heartbeat is 169. 

10 weeks

I'm 10 weeks and I'm starting to feel better. I'm not so tired and my nausea has eased up. Hopefully I didn't just jinx myself. I'm already feeling this little one move. It's so crazy. I feel little bubbles popping in my tummy. WhileI listen to babies heartbeat I hear and feel little thumps. This little one is strong I guess. We really don't care what the baby is but I'm excited to find out. Benji is so involved in the pregnancy and likes to know how big the baby is every week. I'm so excited about this pregnancy because of how it will add to my children's lives. Just to experience a baby and understand it is so great. I have another ultrasound on Friday and I'm excited to see the baby again. 

8 week 5 day ultrasound.

Baby is doing great and heartbeat is 158

9 weeks

This week has been a little rough. Morning sickness has kicked in and I've been on the couch all day. That's pretty much all that has been happening. Oh I may have felt the baby already. I was using my Doppler and I felt and heard a thump at the same time. This has happened a couple of times. I asked my Dr if it was possible and he said that it is but not typical. He said you just have to be very aware of your own body and I always have. I'm excited that I've made it this far into my pregnancy. After a loss later into your first trimester it's hard to relax. First trimesters are scary enough. 4 more weeks and I'll be in the 2nd trimester. 

8 weeks pregnant

8 weeks has been the week pregnancy sickness has kicked in full force. No throwing up but if I did I would get some relief. Being on the verge of losing my lunch or breakfast or anything that goes into my mouth is tough. But I'm grateful for the sickness cause it shows everything is going well. I listen to the baby daily and the kids love hearing it. Only 3 1/2 more weeks of taking progesterone and I'm really happy about that. Maybe my sickness will ease up. I'm still super tired and spend a lot of my day on the couch. At least I have the day to myself so I can rest and not push myself too much. I have an ultrasound this Friday so I'm excited to see the baby again.

7 weeks.

My sense of smell is really bothering me and I'm feeling a little more queasy. I had a horrible cold for 2 weeks and I'm trying to shake it the best I can. 

My bloat has leveled off. I think I'll look like this for a while until it's baby that is making my tummy this big. 

6 weeks 6 days ultrasound

I saw my little blob again today. It's heartbeat was 129 and growing right on track. 

6 weeks

Still tired and dizzy but I'm surprised that morning sickness hasn't hit hard. I bought maternity pants because I need them. It's so crazy how fast things change the more kids you have. I'm starting to use my Doppler just as an experiment. I wanted to see how early I could pickup the heartbeat. I found Mimi's at 9 weeks 6 days. We will see. 

5 weeks

This week I started to get really tired and dizzy after I took my progesterone. Other than that I've been craving steak so bad. I'm dreaming about steak. Maybe I need more iron. I'm so bloated this week it's crazy. 

4 weeks pregnant

4 week belly

I'm 4 weeks pregnant and it's been around 4 years ago that I had a pregnancy blog post. I feel so blessed that medical intervention has helped me on my way. I'm on progesterone so I have less anxiety about this pregnancy than if I were not on it. Being pregnant after a loss is really draining. I've had many chemical pregnancies but those happen mostly before you even know you are pregnant. I'm a early tester and if I wasn't I wouldn't even know about my chemicals. But since I had a loss after I saw a heart beat which brings the chances of miscarriage to 3%. It's still a very real possibility. I'm really tired and few other symptoms. I feel the round ligament stretching. I feel a little crampy so that makes me alittle worried about ectopic. I think I ovulated from my right side which is the side the dr had to redo and there is less tube there. I really think this is going to be a successful pregnancy. I just need to calm my nerves. 

Before surgery

First ultrasound

We got great news!!! The baby is in the uterus. We saw the yolk sac and fetal pole. The dr thought he saw a quick flicker for a second so I'm going back In a week for a follow up ultrasound. What a huge relief. Now just praying for normal development. The baby was measuring 5 weeks 6 days so that would make my due date Halloween. 

Is This Real.

I just had surgery a month ago. My cycles are super whacky. It's supposed to take a lot longer because I'm older. I am sooooo excited yet still anxious. I have the risk of a tubal because of the surgery. There are some hurtles to get past but at least I have progesterone to help sustain the pregnancy. I think I'm due early November. 

What are the chances.

My last cycle started 1/5 and my surgery was 1/22. I have longer cycles and thought I would ovulate around my surgery date. The morning of I got a ultrasound of my ovaries and it didn't look like I was even close to ovulating. I thought that I would ovulate during my recovery so no chance of conceiving that cycle. I started bleeding the day after my surgery and was told to expect it and it wasn't my period. I bled for 4 days and thought it was a lot more than I was told to expect. I was taking ovulation predictor tests to get an idea and after a while I got tired of taking then and stopped. My Drs policy is 2 weeks then you can try. I decided to take a OPK the day before my post op appointment which was 20 days after my surgery. I got a positive and thought it was interesting that my body would hold off that long to ovulate just in time for us to get the go ahead. 

Post Op appointment

I saw my dr and he gave the all clear. He told me it may take time to conceive considering I'm 35 now. We talked about the steps to take if I did get pregnant. I asked for progesterone in case just to be on the safe side. Once I left he told me to make him proud. We will see. 

Recovery

It was much harder than I thought it would be. I got allergies and every time I would sneeze my tubes would burn like crazy. It was hard to move around. Laughing would be painful. By 2 weeks post surgery I felt pretty good. I got lots of help and plenty of meals brought in. 

Surgery Day.

Surgery is always scary but I've never had my stomach cut open. It's like a mini c section but they don't cut open the uterus. I've never had a c section so I don't know what to expect. I got to the hospital and they brought me back to the operating room. I get a spinal (like an epidural) and some sleepy drugs. Next thing I know I'm being wheeled to my room. The pain wasn't so bad until later. They said my surgery went perfect and only lost 1 cm on my left tube and 2 cm on my right which is very good. I stayed the night and got to go home the next afternoon. Now time to recover. 

Intervention

Sometimes our lives go through twists and turns you would never expect. As I said before I am getting a reversal. I had lots of back and forth thoughts. 8 months ago I had a dream that I had this perfect little boy and I fell in love with him instantly. The dream was so real I felt the baby in my arms and everything was right. When I woke up I felt an emptiness in my heart. I really wanted to get the surgery but I didn't think it was possible. It's a elective surgery so insurance doesn't pay. Out of no where Jonathan got a job offer that would make affording the surgery more likely. After Jonathan got the job we moved and then the holidays hit. I had pushed my thoughts of getting the surgery done to the back burner. Miriam was now in full day and I had so much time to get my house in order. I was so excited to experience some sort of freedom. As the weeks went on felt lonely and that something was missing. Right before Christmas I had another vivid dream and I was in the hospital holding a brand new baby girl.   All of the sudden the nurse takes the baby from my arms and tells me I can't have her. I ask why not. She then says that I can't HAVE her and walks away. Suddenly I'm at my kitchen table filling out paper work and making phone calls trying to get my baby back. I woke up from my dream having a hard time catching my breath and crying. Felt that dream was telling me that I couldn't have that baby is because physically it was impossible. I would have to go through a process in order to have that baby. The next day I researched Drs and talked with Jonathan. Jonathan is 110% on board with this and seemed so relived that I was so serious about this. I researched so many Drs and made so many calls to find the right one. The dr I wanted was booked out until the beginning of April for surgery and this was the beginning of January. I scheduled my consultation for 1/7 and decided to look and see if any other dr had an opening that wasnt so far away. No one would call me back so I decided to stick with the Dr I already had an appointment with. We went up to the snow at the end of Christmas break and as we were coming down the mountain I got the distinct impression to call the dr and see if there was a cancelation. As soon as I got reception on my phone I called. The lady that makes the schedule answered the phone and guess what. They just had a cancelation and a spot opened up for a couple weeks later. Even though I didn't have my consultation yet I asked her to put my name on the schedule. Everything fell into place just perfectly. Sometimes plans change and we get a little help from the other side. I'm glad I acted upon the inspiration I received.  

Tubal Reversal

I decided to get my tubes reversed. I've been having symptoms of post tubal ligation syndrome. Like lightheaded and too many other that I'd rather not list. I'm excited to be able to feel normal again and if it's in heavenly fathers plan we will have another baby. 

Why might you ask. When I decided to tie my tubes I just found out that I lost 2 babies. I was devastated and made a choice that shouldn't have been allowed to make. Over the last 4 years I have regretted that choice and it has been very emotional. So after years of prayer and research we decided that the power of procreation is the Lords and we are not going to mess with that in the way we did. We think that it is an individual choice and there is no judgement coming from us. We are doing what's best for us. I'm excited for whatever is coming my way, whatever that may be. 

Zipper braid.

Emma found this fun hair style online. It was easier than I thought it would be. 

Face switch

This is a fun app. So silly. 

Another missing tooth

Both front teeth are gone. He seriously dislikes getting his teeth pulled out. He likes that he can stick his tounge through his window. 

100 day

Mimi dressed up as a classy grandma. 

Good bye cast

So glad her arm healed and that thing is gone. 

Lily is a teenager.

Ahhhhhh. She is 13 can you believe it. Happy birthday beautiful. 

Basketball Date

We got to go on a fun date to a Suns vs cavailer bb game.