With Daniel, I tried to blog every week about my pregnancy. With Baby #2....we'll shoot for at least once a month (blame 2nd child syndrome...I can already picture it if we had a 3rd: 1st post: we're pregnant, 2nd post, here's her 1st birthday pictures!). So, that said, I'll do my best!
Bye-bye, 1st trimester!
Now that I'm 14 weeks in, the queasiness and fatigue of the 1st trimester are happily in the rear view. I still feel pretty tired in the early evening sometimes, but not as bad as before. There were weeks there where I'd pick Daniel up, play with him as best I could then, as soon as Kevin got home, I'd hand him off for dinner and bath time while I'd go grab a nap. Other days, I'd bring Daniel into our bedroom, which is pretty well child-proofed, and lie down while he played. I hated to miss our evening play time, but thankfully most days I'm up for it again now.
NT scan
2 weeks ago we had a nuchal translucency (NT) scan ultrasound done. The primary purpose of the NT scan is to measure the width of the space in the baby's neck area, as there's a high correlation between larger widths and Down's syndrome and other chromosomal defects. We have no real risk factors for this, but we chose to do the test because we didn't do it with Daniel and in hindsight, I wish we had.
At his 20 week ultrasound, the technician noted some "bright spots" on his heart and brain. Our midwife said it was probably nothing, but let's look again at 24 weeks. They were still there at 24 weeks so she said, while it's still probably nothing, let's do a detailed Level II sonogram at a specialist's office to make sure. She told us that bright spots are sometimes nothing, but can be "soft markers" for Down's or other chromosomal defects. Of course, as it turned out, the 26 week sono showed that everything was fine, the bright spots were normal variances, and we went on to have a perfectly healthy little boy. But, those 6 weeks were a rather nervous time for us as we waited to find out, knowing the odds were overwhelmingly in our favor but still waiting for the official "all clear."
Had we done an NT scan with that pregnancy, when the 20 week sonogram showed the bright spots, we'd have felt much less nervous about it, knowing that between the NT scan and related maternal blood draws, any defect would almost certainly have been found by then. So, this time around I looked at the NT scan as peace of mind in case a similar issue arises. And if it had turned out there was a defect, we'd have more time to make decisions, arrange for prenatal surgery to correct in cases of some other issues the test can find, and have extra time to prepare ourselves and Daniel if a special needs child were in our future.
All that said, the NT scan went just fine. The little one was definitely looking a lot bigger than when we saw him/her at 7 weeks, and features were much more defined. This kiddo was active too-pushing off the wall with the legs, arching the neck and back, and waving hands around. It was fun to see that little glimpse of what baby's life is like right now, and if that morning was any indication, I've got another squirmer coming!
Here's a profile shot. This definitely looks a lot like Daniel's sonogram profile pictures, but it may be that most babies look like that at this age, so it may be too soon to draw any conclusions about features:
State of the Mommy update
With the 1st trimester behind me I'm feeling pretty good these days. I'm running, biking, and swimming, albeit more slowly than before, and really no pregnancy symptoms at the moment. I have to pee a little more frequently than before, but not like I remember with Daniel. I seem to be carrying a little higher right now too, which might explain that. I often feel like a bottomless pit of hunger, but thankfully veggies and I are getting along well again after a rocky few weeks.
On a related note, I'm still in regular clothes so far. After Daniel was born I lost my baby weight and then another 8 pounds, so pre-baby #2 I was in pants 1 or 2 sizes smaller than pre-Daniel. So far, these smaller pants and shorts still fit fine for the most part, and aren't even starting to get snug. Maternity tops are still too big on me but I'm having to be strategic about wearing looser-fitting regular tops. I'm in that stage where I look chubby more than pregnant, so for now it's all about minimizing the bump till it becomes more definitely a bump rather than a sign of too many donuts. I switched to maternity clothes around 19 weeks with Daniel, and my guess is I'll get there a week or 2 sooner this time, but if I keep carrying higher I may be in maternity tops and regular pants for a few weeks. I've gained about 4 pounds so far-pretty comparable to where I was at this point with Daniel, but since I started lighter I'm still several pounds lighter than I was pre-Daniel. Thanks, running! ;)
Belly pictures
This is from mid-June when we went out for Kevin's birthday dinner, about 6 weeks pregnant. At that point I hadn't gained any weight but was rounding a little in the belly. I will note that I tried that dress on last weekend for our anniversary dinner but while it fit, it was neither comfortable nor flattering anymore.
Here I am at 10 weeks on our beach trip. Still not really showing-looks more like a muffin top than a baby bump (which is why I favored my tankini and wore it much more than the bikini in this picture)
Here's one from 13 weeks. The tech shirt is a small and while it still fits, some of my other running shirts do not. Over the year I've acquired a few that ran really big. Now I'll have a use for them!
And, one from 14 weeks. On a related note, while I like the wall color as background, I'll have to remind Kevin to put his shoes away before we take these pictures ;)
My next checkup is this week. No sonogram this time (next will be at 18-20 weeks), but it will be nice to hear the heartbeat again on the Doppler. Honestly, with no pregnancy symptoms and not really showing yet, checkups provide a nice reassurance that yes, there actually is a baby in there. That's another reason we wanted to do the NT scan-otherwise we'd have a sono at 7 weeks and not again till 18-20-a long time to go without seeing baby. It was reassuring and fun to get to see him/her again.
I haven't taken Daniel to a checkup yet, but once we get a little further along I'd like to bring him to one. I know the midwife who delivered him would enjoy seeing him again (she's still got his birth announcement up on her wall, along with dozens of others of kids she's delivered), and as this all starts becoming a little more real to him I think he'd like to hear the heartbeat. In the meantime we'll keep reading his "brother book", which has become one of his favorites, to get him used to the idea.
So, in another 6 months, we'll be a family of 4. Right now that still feels a long way away but I'm curious to see if the time passes more quickly this pregnancy, with an active toddler providing a fun distraction from the "are we there yet?" feeling of pregnancy. There will be less preparation for us-we already have most of what we'll need, and we've done the Bradley classes and know how to care for an infant. But, this will all turn Daniel's world upside down, so we'll have to be especially mindful of preparing him for the transition from only child to big brother. Should be interesting!
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