19 weeks

 

How far along? 19w2d (or 20w2d based on my last 3 ultrasounds)

Total weight gain:  +2lbs according to my home scale. +4lbs according to the scale and the clinic and +.5kg according to my MFMs scale.

Maternity clothes?  Still yes.  Although Craig was teasing me recently about looking as pregnant as our 7 month friend, so I’ve started wearing a lot of my non-maternity pants in protest.  Some of the ones that were looser can still be done up, so I guess I don’t really need to be in maternity ones as often as I am.

Sleep: Still good.  Falling asleep is always my biggest problem. I do a lot of my thinking at night, about Griffin and this sweet little one.

Best moment this week: Seeing him again on the ultrasound is always a great part of my week.  It’s probably because of the loss, but I always get apprehensive at every appointment that their going to suddenly find that his heart has stopped beating. :(  But we got the best news possible that medically this is looking to be a perfect pregnancy so all of the extra steps we are taking are more precautions than necessary stopgaps. 

Movement: Still lots of reassuring wiggles!  If they hadn’t have told me an I have an anterior placenta this time around, I would have had NO IDEA based on how often I can feel his kicks from the outside.  Hopefully Craig catches one soon!

Gender: Boy!

Labor Signs: None.  But I have noticed some braxton hicks lately when I’ve been bent over and stand up quickly (such as moving laundry from the washer to dryer).  Not painful, just annoying.  If it’s anything like my pregnancy with Griffin, they’ll go away around 30 weeks, with no contractions to be seen until I go into real labour.

Belly Button in or out? In.

What I miss:  Is it sad that it’s still wine?  And sleeping on my tummy.

Weekly Wisdom:  Smoothies and kombucha can do amazing things if you’re constipated.  Just saying.  Also, I have baby SCOBYs coming out of my ears, so please let me know if you’d like to start brewing your own!

Milestones: Half way!  Since it’s likely I’ll be going early since they want to gently induce me before 40 weeks, I can officially say I am half way now.  And I can also officially say that I am ready for this baby to be here.  I am really looking forward to growing this baby and feeling more and more kicks, but truthfully it feels like I am 9 months overdue at this point.

Big Sister:  Still really excited to have a baby in our house and teach it all of the things she is mastering.  Although we’ve also reached the point where she will say “I’m not being a sister!” or “I DON’T have two brothers!” if she’s grumpy mad for some reason or another.  C’est la vie.

Pregnancy After Loss:  I did the math and in a few days we will reach the point that Griffin has been gone from our arms for longer than we ever had him.  And on that same day I’ll be 20 weeks pregnant with our new blessing.  I’ll post more about this the day of because it is a LOT of emotions to unpack.

Prayer Requests: Baby looked really healthy yesterday, so just pray for continued good health and steady growth at our scans.  His placenta had moved up a bit (to .8cm away) so there is hope that it will keep moving the 2cm away that is needed for me to deliver him the good old fashioned way.  Pray it moves!  And doesn’t give us any trouble in the mean time. 

preggo projects

One of the things I was worried about for this pregnancy was the fact that we were COMPLETELY NEWBORN READY before we even conceived.  I mean, there are things we could do to improve the nursery (ie. hang pictures on the walls), but anything a person would worry about getting in place before baby comes, we’ve already got. 

And of course the second I found out we were having another boy I took all of the boy baby clothes out of their storage bags in the (nursery) closet and reorganized them.  I’ll still have to wash them come month nine so that they are fresh and clean for the new baby, but otherwise, clothing prep is done.  If I’m being completely honest, I never took any of the newborn clothes out of the dresser after Griffin died.  The bigger clothes were easier than looking at and touching all of those cute little things we’d bought for him and that he was supposed to be wearing then.  Going through it all again a couple weeks ago brought back another big cry fest.  It’s still not fair. 

But regardless, I am so excited to be expecting another baby, and I want to have projects to complete each week to help pass the time this pregnancy.  So here is my list of 20 things to complete in the next 20 weeks!  Not all of them are baby related, but a lot will make life easier for both while pregnant and with a newborn.

1.  Cloth Diapers (DIY some new fitted covers and pocket diapers)
2. Reupholster Glider
3. Nursery closet shelving system
4. Nursery brag wall (newborn photos, birth details, shadow frames of all kiddos)
5. Curtains and valance
6. Artsy mobile
7. Name art
8. Baby brother/big sister shirts
9. Big sister nook in nursery
10.  New baby carrier for me & play mei tai for Emily
11. Upholster master bed and headboard
12. Foam cushions for foyer bench
13. Toy storage in basement
14. Install fence and garden beds in backyard (Supervising!)
15. Cutesy camping trailer (new curtains, possibly new cushion covers)
16. Remove pond & sod hill
17. Arrange outdoor patio
18. Find plaque or stone for Griffins tree or garden.
19. Repaint/decorate guest/kids bathroom
20.  Get really good at doing laundry in a timely manner.

A couple of these are up to the hubby to complete, with my assistance/guidance, especially the fence and pond removal.  I’ve been digging up all of the plants around the pond myself, but all of the levelling and sodding will have to be up to him.

They also probably won’t be completed in this order. Outdoor/trailer stuff will likely all happen this month or the next, with a lot of the sewing projects happening as I need to slow it down a bit.

16 weeks

Figured I would start keeping track of this pregnancy.  I did a lot of pregnancy updates with Emily, not very much with Griffin (regrettably, 2nd child syndrome I guess?) and now after pregnancy being the only part I got with him, I’m determined to make sure I’m making the most of this one.

 

How far along? 16 weeks.  We don’t have an LMP to base this pregnancy on, so this is based on the 6 week ultrasound.  The two most recent ultrasounds have put me a week ahead of this, but I’m keeping my current due date (October 8th) for now.

Total weight gain: If I weigh myself in the morning, I’m down a couple of pounds still, but by the end of the day I’m sitting right at pre-pregnancy weight.  Not really abnormal for me. With Em I was down 10lbs at this point and with Griffin I was down a couple pounds. 

Maternity clothes? Since I’m down on the floor with Emily a lot, I’m wearing my smallest maternity pants when I’m not still in yoga pants.  I’ve got a short torso, so I’ll be in non-maternity shirts until at least 7 months.

Sleep: Fine.  Unless the toddler doesn’t sleep. lol.  Actually, normally I’m getting pins and needles on my outer thighs when I’m lying on my sides by this point, but it hasn’t happened at all this pregnancy. 

Best moment this week: Learning the gender at our ultrasound!

Movement: I’ve felt a couple of wiggles, but nothing consistent.  We were feeling Griffin from the outside at 18 weeks, so it shouldn’t be long now!

Gender: Boy!

Labor Signs: Nope.  No braxton hicks yet this pregnancy either.

Belly Button in or out? In. I don’t think it ever became an official outie with either of my previous pregnancies!

What I miss: Wine. I would say sushi, but the kind I always get is spicy shrimp tempura, so it’s not raw anyways!

Weekly Wisdom: Once your toddler has seen you pregnant and post partum, they will ask at EVERY appointment if they baby is coming out.  We’ve told her repeatedly that it won’t happen until after her birthday and camping season, but she just can’t wait!

Milestones: Now that we know the gender I can start unpacking all of those by clothes again! Although since we have a fully finished nursery, if I get too much done now, I won’t have anything left to do by the third trimester!

Big Sister:  Emily is so in love with the idea of another sibling.  She talks all the time about what she’ll do for the baby (“I’ll read the baby my stories, I’ll rock the baby, I tell my baby it’s bedtime”), and tells everyone that she’s “being a big sister” (as opposed to ‘going to be a big sister’ since she already is one!  She’s got things right figured out.).

Pregnancy After Loss: I’ll post soon about everything that goes on when I’m pregnant now.  It’s been a big learning curve for me after two low key pregnancies and deliveries.  I will say that overall I am doing pretty well.  Not a lot of anxiety (at least not relating to losing Griffin), but maybe that will be coming towards then end when my body stopped being a safe place for him. 

Prayer Requests: I know a lot of people are wondering how they can be praying for us.  Pray for the health and safety of this baby and that the blood thinners I am on do their job and keep the blood flowing to the baby.  Pray that my blood pressure goes down;  so far this has been more life-related than pregnancy-related, but too much high blood pressure could lead to pre-eclampsia (which I am already pre-disposed for apparently), and there’s some stuff coming up in our lives that will just add more stress for me.  Pray for Craig.  It was torturous for him that he couldn’t do anything to save Griffin and I think he feels kind of helpless in this pregnancy too; there’s not much he can do to ensure the safety of this little boy while he is still inside of me.

reveal time!

Yesterday we had our early anatomy scan (also known as ultrasound number 3), and the tech asked if we wanted to find out the gender!  Luckily, baby was VERY willing to show us the goods, especially considering I’m only 15 weeks right now.

Overall we had really good news at the appointment, with baby measuring ahead of schedule and everything looking perfectly formed.  The only downside was that I’ve currently got a diagnosis of placenta previa, however it is still really early in the pregnancy and things could change, so I’m not going to start worrying about that now!

Anyways, I’ll stop teasing you and get on with the reveal!  Emily posed while I snapped photos.

Emily and Griffin have a brother.