good update : )

First of all, here's my belly pic from last Saturday, taken at 14 weeks. (I'll be 15 weeks tomorrow...holy crap!)

I haven't had any more discharge since Saturday evening (::knock on wood::), so I guess maybe it was just from having the cerclage done. I've been feeling pretty good lately and haven't been getting sick much. There's still some foods I just cannot eat or even stomach the thought of. I've been getting heartburn a lot, but at least it doesn't last long. I never got heartburn with Zachary or Ryan....maybe this is a girl (doubt it), lol. I got the best gift on Christmas Eve...I felt the belly bean kick me for the first time! I've only felt it a handful of times since then. I can't wait until it gets more frequent : ). My next appointment is Wednesday (the 2nd). Doug is going with me to that one : ). I'm hoping to get a peek at the sex, but I'm afraid it's going to be too soon to tell for sure (or at all). I'll be 15w 4d. I guess we'll see!

Our Christmas was great : ). Ryan loved everything, I think. After he opened each thing, he just wanted to play with it and we had to keep persuading him to open the rest of them. LOL. He opened them all, though : ). His faves were his Gameboy Advance SP and a huge stuffed horse. He also really likes the VTech Globe and VTech Write & Learn Letter Pad.

I was really surprised Christmas morning. I woke up to a new kitchen table and chairs! We desperately needed them. Our old set was falling apart. I had seen the new set in a Black Friday ad and mentioned to Doug's mom that I liked it. She told me to tell Doug to get it "for me", but I never did. So she did! And he went and got it : ). He had it hiding in his mom and dad's garage and him and his dad put it together over the weekend and my dad and brother came over Christmas Eve after I was asleep to help him bring it in. I love it : ). Doug also surprised me with another great gift. A necklace with an angel pendant. He said it reminded him of Zachary and he got it so I could wear it throughout my pregnancy and have Zachary watch over the baby and me :*). Here are a few pics!

You can expect another update after my appointment Wednesday! : ) I'll try to have it up by Thursday night at the latest.

let the games begin...

TMI (Too Much Information) ALERT! (This post is full of it. LOL.)

:::sigh::: It all started Tuesday night after I went shopping for a couple of hours. I got home and went to the bathroom and when I wiped there was some light beige-colored mucous type stuff on the toilet paper (and yes, I check it *every time I use the restroom, lol). I tried not to freak out since it wasn't pink or red. I figured I probably over did it by shopping (my back was sore, too). I had it a few more times before going to bed, none over night, but then again once or twice in the morning. I called Dr. K.'s office and left a message for the nurse. She talked to the doctor and called me back and said I probably just over did it and as long as it wasn't red and I wasn't having cramping or pain that I didn't need to be seen and I was to take it easy and no more shopping. So I did nothing the rest of the day, lol. I didn't have it again until yesterday morning after going #2 and only 2 times. Then it showed up again today after I vacuumed, later in the day after going #2 again, and then one other time for no apparent reason. Grrrr. It's SO hard not to worry! Although I had the same thing with Ryan that started right around the same time and I had it on and off until I had him. I would call the O.B. (different office), they'd have me come in and they'd check the baby and my cervix and everything would be fine. So who knows. It still makes me very nervous. I was doing pretty good (nerve-wise) up until this happened. It's going to be a long however many months I have left. Doug said the same thing today when I told him I can't vacuum anymore, lol. He said it's not my fault, though. He also voluntarily made dinner! And ordered me to sit down when I was just standing there doing nothing, lol. I feel bad not being able to do a whole lot, but hopefully in the end it will all be worth it if we can keep this baby cooking longer!! I'll be 14 weeks tomorrow (gotta remember to take a belly pic....someone remind me!), so let's hope we make it at LEAST another 20 weeks!

cerclage update

I had to be at the hospital at 6:15 (ugh) yesterday morning. I was scheduled for 8:30 and was surprisingly in the O.R. by 20 'til 9! I was very nervous all morning and trying not to freak out. I guess most of it was just not knowing exactly what it would feel like (I've had 2 spinals and couldn't even remember what they felt like, lol). Everyone at the hospital was very nice and reassuring. It took them longer to prep me and do the spinal (which wasn't bad at all) than it did for him to do the procedure and I was only in the O.R. for 30 minutes! It was FAST. I mentioned to the anesthesiologist that I've had 2 spinals before and headaches both times and said, "Not with mine you won't!" LOL. He didn't lie! My head doesn't hurt at all (whew!). While Dr. K. was doing the cerclage, it was the weirdest sensation. I could barely feel a thing, but when I did feel something it felt like the baby fluttering around. SO odd, but not uncomfortable at all. After he was done, he did a quick u/s and I got to see the baby for a few seconds and then he showed me the stitches (there's 2).

I got to recovery about 10 after 9 and had to wait until I could move my legs to go back to my room. That took about 30-40 minutes, I think. I was back in my room by 10. I called my mom and talked to her for about 10-15 minutes and then hung up so I could trying peeing. My bladder was SO full from the IV fluids and it really hurt! So the nurse and Doug helped me get out of bed and get in the bathroom, but I still couldn't feel my butt or midsection, lol. And I couldn't pee. So I got back in bed for awhile and then tried again. I sat on the toilet for at least 20 minutes before I finally went. That felt sooooo good, lol. And then I was allowed to go home. The peeing was the worst part of the whole thing. LOL. (Besides the I.V....my hand/wrist STILL hurts and I can't use it properly.) We were out of the hospital by noon.

I had Doug stop at Sheetz and get me a breakfast sandwich and hashbrown b/c I was starving. Then he dropped me off at my mom and dad's and went home to get some stuff done. Ryan spent the night at my mom and dad's Thursday night so we didn't have to drag him out so early. He did really well! Went to sleep fine and stayed asleep : ). And he didn't cry at all.I was having some light spotting (Dr. K. said that was normal), but late afternoon I started having some cramps, which he didn't mention so I was nervous. I called ambulatory surgery and they said it was normal, but then called back and said they thought I said I had a D&C, not a cerclage @@ <--eye roll -- and that I should call OB and talk to someone there. So I did and talked to a very nice nurse who said the cramping was probably normal and as long as it didn't become severe or turn in to pain and I didn't have heavy bleeding or a fever, I should try not to worry. Just take it easy and stay hydrated. So far...:::knock on wood::::...I haven't had any spotting or cramping since I went to bed last night. Hopefully there will be no more.

Thanks for all the good thoughts and prayers!

update!!

First off, I'm totally slacking in the belly pic department! In my defense, our DSL internet was down from Thursday to Tuesday night and we were on limited dial-up service. Anyway, here are a couple pics taken on Saturday, the day I turned 12 weeks.

I don't know WHY my face is so red!

Ryan had to get in on it ; )

I had my first trimester Down Syndrome screening yesterday (detailed u/s and bloodwork) and saw the doctor. Everything looks well with the baby and s/he is measuring right on track (well, actually 12w 6d and I was 12w 4d yesterday, but that's fine) : ). Whew! S/he was SO active! The tech had a heck of a time getting some of the measurements. LOL. I can't believe how much the baby has grown in 3 weeks! (Go back and look at the 9w 3d u/s pics!) S/he is about 3 oz. at this point. Here are a few pics:

The baby had its hands up by its face a lot of the time! Just like Ryan!

Here's a close up.

Dr. K. came in and looked through the pics the tech got of the baby and my cervix and then did a quick scan to look at the baby himself and he was pleased. Then he did an internal to check my cervix and said it was "excellent". Whew! Last visit he said it was short, so that was a relief to hear today! I've been worrying about it getting shorter. Before the screening, my risk of having a baby with DS was 1 in 940 some, I believe, and now it's down to 1 in 9872. After Dr. K. was done examining me, he asked when I wanted the cerclage done and said he could do it this week. I think we both said Friday at the same time, lol. Doug is off Friday so it works out perfectly. My mom is actually keeping Ryan overnight tonight since I'll probably have to be at the hospital around 7am tomorrow (I'll find out for sure what time later today). I am SO freaking nervous! I'll be getting a spinal block for the procedure, which makes me nervous, even though I've had them twice before for my c-sections. I don't remember them being very painful, so I guess it can't be *too bad. What I'm most worried about is getting the dang headache afterward, which I had both times before and it SUCKED. Maybe 3rd time's a charm. I hope. So please keep me in your thoughts and prayers that all goes smoothly tomorrow and I don't freak out too much and I don't get "the headache"! Thanks : ). My next appointment is January 2nd and I'll be 15w 4d and we're hoping to find out the gender! Doug will be with me at that appointment, so that would be a really great time to find out : ).

On to a little bit of Ryan news.....He is finally starting to use the potty a little bit! It started Tuesday....I caught him in the morning mid-poop and he finished on the potty, lol. And then that evening HE wanted to go on the potty (first time for that) and he actually peed several times! Yesterday was pretty crazy with my appointment and then we were at my mom and dad's. He did sit on it yesterday morning and last night and *tried to go (first time for that as well), but nothing happened. I really think he's finally getting it, though : ).

Tuesday night we took him to see Santa at the mall and we got his pic taken. He just loves Santa and isn't afraid at all : ). The first pic, the photographer threw in just b/c *he liked it (he said it looks like Ryan's thinking about what he wants for Christmas and it kinda does, but Ryan was actually in the middle of signing "horse" b/c that's what he wants, lol). We bought the 2nd one : ).