How Far Along: 19 weeks + 2 days pregnant.
Size of baby: Baby is a mango - or a six inch sandwich from Subway, if you're so inclined. :)
Vernix caseosa begins to coat the skin. The greasy, cheese-like white coating helps regulate body temperature and protects your baby's skin while it's submerged in amniotic fluid. By the time your baby is born, most of the vernix will be gone. Your baby's heartbeat is growing stronger now and it's about twice as fast as yours.
Sleep: Since Monday's ultrasound, I've slept beautifully. Maybe it was the worrying making me an insomniac.
Symptoms: More stomach pain, and I'm getting hungrier now. Still with the discharge.
Cravings: White chocolate Magnum icecream. Mmmm.
Gender: IT'S STILL A GIRL! (It's nice to be able to say that.)
Movement: Felt a few jabs this week, but still not consistent. So excited about this!
Maternity Clothes: More dresses - our weather has been 38-40o C quite a lot this week, boo summer.
Milestones: Seeing baby girl (still a girl!) at our morphology scan, looking HEALTHY. Best news ever.
The belly: Poppage!!!!
Our 19 week morphology scan went well today - thank you for all of the good wishes. And yes, she is STILL a girl! :)
Baby has all arms, legs, fingers and toes. We even got to see some of them up close today, as she waved at us!
We didn't get a very good profile shot today, as she was upside down most of the time - but it was very cute. This isn't the clearest of pictures, but you can see the face and her little hand next to her nose, awww!
I haven't mentioned a lot about our high risk possibilities since the aftermath of the 12-week NT scan. There are a few reasons behind it, I suppose. I've been determined to enjoy being pregnant, and not let myself ruin the experience by unnecessary worrying. Also? I don't mention it because I'm afraid of something medical going wrong.
The original risk results that I received said that there was a 1:169 chance of abnormalities. If you remember the details, our scan was great - ultrasound looked normal & the nuchal fold was very average, at 1.4mm. The problems flagged up due to the blood screenings, with low hCG & extremely-low PAPP-A.
When I received the referral for the anatomy/morphology scan, there was an extra number thrown in there. Apart from the 1:169 for Down's Syndrome, it also specified that we were 1:100 for T18. Now those numbers are still a 1% chance, meaning there is a 99% chance that baby is fine - but I was very thrown to have seen the higher risk number there without having being told about it.
At the end of the day, it wouldn't have changed our decision not to have an amniocentesis. We wouldn't terminate this pregnancy, and the risks of complications from the testing still frighten me as much/more than the idea of a special needs child. It just would've been nice to prepare for both odds, especially the higher ones.
My 19-week medical scan is coming up early next week. A part of me is scared, yes. I'm worried about finding medical problems that point out one of the above genetic abnormalities, or a completely unique concern with baby's growth or development. I think most pregnant women worry about having a 'healthy baby' but it seems amplified by the fact that this is our miracle baby. However, the other part of me is strangely calm. There is nothing that I, or hubby, could have done differently in this pregnancy - whatever will be is what was decided from the beginning.
I have faith that we're pregnant with this baby, this time around, for a reason.
Since hubby is still away in Germany, I'll be taking my mum along again with me. She held my hand through the NT scan, cried with me at the gender scan, and will be there for me in the upcoming morphology scan, no matter what the results. And in the meantime, I keep listening to baby's heartbeat, waiting to feel her move, and sending every positive thought & prayer I have out into the universe, hoping she is going to be okay.
How Far Along: 18 weeks pregnant! :)
Size of baby: Another ugly veggie - sorry, baby sweet potato. A picture of a capsicum would be much nicer.
Do you and your partner talk to your baby? Well, with the bones and nerves in her ears now developed enough to function, she can hear all sorts of sounds -- including blood coursing through the umbilical cord, your growling tummy, and your heartbeat. In fact, sudden or loud noises may startle her. Go ahead and sing, tell stories or play music for your baby now. Even though your baby doesn't understand what these sounds are now, eventually she'll recognize your voice better than any other.
Sleep: I'm sleeping better, which is good.
Symptoms: So last week's huge boobs? Are now leaking. Isn't that a bit early? Also, I'm having some more intense cramping and pressure in the tummy, and lots of tiredness and soreness all round. Growing pains, I hope.
Cravings: All I want to eat right now is pizza. That craving came seriously out of nowhere.
Gender: IT'S A GIRL! (I love that I can say that now, how incredible.) :) :) :)
Movement: I'm in the 'don't know if that was baby or gas' phase. Nothing concrete that I can identify as baby.
Maternity Clothes: Lots of dresses this week. I'm not liking the feeling of anything touching my tummy.
Milestones: 18 weeks sounds like a milestone in itself. Almost halfway there.
The belly: I think it's fairly safe to say that it's becoming more noticeable as a preggo-belly now.
Random stabby pregnancy moment of the day when watching Breaking Dawn pt1: being jealous when Bella gets to feel her creepy vampire baby move in her belly all of five minutes after getting magically knocked up. We have to wait nearly 2 years to get pregnant & she's barfing up chicken in seconds. Why am I watching this crap?
How Far Along: We're at 17 weeks and counting!
Size of baby: An onion? Isn't that smaller than an avocado? Sometimes these fruits/veggies confuse me.
Finally, your baby's arms, legs, and trunk have caught up to the size of his head. Baby starts plumping up this week, as body fat is deposited under his skin and sweat glands develop. Also worth noting: The placenta is almost as big as your baby. It provides vitamins, minerals, proteins, fats, and oxygen, along with removing waste and filtering carbon dioxide.
Sleep: I quite enjoy it, yes.
Symptoms: My boobs are feeling HUGE. Also, I keep getting this 'I feel like a bowling ball is going to drop out when I walk' vibe - even though I'm only 17 weeks. Everything feels big and heavy and kind of uncomfortable.
Cravings: Back to dairy. Cheese and yoghurt.
Gender: IT'S A GIRL! (I love that I can say that now, how incredible.) :) :) :)
Movement: Frustratingly, nothing.
Maternity Clothes: Leggings.
Milestones: No big ones this week, really. I'm just powering away & hoping time goes by quickly.
The belly: I'm back to feeling bloated again rather than 'rounded' - my belly feels heavier than last week, for sure. Scary considering that the baby is only the size of an onion, eh? KITTY PHOTO BOMB, ftw.
What a week!
How Far Along: 16 & a bit weeks. :)
Size of baby: Baby is an avocado this week - getting a little heavier again, too. AVO BABY... I love you!
Your baby's delicate skeleton continues to harden from rubbery cartilage to bone. Even so, his bones will remain somewhat flexible for an easier trip through the birth canal. The umbilical cord has fully matured with one vein and two arteries that are protected by Wharton's jelly (a thick substance that makes the cord slippery so it can move freely around your baby). By the way, if you're having a girl, hundreds of thousands of eggs are forming in her ovaries this week -- your future grandchildren!
Sleep: I'm getting a little more sleep now. It's still hard to drift off without hubby there next to me.
Symptoms: Hungry, but also really overheated. I break out into a clammy sweat when I get too hot.
Cravings: Still frozen drinks. I'm not particularly hungry this week.
Gender: IT'S A GIRL! (I love that I can say that now, how incredible.) :) :) :)
Movement: Still nothing. I'm hanging out for the baby to kick!
Maternity Clothes: Elastic waistbands, friends. Elastic waistbands. That's all I'm saying.
Milestones: Our cheeky gender scan, where we {finally} found out that Baby Jag is a SHE. I'm still in shock!
The belly: I'm not feeling particularly big this week - feels about the same as last week. You decide!
Our 16 week early gender scan is tomorrow! I'm really excited, both about seeing the baby again for the first time in a month, and about hopefully finding out whether my instinct was right or oh-so-wrong!
Now... I'm going to be very logical up front, reminding myself that there is a very good chance that our little one will be bashful & keep his/her legs closed - that's what most of my 12 week 3D pictures showed!
But, on the odd chance that we DO find out tomorrow in our quickie ultrasound, how about a little guessing game?
- Baby's heartbeat has been consistently over 140bpm at every scan so far. {It was even 139 at just 7 weeks!}
- Even though it's early days with the bump yet, baby is still sitting very low, down near the pubic bone.
- My hair has gotten thinner, and my face is dry and splodgy - pregnancy glow, ha!
- I've had no morning sickness with this pregnancy.
- I prefer salty foods over sweet foods, and spent my first trimester obsessed with dairy products.
- All the tests I do come out with 50/50 odds, except for the Chinese Gender test
I had my second OB appointment today. It was scheduled for 9am, but I left early because I was nervous about driving & parking at the busy hospital on my own - thankfully, all was good on both fronts. There were two things I was nervous about for this appointment - my weight and my blood pressure.
Since I arrived early, I'd brought my handy dandy urine sample cup & a bottle of water, thinking I'd fill 'er up while I was waiting. Peeing at will is NOT a problem I've been having lately - not since the first positive pregnancy test, actually - but wouldn't you know it? All liquids and running water aside, I could barely fill up a quarter of a cup.
I felt like the least pregnant woman in the OB's waiting room today - seriously, little porker belly had nothing on some of the gorgeous mamas there today. Once I was in with the doctor, we went over blood pressure {slightly lower this week, but still borderline at 130/90} and how I'd been feeling - he's all for me getting some cough suppressants to help me sleep, thank heavens! Otherwise, he said that I seemed well - should we try for the heartbeat?
YES, PLEASE.
Baby Jag was there immediately - a nice, loud heartbeat at 156bpm. I've been hearing him at home, but it's nice to have the medical professional comment on how all sounded very well. Dr. P then measured my uterus, giving my belly a good old squish in the process, and my fundal height is measuring at 16 weeks - not bad, since I'm 15+4.
No more visits for a few more weeks, but I'm armed with my 19 week referral scan for the BIG ultrasound, and I'm looking forward to our sneaky 16 week early gender scan next week.
As for irony... remember my shy bladder? Well, his midwife was off sick today, and so they skipped urine checks & weight checks to avoid a backlog. No need for pee! And if you want even MORE irony? The urge to pee was so strong on the drive home that I had to pull into a McDonalds to use their restroom. Ah, the joys of pregnancy...
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