The 2nd trimester begins!

I've graduated from my RE. Yay! I am happy about this step, partly because the RE that I recently inherited was a moron. I am so glad to be returning to my obgyn who we like and who knows us.

As soon as my ob received my paperwork and learned that I was pregnant, he called to congratulate us and let us know he is optimistic. We've completed our first trimester screening with the perinatologist, who has the rolls-royce of ultrasound machines. We got to see our wee one wiggling around on a large flat screen tv screen- very cool. The nuchal fold looks fine, thankfully. Due to my history and age, they also had us meet with their genetic counselor.

The first trimester screening results point to us having to do an amnio. I was very much hoping this would not be the case, but we are mulling over the recommendation- which is also what my obgyn suggests. This is mainly because of my history of a 2nd trimester loss and largely because I am now 35 and have therefore reached "advanced maternal age". Ugh! Seriously, it's like crossing that cut-off age changes everything.

Of course no one likes the idea of a long needle being inserted into their pregnant belly. I am not that concerned about the discomfort or possible pain. What I worry about is the small risk associated with the procedure. The risk, however, is indeed small... 1/400, or .25%. I actually have a significantly higher risk of their being something wrong with the baby... 1/120.

In order to gain more information, I will likely move forward with the testing. I hope and pray that everything goes smoothly with this pregnancy. If for some reason there is information we should know, we would prefer to find out. I may feel this way due to the nature of the loss our son.. I went in for a normal visit and found out at 21 weeks he had died. It was like being hit by a truck. In addition, the cause was never determined. As a result, I can't help but worry somewhat that whatever it was could happen again.

I am happy have reached the second trimester. I'm also hoping that soon I will be able to breathe a little easier.

our happy holiday

In late September 2008 at 3 months pg, we shared the news with our families and friends. They were delighted. My parents and close friends knew of our ttc and my subsequent surgery. Neither of our families had grandchildren yet. However, both my sister and dh's brother were each expecting babies in early November. As a side note, my sister is one year older than I and we are close. I was happy for them, not only because she is my sis, but they also faced their own challenge ttc. My SIL on the other hand is a self-absored person who has also felt the need to repeatedly state that she got pg on her second try. And they weren't even married.

Anyhoo...

In November my cute little bump was showing and I felt great. The Friday before Thanksgiving week we had our 20 week appointment, a 4-D ultrasound done by a perinatologist. This was standard procedure in my ob's practice. It was amazing to see our baby in 4-D! We had decided that we were not going to find out the baby's sex. We loved our baby whether he or she was a boy or girl. We wanted it to be a surprise. On that day we saw all of the perfect little parts that made up our beautiful baby. His/her arms, legs, fingers and toes. We even saw our baby's face! He/she had my nose and dh's lips. All of his/her organs were functioning properly. Everything looked great. We were so so happy.

We spent the following week back home, visiting with family and friends for Thanksgiving. We had a lot to be thankful for and enjoyed celebrating this time with those closest to us. As I laid in bed Thanksgiving morning, dh put his hand on my baby bump as he did each day and we would talk to our sweet baby. The baby was active, and on that morning gave a swift kick to the exact spot where my husband had laid his hand. We both felt it strongly. It were as though he/she was saying hello back to us.