The "big" appointment

yesterday was the day. the day when all would shift into "HELL YEAH" or "what do we do now?" mode. we are officially in HELL YEAH! mode :)

funny thing...there's not much to say. except for everything is normal. that's all the genetic counselor wrote on the report. NORMAL. wow...what a shift. NORMAL. NORMAL. weird to say. weird to think NORMAL is now a miracle. i'll take it.

details:
started with EKG. they didnt take long. 10 minutes? the cardiologist came in fairly quickly to let us know everything looked great.

moved on to the 20-week anatomy scan. again, all the parts/pieces that are supposed to be there were there. the high-risk OB came in during the scan to look at one thing. then, said: all is good. your baby looks normal. of course, we made her repeat it a few times. it was amazing news.

the only "bad" news is that i still have placenta previa. it has shifted a little bit. but, still limited to activities until it is cleared. but, looks promising! at least this forces us to have more U/S. (typically you dont have any further U/S after 20 weeks.)

so, that's it. back to normal pregnancy mode...and i love it!

thanks again for all your support. we couldnt have done it without you all. i will continue to update the blog. hopefully for just boring stuff like belly shots, etc.

Not gas...definitely a flip or two

I've been noticing "quickening" for quite a while now. (that is how they define the little butterflies you feel before the big KICK.) But, I've yet to "catch" her in the act...ie. put my hand on my tummy and feel movement from the outside.

Last night she got busted! I was in my normal pose of laying on the bed, watching some crappy tv...and began feeling some something. I patiently waited, hands on tummy. And, there it was...some flipping, tumbling, something. Nothing like my experience with Ely where I was (again, laying in bed watching crappy tv) startled by the punch he gave to me. I actually screamed because if scared me! I'm not sure if it's a difference of gender or some extra layers of flab. Hopefully it will happen more regularly so that Ely and Anthony can get a in on the action.

Next week is the big week...hopefully the update on Wednesday is to share a lot of good news!

17-week update, 16 week belly

the photo above was actually taken last week. so, as you can imagine, it's quite a bit bigger today :)

some updates:
MONDAY: met with my OB. heartbeat sounded great. she confirmed the U/S looked great. she did, however, explain the potential issues with the previa. it's not as cut/dry as we'd thought. we kinda just have to wait it out and see if it shifts. until then, i've been limited to certain activities until something changes. hopefully we will see some movement at the 20-week U/S. words like "bedrest" were tossed around...ick!

WEDNESDAY: results from the neural tube defect blood test came back negative (negative is good)!

i hope to just keep sharing good news with every post :)

16-week Ultrasound

we had another u/s done on friday evening. (this is not typical, but they are still handling us with kid gloves). they were looking at her anatomy, organ development, signs of CH or any thickening on her neck and certain markers.

ALL WAS GREAT!

of course, they made us sweat it out for an hour. at first, the tech thought she saw something her neck, but saw nothing when she was in a better position. estella was moving around A LOT. this was nice for us to see. up until now, she has been very calm in the tummy. it was nice to see her wiggling and shaking.

the tech came back after speaking to the radiologist to say, "all markers are negative." so...we didnt really know what that meant. she explained they were looking for certain markers at this age in the bones, her movements and even if her fists were constantly clinched. she passed on all points!

we still need to have the 20-week scan + EKG on the 29th to give us the complete picture. again, if we get good news then, we can go forward with a lot more confidence and less worry :)

there was a LITTLE bad news. (if this is the worst thing that will happen, it's ok.) so, my placenta is "previa," meaning it is in between estella and my uterus. if it doesn't move, i will HAVE to have a c-section. definitely not my preferred way to deliver, but the health of estella is a lot more important than any surgery or scar.

i will be meeting with my OB on monday to go over results. if there is anything the tech left out, i will update you. otherwise, the next post wont be until after our march 29th appt. OR, if i feel a kick before then :)

not much of an update, update

as most of you know, we just got back from florida. we were lucky to have 80 degree weather for the entire vacation. the first few days were spent at the magic kingdom and animal kingdom. ely had a blast. he even spent his own money to buy himself a few toys AND bought his baby girls some toys too :)



the last 4 nights were spent in clearwater beach. again, the weather was fantastic. when we werent at the beach or pool, we were hanging out on our lanai listening to the waves. it was perfect.

we have quite a few appointments in the coming days. friday we will have a 16-week U/S. this is to check on the progress and make sure everything is still heading in the right direction. then, on monday, we will meet with our normal OB for the typical 16-week check in.

we're still counting down the days until our march 29th appt...!